Spoiler alert! MAJOR spoilers ahead for Grey’s Anatomy’s Season 22 premiere, which aired on October 9. The episode can be streamed with a Hulu subscription if you haven’t seen it.
After months of debate over which Grey’s Anatomy doctor(s) would not make it out alive following May’s explosive cliffhanger finale, we finally got our answer when the Season 22 premiere hit the 2025 TV schedule. Despite Chris Carmack joking about Link being killed off, it was actually Monica Beltran who succumbed to her injuries in “Only the Strong Survive.” Amelia Shepherd took the news particularly hard, and showrunner Meg Marinis’ comments only make me more worried about what’s to come.
We quickly learned that in addition to injuring Link, the Season 21-ending blast had trapped Monica (Natalie Morales) and Jules Millin (Adelaide Kane) in another operating room with a young boy still open on the table. Monica was pinned under a surgical lamp that had fallen on her, shattering her pelvis (pelvic injuries may as well come with “Chasing Cars” as their soundtrack). Monica was able to talk Jules through the rest of the surgery, but died before first responders were able to reach them.
Grey’s Anatomy showrunner Meg Marinis told THR that part of the decision to kill off Natalie Morales’ character was directly related to Amelia taking on Dylan’s case, as it was Dylan’s mom (Piper Perabo) who was responsible for the explosion. The showrunner said:
I also really wanted to deliver consequences of Amelia taking on all these impossible surgeries.
That’s absolutely brutal on the showrunner’s part, because it was immediately clear that Amelia was going to struggle to process her role in the events that led to Monica’s death. Meg Marinis acknowledged the “profound impact” it would have on Amelia, telling Variety:
She feels ultimate guilt for the belief that she could have taken on that [Dylan Gatlin] surgery to begin with, and then having to go back in [for another surgery]. Obviously, she was taken hostage and that’s not her fault, but she’s going to take on a lot of that culpability.
Indeed, learning about Monica’s death was Amelia’s breaking point after a day that had already seen her performing brain surgery on a child while being held hostage. She also carried the weight of Link’s injury, worrying what it would mean for their son Scout to grow up without his father, like she and Derek had.
Next week will mark Grey’s Anatomy’s milestone 450th episode, and it looks like it’s going to lean into one of the show’s major themes — the importance of sisterhood — as Maggie Pierce (Kelly McCreary) returns to help Meredith Grey (Ellen Pompeo) take care of Amelia. The showrunner said:
That sisterhood relationship is very important on the show. Sisterhood has been a very consistent theme for our show for 22 years. The 450th is a perfect blend of nostalgia, but it also has high stakes with some medicine, and you’re going to see things that we’ve seen before but done in different ways. I really believe it’s a celebration of the show.
I’m ready to feel the full spectrum of emotions, as the preview for “We Built This City” (which you can see below) gives us a peek at just how bad Amelia’s grief is.
On top of my concern for Amelia, I’m actually devastated to have lost Monica Beltran. I adore Natalie Morales, and I was among many fans who were hoping her character would be a new love interest for Amelia.
Now, I’m honestly worried that Amelia could relapse, especially when she asks Meredith to just give up on her. We’ll have to see how things play out when Grey’s Anatomy returns at 10 p.m. ET Thursday, October 16, on ABC and streaming the next day on Hulu.
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