'Grey's Anatomy': Jeff Perry Returns as Meredith's Father for Season 15

Is Thatcher Grey coming back to Seattle? Jeff Perry will reportedly reprise his role as Meredith's dad in the upcoming 15th season of Grey's Anatomy, according to Entertainment Weekly.

While few details are known about Perry's first return to Grey's since season 7, fans are speculating that he might be involved in the "emotional" storyline planned for Meredith (Ellen Pompeo).

ABC Entertainment president Channing Dungey told TVLine earlier this month that Meredith will find herself wrapped up in an investigation "into a medical condition that is very close to her own family background and history."

Perry appeared in multiple episodes since 2006, but hasn't appeared on the show since 2011, when he went on to play the love-to-hate-him morally questionable Cyrus Beene throughout Scandal's seven-season run, which wrapped up earlier this year.

Thatcher fathered Meredith with Ellis Grey, but was not a part of Meredith's life for most of her childhood. He went on to marry Susan Grey (Mare Winningham) and had two more daughters named Lexie (Chyler Leigh) and Molly (Mandy Siegfried).

While Meredith might find herself wrapped up in family drama during the upcoming season, it's also confirmed that she will finally be going back to dating four years after the death of Patrick Dempsey's Derek Shepherd.

"Channing (Dungey) was keeping it mellow and trying to avoid spoilers because Shondaland is secrecy land," showrunner Krista Vernoff told TVLine last week. "But as the showrunner, I can confirm for you that Meredith Grey is very much a part of our Season of Love."

"Yes, [Mer]'s a single mom, and that complicates a dating life. And yes, she's a surgical marvel with new, game changing medical ideas she'll be pursuing," she added. "But she also hasn't dated at all since [Martin Henderson's] Nathan Riggs left [in Season 14]. And the one-two punch of meeting [Scott Speedman's] Nick Marsh awoke a desire in her that she can't put back to sleep."

Pompeo even spoke about Meredith's "season of love," saying that despite Derek being a "very tough act to follow," people who lose their spouses "do want to date again."

"Meredith is gonna date, date, date, date, date, just like my friends who are ready to jump back into the dating world do," Pompeo told EW. "What does dating look like today? I think we're almost phasing out the dating apps now. I'm hearing like people are not liking the dating apps anymore. I don't know, I'm just really happy I'm not single in real life. I try to listen to everybody's stories, all my friends and even people that I don't like that much, so we can tell a story that resonates true with people who have been through something like this."

Grey's Anatomy returns with a special two-hour premiere on Thursday, Sept. 27 on ABC.