Shonda Rhimes just dropped a massive bombshell about how Grey’s Anatomy will finally end!

 

Grey’s Anatomy hasn’t flatlined just yet.

After all, it just began its 22nd season. But that’s not to say, creator Shonda Rhimes—who was also its showrunner until season eight—hasn’t thought about its series finale. And admitted that after 450 episodes of the medical drama, she’s trying to find the right ending will look like.

“I’d say back around episode 150 I knew how it was gonna end,” Shonda told Today’s Craig Melvin on the Oct. 13 episode of the NBC morning show. “Now we’re at 450—I have no idea. I mean, I wasn’t sure we’d get past season four or five. So the fact that we’re here in 22, season 22, is insane.”

Plus, as the 55-year-old explained, the decision to end the show isn’t hers alone, but would also come from the fans and the show’s cast, including OG stars like Ellen Pompeo, James Pickens Jr. and Chandra Wilson.

Shonda added, “I want everybody to end in a really positive, great way.”

And the fans in particular are why the TV legend thinks Grey’s Anatomy has become the longest running medical drama of all time.

“The fact that they’ve kept watching the show,” Shonda gushed, “and they’ve stuck with it, and they’re excited and invested.”

Of course, it certainly helped that the show felt different from other medical series, with Shonda noting, “It centered on young doctors who didn’t know what they were doing, which meant that they could take the audience along for the ride.”

“I also think it’s because it was more about how our doctors felt about their patients and their work,” she added. “Versus us just being with the patients.”

It didn’t hurt that the show also focused on romance, as she noted, “People really love to watch those stories.”

But as Shonda admitted, regardless of the romance and how fans felt about certain characters, she was never afraid to make hard decisions about them—like killing characters off if she thought it served the overall arc of the series.

“I’m very committed to the story and not the character,” she shared, “but that does mean people die.”

That’s a sentiment the show has continued to carry with it into its latest installment, as fans said goodbye to Dr. Monica Beltran (Natalie Morales) who died in the season 22 premiere from injuries sustained in died following the explosion at the hospital in the season 21 finale.

And although Grey’s current showrunner and executive producer Meg Marinis wanted to avoid killing anyone off this season, it ended up being the best decision to keep the story moving forward.

“I was in the writers room, and as I rewatched the finale,” she recalled to Deadline after the show’s premiere, “it became clear to me, ‘Oh, this is where the story is leading.’”

For a look back at more of Grey’s Anatomy’s most jaw-dropping moments, keep reading.