Ellen Pompeo in Grey’s Anatomy Photo: ABC
Before anyone asks, yes, Grey’s Anatomy is still running.
After 19 seasons, ABC’s medical drama continues to draw viewers in. The November 2022 fall finale was watched live by 3.72 million people (that number has nearly tripled in a week thanks to Hulu). Grey’s returned on February 23 in an episode that marked a major milestone when series star Ellen Pompeo left the show. If you were one of the 3.5 million viewers hoping for a rousing, emotional departure for Pompeo’s Meredith Gray – well, it didn’t happen.
In a relatively chilled outing titled “Following the Sun,” Meredith takes her three children to Gray Sloan for her final day as chief. Her latest operation there to save a beloved author is unsuccessful. Your going away party is smashing (Wrong cake! Shitty decor! No sad speeches!). Her relationship with Scott Speedman’s Nick Marsh comes to an end because, although he eventually declares his love for her, she travels to Boston with her family to start a new career. And nobody deserves a fresh start more than Meredith, the damn Grey.
Meredith has been put through the wringer over the years. I would dare to call her one of television’s unluckiest characters: her mother died of Alzheimer’s, her half-siblings died in a plane crash, her best friend left the country for a new job, and her husband died in a car accident. There’s more: she nearly drowned, suffered a miscarriage after seeing her husband get shot, and gave birth years later during a hospital power outage. A patient brutally assaulted her, she was in a coma after contracting COVID, and her ex-boyfriend died while she was in said coma. And I’ve only scratched the surface. Is it any wonder she’s ready to leave Seattle, or that Pompeo is willing to follow in Mer’s footsteps for a well-deserved break?
All of this is just as soapy as it sounds. Meredith overcame insane trauma to become a successful surgeon and mother. But precisely because of everything she had to endure, fans expected a grander farewell. The only notable moment in “I’ll Follow The Sun” was a parallel to her epic season two speech “Pick Me, Choose Me, Love Me” to Derek (Patrick Dempsey). Now she’s making it clear to Nick that she’s choosing herself, her job and her kids, an excellent way to highlight her growth. Otherwise, their “final episode” was lackluster; Unlike other character departures, there were no tear-jerking montages. Maybe that’s a good thing.
Grey’s Anatomy 19×07 Trailer “Following the Sun” (HD) Meredith Grey’s Farewell
Grey’s Anatomy has been quite a mess for the seasons, and this ongoing season functions as its own kind of messy makeover. Five regulars have signed on as interns, but they’re too fresh to commit anyone to the show. As always, messy potential romances dangle in our faces (Link and Jo, Jules and Blue) while married couples go through ill-managed problems (Maggie and Winston, Owen and Teddy). Pompeo — one of the last three remaining original cast members — is now gone, while Chandra Wilson and James Pickens Jr.’s Bailey and Webber haven’t had any meaningful storylines in a long, long time. As much as Gray’s tries to move toward the future, they’re not ready to completely close the door on the past.
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With multiple episodes, Mer’s move is the clearest example yet of Season 19’s strategy in that sense. If fans ever want to cling to the new regulars and cheer them on, they need a reason to stick around. A huge, sad episode, lovely as it would have been, could have suggested a more permanent goodbye for Greys. But we already know that Pompeo is returning in the finale and that she will continue to narrate every remaining episode of the season.
Another big change is coming as Krista Vernoff leaves her at the end of season 19. After working as a writer for several years, she became a showrunner in 2017. Including Justin Chambers’ exit gone awry, as well as Alex Karev, April (Sarah Drew) and Arizona (Jessica Capshaw) being written off for no good reason. Some new blood on the other side of the camera would also present a chance to reinvigorate the series.
So when Gray is renewed for (a finale?) Season 20, things will look even different. To ensure some familiarity, the writing has left the door open for Pompeo to return whenever she chooses. It might not happen — Sandra Oh, Katherine Heigl and Chambers haven’t yet — but it gives audiences something to look forward to. Look, at this point, we’ll take whatever crumbs we get. So I’m excited to see all the progress Mer has made in Boston when Pompeo returns for the conclusion of Season 19. Maybe then we’ll get our emotional farewell and a clearer answer on the future of the show.