Anatomy of a scroll: Inside TikTok’s AI-powered algorithms – POLITICO Europe

This article is part of a series, Bots and ballots: How artificial intelligence is reshaping elections worldwide, presented by Luminate.

When Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7, many sought updates from their main source for news: social media.

But unlike previous global conflicts, where the digital discourse was dominated by Facebook and X (formerly Twitter), the ongoing Middle East crisis has seen people flock to TikTok, in their millions, to relate news and express opinions.

Even as the video-sharing apps popularity has ballooned, the inner workings of its complex, artificial intelligence-powered algorithms remain a mystery.

Individuals see only a fraction of what is posted daily on TikTok. And what they do see is highly curated by the companys automated systems designed to keep people glued to their smartphones. Using AI technology known as machine learning and so-called recommender systems, these systems determine, within milliseconds, what content to display to social media users.

POLITICO set out to shed light on how TikToks algorithms work, and to root out which side in the war in the Middle East Israeli or Palestinian was winning hearts and minds on the social network now heavily favored by young people.

Thats become a hot political question after pro-Israeli groups and some Western lawmakers accused TikTok owned by Beijing-based ByteDance of unfairly promoting pro-Palestinian content for potential political impact. TikTok denies the accusations.

The conflicts political effects are already evident in partisan clashes across Western democracies as people pick sides in the war and decide how to vote. U.S. President Joe Bidens support for Israel has drawn criticism from Arab-Americans, and it could eventually cost him the November election. In the United Kingdom, the populist independent candidate George Galloway harnessed pro-Palestinian sentiment to win a seat in the British parliament in March. University campus protests have erupted on both sides of the Atlantic.

TikToks algorithms are crucial to how all kinds of political content reaches social media feeds. Examining the companys algorithms is a good proxy for how artificial intelligence is now a key player in determining what we see online.

POLITICO teamed up with Laura Edelson, a researcher at Northeastern University in Boston, to track pro-Palestinian and pro-Israeli TikTok content over four months between Oct. 7, 2023, and Jan. 29, 2024.

That involved creating a list of 50 popular hashtags like #IStandWithIsrael or #SavePalestine that could be directly associated with either side. More apolitical hashtags, like #Gaza or #Israel, were used to collect data on posts that did not have a specific leaning.

In total, Edelson analyzed 350,000 TikTok posts from the United States.

To make the data more digestible, she broke down the posts into three-day windows around specific events. That includes the initial Hamas attacks (Oct. 7-9); Israels invasion of Gaza (Oct. 27-29); and the release of the first Israeli hostages (Nov. 24-27.) As a control for bias, she also included Nov. 6-8 in the analysis, as a proxy for periods when no major events took place.

TikTok, like other social media platforms, amplifies some content more than others, said Edelson. That can have a distorting effect on what people see in their feeds.

What emerged was evidence of TikTok grappling with its role in real-time as one of the main global digital town squares where people gather to express their opinions and, often, disagree.

Over the four-month period, Edelsons research found approximately 20 times more pro-Palestinian content produced, based on the hashtags analyzed, compared with pro-Israeli material. Yet that didnt necessarily equate to more pro-Palestininan posts winding up in the average persons TikTok feed.

Instead, Edelson found three distinct times when the likelihood of people seeing pro-Israeli or pro-Palestinian content in their TikTok feeds changed markedly no matter how much overall material was being produced by either side.

TikTok did not respond to specific requests for comment about the Northeastern University research. In a blog post in April, the company said it hadremoved more than 3.1 million videos and suspended more than 140,000 livestreams in Israel and Palestine for violating its terms of service.

Much about how these social media algorithms work is unknown. It is unclear who within companies engineers, policy officials or top executives determines how they function. Its also difficult to determine when changes are made, although regulatory efforts by the European Union and the United States are trying to shine a larger spotlight on these practices.

What follows below is an example of how, when you dig into the numbers, much of what users see on social media relies heavily on complex algorithms that are regularly tweaked with little if any oversight.

The TikTok posts were collected separately via Junkipedia, a repository of social media content managed by the National Conference on Citizenship, a nonprofit organization. They represent the most viewed partisan posts over each time period.

For the first three and a half weeks of the conflict, views per post the number of times actual content was served up into peoples TikTok feeds skewed toward pro-Palestinian content.

Over that time, generally apolitical material like mainstream news garnered the most actual views. But between pro-Israeli and pro-Palestinian posts, the latter was likelier to make it into someones feed, no matter their view on the conflict.

As soon as Hamas attacked Israel, TikTok was flooded with pro-Palestinian viewpoints, many of which showed solidarity for the Palestinian cause despite the violent attacks.

In the early days of the war, social media users posted harrowing videos of life in Gaza or demonstrations favoring the Palestinian cause.

As the American president toured the region, pro-Palestinian content dominated peoples feeds, based on the average views per post. That included rallying calls for the wider Muslim world to support Gaza.

In late October, without warning, things started to change on TikTok.

Between Oct. 27 and Dec. 15, pro-Israeli content overtook pro-Palestinian material, based on views per post data, despite the overall volume of pro-Palestinian content still far out-stripping pro-Israeli material.

In short, over that seven-week period, TikTok users, on average, were a lot likelier to see material that favored Israel. The likeliest explanation based on overall pro-Palestinian content still outpacing pro-Israeli posts is an adjustment to how the companys algorithms populated peoples feeds. Edelson, the academic, told POLITICO more research was needed to replicate her results.

On TikTok, influencers pushed back at those who accused them of copying Israeli government talking points or attacking well-known celebrities for their alleged pro-Palestinian bias.

American pro-Israeli groups created viral videos that portrayed pro-Palestinian campaigners as callously ignoring the plights of hostages, while others championed the countrys law enforcement agencies.

Given the U.S.s close ties to Israel, American social media influencers many with ties to the countrys evangelical churches took up the cause on TikTok. Others associated the Middle East conflict with domestic American politics.

There are reportedly hundreds of Palestinians being treated in Al Shifa hospital, and more than 1,000 internally displaced Gazans inside. None of them have been killed as Israel targets the terrorists and takes unparalleled measures to protect civilians. #StandWithIsrael

original sound AIPAC

By far the most-viewed content over this period related to the freeing of Israeli hostages. That included emotional reunions between family members and pro-Israeli TikTok users explaining what had just happened.

Official social media accounts made their presence felt as hostilities resumed in late November. That included the Israeli Defense Forces, whose posts were collectively viewed hundreds of thousands of times.

And then, after Dec. 15, TikToks algorithmic approach to these posts changed again.

