I Spy With My Little Eye . . . Several More Grey's Anatomy Characters Returning in Season 17

We haven’t seen Jessica Capshaw’s Arizona since the character left Seattle to move to New York, where ex-wife Callie (Sara Ramirez) resides. The move was to make it easier for their daughter Sofia, allowing her to stop splitting time between her parents. While Capshaw wasn’t the one to decide to leave Grey’s, her exit was a graceful one, and it allows for an easy return.

The second episode of the season introduced a woman who unexpectedly gave birth to a baby girl who had been attached to her mother’s liver. It makes complete sense that one of the Grey Sloan doctors would call one of the only fetal surgeons in the country and their former chief of pediatrics to give her expert advice on how to handle such a tricky case. And her presence – whether it’s virtual or in-person – would naturally lead to the return of her ex-wife! (If they’re still divorced, that is.)

Sara Ramirez’s Callie left Seattle to live in New York with her girlfriend, Penny, though the two later broke up before her ex-wife Arizona moved to join her with their daughter in New York. If Arizona were to return, it would only make sense that Callie was along for the ride! It’s a fairly good chance that the two made it work and got back together, judging by the text messages they were exchanging in Arizona’s final episodes. So, if someone from Grey Sloan reached out to Arizona about their complicated newborn patient, Callie would likely be in the picture as well.

Welcome back George O’Malley! In the Dec. 3 episode, T. R. Knight made a return after leaving the series in season five. Though George has been gone for a long time now, if Meredith is going around talking to all her dead loved ones on a beach, he would obviously be one to show up! As the two reminisce on the beach, Meredith confesses that George’s friendship had such a profound effect on her – it’s one of the reasons she’s become such a selfless person.

It feels like kind of a given that one of the people Meredith would see in her version of limbo would be her late mother. Kate Burton’s Ellis has always been a powerful figure in her daughter’s life, and if this beachside limbo is a way for Meredith to sort out how she feels about her life (which these sort of stories tend to be), her mother’s guidance is definitely needed.

While it may seem odd to include Jerrika Hinton’s Stephanie because she left Seattle to explore life outside working in a hospital, I think it could lend itself to be a great way for her introduction! With the world dumbstruck due to COVID, it would be exactly the motivation needed for Stephanie to get back into the game of medicine and helping people with her skills. She could find her way back to Grey Sloan as a traveling doctor or in another profession that finds her crossing paths with one of the characters – especially since she never came back for Alex and Jo’s wedding! (Though that’s probably a good thing now, considering.)

I don’t think I even need to find a reason why Sandra Oh‘s Christina could come back. It’s a day that ends in “y,” how’s that for a reason!? It seems too good to be true that Oh is listed as being part of the show in 2020, but if this season is Meredith and Pompeo’s swan song, she absolutely has to make an appearance. If there’s anyone who would appear at Meredith’s bedside while she’s deathly ill, it’s her person!

I know Katherine Heigl seems like the most unlikely actor to return to the series, but it’s 2020, wilder things have happened! The actress is currently listed to appear in the series in 2020, and while it could be explained by the fact that Izzie was mentioned in Alex’s final episode, she hasn’t had those episodes credited yet. Justin Chambers has that episode listed on his page, which signifies that his episodes for the year are all set. So there’s a chance – a slim chance – that Izzie Stevens could be making her long-awaited return to Seattle for some reason.

I’m not saying that season 17 is definitely the end of Grey’s but having Izzie come back, along with everyone else, is definitely a feat that could never be topped in future seasons. They might as well hang up the scrubs after that!

Sarah Drew isn’t listed to be back on the show this year, and her exit wasn’t exactly amicable, so it’s highly unlikely that she’ll be coming around this season. But with Jackson’s mention of his custody arrangement for Harriet, it felt like it would lead to some kind of appearance! Maybe? Okay, probably not.

Chyler Leigh’s Lexie is currently fans’ biggest guess for Meredith’s next visitor on the beach. It makes 100 percent sense for why she would appear to her sister, and it would definitely be an emotional reunion, so here’s hoping everyone’s right! Leigh isn’t listed as being on the show in 2020, but maybe that’s Grey’s being coy about her possible appearance.