If you haven't already heard the tragic news, Justin Chambers is departing [1] Grey's Anatomy [2] after 15 years. It's a heartbreaking development — besides Meredith Grey, his character, Alex Karev [3], possesses one of the best arcs on the show, growing from an insufferable frat boy to a caring peds surgeon (uh, besides the beating up DeLuca thing [4]). Of course, cast turnover is inevitable when a show has been on the air for 16 seasons [5]. Still, it doesn't mean we're any less concerned about how the medical drama will handle his exit.
Chambers's last episode has already aired [6]; Alex did not make an appearance in the season 16 Fall finale. Instead, he popped up in the episode before it, in which Meredith faced a panel deciding the fate of her medical licence [7]. (Spoiler alert: she's still a doctor). This comes as upsetting news to fans, as many regulars like Cristina Yang, Callie Torres, Arizona Robbins, and April Kepner have all gotten proper send-offs [8] in finale episodes. Chambers, on the other hand, won't have a goodbye episode. The last we hear about him, he's apparently in Iowa to help his mom.
No matter how you feel about it, Chambers's departure leaves many questions up in the air. After getting fired by Bailey, he became the chief of surgery at Pac-North and officially tied the knot with Jo [9]. Cutting out Alex will be awkward no matter what since the show must figure out how Jo's story will continue and who'll be Meredith's new person. Ahead, we've hatched up theories about how our beloved Evil Spawn will be written off — suffice it to say, we're very nervous.
Alex Will Be Passively Referenced on the Show
Unless Grey's replaces Alex with a new actor (really, it'd be confusing 16 seasons in), they'll have to deal with Chambers's exit. Perhaps Grey's will close its Pac-North plot, returning Richard and Owen to Grey Sloan while Alex stays on board at the scrappy hospital. Alex could get mentions from Jo and Meredith if he remains at Pac-North. It'd be glaringly obvious that he didn't get a farewell, but this would be the least devastating way for him to go. We occasionally get references to Cristina [10], after all.
Alex could return if Chambers and the showrunners are up for it. Grey's has brought back past characters directly as well. We've seen Addison Montgomery return for guest-star episodes and Ben Warren [11] dip in and out of the hospital as a firefighter. But it should be noted that these characters came straight back from Grey's spinoffs.
Alex Will Die
We don't even want to touch this dreadful thought with a six-foot pole. Haven't we seen enough death [12] with George, Lexie, Mark, and Derek? But if Camilla Luddington stays as Jo, it'd be really weird if Jo just casually mentions her husband. Their relationship has been a crucial part of her growth, after all. Death, even a random one, would feel more on brand with the show's notoriety for emotional drama instead of a slow fade. Just as the series has repeated the tumor plotline, it could revive the lethal accident trope [13] (think of Grey's many plane, bus, and car crashes).
There's also the dark possibility that Alex could kill himself. It's happened before on House, when the show wrote off Kal Penn's Dr. Kutner by having the physician end his life out of the blue. While Alex has dealt with hard situations before, we sincerely hope the writers don't go down this route.
Alex Will Leave Seattle
This could make sense, given that the last time Alex was mentioned in the midseason finale [14], he had been home to care for his mother. Alex could leave Seattle permanently to help his mother, who lives with schizophrenia. Still, we last saw her in a good place in her life, and his unexpected move would leave Jo grappling with the aftershock of his absence. Seriously, how could Alex leave permanently without a final moment with Jo?
Alex could also ditch Grey's Izzie Stevens style [15], ghosting the hospital forever. He's seen a lot of people move on from him in his life — think Izzie, Lucy, and his father. Still, given his fierce loyalty to his friends, this is a hard pill to swallow.