'Grey's Anatomy' Fans Are Reeling After Beloved Character's Unexpected Death

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In the episode, DeLuca appeared on the very beach where Meredith Grey's (Ellen Pompeo) dream sequence has been occurring amid her battle with COVID-19. He told Meredith that he doesn't "regret" what he did.

"We walk through our lives and we witness atrocities, see homeless people in the street asking for help and we just walk right past them. We see people who can't pay for medicine for their children. We see people beating their kids and say, 'It's none of our business.' We see atrocities on the news every day," he said. "Crimes and cruelties committed by our government, paid for nonetheless by our tax dollars. And what do we do? We just change the channel. We tune it out. Then we go back to work, and we pretend that what we just saw or that article we just read is somehow normal or acceptable."

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"What you did, Meredith, risking your medical license to save that little girl, that makes sense. And what I did — following that women and not letting her get away with it, not letting her get away, not letting her harm another single human being," he continued. "Yeah, it was dangerous, but it made sense. It's the only thing that made sense. So I don't regret it."

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Towards the end of the episode, DeLuca again appeared on the beach, telling Meredith, "I don't know what happens from here… No matter what happens, I want you to know that I've never felt seen the way you saw me. I've never felt inspired the way you inspired me. You made me want to be not just my best self, but better." While speaking, his mother, who died suddenly in Italy, appeared, and fans' last glimpse of DeLuca was him running to his mother.

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Following the episode, Gianniotti took to Twitter to thank the series and his fans. He wrote, "So much I could say… but all that comes to mind is thank you. Thank you to all the fans who loved Deluca as much as I did. Telling his story was and will be one of the great honors of my life. Thank you."

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Series creator Krista Vernoff also addressed the departure, sympathizing with fans in an emotional message that said, "we at Grey's Anatomy are grieving the death of this character with all of you." Vernoff said Gianniotti played DeLuca so beautifully and took him on such a powerful journey — from intern, to romantic, to a mental health crisis and back again," adding that the actor "remains a member of our family not just in perpetuity but for more of this season. You will see him again. As actor and as director." She explained that "this is the story that demanded to be told."

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Speaking with Entertainment Tonight, Gianniotti said he is "more than satisfied" with how his story came to a close, explaining that he doesn't "see how they could have done more for DeLuca or explained more with DeLuca." He added that the storyline was "really beautiful" and was "an opportunity to highlight a huge issue of human trafficking."

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Gianniotti first joined Grey's in 2015 as the medical drama neared the end of its 11th season, taking on the role of a medical intern. He recently directed Season 17, Episode 11, which will air later this year.