I don’t know if there are any sharks swimming around Elliott Bay, but if there are, it’s quite possible that Meredith Grey jumped one last week while she drifted, lifeless, into the frigid water.
For those unfamiliar with TV lingo, “jumping the shark” is a term for the moment when a TV show loses credibility by doing something so over-the-top and outrageous it can no longer be believed. It comes from the critical episode of “Happy Days” when Fonzie literally jumped on water skis over a shark – while wearing his trademark leather jacket.
TV’s most dramatic and lately most outrageous show, “Grey’s Anatomy,” is navigating shark-infested waters as it moves toward the final installment of a three-episode arc that was not-so-coincidentally timed with February sweeps.
With all of the style and tone that signaled the demise of “ER,” the three-episode stretch began with a ferry accident in which the passenger boat was hit by a cargo ship because of heavy fog, causing massive injuries.
The disaster scene at the Seattle ferry terminal, which was shot on location, was enough to make any Pacific Northwesterner shiver. The ferry sat crushed on one side while bloody and panicked victims looked for medical aid and lost loved ones. Body bags occupied the spots on the pavement that are usually reserved for cars waiting to get on the next boat.
It all lived up to the usual expectations for a sweeps-month episode, until the end of the first night, when an injured man accidentally pushed Meredith (played by the squinty-eyed Ellen Pompeo) off the edge of the dock and into the drink.
When Thursday night’s episode aired, Meredith’s main squeeze, Dr. McDreamy (Patrick Dempsey) fished her out of the water and rushed her back to the hospital for treatment.
As the final moments of the episode ticked away, they took Grey’s heartbeat with them. She flat-lined and – cue the sharks – she saw a flash of white light and was greeted by Denny and Dylan, two beloved guest characters from the past who have died in the hospital.
Sound like too much?
Yes, it does.
But if there are any writers and actors who can pull this story off, it’s the ones behind “Grey’s.” I’m not saying they will, but they can.
The first step is taking the doctors off the hospital beds.
Meredith is the one whose life hangs in the balance now, but the previous week’s episode involved a viral outbreak caused by toxic blood that was wiping out doctors faster than you could say “Didn’t they already do a quarantine-the-hospital-because-there’s-an-outbreak-that’s-wiping-out-doctors episode on ‘ER’?”
OK, that actually takes a little while to say.
But you get the point.
Even the best shows are allowed an early slump, and “Grey’s” has always lived in that space between cutting-edge soap and melodrama. “Desperate Housewives” is proving this season that there is life after creative struggle and now, with its title character clinging to life after literally falling over the edge, it’s time to see if “Grey’s” can do the same.
Victor Balta’s TV column runs Mondays and Thursdays on the A&E page. Reach him at 425-339-3455 or vbalta@heraldnet.com.
On TV
“Grey’s Anatomy,” 9 p.m. Thursday, KOMO, Channel 4
Victors pick: Locals among Idol finalists
Among the 12 guys and 12 girls that make up the 24 American Idol finalists are three Puget Sound-area contestants to keep our eyes on.
The semifinals begin at 8 p.m. Tuesday on KCPQ, Channel 13.
The closest of the three is Blake Lewis, a 25-year-old Bothell resident who first impressed the judges with his beat boxing before showing that he could also sing. Lewis was a member of a youth choir group that traveled to Europe and already provided one of the shows brightest moments one group night last week when his quartet did a stunning rendition of the Bee Gees hit How Deep Is Your Love?
Two Federal Way residents are also in the mix.
Amy Krebs, 22, has been singing since she was a small child and attended the American Musical and Dramatic Academy in New York City. She lived in Germany for three years and is fluent in German.
Sanjaya Malakar, 17, comes from a family of singers and spent four years in Hawaii performing with the Hawaii Childrens Theater. Sanjayas sister, Shyamali, also made it to Hollywood but was eliminated when the group was narrowed down to 40 singers.
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