Grey's Anatomy Season 21 Reveals How 1 Major Character Exit Will Happen (& It Follows A Horrible Trend) (2025)

Warning! SPOILERS about Grey’s Anatomy season 21, episode 3 ahead.

Two major characters are set to exit Grey's Anatomy in season 21, and one worrying development in season 21, episode 3 likely kickstarted the storyline leading to the departure of one of them. The main storylines in Grey’s Anatomy season 21, episode 3 continued to revolve around Catherine and Meredith’s feud and Meredith and Miranda following Catherine as a patient, but the episode also introduced interesting new developments with Nick and Amelia’s momentous surgeries. Another unexpected and unfortunate situation was nonetheless revealed in Grey’s Anatomy season 21, episode 3, and it impacted multiple storylines and affected one character in particular.

Well before Grey’s Anatomy season 21’s release, the exits of Jake Borelli and Midori Francis from the show were announced, making it imperative for season 21 to tackle what will prompt their characters Levi Schmitt and Mika Yasuda to leave Grey Sloan. While it’s unclear how Levi might be persuaded to leave a hospital that was so central to his growth, one detail revealed in Grey’s Anatomy season 21, episode 3 just introduced a major crisis for Mika. The crisis in question could affect Mika enough to leave Grey Sloan Memorial, especially as the hospital will play a key part.

Chloe Yasuda's Illness Sets Up Mika's Grey's Anatomy Exit

Chloe's Shocking Diagnosis Can Make Mika Reevaluate Her Whole Life

Mika Yasuda spent the best part of Grey’s Anatomy season 21, episode 3 in her own head after she disappeared as Sydney Heron was giving the interns their assignments, even lashing out at Jo and Amelia when they were fighting in the middle of Rhiannon’s surgery. The end of the episode eventually clarified why the phone call affected her so much, with Jules and Mika’s heart-to-heart revealing how Mika had just learned her sister Chloe was diagnosed with colorectal cancer at age 22. The revelation thus explained both Mika’s behavior and her request to speak with Teddy in private.

Chloe’s appearance in Grey’s Anatomy season 21, episode 4’s trailer highlights even more the severity of the situation based on Richard’s words. This shows how Chloe’s cancer can be what triggers Mika to leave Grey Sloan Memorial. Indeed, with showrunner Meg Marinis revealing how Levi and Mika could both return (via Deadline), Mika’s departure involving her death is all but ruled out. However, the serious illness of someone as close as her little sister can be life-changing enough to upend her life, whether Chloe lives or dies, making it more likely the diagnosis will prompt Mika to leave Grey Sloan.

Grey's Anatomy Has A History Of Characters Who Experienced Mika's Crisis

Many Of Grey’s Anatomy’s Doctors’ Relatives Ended Up At Grey Sloan As Patients

Assuming Chloe will die based on Grey’s Anatomy season 21, episode 4’s trailer and Mika’s reaction would be too hasty, but all the doctors at Grey Sloan who faced Mika’s problems were without a close relative at the end of that story arc. The trend was set up in Grey’s Anatomy season 3 with the heartbreaking death of George O’Malley’s father after his health kept declining for days as he was being treated at Seattle Grace, but the medical drama sadly kept it up even in more recent seasons. Indeed, Alex’s father too died after being treated at Grey Sloan.

More recently, Maggie’s fight with her mother on how to deal with her illness in her last days was harrowing enough to make the episode of her death in season 13 one of Grey’s Anatomy’s saddest episodes. Finally, the death of Bailey’s mother from Covid in Grey’s Anatomy season 17 also happened at Grey Sloan, cementing the admission to the hospital of its doctors’ close relatives akin to a death sentence in the medical drama. This makes it more likely for Chloe Yasuda to die in Grey’s Anatomy season 21, thus fully justifying Mika’s disappearance from Grey Sloan Memorial.

Grey’s Anatomy season 21 releases new episodes every Thursday at 10 pm ET on ABC.

Source: Deadline

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Grey's Anatomy

TV-14

Drama

Romance

Grey's Anatomy is a medical drama series revolving around surgical interns, residents, and attendings at the fictional Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital. The show features the professional and personal lives of these medical professionals, led initially by Dr. Meredith Grey, played by Ellen Pompeo. Created by Shonda Rhimes, the series highlights the complexities of medical cases while delving into the interpersonal relationships among the hospital staff.

Where to Watch

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*Availability in US

Cast

Ellen Pompeo , Chandra Wilson , James Pickens Jr. , Justin Chambers , Kevin McKidd , Jesse Williams , Bokhee An , Camilla Luddington , Patrick Dempsey , Sara Ramirez , Jessica Capshaw , Sandra Oh , Caterina Scorsone , Sarah Drew , Kelly McCreary , Kim Raver , Jason George , Eric Dane , Giacomo Gianniotti , Jake Borelli , Katherine Heigl , Jerrika Hinton , Chyler Leigh , Chris Carmack , T.R. Knight , Debbie Allen , Jaicy Elliot , Anthony Hill , Kate Walsh , Greg Germann , Isaiah Washington , Aniela Gumbs , Martin Henderson , Payton Silver , Gaius Charles , Tessa Ferrer , Stefania Spampinato , Alex Landi , Scott Speedman , Mark Saul , Nicole Rubio , Richard Flood , Ryder Goodstadt , Steven W. Bailey , Adelaide Kane , Alexis Floyd , Harry Shum Jr. , Midori Francis , Niko Terho

Character(s)

Dr. Meredith Grey , Dr. Miranda Bailey , Dr. Richard Webber , Dr. Alex Karev , Dr. Owen Hunt , Dr. Jackson Avery , Nurse Bokhee , Dr. Jo Wilson , Dr. Derek Shepherd , Dr. Callie Torres , Dr. Arizona Robbins , Dr. Cristina Yang , Dr. Amelia Shepherd , Dr. April Kepner , Dr. Maggie Pierce , Dr. Teddy Altman , Dr. Ben Warren , Dr. Mark Sloan , Dr. Andrew DeLuca , Dr. Levi Schmitt , Dr. Izzie Stevens , Dr. Stephanie Edwards , Dr. Lexie Grey , Dr. Atticus Lincoln , Dr. George O'Malley , Dr. Catherine Fox , Dr. Taryn Helm , Dr. Winston Ndugu , Dr. Addison Montgomery , Dr. Thomas Koracick , Dr. Preston Burke , Zola Gray Shepard , Dr. Nathan Riggs , Dr. Knox , Dr. Shane Ross , Dr. Leah Murphy , Dr. Carina DeLuca , Dr. Nico Kim , Dr. Nick Marsh , Intern Steve , Paramedic Nicole , Dr. Cormac Hayes , Derek Bailey Shepherd , Joe , Dr. Jules Millin , Dr. Simone Griffith , Dr. Benson Kwan , Dr. Mika Yasuda , Dr. Lucas Adams

Release Date

March 27, 2005

Seasons

21

Network

ABC

Writers

Shonda Rhimes , Julie Wong , Jen Klein , Tameson Duffy , Meg Marinis

Directors

Rob Corn , Kevin McKidd , Debbie Allen , Chandra Wilson , Allison Liddi-Brown , Jeannot Szwarc , Tony Phelan

Main Genre

Drama

Creator(s)

Shonda Rhimes , Michelle Lirtzman

Where To Watch

Hulu