Entertainment

All These 'Grey's Anatomy' Characters May Leave The Show After Season 14

Eric McCandless/ABC

Every good thing must come to an end, and if you’re a Grey’s Anatomy fan, you know that the most. No character (save for Meredith Grey) is really safe on this show. The almighty Shonda Rhimes even took down McDreamy. Really. No one is safe. These things just happen. And, as Season 14 winds down to a close, the numbers of fan favorites will probably tumble some more. Who is leaving Grey’s Anatomy in Season 14? Sorry, but this one is gonna sting!

One thing, to note, though, is the manner of departure. How one leaves Grey’s Anatomy makes all the difference. George, Derek, Lexie, Mark Sloan — these guys are all dead. Once you’re dead, you can’t come back to Grey Sloan, unless you’re Kyle Chandler or Denny or that girl who got impaled with a pipe on the train, and those were moments that none of us really need to relive. But characters who didn’t die can be brought back into the fold if dear Shonda deems it so. That means Cristina, Addison, Callie, and Izzy, for example, can get a fair shake. Except don’t bring back Izzy, because Alex and Jo really don’t need any more drama. (We’ll get to that later).

To start things off, it’s been confirmed that the one, the only Meredith Grey has signed on for two more seasons of Grey’s Anatomy. According to Variety, the show hasn’t been renewed past Season 14, but it’s a safe bet that Grey Sloan will return to the airwaves if Meredith is there. There is really no show without her. Variety reports that Pompeo will earn $575,000 per episode, making her the highest-paid actress on a TV drama, and she also earns a co-executive producer credit on Station 19 and a development deal on some other projects. Meredith Grey is here to stay!

But that’s where the fun ends. As reported by Deadline, Jessica Capshaw, also known as Arizona Robbins, and Sarah Drew, who plays April, will not have their contracts extended past Season 14. Of the split, Grey’s Anatomy showrunner Krista Vernoff said:

“The characters of Arizona and April are permanently woven into the fabric of Grey’s Anatomy thanks to the extraordinary work of Jessica Capshaw and Sarah Drew. As writers, our job is to follow the stories where they want to go and sometimes that means saying goodbye to characters we love. It has been a joy and a privilege to work with these phenomenally talented actresses.”

Shonda Rhimes echoed these sentiments, according to Deadline, saying, “It’s always hard for me to say goodbye to any of my characters. Both Arizona Robbins and April Kepner are not only beloved but iconic — both the LBGTQ and devout Christian communities are underrepresented on TV. I will be forever grateful to both Jessica and Sarah for bringing these characters to life.”

I mean, yeah, we’re grateful, too, but it’s still sad that it seems like April and Arizona won’t get the happy endings they deserve. April is in the middle of a meltdown, and her OTP Jackson is into Maggie now. So sad.

So who else could leave Grey Sloan? Jo and Alex Karev seem to be on the edge of glory, hanging on a moment of truth. In recent episodes, Jo has been freed from the clutches of her abusive estranged husband (he’s dead). Now, she can apply for fellowships wherever she wants, and Alex, well… he’s not so keen, because he thinks that it means she wants to leave him. Nope! It just means that she wants, as she says, a kickass career because she can have her name out in the open again. Alex eventually gets over this, and they get engaged for realsies.

But this engagement could mean that Alex and Jo will be picking up and moving as a married couple to wherever Jo decides to go. Alex is a world-class doctor — he can get a job wherever. He can follow her. There’s no official word on the contracts of Camilla Luddington or Justin Chambers, but logically, these characters make the most sense to sail into the sunset. Personally, I'd love to see Amelia and Owen ride off, because I can't handle their sex thing they have going on again, but we all can't get what we want.

Who will stay and who will go? Only Shonda Rhimes knows for sure, and she’s a wily one. There are probably surprises in store, so keep an eye to the trades and to the show to find out what’s next for Grey's Anatomy Season 15.