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'Grey's Anatomy' fans are pissed with creator Shonda Rhimes for not giving Alex Karev a proper farewell



"There's really no good way to say goodbye."

George, Christina, Izzie (and Arizona) all made an appearance on tonight's episode of "Grey's Anatomy." Us viewers even caught a glimpse of Derek. And no, it's not the year 2005 or 2009.

Season 16, episode 16 "Leave a Light On" was Alex Karev's farewell episode. The character, played by Justin Chambers, has grown on loyal Grey's fans for nearly 15 years. 

 Alex was a total douche in the beginning seasons as a surgical intern, but we have grown to love his character... the caring and grown man Alex who is Jo's loyal husband, our favorite pediatric doctor at Grey Sloan and later the chief of surgery at Pacific Northwest, and he's Mer's person ... but, all of this is past tense now... Alex was Jo's husband and he was Mer's person.

Alex starts a new life in Kansas ... with Izzie!

Meredith is now the last of the "final five." Alex didn't even give anyone a face-to-face goodbye. Instead, he crafted together handwritten letters to Mer, Jo, Bailey and Richard.

 Alex explains in his letters that he has left Jo for his old flame, Izzie Stevens (played by Katherine Heigl). You remember Izzie ... the love of his life. Izzie, the one who went ghost on him years ago and now Alex is doing the same thing to Jo. 

 Alex makes it clear that he loves both Izzie and Jo and if he had to choose, he would stay with Jo. But, the situation is more complicated. Alex also reveals that he and Izzie have twins together, conceived with frozen embryos after her character left the show in season 6. 

 Jo (and us viewers) were made to believe that Alex was visiting his mother in Iowa. Alex tells Jo he already got a divorce and he left everything to her, including his shares to the hospital.

 And just like that, Alex Karev is no more. 

 His character is wrapped up with flashbacks from his intern days and his love journey with Izzie, explanations in four letters, and moments of his and Izzie's kids playing. 

 The bosses over there at Grey's had Justin do all of the voiceovers for this goodbye episode but they couldn't have him come back to do one final episode in person? So frustrating after years of watching a character grow to have him reduced to this... to not getting a proper sendoff and storyline ending. 
Chambers unexpectedly announced his departure from the series in January. His last appearance on the show came in November’s “My Shot,” which featured patients coming to Meredith’s defense so she wouldn't lose her medical license. 

 While Alex was reaching out to former and current patients as well as old and current colleagues, he revealed he reached out to Izzie on Meredith's behalf... but also on his behalf, and that's when the two reconnected. While he was on the phone with Izzie, he heard kids in the background and soon found out he was a father. Now they're both together in Kansas raising their twins. 

 Look, I'm happy his kids will have their father around, but Alex writing letters and ditching everybody back home is giving me Alex season 1 vibes, and unfortunately, his character now ends up looking like a coward. What a way to leave the show.

 Alex Karev deserved better. The fans deserved better. The writers should have done better. 

 And, I'm not the only one who thinks Alex's goodbye episode sucks. A lot of fans are furious. Check out some of the social media responses below:










But wait... is it all entirely Shonda's fault? One Twitter user pointed this out:
Look, Shonda don't care. She knows we're going to keep watching this show, no matter how many people she kills and picks off.
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