Grey’s Anatomy season 19 episode 8 spoilers: After Meredith’s exit

As we get ourselves prepared for Grey’s Anatomy season 19 episode 8on ABC next week, it’s clear we are entering a new era. This episode (titled ‘All Star”) is the first without Ellen Pompeo as a series regular. She’s still a narrator and executive producer and will be back for the finale later this spring, but there’s something different about sitting here and knowing that you’re not going to be seeing Dr. Meredith Grey turn up. Will the show be able to sustain itself without her?

We know that the model that the medial drama is probably looking at here is NCIS, which was able to keep itself going without Mark Harmon and has already been renewed for a season 21. This is a different show, of course, and Meredith is referenced in its very title! We don’t want to make any big assumptions here.

What we will go ahead and do, though, is share the full Grey’s Anatomy season 19 episode 8 synopsis below:

Teddy makes a challenging decision. Meanwhile, Maggie and Winston aren’t on speaking terms, and Link leans on Jo for emotional support as he preps for a surgery on a well-known athlete. Simone and Lucas are surprised by an unlikely visitor.

By the end of this episode, we should at least have a taste of what sort of series Grey’s Anatomy is setting itself up to be long-term. We tend to think that tonally, there’s not all that much that will be different as the writers are probably hoping to deliver something that is dramatic, romantic, and messy all at once. There could even still be some humor here! The big difference, though, is that there is not the same focus we’ve had in the past.

Related – Get some more news about the show, including some recent comments from Pompeo about her exit

What do you most want to see when it comes to Grey’s Anatomy season 19 episode 8 on ABC next week?

Are you still as interested in watching the show without Meredith? Be sure to let us know in the comments; once you do just that, come back for other updates. (Photo: ABC.)