Even after being on air for more than twenty years, Grey’s Anatomy still remains one of the nation’s longest-running TV dramas. Season 22 of the show has been confirmed, and it will premiere on Oct. 16, 2025. With Ellen Pompeo’s expected to return for seven episodes, there’s speculation that this might be the final season of the show. After all, season 23 hasn’t been confirmed at the time of writing.
Grey’s Anatomy’s season 22 will have 18 episodes and will continue from where season 21 ended. The finale saw Dr. Link and others be involved in an explosion that made fans speculate who would survive and how. Generally, the show has enjoyed consistently good ratings, and as such, there’s a high chance that Grey’s Anatomy will return for season 23 as well, unless something drastic happens.
Over the years, the medical drama has said goodbye to many of the original characters and introduced multiple legacy ones. There have been emotional moments, dramatic cliffhangers, and more to ensure that fans remain invested. But could all of that be coming to an end? Let us dive deep into the latest news about Grey’s Anatomy.
Grey’s Anatomy Season 23 Is Not Confirmed Yet
ABC and showrunner Meg Marinis have both remained cautious regarding spilling any information about the future of Grey’s Anatomy. With 22 seasons in the bag and consistently high viewership, hardcore fans obviously want to see the show return for more seasons. While there’s widespread speculation that any season could be the last one, there has been no official confirmation regarding season 23 being the last one yet.
Shonda Rhimes created the show and previously served as its showrunner and is now a producer. She revealed in a March 2025 interview with Entertainment Weekly that she also has no idea when the show will end. Rhimes revealed:
I have zero endings for Grey’s now. I mean, literally zero. Until season 8, I still had endings. And by the way, I felt like I ended the series several times. I was like, “This could be the finale, this could be it,” but it wasn’t. So after a while I just started writing those things that I thought would happen at the end into the show, because it wasn’t ending.
As per a Nielsen report on May 20, 2025, ABC´s Grey’s Anatomy was the top streaming title in April with 3.9 billion viewing minutes across Hulu (within ‘Disney’ streaming) and Netflix.
The site said that it was a great example of “multi-channel and multi-platform distribution success.” The outlet also gave viewership information about season 21 and wrote:
Season 21 streams exclusively on Hulu and accounted for 10% of Grey’s Anatomy’s total streaming viewership this month, despite representing just 3% of its episode count. Netflix represented about 60% of its streaming total this month.
At the time of writing, it looks like there are no plans for it to end, and why would there be? As long as the viewership remains good, it can go on and on with new characters.
What to Expect From Grey’s Anatomy Season 22
Season 22 of Grey’s Anatomy is expected to pick up right after the dramatic season 21 finale that saw a hospital explosion engulf everything in flames. As a result, the survival of multiple new characters like Ben Warren and Link hangs in the balance. But there’s one character who has been confirmed to return, and that’s Ellen Pompeo’s Meredith Grey (although some fans might not like it because many think that the character has aged poorly).
It’s expected that she will have her own mini-arc and return for about seven episodes, where she will continue her Alzheimer’s research in Boston while also being in Seattle. Regarding Meredith’s presence in the show, showrunner Meg Marinis said in an interview with Variety:
I wanted to see Meredith not only continuing her research on Alzheimer’s, which is super important and relevant right now, but I also miss seeing her in the OR — and not necessarily doing the most groundbreaking surgery of all time. I missed just seeing her in the OR and teaching, and especially with this class of residents that she chose, it was also a way to get her back into Seattle in order to see that side of her.
Apart from Pompeo, James Pickens Jr. (Webber), Kim Raver (Teddy), Chandra Wilson (Bailey), Kevin McKidd (Owen), and Camilla Luddington (Jo) are also expected to return. There are also expected to be new professional shakeups and romantic entanglements in the new season as the doctors grapple with the aftermath of the devastating explosion.
So, what do you want to see in season 22 of Grey’s Anatomy? When do you think the medical drama will end? Let us know in the comments below.
