Summary

• Grey's Anatomy season 17 explored Meredith Grey's COVID-induced coma, reuniting her with familiar faces on a beach in her dreams.
• The return of characters like Derek, George, and Lexie provided closure and emotional moments for both Meredith and the audience.
• Ellen Pompeo's departure as a series regular in season 19 marked a new chapter for Grey's Anatomy, making the beach scenes a poignant sendoff.

The following article has spoilers for several moments in Grey's Anatomy.

Grey’s Anatomy season 17 saw the team at Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital dealing with the coronavirus pandemic, with Meredith Grey herself falling sick and ending up on a beach in her dreams where she reunited with familiar faces. Grey’s Anatomy focuses on the lives of surgical interns, residents, and attendings as they do their best to juggle their professional and personal lives. Grey’s Anatomy is led by Meredith Grey (Ellen Pompeo), who viewers have followed through her whole journey, including the death of her husband and father of her children, Derek Shepherd (Patrick Dempsey).

Meredith has frequently been a patient at Seattle Grace Hospital (now Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital), with her COVID-induced coma only being one of the most recent instances. After working at the COVID-19 ICU and performing surgery with Cormac Hayes (Richard Flood), Meredith collapsed in the hospital’s parking lot, dreaming of a beach that she had already seen during naps. However, this new visit was different as she was greeted by a very special person there, and he was the first of many surprise returns and emotional visits. Every character Meredith saw on the beach is important to her.

Created by Shonda Rhimes, Grey’s Anatomy premiered on ABC in 2005, and it has become the longest scripted primetime series carried by ABC and thus one of the most successful medical dramas in recent years.

Grey's Anatomy is available to watch on streaming via Star+.

Derek Shepherd

Played by Patrick Dempsey

The character who greeted Meredith at the beach when she collapsed in the parking lot was none other than Derek Shepherd. Meredith’s rollercoaster relationship with Derek was at the core of Grey’s Anatomy, and fans were devastated when Derek died in season 11.

Derek was offered a job in D.C., so he flew back and forth, which brought some problems to their marriage. When things seemed to have gone back to normal between Meredith and Derek, he had to make one final trip to D.C. to resign, but he got into a car accident. Derek was taken to Dillard Hospital, but after a lot of complications, he was removed from life .

the audience got to see more of the show’s main couple again

Of course, Derek had to meet with his wife at the beach, but Meredith struggled to reach him, always ending up in the same spot, far away from him. They eventually got closer and continued talking about their family, his death, and even got married on the beach. He convinced her that she had to go back as their kids needed her, all while the audience got to see more of the show’s main couple again.

George O’Malley

Played by T.R. Knight

One big surprise brought by Grey’s Anatomy season 17 was the return of George O’Malley (T.R. Knight), one of the characters who started as an intern alongside Meredith and who became one of her best friends.

George O’Malley died in Grey’s Anatomy season 6 when he jumped in front of a bus to save a woman’s life on his last day off before ing the army. This left him severely disfigured, to the point where the people at Seattle Grace didn’t recognize him, and it wasn’t until he traced “007” (one of his nicknames) on Meredith’s hand that they knew who this “John Doe” patient was. Despite all the team’s efforts, George was declared brain-dead, and so they had to say goodbye to him.

Meredith found George at a lifeguard tower on the beach, and she asked why he looked older than when he died, to which he replied that she was imagining him that way as it was more comfortable for her. Together, they reflected on George’s death and his time at the hospital, and he even confessed to Meredith that he had checked in on her and her kids, showing that even after his death, their strong bond continued.

Richard Webber

Played by James Pickens Jr.

Richard Webber (James Pickens Jr) is one of the few characters from Grey’s Anatomy who appeared on the beach that aren’t dead. After falling ill, Meredith gave Webber him power of attorney as she trusts him, and they have an interesting history that has led to a strong bond between them.

Years before Meredith’s internship, Richard had an affair with her mother, Ellis Grey, and though this was something hard for Meredith to get over, they eventually developed a close friendship and now have a father-and-daughter-like relationship. As Meredith’s condition worsened, Richard had to make a decision about how to treat her next, and as she became aware of his presence, he appeared on the beach with her and George and talked about trying to stay strong for everyone worrying about her.

Miranda Bailey

Played by Miranda Bailey

Miranda Bailey (Chandra Wilson) is one of the few characters from Grey’s Anatomy season 1 who are still part of the show, and as such, she has also developed a strong bond with Meredith, but the road to that wasn’t easy. Bailey was in charge of Meredith and the rest of the show's first group of interns during their internship, and they soon learned she wasn’t easy to deal with due to her tough personality and blunt attitude.

Just like Richard, she appeared on the beach when Meredith became aware of her presence. Bailey actually confided to an unconscious Meredith that her own mother had just been itted to the hospital, and that she was suffering from Alzheimer’s. Bailey hadn’t said anything to a conscious Meredith or Richard so that she wouldn’t open old wounds, as Meredith’s mother also had Alzheimer’s.

Bailey was there to remind the audience of Meredith's past difficulty opening up to people because of her relationship with her mother, but she also offered the audience a chance to that the world was going on without Meredith there.

