By its definition, jumping the shark shouldn't possibly be done more than once. It's a turning point, one you can't get back from.
And then Grey's Anatomy came and weaponized the shark jump.
It's amazing how many times certain moments of the show would be ridiculous shark jumps anywhere else. Even ER, the previous king of the jump, gets completely steamrolled by GA when it comes to just being absurd and somehow retaining a huge fanbase that carries on no matter what.
I would say the first true shark jump of the show was season 5's ghost sex plotline. It was weird, came out of nowhere, people were already tired of Katherine Heigl at that point and not even giving Jeffrey Dean Morgan more screen time helped. However, the rest of season 5 was pretty solid and kept things going.
Then season 6 has a mass shooting. Again, a shark jump on another show, but the two episodes are actually pretty good and dramatic. It gets a pass (also it was pretty much used to kill off some secondary characters they introduced earlier on).
Season 7 DOESN'T have a shark jump. Instead, it has a painfully boring season finale that results in the writers making the biggest jump of them all in season 8.
THE PLANE CRASH
Ooooh boy, this one still stings. Their plane crashes and instead of just killing off some filler, they killed off two beloved characters. The next season basically has the doctors becoming superheroes and saving the hospital from a terrible private company. And after that, the writers basically made sure to have a huge cataclysmic event at the end of every season.
Season 9? A flood with electrocution in the mix.
Season 10? MEREDITH HAS A LONG LOST SISTER.
Season 11? McDreamy.
Season 12? The whole bizarre custody battle + Wilmer Valderrama is in the show now?
Season 13? The hospital blows up for the second time in the show's history.
Season 14? Teddy is back and she's pregnant with someone's baby!
Season 15? Well, we can only guess.
And I'm leaving out the smaller sharks they jumped, such as the impossibility of anyone being happily married, April getting back together with the guy she left in the altar after having a kid with the guy she left him for, while at the same time being part of the medical team that couldn't save his new wife. Weird.
So what's GA's secret? Has it weaponized shark jumps into a profitable narrative device? Has it arrived at General Hospital levels of crazy? Will I ever cease to hatewatch it?
And then Grey's Anatomy came and weaponized the shark jump.
It's amazing how many times certain moments of the show would be ridiculous shark jumps anywhere else. Even ER, the previous king of the jump, gets completely steamrolled by GA when it comes to just being absurd and somehow retaining a huge fanbase that carries on no matter what.
I would say the first true shark jump of the show was season 5's ghost sex plotline. It was weird, came out of nowhere, people were already tired of Katherine Heigl at that point and not even giving Jeffrey Dean Morgan more screen time helped. However, the rest of season 5 was pretty solid and kept things going.
Then season 6 has a mass shooting. Again, a shark jump on another show, but the two episodes are actually pretty good and dramatic. It gets a pass (also it was pretty much used to kill off some secondary characters they introduced earlier on).
Season 7 DOESN'T have a shark jump. Instead, it has a painfully boring season finale that results in the writers making the biggest jump of them all in season 8.
THE PLANE CRASH
Ooooh boy, this one still stings. Their plane crashes and instead of just killing off some filler, they killed off two beloved characters. The next season basically has the doctors becoming superheroes and saving the hospital from a terrible private company. And after that, the writers basically made sure to have a huge cataclysmic event at the end of every season.
Season 9? A flood with electrocution in the mix.
Season 10? MEREDITH HAS A LONG LOST SISTER.
Season 11? McDreamy.
Season 12? The whole bizarre custody battle + Wilmer Valderrama is in the show now?
Season 13? The hospital blows up for the second time in the show's history.
Season 14? Teddy is back and she's pregnant with someone's baby!
Season 15? Well, we can only guess.
And I'm leaving out the smaller sharks they jumped, such as the impossibility of anyone being happily married, April getting back together with the guy she left in the altar after having a kid with the guy she left him for, while at the same time being part of the medical team that couldn't save his new wife. Weird.
So what's GA's secret? Has it weaponized shark jumps into a profitable narrative device? Has it arrived at General Hospital levels of crazy? Will I ever cease to hatewatch it?
