Meredith vs. Addison

It’s the love triangle to end all love triangles, and perhaps the biggest, longest-running debate among Grey’s Anatomy fans. Should Dr. Derek Shepherd leave his adultrous wife, Addison, for intern Meredith Grey?

YES

Meredith is a whiner. An insecure mess of emotions. She’s a self-absorbed individual that turns the heartfelt admission of a close friend into an excuse for frolic, foreplay and faulty behavior. As far as emotional baggage goes, even airport security wouldn’t have time to search through this harmful clutter.

But she’s loyal. She didn’t cheat the system and ride the scrub tails of her famous mother into med school - and she’d certainly never cheat on a partner. Not with a best friend, not with a complete stranger, not even with some sort of government-approved clone that looked, smelled and tasted like McDreamy. Not with anyone.

For all of her negative traits, Meredith remains a believer. There’s a lonely dog in a pound? She wants to give it a loving home. A daughter wants a healthy father to walk her down the aisle? There’s Meredith to help him overcome his surgical fears. Through mistakes and tribulations, this is a well-meaning person, one that just wishes to be picked, chosen, loved; and you know she’ll give you every ounce of her heart in return.

Then there’s Addison. She wouldn’t give a homeless puppy shelter. She’d feed a cat front of it. She’d kick that daughter’s father in the groin and steal the groom. Through lies and manipulations, this is an evil person, one that just wishes be sexed, bitter and cruel; and you know she’ll give it up again to the next plastic surgeon that augments her libido.

At least we can all relate to Meredith. Who out there has not experienced moments of self-pity, self-doubt, self-agonizing questions about their place in life? But we haven’t gone out and shagged our husband’s best buddy as a result of it! There are lines, people. There are moral boundaries that divide those who mean well with those who deserve to be drowned in a well. Or at least incur an horrific case of poison oak.

Meredith Grey is one of the good ones. She’ll find her way. Anyone that follows her heart instead of her poontang deserves a mate who does the same. Be that lucky man to catch her, McDreamy. You won’t regret it when you do.

– McCritic

NO

He stood up and said to them, “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.” When they heard it, they went away, one by one, beginning with the eldest, and Jesus was left alone with the woman (an adulterer) standing before him. – John 8: 7-9

Get off your high horse.

That is what I say to the legions of Meredith-defending, Addison-villafying fans out there. What Mrs. McDreamy did to her husband should never be condoned or even forgiven. But life is not comprised of absolutes. To say Derek should leave Addison for Meredith is akin to not believing in second chances or the institution of marriage; To blindly and broadly condemn Addison on the basis of one indiscretion, no matter how unthinkable, is to ignore a fundamental fiber of human compassion.

People make mistakes. It is how we respond to them that counts.

Derek may not have done the cheating, but his failure as a husband played a substantial role in Addison’s adultery. Then he proceeded to engage in an extramarital affair of his own with Meredith, making no mention of his past and emotionally traumatizing the impressionable intern in the process. Few are innocent of sin in this life. Derek knows this. He had an opportunity to sign the papers and free himself from his marriage. Addison did not persuade him to do otherwise. Yet he did not sign.

With a great girl waiting for him, and the greatest of sins committed against him, why wouldn’t Derek just make the divorce official and send her on her merry way back to New York? Because in spite of their trials and tribulations, the Shepherds share a sacred bond. A need for forgiveness and a desire to make their marriage work brought Addison back to Seattle. Derek’s love for her, however strained, kept her there. Life is hard. If we cannot repent for our sins, what have we to live for? Derek stands by his wife not out of guilt, but out of basic human decency.

To err is human, to forgive divine. And come on. Just because “Montgomery Shepherd’s Anatomy” is not a cute play on words doesn’t mean it’s not superior to Grey’s. With her commanding presence, self-confidence, medical brilliance and good looks, Addison is just plain sexy.

– iheartizzie