Will ‘Grey’s Anatomy’ End With Season 17? Chandra Wilson Offers Fans Hope

Meredith Jacobs December 10, 2020, 1:15 pm

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Chandra Wilson in Grey's Anatomy as Miranda Bailey - Season 17 — ABC/Mike Rosenthal

Will Grey’s Anatomy fans have to say goodbye to their beloved show soon?

Series star Chandra Wilson (who plays Dr. Miranda Bailey) has offered hope. “The network’s not ready, the studio’s not ready, the fanbase isn’t ready, the numbers are too good,” Wilson said to ET. “Collectively, they’ve decided we’re not going to put an end on it.”

She went on to note that incorporating the coronavirus pandemic into the current season may be one of the reasons it won’t be the end. “Do we want the last season to be about COVID? Or do we want us to be able to put some nice ribbons around it with rainbows and balloons and things?” But it is up to “greater powers” to decide such a thing, she added.

The concern that fans’ time with their favorite doctors of Grey Sloan could be limited comes as Ellen Pompeo (Dr. Meredith Grey) has teased the possibility of the end being near.

Season 17 “could very well” be it, she told Variety in October, as she’s in the last year of her contract. (ABC Entertainment President Karey Burke has said Grey’s is going to “live as long as Ellen [Pompeo] is interested in playing Meredith Grey.”)

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Does the fact that the first few episodes have already seen a couple major returns (Patrick Dempsey’s Derek and T.R. Knight’s George, both of whom have died, have reunited with Meredith on a beach in her head as she battles COVID) indicate that the ABC drama may be aiming to go out with a bang? Or perhaps it’s just preparing for the possibility.

Grey’s has been on for 17 seasons, with Pompeo, Wilson, and James Pickens Jr. (Dr. Richard Webber) the only ones remaining from the beginning. Considering the many cast changes over the years, it’s hard to speculate who could still be around when it eventually ends, but at least we’ll likely get a proper farewell for the medical drama.