Will Grey's Anatomy Survive?

Fans of Grey's Anatomy were shocked at the end of the two-part season finale for many reasons. First lovable George had enlisted in the Army to go overseas and be a medic to American soldiers and Izzie underwent surgery to remove the tumor from her brain, which went well except she appeared to have lost her short term memory retention. Many of the second half of the episode was spent with Alex trying to help Izzie remember and the rest of the team working on a John Doe Good Samaritan who had gotten hit while pushing a woman out of the way of an oncoming bus.

When Izzie finally remembers something (her new husband Alex yelling at her) she slips into unconsciousness and Bailey and the Chief ignoring her DNR and trying to revive her and Meredith realizes that the John Doe is George when he writes Alex's "007" nickname for him on her hand with his finger. She runs around the hospital telling everyone who the John Doe is and the rest of the group rushes to save him. The show ends with the dream sequence counterpart of Seattle Grace and Izzie on the elevator in the prom dress she wore in the episode where Denny died and the elevator opening up to George in his Army uniform and left the viewers wondering who if either one of them would die.

With Grey's returning with fall (allegedly without actor T.R. Knight which answers the question of who died) many people may question how long it will last. When it came out in 2005 as a mid-season replacement viewers fell in love with this show but in the last few years many story arcs have upset the viewers and made them wonder if the honeymoon period of this show is over. Even this last season many viewers were confused and annoyed with the appearance of Izzie's dead fiancé Denny being a major plot point, although we do find out later why he is there and while many people may figure this is a pretty sorry excuse at least it was explained to us.

However according to the TV Guide website, it is up against pretty stiff competition for its time slot including new hit Fringe from FOX and fan favorite CSI from CBS so if the show doesn't capture the viewer's attention like it did when it first appeared while people may come back to see the first few episodes and how the characters react to George's departure (whether by death or otherwise as the rumors at this time aren't specific) it may not be as popular as it has been in the last few years.My take is I personally want the show to thrive. I have been a fan since the beginning and I would hate to see this show die. However I would be lying if I were to say that I've been completely happy with some of what has happened during the last few years both on and off-screen. The George-Callie-Izzie storyline seemed completely unnecessary and only seemed to make Izzie less liked then what she already was with rumors of Katherine Heigl being completely unhappy on the show. The Denny story arc was ridiculous when it was first introduced. And while many fans were pining for Meredith and Derek to get together after Addison by the time their romance finally flourished (the last time being called off by Derek when a patient died after a surgery from him) I was over it and didn't even want them to be together.

I think the show will have to work very hard to keep its loyal fan base but I think after the emotional season finale this last year that they have a good chance of arising from what could be the ashes of the show. Let's hope that this year the show gets back to what made it great in the first place.