“Grey’s Anatomy” aired their season 17 premiere on ABC last week on Thursday, Nov. 12. The show has remained on air since the first episode premiered on March 27, 2005.
The recent season premiere included a lot of elements that surprised fans of the show who have been watching “Grey’s Anatomy” for years.
The episode brought back previous stars of the show, such as Sandra Oh and Patrick Dempsey.
“Christina Yang was my favorite character on the entire show, and the fact that they are bringing her back makes me so happy,” said junior Amy Cronin.
“I have been a fan of Grey’s for about eight years now, and I was honestly so surprised by them bringing Derek back. I never saw that coming, and I was so happy. I would have never guessed that it was going to happen,” said senior Maya Isom.
The show is bringing back characters Dr. Christina Yang and Dr. Derek Shepherd from previous seasons, and fans have expressed enthusiasm for their return.
“Derek and Christina were two of my favorite characters from the show. I stopped watching after Christina left, and them coming back is the reason I’m watching this season,” said junior Adrianna Braid.
This season will incorporate COVID-19 in the plot and have the main character, Meredith Grey, experience the virus herself.
“It was interesting to me that they were going to include COVID in the season just because it’s something that’s happening in the world right now and affecting everyone,” said freshman Connor Eaton.
The first episode of the season began with a shot of Derek Shepherd, a beloved character who had died several seasons prior, on a beach. This led some viewers to believe that this scene was some kind of near-death dream from the main character, Meredith Grey. Meredith Grey and Derek Shepherd were married on the show before Derek’s death.
“After watching this episode, I was kind of scared for the way the show is going to end. I think they might kill Meredith off and reunite her with Derek,” said junior Cora Koprowski. “I’m going to be really upset if they do that.”
The episode also shows how the hospital staff is dealing with the pandemic. Their hospital closed off the trauma wing so that they could focus on handling COVID-19.
In addition, the episode jumps from the past to the present and shows the characters’ past drama.
“There was so much that happened in the first episode. It was really hard to keep up with, like so much drama, but I loved it. That’s always why I keep watching it,” said junior Rachael Gilroy.
“I loved the new episode and can’t wait to see how the rest of the season ends up,” said senior Sarah Birch.
