15 Reasons You're Still Watching 'Grey's Anatomy'

When it comes to Grey's Anatomy, you're in one of two camps: you stopped watching the juicy hospital drama years ago, or you're still pretty obsessed. There really is no in-between. Your best friends who gave up a long ago might think you are completely crazy because they just don't get why you would still be curling up on the couch after a long day and checking out the latest episode. Why not focus on other shows that are less frustrating and haven't been on for about a billion years? You wish they would stop saying that because you will never, ever stop watching this show. You just won't. Hey, you don't bug them about their choices of TV shows, even when you think they should break up with a lot of their fave shows. You're just not really in the habit of judging people's television choices. To each their own, right? So you will never give up this pop culture addiction and that's just the way that it's going to be.

Here are 15 reasons you're still watching Grey's Anatomy.

15 You've Come This Far

The thing with watching a TV show for years… and years… is that you can't really give up. If you randomly quit a show after season 6 (or 10 or whatever it is), you're going to feel like you wasted a whole lot of time. The main reason you're still watching Grey's is because you don't want to have wasted your own time. Sure, sometimes that means you do get kind of annoyed while watching because when storylines don't go the way that you wanted them to go, or characters make choices that you don't think they should, you wonder why you're still watching this show. But can you really give it up at this point? Wouldn't that be kind of strange? You're just so used to watching it that you can't even imagine stopping before the show runs its entire course. It's kind of crazy when you think that this show is now on season 13. That's really a whole lot of time invested.

14 You Need To Know What Happens To Everyone

So because you have been watching Grey's Anatomy for 13 seasons, you are really into the characters. You feel so close to them, they could be your own friends or family members. Well, okay, only some of them (we are looking at you, intern after intern). There have been a few new characters over the years that you just did not really like and felt were hogging a whole lot of screen time. You can't imagine giving up on the show before you find out what happens to everyone. Will Miranda Bailey continue to run the hospital or will she totally fail? Will Richard stick around or officially retire and move away? Will Meredith ever find love again? Will Maggie? Will Alex and Jo finally, finally get back together? You can't possibly break up with this show without getting answers to all of those questions, and that is a fact.

13 You Want To Be Meredith's BFF

Sure, at first glance, Meredith Grey doesn't seem like the best BFF out there. She can be in a really bad mood all the time, she's super tough, and she's carrying a whole lot of emotional baggage from her childhood with her every single place that she goes. You might not like her the moment that you meet her because she might be kind of rude to you. But the thing with Meredith is that she totally and completely grows on you. By the end of the first season, you really love her. You wish that you were her BFF because she really does care about the people in her life, even if she doesn't always show it at first, and even if she finds showing emotions to be super difficult. Just look at how much she cares about Alex and how much she has been supporting him while he goes through his current tough time.

12 You Have A Crush On Alex

Yup. You do. You have to admit it now. Maybe you thought this for a while but thought that you loved Derek more, or even Mark back in the day (R.IP.) But while those two men were called McDreamy and McSteamy for a reason, it really is that Alex who has captured your heart. He has really changed as a person and that is super inspiring to watch. It makes him even hotter, right? Plus there's the fact that he works with babies and kids and absolutely adores them. He's seriously so good with children, it's crazy -- especially when you think about what he was like when he first started working at the hospital. You would never have thought that's the surgical field that he would go into, but here he is, and he's doing such a great job. Well, besides his current issue, but that's another story, and you're hoping it will work out well for him.

11 You Still Believe In Jackson And April

Of all the star-crossed couples who have long since said goodbye, you really feel that Jackson and April should get back together. You just don't get why they broke up. Okay, you just don't get why Jackson seems so adamant that they will never be a couple ever again. Why did he get so mad that she wanted to go to a war zone and work with a foundation? Shouldn't he understand that she needed to think about anything other than the baby boy that she just lost? Grief may make people make pretty crazy decisions, but this is one choice that makes total and complete sense for April, so it's not that nuts after all. He should have supported her and just let her deal with her sadness that way, and then they could have stayed together. They definitely seem to still be crushing on each other so their break-up seems to have been for nothing.

10 You Have A Soft Spot For Richard Webber

Is there a sweeter character on a television show than Richard Webber? Probably not. He has struggled a lot in his life and has had a lot of tragedy, from his alcoholism to losing his wife, but he does his best to be a good person and be there for all the other doctors. He just loves the hospital so much, it's pretty much his second home, and you can just tell that he adores his career. He adores it so much he pretty much gave up being chief, and you think that is a really awesome, selfless decision. You have a soft spot for this character and so you would never even dream of giving up on the show since you just have to keep watching and seeing where he ends up. You totally cheered when he married Avery's mom, Catherine, because now it finally seems like he's going to have the happiness that you knew was within him all along.

9 You Still Have Faith

Okay, so you know that a lot of crazy (and not in a good way) things have happened on this show. You're not naive and innocent. You know that a lot of people gave up the good fight after the fourth or fifth season or so, which was when Izzie's storyline totally went off the rails and Katherine Heigl famously said she shouldn't be nominated for an Emmy because the writing wasn't good enough. Ouch. Thankfully, things have gotten better since then, and you do legitimately love this show. But the truth is that it's not perfect, and even though that's okay because nothing is, you still have faith that the storylines can get even juicer and more addicting. You know that in a few episodes, you're going to get super into the show once again. You won't believe the cliffhangers and you'll be texting your BFFs, asking them why they gave up on the show so soon and begging them to keep watching so you can talk about it.

