It's always tough to recall the scene when Derek Shepherd died on Grey's Anatomy. Patrick Dempsey recently came back to the show to as Meredith hallucinated him on a beach and viewers were very emotional about it.
While it would have been wonderful if Derek and Meredith had been together forever, that wasn't the case, and she began to move on and date other people. One person she truly seemed to love was Andrew DeLuca. Fans had strong opinions about this romance. The couple had an age gap and it was definitely tough to watch her fall in love with someone other than Derek.
DeLuca died in a recent episode of Grey's Anatomy. How did fans react? Let's take a look.
A Big Surprise
Meredith was originally going to date Burke, but then the decision was made for her to fall for Derek. And when she began falling for DeLuca, it was hard not to see that they had a real connection.
In the season 17 episode "Helplessly Hoping," which aired on March 11th, 2021, DeLuca passed away after getting stabbed. It was definitely a shocking moment, even though fans know that the show has killed off many characters over the years. DeLuca was attempting to help a sex trafficker get arrested but unfortunately lost his life.
Fans couldn't believe that the show killed DeLuca since it had just returned from a hiatus.
According to USA Today, one fan wasn't pleased with the storyline and tweeted, "Andrew DeLuca deserved more than this ending."
Another fan tweeted, "Goodbye Andrew Deluca #GreysAnatomy I honestly still can’t believe they did that when the show had just returned."
It definitely seems like the general fan response was a surprise.
One fan shared on Reddit, "Why do the best characters just get taken out? DeLuca was my favorite character. They should have not killed him like that." Another viewer shared in the same thread that it was surprising that he would have been hurt badly enough to die: "I was not expecting Deluca to die at all! His injury did not seem that bad compared to ones they see all the time especially for a main character. I was surprised they didn’t show his sisters reaction to him going back into surgery or not being in his room."
How Did The Actor React?
Giacomo Gianniotti said he thought it was good for the show to raise awareness of human trafficking through his character's death.
He told Deadline, "what if DeLuca was to save the day but to lose his life in the process, to die a hero saving all these people and all these children who potentially could’ve been trafficked, but now will not be because the traffickers were stopped? And I just thought it was a beautiful storyline, I thought it was a beautiful way for the character to exit as a hero."
Gianniotti also shared that it was sad to say goodbye to the series as he had enjoyed it so much and he had gotten so close to his fellow cast members. He said, "We spent a lot of time with each other, and so, although it’s a beautiful experience and I’m happy to be leaving in this way, and the story we get to tell is so beautiful, and I think it’s going to help a lot of people, I’m obviously sad to leave all my great, dear friends."
Showrunner Krista Vernoff shared with The Hollywood Reporter that she hadn't wanted DeLuca to die while dealing with his mental health struggles. She explained, "I wanted to show that a person can go through a mental health crisis and come out the other side and be a functional, contributing member of the hospital staff."
Vernoff said that she also found the storyline of DeLuca's death "shocking" and that she was very emotional watching the episode. She said that everyone is dealing with "collective grief" because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Everyone was pretty surprised by DeLuca's death on a recent episode of Grey's Anatomy. Gianniotti shared a sweet message about his friendship with Ellen Pompeo, and she replied, proving that they had gotten very close during filming.
Pompeo wrote, "You will be missed. Thank you for showing up and being the consummate professional every time you walked on set. Grey’s is a master class in patience and in having to be present no matter how monotonous it may get. You aced it. Now you get to go have some fun and apply all that skill!! I’m excited for your future... and remember wine and pasta with me will always be a part of it!!"
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