Grey’s Anatomy threw a truly shocking curveball in the final moments of the Season 17 premiere, and many fans were not prepared.
The final seconds of the two-hour, coronavirus-driven episode provided the shocking return of a beloved character — Patrick Dempsey’s Derek Shepherd, a.k.a. McDreamy.
In the closing moments of the episode, Meredith (Ellen Pompeo) falls unconscious and viewers are transported into her dreamscape, which happens to be a sunny, brightly lit beach where she’s joined by McDreamy — who tragically died as a result of a horrifying car accident in Season 11.
Needless to say, the return of the dead doc — even in the context of a dream sequence — left a lot of fans stunned, crying, freaking out, or some combination of the three.