"Grey's Anatomy" Season 12 will air a new episode on Thursday night that will feature Meredith Grey (Ellen Pompeo) talking about her late husband Derek Shepherd (Patrick Dempsey).
In the teaser released by ABC, Meredith could be seen talking to Maggie (Kelly McCreary) about the intern the latter slept with when she had a little too much to drink. During their conversation, Maggie threw shade at herself and asked Meredith about interns that she has slept with. Meredith playfully replied, "my husband," because Derek and Meredith slept together when the latter was still an intern.
Following Derek's death in Season 11, fans can't help but wonder how many times Derek will be referenced on the show.
In an interview with The Huffington Post, executive producer Shonda Rhimes defended her decision to kill off the popular character.
"What were the options? Derek was going to walk out on Meredith and leave her high and dry, and what was that going to mean? That was going to suggest that their love was not true, that the thing we said for 11 years was a lie, and McDreamy wasn't McDreamy," she said.
Following Derek's death and Dempsey's exit from the hit ABC series, former cast member Katherine Heigl said that she cannot imagine how the show will survive without the character, according to Design & Trend. However, the president of ABC, Mr. Paul Lee, said he felt that Rhimes' decision was right, so they went on with it.
"We've seen the pitch for 'Grey's' next season. The show reinvents itself again. She really is a remarkable showrunner, and we have no reason to expect that 'Grey's Anatomy' won't go on for many years to come," Lee said.
With this, it seems that there will be very few Derek references on "Grey's Anatomy" this season.
"Grey's Anatomy" Season 12 airs Thursday nights on ABC.
