Who dies at the start of season 22 of Grey’s Anatomy? All the explanations
The explosion in the hospital caused damage. Who survived? And who leaves the series with their feet first? The creator justifies herself and the victim confides.
And yet another drama at Gray Sloan Memorial Hospital.
A new doctor has been killed in Seattle. Last May, after deciding to explode the operating room in the final moments of the Season 21 finale of Grey’s Anatomy, showrunner Meg Marinis warned that all the characters — with the exception of Meredith Gray (Ellen Pompeo) and Ben Warren (Jason Winston George) — could potentially disappear. The first episode of season 22 has just been broadcast and it picks up right after the big boom. So who dies?
Spoiler alert!
In reality, no major or historical character. It is Dr. Monica Beltran, who arrived in season 20, who is killed in this tragic way. Natalie Morales is leaving after participating in a dozen episodes. She tells Deadline about her reaction to learning the end of her character:
“It was obviously a mixed bag of emotions. I’ve been so lucky to be a part of this show, and I’m so grateful. The fans of the show have been so gracious and welcoming to me…I think they’re going to be sad. I’m sorry about that.”
Trapped under operating equipment, Beltran guides intern Jules Millin (Adelaide Kane) through surgery on a young boy. She died of her injuries before rescue teams arrived.
The current boss of Grey’s Anatomy explains to Variety:
“I made the decision about Monica while I was writing these scenes in the OR between her and Jules. I knew I wanted her to guide Jules through surgery. But as the scenes were written, it became more and more obvious that this was the direction the story wanted to take.”
Some fans will be disappointed by this rather secondary kill-off. Others will be able to breathe. Because Link still almost went there. Dr. Atticus Lincoln (Chris Carmack) survives the explosion but suffers serious injuries. His colleagues, Winston, Owen, Miranda and Teddy, perform emergency surgery to save his life. Carmack tells TVLine:
“I knew I was going to survive the explosion, but I didn’t know what was going to happen, except that he was going to be seriously injured.”
More than the death of Beltran – which will once again send Amelia to the bottom of the hole – it is above all his injuries which should animate the rest of season 22 of Grey’s Anatomy. His recovery promises to be long and complex. His happiness with Jo was short-lived. The showrunner warns in Variety:
“There will absolutely be consequences both physical and emotional. He will obviously still be in the hospital in episode 2, and we will show the reality of the difficulty of his rehabilitation, but also what he went through and the fact that all of this happened while he was doing a knee replacement operation on someone. He will be deeply disturbed by the other people in the OR and by the death of Monica: why he survived and not Monica. All of that will be addressed.”
In short, a good old season of Grey’s Anatomy starting again.
