Grey’s Anatomy showrunner explained a difficult decision behind shocking season 22 death.
In a new interview with Deadline, Grey’s Anatomy showrunner Meg Marinis opened up about what fans can expect from the hit series’ upcoming 22nd season.
Explaining the emotional decision that shaped its story, she added, “I didn’t want to kill off another doctor. It was a very difficult decision.”
Marinis explained that the devastating explosion seen in the Season 21 finale left the writers little choice but to depict real consequences in the new episodes.
“I think that as we ended the finale last season, and we saw the size of the explosion, in particular that fireball that Meredith sees coming out, it was just more and more realistic that we would have to lose one of our own,” she said.
She added that the fallout from the tragedy will deeply impact the remaining characters. “Moving forward, we wanted to have a very strong impact on our other characters [after] this tragic event.”
When asked about the fate of Monica, played by Natalie Morales, Marinis revealed that the writers hadn’t planned her death far in advance.
“The decision on who we were going to kill off, we knew it was going to be one out of that group of people that was on the OR floor,” she explained.
“I really struggled with making the decision to kill someone off, I didn’t want to kill someone off. I left last season thinking, ‘No, we’re not killing anyone off.’ But then I was in the writers’ room and I rewatched the finale, it became clear to me, ‘Oh, this is where the story is leading,’” she concluded.