Grey’s Anatomy may not have ended season 22 with the usual surprise twists — but doesn’t mean more won’t be coming soon.
“We’ll always have to wait to see who shows up in season 23,” showrunner Meg Marinis told Deadline on Thursday, May 7.
Marinis acknowledged that the season 22 finale had fewer cast members returning than usual, explaining that the choice wasn’t intentional. “When we realized that we needed to exit two characters, we wanted to spend the most time on the characters that we have currently,” she said.
The executive producer was specifically asked about the lack of screen time dedicated to the new interns.
“I’d love to see them come back. They really were fun characters to interact with ours,” she replied. “I think just in the last two episodes, we had a lot of creative ground to cover with our regulars.”
The medical drama, which premiered in 2005, is focused on the personal and professional lives of surgical interns, residents and attendings at Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital (formerly known as Seattle Grace and Seattle Grace Mercy West).
Over the years, Grey’s Anatomy has become known for its wild twists and outrageous deaths that often result in cast exits. Cost-cutting efforts, however, have been affecting scripted TV across the board recently as more shows continue to reduce screen time for main cast members.
During Thursday’s season 22 finale, Owen (Kevin McKidd) and Teddy (Kim Raver) left the hospital to move to Paris. Meredith (Ellen Pompeo), meanwhile, proposed to Nick (Scott Speedman) after a near-death experience.
When it comes to a possible onscreen wedding for the couple, Marinis told Deadline, “It will depend on if [Scott’s show] R.J. Decker goes, and I hope it does for Scott. But he was so game, he flew in on a Friday, we filmed on a Saturday, and we worked it out.”
She continued: “He was being part of the Grey’s family. And so we’ll just have to figure out if we can plan in advance with the other show and work it out again.”
Marinis also didn’t rule out more exits after Kwan (Harry Shum Jr.) was officially fired.
“His fate is still undecided. Blue is scared out of his mind, so we’ll just have to see when we come back in the fall,” she explained. “He doesn’t have a job at Grey Sloan right now, so we’ll have to see what happens to him.”
When asked about James Pickens Jr. and Chandra Wilson — who have been on the show since the beginning — Marinis replied, “[James] is in every episode. And those two are our OGs that are the pillars of the show. I do not envision a world where I can scale back on seeing either of them. Just due to the creative, we may be seeing [Chandra’s character] Bailey in a different capacity, though.”
Grey’s Anatomy is streaming on Hulu.
