Shonda Rhimes Explains McDreamy’s ‘Grey’s Anatomy’ Death, Sneak Peek Of Season 12
Grey’s Anatomy fans were devastated and in complete shock upon learning that McDreamy (Patrick Dempsey) will no longer be part of their favorite medical drama. Some wept, others expressed their feelings through anger, while others decided to take action and threaten producer Shonda Rhimes that they would stop watching the show unless she brings McDreamy back, as the Inquisitr previously reported.
Now, Shonda, who is also the woman behind other successful shows such as How to Get Away With Murder and Scandal, is telling fans that she’s sticking by her decision to kill McDreamy. However, Rhimes explained that she had a good reason behind it.
According to E Online, at the 2015 Summer TCA press tour, Shonda Rhimes explained her decision.
“The decision to have the character die the way that he did was not a difficult one in the sense of what were the options? Either Derek was going to walk out on Meredith, and leave her high and dry, and what was that going to mean? That was going to suggest that the love was not true, the thing we had said for 11 years was a lie and McDreamy wasn’t McDreamy. For me, that was untenable.”
Shonda Rhimes continued that the decision was “painful” for her, being the storyteller, but it was something that had to be done as “Meredith and Derek’s love had to remain Meredith and Derek’s love.” The death of McDreamy meant that Derek and Meredith’s love for each other remained honest until the end, said Shonda.
“I really couldn’t have the idea that he just turned out to be a bad guy who walked out on his wife and kids be a true story. To me, it felt like that was the only way to make Meredith and Derek’s magic remain true and forever frozen in time.”
The tragic death of McDreamy was so difficult for Shonda that she said she wasn’t there for the filming of the scene, as she would just “cry like an idiot.”
Aside from talking about the season-ender of the eleventh season, Shonda Rhimes also gave fans a view of what’s to come on Season 12 of the show. Shonda said that the upcoming season will focus on “rebirth,” and that it will definitely be “lighter” than last season, as US Magazine reports.
Last season, we saw Meredith (Ellen Pompeo) as a widow with three kids to take care of. This season looks promising for Meredith, as Shonda said that she “has never been defined by her relationship with a man.”
Why hello, Season 12. You snuck up on me. #GreysAnatomy
— shonda rhimes (@shondarhimes) July 16, 2015
Find out what happens in Grey’s Anatomy Season 12 and what Shonda Rhimes has in store for fans when it premieres on September 24, Thursday 8 p.m. ET on ABC.
[Photo by Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images]
