Happy Thursday and welcome to the final installment of this semesters passion blogs on Greys Anatomy deaths. I know I know i’m sad to see this chapter of the semester coming to a close too. Throughout these last few months we’ve addressed every major doctor death, as well as the death of main character Meredith Grey’s mother. Seeing as that entry about Ellis Grey is the one that kickstarted this entire blog, I found it only fitting to wrap up with the death of her father, Thatcher Grey.

Not making his first appearance until episode 18 of season 2, Thatcher Grey was introduced initially as a deadbeat father. He had been married to and in love with Merediths mother Ellis, and was with her up until Meredith turned 5, when her mother cheated on him with a co-worker and then decided to leave him. Some time after his divorce from Ellis, Thatcher remarried and had two daughters (Lexie and Molly). He did not maintain any contact with Ellis or Meredith, and it wasn’t until his daughter Molly was pregnant and ended up at Seattle Grace Hospital that Thatcher’s new wife urged him to rekindle the relationship he had let die with Meredith and bond. This however wasn’t too successful, as Meredith never truly got past the way he just left and rebuilt a new life without keeping contact with her, and held the childhood grudge all the way through adulthood.

It wasn’t until Ellis (Meredith’s mother) died that Thatcher and his new wife Susan went to the hospital to check on Meredith to make sure she was ok and invite her to dinner. This certainly didn’t repair the relationship, but at least made the two slightly more comfortable with each other, and was a step in the right direction for mending the father-daughter bond. Not much later in this season (season 3), Thatcher returned to the hospital with his wife, who needed a simple procedure. Despite their best efforts, she died in surgery. When Meredith delivered the news to Thatcher, he slapped her, saying that Susan had trusted her and she let her down, and he returned to the hospital drunk on the day of Susans funeral to tell Meredith not to attend.

After Susan’s death, Thatcher started drinking heavily. As a result of his alcoholism, he was admitted to SGH for drunkenness and having his arm put through a window. Meredith stitched him up and they bonded again. After alienating everyone, he went into rehab and he soon visited Seattle Grace, twenty-nine days sober. He is next seen at the hospital with liver disease that was a result of his alcoholism. He was told he needed a liver transplant to survive. Meredith was a match and after some discussion, both Meredith and Thatcher agreed to the operation and it was successful.

After Lexie died, Thatcher stayed sober, but lost touch with Meredith. Richard found out through an AA friend that Thatcher had Acute Myeloid Leukemia and is in hospice care with only a few weeks left to live. Meredith avoided visiting him until she learned that Thatcher might not have even a few more days. She came to his house to visit and they talked awkwardly for a while. After they finished talking, he took his final breath and died.

This death was a bit of a full circle moment in the show, as so much of Merediths talks about traumas revolved around the dicey relationship she had with her mother, and the absence of her father growing up. However watching their relationship blossom a bit, especially after the death of Ellis, many watchers couldn’t help but feel a bit bad about the passing, as Thatcher truly was alone in his final months, one daughter dead, wife dead, and not on speaking terms with the other daughter. While his death wasn’t one that was necessarily dwelled on, it is still memorable in the grand scheme of things, and I think was a perfect way to end out this blog series.

It’s been a joy writing this series for the semester, and I hope everyone enjoyed getting a glimpse into the complexities of Greys Anatomy, have a great rest of the year!

Image Sources: https://greysanatomy.fandom.com/wiki/Thatcher_Grey

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1497730/