Progressively, as the conflict continued without an end in sight, both pro-Israeli and pro-Palestinian content often failed to reach TikTok users, based on views per post. In part, thats down to war apathy as the worlds attention began to turn elsewhere.

But the fall-off in views for content from either side dropped faster than would have been expected by the reduction in TikTok posts created about the war, Edelson said. There could be explanations other than the company tweaking its content algorithms. But the change in viewing patterns did not match the change in the volume of material produced over the same period.

Despite the drop in views, pro-Israeli posts still provided vivid first-person accounts of what life was like in the country amid the ongoing war.

Tel Aviv wasnt averse to using TikTok to get its political message out to the world, especially after a South Africa-led push to hold Israel legally accountable for alleged genocide.

Four months into the conflict, social media influencers tried to drum up global support for Palestine via so-called TikTok challenges that were replicated by multiple accounts.

Part of the crowdsourced pro-Palestinian strategy was to highlight supporters worldwide while calling out the alleged hypocrisy of those who favored Israel in the conflict.

Many especially those above the age of 30 see the video-sharing network as fluff, mostly dance crazes and digital fads with nothing to do with politics.

Theyre mistaken.

Edelson said that TikTok was similar to other social media giants in that its algorithms were designed to promote what is popular. The reasoning: to serve up what people want to see so they stick around as long as possible.

Thats OK when its viral videos of dogs or cute babies. Its something completely different when its highly charged political content about a geopolitical hotspot where people are dying every day. Such events leave social networks like TikTok and their automated curation models in the unenviable position of determining what is popular at the risk of crowding out minority opinions.

When it comes to politics, like anything else, the discourse of social media prioritizes the majority, added Edelson. We should think very seriously about what that means.

This article is part of a series, Bots and ballots: How artificial intelligence is reshaping elections worldwide, presented by Luminate. The article is produced with full editorial independence by POLITICO reporters and editors. Learn more about editorial content presented by outside advertisers.

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Anatomy of a scroll: Inside TikTok's AI-powered algorithms - POLITICO Europe

Grey’s Anatomy: The Kai Bartley Character Explained (& Where You’ve Seen The Actor) – Screen Rant

Summary

Kai Bartley is a character new to Grey's Anatomy in season 18 and keen-eyed viewers may recognize the actor from one of their other notable performances. Over the 20 seasons and counting of Grey's Anatomy, dozens of new characters have been introduced, some appreciated by fans, others not so beloved. The characters who end up sticking around are those like Bartley, who present fascinating new dynamics with other characters in the series. It's difficult for a character to be a lone wolf on the show unless their name is Meredith Grey (Ellen Pompeo).

Kai Bartley fits well in that mold with their own storylines, and connections with other characters that feel authentic and grow those other cast members as well. They are also part of a legacy of exemplary LGBTQ+ representation in Grey's Anatomy. Shonda Rhimes has always made an effort to have representation be a core tenet of all her shows and Grey's Anatomy, in particular, frequently features diverse characters in both supporting and major parts, ever since its debut in 2005 when the subject was not as represented on mainstream television.

Grey's Anatomy season 20, episode 4 might have marked the return of Arizona, but it's Amelia Shepherd's latest potential romance that is most notable.

Kai Bartley is the first character to appear on Grey's Anatomy who identifies as non-binary. Using the pronouns they/them, Bartley arrives in season 18, episode 2, "Some Kind of Tomorrow", as a neuroscientist working in Minnesota who helps Amelia Shepherd (Caterina Scorsone) on a Parkinson's research team. Amelia frequently travels between Minnesota and Seattle for research and she and Kai slowly develop feelings for one another.

In season 18, episode 12, "The Makings of You", Kai and Amelia go on a date and end up having sex later that night, signaling a serious step forward in their relationship. It's the type of relationship Kai's actor, E.R. Fightmaster, hoped for when they were cast on the show. The actor, who is also non-binary, told NBC how great it would be to become a love interest akin to Derek "McDreamy" Shepherd (Patrick Dempsey), from the first 11 seasons of the show.

Kai and Fightmaster would be welcome back considering Fightmaster's romantic, intelligent, and nuanced portrayal of the character.

While the end of Kai's story saw them leaving for London for a job opportunity in season 19, episode 15, "Mama Who Bore Me", a departure that broke Amelia's heart, they could return in a later season. Kai and Fightmaster would be welcome back considering Fightmaster's romantic, intelligent, and nuanced portrayal of the character. They bring quite a bit to the series.

Grey's Anatomy is the most high-profile project of Fightmaster's career up to this point. While they have only had a few screen credits in their filmography, they began their career with The Second City Chicago, the comedy and acting boot camp that has produced stars from John Belushi to Tim Robinson. Their only other credits come in short films, and two episodes of Work in Progress and Tales From the Closet, the latter of which they play themselves.

However, Fightmaster does have one other notable non-Grey's Anatomy role, which comes in Aidy Bryant's (also a Second City alum) comedy series Shrill, where they play Em/Emily. Em appears in season 2 of the show and begins dating Fran (Lolly Adefope), a relationship that's threatened when Fran wavers on moving in with Em. Both Fightmaster's Grey's Anatomy and Shrill characters are non-binary, and neither role makes a big deal about how they identify, creating a much welcomed and normalized characterization.

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Grey's Anatomy is considered one of the great television shows of our time, winning several awards and four Emmys. The high-intensity medical drama follows Meredith Grey and the team of doctors at Grey Sloan Memorial, who are faced with life-or-death decisions on a daily basis. They seek comfort from one another, and, at times, more than just friendship. Together they discover that neither medicine nor relationships can be defined in black and white.

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Grey's Anatomy: The Kai Bartley Character Explained (& Where You've Seen The Actor) - Screen Rant

Grey’s Anatomy: Season 20, Episode 7, "She Used to Be Mine," Recap & Spoilers – CBR

The following contains spoilers from Grey's Anatomy, Season 20, Episode 7, "She Used to Be Mine," which aired Thursday, May 9 on ABC.

None of the Grey-Sloan Memorial doctors are having the morning they had planned. Simone Griffith and her father and sister, Ebony, are helping her grandmother move into an assisted living facility, though Granny Joyce doesn't remember picking out the place. Joyce also still thinks Simone is her mother, Denise. Simone can't quite bring herself to leave, even if it means she'll be late for work.

Lucas Adams, on the other hand, won't be late. He might get his Aunt Amelia Shepherd into a car accident, though, as he's so focused on the questions she's asking him in preparation for the upcoming intern exam that he flies through a stop sign. When he asks Amelia why she can't just ask him the questions without backseat driving, she asks him why he can't study with the other interns. And that is a can of worms Lucas can't quite bring himself to open on the drive to work.

