Justin Chambers left Grey's Anatomy in January, but the show will not say goodbye to his character until next week. ABC has announced that a farewell episode dedicated to Chambers' Alex Karev will be broadcast March 5, providing fans with an opportunity to “see how his story ends.”
But whether longtime viewers of the Shonda Rhimes series will be happy with that conclusion remains to be seen.
When Chambers' abrupt exit was revealed earlier this year, Deadline reported that his appearance on the Nov. 14 episode, the show's 350th overall, would count as his last. Vanity Fair has learned that next week's goodbye to Karev won't feature any new footage of Chambers, either. The episode's teaser is cobbled together using old clips, including some from the series' 2005 pilot.
On the Nov. 14 episode, Karev helped Meredith Grey (Ellen Pompeo) keep her medical license amid an insurance-fraud trial. It was later mentioned that he had traveled back home to Iowa to care for his sick mother. He hasn't been seen since—but his wife, Jo Wilson (Camilla Luddington), has expressed concern for Karev as her phone calls to him have gone unanswered.
Said showrunner Krista Vernoff to Variety earlier this month, “It was a very careful threading of a needle, where we are giving a little bit of information and pain to Jo. We’re, episode by episode, illuminating the story of where Alex is. And it takes us quite a few more episodes to get there and to give the audience clarity.”
Knowledge of that coming clarity should worry Grey's Anatomy fans. The show has a long history of killing off characters as stars exit the series—most famously with Derek Shepherd (Patrick Dempsey). Doctors played by series regulars T.R. Knight, Chyler Leigh, and Eric Dane also left Grey's for a big hospital in the sky. But just as many characters, including those played by Katherine Heigl, Sandra Oh, and Sara Ramirez, have lived, simply moving away from the show's Seattle setting (and keeping open the possibility, however remote, of an eventual return). In those cases, however, the actors were given an opportunity to participate in their characters’ conclusion.
No matter what happens, the departure of Chambers will be acutely felt—especially coming so far into the series' 16-season run. Chambers has been with Grey's Anatomy from the start, and his departure leaves only three remaining cast members from the 2005 season: Pompeo, Miranda Wilson, and James Pickens Jr.. When it was announced that he had exited the show, Vanity Fair tweeted that Grey's Anatomy was about to “feel one of its biggest losses yet.” In response, Pompeo wrote, “truer words have never been spoken.”
“There’s no good time to say goodbye to a show and character that’s defined so much of my life for the past 15 years,” Chambers said in a statement to Deadline this past January. “For some time now, however, I have hoped to diversify my acting roles and career choices. And, as I turn 50 and am blessed with my remarkable, supportive wife and five wonderful children, now is that time. As I move on from Grey’s Anatomy, I want to thank the ABC family, Shonda Rimes, original cast members Ellen Pompeo, Chandra Wilson and James Pickens, and the rest of the amazing cast and crew, both past and present, and, of course, the fans for an extraordinary ride”
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