This is the news Japril fans have been waiting for! Jesse Williams and Sarah Drew are returning to Grey’s Anatomy to reprise their fan favorite characters — at least for one episode. And we won't have to wait very long for it.
Deadline reports that Jackson and April will return for the two-hour Season 18 finale of Grey’s Anatomy. The episode, set to close out ABC’s spring 2021-2022 season, will air on May 26.
Jesse Williams played Jackson Avery for 12 seasons of ABC’s hit medical drama before leaving in Season 17. Sarah Drew played April Kepner before exiting the series in Season 14. She made a brief return in the episode "Look Up Child," in which Jackson decided to "change his environment" and leave Seattle to run his family's Catherine Fox Foundation in Boston.
Jackson and April — Japril to the well-indoctrinated — are a fan favorite couple, and viewers have long been asking to see them either return to the show or reunite in a spinoff series. When we last saw them, there seemed to be hope that they could rekindle their romance. They had been co-parenting a daughter, Harriet, and April admitted that her marriage to Matthew was over. She agreed to move to Boston with Jackson to figure it out.
Sarah Drew has talked about that final scene that Jackson and April shared, saying that the actors added a hand grab and hug when there wasn't supposed to be any physical contact between them. A kiss, however, would have gone too far, she said, given the huge transition he was asking her to make in the wake of her failed marriage:
There’s tenderness there about all the things he’s asking her to do — uprooting her life, going on this epic journey — and you’ll need to take some time if that’s the direction they’re going to go in. I’m glad we held it back.
Always leaving us wanting more! The actors have only stoked the flames of fans’ desires by never shutting the door on a possible return. Just a month prior to this news, Jesse Williams said he'd "consider it" if he was asked to reprise the role. He'd previously said if he and Sarah Drew did star in a spinoff, they would "kill it," and Grey's Anatomy star Ellen Pompeo admitted she'd watch that show.
There’s no indication if their characters will appear for more than this one episode, but it’s still very exciting news. If we're only getting them for this two-hour block of television, we'll undoubtedly get an update on their relationship status. Will Japril have rekindled their romance in Boston? There's also the question of what brings them back to Seattle, though I guess any appearance could be explained away by visiting Jackson's mom Catherine (Debbie Allen).
We'll find out on Thursday, May 26! But before we get that exciting guest appearance, fans will get the return of Kate Walsh as Addison Montgomery. Addison will be back in the halls of Grey Sloan Memorial when Grey's Anatomy returns from hiatus at 9 p.m. ET Thursday, May 5. In the meantime, check our 2022 TV Schedule to see what new and returning shows are premiering soon.
