Meredith Grey from Grey’s Anatomy is one of television’s most iconic characters. The lovely surgical intern with family issues and emotional instability immediately attracted the fans, especially when she slept with an attending on her first day. Nonetheless, besides all the drama, Meredith Grey has endured more than two decades’ worth of ups and downs, including experiencing several near-death experiences.
While she’s the medical drama’s heroine and often hailed as a great surgeon and person, Meredith has her fair share of questionable decisions. Meredith often undermined authority and took matters into her own hands despite knowing the dire consequences. Besides being impulsive in her career, Meredith was also unnecessarily harsh on some of the closest people to her.
10.She Threatened DeLuca to Drop the Case Against Alex
Meredith Was Quick to Find Ways to Get Alex Out of Trouble Instead of Respecting Justice
Being the only two remaining members of the “Five,” Meredith and Alex naturally became too protective of each other. He eventually became Meredith’s person, but that also caused Meredith to look past all of Alex’s flaws despite him being guilty at times. That’s why fans felt it was extremely uncalled for when Meredith unknowingly threatened DeLuca to drop the charges against Alex after he beat him to a pulp.
Alex had a misunderstanding about DeLuca and Jo, and instead of clearing things up in a civilized manner, he brutally beat him, almost bringing him to death’s door. What’s worse, instead of sympathizing with DeLuca or calling Alex out, Meredith’s priority was to keep Alex out of jail, even if it meant intimidating the victim.
9.Meredith’s Mistreatment of Lexie Grey
It Was Unfair of Her To Disregard Lexie’s Sentiments
Lexie Grey was one of the sweetest characters in the series, who genuinely wanted nothing more than to reconnect with her older sister. However, right off the bat, Meredith was dismissive of her and refused to acknowledge her as a sister. She was harsh on Lexie and even insulted her for trying to mend their relationship. She constantly pushed Lexie away despite the latter convincing her that all she wanted was to share their common familial problems.
Meredith was reluctant to believe that Lexie was as much of a victim in their awkward family situation as she was. She should have been the last person to judge Lexie for the sins of her father, and what was worse, she teamed up with Cristina to humiliate her. Although the two eventually became close, fans didn’t appreciate Meredith’s hostility toward Lexie for trying to get to know her sister.
8.She Did Not Include Derek’s Family During His Final Hours
Derek’s Family Deserved to Be On His Deathbed
Meredith Grey may have had difficult relationships with her family, but Derek wasn’t that way. He was fairly close to his mother and sisters, but Meredith made it seem as if she was the only good thing in his life. Before Derek’s death, she was reluctant to properly introduce Zola to the family despite Derek’s sisters reaching out to her. However, one of the cringiest things she did during Derek’s final moments was to deprive his family of the opportunity to say goodbye to him. When Meredith was informed about Derek’s accident, he was still on life support.
She had plenty of time to call his family, if not all, but at least Amelia, who had been in the picture with them for a while. Meredith had the audacity to make the critical decision of pulling the plug on Derek without consulting with anyone. Later, she even defended her decision when Amelia called her out for taking away the opportunity to at least try to save her brother.
7.Meredith Constantly Undermined Jo’s Importance In Alex’s Life
She Was Consistently Mean to Her Both At Work and At Home
Meredith had become overly protective of Alex even since Cristina left. She developed similar habits, including getting into bed with him unannounced, even with his girlfriend present. Although she may not have meant it the way it seemed, Meredith often seemed dismissive of Jo. She didn’t register her as someone more important than her and often crossed the boundaries that strained Alex and Jo’s relationship.
Some would even think that Meredith didn’t think Jo was worthy of being Alex’s partner and constantly made her feel like an outsider. She never really acknowledged her as a close female friend since she was literally filling in the absence of Cristina, Izzy, and even Lexie. Having said that, Meredith did accept Jo at some point, but it was too late to change the audience’s mind.
6.Meredith Wrongfully Blamed Penny For Derek’s Death
Penny Did Not Deserve to Be Blamed For What Her Superiors Did
Penny was the unfortunate resident present at the time of Derek’s mistreatment and eventual death. She was the only one who pushed for a CT but was later undermined by her superiors. She informed Meredith about Derek, and instead of sympathizing with her, Meredith immediately blamed Penny as if she was directly responsible. Moreover, when Penny returned to the show as Callie’s girlfriend, Meredith wasted no time in humiliating her by throwing it out at a dinner party that “perfect Penny killed Derek.”
