Ellen Pompeo as Meredith Gray.
Photo: ABC
After a plane crash, a shooting, several car accidents, many natural disasters, the occasional strange accident and, more recently, a pandemic, Grey’s Anatomy went through it all. But with the end of season 17 approaching and renewal negotiations still in progress, the writers’ room is forced to prepare for the worst: the end of the series. Before her mid-season debut this Thursday, showrunner Krista Vernoff said The Hollywood Reporter she is working on a storyline that may be the last in the series. “I’m planning a season and an ending that can work as a station final or one Series final, ”said Vernoff, who received the torch from Shonda Rhimes in season 14. on Tuesday. “I am planning both contingencies and it is difficult and it is not ideal. It is not where I wish we were. “
On March 11, ABC’s medical drama starring Ellen Pompeo will begin in the midst of the COVID-19 crisis with a future as uncertain as ours. Sources said THR that renewal negotiations between Disney and Pompeo, ABC’s parent company, have been ongoing for months. In 2018, she signed a monumental contract covering seasons 15 and 16 that made her TV the highest-paid actress in prime time. ABC extended the deal in 2019 to cover season 17, which faced delays amid the shutdown of the coronavirus last year. Pompeo considered the possibility of the end in his own interview in CBS Sunday Morning last month. “To end such an iconic show … how do we do that?” the actress wondered. “I just want to make sure that we do this character and this show and the fans … I want to make sure that we do it right.” After a season of reappearances, you may want to prepare for that Grey’s Anatomy goodbye, this will be really final.