When Does It Return 2024?

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Grey’s Anatomy is building up to a “fiery” Season 21 that promises to confront all of the past season’s drama. When does the fan-favorite medical drama return, and who’s in the cast next season? Keep reading to learn everything we know about Grey’s Anatomy Season 21, including what Grey Sloan may look like after losing two major cast members.

Grey’s Anatomy is ABC’s long-running medical drama that focuses on the lives of surgical interns, residents, and attendings at Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital in Seattle, Washington. Created by Shonda Rhimes, the show debuted in 2005 and has earned over 38 Primetime Emmy nominations after almost two decades. Grey’s inspired the beloved firefighter spinoff Station 19, which premiered in 2018 and will end after Season 7 this spring.

Is Grey’s Anatomy renewed for Season 21?

In April 2024, ABC announced that Grey’s Anatomy was renewed for a twenty-first season. The renewal extends the series’ title as the longest-running primetime medical drama in TV history, a record it broke in 2019. Grey’s is also the longest-running primetime scripted series in ABC history.

“The loyalty and love of ‘Grey’s Anatomy’ fans has propelled us into a historic 21st season, and I could not be more grateful,” said series creator and executive producer Shonda Rhimes in a statement to Variety. “Meg Marinis’ storytelling is a gift that continues to keep the show vibrant, compelling and alive, and I can’t wait to see what she has in store for next season.”

More: Meet the Grey’s Anatomy cast’s real-life partners

Showrunner Marinis recently took over as executive producer from Krista Vernoff at the beginning of Season 20. Marinis told Deadline in March that the show still has “stories to tell.” The Grey’s veteran continued, “We receive a tremendous amount of support from the studio and the network and from Shondaland. So I’m going to keep going until they tell me to put that pen down.”

Season 20 has kept fans on the edge of their seats. Fans have seen the anticipated returns of both Maggie Peirce (to find closure with Winston) and Arizona Robbins (to work on a fetal medicine case), Meredith’s family health struggles, and Teddy finally facing repercussions for misappropriating funds behind Catherine’s back. Read on for what we know about Grey’s Anatomy Season 21, including the return date, cast, and plot.

Who’s in the Grey’s Anatomy Season 21 cast?

Who’s in the Grey’s Anatomy Season 21 cast? The Season 21 cast has not officially been announced. According to Deadline, the contracts of nearly every major player on the series are up for renewal this year, including some of the most beloved actors in the show’s history.

However, we already know two cast members will leave before Season 21. Midori Francis (who plays Dr. Mika Yasuda) and Jake Borelli (who plays Dr. Levi Schmitt) will leave as series regulars after Season 20 and wrap up their storylines in Season 21. At the time of the announcement, Deadline also reported that other cast members will have fewer confirmed episodes for Season 21 to save costs.

Recently, there was speculation that Lucas (played by Niko Terho since Season 19) was also leaving Grey’s Anatomy this season. In Season 20, Episode 9, “I Carry Your Heart,” his character faced the consequences of operating on a patient named Sam Sutton without an attending present, leading to Sam’s death, which resulted in the hospital considering him to repeat his intern year. In the episode’s final moments, Dr. Maggie Pierce — who returned to Grey Sloan to deal with a patient — offered Lucas an opportunity to move to Chicago and be a second-year cardiothoracic intern.

More: See how much the Grey’s Anatomy cast makes per episode

Lucas later told Simone about the offer and was “considering it.” In the preview for Grey’s Anatomy’s Season 20 finale, “Burn it Down,” Simone is seen informing Dr. Miranda Bailey about Lucas’ offer to leave Grey Sloan. “I think Adams is going to leave. He got offered a second-year spot in Chicago,” Simone says as Lucas overhears her. In the Season 20 finale, Simone, as well as the other interns, threatened to quit Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital if Lucas was left behind. The episode ended with Catherine Avery laughing in the interns’ faces just before Bailey entered the room and also threatened to quit. “Can you replace me?” she asks as Catherine stares her down. 

The current cast of Grey’s Anatomy includes Ellen Pompeo, Chandra Wilson, James Pickens, Jr., Kevin McKidd, Caterina Scorsone, Camilla Luddington,  Kim Raver, Chris Carmack, Anthony Hill, Alexis Floyd, Harry Shum Jr., Adelaide Kane, and Niko Terho. Past cast members, like Kate Walsh and Jessica Capshaw, have also appeared in recent seasons.

What will happen in Grey’s Anatomy Season 21?

What will happen in Grey’s Anatomy Season 21? It’s currently unknown what direction the show will take for the upcoming season (because, as true fans know, anything can happen in the Season 20 finale). In a recent interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Caterina Scorsone said the final episode will conclude with existential cliffhangers.

In the same interview, McKidd teased, “A lot of us very much end up on a career precipice, if you will, at the end of the finale.” In Season 20, episode 9, Teddy was fired by Caterhine for misappropriating the funds for Meredith and Amelia’s research, Meredith and Nick are facing more relationship struggles, and Lucas is considering leaving Grey Sloan to work in Maggie’s hospital in Chicago after his medical mishap.

In Season 20, Episode 10, “Burn It Down,” wildfires threaten the Seattle region, leading to “a flood of patients and emergency procedures. The doctors juggle overcapacity in the ER, complex surgeries, and personal stress. Meanwhile, Meredith makes a rash decision that can’t be undone,” according to the logline.

The promo shows Catherine confronting Amelia and Meredith about their research, Owen announcing the news of an injured firefighter (which prompts Bailey’s worry about her husband, Ben Warren, on Station 19), and Jo unexpectedly fainting.

Marinis told Deadline that “things come to a head” in the season finale. “Heading towards the end of the season, because it’s a shorter season of 10 episodes because of the strikes, we really pay off what we started in episode one at the end of the season. Interns being in trouble, Meredith doing this secret research, things come to a head,” she said.

Camilla Luddington, whose character gains in the promo, told the site that things “really pay off” in the finale. She said it was an “edge of your seat” episode with “cliffhangers.”

When does Grey’s Anatomy return for Season 21?

When does Grey’s Anatomy return for Season 21? ABC has not announced a return date, but it will likely be sometime in the fall of the 2024-2025 season.

This schedule differs from last year, when the now-resolved actors’ and writers’ strikes pushed the most recent Season 20 to March 2024. Thankfully, viewers don’t have to wait as long as last year to see their favorite doctors again! As for the episode count, Season 20 will reportedly have 18 episodes.

Grey’s Anatomy is available to stream on Hulu.

For more on Grey’s Anatomy, check out how much the cast makes — including who’s the highest-paid — in the gallery below. 

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