“The Return of Grey’s Anatomy”

*Warning: If you are not caught up with this latest season, some of the information below may contain spoilers! 

Grey’s Anatomy fans have been on their toes since the end of November awaiting the return of their favorite show and the answers to all of their urgent questions.  Since March 27th, 2005, fans have laughed, cried, screamed, sometimes fainted (the graphic of the surgeries can be very realistic), and have grown with the cast of Grey’s Anatomy. As we watch Meredith suffer the horrible symptoms of COVID-19, is this the beginning of the end? Are fans expected to part ways and say their goodbyes to their favorite show for almost two decades? We will have to wait to find out.

My Predictions

For me, Grey’s Anatomy is what got me through the good and the bad of quarantine. At a time where I had nothing going on, nothing to look forward to, and no positivity, I binged sixteen seasons eager for the first half of the season to premiere in November. While I wish the show could last forever, these are some of my predictions and hopes for how the show may end, god forbid it does.

On the Beach

Every winter I look forward to the beach and the sun, but this year I look forward to the beach in a whole different perspective. Last November, after Meredith began to fall ill with COVID and was placed in the ICU, she visited some of our friends that we’ve emotionally had to say goodbye to in earlier seasons. 

McDreamy, played by Patrick Dempsey, was last seen on Grey’s Anatomy after he got hit by a semi-truck and Perfect Penny failed to get him a head CT. But as Meredith was unconscious and on life support due to her COVID symptoms, we got to meet with our favorite man again at the beach. Although this return was extraordinary and completely unexpected, the beach is nothing but bad when it comes to the health and well-being of Meredith.

Next, sweet, innocent, George returned to the beach as Meredith worsened. After his death in Season 5, one of the first main characters to leave the show, we were left heartbroken, and that empty space in our hearts was finally filled when we saw George on the beach. Him and Meredith talking convinced fans that nothing truly ever happened and that everything was okay. It is important to remember how many times George told Meredith that she needed to fight for her kids and her life.

“Who will be on the beach next?” is the top question every fan has been asking, and this is what I believe.

I believe that there will only be one more return to the beach before Meredith gets better, and I pray to god that it is Mark Sloan and Lexie Grey. The main reason I believe that we will be rekindled with the best couple that has ever been on the show (not an opinion, it is a fact) is that in the trending tweet that actor Eric Dane (Mark Sloan) forwarded towards Ellen Pompeo (Meredith Grey) he wrote, “Let’s go for a walk – I’ll find you.” 

WHAT DOES THIS MEAN??? Is he implying a walk on the beach? Is he trying to drop hints for the fans? I sure hope so! But there is absolutely no way that Mark can return without his soulmate, Lexie Grey. We all bawled our eyes out as we listened to Mark promise Lexie a life together with kids and all their dreams as she was crushed in the plane crash and we all know that after that, there is no way they will not be by each other’s side in the event of their return. 

The Beginning of the End?

Grey’s Anatomy is the longest-running medical drama TV show in history and for the last seventeen years, they have not let fans down (except for Alex’s exit – but we will talk about that another time). While hoping for the best, we should start preparing for the worst.

Personally, I believe if they bring more characters who have left the show back for an appearance, that’s a sign that the show is not going to be running much longer, and they are saying their last goodbyes. Contrary to popular belief, I do not think that the show will end with Meredith Grey being defeated by COVID, but I think the show will end. 

I hope it ends with a flash-forward of Meredith’s kids, Jackson and April’s daughter, Sofia, Scout, Bailey’s sons, and all of the other surgeons’ children grown up, working as interns at Grey Sloan Memorial. I saw this in a Tik Tok and refuse to let it go, but I hope that every lecture Meredith gives at the beginning and end of each episode is actually her writing in journals, just as Ellis had, that have been passed on to Zola to help her become the greatest surgeon and carry on her parents legacy. Maybe we will discover that Meredith did have the Alheizmers gene? Maybe Zola will use Derek’s work to find a cure for Alzheimer’s to save her mother and her siblings? I think these would be the most impactful endings that such a great show can have.

Thursday will be a life-changing night for millions of people all over the world, and I am anxious to see what will happen. Even if the show ends, we all know that “the carousel never stops turning.”