'Grey's Anatomy' Season 16: Andrew DeLuca needs to find his spine and stop being a doormat for Meredith Grey
'Grey’s Anatomy' is famous (or rather infamous) for love stories that punch you in the gut. Shonda Rhimes would give us expectations of the ideal partner and then crush our hearts into smithereens a few episodes or seasons later.
Dr Meredith Grey's turbulent romance with Derek Shepherd (Patrick Dempsey) came to a heartbreaking end with a car crash in season 11, and we were sure that we didn’t want anyone else to take his place and write post-it vows for our lead. Nathan Riggs came and went, assuring Meredith that she had the potential to move on.
And out of nowhere, handsome Italian doctor Andrew DeLuca, who earlier had a fling with Maggie Pierce, made a move on Meredith at the end of season 14. And so, began a scorching attraction between the two, with Meredith, as usual, holding back, till DeLuca quietly pushed her out of her comfort zone, and shockingly got an ‘I love you’ out of her by the end of season 15.
While MerDer will remain the golden ship for eternity, there has been a slow grudging acceptance of MerDeLuca too.
With DeLuca, Meredith seems to be finally happy. She laughs and flirts, and that’s something we haven’t seen for a long time. DeLuca seems to bring out the fun and light-hearted side in Meredith. However, unlike Derek, who used to stand his ground when Meredith made irrational decisions, DeLuca, for the most part, seems to appease Meredith and can’t seem to stand his ground with her. The man almost sacrificed his career to go to jail for her. As he himself says, "You look so sexy when you're about to bring your whole life down."
However, in the last episode, he finally gets irritated with Meredith’s impulsiveness and her rash-decision making, even it’s for the well-being of others. For the unversed, DeLuca calls out Meredith for ditching her community service after her insurance fraud case, putting her medical license, career and family at risk. Like Derek, he also told her off for being self-destructive.
It goes without saying that Meredith is less than happy with this assessment and takes the high road by saying, “If you think I’m just going to sit by and watch people die, then you don’t know me at all.” And sure enough, in the next episode, she’s already questioning the depth of her relationship with DeLuca. Oh Meredith.
Will Meredith and DeLuca’s romance survive or will it face the axe like most of our popular couples on the show?
