Grey’s Anatomy has survived some turbulent times, but could it survive the loss of its leading lady?
It could happen!
Ellen Pompeo, who has played Meredith Grey since Grey’s Anatomy Season 1 Episode 1, has opened up about the possibility of her departing the medical drama.
“Shonda and I, I think — we’ll see, we’ll see,” Pompeo told Entertainment Tonight about whether the show will go on without her.
“Continually trying to reinvent the show is the challenge at this point.”
Pompeo has appeared in 400 episodes of the series, and the star believes the audience has kept it going strong for all these years.
“The show speaks to a lot of people, and the young people love the show,” Pompeo dished.
“It’s inspired so many generations of healthcare workers, so, I think for the young people, it’s a really good piece of content.”
“We’re going to try to keep it going for the young people, not necessarily with me, but keep it going beyond me.”
When asked about whose “anatomy” would it be without Meredith Grey, the star said the following:
“We’ll find someone, or maybe, we won’t.”
Pompeo has been open about either bringing the show to a close or departing.
“I feel like I’m the super naive one who keeps saying, ‘But what’s the story going to be, what story are we going to tell?’” Pompeo said to Insider in December 2021.
“Everyone’s like, ‘Who cares, Ellen? It makes a gazillion dollars.’”
The series remains a heavy hitter in the ratings, and makes a lot of money, so surely there’s an incentive to keep it going.
ABC renewed the series for Season 19 earlier this year.
“I couldn’t be more excited that we get to keep telling the stories of Meredith, Bailey, Richard, and all of the other doctors at Grey Sloan Memorial for another season,” Rhimes said in a statement at the time.
“This is a true testament to [showrunner] Krista Vernoff, the cast, the crew and all the writers who keep the audience on the edge of their seat week after week.”
If you watch Grey’s Anatomy online, you know the most recent episodes have strongly suggested Meredith will be leaving Seattle, possibly preparing fans for the big goodbye.
The season finale also doubles as the 400th episode, so might we be saying goodbye to Meredith as soon as this week?
Possibly.
All we can do is watch the season finale Thursday at 8/7c.
Paul Dailly is the Associate Editor for TV Fanatic. Follow him on Twitter.