There are long-running TV shows, and then there's Grey's Anatomy. We're a few episodes into the whopping 23rd season on ABC (and streaming with a Hulu subscription). The season premiere left the state of Meredith's engagement ambiguous, and after watching Adams and Amelia as roommates/coworkers in the most recent episode, I couldn't stop thinking of one big question.
Niko Tehro made his debut as Dr. Lucas Adams in Season 19 of Grey's Anatomy, and it was quickly revealed that he was the nephew of both Amelia and Patrick Dempsey's McDreamy. It's been fun seeing him and Amelia interact, but after this week's episode, I am once again wondering which one of Derek's sisters is Adams' mother.
This is a lingering question that's lasted years, and I am truly shocked that the powers that be on Grey's still haven't given us any answers. I was thinking about this throughout the latest episode, but I got especially frustrated when Amelia talked to her nephew/coworker about the Shepherd dynamic. After first saying that she was the "underdog in my family", she opened up more by saying:
Your mom and your aunts still treat me like I can’t do anything right.
I'm not going to lie, this line of dialogue kind of made me crazy. It's bad enough that we're in our fifth season of Grey's Anatomy without revealing who Adams' mother is, but the fact that the show seems to be teasing us in this way was frustrating. Besides, wouldn't Amelia's comments be more powerful if we knew which of the Shepherd sisters she was specifically referencing?
Longtime Grey's Anatomy fans know that we met all of Derek's sisters at one point or other throughout the show's long run on TV. Upon Adams' entrance, most fans assumed he was the child of Nancy (Embeth Davidtz) thanks to references about him being from Connecticut. Then there's Neve Campbell's Liz, who appeared back in Season 9 to donate nerves to fix McDreamy's hand. Finally, there's Kathleen Shepherd (Amy Acker), who made her debut in Season 15 after previously being referenced a number of times. I have to assume that one of them will eventually show up as Lucas' mother, but that still hasn't happened yet.
Right now it's unclear if we'll ever get an answer to Adam's parentage. But if this mystery isn't solved during Season 23, I hope the show at least stops making references to it. As a longtime fan who refuses to give up on my friends at Grey Sloan Memorial, it truly felt like a slap in the face.
Grey's Anatomy airs new episodes on Thursdays on ABC as part of the 2026 TV schedule. I've been enjoying the season so far, especially the story related to Simone Griffith and (of course) our girl Meredith.
