‘Grey’s Anatomy’: Ellen Pompeo Updates Fans on the End of the Series
Let’s be honest, many Grey’s Anatomy fans are fully aware the series could end after season 17. The Shondaland medical drama has been on the air for over 15 extraordinary years. Meanwhile, Ellen Pompeo (Meredith Grey) hinted that the current season could be the last. Then recently, Pompeo shared a much-needed update on when Grey’s Anatomy will end — here’s what she said.
What Ellen Pompeo previously said about ‘Grey’s Anatomy’ ending after season 17
As you may know, Grey’s Anatomy creator Shonda Rhimes revealed Pompeo will determine when the show will end.
“Ellen and I have a pact that I’m going to do the show as long as she’s going to do the show,” Rhimes told E! News in 2017. “the show will exist as long as both of us want to do it. If she wants to stop, we’re stopping.”
Then in an interview with Variety from October 2020, Pompeo confirmed her contract expires soon. So there’s a chance Grey’s Anatomy could be ending after season 17.
“We don’t know when the show is really ending yet. But the truth is, this year could be it,” Pompeo said. “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.”
Ellen Pompeo reveals the ‘Grey’s Anatomy’ team hasn’t decided on a series end date
Naturally, Grey’s Anatomy fans are worried about the final season. Pompeo’s comments suggested that the show could potentially wrap soon. Meanwhile, Pompeo’s character caught COVID-19 in season 17. So now, viewers are waiting to see whether Meredith will live or die.
Then in an interview with CBS Sunday Morning on Feb. 28, Pompeo provided everyone with an update on the last season. However, the actor wasn’t able to say much since the team is still figuring out the future of the show.
“I can’t say. Can’t say,” Pompeo said about the end of Grey’s Anatomy. “We honestly have not decided. We’re really trying to figure it out right now.”
Pompeo also hinted that she doesn’t even know Meredith’s fate when Grey’s Anatomy Season 17 returns.
“Right. We don’t know. I’m in that we,” Pompeo said when asked whether Meredith is dead or alive. “I mean, you know, we have choices.”
Ellen Pompeo hopes the end of ‘Grey’s Anatomy’ is done ‘right’
Of course, Pompeo’s recent comments about the last season may not come as a surprise to some Grey’s Anatomy fans. Back in December 2020, showrunner Krista Vernoff revealed she was uncertain about the show’s future. She also planned a season finale that could double as a series finale.
“I don’t know,” Vernoff told Variety when asked about the final season of Grey’s Anatomy. “And so, I planned a phenomenal season, and I’ve planned what can be a season finale or what could be a series finale. 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. But you always have to plan for both contingencies.”
The showrunner continued, “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.”
For now, Grey’s Anatomy fans will just have to wait and see what happens next. But whenever the show ends, Pompeo wants to make sure the Shondaland series will do everyone justice.
“To end a show this iconic, you know, how do we do it?” Pompeo said on CBS Sunday Morning. “I just want to make sure we do this character and this show and the fans – I want to make sure we do it right.”
Grey’s Anatomy Season 17 is expected to come back on March 11, 2021.
