- 5 days ago
Dive into the curious inconsistencies hiding in the long-running medical drama. From mysterious character disappearances to baffling timelines and questionable medical decisions, we uncover details that “Grey’s Anatomy” fans may have missed. Whether it’s unexplained recoveries, confusing legal battles, or puzzling personal histories, this deep-dive reveals what the show conveniently glossed over while keeping audiences hooked.
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00:00Yeah, and I appreciate that you're fine, but I have to anticipate a certain level of distraction from you today,
00:05even in the face of all that fineness.
00:07So, scut, now.
00:09Welcome to Ms. Mojo, and today we're looking at the plot holes that leave Grey's Anatomy searching for answers.
00:16Be on the lookout for some spoilers ahead.
00:18Joe gets this killer fellowship, and I get this sweet office.
00:23How is that a win for me?
00:25Get me.
00:29Number 20. Leah's Disappearances
00:31It wouldn't be Grey's if we didn't have characters randomly disappearing on us.
00:36Remember Joe the Bartender, anyone? The show clearly doesn't.
00:40Still, Leah Murphy might just be a bigger mystery.
00:43After her romance with Arizona crashed and burned, Leah faded into the background.
00:48I had such an amazing time the other night.
00:50Yeah, it was fun.
00:51I feel like I'm ready to take it further.
00:54Um, you know, um, it's, it's not a good idea.
00:58Um, well, I totally get it.
01:00Initially let go at the end of the 10th season, she returned years later as if things would now be
01:05different.
01:06But it turned out to be more of the same.
01:08Unlike her previous exit, this time Leah didn't just leave.
01:12She seemed to drop off the face of Grey's Sloan Memorial.
01:15Um, we were just talking about-
01:17Talking about me?
01:19Figures.
01:21Um, anyway, um, welcome back.
01:25Was she fired again or did she quit?
01:27Did she just stop showing up and no one noticed?
01:30We need to know.
01:31I will see you around.
01:32Bye.
01:34Number 19. How old is Lexi?
01:37Meredith's age already had us scratching our heads.
01:40More on that later.
01:41But her younger half-sister isn't any better here either.
01:44Meredith, seemingly born in 1978, was five years old when she was abandoned by her father.
01:50He lied.
01:51He's a liar.
01:52And I'm glad.
01:54Really, I'm glad that you found him charming.
01:56I'm sure he was delightful.
01:57He's a blast after five drinks.
01:59Not so much after nine, though.
02:01He gets a little weepy and mean.
02:02Lexi's birth year is given as 1984.
02:05So far, so good, right?
02:06The problem?
02:07Lexi arrived at Seattle Grace just a year after Meredith did.
02:11Even accounting for the fact that Lexi skipped third grade, the math still doesn't hold up.
02:16You're not crazy, Lexi.
02:18You're a gray.
02:21So it seems that either Meredith failed med school several times or Lexi fast-tracked through hers.
02:27Or maybe the writers just forgot to check the calendar.
02:30This was a private family issue.
02:33Number 18.
02:34No one knows what happened to Ellis.
02:36When it comes to surgery, the show treats its most gifted medical professionals with godly reverence.
02:42And in the Greys universe, Ellis is treated like the highest of royalty.
02:46Her mother is Ellis Gray.
02:47Shut up, the Ellis Gray.
02:48Yeah.
02:48Who's Ellis Gray?
02:49Ellis.
02:50The Gray method?
02:51Where'd you go to med school?
02:52Mexico?
02:53She was one of the first big chick surgeons.
02:54I mean, she practically invented the pep doll.
02:56She's a living legend.
02:57She won the Harper Avery twice.
02:58Although Meredith is constantly reminded of her mother's legendary legacy, nobody seemed
03:03to care when Ellis disappeared.
03:05When the series begins, she's living at Rose Ridge Home for Extended Care, visited only
03:10by her daughter.
03:11I don't want her in the room.
03:12Mom.
03:13She's a child and I won't have her on my team.
03:16We'll meet you outside, Dr. Gray.
03:18For a surgeon held in such high regard, it's hard to believe that no one from colleagues,
03:22protégés, or even the medical community tried to track her down.
03:26This plot hole only gets worse after Ellis' death, which is barely acknowledged by the
03:30larger medical world.
03:32An oddly muted response for someone who won the Harper Avery Award twice.
03:36You shouldn't be here.
