Grey’s Anatomyaired itsmidseason finaleThursday evening with no sign ofPatrick Dempsey’s Derek Shepherd — but fans can rest assured he’ll appear next year.
Showrunner Krista Vernoff confirmed toVarietythat Dempsey will reprise his role as Derek again in the second half of season 17, teasing, “You will see McDreamy again in the back half of the season.”
Derek, the late husband ofEllen Pompeo’s Meredith Grey, died in a tragic car crash in the series' season 11. However, he reemerged in thisseason’s premierelast month, appearing during one of Meredith’s dreams while shebattled a severe case of COVID-19.
Patrick Dempsey inGrey’s Anatomy.ABC
“We all have hopes, but we don’t have anything new to report yet,” Vernoff toldVarietyof whether viewers can expect future cameos.
As for the future of the show in general, Vernoff said she’s not sure whenGrey’swill end.
“‘I don’t know’ is the honest answer,” she said. “I don’t know. And so, I planned a phenomenal season, and I’ve planned what can be a season finale or what could be a series finale.”
Patrick Dempsey and Ellen Pompeo.Krista Vernoff/abc
“I never really believe it’s really over until everybody sits me down — they’re all going to have to come together and sit me down and tell me it’s really over,” Vernoff continued. “But you always have to plan for both contingencies. We have a plan for how the season is going to end, and I feel really good about that plan, but I will say that at this point in any given season, we usually have a plan for where the season is going to end and it doesn’t always end where we think it will. So, you never know.”
Pompeo, who also serves as a producer onGrey’s, previously said that the show willlikely end when she leaves.
“We don’t know when the show is really ending yet,” the actress, 51, toldVarietyin October. “But the truth is, this year could be it.”
“I’m constantly fighting for the show as a whole to be as good as it can be. As a producer, I feel like I have permission to be able to do that,” she later added. “I mean, this is the last year of my contract right now. I don’t know that this is the last year? But it could very well could be.”
Season 17 ofGrey’s Anatomyreturns March 4 on ABC.
source: people.com
