Despite the disappointing news that Station 19 would join the list of 2024 TV cancellations, the ABC drama has been firing on all cylinders so far in its seventh and final season. New showrunners Peter Paige and Zoanne Clack have their foot on the proverbial accelerator, and I’ve got a wild theory that they may bring back a fan-favorite character when new episodes of Station 19 resume on May 2. That’s right, you guys, I think Dean Miller is coming back.
Isn’t Dean Miller dead? Yes, his demise in Season 5 was one of, if not the, most heartbreaking deaths on Station 19 to date. However, after reading the episode description for “With So Little to Be Sure Of,” there are two reasons I think Okieriete Onaodowan may return for a guest appearance. First, check out what’s going down on May 2, per Futon Critic:
With both Vic's job and Crisis One in jeopardy, a flashback shows how the program has changed the lives of the team and the local community.
In the last episode, “My Way,” which can be streamed with a Hulu subscription if you missed it, we saw Vic Hughes (Barrett Doss) lose her temper in a very public way after the mayor cut the funding for Crisis One. The preview for the upcoming episode shows that now the mayor is after her job. So where do Okieriete Onaodowan and his character factor into all of this?
Crisis One is Dean Miller’s brainchild. He initiated the project, trained Vic and the other staff and — after seeing such positive results — was working on a plan to implement the system into other cities around the country. You simply can’t talk about how Crisis One has changed the firefighters and the Seattle community without Miller being a huge part of that conversation. To this day, in Season 7, the program is rarely mentioned without someone reminding the viewers that this is Miller’s legacy.
That leads to the second reason for my theory: Flashbacks. Not only are we going to look at Crisis One’s impact, we’re going to do that through a flashback. That would allow Dean Miller to still be alive. Now, could Station 19 just use scenes we’ve already seen of Miller, Hughes, et. al. in action? Sure. But I find it hard to believe that Zoanne Clack and Peter Paige would waste one minute of their shortened final season on material that's already aired.
Of course I have no idea what Okieriete Onaodowan’s availability is like, or his interest level or what his relationship with the Station 19 producers is today (though he had nothing but sweet words for Shonda Rhimes following his final episode in 2021). This could just be wishful thinking, but it just makes so much sense.
It wouldn’t be the first time Station 19 brought back a deceased character, either. To name a few, Jonathan Bennett guest-starred as Travis Montgomery’s late husband Michael in the sweetest flashback in Season 4. Alberto Frezza returned as Ryan Tanner after his death in Season 3 in one of Andy Herrera’s dreams, and the ghost of Rigo Vasquez (Rigo Sanchez) appeared to Jack Gibson in a hallucination following his own fatal accident in Season 3.
Only time will tell if we’ll see Okieriete Onaodowan reprising his role as Dean Miller one last time before the series ends. Fans continue to hold out hope that Station 19 might be picked up by a streaming service for more new episodes, but as things stand now, we’ll just have to enjoy the five that we know are coming.
Tune into ABC at 10 p.m. ET Thursday, May 2, to see if my wild prediction comes true, or you can stream the episode the next day on Hulu, which is one of the best streaming services available.
