Why I Hate Grey's Anatomy Character Derek "McDreamy" Shepard

By Angela Tircuit, published May 31, 2007

Published Content: 48 Total Views: 40,288 Favorited By: 1 CPs

Rating: 3.0 of 5

It puzzles me that Derek Shepard (aka McDreamy, a mistaken name if there ever was one) is supposed to be considered a character that women swoon over. Sure, I find him relatively handsome. I've liked Patrick Dempsey for a long time now. But, even Patrick Dempsey's looks can't make up for what a loathsome character Derek Shepard is.

Grey's Anatomy began its saga with Derek and Meredith Grey having a one night stand. They didn't know each other, but they soon found out that Meredith was just starting as an intern at Seattle Grace, and Derek was an attending and one of her superiors. Did "McDreamy" respect the professional boundaries? No, he continued to pursue her. But, I suppose on a show where everyone is sleeping with everyone else, the boundaries are a minor complaint. Still, there are other aspects to his character that can't be excused.

One of the biggest aspects was Addison, his wife. She made her first appearance in the season one finale of Grey's Anatomy. This shocking reveal opened up a very important question. The whole time he was seeing Meredith, he didn't think it was important to mention he had a wife? Yes, Addison cheated on him, which sent him to Seattle. But, he was still legally married and it was information Meredith deserved to know. Addison offered him a divorce, but he didn't take her up on it. Instead, he agreed to try and work on the marriage. A noble gesture? Not when you take into consideration that he made no attempt to forgive her and continued to flirt with Meredith. Being the "good guy" takes more than lip service.

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Takeaways

Derek Shepard is no McDreamy
The creator refuses to acknowledge any of his flaws
He sees himself as a victim and refuses to take responsibility for his shortcomings

Resources

www.greyswriters.com

Comments

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Angie

The problem with Derek is that we have never seen him. We have only seen Shonda's vision of the so called "perfect man" McDreamy. Her excuses for Derek's outstandingly bad behavior is always "He's McDreamy People" Well to put the title "McDreamy:" on any character is setting him up for failure. It's simply a characterization impossible to live up to. Where Shonda has lacked is she got caught up in the McDreamy hype and used it to promote the show at both Patrick Dempsey and his character "Derek's" expense. I'm not a 12 year old girl. I have never bought into this McDreamy thing, but what I have wished for as a viewer and so far have not received is to get to know "Derek" Why does Derek act the way he does? What in his life has caused him to behave so badly in some (but not all) instances when it comes to the women he supposedly loves in his life. Shonda has failed her actor and us there. If Derek is messed up, I could get behind it if only she'd let me get to know HIM.

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Posted on 06/12/2008 at 3:06:50 PM

Marion Ravenwood

I've never watched Grey's Anatomy, because it really just seemed like a soap opera that they put in primetime, and I HATE soap operas, hahahaha!

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Posted on 01/05/2008 at 9:01:58 AM

Angela Tircuit

First of all, thank you, Boo for pointing out the misspelling of Derek's last name. Although I wasn't trying to be a crack journalist, just post an opinion piece. Yes, I should have double checked the spelling. Jessica, I don't believe I ever claimed not to have made mistakes before. But, since this was an opinion piece on Derek, and not an autobiography about me, my mistakes weren't relevant to the article. I still disagree with your assessment of season 2. But, not because I wasn't paying attention but because we saw things differently. People do tend to watch shows and view things differently, even though both paid the same amount of attention. It would be boring if we all saw things the same way, wouldn't it? Cassie, I do like Meredith, but she's no where near my favorite. So, I don't have an extreme love for her. Not unless being my 6th favorite character on the show counts as extreme. Which is pretty far down the list. And, I don't expect any character to be perfe

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Posted on 08/20/2007 at 3:08:00 PM

Jessica

this article is sooo wrong in my opinion... first of all derek didnt pursue meredith just to pursue her...he really liked her and wanted to make it work. and yeah, he made a big mistake by not telling mer about addison. but what like you've never make a mistake before? he didnt tell mer because mark and addison hurt him. and for the record, derek was going to tell meredith about addison when addison actually showed up in the season 1 finale. and he really tried to make it work with addison but with mer in the same hospital he just couldn't. you didnt really pay attention to the season 2 finale did you? derek admits that he knows he should be looking at addison but cant help but look at meredith. the reunion sex romantic? insanely hot, yes but not romantic. you're right. derek never admits that he's wrong without putting up a fight. but what male of the human race does? it's the testosterone thing...makes them stubborn that with the fact that no one wants to admit theyre

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Posted on 08/17/2007 at 5:08:00 AM

Dee - From the comments here the Derek fans have said he has flaws. Some Derek fans just see a character like the others - not perfect. For me, I don't expect perfection from Derek based on the McDreamy name. He's like the other characters in the respect that he has good and bad to him. I like all the characters on the show, so I am not in any "extreme" group. I don't see Derek as this awful person and disagree with the assesment in the article. jmo.

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