8 You Miss Cristina

Does it make sense that you are still watching Grey's Anatomy because you miss Cristina Yang? Yes, it makes total and complete sense. Ande here is why: because when you miss a friend, whether because you broke up with them since they were super toxic or because they tragically passed away, you want to surround yourself with people that you love. Maybe you want to hang out with your other friends more or maybe you spend more time with your family. That is what you are doing now, but since these people are not technically real and you can't exactly hang out with them, you are doing the next best thing -- watching them on your TV screen. You can't really explain why, but it just makes you feel so much better when you watch Meredith. It is like you have that connection to Cristina since they were total besties.

7 You've Seen The Characters Change

When you break up with a television show, it's usually because you have become totally bored, the characters don't ever do anything interesting, and the storylines are anything but addicting. It can also be because the characters just never change. They always make awful choices and they know they're unhappy but they just don't make an effort to better themselves. That is really frustrating to witness in a friend or a family member, it's almost worse when you see that in a character on a show that you love. But you're still watching Grey's Anatomy because the characters do change, and you've witnessed it in every single season. Meredith has become a more compassionate person who takes responsibility for her actions and tries to help others at the hospital. Alex has probably changed the most of all since now he can deal with his emotions and actually talk about things.

6 You Need To See Jo Happy

Of all the newer characters, you really love Jo. You just can't help it. Sure, she can sometimes be kind of annoying since she can be in a really bad mood. But ever since you learned that she is hiding the fact that she is still technically married to a guy who has been awful toward her, you forgive her for any of her mistakes and flaws. You know that she's been dealing with a tragedy ever since she started working at the hospital. And you also have known that she used to sleep in her car and was basically homeless for a while, so that made you empathetic toward her as well. You have to keep watching the show because you really need to see Jo happy. You're pretty attached to her by now and you need to see her and Alex get back together. She has to tell him what is really going on and he has to help her leave her terrible husband behind once and for all.

5 You Wish You Worked At This Hospital

The truth is that you wish you worked at Seattle Grace Mercy West Hospital. You just do. Every time you watch the doctors hanging out before rounds -- getting changed in the staff lounge, grabbing coffee, chatting and gossiping -- you just think it would be so fun to be a part of it. Sure, you don't exactly want to deal with the whole gross surgery part -- that wouldn't be so awesome. But you're totally ignoring that. Besides the surgery, you know that working at this hospital means getting involved in everyone's personal business, finding new guys to fall in love with on pretty much a daily basis, and feeling like the entire world revolves around you and your friends. Yeah, it really does sound like a ton of fun. You also wish that you could grab drinks and junk food with all the doctors at the nearby bar that they're always going to.

4 You Don't Think It Sucks

You're sick of defending how much you love this show because the thing is that you don't really think it sucks… at least not as much as everyone says. If it sucked that bad, would you really still be watching? No, you wouldn't. You would have bowed out long ago. When you think about all of the things that have happened in every single season, let alone every single episode, you're pretty much in awe. There have been so many happy moments and dramatic times and even when there is darkness in a certain storyline, there is some hopeful layer running underneath, and you're always inspired. You think it's basically a beautiful show that might have a few missed opportunities for greatness, but for the most part, you just love it and you just don't think it's as horrible as people say. And you're going to defend this show forever, even though you're tired of doing that. Sigh.

3 You Live For The Cliffhangers

If any show has a ton of cliffhangers, it is Grey's Anatomy. Whoa. You can't even with the amount of cliffhangers on this drama. But you totally love them so it's not like you're complaining. You know that when there's a mid-season finale near the holidays, your mind is going to be blown and you won't believe what has just happened. You also know that the season finale is going to rock your entire world because this happens every single time. It's like clockwork. You're never disappointed in a finale -- yes, even when Derek tragically died -- because you always know that the writers have a great game plan and they know what they're doing. You always want to be surprised when you're obsessed with a TV show and that always happens with Grey's. So you don't really have a reason to stop watching, and that's the truth.

2 You're Just Not Done

When you stop watching a TV show, you feel totally and completely done with the characters, the storylines, and the entire series' worldview. You just don't care anymore. In fact, you're so done caring, you can't even believe it. But that's just not how you feel about this show. You're not finished with any of the people, you're not done dreaming of the couples that should totally get back together, and you're not done swooning over the cute male doctors. If you haven't stopped watching the show by now -- season 13 -- why would you? It just doesn't make any sense. Plus there's the fact that you don't think the show is as terrible as everyone says that it is. You really do love it and you really do look forward to every single new episode. So when someone acts like you're totally crazy for still tuning in, you just shrug because you don't want to fight about it. You know you're right, though.

1 You're A Shonda Rhimes Superfan

You can't give up on Grey's Anatomy because that would mean giving up on Shonda Rhimes. And that's just not something that you are willing to do. She is so inspiring and motivating and just a really beautiful writer and human being, and you love having the chance to watch her show unfold on a weekly basis. You're also totally obsessed with Scandal and How To Get Away With Murder, and you love the fact that you can watch three of Shonda's shows. You trust her and believe that she has a good game plan for all of her series, but especially Grey's. It's basically her baby and you can just tell that she really holds a special place in her heart for this show since it is what brought her success and put her on the television map. So you're not breaking up with Grey's Anatomy, no matter how much your best friends tell you to.