Grey’s Anatomy: The “Cristina treatment” won’t work on Alex Karev

Cristina Yang lives on through the occasional name-drop, but Alex Karev’s abrupt exit from Grey’s Anatomy will be difficult to explain away.

Meredith Grey’s heart wasn’t the only one to break when her “Person” left Seattle for good. Everyone in the fandom mourned. Plenty are still hopeful that Cristina Yang will make at least one more onscreen appearance before Grey’s Anatomy comes to an end.

But just because Sandra Oh has no current plans to return to the show years later doesn’t mean her legacy has faded away. While other original cast members’ characters have mostly become ghosts of Grey’s Anatomy past, Cristina has actually maintained a steady presence throughout the seasons since her departure.

The show’s writers have made sure to mention more than once that Meredith and Cristina regularly keep in touch despite the distance. Cristina also wrote a touching letter in support of her best friend toward the end of the first half of season 16. She even played a pivotal role in bringing in a new character — one that may or may not lead to new romance for her Meredith.

Now, fans are disappointed knowing this new man — McWidow, as Cristina called him — is likely not only taking Alex Karev’s old job, but will probably replace him in the cast lineup, at least temporarily.

The news that Justin Chambers’ final appearance on the show had already aired mid-November 2019 shocked everyone in the fandom. Very few saw it coming, and even those who speculated he might be leaving the show figured he’d get some kind of Cristina-level sendoff — “dance it out” session pending.

So far, it doesn’t look like we’ll get that. In fact, the show has already begun leaning heavily on the “Alex is in Iowa” excuse as a passive way of addressing his absence.

It’s likely the Iowa Explanation will remain throughout near-future episodes. Some fear it will stick for longer than just season 16. Alex’s character will remain across the country taking care of his mother, presumably until the show ends, with regular mentions to remind viewers he’s gone but “not really gone.” As if we’d ever forget.

Let’s be honest here: The occasional, casual “Karev” name-drop won’t have the same impact as the effort to keep Cristina’s character part of the Grey’s active universe. Why? Because Oh’s exit was planned, smooth, and honorable. And so far, Chambers’ abrupt exit doesn’t give off nearly the same vibes.

Whether you speculate that something happened behind the scenes to prompt his unexpected exit or his decision to leave was handled poorly by higher-ups — we may never know what happened, at least not anytime soon — the reality is, it happened. His last episode aired, and the audience had no idea. There was no proper sendoff, barely even a hint as to what might come. One episode he was there, the next he wasn’t. And that’s it.

That’s not to say they won’t circle back around and deal with this directly on the show at some point. But how they do this is the question on everyone’s mind. Many fans expected him to die during the midseason premiere this past week — which might have been better than dragging out the inevitable. As if they had any other choice at this point.

Would it be better for the writers to kill off his character than to keep him in the background, if for no other reason than to give fans a real chance to say goodbye?

Maybe. For all the criticisms the show has received over the years for ending the lives of an alarmingly large number of its characters, for Alex, it might fit. To have an original cast member simply disappear with barely another mention — again — would cast a dark shadow over Grey Sloan. And the show, ending its 16th season this year, really can’t afford that.

Unless it can. Unless this really is the beginning of the end, and spending time on the presumably unexpected departure of a cast member isn’t how the showrunner wants to handle things. Perhaps Chambers’ exit is, in a dark and twisty way, the green light we all need to say, “Hey, let’s go out on a high note before Ellen Pompeo quits too.”

If you’re a fan of the show, you know the feeling all too well — no one really wants Grey’s to end, yet we’re all sort of hanging around waiting for the announcement after we tune in each week. Fifteen years is a long time for a network drama. No one would really be upset to have an end date. It will be sad, sure. But all good things must, eventually, end.

Pompeo (Meredith Grey), James Pickens Jr. (Richard Webber), and Chandra Wilson (Miranda Bailey) are officially the only remaining members of the original cast. It’s very unlikely one more will go without the other two also bowing out.

And though it would technically be possible, continuing the show without Pompeo has never been part of the plan. Once she goes, Shonda Rhimes will close the book. (Literally — she is committed to writing the final episode, even after handing over her involvement completely several years ago, and that will be that.)

It’s going to be frustrating watching the rest of this season knowing Alex has to be written out somehow. They might stick with Iowa, and that would prove disappointing. But if they can somehow manage to distract us with Maggie drama and McWidow awe, maybe — maybe — we’ll all get used to it.

What do you think about Justin Chambers’ sudden exit? Did you see it coming? How do you want the show to handle his absence?