14 ‘Grey’s Anatomy’ Cast Returns, Ranked
Who says you can’t go home again? In the world of Grey’s Anatomy, not even death can keep characters from returning to the storyline in Shondaland Seattle. And we already know one of the (surviving) former hospital employees who’s coming back in this current 22nd season of the ABC medical drama.
Dr. Addison Montgomery (Kate Walsh) will show up again — likely “all leggy and fabulous,” in the words of Meredith (Ellen Pompeo) — in the episode airing on Thursday, January 29.
While we wait to see what brings Addison back this time, we’ve ranked Walsh’s first return and those of other former regulars. See the lineup below, arranged from worst to best.
Grey’s Anatomy, Season 22 Midseason Premiere, January 8, 10/9c, ABC
14. Tessa Ferrer (Dr. Leah Murphy)
To this day, we still don’t know why the Grey’s writers brought Murphy back in Season 13 after her Season 10 exit. There must have been a vision, but they didn’t give Murphy one substantial (or even memorable) moment during Ferrer’s six-episode reprise.
13. Kelly McCreary (Dr. Maggie Pierce)
We want Maggie around as much as possible, but her Season 20 reappearance — which followed her Season 19 departure — struck us as forced. (She had a long-term patient who was about to get bad news, and she wanted to be that messenger. OK, sure.) Still, her brief visit to Seattle gave her a chance to settle things with Winston (Anthony Hill) and to give Lucas (Niko Terho) a job offer. Her Season 22 return was better, since it gave her (and fans) some much-needed sister time and some major life changes to speak of.
12. Greg Germann (Dr. Tom Koracick)
Just seven episodes after leaving Seattle with Jackson in Season 17, Koracick was back to help Meredith and Amelia (Caterina Scorsone) with their Parkinson’s research at Mayo Clinic’s Gray Center. We’ll take all the smarmy Koracick one-liners we can get, but ever since his exit, it seems like the writers bring him back when they need a pinch-hitter for punchlines.
11. Jessica Capshaw (Dr. Arizona Robbins)
After cutting Capshaw and costar Sarah Drew from the cast in Season 14, Grey’s brought the former back in Season 20 as Arizona returned to the hospital to lead a groundbreaking fetal surgery. Did we get another dose of Arizona’s idealism and sunny disposition? Yes. Did we get updates on her and Callie (Sara Ramirez)? For some reason that boggles rationalization, no.
10. Sarah Drew (Dr. April Kepner)
The Grey’s producers did a better job atoning for letting Drew go. They brought the actor back as a Season 17 guest star as Jackson considered moving to Boston. He visited April one night to convince her to switch coasts, too, so that their daughter wouldn’t have cross-country co-parents. The episode recaptured the Japril magic, especially with its hopeful ending.
9. Jesse Williams (Dr. Jackson Avery)
Nearly a year after his Season 17 exit, Williams returned to the show in the Season 18 finale as Jackson and April swung into action to support the cancer-stricken Catherine (Debbie Allen) and to help save the hospital’s residency program, marking solid reasons for cameos from two of the show’s fan-favorite characters. Plus, we got an elevator kiss confirming that the two characters were indeed back together! Meanwhile, his Season 22 return was solely in service of getting Meredith to go back to Boston, and there wasn’t much else to it.
8. T.R. Knight (Dr. George O’Malley)
In the longest-awaited return on this list, Knight made a comeback in Season 17, following a dozen years off the show, as George popped up as one of the deceased loved ones Meredith encountered on her “dream beach” during her Covid-19 illness, a dozen seasons after his last appearance on the show. His scenes were nostalgic but perhaps not as impactful as those of the other dearly departed with whom Mer reconnects. For example…
6. Chyler Leigh (Dr. Lexie Grey) & Eric Dane (Dr. Mark Sloan) — tie
After Lexie’s death at the end of Season 8 and Mark’s death at the start of the next season, both guest-starred in the same Season 17 episode, giving Slexie fans a vision of the couple’s loving afterlife. And those posthumous appearances are even sweeter considering the logistics involved: Due to Covid-era restrictions, Leigh had to film her parts of the scene in Canada.
5. Isaiah Washington (Dr. Preston Burke)
Considering the flameout that led to Washington’s post-Season 3 firing, we were prepared to never see Burke on the show again. But the character returned in Season 10 to offer Cristina (Sandra Oh) the keys to his medical center in Switzerland, both offering a romantic coda to their storyline and setting up Oh’s own satisfying departure from the show.
4. Jason George (Dr. Ben Warren)
Ben’s job history would give any recruiter pause — he was an anesthesiologist before deciding to become a surgeon before ditching that job to become a firefighter before resuming his surgical career — but if we have to live in a world without spinoff Station 19, we’re glad Ben got his old Grey Sloan job back, especially because it means more Ben-Bailey moments.
3. Patrick Dempsey (Dr. Derek Shepherd)
Derek’s Season 11 demise was a closely guarded secret on the Grey’s Anatomy set, as was his Season 17 posthumous appearance in Meredith’s Covid-19 dreams. We’re still not clear on the rules of Mer’s dream beach — remind us, why couldn’t she run toward him? — but we did get the MerDer closure we never got all those years ago. (And another wedding scene to boot!)
2. Kate Walsh (Dr. Addison Montgomery)
Addison came back to Grey’s at least once a season during Walsh’s Private Practice era, but by the time of her Season 18 reappearance, it had been a decade since she darkened Grey Sloan Memorial’s doors. Not only did she help get the residency program back on track with a groundbreaking case, but she also had a heartfelt reunion and reconciliation with Meredith. Her other returns have also been significant, including when she embarked on a one-woman journey to help women in need of reproductive care.
1. Kim Raver (Dr. Teddy Altman)
Teddy resurfaced in Season 14, after several years off screen, to help former flame Owen (Kevin McKidd) with the reappearance and treatment of his sister. And in her second, current run on the show, Raver has been a series regular for far longer than she was during her first, making this the most successful and long-lasting Grey’s cast return to date. Something to rave(r) about! Sure, it’s meant some truly dragged-out romantic plots with Owen, but she’s still an MVP of the hospital (and, by extension, the show), no doubt.
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