03:40Neither should you.
03:43Just keep going.
03:46Don't be a damn.
03:48Number 17.
03:49Arizona's Custody of Sophia.
03:51The show spends a significant portion of season 12 on Arizona and Callie's legal battle,
03:57with the former ultimately winning custody of their daughter, Sophia.
04:01How the hell did this happen?
04:04When all is said and done, though, Arizona pulls a Mrs. Doubtfire-style reversal, allowing
04:10Sophia to live with Callie anyway.
04:12Bring her back next weekend.
04:14And I want all summer and every other school year.
04:18I want Christmas this time, but you can get next time and we'll figure out the rest of
04:22the details.
04:23While it sounds wholesome, this completely negates the judge's ruling.
04:27The show doesn't go into detail on how they're supposed to co-parent from two different cities,
04:31nor does it address any legal ramifications of such an arrangement.
04:35After vanishing entirely in season 13, Sophia reappears in season 14, just in time for Arizona
04:42to move to New York as well, wrapping it all in a neat yet nonsensical bow.
04:47She left me.
04:47I mean, she left me and then she left me again.
04:50But it was worse because that time she took my daughter.
04:53And what?
04:54I mean, now because she's single and I'm single?
04:56No, no, no, no.
04:57No one has ever in the history of my life hurt me like Callie.
05:00Number 16.
05:02Amelia's Quick Recovery.
05:03If anyone deserves Employee of the Year at Grace Loan Memorial, it has to be Amelia
05:08Shepard.
05:09After all, who returns to work just four days after life-threatening surgery?
05:14After some uncharacteristically erratic behavior, Amelia is diagnosed with a brain tumor.
05:19Every time I come looking for you, you're holed up in this room, staring at people's
05:22tumors.
05:22I've needed you.
05:23And all you've done is blow me off.
05:24And honestly, I'm at the point where I don't care.
05:29Why's your name on those scans?
05:33While operable, survival is far from guaranteed.
05:37And long-term effects are expected.
05:39But not only does Amelia pull through, she's back at the hospital less than a week later.
05:43Do you know what happened?
05:45Do you know where you are?
05:48I had a surgery.
05:50I had a brain tumor.
05:51Even if we buy into the idea of a miraculous recovery, no hospital would ever realistically
05:56accept a surgeon back so soon.
05:58And yet, Grace pretends as if it's business as usual, letting Amelia back in the OR just
06:04four days after she was there as a patient herself.
06:07It's inoperable?
06:09It's too close to his brain stem.
06:12I can't get to it with a scalpel.
06:13Number 15.
06:14Why wasn't Izzy fired?
06:16Izzy's romance with her patient, Denny, is questionable to begin with.
06:20But the storyline jumps the shark when she gets away with cutting his LVAD wire to move
06:25him up the donor's list.
06:27Apart from denying another person a life-saving heart transplant, Izzy commits a serious felony.
06:32Brooke will be her anyway.
06:39So what consequences does she face?
06:41That would be returning to the hospital with a minor probation.
06:45Far from a legal investigation, Izzy's welcomed back with sympathy and encouragement from everyone
06:50around her while retaining her job and medical license.
06:55I want you to come back.
06:58You'll talk to the chief.
07:00We'll work it out.
07:02Because you're talented.
07:05And you're capable.
07:06And we all make mistakes.
07:10As far as the Grey's universe goes, it seems doctors can date their patients, break the law,
07:14and still keep their jobs as long as it's all in the name of love.
07:18You quit being a surgeon.
07:21You have two good hands.
07:24And you aren't using them.
07:27Feel guilty about that.
07:29Number 14.
07:30Why doesn't Richard know Mark?
07:32Richard has no idea who Mark is when he first shows up at Seattle Grace,
07:36only learning of his role in breaking up Addison and Derek's marriage that day.
07:41Given how far back the characters go, though, his reaction makes no sense.
07:45Derek found us in bed together.
07:52You put your weight behind it?
07:54Yes, sir.
07:56Well, all right then.
07:58Richard is repeatedly described as a mentor and friend to both Derek and Addison in New York,
08:03and remains in touch across several years.
08:06At the same time, Mark and Derek were childhood best friends,
08:10attended med school together, and were always in each other's orbit.
08:14Out of friendship to you, I would very much love to say no to this jackass.
08:18But as chief...
08:19Please don't say it.
