Grey’s Anatomy aptly made plenty of characters central in its almost 20-year run but the stories of some of them started to stagnate, making me hope for the departure of seven characters in Grey’s Anatomy season 21. At its heart a TV drama about surgical interns and residents at Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital, Grey’s Anatomy simultaneously followed the five members of MAGIC as their surgical skills grew and also focused on new residents, making them the center of the story as learning students always were. However, after 20 seasons, characters keep being added, making the cast bigger and bigger.
With new residents always being added and the core cast of surgeons having been at Grey Sloan Memorial for many years, not all their story arcs were focused on as precisely as before in recent Grey’s Anatomy seasons. While it’s pleasant to see those who have been important to the show be safe and sound at Grey Sloan Memorial, some characters’ stories do not seem as urgent as they were in the past and the intermittent presence of others makes their arcs feel detached from Grey’s Anatomy. This convinces me some of them should depart in Grey’s Anatomy season 21.
7 Catherine Fox
Catherine Fox First Appeared In Grey’s Anatomy Season 8
Catherine Fox initially appeared in Grey’s Anatomy season 8 as an iconic urologist and Jackson Avery’s mother, leaving a mark because of the surgical magic she brought to Grey’s Anatomy’s ORs. However, Catherine quickly became more and more important, due to her relationship with Richard Webber first and her central role in helping the Seattle Grace Five own the hospital via the foundation by buying what later became Grey Sloan Memorial. Catherine buying the hospital to save it from being sold into pieces inevitably made her more prominent, guaranteeing her future and the Seattle Grace Five’s in Grey’s Anatomy.
In the last thirteen seasons, Catherine went through the unimaginable. Between Richard’s cobalt poisoning and Catherine’s cancer diagnosis, Catherine had her hands full. Adding to that Jackson’s wish to take over the foundation and Grey Sloan Memorial briefly losing its teaching hospital status, Catherine undoubtedly felt the need to oversee Grey Sloan’s affairs more strictly. However, wanting to run a tighter ship turned Catherine into Grey’s Anatomy season 21’s villain in season 20’s finale.
Catherine’s consistently more despotic behavior made me sure Grey’s Anatomy season 21 will have to force her out. After all, Catherine could not see what was best for Grey Sloan Memorial in season 20 and decided to put her need for retribution for Meredith’s disobedience above furthering Meredith’s Alzheimer’s research. This highlights how Catherine’s priorities cannot align anymore with Grey Sloan Memorial’s needs, making me sure Grey’s Anatomy season 21 cannot avoid dealing with its Catherine Fox problem.
6 Owen Hunt
Owen Hunt Has Been Part Of Grey Sloan Since Grey’s Anatomy Season 5
Owen Hunt first appeared in Grey’s Anatomy season 5, representing a different kind of surgeon from those who came to Seattle Grace before him. His specialty and his past in the army made Owen’s character stand out from other attendings and even made him more unpredictable as Cristina’s love interest. Owen’s subsequent rise among Seattle Grace’s ranks, the extreme situations he faced as chief and his romantic blunders after Cristina left all made his story more interesting. However, ever since Owen finally married his best friend Teddy in Grey’s Anatomy season 18, his main story arc seemed to stagnate.
Owen illegally procuring drugs for veterans’ end-of-life care was a major storyline in Grey’s Anatomy season 18, one that had massive implications for other characters – as Hayes left Grey Sloan because of his secrets and Teddy risked her career to protect him. However, it was relatively easily concluded with Owen and Teddy’s return to Grey Sloan in season 19. Grey’s Anatomy’s latest seasons proved they did not know what to do with Owen’s character, first putting his life in danger in season 18 and then Teddy’s in season 19’s ending.
Previous Grey’s Anatomy seasons let Owen be a mentor to some residents, but that hasn’t been the case recently. Indeed, Grey’s Anatomy seasons 18 to 20 focused greatly on his relationship with Teddy, with her first giving him a reason not to trust her and then Owen doing the same, before finally finding a balance before season 19’s ending. Grey’s Anatomy season 21 concluding Owen’s story could at least give him an ending worthy of him and what his character meant instead of keeping him around only to put his or Teddy’s life in danger every now and then.
5 Teddy Altman
Teddy Altman First Appeared In Grey’s Anatomy Season 6, Returning Permanently In Season 14
Teddy has almost been as long as Owen in Grey’s Anatomy, appearing first in season 6, with her skills as a cardiothoracic surgeon being Owen’s present to Cristina. Owen and Teddy’s friendship, along with Teddy’s unrequited love for him, made their dynamic stand out in the first seasons they both were new to Seattle Grace. However, that only grew more complicated with Teddy and Henry’s tragic romance, with its end destroying Teddy besides earning its position among Grey’s Anatomy’s saddest episodes.
Teddy’s return in Grey’s Anatomy season 14 still had her life intertwined with Owen’s, even as they proceeded to date other people. However, Megan’s retrieval and her surprise pregnancy with Owen’s baby eventually forced Owen and Teddy together, even as they effectively found happiness without major heartbreaks only relatively recently in Grey’s Anatomy season 18. Teddy’s interest in the chief of surgery position in Grey’s Anatomy season 20 finally gave her a stronger connection to Grey Sloan Memorial unrelated to Owen or Cristina’s presence there, letting her find her place among the hospital’s leadership.
However, Catherine adding Teddy to the list of Grey’s Anatomy doctors not working at Grey Sloan in season 21 severs Teddy’s connection to the hospital because Teddy chose to fund Meredith’s study. This could nevertheless be a blessing in disguise for Teddy’s story, which has been connected to Grey Sloan only through Owen. Teddy was already away from Grey Sloan Memorial for several seasons, making her potential departure in Grey’s Anatomy season 21 something reversible that could enhance her story upon her return, instead of having her linked to Grey Sloan only through her romances.
