What If There Was a Grey's Anatomy Episode Just As Bad As the Musical One?
Let the battle of cringe begin.
If there's one episode on modern television that everyone collectively hates, whether they were ever invested in the show or not, it's Grey's Anatomy's infamous musical episode. Song Beneath the Song (S7E18) cannot be left off any list of the worst musical attempts, and not one viewer of the show can say they actually enjoy it.
However, if you are familiar with Grey's Anatomy, you will agree that Song Beneath the Song wasn't the first episode to make fans cringe, and it certainly wasn't the last.
The drama in the show has always been dangerously close to the absurdity of soap, so there have been several twists and dialogues that have left people very unhappy.
One episode in particular, If/Then (S8E13), was never much better than the monstrosity that was Song Beneath the Song. In fact, some Grey's Anatomy fans would agree that the "what if" episode was even worse and more difficult to watch.
From the episode itself feeling too long to the overplayed jokes, to the horrible costumes of some of the cast members, the episode was a complete disaster. The difference that still makes viewers think that the musical episode was worse is the intention with which these episodes were created.
While it's a little too obvious how serious and dramatic the show takes itself in Song Beneath the Song, trying to pull out incredibly dramatic scenes that just don't work with the songs, If/Then allows for a good laugh. It's clear that the episode was created to be entertaining, so even if it gets cringey after 15-20 minutes, it's still all in good fun.
Perhaps if Grey's Anatomy had taken a similar approach to their musical experiments, it would have been much more enjoyable. But it's not something we'd want to see the show try today. One failed attempt was enough for both the team behind the show and the audience to understand the importance of staying in their lane.
If you want to revisit these episodes and compare them back to back, you can do so by streaming Grey's Anatomy on Netflix, Hulu, or Disney Plus.