Speaking of the other interns, Mika Yasuda and Benson Kwan, who are now roommates, are arriving at Grey-Sloan Memorial in Mika's van, which seems to be on its last leg. When "Leona" finally comes to a thumping halt in the middle of the parking lot, Benson hops out, leaving Mika to handle getting the van started again on her own.

Teddy Altman and Owen Hunt are walking into the hospital, going through the motions of their life -- Allison's playdate and what kind of socks she needs for the indoor gym, etc. -- when they run into Amelia, who has made it to the hospital in one piece. Owen immediately bails on the conversation, heading to the cafeteria, which Teddy finds odd. She mentions his weird behavior to Amelia, but she can't get a straight answer out of her either, not even when Amelia's terrible lying skills make it clear that whatever Owen is going through, he's been talking to Amelia about it.

In the ICU, Miranda Bailey is walking the interns to a patient's room and reminding them that their exam is in one week -- and they better not screw it up. They also need to complete their procedure logs. Adams and Yasuda are done, but Kwan and Jules Millin still have to finish. And Griffith? She arrives late, just as they reach their patient's room. Their first stop of the day is with Dorian Cardenas, who was shot in Season 20, Episode 2, "Keep the Family Close." This time, they have good news -- Dorian is finally being downgraded from the ICU and being taken to a new room upstairs. As Bailey leaves for surgery, Levi Schmitt sends Griffith, Millin, and Kwan down to the pit and has Adams and Yasuda take Dorian to his new room.

Downstairs, Millin and Kwan join Hunt and Atticus "Link" Lincoln to meet two ambulances arriving at the entrance, but not before they make a bet -- the last of the two of them to finish their procedure log buys drinks at Joe's. When they unload the ambulances, they meet Gillian and Cassandra, a couple who were in a car accident though pretty quickly, the doctors find out that it was because they were fooling around in the backseat of Gillian's car; one of them accidentally hit the parking brake, and the car went flying down the hill and into Cassandra's parked car. Cassandra, whose knee is incredibly swollen, is super high on pain meds, and Gillian has a massive headache, but otherwise, they're fine. Embarrassed but fine. Just as the doctors are getting ready to examine both women, Gillian's husband, Aaron, shows up, changing the whole dynamic. Cassandra is hidden behind the curtain dividing their beds, and Millin has to stick Cassandra's bright pink bra, found among Gillian's clothes, down the back of her pants to keep Aaron from seeing. Things are about to get messy.

Griffith was assigned to a different case and is meeting with Miles Ferguson, who is in the ER for a broken wrist and has brought along his daughter and his very pregnant wife, Lauren, who is experiencing Braxton Hicks contractions and heartburn. Griffith is at her finest dealing with the Fergusons -- she examines Miles and sets him up with an X-ray, whisks Lauren off to OB, and even promises four-year-old Jayden that she might know where the OB nurses hide the cookies. Upstairs, Griffith keeps Jayden entertained while Jo Wilson examines Lauren, who is not experiencing Braxton Hicks after all. She is absolutely in labor and is already four and a half centimeters dilated. Lauren was scheduled to go back to the OB the following day, and the last time she was in, they ran blood work, but they hadn't called her back about any of her tests. Wilson tasks Griffith with getting prenatal records, running a new set of labs, getting Jayden to the hospital daycare, and ensuring Miles gets up to OB as soon as possible. The baby will be there much sooner than they expected!

Back in the pit, Kwan and Millin up the ante on their bet -- the loser buys drinks and fries -- just in time to hear Gillian and Aaron fighting. He's figured out Cassandra, who he thinks is just his wife's friend, was also in the accident and is blaming her. Hunt finally manages to quell the fighting when he announces that CT is ready, and he and Millin rush Gillian out of the pit, leaving Aaron behind. Gillian hopes the CT will take a while, but Hunt assures her that it's quick. When she asks if they want to know what happened, Hunt tells her she doesn't need to tell them anything, but Millin is always down for some good gossip. Shepherd shows up to check the CT while Gillian is telling them about how her marriage got complacent, and then she meets Cassandra at the PTA, and Hunt looks worried. Is that where he and Teddy are headed?

Griffith arrives to tell Miles that Lauren is in labor, and he panics, trying to get up and leave without his bone having been set. Griffith manages to get him to sit back down by talking him through what will happen. "We'll take you to the cast room so someone from Ortho can set the bone, they'll make you a splint, and then you can go have a baby." Griffith rushes back upstairs to let Lauren know what is happening with Miles and then leaves to meet up with him, and just after she leaves, things begin to go haywire. Lauren's nose starts bleeding, her blood pressure skyrockets, and then suddenly, she's having an eclamptic seizure. This is no longer going to be a simple vaginal birth. Lauren needs an emergency c-section. Someone page Carina DeLuca!

In a procedure room, Link is letting Kwan drain Cassandra's knee as she tells them about falling in love with Gillian and how great the sex is. Girlfriend is still a little high, which is even more evident when she loopily asks Kwan for her bra back. Millin still has that, so Kwan asks her to meet him in the cafeteria, where he is having lunch with Griffith and Yasuda -- roomies! -- as Adams sits at the next table over, alone. After Millin arrives, giving him the bra before grabbing her own lunch, Kwan gets paged to radiology and has to leave, but not before upping the ante with Millin again. The loser buys dinner at Joe's. Millin wants wine pairings.

Richard Webber, who spotted Winston Ndugu getting flirty with a nurse on the cardio floor earlier in the episode, is excited to scrub in with Ndugu on a hiatal hernia and is surprised to find Altman scrubbing in with him instead. When he talks to Ndugu about it, he tells him that they don't need to avoid each other just because Winston and Maggie are getting divorced. Winston tells him that his bypass graft ran long; that's the only reason he sent Altman. "So...I just made it weird," Richard says. Yes, sir. You sure did.

In the OR, Carina DeLuca has arrived to perform Lauren's emergency c-section. The baby looks great, but Lauren is immediately bleeding heavily. At first, Wilson thinks they get it under control, but then Lauren starts hemorrhaging. DeLuca asks if she complained of upper abdominal pain, and Wilson tells her that she thought it was just the labor. They will need to do an ex-lap and bring in Bailey, who is finishing up a lap chole. She arrives just before Griffith, who has just dropped Miles off in OB, and is shocked to see Lauren on the table in the OR. DeLuca has to take out Lauren's uterus, and Bailey tells Griffith, who freezes momentarily, to call the blood bank.

