Grey’s Anatomy season 17 watched the surprise return of two beloved characters, but one had been more unexpected than another as he abandoned many, many seasons back: George O’Malley, and here is why he came back again. Made by Shonda Rhimes, Grey’s Anatomy premiered on ABC in 2005, and though it was originally a mid-season replacement, it immediately got the praise of critics and audiences, and so it’s lived on for more than ten years. Even though most of its first throw is now gone, Grey’s Anatomy continues to be rather popular, and to the relief of many, it shows no signs of stopping soon.
Like every other medical drama, Grey’s Anatomy follows the lives of surgical interns, residents, and attendings as they do their very best to juggle their professional and personal lives, which frequently overlap and make way for a great deal of drama both in and outside the hospital. The series is directed by Meredith Grey (Ellen Pompeo), who began as an intern alongside several fan-favorite characters: Cristina Yang (Sandra Oh), Izzie Stevens (Katherine Heigl), Alex Karev (Justin Chambers), and George O’Malley (T.R. Knight), all which are no more part of this sequence. The most heartbreaking passing, however, was the George O’Malley, who had a sudden and tragic death in season 6, also made a surprise return in season 17.
George struggled to find his path in the field of medicine, and if he appeared to have finally discovered it, he abruptly joined the U.S. Army in Iraq. Richard Webber made a decision to give him his very last day off so that he could spend time with his family before he left, but on his way home, he saved a woman’s life by jumping in front of a bus, unfortunately, he left him severely injured and disfigured, to the point at which he was helpless, and it wasn’t until he tracked”007″ (one of his nicknames) on Meredith’s hands that they knew they were treating George. His brain swelled through operation and he had been declared brain dead. Following that, George appeared in flashbacks and distinctive episodes, but he left a more solid comeback in season 17, as part of Meredith’s COVID hallucinations.
Speaking to Deadline, executive producer and showrunner Krista Vernoff and T.R. Knight opened up about George’s return to Grey’s Anatomy following all the season and what it meant to them and the characters in the series. Vernoff clarified that George was her first thought when she developed the picture of Meredith walking on the beach during her COVID-induced fantasies, in part because George is one of her favorite characters and because of the dynamic between Meredith and George, also that of Pompeo and Knight. Knight shared that Vernoff talked about giving George closed by bringing him back, he didn’t think the character needed it until his husband advised him that”sometimes closure’s shutting a door, and sometimes it’s revisiting a familiar room”.
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Although fans were happy to see T.R. Knight ago as George O’Malley at Grey’s Anatomy season 17 it also came as a surprise — the recurrence of Patrick Dempsey’s Derek Shepherd also as one of Meredith’s hallucinations was also a nice surprise but a somewhat predictable one as he had been her husband, but George’s appearance wasn’t one fan were anticipating. Whether this brief return gave complete closure to George O’Malley or not is something which fans will pick, but it was definitely great to see him again.
