With such a large ensemble cast and studios trying to find ways to cut budgets, losing characters is becoming a common practice. There are always fears that Grey's Anatomy will take out another beloved character, and with only two original characters now part of the regular cast and one there every now and again, it's scary to think of how much the series has changed.
While Bailey and Webber have certainly been the glue for many seasons of Grey's Anatomy, there is one character who gives the series its name. There is no Grey's without Meredith Grey, and so many have agreed on that for many years.
However, the series has found ways to succeed. Ellen Pompeo took some steps back to focus on other projects, but she has appeared in the medical drama for a few episodes each season. She also still narrates the episodes. There's some excellent news for Meredith fans, as she will be back.
Ellen Pompeo confirms she will be in Grey's Anatomy season 22
According to Variety, Pompeo will continue to do the voiceovers for each episode. She will also be in seven episodes of season 22. It's not 100% clear how long the season will be, but we're expecting around 18 episodes at least, which is what season 21 has been.
Pompeo also continues to serve as an executive producer on the series. She has a say in some of the storylines, but not all of them. One of the storylines from season 21 that she didn't agree with was a recent two-episode arc that saw Lena Waithe's character decide to lie to get her wife the liver transplant needed. As her wife has Alzheimer's, she had to lie to everyone, and that led to Meredith and Webber turning to Catherine to figure out what to do next.
We all know that Meredith has circumvented procedures before to do what she feels is right for her patients. That's something Meredith would have continued to do here, but it was Waithe who helped Pompeo see that Meredith's actions were, in a way, to serve her boyfriend Marsh's arc instead.
How could Meredith be part of Grey's Anatomy season 22?
For the last couple of seasons, Meredith has worked on developing a cure for Alzheimer's. She even went behind Catherine's back to focus on a different type of research as she realized everyone may have been looking at this disease all wrong. As Catherine found out, the proverbial hit the fan and Meredith found herself ousted from her own research.
In a recent episode, she tried to get funding for her researching, only to find that Tom Koracick is getting funding with the same research — and he's much further ahead in it. However, Meredith noted a flaw in his research as he's not testing on any female mice due to hormones. Well, with Alzheimer's affecting more women than men, it's a short-sighted decision on Koracick's part, but the board sided with him for funding.
We could see the next season focus on Meredith continue her research. She knows that she needs to test on female mice, and maybe, just maybe, there is a cure for Alzheimer's out there in the world of Grey's Anatomy.
Grey's Anatomy airs on Thursdays at 10/9c on ABC. Catch up the following day on Hulu.