When Lauren codes, Bailey has to begin performing CPR and tells Griffith to gown and glove. Griffith reminds her that her procedure log isn't done, but Bailey doesn't care; she just needs her hands. Bailey instructs Griffith to clamp with her fingers, just like she did when she and Adams were stuck in an ambulance and performing a pringle maneuver with Bailey and Meredith Grey walking them through it from outside the rig in Season 20, Episode 1, "We've Only Just Begun." She manages to do it, but once Lauren has a heartbeat again and Bailey starts on the procedure, Griffith finally looks down at Lauren. All she can see is her own mother, who died giving birth to Simone, lying on the table and wearing the dress she had on in the picture Simone looked at with her Granny that very morning.

Now that he's no longer in the ICU, Dorian's friends from graduate school have shown up to see how he's doing. They brought him a huge manila envelope of cards and lots of stories. Adams, feeling left out of his own friend group, thinks he sees the same thing happening to Dorian, especially when Dorian asks his friends to give him a minute. Instead, Dorian reveals that he thinks his ostomy bag is leaking. They page Schmitt, and together, the doctors discover that it's actually his incision that is leaking. They find an enterocutaneous fistula, which means Dorian's small bowel and skin got connected during the healing process, which means Dorian has to stop even his liquid diet and might have to go back to the ICU.

Adams, who promised Dorian he would tell his friends what happened, unleashes on the two graduate students, giving them a hard time for the stories they were telling. "He's been hanging on by a thread for weeks! And he's already feeling disconnected enough, not knowing how long he'll be here. He doesn't need to listen to stories about people he doesn't know or graduations he won't attend. He just needs to know that you're actually here for him." Yasuda catches him yelling at them and tells him to take a walk, then follows him after apologizing to Dorian's friends. Adams is upset that Dorian's friends are just now visiting, and Yasuda reminds him that maybe Dorian didn't want them there and then asks him what his problem is, but Adams doesn't answer. He just storms off.

Though her CT was clear, Gillian still has a massive headache, and Aaron isn't making it any better. When she finally can't take his interrupting anymore, she finally tells him the truth, yelling at him that she and Cassandra are having an affair. Every head in the ER turns, and Aaron leaves, but Gillian tells Millin and Hunt that she felt better while yelling. Millin says that sometimes things just need to be let out, but that's not what Gillian means. Her headache disappeared when she was yelling, so she proceeds to yell everything she says from then on.

When they take her back to CT, Shepherd has her yell while they take one more scan, and that's when they spot what is wrong. Gillian has an Arnold-Chiari malformation, which can develop from whiplash. The screaming shifts her cerebellar tonsils, relieving the intracranial pressure. Gillian, still yelling, asks if there is anything that can be done, and Shepherd tells her they'll perform the surgery that evening. Shepherd also tells Hunt he needs to talk to his wife. After getting Gillian settled in a room and returning Cassandra's bra, Millin and Kwan up the ante on their bet one final time. If Kwan loses, he'll buy Millin a steak and lobster dinner at Nicoletti's. Millin says that if she loses, they'll have sex in a car. It's anyone's game at this point.

Up in the nursery, Wilson and Griffith approach Miles, who is holding his newborn baby. DeLuca already told Miles that Lauren had to have an emergency c-section and was losing blood, so he's bracing for the worst, but Lauren survived. She lost a lot of blood and will need several weeks of recovery, but she is stable and headed to the ICU. Griffith tells him that the heartburn Lauren thought she was having was actually preeclampsia, and Miles starts to break down. "Shouldn't someone have seen this?" he asks. "I mean, we were just at her OB. We were here for two hours before she went into labor. All we've done is plan. You know, since the day we found out we were having another baby. I mean, we read all the books and the online discussions. We just settled on a doula and a lactation consultant, just in case. You know, Lauren was not gonna be another statistic. This was not in our plan."

When Wilson leaves to find out how long it will be until Miles can see Lauren, he starts to tell Griffith that he doesn't know if he could have handled Jayden and the baby if Lauren had died. She tells him he could have, and then she asks him if they've picked out a name. When Miles answers, though, he isn't Miles. Griffith sees her own father telling her that the baby's name is Simone. In a panic, Griffith backs away, and her father disappears. She hears Miles telling her that the name means "faith," but she doesn't catch the name, so he says it again. "Imani. It means 'faith'."

When Wilson is checking on Lauren in the ICU, she finally gets the test results she ordered when Lauren first checked in at OB. They tell her that Lauren has HELLP Syndrome, a complication of severe preeclampsia that affects the blood and liver. Wilson tells Link, who came by to go home with her, that if she had just rushed the labs, it all could have been avoided. She knows the statistics, especially for Black women like Lauren. Link thinks she's being a little hard on herself, but Wilson doesn't. "My patient was sick, and I didn't know it!" She doesn't know if she didn't ask the right questions or if she wasn't listening, but she doesn't want to miss something with another patient, so she decides to quit general surgery and focus solely on OB. Link, who always supports Wilson, tells her okay. He doesn't try to push her to stay in general surgery; he just shows her that he trusts her judgment and supports her decision, which is all Wilson has ever needed.

In the lobby, Aaron is waiting to find out how Gillian is when Hunt spots him. Hunt tells him that Gillian is okay and that Shepherd repaired the malformation. Then Aaron starts to talk about his marriage. "There was never any big fight or anything. We just stopped talking. And I told myself that maybe that's what happens when you've been married for 20 years. You know what the other person is thinking. You don't have to talk. But I think... I was just scared of losing her. So I didn't ask. But now I've lost her anyway." While Aaron talks, revelation breaks over Hunt's face. He doesn't want to lose Teddy either, so he finds her in her office and tells her as much. He tells her that it feels like they're on autopilot, which made sense when she was recovering, but it still feels like they're far apart, even though she's better. "We don't talk anymore. I am struggling in my work right now, and I'm talking to Amelia about it when I should be talking to you," he admits.

Teddy says that she wants him to talk to her, and he tells her that he can't because he doesn't want to put more stress on her. She starts to tell him that she's fine, but he cuts her off. "You flatlined in front of me," he says, still obviously scared that he'll really lose her if it happens again. Teddy wants him to know that he's not going to break her. "If there is anything that I have been able to count on in the last 20 years, it's you. It's us," she says, and Owen tells her that he misses her. Teddy walks away, but only to lock the door. They can turn down the lights in her office and spend a little time together, maybe even get naked. After all, the kids are at home, already asleep.

