‘Grey’s Anatomy’ season 11, episode 21 preview: Patrick Dempsey’s Derek and an explosion

While we may not be able to say a whole lot just yet regarding Derek’s fate on “Grey’s Anatomy” Thursday night, we can at least say this right now: He is not going to die in that explosion that we’ve seen teased a few times now in various promos.

The sneak peek below per The Hollywood Reporter shows Derek actually looking on while the explosion happens. He seems to be fine physically, and is instead spending his time trying to help a family who seems to be suffering after a near-fatal car accident. The car is on fire, and Patrick Dempsey’s character drags one of the family members to safety. The episode is entitled “How to Save a Life,” and we know now that there is one life that he definitely saves.

Even after watching this, though, it is easy to be full of unanswered questions. For example, why has he been unable to contact Meredith for so long, and why were there seemingly sirens at her door at the end of this past episode? Is there a larger reason to worry about whether or not he is going to make it out of this alive?

Personally, we think that Derek will make it through this okay, at least given that Dempsey has a contract for next season and it seems almost too obvious at this point that he will die. Also, as much as Shonda Rhimes likes to shake things up and show fans that she’s not afraid to make big moves, killing off Derek may turn fans off a little too much.

One fun Easter egg in here is that Derek is seen opening up a trunk of a Porsche, and this is a brand of car he uses often during his other career in racing.

Yesterday, we wrote an extensive piece detailing whether or not Derek could be killed off, and you can read that over here. Also, sign up to score some other TV updates on all we cover via our CarterMatt Newsletter. (Photo: ABC.)

[ot-video][/ot-video]