Patrick Dempsey and Ellen Pompeo speak to fans on Twist – Deadline

SPOILER ALERT: Story includes details of ABC’s Season 17 premiere Grey’s Anatomy.

ABC Season 17 Two-Hour Premiere Grey’s Anatomy ended with a mind-blowing five-and-a-half-year-old moment. The series’ first male role, Patrick Dempsey, has made a comeback, with his character, Derek Shepherd, appearing in a dream streak on the beach after Ellen Pompeo’s Meredith collapsed in Gray Sloan’s parking lot. The reunion of Grey’s Anatomy The all-time favorite couple was the happy climax of the premiere, which addressed the grim realities of the coronavirus pandemic. After the episode aired, Grey’s Anatomy Showrunner Krista Vernoff released a statement on the big one, while Pompeo discussed it on ABC Jimmy Kimmel Live. Dempsey joined an Instagram post on Friday.

Find out more below and check out Deadline’s exclusive Q&A with Vernoff, Pompeo, and Dempsey, in which they share the comeback story and answer burning questions from the premiere.

Vernoff was the first to speak to fans after the season opened on the East Coast, posting a gallery with behind-the-scenes photos she took of Pompeo and Dempsey while filming the beach scene. She also opened up about McDreamy’s surprise return.

The most important job we have had this season has been to honor the reality of this global pandemic and its impact, especially on healthcare workers. Along with that, we had to find creative ways to make our show always fun and romantic and provide an escape. Enter Patrick Dempsey. The beach motif – which will continue beyond the premiere – has allowed us to live outside of the pandemic, even for a little while here and there. And Derek’s return has been a pure joy for us, for Meredith, and for the fans. Season 17 has been a Herculean effort on the part of our cast, crew, writers, and partners at Disney and ABC – and we’re proud of it. But our effort is nothing compared to the work of our frontline healthcare workers to whom this season is dedicated. We hope our show inspires you to wear your masks to protect them and each other. As Derek Shepherd would say, “It’s a beautiful day to save lives”.

In Instagram posts on Friday, Dempsey and Ellen, who shared corresponding photos from the beach shoot, urged fans to wear a mask.

In his appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live, Pompeo opened up about the reunion with Dempsey.

“It was so much fun,” she says. “Because we know people are going to panic, and we all know 2020 has been a really long and ugly road. And we were so happy to be able to shoot those scenes and know how much it was going to bring people. We really enjoyed ourselves.

Kimmel touted the breadth of the plot point.

“Since McSteamy broke his penis, I haven’t seen anything so shocking on the show,” he joked.

Kimmel also compared Dempsey’s Return from the Dead to another ABC drama series, which premiered the same season. Grey’s Anatomy debuts, saying that Grey’s “Hit with the” lost “territory” with the twist.

Says Pompeo, “Seventeen seasons. We have tried everything there is to splash around.

Kimmel also grilled Pompeo whether his character Meredith was dead or in a coma. Pompeo remained primarily a mom but a promo for next week’s episode of Grey’s Anatomy published after the end of the premiere answers this question. (See under the video of Pompeo’s JKL appearance.)

It really, really happens. # Grey’s anatomy pic.twitter.com/EE1GTygjAi

– Grays Anatomy (@GreysABC) November 13, 2020