From a love struck, scalpel hungry intern to Chief of Surgery and a toast to wish her off, “Grey’s Anatomy” lovers watched as the last of the original five interns said their farewells to Seattle. 

On Thurs. Feb. 23, Meredith Grey made her final regular appearance on the show dedicated specifically to her, leaving everyone wondering if the finale of TVs longest running medical drama is nearing its end. 

“Even though I think the show should have ended a long time ago, I believe they will try to keep going with the characters and storyline they have going,” senior Emma Giddings said. “I just don’t know how good it will be considering all the main characters are leaving.” 

After nearly 18 years of being Grey-Sloan Memorial Hospital’s favorite doctor, actress Ellen Pompeo made the decision to officially leave the show, staying only for the iconic voice overs, cameos and an appearance on this season’s finale. 

“I’m interested to see how they will tie her into the finale,” Giddings said. “They recently brought Jackson and April—[former characters of the show]—back for a brief visit, so hopefully they will do her appearance justice.” 

Although her send off is sad, Grey will be continuing her career in medicine focusing on finding a cure for, what is known in the show as her “mother’s disease,” Alzheimer’s. Like all the other original five, with the exception of George O’Malley, leaving will lead to the dedicated focus of what she originally got in medicine to do. 

“I think that it is very fitting that they are having her go off to find a cure for Alzheimer’s considering it’s something she had attempted to do in past seasons with Derek but couldn’t finish,” Giddings said. “And I love the definitive reason behind her leaving [for better education opportunities for her daughter]. It shows how much different of a mother she is from her own.” 

Although Pompeo made the final decision to leave the show, we will still see many aspects of the show as it is now, seeing how she will continue to produce the show, dedicating her time there. 

“I know she will still be doing the voice overs for the rest of this season as well as coming back for the finale, but I wonder if she will come back if more seasons are made,” Giddings said. “Considering she started out in this season, it’s hard for her to just leave now.” 

Although this goodbye was the most anticipated of them all, fans are both excited and sad about where the show is headed with her absence.  

“I’m excited to see what they will do with the long standing characters of the show in Meredith’s absence,” Giddings said. “As well as what the new interns are going to bring to the table.”