‘Grey’s Anatomy’ Teases Thatcher Grey’s Return in New Sneak Peek

Grey’s Anatomy will reunite Meredith Grey with her father during Thursday’s new episode.

After being absent from the series since Season 7, Thatcher Grey (Jeff Perry) will have a visit from estranged daughter Meredith (Ellen Pompeo) in what likely will be an emotional reunion episode.

The long-running ABC medical drama released a sneak peek of the big episode, which will also find the doctors of Grey Sloan Memorial fighting to save Catherine Fox’s (Debbie Allen) life, featuring Meredith getting to her ailing father’s house for a long overdue visit.

In the clip, Meredith walks slowly toward the house and hesitates to ring the doorbell. After taking a deep breath when she sees bags of medical waste outside his door, she knocks and is greeted by a live-in nurse.

When she tries to introduce herself, the nurse tells her he recognizes her from a picture.

“Do you want to come in?” the nurse asks Meredith.

“That’s a loaded question,” she says.

After walking in the door, the man tells Meredith that he is not sure if her father is asleep, as he sleeps most of the day now because of his condition. He offers a glass of water, or some gin, before she walks into the living room to meet with Thatch.

“Thatcher, you have a visitor,” the nurse says when he walks into the living room before Meredith. As she walks in the room, Thatch turns in his chair and appears to be pleasantly surprised to see her. The clip ends with both of them saying hi to each other for the first time in many years.

Meredith’s reunion with her dad was first hinted at during the November episode “Flowers Grow Out of My Grave,” when Richard (James Pickens Jr.) revealed to her that her father was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia and had been placed in hospice.

At the time, Meredith had decided to grief her estranged father’s imminent death on her own, given the two hadn’t spoken since Lexie’s (Chyler Leigh) death. We’ll have to find out what motivates Meredith to visit her father, though it might have something to do with seeing Catherine fighting for her life after her cancer diagnosis surrounded by her family.

Thatcher Grey was a recent recurring during the early seasons of Grey’s Anatomy, as Meredith attempted to learn why her father left her when she was a child. Perry stooped appearing on the series after he became a series regular on Shondaland series Scandal.

Did you buy your Kleenex in preparation for Thatcher’s Grey’s return? Grey’s Anatomy airs Thursdays at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.