Grey’s Anatomy can often be a quite emotionally packed television show, playing with ones emotions as people die left and right. As someone who is not generally a “cry-er”, I can attest to this fact. I think this has been done to send a clear message to the viewers that life is short and to make the best of it and don’t live with any regrets.

Whether it was Meredith drowning causing her lover to realize he wasn’t there for her, or Izzy’s patient and fiancée dying, or the chief trying to get back with his divorced wife only to find she had moved on, this show constantly shows how short and unexpected life can be. Even despite the overwhelming emotions felt by viewers, they come back and watch because this message is so true and important in their lives.

Over and over, a scenario repeats where a doctor gets worked up with fixing and saving a patient only to have them flatline on the Emergency Room table. It influences their personal lives as they realize that life is too short to hold a grudge against a loved one or to not speak to a friend or even to not tell someone how much they love them. In fact, that is one of the worst pains humans can feel: the pain of “what if” or “what could have been”, the fear of the uncertainty. The hospital is the perfect place to enforce this theme because of not only the deaths but also the fact that these doctors and nurses have less time for personal lives and so the theme of living life to the fullest is further emphasized by the fact that these individuals have shorter amounts of time to pursue their passions.

The recurring theme that the characters keep facing- YOLO (You only live once)