The ending of Grey’s Anatomy season 20, episode 10 was packed with key developments that left the fate of many characters undecided, creating major cliffhangers for season 21 to solve – however, season 21’s newest teaser already spoiled one resolution. The wildfire closing in on Seattle made everything more chaotic at Grey Sloan Memorial, putting the doctors on edge, thus making them more prone to defy authority figures if they stopped them from saving lives. This setup produced Owen’s termination in addition to Teddy’s, as his outburst brought Catherine to fire him, given how he wasn’t involved in Meredith’s research.
The wildfires even influenced Bailey’s decision to stand with Lucas in Grey’s Anatomy season 20’s very ending, as Lucas’s talent helped the patients’ families and Bailey herself, letting her know about Ben’s whereabouts. The singularity of the wildfires can mean that some things could easily go back to normal with the fires extinguished. Still, Grey’s Anatomy season 20’s finale put many doctors’ careers and the hospital itself in harm’s way, at least if what Catherine threatened came to pass, making the resolution of the finale’s cliffhangers crucial for Grey’s Anatomy season 21’s beginning and not something to know beforehand.
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Lucas Adams’s precarious position was definitive the moment Simone admitted that she wouldn’t have operated on Sam Sutton if it wasn’t for him in Grey’s Anatomy season 20. The GME Council’s recommendations to fire him were locked in at that moment, but Catherine could have still decided to discard them if the day had gone better in Grey’s Anatomy season 20’s finale. All the insubordination witnessed in Grey’s Anatomy season 20, episode 10 could convince Catherine even more that things had to change at Grey Sloan Memorial, making Lucas Adams’s termination all but explicitly confirmed.
Despite Grey’s Anatomy season 20’s finale making Lucas’s situation look dire, Grey’s Anatomy season 21’s new teaser confirmed Lucas Adams to be still at Grey Sloan Memorial in the new season. Indeed, Lucas can be seen as part of the interns when they meet Dr. Sydney Heron in the Grey’s Anatomy season 21 trailer. This confirms Lucas’s continued employment at Grey Sloan despite season 21’s first trailer going out of its way not to show him with the interns, leaning into the very believable assumption that he was the last casualty of Catherine’s ire of Grey’s Anatomy season 20’s finale.
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Confirmed Surgeons Not Working At Grey Sloan Memorial | Why |
|---|---|
Meredith Grey | She chose to publish the findings of her Alzheimer's research so that they wouldn't be held hostage by Catherine following her ultimatum of choosing between having a job at the foundation or continuing her research. |
Amelia Shepherd | She chose to follow Meredith's plan of challenging Catherine despite their funding indirectly coming from the Fox Foundation. |
Teddy Altman | She secretly funded Meredith and Amelia's Alzheimer's research with Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital's discretionary funds. |
Owen Hunt | He stood up to Catherine, calling her power trip out in front of several doctors so that Teddy could operate on firefighter Theo Ruiz and save his life despite being fired from Grey Sloan. |
The mass firings of Grey’s Anatomy season 20’s finale restricted Catherine’s choice when faced with the interns’ ultimatum. Despite Catherine’s dares to the interns and Bailey, having lost or fired Meredith, Amelia, Teddy and Owen forces her to think carefully about what to do following the interns’ ultimatum. Indeed, several doctors won’t already work at Grey Sloan in Grey’s Anatomy season 21, thus having Miranda Bailey and the interns leave would count as too big of a loss.
Catherine’s hands are also tied by Grey Sloan Memorial’s recent history. The reason why the hospital was matched with interns whose last chance was being at Grey Sloan in Grey’s Anatomy season 19 stemmed from the residency program problems of season 18 that shut it down at Grey Sloan Memorial because of their lack of surgeons teaching and their many issues. This made Grey Sloan’s interns far more valuable to the hospital, as without them, they could not be considered a teaching hospital, a role it is still earning back after Grey’s Anatomy season 18’s debacle.
Grey's Anatomy season 21 premieres on Thursday, September 26 at 10 p.m. ET on ABC.
