Medical dramas tend to have a longer shelf life than a typical serialized television series, but Grey’s Anatomy leaves them all in the dust. Created by Shonda Rhimes in 2005, the series raised complex female characters to the forefront while telling heartwrenching stories and gripping romances set in a hospital setting. The series catapulted Rhimes into the cultural zeitgeist, making her the producing juggernaut she is today, thanks to Meredith Grey (Ellen Pompeo) and her fellow cohorts at Seattle Grace – now Grey Sloan Memorial.
Classic storylines such as Meredith’s love triangle with Derek (Patrick Dempsey) and Addison (Kate Walsh) stick out, or even Burke’s (Isaiah Washington) hand tremor. But there is one plot that fans will arguably never forgive the series for. In the premiere of Season 6, beloved doctor George O’Malley (T.R. Knight) dies tragically in an event that shocked fans to the core. The send-off for the character stays with viewers and not always in the best way.
George’s Death In Grey’s Anatomy Was Unexpected
It is no secret that T.R. Knight was ready to leave Grey’s Anatomy. While a fan-favorite character and arguably the heart of the series, George started to fade from episodes. Starting as a timid intern with an unrequited crush on Meredith, George comes into his own, even showing a penchant for trauma surgery. However, Knight hinted to Entertainment Weekly that his reduced screentime in Season 5 led to his decision to leave the series. He confessed that there was a “breakdown of communication” between him and the showrunner, Shonda Rhimes.
“My five-year experience proved to me that I could not trust any answer that was given [about George],” Knight told the outlet. “And with respect, I’m going to leave it at that.” This division led to one of the most heartbreaking moments in Grey’s Anatomy history.
Season 5 delves into his passion for trauma surgery under the support of Owen Hunt (Kevin McKidd) and his eventual decision to join the Army. George’s trajectory may have been a shock to fans. It certainly is for the other characters who try to convince him to stay. However, they don’t get the chance to change his mind when a mysterious John Doe enters the hospital. Disfigured after a bus accident where he heroically saves a woman’s life, the doctors at Seattle Grace work tirelessly on the John Doe before realizing the horrible truth. The patient is George, who ultimately succumbs to his wounds. Many characters die on Grey’s Anatomy, but George’s death was particularly brutal.
George’s Death Signaled an End of an Era For Grey’s Anatomy
Grey’s Anatomy continues to engage fans two decades after its first episode. But with Ellen Pompeo slowly backing away from the titular character, Grey’s Anatomy hasn’t topped its earlier seasons. Only a few original characters remain, a fact that started with George’s death. The character was the first of the original interns to be killed off. This occurred at the beginning of Season 6, when many series started to go stale anyway. While George’s death added a touch of drama that may have revitalized the series, it was still a warning that the golden age of the series was over.
Grey’s Anatomy had exhausted most of the central dynamics that made the series great. As with any drama on network television, romances drive the series and have been explored to its greatest extent. The most powerful moments of the early seasons were the push and pull between Meredith and Derek. Upon their first meeting, they have a forbidden love because Derek is Meredith’s boss. Even when they try to overcome that hurdle, another comes in the form of Derek’s estranged wife, Addison Montgomery.
Cristina (Sandra Oh) gets heavy romance plots with Burke, which ends in devastation when he leaves her at the altar. George gets his fair share as well, finding connections with many women he works with. Olivia (Sarah Utterback), Callie (Sara Ramirez), and Izzie (Katherine Heigl) are just some examples of his romantic tension, which led to the series’ downfall. The series puts the character through his paces when he marries a woman that no one likes, only to dabble in infidelity with Izzie. Many fans believe this was a misstep for the character, and Knight is inclined to agree with them.
“There just comes a time when it’s so clear that moving on is the best decision,” Knight concluded to Entertainment Weekly. George cheating with Izzie is a massively unpopular turn for the series, especially considering their division to call it quits later down the line. Later seasons also explore Izzie’s cancer, which makes her see the ghost of her dead fiancé, Denny (Jeffrey Dean Morgan). These storylines, along with George’s death, showed that Grey’s Anatomy was running out of ideas.
