Every time a Grey's Anatomy season comes to an end, fans can't help but get nervous and wonder ... will the next season really be the last one?
While we don't know the exact day Meredith Grey (Ellen Pompeo) will hang up her scrubs for good, we do know that Ellen has officially renewed her contract through 2020, which means Grey's Anatomy is here to stay for at least one more season.
You know what that means: Buy a new pair of TV-watching scrubs, catch up on the ABC show's 300+ episodes, and read on for more details about season 17's plot, cast, and premiere date.
When is Grey's Anatomy coming back for season 17?
Grey's Anatomy kicked off season 17 with a two-hour premiere episode on Thursday, November 12. Going forward, the show will air on Thursdays at 9 p.m. ET on ABC.
Will Ellen Pompeo still be on the show?
Referencing the aforementioned contract, the short answer is yes. Good thing, because ABC's entertainment chief Kerry Burke made it clear that Grey's Anatomy won't continue without the show's lead actress.
"It will be up to them (Ellen and Shonda Rhimes) whether or not they want to continue the show," she told the Television Critics Association.
Shortly before the production of season 17 began, Ellen revealed when she thinks it'll be time to hang up her scrubs. "But certainly I think to dip out sooner rather than later, at this point, having done what we've done, to leave when the show is still on top, is definitely a goal. I'm not trying to stay on the show forever. No way. The truth is, if I get too aggravated and I'm no longer grateful there, I should not be there," she told Dax Shepard during a recording of Armchair Expert podcast.
Is the entire cast returning for season 17?
All of the lead characters are set to return — Andrew DeLuca (Giacomo Gianniotti), Richard Webber (James Pickens Jr.), Dr. Jackson Avery (Jesse Williams), Dr. Maggie Pierce (Kelly McCreary), Dr. Miranda Bailey (Chandra Wilson), Dr. Jo Karev (Camilla Luddington), Dr. Teddy Altman (Kim Raver), Dr. Owen Hunt (Kevin McKidd), and Dr. Amelia Shepherd (Caterina Scorsone).
Following the news that Jesse Williams signed on to star in Hulu's new series Little Fires Everywhere, fans feared that the actor was leaving Grey's. He quickly confirmed that he inked a deal for season 17 and mentioned that showrunner Krista Vernoff will "figure out ways to make all of it work," according to TV Line.
But the most exciting news of all is that Patrick Dempsey, who famously played McDreamy for 11 seasons, returned during the season 17 premiere. It's unclear if he'll be back for more episodes, or if other former cast members like Sandra Oh (Cristina Yang) will follow his lead.
What will season 17 be about?
Grey's plans to imitate life in the year ahead. "We’re going to address this pandemic for sure," the showrunner said during a recent Television Academy panel. "There’s no way to be a long-running medical show and not do the medical story of our lifetimes."
While the specifics are unknown, Giacomo, who plays DeLuca on the show, confirmed that the new episodes will dive into the heart of the pandemic. "We’re going to start the season about a month and a half [into] full COVID. It’s going to take place a little beyond where we left off in the last season … We’re not picking up right where we left off," he told Entertainment Tonight.
Along with the news-driven storyline, the show will still capture the interpersonal drama that fans love. In fact, season 17 will tell the stories that they originally planned to tell last season before production was shut down. "In even the best of times, a television writer's primary job is to know how to pivot,"the showrunner told TVLine. "We are not working to protect stories we had [planned] for the end of season 16. That said, you will get to see some of the immediate moments from where we left off."
The cast — Ellen, especially — is excited for fans to see what they've been working on. During an interview with Variety, Ellen went so far as to say that season 17 is "probably going to be one of our best seasons ever."
So ... is this the end of Grey's Anatomy?
Here's where things get complicated. Deadline reports that Camilla, Kevin, and Kim recently signed three-year contracts, which means they're committed through season 19. Chandra also told Variety she'll stick with Grey's until the very end (as long as they'll have her): "I always say until the wheels come off, I’ll be there. I would love to see the end of her — I would love to see the completion of that arc, not only as a character, but with the show, but everything is dictated by story, as always — but what a great story to be able to tell that I was a starter and a finisher, that’s a very cool story.
This seems promising, except for that fact that Ellen recently said that this season could be the show's last. "We don’t know when the show is really ending yet," she told Variety. "But the truth is, this year could be it."
On an episode of Late Night with James Corden last year, Ellen teased that she's throwing around ideas with Krista and Shonda about the series finale. "Well, I can’t really say what I think, because if we really do what I want to do, that would give it away,” she said.
Either way, the cast knows that Grey's fans won't be happy with the ending (whenever it is).
"The ending, the final episode, matters so much," she continued. "Are you kidding me? And the fans are never going to be happy no matter what. Sopranos, Game of Thrones, they’re pissed no matter what you do. So, there’s a lot of pressure on that final episode."
