Ok. Let's try and think about how you would write out a character that's been on the show for 16 years and then abruptly decides to leave?? They reached into their vault of 16+ seasons of content that they'd spent years building up and used some of that built in universe to create an ending for him that was not great. Letting him go run off with Izzy absolutely throws years of character development down the drain, especially after Karev literally said he made up a life for her so he could stop wondering about it. They had set it up that he was going to be happy with Jo for the rest of his life, so to just have him leave her after getting her to change her last name from Wilson to Karev is also frustrating. Also, the footage of two kids running around on a farm in Kansas?!?! Not necessary, especially if it didn't contain any footage of Karev and Izzy together. But now, we can stop wondering what happened to him and stop with the dumb texting convos between the characters asking where he is. His reasoning for leaving Jo sort of made sense.... especially if you're going to throw in that he has kids and given Karev's background with his own parents it makes sense he would want to be in their lives. Even if the episode felt not great, that's part of what makes Grey's Anatomy so great. It's been on for so long that it has survived every time we've given them the chance to. We thought it wouldn't be the same without Cristina, Derek, George, Callie, you name it. But it's kept going because that's what this show is really about - making it through life's up and downs and continuing forward. Just because they didn't write out a character well doesn't mean it's time to end the show. No, I don't think the way they wrote out Alex was good. But it provided closure, allows the actress who plays Jo to stay in the show as she has become a central character, and most importantly now we can stop wasting episodes wondering where he is and we can all finally move on to the next outrageous thing we can't believe Greys will throw at us.
Review of Leave a Light On