08:21Dr. Sloan, if you can get the parents to sign consent form...
08:26Round two goes to the jackass.
08:29So considering just how deeply intertwined their lives were,
08:32it's essentially impossible that Richard would have never crossed paths with Mark,
08:36let alone treated him like a complete stranger.
08:38You're a couple cowboys in there.
08:40Telling yourselves you can do this.
08:42Acting like the big boys.
08:44And no business doing that surgery.
08:47No business.
08:49Lucky I came in when I did.
08:50Shame on you.
08:51And shame on you.
08:52Number 13.
08:54Derek's death.
08:55Derek's demise hinges entirely upon people making bafflingly poor decisions.
09:00For one, the episode establishes that there's no cell reception in the area.
09:04Yet somehow he receives a call just when a truck happens to be careening toward him.
09:15Even setting that aside,
09:16it's hard to believe he'd never hear a large vehicle bulldozing in his direction on a deserted road.
09:22It gets worse at the hospital,
09:23where no alarm bells go off despite Derek's status as a famous neurosurgeon.
09:29The call to not get a head CT was a bad call.
09:32And despite being so close to Grey Sloan Memorial,
09:35he's treated at a trauma center where the staff's incompetence cost him his life.
09:40Honestly, the only explanation left is that the universe itself had it out for McDreamy that day.
09:46Ma'am, just wait!
09:47None of us are saints.
09:50I guess we're all the saints.
09:52Number 12.
09:54The chief of surgery's authority.
09:56Technically, the chief of surgery is only supposed to oversee their department.
10:00But if Grey's Anatomy is anything to go by,
10:02anyone appointed to the role runs the hospital with absolute authority.
10:06From administrative decisions, budgetary policies, to hiring and firing staff,
10:11everything seems to fall on their shoulders.
10:13Chief of surgery is mine.
10:15Chief of surgery is mine.
10:17It was yours.
10:18Now I'm not so sure.
10:19I am the best surgeon at Grey's with the lowest mortality rate.
10:22You can't just bring some guy-
10:24Now ask me why I'm not so sure about you.
10:26Later seasons go even further,
10:27with the chief responsible for hospital repairs and renovations.
10:32Even something as wild as a pipe leak ends up as their job to look after.
10:36I've closed all but two ORs.
10:38Maybe this is isolated the broken pipe, so thank you, Dr. Bailey.
10:41But when I say that I've got it under control, that's what I mean.
10:45The distinction between chief of surgery and chief of staff doesn't seem to apply at Grey's Sloan Memorial.
10:51So it's no wonder that the characters treat the job like a game of musical chairs.
10:56You're chief.
10:57No idea why.
10:59Number 11.
11:00DeLuca's background.
11:01DeLuca is killed off right before we truly get to know him,
11:05mainly because the character's background is riddled with inconsistencies.
11:09I don't know what happens from here, Meredith.
11:12Me either.
11:14One of the most jarring plot holes involves his mother,
11:17who, early on, seems to be acquainted with Maggie and supposedly speaks to her over the phone.
11:22However, it's later revealed that his mother had passed away when he was much younger.
11:27Similarly, DeLuca initially claims to have no experience with children,
11:31yet later says he grew up in a large family, constantly surrounded by them.
11:35It doesn't make any sense.
11:37It makes no sense.
11:39From the looks of things, his character seems to shift just to suit the plot.
11:43Whatever it might be, the mystery of DeLuca's background ultimately died with him.
11:47But if we are rewriting history, maybe you could not kill me this time.
11:52Number 10.
11:53Bailey's timeline.
11:54We'd need a whole flowchart to figure out Bailey's origins, given just how wonky it all is.
11:59Early in the series, she treats a patient who's been under her care for five years.
12:03However, she's identified as a fourth-year resident in the third season.
12:07Surgery's a shark tank.
12:09Sharks have teeth.
12:11Make sure you're a shark too, and not a minimum.
12:16Sir, are you referring to my height?
12:18No, I'm not.
12:19God made you short.
12:22Who made you quiet?
12:24If that's the case, how is she conducting solo surgeries as early as the first season?
12:29Things become murkier with flashbacks to her internship year, where her personality appears
12:34wildly out of place, despite taking place only two or three years before the series began.
12:40I was not raised to be a shark.
12:42Does that make me a minnow?
12:44Am I a minnow?
12:45I really don't know.
12:47I'm a minnow.
