Grey’s Anatomy has now reached a total of 363 episodes in the 15 years it has been on our TVs, and looking back at the pilot episode ‘A Hard Day’s Night’, it is easy to see why it’s continuing to be an amazing medical drama.
The episode is absolutely genius, as we see the lives of 5 interns starting their first day at a hospital – Meredith Grey, Christina Yang, George O’Malley, Izzie Stevens and Alex Karev. The main character Meredith Grey, who is the daughter of surgery legend Ellis Grey and Shonda Rhimes, throws an even bigger spanner in the works as it is revealed the random hot guy Grey had a one-night stand with ends up being her attending.
The episode is humorous and uses situations that are usually terrifying and dark but instead conveys them as a challenge to the surgeons. For example, a teenage girl is having seizures for reasons unknown, but we are not panicking and freaking out every time she’s having a seizure as we see the situation through the doctor’s eyes. It is a challenge; a mere thing that gets their blood flowing. The idea of finding her diagnoses to scrub in on a surgery ignites a fire under the interns who are on their first shift as a surgeon.
Surgery is seen as a sport; the operating theatre is the Olympics. As the interns gather for the first time in a theatre we hear the chief of surgery proclaim, “This is your arena. How well will you play?”. Our fears that we are just mere challenges, problems for doctors to solve, is confirmed, though their confidence and borderline egotistical nature is comforting.
A lot happens in the 43-minute episode from doctors sleeping together to George O’Malley botching his first-ever surgery rewarding him the nickname ‘007’ (the license to kill). We are introduced to the key characters of the show that have gained a legacy in the shows history. Their introductions are perfect, for example Miranda Bailey – the resident, boss of the interns – is nicknamed ‘The Nazi’ for being bossy and strong. We are able to see surgery through the eyes of a surgical intern and you feel the thrill. After Grey’s first surgery she proclaims, “I don’t know why anybody does drugs” and after watching the surgery ourselves (despite the gagging and constant need to hide at the sight of blood) we feel the thrill of this.
There are many plots introduced in this first episode, but the best storyline has to be the growing bromance between Yang and Grey. They are competitive and powerful; they understand each other, and their friendship emerges after both suffering a 48-hour shift. If you haven’t watched Grey’s Anatomy before or simply want to re-watch I would recommend. The pilot episode gets you stuck into the world of medicine and makes you believe that you are a qualified surgeon after just one episode.
15 seasons of Grey’s Anatomy are available to stream via Amazon Prime Video in the UK. You can watch a trailer below.
