Fans have become accustomed to watching their favourite characters die in every season finale of ‘Grey’s Anatomy’, but what happened in season 16? Let’s find out.
Every ‘Grey’s Anatomy’ fan is familiar with what goes down in the season finale. The character you love, or one that is endangered in some way, is sure to die. A gunman could appear out of nowhere, or a vehicle will run them over, the options are endless. The showrunners have had no qualms about their heart-wrenching finales and it’s been happening for 15 seasons now! For the first time, ‘Grey’s Anatomy’ Season 16 finale was the opposite of what viewers imagined it to be. Showrunners seemed to have revisited their finale patterns and what is usually full of unpredictable twists has none of it now!
Highlights —
- The ‘Grey’s Anatomy’ Season 16 finale was cut short
- What happened in the season 16 finale?
- ‘Grey’s Anatomy’ boss Krista Vernoff wants to surprise fans
They’re finally committing to fan-service and presenting bittersweet finales to end whirlwind seasons instead of writing multiple character deaths. What’s the reason behind this sudden change though? Is it a set-up for another season where the main character is killed or worse, recast? Keep reading to find out!
The ‘Grey’s Anatomy’ Season 16 finale was cut short
The season 16 finale of ‘Grey’s Anatomy’ premiered on April 9th this year instead of its original May 16th date. Fans waited in anticipation to see the conclusion of the twenty-five episode season, but ABC had other plans for them. The medical drama moved up its date, and instead of the 25th episode, the 21st was expected to serve as the finale. The coronavirus pandemic impacted the production and filming schedule of the series, and the cast and crew had to follow suit. ABC wasn’t able to complete production on the rest of the episodes, which is why the shift on episodes took place.
ABC later announced that they wouldn’t resume production, and the season would come to an end after episode 21. The silver lining is, however, that ‘Grey’s Anatomy’ will be returning for a season 17! All the characters will return to reprise their roles and fans will hopefully get a happy ending for all of them.
What happened in the season 16 finale?
‘Grey’s Anatomy’ and deaths go hand in hand. There’s a lot that happens in each episode, so viewers are prepared to expect the unexpected because things can go in any direction. The shock factor has played a huge role in keeping fans on their toes and making them play the guessing game. It is, however, a fact that the Shonda Rhimes produced series saves the best (or worst) and only delivers it during the season finale. Over the years, there have been some incredibly shocking finales from Addison appearing as Derek’s wife to Derek being shot, Lexie’s death, and many more! The season 16 finale was anything but that.
Richard (Jim Pickens) is cured of cobalt poisoning, Owen and Teddy’s (Kevin McKidd and Kim Raver) wedding is indefinitely postponed. Link and Amelia (Chris Carmack and Caterina Scorsone) have a baby boy and DeLuca has a breakdown. Meredith is in a love triangle with Cormac Hayes and Andrew DeLuca, and it’s unclear what’s happening there. But, at least, no one was in a plane crash or electrocuted. Phew!
‘Grey’s Anatomy’ boss Krista Vernoff wants to surprise fans
Showrunner Krista Vernoff decided that she wanted to avoid doing what the viewers expected and start surprising them instead. After 15 seasons, they’ve learned to expect the worst, but what could surprise (and scare) them is a happy finale! In an interview with “US Weekly”, she discussed eliminating tragic deaths that viewers had grown accustomed to. She said,
“On Grey’s Anatomy, I did the opposite of what we did on ‘Station 19’ (a Grey’s Anatomy spin-off). There had been so many tragic deaths for so many years on Grey’s Anatomy that I felt like the most surprising thing I could do, repeatedly, was to not kill someone”.
She added, “Time after time, no matter how many times I’ve done it, everyone, every time expects that the person who’s in danger or threatened in some way is going to die. On (‘Grey’s Anatomy’) everyone was so used to the shock death that they were always looking for shock death! I felt like the more surprising thing was to bring the joy and turn up the humour and the playfulness that had, a little bit, fallen out of the show in the wake of Derek’s death”.
“That is how I feel like ‘Grey’s Anatomy’ has changed a little since I came back“, she said, and teased that, “A lot of characters who might have been dead by now are still alive!” Krista Vernoff helmed the show from 2007 to 2011, and upon returning in 2017, she wanted things to be different.
Now that season 17 is on the way, can we expect another death-free finale that will culminate the story? We’ll have to wait and find out! Who do you think Meredith Grey should end up with, in the ‘Grey’s Anatomy’ finale, Cormac or Andrew? Let us know in the comments.
