Grey’s Anatomy: Why Alex Karev’s Exit Was So Controversial

Grey’s Anatomy has seen many, many beloved characters leave the show in different circumstances, and one of its most recent departures is that of Alex Karev (Justin Chambers), and it also turned out to be a controversial one. Medical drama is a genre that continues to be quite popular, and one of the most successful TV shows from this branch is Grey’s Anatomy, created by Shonda Rhimes. Grey’s Anatomy premiered on ABC in 2005 and began as a midseason replacement, but it became so popular that it now has over 15 seasons and shows no signs of stopping soon, even if its quality has decreased.

Grey’s Anatomy follows the basic premise of medical dramas, focusing on the lives of surgical interns, residents, and attendings as they do their best to balance their professional and personal lives, which more often than not overlap and create drama inside and outside the hospital. Grey’s Anatomy is led by Meredith Grey (Ellen Pompeo), who started her journey as an intern at Seattle Grace Hospital alongside other beloved characters, such as Cristina Yang (Sandra Oh) and Alex Karev. Over the course of the series, Meredith and company have gone through a variety of obstacles in their professional and personal lives that have helped them grow, but in some cases, all that development was gone to waste when the characters had to leave the show.

Such was the case of Alex Karev, who started out as a man hiding behind an image of aggression and a rebel and eventually became one of the most compassionate and beloved characters in Grey’s Anatomy. Alex left the hospital and all his friends in Grey’s Anatomy season 16, and even though the show began moving towards his goodbye by having him supposedly visiting his mom and telling his wife Jo that he was “going through something” and stopped answering his calls, his departure was highly criticized not because it still felt abrupt but because of the reason why he moved out of Seattle.

Alex Karev didn’t even return to explain why he left, and instead, Grey’s Anatomy explained it through letters he sent to Jo, Meredith, Miranda Bailey, and Richard Webber. In them, he explained that he learned Izzie (Katherine Heigl) used the embryos they froze years ago and she’s now a mother of twins. Alex went to meet his children and decided to stay with them and Izzie to make sure the kids didn’t grow up without a father like he did, and admitted that he had always loved Izzie. Alex Karev is one of the characters in Grey’s Anatomy who went through major character development during his time in the show, but all that was erased by sending him way back in the past. Fans of Grey’s Anatomy were understandably upset as the Alex Karev they came to know and love would have never abandoned Jo like that for someone that left him years ago and hurt him so much, no matter how much he loved her. Fans went as far as to express that they wished Grey’s Anatomy killed Alex off rather than seeing him leave his wife for his former partner without even having the courage of explaining the situation to her face to face.

The writers and showrunner of Grey’s Anatomy, and even Ellen Pompeo herself, have defended the way Alex Karev was written off the show, but fans don’t forgive and let go that easily, especially as this isn’t the first time the show comes up with an unsatisfying departure. Grey’s Anatomy has been criticized for going on the easy route to say goodbye to its characters and killing them off, but in Alex Karev’s case, many fans agree that killing him would have been better than the ending he was given.

About The Author

Adrienne Tyler
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Adrienne Tyler is a features writer for Screen Rant. She is an Audiovisual Communication graduate who wanted to be a filmmaker, but life had other plans (and it turned out great). Prior to Screen Rant, she wrote for Pop Wrapped, 4 Your Excitement (4YE), and D20Crit, where she was also a regular guest at Netfreaks podcast. She was also a contributor for FanSided’s BamSmackPow and 1428 Elm. Adrienne is very into films and she enjoys a bit of everything: from superhero films to heartbreaking dramas, to low-budget horror films. Every time she manages to commit to a TV show without getting bored, an angel gets its wings.

When she’s not writing, you can find her trying to learn a new language, watching hockey (go Avs!), or wondering what life would have been like had Pushing Daisies, Firefly, and Limitless not been cancelled. Breakfast food is life and coffee is what makes the world go round.

Guillermo del Toro said “hi” to her once. It was great.

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