Andrew DeLuca

Played by Giacomo Gianniotti

Andrew DeLuca (Giacomo Gianniotti) met his fate in Grey’s Anatomy season 17 and that’s what brought him to the beach. DeLuca was romantically involved with Meredith a couple of seasons before, and he struggled with his mental health, showing signs of mania, just like his father. Although their relationship came to an end, he stayed by Meredith’s side through her battle with COVID, but at the same time, he was investigating a human trafficking case, which led to him being stabbed - and to his eventual death at Grey Sloan.

DeLuca appeared on the beach while he was still being attended to at the hospital, and asked Meredith if they were still alive. As doctors continued to try to save him, DeLuca and Meredith built a sandcastle, and he opened up to her about how she made him feel. DeLuca’s mother suddenly appeared and called out for him as he and Meredith watched the sunset, and that was when he and Meredith realized his time had come, and so they said their goodbyes before he ran towards his mother and left with her.

Cormac Hayes

Played by Richard Flood

Cormac Hayes is another character who is still alive and who showed up at Meredith’s beach. Meredith had a handful of love interests following Derek's death, but she was often reluctant to open up to anyone else right away with the wound of his death still fresh for her. Cormac asked Meredith out but the pandemic hit before they could go out on a date.

However, he was also the one who found Meredith unconscious in the parking lot. He stayed by Meredith’s side during her battle against COVID and gave her updates on her kids, asking her to fight for her life as they needed her. Cormac spoke sweetly about Meredith’s kids, which caught her attention, and so she brought him to the beach in her mind, where Derek told her to “hear him out”. Once she recovered, they had that drink they had pending.

Lexie Grey

Played by Chyler Leigh

Meredith’s half-sister, Lexie Grey (Chyler Leigh), also showed up at the beach in Grey’s Anatomy season 17. Meredith immediately disliked Lexie as soon as she arrived at the hospital as an intern, and as hard as Lexie tried to build a relationship with her, Meredith just wouldn’t let her in. She didn't want to deal with the fact that her father had another daughter.

After a lot of trouble between the two, they became close, but Lexie was killed in the infamous plane crash in Grey’s Anatomy season 8. It was only fitting, then, that Lexie made an appearance at the beach during Meredith’s COVID-induced dreams, in which she made Meredith understand that she’s allowed to enjoy her life during a pandemic and that “having a life and a body” is a reason to celebrate.

Mark Sloan

Played by Eric Dane

Last, but not least, Mark Sloan (Eric Dane) was also among the deceased Grey’s Anatomy characters who appeared at the beach with Meredith.

he was also one of the victims of the plane crash

Mark was Derek’s best friend and Lexie’s on-again-off-again partner, and he was also one of the victims of the plane crash. Although he seemed fine at first, Cristina Yang (Sandra Oh) realized he had a cardiac tamponade and used a tube from a bottle to drain the fluid with the help of Meredith. Mark stayed by Lexie’s side until she died, and once they were rescued and taken back to the hospital, his condition worsened. Mark fell into a coma, and per his will, the machines were turned off.

Although he didn’t have a close relationship with Meredith, his return in Grey’s Anatomy season 17 made sense thanks to Lexie’s. Mark told Meredith he watches over Callie (Sara Ramirez), Arizona (Jessica Capshaw), and their daughter (who is also his). He also reminded her that “when you love someone, you tell them”. It was a brief interaction, but a touching one that allowed fans to see “McSteamy” one more time.

The Beach Scenes Were A Highlight Ahead Of Meredith's Departure

Played by Ellen Pompeo

Though Meredith Grey had been the center of Grey’s Anatomy since the pilot episode of the show, actor Ellen Pompeo opted to not remain a series regular in season 19. The episode “I’ll Follow The Sun” saw Meredith leave Seattle, and Pompeo make her last appearance as a regular. That doesn’t mean Pompeo is no longer involved in the show, but she’s no longer a fixture of the main storylines, which meant the beach scenes were a welcome sequence for fans before she left Grey’s Anatomy.

Despite the drama involved in Meredith’s story, it’s also a calming atmosphere for the characters to meet up

Meredith’s parade of visitors at the beach of her coma acted as a way to revisit many important relationships in her past, including those with fan-favorite characters like Lexie and George. Each of the characters whom Meredith sees on the beach, especially those no longer on the show, helped to develop Meredith’s character throughout their time on the series. Derek, George, and Lexie especially helped to open Meredith up to connect with other people.

Allowing each of these characters to visit her allowed the audience a new sense of closure for them leaving the show. Even DeLuca, who died while Meredith was experiencing the beach, was given a measure of closure for the audience because he and Meredith got to say their goodbyes and understand what was happening. It also provided a sense of closure for Meredith. Though she wouldn't leave for nearly two more seasons, the audience had already seen her accept change and goodbye.

While Grey’s Anatomy has taken breaks from its usual medical procedural format in the past, most notably for a musical episode, taking Meredith to a beach in her dream state provides the audience with a break from the sometimes chaotic experiences of the hospital storylines. Despite the drama involved in Meredith’s story, it’s also a calming atmosphere for the characters to meet up, making it a nice respite for Meredith and the audience during a storyline that tugged at the heartstrings before Meredith and Ellen Pompeo took a reduced role in Grey’s Anatomy.