How to Save a Life (Grey's Anatomy)
Despite successfully helping the accident victims, he is later pronounced brain-dead due to delays in receiving a timely CT scan from the surgeons at the hospital treating him.
"How to Save a Life's original broadcast was viewed by 9.55 million people, ranking it as the week's highest-rated drama and the third-highest rated scripted series in the 18–49 demographic.
The episode opens with a voice-over narration from Meredith Grey (Ellen Pompeo) about the unpredictable nature of memory and how life's constant movement mirrors a carousel that never stops turning.
The episode opens with a flashback of a five-year-old Meredith Grey (Ellen Pompeo) lost in a park, symbolizing her recurring fear of abandonment.
Shepherd quickly rescues a young girl named Winnie (Savannah Paige Rae) and helps her mother, who has a dislocated leg.
Internally, Shepherd knows they need to order a head CT scan, but his attending physician dismisses the suggestion from surgical resident Dr. Penelope Blake (Samantha Sloyan).
[2] Samantha Sloyan, Larry Cedar, Mike McColl, Allie Grant, and Savannah Paige Rae made guest appearances in the episode.
I absolutely never imagined saying goodbye to our ‘McDreamy.’ Patrick Dempsey’s performance shaped Derek in a way that I know we both hope became a meaningful example—happy, sad, romantic, painful and always true—of what young women should demand from modern love [but] as Ellis Grey would say: the carousel never stops turning.”—Rhimes to Lynette Rice, on Dempsey's exit[12]Pompeo reacted to Derek's death by posting on Twitter, sharing that she was honored and excited to continue telling Meredith’s story “in the face of what feels like the impossible”.
[15][16] This made the episode the highest-rated drama of the week and the third-highest-rated scripted series in the 18–49 demographic, trailing only CBS's The Big Bang Theory (3.6) and ABC's Modern Family (3.0).
[16] While it was the second-highest-rated TV show in the 8:00 pm time slot, beating Bones, The Vampire Diaries and a rerun on The Blacklist, it was outperformed by The Big Bang Theory.
Ashley Bissette Sumerel of TV Fanatic gave the episode the highest praise, rating it 5 out of 5 stars, and highlighting the "interesting possibilities" Derek's death would offer for the show.
In contrast, a reviewer from Spoiler TV criticized the episode for being "self-indulgent" and lacking the emotional depth of previous character exits, such as those of Lexie Grey and Mark Sloan.
The absence of many major cast members was also noted, with the reviewer remarking, "The presence of so many inconsequential and uninteresting characters was continually in danger of swamping the dreaminess of Derek."
[24][25] Janalen Samson of BuddyTV emphasized the genuine surprise generated by the episode in an era of spoiler-heavy television, calling it a "rare occurrence" and expressing her amazement at the unexpected turn.
[26] David Hinckley of New York Daily News called the death a "lightning bolt" and noted its significance in a season filled with high-mortality moments on television.
