Happy happy Thursday everyone, welcome back to yet another now weekly edition of my passion blog, featuring the many, many deaths of characters in Greys Anatomy. Thus far i’ve focused on many characters that had been introduced early on and had an unfortunate ending pretty deep into the series. This week however, we are taking a step back in time to look at the first significant character death of the show. All the way back in episode 24 of season 5, member of “MAGIC” (the original 5 interns: Meredith, Alex, George, Izzy, and Cristina) George O’Malley made his departure from the show, and paved the way for the deaths that followed, being the first of many to contribute to the hospital being nicknamed “Seattle Grace Mercy Death” for the ridiculous amount of death and near-death experience doctors there faced. 
First making an appearance in episode 1 of season 1, George was about as OG as it got, as a surgical intern in Merediths rotation, both with Dr. Miranda Bailey as their resident (mentor/one in charge of them). He got off to a pretty rough start, and was even nicknamed 007 in one of the first few episodes after botching his first surgery as an intern. The intern appy (appendectomy) was meant to be done by the intern that showed the most promise, chosen by one of the experienced surgeons. George however proved to have a bit of work left to do, as he froze and was unable to complete the surgery. Throughout the seasons his skills improved and he eventually became a very talented surgeon.
As far as love interests go, George had a couple, but none too significant. There was Callie Torres, who he actually married for a short period of time, though it was a very quick marriage as they definitely rushed into things. Most significant was his not so secret crush on Meredith, which unfortunately for him did not turn into anything other than a one night stand that left everyone a little more than slightly uncomfortable afterward. Aside from Meredith, Izzy, Alex, and Cristina, George was probably closest with Merediths little sister Lexi (her blog post was one of the first). They bonded after George failed his intern exam and was held back until he could retake it, ending up in Lexi’s group of new interns, and even living with her for a period of time.
At the end of season 5, George begins to show interest in the field of trauma surgery, and goes to Dr. Owen Hunt, who had served in the military for advice. It’s during this conversation that George became convinced to join the army, where he would be a trauma surgeon just as Hunt had. After giving his notice to the chief of surgery, hewas given his last day off to spend with his family. It was on his way home from the hospital that George jumped in front of a bus to save the life of a stranger in the road.
When he was first brought into the hospital by ambulance, one knew who he was because he was unrecognizable from the accident. It wasn’t until Meredith went into check on “John Doe” that George took her hand and traced ‘007’ into it. Meredith quickly figured out that it was, in fact, George. Many people didn’t believe that it was him because there was no proof that he really did trace 007, and there was no reason for them to think it was him otherwise. It wasn’t until Callie Torres remembered that George had a birthmark on his hand that looked like Texas and went to check it that they were able to confirm John Doe to be George. His brain swelled during surgery and he was ultimately declared brain dead. Most of his organs were donated following the surgery.
This death was a rough one not only to the sudden manner (per usual with this show), but that fact that it really was the first big death of the series, so viewers had little preparation for the pain that losing a main character really brought forth. He was mentioned a couple times throughout when family members were admitted to the hospital, and ended up having a feature in Meredith’s dream in one of the latest seasons. Overall, his time on the show was much shorter than most, but like them all, he carried a strong impact and personality, that makes him memorable no matter the amount of years that go by.
Image Sources:
https://ew.com/article/2013/09/16/im-still-not-over-george-omalley-death-greys-anatomy/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_O%27Malley
What a great post! I love the way you tell the stories of these characters, giving them life all over again and getting your readers emotionally invested. I really like the way you included pictures so that your audience can visualize who you are talking about. Your storytelling capabilities are commendable and are what make your posts so enjoyable to read! Very good job on your post this week and I look forward to reading another amazing one next week!
Like most of the deaths featured in this show, this one completely came out of no where. However, I think the writers were very creative with George’s death (as morbid as that sounds.) His death shows George’s true nature of selflessness, and it was very shocking when he reveals to Meredith that it was him. You always give a good job of providing background information for those who have never watched this show!