Get ready to scrub back in – the premiere of “Grey’s Anatomy” Season 22 will make its “deadly” return to ABC this Thursday, October 9. After last season’s finale ended in one of the long-running medical drama’s most “explosive” cliffhangers yet, fans have spent the last five months speculating which of Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital’s exceptional doctors escaped the carnage unscathed.
While promotional material for the upcoming season has confirmed that characters like Dr. Amelia Shepherd (Caterina Scorsone), Dr. Owen Hunt (Kevin McKidd) and, of course, the series’ eponymous lead, Dr. Meredith Grey (Ellen Pompeo) survived the gas explosion that rocked the hospital to its core, an all-new trailer released just days before the Season 22 premiere confirmed that six doctors are still in danger of becoming the latest “Grey’s Anatomy” casualty.
Season 22 Will be a ‘Long Road to Recovery’ for Grey Sloan’s Doctors
Speaking with TV Insider, “Grey’s Anatomy” showrunner Meg Marinis teased that Season 22 will explore a “long road to recovery” for the hospital and its core cast of doctors.
“The season will touch on the long road to recovery, but I also want to focus on hope and where we look for it during trying times,” said Marinis. “The hope that Grey Sloan Memorial will be able to rebuild and the hope our doctors have for themselves and their patients.”
While Marinis’ statement could refer to a literal “rebuilding” of the hospital after last season’s explosion, fans are near certain that the showrunner is similarly referencing an emotional rebuilding following the supposed death of one of Grey Sloan’s own.
In the same report, TV Insider confirmed that the six characters still in danger of becoming the Shondaland production’s latest victim (or victims) include Dr. Atticus ‘Link’ Lincoln (Chris Carmack), Dr. Richard Webber (James Pickens Jr.), Dr. Monica Beltran (Natalie Morales), Dr. Jules Millin (Adelaide Kane), Dr. Lucas Adams (Niko Terho) and Dr. Miranda Bailey (Chandra Wilson).
Though all six characters were part of the main cast for “Grey’s Anatomy” Season 21, some deaths seem more probable than others, with fans suggesting that Webber, Lucas, Monica and Link are in the most danger of being written off the show.
Promise of ‘Familiar Faces’ in Season 22 Could Predict Webber’s Death
While the forthcoming premiere of Season 22 will reportedly pick up immediately after the events of the Season 21 finale, the second episode of the new season will mark the 450th episode of “Grey’s Anatomy” overall.
In the past, milestone episodes have been particularly dramatic and oftentimes deadly. For the 50th episode, a patient’s toxic blood left several of the hospital’s doctors unconcious, while the 350th episode revolved around Meredith’s trial to retain her medical license after committing insurance fraud to save a young patient. Fans think the upcoming 450th episode could be equally as dramatic, potentially serving as a funeral for one of the show’s original cast members: Dr. Richard Webber. The rumors only intensified after members of the “Grey’s” cast revealed that the upcoming season would see the return of some familiar faces.
ABCAt present, it remains unclear as to who, exactly, could be returning to Grey Sloan’s hallowed halls for Season 22, or why. Regardless, if both Webber and Bailey remain in danger ahead of Thursday’s premiere, Webber seems like the more logical choice.
Not only has the former Chief of Surgery been considering retirement for what seems like the entirety of the show’s 20-year history, a trailer for the premiere show’s Kim Raver’s Dr. Teddy Altman delivering potentially deadly news to Webber’s wife, Dr. Catherine Fox (Debbie Allen).
Tears Suggest Someone Close to Amelia Might Not Survive the Premiere
Another clue as to who might not make it out the explosion alive comes after sneak peek photos from the upcoming premiere showed Amelia in hysterics as she tries to push past Anthony Hill’s Dr. Winston Ndugu, suggesting that someone close to her might be in danger.
While Amelia’s tears could be for Monica, particularly after their will-they-won’t-they romance on Season 21, it seems more likely that her over-the-top reaction comes as the result of her nephew, second-year surgical intern Lucas, being seriously injured or even killed in the explosion.
ABCLucas’ potential death would come just episodes after the character was subject to a convenience store robbery. Though he escaped the altercation unscathed (at least physically), the hold-up was eerily familiar to a similar robbery witnessed by the late Dr. Derek Shepherd (Patrick Dempsey), who met his grisly end in Season 11.
Will Lucas meet a similar fate this season? And, if so, how will the fallout affect his aunts Amelia and Meredith?
On the Surface, Link Seems to be the Most Likely Season 22 Casualty
Though “Grey’s Anatomy” has confirmed that six characters are still in danger, fans have been most concerned for Link, who seemed to accidentally set off the explosion during last season’s finale while performing a surgery.
ABCLink’s death would have untold concequences on the series, particularly given that he and Dr. Jo Wilson (Camilla Luddington) tied the knot mere episodes before the finale, and because the couple are mere days away from the birth of their twin daughters.
The otrhopedic surgeon’s potential death seems even more likely following pre-season interviews where Luddington revealed that she was “really dreading” returning to film Season 22.
“It’s a rough episode for [Jo],” Luddington told E! News in August. “It’s wild. There’s so much going on. There’s so much action nonstop. I think viewers are gonna be really excited to watch, but also like, there’s some hard moments.”
Jason George Teases ‘Multiple Deaths’ in Season 22 Premiere
While “Grey’s” fans have been whipped into a frenzy trying to predict which of their favorite characters won’t make it to Season 22, Jason George, who portrays Dr. Ben Warren in the series, warned viewers to “keep tissues handy” ahead of Thursday’s premiere, teasing that multiple doctors might be in danger of flatlining in the “deadly” episode.
“I think it’s safe to say that not everybody makes it out,” the actor told Soaps.com, adding, “Deadly is an accurate word for the situation.”
Though George’s Dr. Warren was confirmed safe from the explosion in last season’s finale, he revealed that “things are gonna get shook up” in Season 22, adding that “a whole other level of electric” intensity overtook the cast as they discovered which doctor(s) didn’t survive during the table read for the premiere episode.
Find out who lives, who dies, and how the doctors of Grey Sloan deal with the fallout when “Grey’s Anatomy” returns to ABC on Thursday, October 9 at 10pm ET.