Before heading out for the day, Mika finds Lucas in the intern locker room. She tells him that he's lucky she is the one who saw him yelling at Dorian's friends and not Schmitt or Bailey, and Lucas asks if she would have done the same thing for Kwan. Mika reminds him that he's the one who moved out and then tells him that she didn't ask Kwan to move in; Griffith did. She starts to tell him that she's sorry things didn't work out for him and Griffith, and he interrupts her, telling her that it's not about Simone. "You said you were done," he says, referring to her comments to him after he stole a procedure from her in Season 20, Episode 3, "Walk on the Ocean." "I was mad that you stole the procedure," she says, "I didn't think that you would just, like, disappear into the middle of the night like my camp girlfriend after I wrote her a poem!"

Suddenly, Lucas is laughing, but not at Mika. "I'm remembering what it was like to fight with you, and it's -- I mean, this is the most normal I've felt in a while." Mika tells him he's pathetic and then calls him "Skywalker," which she hasn't done in a long time. A smile breaks over Lucas's face. He has his friend back.

At Joe's, Millin and Kwan are making good on their bet -- which Millin lost. Kwan offers to cover their milkshakes, which could be considered either dessert or drinks, but Millin tells him that she settles her bets. All that's left is sex in a car. Mika shows up, annoyed that Kwan ate without her, and tells him he has to sit and wait until she's done. Will Millin and Kwan end up getting together? Only time will tell.

Also at Joe's, Simone has lost count of the number of tequila shots she has had. She can't remember the bartender's name and tries to hide in her tequila shot when Bailey comes in to pick up her dinner. "Let's go," Bailey says, ready to take Griffith home, and Griffith tries to tell Bailey that she doesn't have to listen to her outside of work hours. "If you like your job, you will not finish that sentence," Bailey says, and Griffith goes with her. Bailey takes her home and sets her up in front of the fire, bringing her a cup of something warm, which Simone immediately sets on the table next to her. Simone says she should have been thinking about atypical abdominal pain, and even though Bailey reminds her that she's not an OB-GYN, she still feels like she should have said something to Wilson. Then she tells Bailey the thing she's been holding in all day, that her mother died at Grey-Sloan while giving birth to her. Bailey didn't know, and it's written all over her face that she suddenly understands why the day was so tough for Griffith -- and why she's so drunk.

"I don't know all the details, but I know someone missed something," Simone continues. "And I always wondered who those doctors were. Now I know they're me." Bailey tells her that she did everything she was taught and that the events of the day are the perfect example of why patients like Lauren need surgeons like them. "It is our job to make sure that no one falls through the cracks," Bailey tells her. "To make sure that no one overlooks their pain." Bailey acknowledges that it isn't fair that Lauren should be awake and holding her baby, but it's not Simone's fault that she's not. She hands the warm mug back to Simone and tells her to get some rest. It's clear from the tears in Simone's eyes that this is not the last time her mother's death will impact her work.

Grey's Anatomy airs Thursdays at 9/8c on ABC.

A drama centered on the personal and professional lives of five surgical interns and their supervisors.

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Grey's Anatomy: Season 20, Episode 7, "She Used to Be Mine," Recap & Spoilers - CBR

Can science explain why couples break up? The mathematical anatomy of a fall – The Conversation

French director Justine Triets Anatomy of a Fall, winner of the 2023 Oscar for best original script, reconstructs a fatal fall in order to dissect the collapse of the romantic relationship between the films leading couple, Sandra Voyter and Samuel Maleski.

Far from an exception, breakups of the sort depicted in the film are commonplace: global data shows high levels of marriage failure, with a marked increase towards the end of the last century.

In some Western countries, as many as 50% of marriages do not make it past 25 years, giving rise to the popular maxim half of all marriages end in divorce.

According to Triet, the strange thing is for a relationship to work. The majority are hellish, and the film aims to go deep into that hell.

Importantly, divorce statistics do not account for the number of relationships that are unhappy. Perhaps the majority are indeed hellish, but some marriages today are long-lasting, and seem stronger and more loving than any that came before. This dichotomy widespread failure or exceptional success seems to summarise the current state of marriage in the West. This has been dubbed the all or nothing marriage.

Scientific studies have established that romantic relationships tend to drop off, meaning that, on average, satisfaction levels reduce over time. Successful couples are able to arrest this fall, finding a satisfying level that can last indefinitely. Many others, however, gradually decline to the point where breaking up is only a matter of time.

Relationship psychology shows that love alone is not enough to keep a couple together it requires effort. Relationship scientist John Gottman likens this to the second law of thermodynamics, whereby a closed system such as a marriage degenerates unless energy is supplied. As he puts it, if you do nothing to make things get better in your marriage but do not do anything wrong, the marriage will still tend to get worse over time.

The all or nothing theory therefore suggests that successful relationships require a significant investment of time and energy. Couples who make this commitment will be rewarded with a high level of satisfaction, while those who fail to do so, like Samuel and Sandra in Triets film, are destined to fail.

But why do some couples manage to stop this fall and stay happy? Like Samuel and Sandra, all couples start out in love, and want to be happy together forever. If we assume that they are compatible and willing to make the effort together, they form what some call an Adam and Eve relationship the Biblical archetype of a harmonious, lasting union.

Using dynamic systems to analyse this relationship model confirms the all or nothing theory.

Dynamic systems are a mathematical tool for understanding the evolution of a variable over time. In the case of romantic relationships, we are interested in the feeling of love in a couple. Because effort is needed to sustain the relationship, it becomes a dynamic system controlled by effort: effort regulates feeling, with the objective of making the feeling last forever.

By applying this effort control theory, our research has found that a successful relationship requires effort beyond the partners preferred level, and that this effort gap is difficult to sustain over time.

As Sandra Voyter says in Triets film, there are times when a relationship is chaotic, others when you fight alone, sometimes alongside your partner, and sometimes against your partner.

Samuel and Sandras relationship has elements in common with any other couples relationship. The starting point is very high: feeling is at its peak, and there is a shared belief that it will never end. Both are willing to contribute to the happiness of the relationship by making their own individual efforts, and both know that some kind of shock or external event will eventually alter this state.

Generally speaking, couples with the same socioeconomic, cultural, or religious background known as homogamous couples are more stable. Many couples, however, are heterogamous, meaning they differ in one or more of these regards.

Heterogamy can extend beyond an individuals circumstances: on its most elemental level, it can boil down to a mismatch or imbalance in how efficient one member of a couple is in transforming effort into feeling or happiness. Such a disparity may lead to asymmetrical levels of effort being dedicated to making the relationship successful, which are already higher than those both members would prefer to make.

