If you're reading this, you probably watch Grey's Anatomy regularly and were sucked in at the mere mention of Alex Karev and the most recent mess he's gotten himself into. If not, what are you even doing here? Go watch Grey's. (Then come back.)
***Spoilers lie ahead.
Our dear Dr. Alex Karev has come an unbelievably long way since that horrendous first impression. (And second... and third... and probably fourth too.) Although his most recent transgressions mirror Season 1 Alex, we have to look past that. He has changed so much as a person in the 13 seasons we have had the pleasure of knowing him. Alex messed up, and the severity of his consequences hang in the balance. He has been charged with a felony, but I don't think his life or career should end over this one mistake.
Alex chose to specialize in PED's. He decided to spend the rest of his career helping children. He saves freaking kids for a living. He started the Africa program so kids there could get proper medical treatment. Now he's a kick*ss attending at Grey-Sloan Memorial. Not only is he awesome at the actual job aspects of being a pediatric surgeon, but he is also naturally gifted when it comes to dealing with the kids themselves. He once sang a song from Camp Rock 2 for a little girl in the MRI machine because she couldn't bring her iPod in with her and was scared. He stayed in the hospital to hold a dying baby, and ended up saving said baby's life with just his body heat. He reminds a little boy that no matter what medical procedure he has to go through, broccoli is always the worst. Alex tends to be better at comforting the kids than their own parents are.
He is super loyal. Alex is definitely an all-in kind of guy. When Rebecca returned to Seattle with her hallucinated pregnancy, Alex dropped everything to make sure she was taken care of and wouldn't listen to Izzie telling him she needed help. When Izzie was diagnosed with cancer he stood by her side through treatments and surgeries, and even ignored her DNR when she coded. They got married even though she had a 5% chance of survival. When she was well enough to return to work, he checked in on her during her daily tasks to ensure she didn't take on more than she could handle. Alex and Meredith have taken care of each other for several seasons now. They go to each other with advice, problems, and always forgiveness and honesty.
Continuing on Alex's astonishing devotion to his loved ones, we arrive at Jo. I have been begging them through my television to get married since Season 9, and Jo just will not do it. Imagine the humiliation of having a marriage proposal turned down. Now do it two more times. Yes, she has refused to marry Alex THREE separate occasions. He always stays, though, because he knows that she is who he wants to spend the rest of his life with. Following some rash decisions and hurtful words on his part, Alex is already trying to fix things with her.
I am fully aware that Alex definitely did assault DeLuca. Was he right in doing so? No, of course not. But he thought he was coming to Jo's rescue. He doesn't exactly wait for answers, or ask any questions at all, so instead of doing just that when he walked in to see DeLuca on top of a drunken Jo, he reacted the only way he knew how: physically. Alex would not have beat up one of his fellow doctors if he didn't believe he had a real reason for doing so. I'm not quite sure if that reasoning will hold any substance with the law, but I do hope he doesn't go to prison.
Alex is a good guy that messed up. We all do it. Also, if he goes to prison, we slaves to this fictional medical world are only left with three original characters, and I don't think I can handle that emotionally right now. So, y'all know where I'll be Thursday night, standing beside Alex.
