Season 14 of Grey's Anatomy has been an interesting one. The long running medical drama brought back a lost character, saw a series regular depart, and has also been putting in the groundwork for the upcoming spinoff. The companion series will follow a group of firefighters in Seattle, with the two shows occasionally having crossover events and helping the city's various emergencies. Grey's character Ben Warren (Jason George) will be a series regular on the untitled spinoff, meaning he's once again changing careers. This has caused major problems with his marriage to Chief Bailey, but Grey's chose not to show the scene where Ben told Miranda the bad news. Now we know why.
Grey's Anatomy showrunner Krista Vernoff spoke to TV Line about the choice to keep the couple's confrontation offscreen in the 300th episode. She said,
Because the audience was ahead of Bailey, and when it came time for me to write that scene, every way I tried to write it it felt like old news. And I thought the more interesting piece of that story was the fallout.
This is probably a smart choice, as Grey's Anatomy fans have been privy to Warren's new career choice for a few weeks now. Let's break down why Krista Vernoff and the Grey's team probably made the right call.
The news of actor Jason George's transition from Grey's Anatomy to the firefighter spinoff came months ago, far before the concept was introduced on the show. And Warren first told the audience (and the male staff) about his second change of careers while they were boozing on Jackson's boat a few weeks ago. So showing Warren break the news to his wife would have been a bit redundant; it's information that we already know.
That being said, choosing to keep the confrontation off screen does seem a bit awkward, making Warren's new firefighting dreams feel even more forced. It's already pretty bizarre that he's completely jumping ship from a career in medicine. Warren started off his Grey's tenure as an anesthesiologist, and had to convince Bailey to allow him to switch careers and enter Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital's surgical intern program. But he eventually got his way, and has had a mixed back of a career as a surgeon. But now he wants to completely throw away his years of med school and work as a surgeon to rush into fires, saving lives a different way.
It really doesn't make much sense that Warren isn't going to be on Grey's, considering he and Bailey are married and raising her son Tucker together. His absence will no doubt be felt next season, and it should be interesting to see if the medical drama chooses to split up the couple. We'll just have to wait and see once Grey's returns from the winter hiatus.
Grey's Anatomy will return to ABC on January 18, 2018. Be sure to check our midseason premiere list to see when your other shows will return, and see if your favorite got the chop with our cancellation list.
