The date has been set for Ellen Pompeo‘s final appearance on ABC‘s Grey’s Anatomy as a full-time cast member, as teased in the promo at the end of Thursday’s (November 10) fall finale.
“Big last day!” Pompeo’s Meredith Grey says in the trailer, which shows the staff of Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital coming together to toast farewell to the legendary Chief of General Surgery. The captions on the teaser also state, “Meredith leaves Seattle to begin again.”
In last week’s episode, Meredith decided to move to Boston after her daughter Zola (Aniela Gumbs) fell in love with a school there, and Jackson (Jesse Williams) offered Meredith a position to work on Alzheimer’s research. And, in Thursday’s episode, she announced her departure from Grey Sloan in an email.
The farewell episode will air on Thursday, February 23, 2023, when the series returns from its winter break. Titled “I’ll Follow the Sun,” the episode is written by Grey’s Anatomy executive producer/showrunner Krista Vernoff. Pompeo is expected to be back for the Grey’s Anatomy Season 19 finale.
It was previously reported that Pompeo would be reducing her role on the hit medical drama, only appearing in eight episodes of the current season. She will, however, continue to narrate each episode and serve as executive producer. The move comes as Pompeo begins work on the Hulu limited series Orphan, “inspired by the true story of Ukrainian-born Natalia Grace and her US adoptive parents who claimed that she was an adult ‘sociopath’ pretending to be a child.”
According to Deadline, Pompeo could continue to make appearances in the series beyond this season, similar to other cast members who recently exited the show, such as Williams.
Grey’s Anatomy, Season 19, Returns, Thursday, February 23, 2023, 9/8c, ABC
