7 Ideas for the Inevitable End of ‘Grey’s Anatomy’
Meredith makes a huge Alzheimer’s breakthrough
You know that saying, “The life you save may be your own?” The specter of Alzheimer’s has haunted Meredith ever since her mother, Ellis Grey, was diagnosed with the neurodegenerative disease — even more so after she herself tested positive for more than one Alzheimer’s marker. We know Mer is a general surgeon, but there’d be no better way for her to honor her late mom and her late neurosurgeon husband, Derek Shepherd, than to discover at least part of the cure.
Cristina wins the Catherine Fox Award
No one we’ve met on Grey’s Anatomy — save for, perhaps Teddy Altman — is more of a cardiothoracic goddess than Cristina Yang. So it doesn’t seem right that Cristina has never fulfilled her dream of winning the honor previously known as the Harper Avery Award. Even if Sandra Oh doesn’t return to the show and we have to find out about Cristina’s win through a newspaper headline — as we did with Preston Burke’s win — at least we’ll know she succeeded.
Izzie returns to make amends with Alex
We still have whiplash from the abrupt end of Izzie’s storyline. Izzie deserved a better exit, and her love story with Alex deserved an actual denouement. We’re not suggesting Alex leave Jo for Izzie, but we’d love to see Grey’s creator Shonda Rhimes and Katherine Heigl bury the hatchet long enough for Katherine to finish Izzie’s storyline properly.
April and Arizona find their happily-ever-afters
April and Arizona are leaving Grey Sloan way before Grey’s Anatomy’s series finale, but we hope they get back with their OTPs by the time the show ends. Now that we know their exits won’t be tragic, we’re still hopeful April will reunite with Jackson and Arizona will reunite with Callie… even if we find out about these happy endings through the hospital grapevine.
Amelia and Owen co-parent foster kids
We were rooting for “Owemelia.” (Cue Tyra Banks voice: We were all rooting for you!) Then we found out Amelia’s marriage to Owen was just a side effect of her brain tumor. Bummer. Ever since that revelation, though, Owen and Amelia have stayed friends-with-benefits who are now serving as parental figures for foster kid Leo and teen addict Betty. We don’t even need a romantic reunion for these two — we like their current rhythm just fine!
Richard starts a rehab facility
All good careers must come to an end, and Richard will probably want to put down the scalpel at some point. So what’s his next chapter? We hardly think he’s the full-time retirement type, and given his mentorship chops, we think he’d do a fine job ushering people back to sobriety, just as he has as Amelia’s ad hoc sponsor.
Bailey holds down the fort at Grey Sloan Memorial
Bailey wasn’t always Chief of Surgery, but in many ways, Grey Sloan Memorial was always her hospital. We couldn’t imagine her ever leaving or anyone else taking over, and for that matter, we wouldn’t be surprised if Catherine and Jackson Avery gave Bailey the keys to the Catherine Fox Foundation either. It would only be fair, given all the work she has done to polish the foundation’s crown jewel hospital.
It’s almost time for the surgeons of Grey’s Anatomy to scrub out for the last time — on our TV screens, anyway. Lead star Ellen Pompeo and the other Grey’s producers are already contemplating the grand finale for the ABC medical drama.
“Yes, we’re starting to think about how you would end a show this iconic,” the 48-year-old actress told ET earlier this month. “How do you end it?”
Well, Ms. Pompeo, we have some ideas. Click through the gallery above for possible endgames for some of the long-running show’s veteran characters.
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