Between plane crashes [1] and medical breakthroughs, Grey's Anatomy [2] has always loved a grand romantic gesture [3]. What Grey Sloan surgeon can resist a house of candles or an lift proposal full of MRI scans? But after 15 seasons, the showrunners have taken the romantic drama to unprecedented heights. Long story short, Meredith's loverboy DeLuca [4] takes the fall for her insurance fraud. We now have someone possibly losing his medical licence and going to jail [5] in the name of love. While his gesture is undoubtedly noble, we definitely shouldn't romanticize it.
Let's rewind for a second. In order to help an uninsured patient, Meredith writes down her daughter Ellis's name [6] so that a little girl whose family is seeking asylum can get surgery for a life-saving procedure. But the insurance company catches a whiff of this, so DeLuca confesses to using Ellis's insurance to help her — even though it was all Mer's idea. We know, it's a proper mess. Practically speaking, Meredith probably didn't have to resort to insurance fraud, as some viewers have pointed out [7]. The staff has done so many pro bono surgeries in the past without even blinking an eye, and a few of the surgeons (including Meredith) own the hospital. She could have sold off shares to cover the cost or talked to someone higher up.
DeLuca's admittance to insurance fraud appears selfless upon first glance. For the most part, he's a stand-up guy who makes our dark and twisty heroine happy [9]. That's good. He wants to protect Meredith and her kids, putting her needs first. But when you dig deeper, his gesture kind of reeks of desperation. After all, Meredith, terrified, left him hanging when he told her that he loved her. Him covering up for her feels like a foolishly dramatic (and low-key patronizing) way to prove his love. It also doesn't allow her to own up to her mistake since she endangered both her patient's family and her own kids.
Derek [10] wouldn't have done it. And that's what I liked about McDreamy: he kept Meredith grounded and called her out when she didn't think things through. (Remember when she lied about switching the medicine for Adele?) On the surface, DeLuca is a lot like Derek [11] — dreamy, talented, fine as hell. But falsely admitting to committing a felony? That level of impulsiveness is what Meredith would've done years ago before her marriage and kids. It's a phase that Mer seemed to have grown out of.
It might be interesting for Meredith to see this reflection of her young self through DeLuca and get a kick out of his passion. This debacle could very well be the first trial by fire that makes their relationship all that stronger. Still, it looks equally likely that this could result in a messy breakup if Andrew ends up fired and convicted. Seriously, I wish he stuck to flowers and chocolates instead.