Why did Ellen Pompeo leave Grey’s Anatomy? Will she return?
If there is one clear thing we should say first and foremost here, though, it’s that her goodbye is not necessarily some permanent one at all. There is very much a good chance that you are going to see the actress back at the end of the season as Meredith Grey, and she will remain an executive producer and the show’s narrator. This departure for the character on-screen is not meant to be some sort of permanent goodbye; if it was, it probably would have been done a little bit differently.
What we can’t say is whether or not Pompeo will ever be a full-time series regular again, as that remains very much up in the air. The actress clearly was interested in doing some other things, which makes a certain measure of sense after giving herself to this franchise for almost twenty years. She is working with Hulu on a new project, and we will see exactly what lies ahead for her after the fact there. In general, we do think she’d be welcomed back with open arms whenever she does decide to come back, so that will not be a concern.
Moving forward, we certainly think that Meredith will be mentioned by the other characters. After all, Amelia and Maggie are still there to represent her family, and she was friends with everyone at the Grey Sloan! One of the great things about this series in general is that they’ve created such an ecosystem and have always worked to ensure that people are never truly gone, even if we don’t see as much of them on-screen. We’ve even seen text messages from Cristina over the years!
(Yes, at some point we would love see Sandra Oh back on the show, but that feels pretty unlikely at this point.)
Are you going to miss seeing Ellen Pompeo on-screen on Grey’s Anatomy season 19?
Be sure to let us know in the attached comments! Once you do just that, remember to keep coming back for some additional updates. (Photo: ABC.)