This is the case in Samuel and Sandras relationship: at one point in the film Samuel highlights this imbalance, and Sandra replies that she does not believe a couple should make equal efforts, saying she finds the idea depressing.

Our latest computational models for assessing the dynamics of imbalanced effort levels in couples allow us to simulate the evolution of happiness in a relationship, both in predictable environments and with varying levels of uncertainty. Our simulations suggest that Sandra is right: each partner does not have to make the same level of effort.

One of the films scenes where Sandra and Samuel reproach each other for the efforts made or not made to sustain the relationship displays typical negative couple dynamics, where each has a bone to pick. The film also implies that Samuel has made or is making more effort than Sandra in their relationship. Our analysis shows, perhaps surprisingly, that the more emotionally efficient partner has to make a greater effort to sustain the relationship. In the film, it appears that this is Samuel.

Our analysis also shows that when the couple is subjected to a stressful episode, both partners need to increase their effort levels if the relationship is to survive. However, the more efficient partners effort level has to increase more. In the film, Sandra and Samuels relationship is subjected to a tremendous misfortune, which has a prolonged and pronounced effect on its narrative arc. This is why Samuel feels much more stressed than Sandra.

Mathematics offers an outcome in line with the films plot: the continuous overexertion of the most emotionally efficient partner amplified by a prolonged period of crisis leads to the relationship falling apart. In the case of the film, this also leads to Samuels fall.

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Can science explain why couples break up? The mathematical anatomy of a fall - The Conversation

Explore the Props That Give ‘Grey’s Anatomy’ Its Edge – Shondaland.com

The world of Greys Anatomy requires lots (and lots) of props. From 3D-printed fetuses to sourcing the right medical instruments to creating edible food to capture the magic and accuracy of Greys, the props have been spearheaded by property master Ryan Blank.

One of his more memorable prop endeavors was in season 14 when he and special effects coordinator Jason Gustafson set up the famous elephant toothpaste experiment for Maggie, which Blank says was a wonderful and unique challenge.

This experience using massive beakers to create 20-foot-tall spouts of elephants toothpaste was the most fun Ive had in my entire career, he recalls. Jason and I, because we did the practice runs repeatedly together, ran the gag on set the day it was shot. Repeating the gag over and over with consistent results was an absolute blast.

Blanks props can be so popular that hes even encountered cast members attempting to pilfer them from the set. But one of the most challenging moments in his job is when props are changed at the last minute or during rehearsal for the scene, and the list of these props is endless and always evolving, he says.

Though this weeks prop wasnt as hands-on (or messy!) as the elephant toothpaste, it still took thought, time, and a major collaboration. Miranda gifts a copy of the just-released Red Cloak Volume 12 to Dorian, one of her patients, whos been at Grey Sloan for 51 days clearly, things have not been easy for Dorian. In the original script for the episode, Blue and Mika admire the book, with Mika saying she might swipe it from Dorian. But theres no need for that: Blue has the entire collection at home. Although the book only makes a brief appearance in the final version, a lot of effort went into making it.

Typically, in a situation where something must be created, I would research and find examples of something similar to work from, Blank explains. In this case, I was perfect for the task as a lifelong consumer and collector of comic books. I already knew what would make the book authentic. Mom was wrong my love for comic books finally paid off!

Dorian (Freddy Miyares)

To imagine the Red Cloak series, Blank worked with episode director Debbie Allen to understand the writers expectations for what it should look like and what the tone should be. He then collaborated with production designer John Zachary, who enlisted

Zachary gave Beeguer some references that reflected the mood of what I thought was appropriate, along with the script pages. These showed the characters from the show interacting with the comic book, helping me understand the context, Beeguer says. They emphasized that the main focus should be on the composition of the pages and cover, with the text and story coming second. This approach will ensure that viewers can grasp the content and subject matter even if the filming doesnt capture the text clearly.

In the early 2000s, Beeguer created several short comics for Heavy Metal magazine, which he incorporated as an inspiration. I used sketches, photographs, and various personal artworks to train an artificial intelligence model, he explains. By providing prompts that described elements like the red cape and the action, I compiled a series of promising images and a style.

A mockup of graphic novel Red Cloak by Matthias Beeguer

Ultimately, the AI model generated hundreds of images. Although not everything was right for Red Cloak, it gave Beeguer a head start on imagining the artwork. He used Photoshop to add missing elements, adjust the images, and put together the narrative and the composition, which tell a story across several pages.

Controlling the backgrounds and the colors was very important for cohesiveness, he says. The bulk of the work was given to the covers and backing options, painting details, and textures to achieve a more finished look. The whole process took two days. Unfortunately, at the end of the second day, we realized that the dimensions of the frames were different than the book the prop department had ordered with the printer, so I spent an extra day reconverting to a different, more elongated composition, which of course gave me further opportunities to fix numerous issues, repaint some elements, and make sure everything was going to look its best in high resolution.

For Beeguer, the process was rewarding and enjoyable despite the hurdles. Working with unrestricted creativity is my favorite approach, and Im incredibly thankful to the Greys Anatomy team for giving me the rare opportunity to exercise that principle, he says.

Not only do the fictional Red Cloak books appear in the episode, but they have also been used to decorate Blues bedroom in the intern house. Discerning fans can spot the series on his bookcase. Although they play only a small role on this season of Greys Anatomy, it is a memorable one.

John chose well, Blank says of Beeguers work. The images were incredible, and we had more than enough material to create multiple versions of the graphic novel.

Emily Zemler is a freelance writer and journalist based in London. She regularly contributes to the Los Angeles Times, Rolling Stone, and Observer, and is the author of five books. Follow her on Twitter @emilyzemler.

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Explore the Props That Give 'Grey's Anatomy' Its Edge - Shondaland.com

Ross Procedure Outcomes in Children Tied to Anatomy – Newswise

Newswise The Ross procedurewhich uses a childs healthy pulmonary valve to replace a diseased aortic valvehas been shown to have excellent outcomes in pediatric patients overall. But how does a patients age and heart anatomy impact the surgerys success?

To answer this question, a team at Childrens Hospital Los Angeles recently conducted a 30-year study of more than 300 pediatric patients who underwent the Ross at CHLA. The studythe largest pediatric Ross study of its kind at a single centerexamined outcomes not only by patients age, but also by the complexity of their congenital heart disease.

What we found is that the risk is higher in neonates and infants, but that is because those patients have a higher rate of more complex heart defects, says Markian Bojko, MD, a USC surgical resident and author of the study. The higher risk is a result of those other pathologies, not the Ross procedure itself.

