Spoiler alert! This story contains spoilers for the Grey’s Anatomy Season 21 premiere “If Walls Could Talk,” which aired September 26. If you’re not caught up, you can stream episodes the next day with a Hulu subscription.
Grey’s Anatomy’s long-awaited return to the 2024 TV schedule finally arrived, and if I took anything from the Season 21 premiere it’s that showrunner Meg Marinis is turning up the heat in the romance department. The premiere “If Walls Could Talk” touched on the love lives of all five of Grey Sloan’s interns — who, incidentally, did get to keep their jobs following Bailey’s big stand in the Season 20 finale — and I’m so intrigued to see where all these connections are going. The chemistry between Mika Yasuda and Jules Millin, in particular, was fun to watch, but I’m so frustrated over where this is going.
Fans were left hanging after the Season 20 finale, when Yasuda (Midori Francis) and Millin (Adelaide Kane) nearly kissed before being interrupted by Blue Kwan (Harry Shum Jr.). Grey’s Anatomy mercifully rewarded our patience by giving us a truly electric moment between the two in the September 26 episode. The huge problem I have with this is that we already know Francis is leaving the show, and therefore, this relationship/situationship seems doomed from the start.
In May it was announced that Midori Francis was leaving Grey’s Anatomy, only returning to Season 21 long enough to wrap up her character’s storyline. Yasuda and Millin are a really compelling couple, so it’s annoying that I don’t feel like I can get invested — especially because we have no idea how many episodes Francis has left.
Meg Marinis refused to divulge any information about the actress’ exit, or that of Jake Borelli, who is also leaving the show. The showrunner told The Wrap:
I don’t want to share anything particular about their upcoming storylines for spoiler purposes, but what I can say is that these characters are rich, stellar characters, and they will not get an exit that’s not deserving of their character. We’re going to honor where they started and where they are now. Also, they’re important members of our Grey’s family. Once you’re family, you’re always family. We’ve seen in 21 years that people can come and go here.
That response doesn’t give us any indication of a timeline, so I guess we’ll just have to enjoy the steaminess between Millin and Yasuda as long as we can.
As for the other interns, Lucas Adams (Niko Terho) decided not to go to Chicago (which really wasn’t that surprising, because I can’t see them getting rid of McDreamy’s nephew so soon), and he celebrated that choice by banging down Simone Griffith’s door and kissing her passionately. Skywalker and Simone are a go!
Blue’s situation is a little more tricky. Actually, a LOT more tricky, as his ex-fiancée who we met at the end of the last season returned in the premiere. We learned that Molly (Dianne Doan) was in an accident when she was engaged to Blue and got amnesia. He became a stranger to her, and he eventually left the relationship. Now that she knows about him, she’s looking for answers. I am, too, honestly, because this story is pretty juicy.
It looks like we’re in for a lot of romance this season, so no matter how frustrated I am over Yasuda’s impending exit, I can’t wait for next week. Grey’s Anatomy airs at 10 p.m. ET Thursdays on ABC.