4 Meredith Grey
Meredith Has Been At Grey’s Anatomy’s Center Since Season 1
Meredith has been synonymous with Seattle Grace first and Grey Sloan Memorial later ever since Grey’s Anatomy’s series premiere kickstarted her internship at the hospital she always considered her safe space, having grown up through its halls because of Ellis Grey. Grey’s Anatomy’s 20 seasons saw Meredith find her chosen family there, fall for Derek and start a family with him, while she simultaneously grew as a resident, then an attending, even winning a Harper Avery just like her mother. This reinforces how it would be impossible to tell Meredith’s story separately from Grey Sloan Memorial’s.
Meredith Grey nevertheless seemingly outgrew Grey Sloan Memorial. From her Parkinson’s study pushed for by David Hamilton to putting her family first, choosing to uproot them so that Zola could attend the school she needed, Meredith has been drawn away from Seattle more and more since Grey’s Anatomy season 18. It’s hard to argue for Meredith’s definitive exit from Grey’s Anatomy when her story is inseparable from Grey Sloan Memorial and the medical drama, but Meredith’s story consistently brings her away from the hospital she always considered her home.
A clear-cut departure in Grey’s Anatomy season 21 could be the best option for Meredith’s character. Indeed, her story ending in Grey’s Anatomy with Meredith making Alzheimer’s preventable would be the perfect ending after Ellis and her family suffered so much because of it. Even if it would be hard to say goodbye to Meredith, I would be happy to see her go in Grey’s Anatomy season 21, as it would mean Meredith, her family and her career could continue to thrive offscreen, as her arc would be concluded in the best way with an Alzheimer’s cure.
3 Richard Webber
Richard Webber Has Been A Constant Since Grey’s Anatomy’s Series Premiere
Like a potential Meredith exit, it’s painful to argue a character who has been at the center of Grey’s Anatomy like Richard should leave. Richard’s arc in Grey’s Anatomy’s 20 seasons has been heartbreaking the times his marriage with Adele took center stage or when he struggled with his addiction, but all in all made for a compelling story, letting him grow so much in the years he finally built a bond with Meredith.
The medical drama often contemplated Richard’s retirement, but Grey’s Anatomy season 21 made it much more likely with his long break from operating in season 20. However, it’s his mistakes during the surgery in Grey’s Anatomy season 20’s finale that hint Richard’s time in the OR must end. Grey’s Anatomy season 21’s trailer showed Richard presenting the bungee jumper medical case to attendings and residents alike, securing Richard’s centrality to Grey Sloan’s events for season 21.
However, Richard finally retiring in Grey’s Anatomy season 21 can doubly work. Indeed, it can finally pay off something that Grey’s Anatomy often entertained, but it could also let his and Catherine’s story end positively. Were Richard to retire and follow Catherine to Boston, Grey Sloan Memorial could be free of Catherine without her suffering a painful end, and Richard and Catherine would have their happy ending.
2 Taryn Helm
Taryn Helm First Appeared As An Intern In Grey’s Anatomy Season 14
Taryn Helm only joined Grey Sloan Memorial in Grey’s Anatomy season 14, making her the character among those mentioned in this article who have been the least in the medical drama. However, Taryn’s story does not seem to ever take a central place in Grey’s Anatomy.
Taryn’s crush on Meredith Grey was her defining trait when she was first introduced among the new interns of Grey Sloan Memorial. Taryn eventually became more than that, growing as a surgeon, finding her best friend Levi and even starting a relationship with Mika Yasuda, but her story arc still does not place Taryn front and center.
While I would be pleased if Grey’s Anatomy season 21 finally let Taryn shine, making her more than just a co-chief resident who spews orders to interns, her exit from the show would also work. After all, Grey’s Anatomy has been suffering from too big a cast, and Taryn’s departure – be that tragic or not – could finally force Grey’s Anatomy season 21 to focus on specific characters and satisfactorily develop their stories.
1 Jo Wilson
Jo Wilson Joined The Ranks Of Grey Sloan Memorial In Grey’s Anatomy Season 9
Jo Wilson was often indicated as Meredith’s possible replacement in Grey’s Anatomy. Her difficult past and her connection with Alex Karev all made, after all, her story very similar to that of Meredith when she first started her internship at Seattle Grace. Jo grew as a surgeon and became a general one even thanks to Meredith who acted as her mentor before becoming her friend.
Like Meredith, Grey’s Anatomy made Jo suffer a lot in the twelve seasons she spent at Grey Sloan Memorial. From learning the truth about her biological parents to being surprisingly left by Alex, Jo withstood so much and kept going on. Not only that, Jo made the difficult choice of going back to study because she wanted to switch specialties, proving her wisdom even with her career choices. However, ever since she became Luna’s mother, not much has been going on in her professional life, with Grey’s Anatomy focusing only on her motherhood journey and her relationship with Link.
I would be pleased were Grey’s Anatomy season 21 to put Jo’s career to the forefront again, especially considering how she is still juggling being a general surgeon and studying to become an OB/GYN. Still, were it not possible due to Grey’s Anatomy’s massive cast, Jo’s exit could also work, especially if it promised her a better career away from Grey Sloan Memorial – such an ending would still let her be the best mother for Luna while also prioritizing her career, something that Grey’s Anatomy season 20 struggled to show onscreen.
Grey’s Anatomy season 21 premieres on Thursday, September 26 at 10 p.m. ET on ABC.
