Since March of this year, it has been clear that alongside Ellen Pompeo (53), Kelly McCreary (41) will also be leaving the popular US medical series “Grey’s Anatomy”. For nine years she had the role of Meredith Gray’s (Pompeo) half-sister Dr. Maggie Pierce, who started a job as chief cardiac surgeon at Gray Sloan Memorial Hospital at the end of Season 10. On Thursday evening (April 13), McCreary’s emotional farewell episode flickered across US TV screens.
Warning, spoilers!
In this, Maggie takes a new job in Chicago and plans to leave Gray Sloan Memorial Hospital. Maggie’s father Dr. Richard Webber (James Pickens Jr., 68) therefore accuses her of being disloyal. But Maggie sticks to her decision. Because her marriage to Dr. Winston Ndugu (Anthony Hill) is about to break up. Before heading to the airport, Maggie embarks on one last risky emergency operation to remove a large heart tumor. Husband Winston stands by her side, the operation succeeds and the love between the two is rekindled – but only for a moment.
After the successful surgery, Maggie and Winston spend a night together and she asks her husband to come to Chicago with her. He in turn tries to persuade her to stay in Seattle. The next fight breaks out. At the end of the episode they both tell each other that they love each other. But Maggie “must go” and Winston “must stay”. After saying goodbye to her colleagues and family members in tears, Maggie gets into the hospital elevator one last time, carrying her suitcase.
“Playing Maggie Pierce has been one of the true joys of my life,” actress McCreary said in a statement shortly after announcing her departure from the series. However, as in the case of series star Ellen Pompeo, she is expected to return to the popular hospital series for occasional stints and guest appearances in the future.
German television viewers can watch the 19th season of “Grey’s Anatomy” on ProSieben on free TV from April 24th. The new episodes on Joyn and the Disney streaming service start a week earlier. As “Deadline” recently reported, a 20th season is already planned.
