Grey’s Anatomy’s Past Seasons Already Hinted At The Interns’ Fate For Season 20

Grey’s Anatomy S19’s ending spelled trouble for Teddy & the interns, but past GA seasons hint at their fate depending on the hospital’s situation.

Grey’s Anatomy season 19 finale ended on a cliffhanger with Teddy’s collapse and the interns scrambling to save her and patient Sam Sutton, operating on him despite not being allowed to and possibly risking their jobs as a result. Being a medical drama with residents and interns at the heart of it, Grey’s Anatomy showed plenty of residents’ mistakes through the years. From Meredith, Cristina, and George helping Izzie through the cutting of Denny’s LVAD, to Lexie’s intern class deciding to operate on each other as they didn’t spend enough time in the OR, various classes of residents showcased the most disparate mistakes.

The way Grey’s Anatomy season 19’s new interns ended up in Grey Sloan Memorial’s residency program guaranteed they would be closely monitored and not left to themselves, as the program was as much a second chance for them as for the hospital after it was shut down in Grey’s Anatomy season 18. This gave them the chance to err without paying too high a price, as there were always attendings with them, making their mistakes a chance to learn rather than fatal, traumatizing occurrences. Still, the events of Grey’s Anatomy season 19 finale’s last moments put them in an impossible situation to leave unscathed, especially with Sam dying.

Grey Sloan’s Situation & Teddy’s OR Collapse Hint At The Interns Not Being Fired

All interns but Jules ended up straying from the rules in the Grey’s Anatomy season 19 finale, as Kwan had deliberately ignored Maxine’s DNR before Lucas and Simone decided to cut into Sam Sutton while Yasuda tried to understand why Teddy had collapsed. However, Sam Sutton’s death could easily bring all three into scrutiny, as Sam was only in Lucas’ care because Yasuda had to scrub in on Trey’s surgery, making Mika Yasuda liable even if she didn’t touch the patient. Lucas and Simone made the executive decision to overlook the rules to try and save Sam while Mika was doing the same with Teddy.

However, a big difference between Lucas and Simone’s disregard for the rules and past residents was the situation itself. Indeed, when they decided to cut into Sam, they had already called for an attending, proving they had followed all the rules up to that point. Moreover, Sam’s crisis wasn’t the only one in that OR, as Teddy’s collapse was serious enough that Yasuda could only focus on her. The double emergency coupled with Lucas and Simone’s actions trying to save the salvageable after Sam had already flatlined hint at their punishment possibly being lax, especially considering Grey Sloan Memorial’s need for the new residency program to work.

Izzie’s Non-Fatal Mistake Got Her Fired In Grey’s Anatomy Season 6

Among the Grey’s Anatomy characters fired in the show’s 19 seasons, Izzie wasn’t forced to leave Grey Sloan Memorial after her memorable season 2 story involving Denny Duquette’s LVAD wire, but after a genuine mistake that lost her patient’s kidney transplant. While Izzie’s mistake monumentally influenced her patient’s life, as she couldn’t get the kidney transplant she desperately needed, it didn’t end it, and it didn’t happen through an action that was deliberately unethical and unlawful like cutting Denny’s LVAD wire was. Instead, the only reason why Izzie was only suspended after Denny’s ordeal and fired in Grey’s Anatomy season 6, episode 5 depended on the hospital’s situation.

While Richard is firing Izzie in Grey’s Anatomy season 6, episode 5, Izzie herself astonishingly mentions how unreal it was that she wasn’t fired for cutting Denny’s LVAD wire but for a genuine mistake that anyone could have made.

Indeed, Grey’s Anatomy season 6, episode 5 marked the merger between Seattle Grace and Mercy West hospitals, meaning many more doctors and residents would have walked Grey Sloan Memorial’s halls. Izzie wasn’t the only person Richard Webber would have had to fire, but she was still chosen among the many because of her mistake, and because various attendings were worried she was too emotional to withstand what the job would have required of her. At the end of the day, the hospital’s position of being unable to retain everyone employed there after the merger with Mercy West was what decided Izzie had to be fired, not her mistake.

Schmitt’s Hubris Got His Patient Killed But He Still Wasn’t Fired

The consequences of Schmitt’s mistake were also influenced by its circumstances and the hospital’s situation in Grey’s Anatomy season 18. Schmitt’s hubris might have been what prompted him not to follow the Webber method, but the hospital’s lack of attendings that could teach the residents was what inspired the Webber method, which aimed to find a solution to the lack of doctors and teaching through residents’ surgeries. Grey Sloan Memorial was trying to save its resident program and that impacted Schmitt’s punishment. Even if Schmitt briefly left the hospital because he couldn’t cope with the loss, he wasn’t fired nor suspended, and his fate was much different from Izzie’s.

Grey’s Anatomy season 19 interns appeared right after Grey Sloan Memorial’s residency program’s reinstatement, making their employment there something that the hospital seriously needed. Without residents besides Helm and Schmitt, the new interns are the only ones who effectively make Grey Sloan Memorial a teaching hospital, as the hospital would have very few to teach without them. Adding to that how Simone and Lucas operated on Sam during a double emergency only to try and save him, the circumstances of their mistakes and the hospital’s situation all point to Grey Sloan Memorial not dismissing them in Grey’s Anatomy season 20.