Three little words, one big bombshell. After the shocking ending to last week’s episode of Grey’s Anatomy, which killed off Patrick Dempsey‘s character, Derek “McDreamy” Shepherd, fans were anxious to see how his death would ripple through future episodes.
They got their answer on Thursday, April 30, when the ABC medical drama returned for a two-hour special detailing the months after McDreamy’s fatal car accident.
In one of the first scenes from the ep — aptly titled “She’s Leaving Home” — Derek’s widow, Meredith Grey (Ellen Pompeo), returned to Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital to break the news of his passing to her colleagues.
Walking into the lounge, she came upon Owen Hunt (Kevin McKidd), Callie Torres (Sara Ramirez), Alex Karev (Justin Chambers), Richard Webber (James Pickens Jr.), and Maggie Pierce (Kelly McCreary) happily chatting away about coffee and broken bones and good manners.
Seeing her half-sister, Maggie stopped to note the weather, saying it must have caused delays in Derek’s flight back to Washington, D.C. Meredith, dazed, replied quietly, “Derek is dead” — so quietly, in fact, that she had to say it twice more before it registered with her friends.
Watch the shocking moment above — and read Us Weekly‘s recap to see what else happened in the episode. (Spoiler: A LOT.)
