Grey’s Anatomy‘s most recent episode said goodbye to Alex Karev after 16 years. It was possibly the worst exit ever on the series.

Caution: We’re jumping into major spoilers for Grey’s Anatomy Season 16, Episode 16 immediately. You have been warned.

Grey’s Anatomy Season 16, Episode 16 said goodbye to Alex Karev. After 16 years, we closed the book on his story, and the only way he was in it was through voiceovers from the letters he’d written to Meredith, Jo, and Bailey. Webber’s letter didn’t receive the voiceover, with Webber sharing to his AA group the contents of it and just why he (and we) are so angry with the situation.

It was the worst possible exit, and that’s saying something for this drama. Grey’s has never been able to write characters out well. George ended up with barely any storyline until the episode of his exit in his final season. Derek’s death was just a whirlwind disaster (and I didn’t even like Derek). Hahn’s was a ridiculous exit despite her storyline not being the strongest throughout. And don’t get me started on Burke! The show even tried to make us hate Cristina before her exit in Season 10. So the idea of Karev getting an even worse sendoff than any of the others would initially seem laughable.

In the end, it destroyed every bit of his character development over the years. We got all these flashbacks of what he was like in the past, and they all pretty much involved his love for Izzy. Yep, Alex went off to find Izzy and found out she had twins. His twins.

Instead of being angry at Izzy for keeping this from him, Karev decided to just up sticks and move to nowhere in Kansas to be with her. Literally, just left his whole life behind to be with the woman who left him; the woman who sent him divorce papers without even a goodbye. He hated that she did that, and that’s exactly what he did to Jo. Okay, so he sent a letter and made it clear he was leaving everything to Jo in the divorce, but it was pretty much the same as Izzy. He didn’t have the guts to do this to her face to face, and that’s what makes me so angry about the way his character was written out. That’s why I despise this decision so much.

I get that Karev would have chosen his kids. That completely made sense, but would he really have divorced Jo through a letter? Nope!

I’d have preferred Alex to have been killed off-screen instead of the ending he received. Or I could have accepted it if he’d said that he had to stay with his mom. The writers could have put in that she was struggling cognitively and needed someone to look after her. Alex had always sacrificed everything for his siblings and his mom. He would have done that. And it could have been done in a positive way, something that could have left the door open for a return or for something to have Jo head to when Grey’s Anatomy comes to an end entirely.

After everything that’s happened this season (and the writing has been poor throughout the season), I sincerely hope that the show ends soon. I don’t often say that, but this is a show that deserves to go out on a high. Instead, it’s destroyed so many character developments that it’s time to just bring it all to an end. Try to salvage something that it once was.

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What did you think of how Grey’s Anatomy Season 16, Episode 16 ended? What were your thoughts about Alex’s goodbye? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

Grey’s Anatomy airs Thursdays at 9/8c on ABC.