George Didn’t Get the Respect He Deserved
When the premiere of Season 6 first aired, George’s passing struck a chord with viewers. If anyone had deserved a happy ending, it was the unassuming intern who came into his own. Over the years, this feeling has only intensified, especially considering how he was written off the show. There has been understandable turnover over the years on Grey’s Anatomy, making the writers create creative ways to say goodbye to beloved characters. There have been some heartbreakers, but there have also been some uplifting goodbyes as well.
- T.R. Knight’s last episode as a main cast member is Season 5, Episode 24: “Now Or Never.”
- T.R. Knight reprises his role in Season 17, Episode 4: “You’ll Never Walk Again.”
- T.R. Knight returned for his final episode to give closure to his character.
Cristina’s farewell in Season 10 particularly comes to mind. Sandra Oh was ready to find life beyond the hospital, and so was her fictional counterpart, the best Grey’s Anatomy character. Cristina accepts a research position in Zurich, taking over for her former fiancé, Burke. The entirety of her farewell episode revolves around Meredith, unable to say goodbye to her person. That’s because this isn’t really goodbye, even if it is Oh’s final episode. George gets no such respect in his farewell episode. In some ways, T.R. Knight seemed to be punished for leaving the series. His death was designed to twist the knife and cut the character’s life short.
George’s Death Is Even Sadder In Retrospect
If Grey’s Anatomy has one undeniable truth, the medical drama is a tearjerker at heart. From Meredith’s complex relationship with her mother to the constant disaster episodes, Grey’s Anatomy is designed to tug at the heartstrings. George’s departure should have been an emotional event, but the series takes it a step too far. After questionable decisions follow the character in Season 5, his character is unnecessarily killed off. This decision is confusing, considering Grey’s Anatomy had already designed an emotional way to say goodbye.
| George’s First Appearance | George’s Last Appearance | Number of Episodes |
|---|---|---|
| Season 1, Episode 1: “A Hard Day’s Night” | Season 17, Episode 4: “You’ll Never Walk Alone” | 103 |
George joining the Army was a decent way to send the character off. His fellow doctors were conflicted about his decisions, adding pressure and emotional weight to the turn of events. There is no doubt that Grey’s Anatomy can implement a good twist, but George’s death would have been better served for another character. Killing the character off when there was already a plan in the works seemed like an egregious way to manipulate the audience. George deserves a happy life like Cristina and instead was used as an explosive season premiere.
Grey’s Anatomy doubles down on this in the final moments of George’s life. While he is flatlining, another character is also on the brink of life and death. Izzie was in the midst of her controversial cancer storyline, closer to the veil of the living and the dead than the other characters. As George expires, Izzie is also close to death, allowing her to see him in some emotional limbo. This moment is designed to make George’s passing even more tragic, and they say goodbye to each other.
George’s departure is salt in the wound, not just for his storyline but for Izzie’s as well. Had Izzie seen him in some near-death experience to come back and fight another day, that would be one thing. But Izzie’s storyline puts George’s death on rocky footing. Izzie doesn’t succumb to her cancer and eventually goes into remission. This event makes her imminent departure even more baffling when she is written off almost as an afterthought. Instead of coming full circle with George’s storyline, Izzie gets fired and leaves her husband, problematic Grey’s Anatomy character Alex Karev (Justin Chambers), heartbroken. While this departure may have correlated to Katherine Heigl’s reputation on set at the time, it isn’t a graceful way to send off an original character.
Grey’s Anatomy is not a perfect series. Many characters don’t get the respect that they have earned over the years. But there are reasons why fans keep returning to Grey’s Anatomy after 20 seasons. When the show was at its best, it really was the best. For better or for worse, the series was a character drama first and a medical show second. It expertly weaves the personal trials of the wounded characters with their experiences at the hospital. George may be gone, but there are five good seasons of content before he goes.