Dr. Bojko presented the findings at the American Association for Thoracic Surgery Annual Meeting, held April 27-30 in Toronto. Vaughn Starnes, MD, Chief of Cardiovascular Surgery and Co-Director of the Heart Institute at Childrens Hospital Los Angeles, was the studys senior author.

Childrens Hospital Los Angeles is one of just a handful of pediatric centers in the country with expertise in performing the Ross procedure, and Dr. Starnes is a world leader in this complex surgery.

Because the Ross uses the childs own valve, that valve then grows with the child instead of needing multiple replacements. Long-term survival rates for children with a Ross also match the general populationsomething that is not true for those who receive mechanical valves. In addition, patients do not have to be on lifelong blood thinner therapy.

Being on blood thinners is difficult for kids, says Dr. Starnes, the H. Russell Smith Foundation Chair in Cardiothoracic Surgery. They cant go to the playground; they cant play sports like soccer or baseball. But children with a Ross procedure can do all of those things. It gives them back their childhood.

Still, there has been a perception that the technically demanding operation is too risky in younger patientsspecifically neonates (younger than 30 days) and infants under 1 year.

In the study, the team looked at all pediatric patients, from birth to 18 years of age, who underwent the Ross at CHLA since 1992. The study, which included 317 patients, found that:

What we found is that its these more complex defects that raise the risk, often because these babies need a second major surgery at the same time as the Ross, Dr. Bojko explains. But when the disease was isolated, even the youngest patients did very well.

The research builds on the results of a 2021 study, led by John Cleveland, MD, at CHLA, which showed that the Ross had excellent long-term durability for infants and neonates.

That study also found that more complex diseaseespecially Shones complex and interrupted aortic arch with ventricular septal defectsignificantly increased the risk of poor outcomes for these youngest patients.

Based on those resultsconfirmed by this latest researchthe CHLA team often takes a single-ventricle approach for these high-risk babies.

Doing a Norwood for babies with Shones complex allows those babies and their heart structures to grow for a year or two, Dr. Starnes says. Then we can go back and take down the Norwood and do a Ross procedure at that later time. That significantly lowers the risk.

But for many other young patients who need an aortic valve, the Ross remains the best option, he adds. Its becoming the operation of choice for young adults and children.

Study authors were Markian Bojko, Luke Wiggins, John Cleveland, Ramsey Elsayed, David Cleveland and Vaughn Starnes.

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Ross Procedure Outcomes in Children Tied to Anatomy - Newswise

Grey’s Anatomy Season 20 Subtly Confirms Simone & Lucas Still Have A Future Together – Screen Rant

Warning! SPOILERS about Grey's Anatomy season 20, episode 6 ahead.

Simone and Lucas have been barely communicating in Greys Anatomy season 20, but one detail in season 20, episode 6 hints their connection is still far from being severed despite the ending twist. Connecting immediately after Greys Anatomy season 19 introduced them as the new interns, Lucas and Simone had all the markings to become the medical dramas newest It couple. Their fast friendship, their undeniable attraction they fought because getting into Grey Sloan Memorial as interns was already a last-chance opportunity, and Simones canceled wedding returning on track all upped the stakes of their evident feelings for each other.

However, choosing to operate on Sam Sutton despite only being interns in Greys Anatomy season 19s ending left Simone and Lucas out of sync. From Simone throwing Lucas under the bus when asked by the hospitals lawyers if she would have opened the patient if Lucas werent in the OR to Lucas moving out of Merediths house without telling Simone or Mika, they shut each other out, transforming their misunderstandings into a permanent disconnection. This prompted a new world order in Greys Anatomy season 20, leading the interns alliances to mutate greatly because of Lucas and Simones unwillingness to talk.

No medical drama has had the staying power of Grey's Anatomy, and the long-running ABC series returns for its landmark 21st season

Greys Anatomy season 20, episode 6s events finally convinced Lucas to try talking to Simone again before finding out she had given his old room to Blue, leaving him unsettled. While Lucas was always the one trying to talk about their relationship as Simone preferred to avoid talking about what they were, Simone had created an opening by asking him to study together after episodes where they barely spoke, which he refused. All these mix-ups can contribute to the two finally having a future together if only they talked to each other.

While getting together right after Greys Anatomy season 19s finale could have easily let their bond go up in flames, Lucass disappointment can prompt a showdown he and Simone cannot avoid. Although all their attempts at connecting failed in Greys Anatomy season 20, their feelings were always there. Its particularly evident in Simone continuing to involve Lucas and Lucas comforting her after her difficult patient in Greys Anatomy season 20, episode 5, despite still being angry at her behavior. Were another high-stakes situation to cause Simone and Lucas to clash, they could talk it out instead of avoiding each other.

Although Simone and Lucass inability to be on the same wavelength in Greys Anatomy season 20 elicited various awkward encounters, it also gave all the interns the chance to form new alliances. Bailey forcing the interns to collaborate in Greys Anatomy season 20 tried to facilitate such a development, especially after the events of Greys Anatomy season 19s finale only brought conflict among the interns. However, it was Lucas and Simone actively avoiding each other that brought Simone to work with Blue and eventually get to know him, definitely substituting Lucas as a housemate and shifting the groups established dynamics.

Lucas and Simones rift upsets the intern groups balance, letting new friendships bloom and making the group better and more united as a consequence.

Greys Anatomys earliest seasons followed a similar pattern. While George, Meredith and Izzie originally hated Alex, Izzie befriending him eventually made him more acceptable to the others, like Meredith and Cristina becoming each others persons brought Cristina closer to Izzie and George, despite their differences. Similarly, Lucas and Simones separation affected the trio, with Mika able to form a bond with Jules, just as Simone befriended Blue. This could potentially benefit the interns in Greys Anatomy season 20 as, even if Simone and Lucas were to reconnect, they could all work better together having finally accepted each other.

Episode #

Title

Release Date

7

She Used to Be Mine

May 9, 2024

8

Blood, Sweat and Tears

May 16, 2024

9

I Carry Your Heart

May 23, 2024

10

TBA

May 30, 2024

Grey's Anatomy airs new episodes every Thursday on ABC at 9pm ET.

Grey's Anatomy is considered one of the great television shows of our time, winning several awards and four Emmys. The high-intensity medical drama follows Meredith Grey and the team of doctors at Grey Sloan Memorial, who are faced with life-or-death decisions on a daily basis. They seek comfort from one another, and, at times, more than just friendship. Together they discover that neither medicine nor relationships can be defined in black and white.

