Grey’s Anatomy has entered a new era, as the long-running ABC medical drama said goodbye to Ellen Pompeo’s Meredith Grey after coming back from hiatus. With Season 19 welcoming a new crop of interns following Grey Sloan’s restructuring of the residency program, some new cast members came onto the series as we prepared to say goodbye to its biggest star. Newcomer Midori Francis has opened up about what it was like to be part of Meredith’s closing chapter.
Midori Francis plays intern Mika, and while being welcomed onto a series 19 seasons in sounds a little scary, being part of Ellen Pompeo’s final series regular days as such an iconic character was worth it. In an interview with People, Francis discussed how awesome it was to be part of this chapter in Meredith’s life:
To know that she was taking a step back as a series regular and that we were going to get to be a part of that closing chapter of one phase of this iconic character… it was awesome that we got to be the new interns, but we got to be a part of that. That's so cool. I mean, this show has meant so much to so many people, so to be there for such a big milestone was awesome.
Ellen Pompeo’s exit on Grey’s Anatomy had been rumored for a while, and it finally happened after it was announced that the actress would be taking a step back on the series to star in a new limited series on Hulu. While it was initially supposed to be a reduced role on her longtime medical drama, Pompeo ultimately decided to exit altogether. Even though it didn’t give fans much time to say goodbye, it sounds like she still made quite the impact on the show’s newest interns.
While Meredith’s farewell episode did include some emotional moments, her overall goodbye wasn’t as big as fans might have expected. However, Ellen Pompeo is still providing voiceover for episodes, at least for now, and a storyline involving interns Lucas and Simone is giving major MerDer flashbacks.
So even though we weren’t able to have a really proper goodbye from Meredith onscreen, there is still plenty to look forward to, including seeing how Meredith impacted the interns in just a short time. Plus, Pompeo has already confirmed that she'll be back for the season finale!
Ahead of Pompeo’s exit, Kate Walsh gave fans a good reason to keep watching Grey’s Anatomy after Meredith leaves Grey Sloan, noting the strong storylines, which also include the new interns. Since these new interns are the last group to be given wise advice from Meredith for now, I’d say the legacy is in very good hands.
As the interns slowly start to come into their own in the remaining episodes of the season – not to mention a few of them taking over the Grey household to live in and fix it up after the fire – Grey’s Anatomy’s new cast has some big shoes to fill, and being part of Meredith’s closing chapter is a heck of a way to join the series.
Don’t miss the new Grey Sloan interns and the rest of the doctors trucking on after Meredith’s exit in new episodes of Grey’s Anatomy on Thursdays at 9 p.m. EST on ABC! Check out CinemaBlend’s 2023 TV schedule to see what else to look forward to.
