[Warning: The below contains MAJOR spoilers for the Grey’s Anatomy Season 21 premiere “If Walls Could Talk.”]
When it comes to Grey’s Anatomy, you can never get too comfortable. Throughout 21 seasons, plenty of beloved characters have been killed off in devastating ways, which is why I’m starting to get very worried after the Season 21 premiere.
It’s been a hot minute since Grey’s Anatomy had a major death among its staff, the last significant one being Deluca’s (Giacomo Gianniotti) stabbing in Season 17. Four seasons later, there have been many close calls — Meredith’s (Ellen Pompeo) battle with COVID, Teddy’s (Kim Raver) dental infection gone wrong — but everyone has survived to practice medicine another day.
In the first episode, Catherine (Debbie Allen) collapses in front of Meredith. Despite their ongoing rift, Meredith flies into action to take care of Catherine. When she wakes up, Meredith tells Catherine she’s got a blood clot stemming from her cancer. Despite the tumor on her spine and likely needing a liver transplant, Catherine is adamant about not pursuing any invasive procedures.
Catherine doesn’t want her cancer to define her, but if she waits too long to tell Richard (James Pickens Jr.) and Jackson (Jesse Williams) about what’s really going on, will it be too late? Jackson is back for an unknown set of episodes. Catherine’s health may take a turn for the worse if she continues to avoid anything invasive, which could keep Jackson in Seattle. Catherine has all the money in the world, but cancer doesn’t play by the rules.
Midori Francis and Jake Borelli are also expected to exit sometime in Season 21. In the premiere episode, there’s really no hint about how they’ll be written out. Mika and Jules (Adelaide Kane) share a steamy kiss while Schmitt debates switching out of the peds specialty.
Will both Mika and Schmitt be written off into the sunset? It would have made sense if Mika had taken Lucas’ (Niko Terho) job opportunity in Chicago, but that doesn’t seem to be the path the show is taking this season.
With two major exits on the horizon, it won’t surprise me if one character’s journey on Grey’s Anatomy ends in tragedy. The show has never been afraid of a shocking death, that’s for sure. No one is ever truly safe at Grey Sloan. (I’ve never been the same since Mark Sloan’s death.)
Then again, the Grey Sloan staff has suffered enough doctor deaths to warrant a federal investigation. Thankfully, showrunner Meg Marinis hinted that Mika and Schmitt will (probably) get opportunities elsewhere.
“Their stories this year truly honor the characters that we built,” she told Parade. “People are going to be hooked into these stories from the very beginning. It’s Grey’s Anatomy. Our characters come and go here. Once you’re part of the family, you’re always part of the family.”
However, she told Shondaland that events that “happen around mid-season” will take our “characters back down again.” A heartbreaking death would shake the current Grey Sloan staff to their core.
Do you think someone’s dying in Grey’s Anatomy Season 21? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
Grey’s Anatomy, Season 21, Thursdays, 10/9c, ABC