'Grey's Anatomy': Will Patrick Dempsey Return in Second Half of Season?

Following the Grey's Anatomy midseason finale, fans were left with a slew of questions, and its showrunner Krista Vernoff finally gave some answers as to what viewers could expect, starting with another appearance from Patrick Dempsey, Variety reported. With the show's titular character Meredith Grey (Ellen Pompeo) rendered unconscious and on a ventilator due to her ongoing battle with COVID, her fate was left hanging in the balance. In her previous dreamscape visits to her beachy paradise, the fictional legendary doctor received a few surprise visits from some past characters, including her late husband Dr. Derek Shepherd (Dempsey) and her friend George (T.R. Knight).

"You will see McDreamy again in the back half of the season," Vernoff confirmed. But, the show's chief remained quiet on the possibility of other cameos happening. "We all have hopes, but we don't have anything new to report yet," she said.

She went on to shut down any extra fan theories that placed other characters -- Christina Yang (Sandra Oh), Isabel Stevens (Katherine Heigl), Denny Duquette (Jeffrey Dean Morgan), Dr. Callie Torres (Sara Ramirez) -- with possible cameos in the current season. Rumors were initially sparked after an IMDB photo surfaced crediting the actors as part of the show's 17th season.

The image has caught Vernoff's eye, but she claims it was due to a glitch on IMDB's website. "My stepson sent me that picture, and my answer was, 'Oh my god! I wish!' But no," she said. "Debbie Allen said to me, 'They're so greedy! You just gave them McDreamy!'"

Ellen Pompeo teased previously that this may be the last time fans get to see their beloved doctors of Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital and with the doctor currently hanging on by a thread, fans are speculating when the show will finally leave the air. Vernoff also revealed that not even she knows when the show will say goodbye.

"I don't know," she said. "And so, I planned a phenomenal season, and I've planned what can be a season finale or what could be a series finale."

"I never really believe it's really over until everybody sits me down — they're all going to have to come together and sit me down and tell me it's really over," Vernoff continued. "But you always have to plan for both contingencies. We have a plan for how the season is going to end, and I feel really good about that plan, but I will say that at this point in any given season, we usually have a plan for where the season is going to end and it doesn't always end where we think it will. So, you never know."