Who died in Grey’s Anatomy last week?
However, while Andrew’s passing marks the fifth time Grey’s Anatomy has killed off a main cast member (in addition to Dempsey, former series regulars T.R. Knight, Chyler Leigh and Eric Dane also left the show after their characters were killed), it’s the first time one of them has been taken off the board in an act of cold-blooded murder.
How did Andrew DeLuca die on Grey’s Anatomy?
In a storyline that began in Grey’s Anatomy Season 16, the mid-season finale of Season 17 found Andrew spotting a woman he’d long suspected of being a human trafficker, only to finally have those suspicions confirmed. Acting impulsively, he and his sister, Carina (Stefania Spampinato) took off after her when they saw her leaving the hospital, which is where the March premiere of Station 19 picked up. After an action movie storyline that had the DeLucas tailing the trafficker in a car, and then chasing her onto a train and through a train station, the siblings were able to coordinate an interception by both the Station 19 fire department squad and the Seattle PD. The woman was taken into custody. However, before she was arrested, she managed to make a call to an accomplice, letting them know she was being followed. Unbeknownst to the first responders just outside the train station doors, a man bumped into Andrew–with a knife. Minutes later, Carina found her brother on the floor of the train station with a stab wound to the abdomen. That’s where Grey’s Anatomy picked up, in an episode appropriately titled “Helplessly Hoping.” Despite the best efforts of Owen Hunt (Kevin McKidd), Teddy Altman (Kim Raver) and the rest of the Grey Sloan Memorial healthcare professionals and a seemingly successful initial surgery, DeLuca eventually succumbed to his injuries, bleeding out by the end of the episode. However, thanks to Season 17’s ongoing plot device of keeping Meredith’s consciousness on a serene beach in a COVID-induced coma, where she’s already been visited by the spirits of her departed husband, Derek, and good friend, George, Andrew was able to still get some closure, despite spending most of the episode unconscious. Andrew joined Meredith on the beach early on in the episode, and the two former lovers spent the episode reminiscing about their relationship and finding peace with their current circumstances. Andrew makes it clear that he had no regrets about anything he’d done, and that even though he had so much more he’d wanted to do with his life, he was proud that if he had to go, it was in service of others. After Meredith tells him that she’ll miss him if he doesn’t go back with her, Andrew tells her that she’ll be OK, and then runs down the beach to join his mother, who’d died when he was a teenager.
Why did Grey’s Anatomy kill Andrew DeLuca off?
The conclusion to Andrew DeLuca’s arc was shocking on a number of levels, not the least of which was that he’d finally begun getting some pretty meaty storylines in recent seasons, after being mostly a supporting player for the first few years of his run on Grey’s Anatomy. In addition to being Meredith Grey’s first real committed love interest since she became a widow in Season 11, Season 16 also saw him grappling with symptoms of his undiagnosed bipolar disorder, the same condition which had overwhelmed his father and led to the crumbling of the DeLuca family. He eventually seemed to hit rock bottom in a series of manic episodes characterized by increasingly destructive behavior alongside moments of true brilliance, leading to some speculation that his erratic behavior could lead to an accidental death. Instead, Andrew eventually accepted his diagnosis and turned a corner. After extensive therapy and medication, he seemed to be getting a handle on his mental health in Season 17, and was finally made an attending just before the mid-season break. In the process, he emerged as an exceptionally talented diagnostician, making several difficult and life-saving diagnoses that saved the lives of patients who likely would have otherwise been beyond help, including original Grey’s Anatomy cast member Richard Webber (James Pickens Jr.). With all that promise, it was brutal to see Andrew’s trajectory cut so violently short, but of course, that’s the reality of life, even in non-COVID times. In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Grey’s Anatomy showrunner Krista Vernoff explained that when this story came about, she was “processing” grief herself. “As we were going through this shared trauma of COVID together and quarantine and being away from the people we loved, I wanted all the other tragedies in the world to just stop. It didn’t seem fair.” However, she went on to say, “Everything else didn’t stop because of COVID and we were all having to process other things, too, and horrible tragedies that come with life. That’s part of where this story was born. All these people are going to die of COVID but also sometimes other people just die. And it’s f—ing awful.”
Why did Giacomo Gianniotti leave Grey’s Anatomy? Did he want to?
As for Gianniotti, much like his character, he has no regrets about how he went out. Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter, the actor said that Andrew DeLuca getting to go out a hero was his “dream exit storyline.” “I’ve been on the show for seven seasons [and] thought it was a great way to exit,” Gianniotti said. “I’m a storyteller and the best story always wins, and I thought this was the best story.” On the topic of story, looking back on his seven seasons on Grey’s Anatomy, Gianniotti was particularly proud of Andrew’s mental health arc. “It was an honor and privilege to tell that story,” Gianniotti said. “Ultimately, it’s about representation and for people to see someone who is bipolar can be an attending and command a whole department at a hospital is huge.” But of the two crossover episodes that portrayed Andrew’s last day of life, Gianniotti had no complaints. “They rolled everything I wanted to do into two episodes,” he said. “I got to have an action movie told on Station 19 chasing a perpetrator and not wearing scrubs. That was fun and not something I’d gotten to do on Grey’s for obvious reasons. All the scenes where we got to take our time and be together with Ellen and Meredith on the beach was a good way to tie up the loose ends.” Ultimately, Gianniotti said that DeLuca’s swan song “felt like a gift.”
Will Andrew DeLuca ever be back?
Gianniotti hinted that just because Andrew DeLuca has passed on, doesn’t mean that “Helplessly Hoping” is the last time we’ll see him. In addition to directing an upcoming episode, Gianniotti said, “Even though his life has come to an end, there’s many ways to show our characters who have passed. I look forward to tell some other stories in those ways. Maybe there’s flashbacks or other scenarios where we can see DeLuca. That’s about all I can say.” Is Season 17 Grey’s Anatomy’s final season? Here’s what the showrunner has to say about the possible end of Grey’s.
