[This article contains specific plot details about last night’s episode of Grey’s Anatomy, “Leave A Light On.”]
After 15 years on the air, you would think that Grey’s Anatomy would be better at writing off long-term characters. Sometimes, those actors leave the long-running series via dramatic events like plane or truck crashes (the unexpected death of Patrick Dempsey’s Derek on a highway, for instance); sometimes, they get an enviable ending like getting to run a hospital in Zurich (Sandra Oh’s beloved Cristina).
The fate of original cast member Justin Chambers’ Alex Karev, revealed last night on Grey’s Anatomy, fell somewhere in the middle of those two options—a compromise that appeared to satisfy no one. In a series of letters, delivered by Chambers in voiceover but never onscreen, Alex reveals that he has left his wife, his job, his “person” Meredith Grey, and all of Seattle. He is now living in Kansas with his ex-wife Izzy Stevens (the character portrayed by Katherine Heigl, who also did not appear onscreen) and their twins, which Izzy gave birth to five years ago using Alex’s preserved sperm.
It was a snoozer of an episode, frankly, full of clips depicting Alex’s important relationships with Meredith (Ellen Pompeo), his wife Jo (Camilla Luddington), and his mentors Miranda Bailey (Chandra Wilson) and Richard Weber (James Pickens Jr.). Although it was kind of fun to see shots of the original five MAGIC interns, no amount of nostalgia could get viewers to buy Izzy and Alex as the show’s endgame love story. “Izzy” was trending on Twitter before the episode was even over.