12:49Not because of my height.
12:52Because I'm a minnow on the inside.
12:54And to complicate matters further, Richard mentions attending her first wedding, which
13:00took place ten years before the show began, making it impossible to fit into her timeline.
13:05Sir, do you have concerns about my judgment?
13:10Do you?
13:10Number nine, Joe's name change.
13:13So I ran.
13:15I had to make sure he would never find me.
13:17Let's start with the mysterious case of Joe Wilson, also known as Joe Karev, also known
13:23as Brooke Stadler.
13:25We knew pretty quickly that she had a dark past, which is how she and Alex first bonded.
13:30But we didn't know just how dark until Alex proposed.
13:33After that, she shares that she's already married, but ran away when her ex became violent
13:38and changed her name to hide from him.
13:40Hey, Brooke.
13:43Oh, wait, it's Joe now, right?
13:44The mystery is whether or not she changed it legally.
13:48She says she can't testify in court because then her husband could find her, but if it's
13:52a legal name change, that shouldn't be a problem.
13:55And if it's not, does she have a fake name on her medical license?
13:58Because that's also an issue.
14:00It was me.
14:01It was all me.
14:02It was always you.
14:04Okay, walk away, Dr. Stadler.
14:05She is a liar.
14:06She is pathological.
14:08Number eight, apparently lions grow new teeth.
14:10According to Grey's Anatomy, lions not only regrow their teeth, but they do so instantly.
14:16Richard and Jackson are treating an unfortunate patient who got bitten by a lion, and has the
14:21fang left in the wound to prove it.
14:23A lion tooth.
14:25All right.
14:26Hey, don't just toss that aside.
14:28You see that bulky?
14:29Keep that safe, will you?
14:30Problem is that when Meredith, Derek, and Zola saw the lion on their way to work, after the
14:35attack, he still had a full set of chompers.
14:37Is that a lion?
14:41We understand there's not a lot of lions looking for acting work, let alone one that's
14:46missing a fang, but could this not have been edited or shot more carefully?
14:50Also, how hard was this patient's leg that it took out a tooth?
14:54Okay, then.
14:56Number seven, how Alex dealt with Izzy's dead.
14:59What is all this?
15:00As Stephen's left no forwarding address, and as you are officially her next of kin, this
15:05is her unpaid balance of her medical bills.
15:07As we mentioned, Izzy's departure from the show was ugly and confusing.
15:11The plot gets even thicker when Alex is told to pay her massive medical bills from her
15:16cancer treatments.
15:17It's a huge issue for Alex, but it's never even resolved in the show.
15:21Unpaid balance?
15:22I don't get it.
15:23We work here at the hospital.
15:24Yeah, and insurance doesn't take care of everything.
15:26I'm sorry, but the county's been pressured me since the merger.
15:29I can't ignore it any longer.
15:30There's no way he could afford to pay it himself, even with his brief stint working
15:34at a private practice.
15:36Of course, there are a few fan theories like after the divorce, the debt went back to Izzy,
15:40or she simply paid them off with her remaining inheritance from Denny Duquette.
15:44As plausible as these theories are, they're just that, theories.
15:48We just want closure.
15:49She left me with a $200,000 medical bill, and I can't do anything about it.
15:57Number 6.
15:57The way Meredith disappears after Derek dies.
16:02Derek.
16:07After Derek's death, a lot of us needed a little break from reality.
16:11But looking back, does Meredith's reaction make sense?
16:14Obviously, losing the love of her life is extremely traumatic, but to leave everyone
16:19she knows and the family she made without a word,
16:21Derek is dead.
16:23What was that?
16:25Derek is dead.
16:27She disappears for an entire secret pregnancy, and the only reason she's found is because
16:33she has complications during labor.
16:35This would make sense for the Meredith we met at the beginning of the show, but she's
16:39worked hard on her self-made family at the hospital.
16:41It doesn't make sense for her to leave it with just a simple note.
16:45I had a baby.
16:46I know.
16:47Number 5.
16:48Meredith's age.
16:49My mother, I found out a year ago, my mother was your mother, Ellis Gray.
16:55It might be a bit taboo to ask a woman her age, but in this case, we weren't the ones
16:59to bring it up.
17:00When a show constantly introduces surprised family members, they're bound to mix up a
17:04few details, and in this case, it's Meredith's age.
17:07When her sister Maggie is born in 1983, Meredith is 5.