Later, she continued to torture her in the hospital by getting her on her service but refusing to teach her. This was one of the worst qualities in Meredith Grey, as when it came to others’ mistakes, she was quick to judge and blame them as if she had never made a single mistake herself.
5.She Committed Insurance Fraud
It Was a Bittersweet Moment In Meredith’s Career
Fans had a somewhat mixed reaction to Meredith’s act of committing insurance fraud in order to get a little girl the medical facilities she deserved. Gabriella came to Grey Sloan Memorial and was diagnosed with cancer. Unfortunately, she was also denied state health insurance, after which Meredith decided to put her daughter’s name instead so that Gaby could use her health insurance. Of course, the act landed Meredith in hot water, and she almost lost her medical license.
Meredith had to appear in front of a medical board for her malpractice.
It’s not like committing insurance fraud to help a little girl was the worst thing Meredith did, but a woman in her position should have known better. Although her act went on to have a significant impact on highlighting the flaws in the healthcare system, she could have done it differently. There could have been other ways to help those in need without breaking the law or putting one’s career in jeopardy.
4.She Endangered Her and Derek’s Chances of Adopting Zola
Meredith Made the Worst Decision In the Face of Adversity
It’s difficult to understand why someone as talented and smart as Meredith would sometimes act so nonsensical in emotional situations. Meredith made one questionable decision after another when she deliberately tampered with Derek’s clinical trial. She destroyed Derek’s dream, endangered their marriage, and almost blew their chances to adopt Zola. Right after she was fired, a social worker was assigned to assess Meredith and Derek.
However, instead of facing the consequences, Meredith thought all her troubles would disappear if she and Zola hid. This might be one of the most ridiculous things she must have done, but what makes it cringe is that Meredith never fully feels the guilt of her actions. It’s safe to say that Season 8 was not a great time for Meredith.
3.Meredith Was Didn’t Accept of Maggie as Her Sister
She Was Presumptuous About Maggie’s Intentions of Approaching Her
When Maggie Pierce arrived at Grey Sloan Memorial, she also, like Lexie, wanted to mend her relationship with Meredith. However, as usual, Meredith’s first instinct towards her long-lost siblings is to show hostility. She was incredibly dismissive of Lexie and did the same with Maggie when she tried to get to know her. She completely shut Maggie out and went as far as being insensitive about Ellis Grey’s feelings for her.
Ellen Pompeo has appeared in more than 400 episodes of Grey’s Anatomy.
Meredith may be a great surgeon, but she was terrible when it came to dealing with family, especially siblings, who pretty much went through the same things as she did. Lexie had to deal with a drunken father, and Ellis essentially abandoned Maggie. If Meredith had the capacity to sympathize with a criminal, she sure could have given her half-sisters the benefit of the doubt.
2.She Gave George Mixed Signals
George’s Sincerity Deserved Better
George really had sincere feelings for Meredith, but she never considered him as a potential romantic partner. However, she should have been upfront about her stance instead of leading him on and then leaving him out to dry. One of the worst acts she did in this regard was “drunk sleeping” with him and then humiliating him halfway through by claiming that it was a mistake.
It’s safe to say that no matter how much Meredith claimed that George, Cristina, Alex, and Izzy were her family, she had the tendency to be self-centered. Not only she, but everyone treated George like trash because he wasn’t “dark” or had a soft demeanor. Ultimately, Meredith was hard on George, and it stung the viewers for the longest time.
1.Meredith Willingly Sabotaged Derek’s Trial
She Single-Handedly Destroyed Everything Around Her With One Questionable Action
One of the worst things Meredith did as a doctor and a partner was deliberately sabotaging Derek’s Alzheimer’s trial. She knew how much the clinical trial meant to Derek and the emotional attachment of him pursuing it in the first place. Meredith switched the medication so that the intended patient would get the active drug instead of the placebo. Meredith wanted Derek to consider Adele, Richard Webber’s wife, for the active drug, but he refused because she didn’t meet the requirements.
It’s Adele. She needed the drug. I had to do something. – Meredith to Derek (Season 7, Episode 22)
However, she later went behind his back to secretly alter the experiment, which later killed the trial completely. Grey’s altruistic decision appalled fans because a talented surgeon like Meredith should have known the consequences of such an impulsive act. Her actions would later strain her and Derek’s relationship and even cost Richard Webber his job.
