Grey’s Anatomy: Ellen Pompeo (Meredith) won’t be a big part of Season 19

Will the 19th season of Grey’s Anatomy, which debuts across the Atlantic in October on ABC, be the beginning of the end for the hit medical series? The announcement of Ellen Pompeo’s reduced presence in this new burst of episodes does not bode well for the future.

Although Meredith Gray ultimately decided to stay in Seattle and not move to Minnesota at the end of Season 18, the Grey’s Anatomy hero will not be making an appearance. Deadline In just 8 of the 22 upcoming episodes of season 19.

Although he retained his role as an executive producer and continues to voice episodes, as he has done since 2005.

It was already less so in season 17 – her character was in a coma for much of the season due to Covid – and in season 18 Ellen Pompeo was negotiating a more limited participation in the series when signing on for this tenth-ninth. past January season to devote time to filming other projects.

Finally, on the Hulu platform (which is owned by Disney as well as ABC), the actress just landed her first role outside of Grey’s Anatomy in nearly twenty years.

Deadline reveals that Ellen Pompeo will star in and produce Katie Robbins’ as-yet-untitled miniseries (The Affair), which follows an American couple who adopt what they believe to be a dwarf baby girl. But as they begin to raise her alongside their three biological children, they slowly begin to fear that their adopted daughter is not what she claims to be.

If this pitch rings a bell, it’s because it’s inspired by the true story of Christine Barnett and her ex-husband Michael, who made headlines in 2019 when they were accused of neglecting their adopted daughter, Natalya Grace, who was born in Ukraine. That he got rid of it six years earlier, when he was only nine years old. Unbeknownst to the couple, little Natalia was actually a sociopathic grown woman intent on harming them.

An exciting story that reminds us of the movie “Esther”. And which will consequently become an eight-episode miniseries on Hulu starring Ellen Pompeo as her mother.

According to Deadline , despite Ellen Pompeo’s limited presence in the credits, season 19 of Grey’s Anatomy is currently not thought to be the last to feature Meredith Grey. Or as in the last series.

It remains to be seen how Meredith’s absence will play into the show’s storyline now that she’s decided to stay on as acting chief of surgery at Memorial Gray Sloan.

And whether or not these eight little episodes are meant to be a slow but sure preparation for Ellen Pompeo’s departure. Similar to what was done on NCIS with Mark Harmon, who left the series last year at the beginning of season 19 after only four episodes.

One thing is for sure: the next season of Grey’s Anatomy will be a change, because along with this announcement about its protagonist, the medical series will welcome five new characters of young medical residents, played by Harry Shum Jr. (Glee), Adelaide. Kane (Reigns), Alexis Floyd, Nico Terho and Midori Francis.

Grey’s Anatomy returns to US screens on October 6. In France, TF1 stopped broadcasting season 18 last May after just five episodes. Long-awaited by fans, these final installments aren’t due to air until next year, when the nineteenth installment of Gray Sloan’s Doctor Who adventures is brought to the front page.