17:11You're 5 years younger than me.
17:13If my mother were pregnant, I would have known.
17:15Doing the math, that means she was born in 1978, but the pilot script mentions her birth
17:20year as 1975.
17:22Since the year 1975 wasn't aired, many have decided that it isn't part of the Grey's
17:27Anatomy gospel, but the proof is in the script.
17:30Maggie, we are so impressed.
17:32You're our favorite surgeon.
17:34We send you our best wishes for all.
17:37It's a gift.
17:38This giant singing sturgeon.
17:40From my parents.
17:41We love you, Maggie.
17:44Number 4.
17:45Derek's bad memory.
17:47I can't remember our last kiss.
17:51All I could think about was, I'm gonna die today, and I can't remember her last kiss,
17:55which is pathetic.
17:57Derek's nickname may be McDreamy, but in this case, he's just McDreaming.
18:01Derek and Meredith haven't been together since Addison's return, but after Mare survives
18:06an explosion, Derek decides to visit.
18:09As he's leaving, Meredith says she doesn't remember the last time they kissed, and Derek's
18:13response is vivid, romantic, and baloney.
18:17It was a Thursday morning.
18:24You're wearing that ratty little Dartmouth t-shirt you look so good in.
18:27The last time they kissed was in the rain, Meredith was crying and broke up with him.
18:32Who knows, maybe Derek is trying to leave Meredith with a nice memory, since she did just survive
18:36something traumatic, but somehow Meredith seems to remember it too.
18:40Hating you is the most exhausting.
18:45Shh.
18:50I don't want to do it anymore.
18:52Number 3.
18:53Maggie Pierce's career timeline.
18:55I have no home.
18:56It's like I flew to this planet on an exploratory mission, and the Earth blew up behind me,
19:04and I can't go back.
19:06The show makes it clear that Maggie has always been a prodigy of medicine, due in part to
19:10her parents being Alice Gray and Richard Weber.
19:13What it doesn't explain is how she managed to do so much at such a young age.
19:17Apparently, she started her fellowship at 25, and became head of cardiothoracic surgery
19:23at 27.
19:24So far, it's somewhat believable, unless you consider that she would have finished med school
19:28at 19, and her bachelor's degree at the tender age of 15.
19:32If that is her actual timeline, then we are really impressed.
19:36Stranger things have happened, we guess.
19:38You're a Cylon!
19:41This is Galactica!
19:44I really do like her.
19:46She makes me not the crazy sister.
19:48What do you think they're paying her?
19:49Number 2.
19:50Drinking after donating a liver.
19:58We're not saying that Meredith overconsumes on the regular, but she definitely likes to
20:02drink.
20:03Most of the time, she's a social drinker.
20:05Other times, she just wants to numb herself.
20:08This isn't a problem until she makes the decision to donate part of her liver to her
20:12father.
20:12Am I stupid for doing this?
20:14No.
20:15Really?
20:16You get to save your dad's life tonight.
20:18When donating your liver, it's advised that you avoid too much alcohol after the surgery.
20:23But that just isn't Meredith's style.
20:25After all, the tequila isn't going to drink itself.
20:28It would be fun if she drank just a little here and there, but when she drinks, she drinks
20:32hard.
20:33Cheers.
20:39Before we continue, be sure to subscribe to our channel and ring the bell to get notified
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20:49If you're on your phone, make sure you go into your settings and switch on notifications.
20:55Number 1.
20:56Meredith winning the Harper Avery Award.
20:58Meredith, you've been nominated for a Harper Avery Award.
21:02When Christina was nominated for a Harper Avery, she wasn't allowed to win, even though
21:07she had the votes.
21:08Since the hospital was co-owned by the Harper Avery Foundation, there was a clear conflict
21:13of interest.
21:13She still went to the awards and we had to watch the disappointment when she didn't
21:18win.
21:33It sucked, but we tried to accept it, until Meredith was nominated.
21:37For some reason, the conflict of interest didn't seem to matter anymore and she won the award.
21:42We're really happy that Meredith won, don't get us wrong.
21:45We're just seeing that Christina was robbed.
21:48Without further ado, the Harper Avery for surgical innovation goes to Dr. Meredith Gray.
21:58Is there a plot hole that you think deserved to be included?
22:01Sound off in the comments.
22:04einen
22:04man
22:04a
22:04And
22:04o
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