It's well documented that the five stages of grief are denial, anger, bargaining, depression and then finally, acceptance.
After last week's episode of Grey's Anatomy and Derek's very unexpected and tragic death, I think we can all agree we suffered the denial and anger stages pretty immediately. Shonda Rhimes was eviscerated on Twitter as a result.
As I reached the bargaining stage, I began scouring the internet for any possible explanation of why this had happened. Instead, I found a sea of likeminded people who were also trying to dry their eyes and to decide if this was worse than George's death (answer = no).
During my "morning after" research, I found these three articles, all clearly authored by fellow heartbroken Grey's fans:
- Grey's Anatomy fans are posting pictures of themselves in tears (BuzzFeed) - Though I would never post a hideous crying selfie, it was validating to see photos of all the other fans who were also blubbering messes on their couches.
- 20 types of Grey's Anatomy fans in mourning (Mashable) - Who doesn't like a personality quiz? Even when it came to Derek's death, there was a category for every type of disappointed fan.
- Ranking the biggest deaths on Grey's Anatomy by devastation (BuzzFeed) - Major props to BuzzFeed for this macro look at the multiples times Shonda and her writing team have smashed our hearts into little bits.
Reading these didn't bring Derek back, but they did help.
True to the stages, I have now moved into depression. The depression has set in for two reasons: first, I can't believe Derek is really gone, and second, I am in New York City for work today and Friday, so I won't be able to watch this week's episode and share my thoughts here with you during our usual catch up on Friday mornings.
Please forgive me and accept a double recap next week. We're supposed to move on to acceptance, right?
*Image courtesy of @GreysABC on Instagram.