Doctors in love. Doctors out of love. Doctors doing – pretty much everything melodramatic. For more than 16 seasons, the preceding formula has spelled ratings glory for the producers of “Grey’s Anatomy,” one of the more durable TV shows in recent history.

The fictional drama focuses on documenting the lives of surgical interns, residents, and attendings as they navigate the fast-paced and challenging world of medicine. The show follows both the personal and professional relationships developed between the many doctors featured on the show. 

While many of the relationships developed between characters on the show are utterly iconic, such as the romantic bond between main characters Meredith Grey (Ellen Pompeo) and Derek Shepherd (Patrick Dempsey), it’s unarguable that the medical aspect of the show is what makes it unique. The constant attention-grabbing emergent medical cases that the surgeons are faced with keeps viewers on their toes and invested in the show. I mean, after all it’s what the show is based around, right?

This season, the producers of Grey’s seemed to have dropped the ball. The show now revolves completely around COVID19, and while I have to commend the producers for trying to stay in touch with real world events, the show seems to have strayed away from what it once was. The show is now lacking so much of the medical excitement it has had in the previous 16 seasons. No longer do we watch surgeons race through the hallways to get back to a patient after making a shocking revelation. No longer are our eyes glued to the screen as doctors frantically aid a dying patient. No longer do we wait anxiously to find out whether or not a patient has made it through grueling surgery. No longer are we watching doctors be doctors.

Grey’s has always been famous for its portrayal of intimate relationships and strong friendships among the doctors on the show. In the past, we have watched as the surgeons build relationships that develop throughout the seasons. This season is, well, just messy. There are so many relationships that just feel thrown into the show, don’t follow any true story line, and really just seem out of place. “It just feels like they threw a bunch of complicated relationships and storylines into the show to make it more interesting,” said sophomore Zoe Van Nostran. “The show definitely is not what it used to be.”

While I must applaud the Grey’s producers for turning out one of the best medical television series to ever air, I would feel as though I’m doing my fellow Grey’s critics wrong by denying that season 17 has not yet lived up to its potential. Though this season has been somewhat of a trainwreck, may we not forget where it all started, on a “beautiful day to save lives.”