‘Grey’s Anatomy’ season 11 finale: Shonda Rhimes pays one final tribute to Patrick Dempsey

For those who watched the “Grey’s Anatomy” season finale live on Thursday night, there was probably one surprise that you definitely did not see coming in advance: A scene of Derek aboard the ferry that you did not see previously in “How to Save a Life.” Given that we had already seen the ferry on the show and pictures of Patrick Dempsey on it via social media, we thought that this was done. Therefore, seeing him aboard this boat again in the finale recording a voicemail was a special little treat.

Below, you can see Shonda Rhimes finally mourn properly the exit of her character and Dempsey from the show. She has remained pretty quiet about him leaving for the most part, and there are still some details surrounding his departure that are not entirely clear. What we are the most happy about here is that this does not seem to be a parting based on bitterness in any form; he has had lovely things to say about Rhimes and co-star Ellen Pompeo since his exit, and this is further proof that Rhimes is going to miss him being around.

Of course, a part of us wonders if there is any unconscious disappointment among the people on the show, since Derek and Meredith being together was probably the original endgame plan that was suddenly turned on its head. Luckily, we don’t think there is any reason for that to manifest. Painful as it may be, death is a part of life, and this does open doors for interesting new stories to be told.

“Grey’s Anatomy” may be over for now, but new episodes will begin airing once again starting this fall. We’ll be there to discuss the show the rest of the summer until then.

For now, head over here to read our review of the finale, and sign up here to get some other TV updates on everything we cover, courtesy of our CarterMatt Newsletter. (Photo: ABC.)