Spoiler alert! This story discusses the Grey’s Anatomy Season 21 finale that aired May 15. If you’re not caught up, you can stream the episode with a Hulu subscription.
The fates of many of our beloved Seattle surgeons were left unknown at the end of Grey’s Anatomy’s season finale “How Do I Live,” which aired Thursday on the 2025 TV schedule. In fact, after that terrifying cliffhanger, Meredith Grey is one of the few people we know to be safe, as she witnessed the hospital explosion from the parking lot. Showrunner Meg Marinis spoke candidly about Ellen Pompeo’s role on Season 22, and I’m so happy about one big Meredith change they’re apparently making.
Meredith made a big decision in the Season 21 finale. Instead of selling her shares of Grey Sloan Memorial to fund her Alzheimer’s research, she struck a deal with Catherine Fox (Debbie Allen) to continue her research while spending summers in Seattle and helping around the hospital. When asked by Variety if that meant we’d see Meredith in more than seven episodes this fall, Meg Marinis said:
We’ll see her as much as we can get her. She’s always welcome to come with us. She’s family. We loved watching her get a star on Hollywood Blvd. — very, very deserved.
When Grey’s Anatomy was renewed for Season 22, it was announced that Ellen Pompeo would remain an executive producer, continue doing the episode narration, and she was “expected” to return as Meredith. Having the character choose to spend more time in Seattle set that up quite nicely, and it also addresses a complaint I had about this season that Meg Marinis seems to share:
I wanted to see Meredith not only continuing her research on Alzheimer’s, which is super important and relevant right now, but I also miss seeing her in the OR — and not necessarily doing the most groundbreaking surgery of all time. I missed just seeing her in the OR and teaching, and especially with this class of residents that she chose, it was also a way to get her back into Seattle in order to see that side of her.
I have missed seeing Meredith in the operating room this season. Ever since she moved to Boston, she’s mostly been in research mode, and all too often, she's isolated from the other doctors. Season 21 saw some great scenes between her, Richard Webber and Miranda Bailey, and I really want more of that. But let Meredith cut! And could we get more scenes between Meredith and McDreamy’s favorite nephew?
Meg Marinis said Scott Speedman will also be back for Season 22, as Nick March and Meredith are still together in Boston. The showrunner said multiple-episode arcs are easier for Ellen Pompeo to schedule than one-off appearances, but that’s not actually the most difficult part about writing for Meredith. Marinis said:
I wouldn’t say that it’s difficult to incorporate her coming in and out. Obviously, it’s the decision of whether to show her in Boston or show her in Seattle that is hard to sometimes get organized and figure out.
It doesn’t sound like that issue is going to get much easier, with Meredith deciding to split her time between the two coasts. However, they decided to do it, and I’m just happy Ellen Pompeo will be back for more, and that we should be getting more surgery scenes and interaction with the other doctors.
The medical drama will return to ABC this fall, but in the meantime, you can rewatch any Grey’s Anatomy era from these starting points, as the first 20 seasons can be streamed with a Netflix subscription. All 21 seasons are also available on Hulu.
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