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Grey's Anatomy Season 20 Subtly Confirms Simone & Lucas Still Have A Future Together - Screen Rant

A Beloved Grey’s Anatomy Character Was Way More Problematic Than Fans Will Admit – CBR

Summary

In Greys Anatomy, Alex Karev was one of the original five interns who survived in the Seattle Grace Hospital for more than 15 years. He was shot, experienced a bomb going off in the OR, fell in love with a trauma patient, and saw many friends die, but lived through them all. Alex was introduced as the typical bad boy of the group who would go to any lengths to get his way. Before Mark Sloan became McSteamy, Alex Karev had a reputation for sleeping around and was generally the jerk that every woman hated. However, its safe to say that Alex Karev had one of the best character transformations in the series.

He went on from being the underdog to being interim chief and the best surgeon he could be. Alex didnt have an easy upbringing, and seeing him make something of himself was the best arc he could get. Unfortunately, no matter how good he go, Alex was problematic, and he remained that way despite the fans choosing to ignore his red flags.

Alex Karev got off on the wrong foot with almost everyone. He somehow thought it was okay to bully George because he was a softie and a more considerate gentleman than he was ever going to be. He used cheap tricks to get surgeries as an intern and started an incredibly toxic relationship with Izzie after being disrespectful and mean to her. Fortunately, the show impressively followed into the classic trope of turning the bad boy into a humble human being, but thats also not without its fair share of demerits.

The trope was not going to work for Alex fully because his problematic behavior was never really properly taken care of. It may have been suppressed for a while, but the tendency to go haywire was always there for Alex, and he mostly just needed a little push. Fans have been ignoring Alexs occasional meltdowns and mess-ups for years, and all for the sake of his character progressing comparatively better than he started.

Alex is a complicated character who rightfully belongs to the gray area. Hes not completely bad or good but struggles to keep up with his self-proclaimed righteousness and the occasional urge to punch the next guy. Hes a fascinating blend of arrogance and emotional vulnerability that made the audience fall for him in the first place. The viewers love an underdog, and Alex Karev played the perfect candidate who had the odds stacked against him. So, the fans naturally rooted for him to succeed and come out shining on the other side.

One of the major reasons why fans still choose to ignore Alexs red flags is because he represents hope for all those people who have been dealt a difficult hand. Being abandoned by his addict father at a young age and having to take care of his family wasnt exactly an ideal situation for a kid to nurture and grow. As he said one time, he was the kid and the father of the family. With his kind of background and childhood, its a more appealing sentiment and storyline to have him become someone better rather than end up as a failure.

Fans could have ignored a lot of what Alex did, but it's almost criminal to forgive him the way he treated women who were in a relationship with him. His and Izzies relationship may have been presented as a modern-day A Walk to Remember by the show, but there was nothing glorifying about their love. Alex and Izzie may have felt like their love was special, but they were definitely not meant to be together. Although Alex had been there for Izzie during her cancer treatment, the events leading up to their marriage were alarming from a relationship standpoint. He was mostly stressed and on edge throughout Izzies treatment, especially during and after the surgery. He said hurtful things to her and sometimes even blew things out of proportion.

Despite Izzie being a problematic character herself, she didnt deserve the way Alex used her as a punching bag. His reactions regarding the women he had a relationship with always had been severe. For instance, his whole meltdown regarding the DeLuca and Jo situation was absolutely uncalled for. Despite being a confident and successful person, Alex had still not recovered from his insecurities and jealousy. His jealousy played a major role in making his and Jos relationship quite unhealthy to the human eye, and beating DeLuca to a pulp was simply the cherry on top.

Although Alexs was a survivor and endured a terrible childhood, he was still too attached and emotional. He got overly attached to women like Izzie, Jo, and even Jane Doe, and then, because of his lack of communication skills, he ended up hurting them because he didnt know how to channel his feelings. Alex Karev was always the hot thing around the hospital, but he was never the healthiest. He had a pattern of falling too hard for women with traumatic pasts or present and then was unable to process the requirements and responsibilities of having a good relationship. Its not like he was a terrible partner because he was there whenever he was needed and was a guy to rely on in a tough situation.

However, his rage and violent tendencies didnt help his case at all, and they got worse with time. Instead of calming his demeanor down, the show went on to ignore his anger burst and even gave that arc a boost when he beat DeLuca and never even apologized for it when the former gave him a chance to. One of the worst things the show did to Alexs character was to make him more impulsive and stubborn as the seasons progressed. He rarely admitted his faults and was too proud to come out when his head was down for once.

While these qualities were necessary for a guy like him to survive in the world, they became so embedded in his personality that it was almost impossible for him to separate them. Fans werent too quick to admit that the Alex in latter seasons of the show was simply a more controlled version of what he was in the beginning. Despite coming a long way from how he was, his underlying problems and personality traits were never addressed in a way that would make him a good candidate for a redemption arc.

Almost the entire Greys Anatomy fandom can unanimously agree that Alex Karev had the worst exit in the show. The way he left the drama undid everything that the show might have done to redeem his character from the initial bad boy persona to a decent person who made it to the finish line as he dreamt. When Alex Karevs screen time was drastically reduced, the viewers were alarmed that the fan-favorite character might be leaving the show. They were right, but the show did not handle the characters exit well at all, which even enraged the fans at one point. Instead of having a tearjerker episode, Karev chose to walk off by sending four hand-written letters to the four most important people in his life.

Even with the actor not being on the screen, the prospect of Alex saying goodbye the way he did wouldnt have hurt that much. However, the whole storyline about him leaving Jo, his current wife, for his old flame, Izzie Stevens, was downright cruel. This one action cemented everything about his character being impulsive, unhealthy, and problematic, and no amount of handwritten letters could have redeemed that. Alex mentioned that he had left to stay with Izzie and their twins, whom they had via frozen embryos before Izzies surgery. All would have been forgiven if Alex Karev had gone out with guns blazing and a heartfelt goodbye that would have turned him into the hero that everyone wished him to be. However, the way his character was written off was not the treatment the character of that scale deserved.

Sure, there were many things wrong with Alex, but he was a fan-favorite character who stuck to the originality of what made the show tick in the first place. He may not have been a perfect boyfriend or a human, but he saved countless lives, and sometimes, he didnt even get the credit for it. Although Alex Karev could have been more than what he was, the fans will forever love him and have been more than eager to brush off his shortcomings.

A drama centered on the personal and professional lives of five surgical interns and their supervisors.

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A Beloved Grey's Anatomy Character Was Way More Problematic Than Fans Will Admit - CBR