Meredith May Be Grey’s Anatomy’s Lead — But We Know Who the Real Star Is

Meredith Grey may be the titular character of Grey’s Anatomy, but that doesn’t make her the real lead.

From the very beginning, there’s been a real star in the making, a real character to root for, even though she doesn’t always make the right decisions.

Yes, I’m talking about Miranda Bailey, one of only three original characters still on the show, and she is the one the hospital can’t do without.

If Bailey isn’t safe after the explosion at the end of Grey’s Anatomy season 21, I may just have to stop watching!

Miranda Bailey for the Interns

When we first met Bailey, she was hard on her interns, but for a good reason.

Through her hard exterior, she was a woman who cared, and she wanted to see her interns grow into strong and capable doctors.

A little bit of tough love is the way to do that, but not too much, as that can ultimately destroy confidence and self-esteem.

In fact, we discover that Bailey learned how not to be a resident by training baby interns. It helped to shape her into the woman that she would become over the years.

While she hasn’t always agreed with the actions her interns have taken, such as wanting Izzy fired after cutting Denny’s L-VAD wire, she has protected them when it was the right thing to do.

We just have to look at the most recent storyline, where she stood up to Catherine Fox to help prevent Lucas from needing to repeat his internship year, making it clear that she knew how essential she was to the hospital.

The Bailey from the first season of Grey’s Anatomy would not have done that!

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Meredith had her own interns, but she became forgettable in that role, with more focus on her personal life and other career ventures.

Meanwhile, Bailey has managed to balance it all, giving us health scares, happy family moments, struggling marriage situations, patient arcs, and so much more.

A Level-Headed Voice

Having a voice of reason is essential in stressful situations, and Bailey is that voice you need.

She’s willing to make difficult decisions and listen to all sides of an argument, even when her patient’s life is on the line.

Many characters would steamroll in, and sure, Bailey has done that now and again, making her a relatable and passionate character.

However, she also has the ability to stand back and admit when she’s wrong.

Most of the time!

I’m still not on her side when it came to injecting the bubble kid with HIV.

Of course, a real main character takes risks and does things that sometimes make us hate her.

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Passion and drive are what make characters stand out, but they also need to have something in their core that makes us root for them, and Bailey has all that in spades.

When something goes wrong, who do people turn to?

Well, Bailey!

There’s no one else to turn to in that hospital for solid advice.

We can’t possibly lose Bailey in Grey’s Anatomy season 22, as there’s no heart of the show without her.

Fleshed-Out Relationships

In addition to all this, we get fully fleshed-out relationships in all forms.

There’s the romantic relationship with Ben, giving us a marriage that is believable, positive, healthy, and exciting to watch.

Marriage isn’t easy, and so many of them on TV end in divorce.

In fact, Grey’s Anatomy has a terrible habit of ending every single hopeful relationship.

But not Bailey and Ben!

Then there’s Bailey’s life with her kids — biological and adopted, because she doesn’t see the difference when it comes to loving and caring for them.

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We get to see how she views her colleagues and her baby interns as they grow up, and how she becomes attached to her patients.

And let’s just say that only main characters get children named after them, and Meredith hasn’t had that!

A Career to Watch

Then it comes to the changes in her career and life, which the main character will always experience.

Sure, Meredith has had her moments, such as with clinical trials, the current Alzheimer’s research, and growth from intern to attending, but it’s Bailey who has seen the most change and opportunity.

Bailey was the one to consider a switch to pediatrics, only to stick with general surgery because her heart couldn’t take so much loss.

She was the one to become Chief Resident and then Chief of Surgery, only to realize that it wasn’t what she wanted or needed at the time, making a decision that very few women (especially women of color) would do.

Time and time again, Bailey has moved forward and backward in her career, advancing when the time is right, giving her space to breathe while also serving as a role model for young girls watching Grey’s Anatomy.

If you think Meredith is the main character, you’ve been watching the wrong show.

Yes, I said it!

So, while I’m not overly worried that Bailey will die in the Grey’s Anatomy season 22 premiere, I’m still watching through my fingers, because losing her is losing the soul of the show.

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