Grey's Anatomy's Age Blunders Don't Go Unnoticed By Fans
Age is just a number. And that seems to ring true on "Grey's Anatomy." Fans have spent years watching these characters grow up right in front of their eyes. But those ages are becoming a sticking point for fans who are finding age discrepancies throughout the show's run.
In the Subreddit r/greysanatomy, there is plenty of chatter about the characters that are aging backward and the storylines that just don't seem to make sense when factoring in the character's age. Redditor u/Sad_Ad3148 noticed that the script seems to be off when Dr. Teddy Altman's (Kim Raver) husband Henry Burton (Scott Foley) dies in Season 8, Episode 10, "Suddenly." "Henry says he's only 42 in one episode, and then when he dies he's suddenly 35," they wrote.
U/Linzabee found a possible wrinkle in Teddy's own timeline, pointing out that she would be around 52 years old when giving birth to her daughter Allison. "All the math is all over the place, but Teddy's age really does not make sense. She's already an attending [physician] on 9/11, but she is pregnant with Allison 20 years later?"
While fans search for answers to these questions, they are also finding timeline discrepancies with the show's namesake and her sister.
Why fans are questioning Meredith and Lexie's timelines
Lexie (Chyler Leigh) is Meredith Grey's super smart sister. U/Elaine_Benes_Lovr noted that she skipped third grade but believes that she may have skipped more grades, noting that she is a 24 year old second-year resident when most of her colleagues would be around 27 years old. U/blandpaper_ replied that she may have attended a dual enrollment program, cutting down on her time in college.
As for Meredith, Redditor u/janivine cited that the Grey's Anatomy wiki lists her birth year as 1978. "I don't really get this because in the earlier seasons (5-8), Owen [Kevin McKidd] was a senior attending and was made Chief of Surgery and Meredith was just a resident. Did she take time off or something?" U/lazy529 said Meredith went to Europe before med school. This is mentioned in Season 3, Episode 14, "Wishin' and Hopin'," but she says that her travels only lasted two months.
As it seems, "Grey's Anatomy" sticks to the birth year of 1978 until Season 10, Episode 2, "I Want You with Me," which shows Meredith wearing a hospital band that says she was born in 1981. As fans search for an answer about Meredith's exact age, Pompeo told the podcast "Armchair Expert" at around the 28:15 mark of her episode that she notices how she's physically changed over the years. "To watch myself age from 33 to 50 on screen, that's not so fun. You really see [the difference] because I'm in the same clothes [playing] the same character ..."