Is 'Grey's Anatomy' Ending After Season 17? You May Not Like the Answer
If Meredith Grey is your person, then you might want to sit down for this news.
As we all know, Grey's Anatomy is in the middle of its 17th season, and it's still just as beloved as it was on Meredith's first day at Seattle Grace Hospital back in 2005. What we didn't know was that this season could end up being its last!
Come again?! Is "Grey's Anatomy" ending?
Try to remain calm while we give you the scoop. First of all, you should know that renewal talks have been underway for months for the ABC medical drama starring Ellen Pompeo. Then last week, as the series returned for its midseason premiere, Grey's showrunner Krista Vernoff weighed in on its uncertain future.
"I'm planning a season and a finale that could function as either a season finale or a series finale," she told The Hollywood Reporter. "I'm planning for both contingencies and it's hard and it's not ideal. It's not where I wish we were."
Wow. It sounds like we should start hoping for the best but preparing for the worst.
Krista added that she's asked ABC executives to tell her whether the series will be renewed before the season 17 finale so she can plan accordingly.
"I've told them that I have to know before I'm making the finale what we're making," she said. "Because there are a couple of character threads that will change. I've got plans for both contingencies. Either there will be closure or I will build something in that allows me to have a bit of a cliffhanger and a thread for next season."
Please let it be a cliffhanger! We definitely need more Grey's in our lives.
If it does get renewed, will Ellen Pompeo leave "Grey's Anatomy"?
Ellen has played Dr. Meredith Grey since the series premiered in 2005. It's quite literally impossible to imagine the show without her. What would it even be called? Just Anatomy?
Anyways, it seems like its fate actually rests in Ellen's hands more than anyone else's. Grey's creator Shonda Rhimes said in 2017 that the show will end whenever Ellen decides she’s out.
“Ellen and I have a pact that I’m going to do the show as long as she’s going to do the show,” Shonda told E! News at the time. “So the show will exist as long as both of us want to do it. If she wants to stop, we’re stopping.”
According to The Hollywood Reporter's sources, Ellen is still in talks with ABC's parent company, Disney, about renewing Grey's, so we'll have to wait and see how that shakes out.
Ellen did recently open up about the show's potential ending in an interview with CBS Sunday Morning.
Asked whether it will be continuing after the 17th season, she replied, “I can't say. Can't say. We honestly have not decided. We're really trying to figure it out right now. We’re deciding what story to tell. To end a show this iconic, how do we do it? I just want to make sure we do this character and this show and the fans—I want to make sure we do it right."
What surprises are still in store for this season?
Season 17 has already been filled with jaw-dropping moments. With Meredith drifting in and out of consciousness as she battles COVID-19, fans have been treated to dream reunions between Meredith and her late husband, Derek Shepherd (Patrick Dempsey), and late friend George O’Malley (T.R. Knight).
Season 17's surprises haven't all been happy though. In the mid-season premiere, fans were heartbroken when Andrew DeLuca (Giacomo Gianniotti) was killed during his heroic pursuit of human traffickers.
Based on this shocking death alone, we think anything is possible this season.
What we do know is that fan-favorite Sarah Drew is returning to reprise her role as trauma surgeon Dr. April Kepner in an upcoming episode.
Here's Sarah reuniting with Jesse Williams, who plays her on-screen love interest Jackson Avery. Swoon!
We could also see the return of Kate Walsh as Dr. Addison Montgomery. Kate recently told People that she would "absolutely" return to the show. "If they could get it done, I'd be happy to come back," she said. "Maybe I'll Zoom in. Dr. Addison could Zoom in." Hey, we'll take what we can get!
The only surprise we really don't want is news that Grey's Anatomy is ending after season 17.
Grey's has been in our lives for so long we can't even imagine a world without it. In fact, that world seems a little bit scary. But as the wise Richard Webber once said, “It’s good to be scared. It means you still have something to lose.”
