Grey's Anatomy is such an enduring and compelling series because it portrays its main characters as flawed human beings who are capable of making poor decisions. It is that realism that generates the drama that seems to endlessly plague Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital with affairs of the heart, professional rivalries, and no shortage of morbid humor often at the expense of the other characters. Still, Grey's doesn't always make sense. For my money, one of the most nonsensical storylines comes in the aftermath of the infamous Season 8 plane crash, which had a huge impact on Grey's Anatomy.
"The Seattle Grace Five" – Meredith, Cristina, Derek, Arizona, and Mark Sloan – managed to survive a horrendous plane crash that left them stranded in the woods. The crash not only killed Lexie Grey, Meredith's younger sister, but later took Mark Sloan's life when he fell into a coma due to his injuries and couldn't wake up. Left with little understanding of why this happened to them, the survivors decided to sue the hospital for putting them on the plane in the first place. They won a shocking amount of money almost immediately, but then hit a roadblock when the insurance companies refused to pay the money because, somehow, they were liable for the plane's crash.
The Journey to Boise Hospital Became a Nightmare
Season 8, Episode 24, "Flight," is One of Grey's Anatomy's Biggest Events
Mark Sloan, Meredith Grey, and Cristina Yang sit around mourning where their plane crashed on Grey's Anatomy.
It was supposed to be a simple trip. After successfully separating conjoined twins, the team was sent to Boise Memorial Hospital to help with the separation of another set of conjoined twins. The plane they were on, chartered by Bayview Aeronautics, ended up crashing in the woods, which meant the passengers were stranded for days. An event like this would already have been traumatizing, but the crash also caused one of Grey's Anatomy's saddest deaths when Lexie died. Meredith was understandably devastated, especially because she hadn't managed to say goodbye. The survivors spent the time until they were rescued fending off hunger, the cold, and the animals who would later come to claim Lexie's body.
In the aftermath of the crash and their later rescue, the Seattle Five were not only saddled with picking up the pieces of their lives, but dealing with their new normal. Cristina wasn't speaking because of the trauma and shock, Arizona lost her leg due when infection set in, which also impacted Arizona's relationship with Callie Torres, Derek Shepherd had to face losing his best friend when Mark wouldn't wake up, and Meredith had to readjust to life without Lexie. I can understand how they'd be devastated, angry, and lost, so what they did next seemed the logical conclusion. It's just that they focused on the wrong target.
The pilot of the plane, Jerry, also survived, but he was paralyzed in the aftermath.
The Seattle Five decided to sue for the emotional and physical damage caused by the crash, but they ended up suing the hospital for what happened. The logic was that since they were harmed while on a work-related trip, and placed on a plane that clearly wasn't safe, the hospital was responsible for their suffering. I, and many other fans (including this Reddit user) don't believe that this was the correct path forward. If anyone was at fault here, it was Bayview Aeronautics for not having properly examined its own vehicle before flying. For the sake of drama, though, the Grey Sloan Memorial hospital became the target. This did lead to the team eventually claiming ownership of the hospital and changing the direction of the series, but I was left wondering if this was actually a choice they would make. This leads into my next point about how the whole situation regarding the insurance company was utterly ridiculous.
The Seattle 5 Won Without a Fight
Grey's Anatomy's Plane Crash Storyline Raises a Lot of Questions
Image via ABC
When the Seattle Five all agreed to sue the hospital, they were shocked by how quickly the judge ruled in their favor. Each of the survivors was granted $15 million as a settlement for the damages caused to them. Some may have been thrilled by this outcome, but the team was less than enthused about winning what they considered to be "blood money." Hesitation quickly turned to outrage when the insurance companies refused to pay the money. It's not a surprise really. On the best of days, getting insurance to pay for something is like pulling teeth. 15 million a piece, though? Of course, the insurance companies were going to fight tooth and nail to not have to deliver it.
Yet, their argument had to be one of the most outlandish plot points Grey's Anatomy had ever conceived. Despite the obvious damage done to the doctors, the years of therapy, both emotional and physical, ahead of them, the insurance company felt it best to deny them their hard-earned money because, and I'm not kidding about this, the doctors violated the safety regulations laid out by Bayview Aeronautics, and therefore were liable for the plane crash.
The Seattle Grace Five were composed of Meredith Grey, Derek Shepherd, Arizona Robbins, Cristina Yang, and Mark Sloan.
Now, before anyone starts saying that safety regulations need to be followed, one must understand why this particular ruling was just a flimsy excuse not to pay the money: The protocol the Grey's doctors broke was bringing six people on a flight that was only meant to carry two. While the plane was small, this couldn't possibly have meant the vehicle would crash if it had a few extra people on it. The more likely answer for this policy was to conserve fuel, as added weight on a small plane can be critical in understanding how far it can travel before needing more fuel. So, had I been in their position, I can just imagine how infuriating it must have been to be told that all the trauma, loss, and physical harm done to me was actually my fault.
Poor Logic Nearly Denied the Grey Sloan Memorial Doctors Their Due
Grey's Anatomy Didn't Assign Blame Correctly
Ellen Pompeo as Meredith Grey on Grey's Anatomy
Think about it. The insurance company was blaming the people who got onto the plane that would later crash for said crash. Instead of focusing on Bayview Aeronautics, which got out of this mess without so much as a penny lost to its wallet, the insurance company, much like the doctors, focused on the wrong target. Maybe there was some kind of twisted karma there, but I still think both would have better spent time examining how a flight company could allow such a thing to happen. I'm no expert in airplane technologies, but thankfully, a Reddit user explained this in much simpler terms.
Imagine I went out to a restaurant and ordered soup. The waiter comes up to me with it, but ends up spilling the hot soup all over me. Somehow, I find my friend to be at fault for taking me to the restaurant, rather than the waiter who actually messed up here. That is essentially what happened to the doctors. Blame went to the wrong party – first by the survivors and then by the insurance company that didn't want to pay up. If anything, Bayview Aeronautics was the true villain of this story, and it barely got any screen time.
Mark Sloan already told Derek years in advance to give him thirty days to come out of a coma, and if he could not, they had his permission to pull the plug.
The truly sad part about all this was that Grey's Anatomy legitimately tried to use this as a major part of the story. It felt a bit demeaning to watch everyone miss the obvious culprit here, and even more so considering it robbed Grey's of Mark and Lexie, two fan-favorite characters. Part of me wishes that they could revisit this plot and realize that they sued the wrong person all those years ago, or maybe even have another problem caused by Bayview Aeronautics that the doctors need to fix. Either way, it is upsetting to me and other fans that the doctors were not allowed to seek justice against the ones who actually wronged them.
