Grey’s Anatomy showrunner surprised at ‘cruelty’ of fans who hate Meredith’s new relationship

 

Four years after her husband's death, Meredith Grey has found love again - and the reaction of Grey's Anatomy fans has been pretty mixed so far.

Some fans are happy for Meredith. Others...still really, really miss Derek Shepherd. Grey's showrunner Krista Vernoff has said she was "shocked" at the "cruelty" of some fans' reactions. Waring: The rest of this story contains spoilers for Grey's Anatomy season 15.  Don't say we didn't warn you.  Meredith took a massive step in her relationship with DeLuca this week, when they finally 'went public': not only did she tell Alex they were a thing (for HR reasons), they went to a party together. But it seems like the fan-favourite character's new storyline isn't sitting well with some fans - mostly as they're not quite over the death of her husband, Derek. Despite, y'know, the fact that he passed away in season 11. Krista Vernoff, the show runner of the long-running medical drama, said that the fans' reaction has "shocked" her - and that it was "cruelty" to want Meredith to never move on from Derek. She told TV Guide: 

"At this point, Andrew DeLuca is a wonderful surprise in Meredith's life. He is surprising to her on every level. And I think the biggest surprise for her is how much easy joy this relationship elicits. "I am shocked that anyone could simultaneously love a character and wish that she remain without romantic love for the rest of her life no matter how long her life is. That seems like a cruelty. "And it seems like a cruelty rooted in reverence for her first love and I don't relate to it. I don't understand it. "I don't understand it. The idea that anyone could root for her to live a loveless life after being widowed at such a young age is crazy to me."

She added that while Meredith and Derek's relationship can never be replaced - or even replicated - it's time for Meredith to start a brand new chapter in her life. She continued:

"I think that the show spent years paying homage to the love that was built for the first 11 or so seasons with Derek. "If you look at her in the post-Derek years, she's not wearing makeup. She took herself to and through that place of grief and that place of what does it matter and OK I'm spending my life alone now and I've hung it up now. "And now if you look, you're starting to see more makeup, more wardrobe. Nail polish. She's very subtly returning ... to the land of the living and the land of the romantic living. "It's a relief now for the character to be emerging and letting Derek live in a beautiful place rather than a deeply painful place in her memory."