ABC/ Richard CartwrightRelax, kiddos! We've gotten your frantic emails and tweets, and despite what last week's Grey's Anatomy ep may have led you to believe, Izzie Stevens and Katherine Heigl are not leaving Seattle Grace for good.
(Show runner Shonda Rhimes even tweeted reassurance that the blond superdoc will return when she's done getting to know her adorable new baby and shooting Life as We Know It with Josh Duhamel.)
But that doesn't mean the next few weeks are going to be any less painful for abandoned husband Alex (Justin Chambers) or the rest of the original gang.
Not only are the wounds from George O'Malley's death still fresh, but we get the feeling—after exclusively chatting with Sarah Drew, who plays one of the eeevil Mercy Westers—that the superambitious new kids are going to be fighting tooth and nail to fill the vacuum left by Izzie's absence...
So, are the new doctors going to replace Izzie?
We interrogated Sarah Drew about that and well, she stonewalled a bit, but you know what walls do, don't you? They give shape to things, including certain possibilities and excluding others. Anyway, on the topic of a Mercy Wester possibly replacing Dr. Stevens, "That is also something I'm not allowed to say, sorry." OK, but do Cristina and company feel like the other doctors are replacing Iz? According to Sarah, "I think that may come out of it, but again, I have to be a little cagey with that. "
Eek. Sounds to us like the originals are going to feel mondo threated by the Team Orange Scrubs. That said, Sarah did reveal that her character, Dr. April Kepner, is going to cut back on the nasty, needy All About Eve routine. According to Sarah, "Lexie's (Chyler Leigh) apology that happened at the end of the last episode carries through, so there isn't as much animosity in the rest [of the episodes]." That doesn't mean she's not still desperate to secure herself a permanent position at Seattle Grace: "April is a very, very good doctor. She really knows what she's doing, she's worked really hard, and she wants to do her best and stick around."
So, could that actually happen? Could any of the new kids become a permanent fixture on Grey's Anatomy? Sarah isn't allowed to reveal how many episodes she's signed to do, but she would definitely be interested in staying if the opportunity arose, saying, "I think it's a really fun character and, of course, getting to be on that show is wonderful and exciting for any actress in Hollywood...I would love to stick around."
In the meantime, look for Team Orange Scrubs to start blending with the rest of the gang (they'll don regular Seattle Grace colors beginning this week) along with continuing BFF-ness for Sarah's character, April, and Nora Zehetner's Reed Adamson. Sarah tells us, "There is definitely a close bond between those two characters."
Last but not least, Ms. Drew, tell us why we should give your Grey's Anatomy character a chance? We love love love you on everything you do (Everwood, Wonderfalls, Medium, Private Practice, Mad Men, et al.), but the fans are justifiably worried that the Mercy Westers are bad juju. Defend yourself!
"Please, give me a chance, because I want to work!" laughs Sarah. "But to be serious, April has this competitive spirit of 'What are we gonna do to stick around? How are we gonna work harder?' I think what happened in the first episode was a little difficult, because the competition came at the cost of some of the patients. But if that can be translated into just doing more excellent work in order to stick around, then we should all stick around to be better doctors and save more lives."
Could you love the new kids enough to let them stay on if they saved enough lives, or are you taking a hard line on Mercy Westers? And do you love Sarah Drew as much as we do?
The fabulous Sarah Drew is back on your TV this Thursday at 9 p.m. on ABC on Grey's Anatomy and then on Glee on Nov. 18 at 9 p.m. on Fox. Don't miss her!
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