On Thursday (March 5), Alex Karev—played by Justin Chambers—was written off of Grey's Anatomy. Though Chamber's exit was announced weeks ago—alongside the devastating reveal that fans had already seen his final episode—Karev's story didn't conclude until the most recent episode.
Fans have been wondering why Karev would just disappear from his life in Seattle, including his job at Grey Sloan Memorial, his wife Jo and BFF Meredith Grey. Well, fans finally got their answer and some were pretty upset by Karev's farewell. In four letters received by Meredith, Jo, Bailey and Richard Webber, Karev explained he moved to Kansas to reunite with his ex-wife (and former main character on the show), Izzie Stevens, and their 5-year-old twins, which Karev only recently found out about.
While some viewers were happy to see Karev and Izzie get their happily ever after all these years later, a bunch of fans were super upset over how the show decided to handle Chambers' decision to leave the show mid-season. After intense fan backlash, Grey's Anatomy showrunner Krista Vernoff defended the shocking conclusion to Karev's story.
“It is nearly impossible to say goodbye to Alex Karev,” Vernoff, 46, said in a statement to Us Weekly. “That is as true for me and for all of the writers at Grey’s Anatomy as it is for the fans. We have loved writing Alex. And we have loved watching Justin Chambers’ nuanced portrayal of him.”
“For 16 seasons, 16 years, we have grown up alongside Alex Karev. We have been frustrated by his limitations and we have been inspired by his growth and we have come to love him deeply and to think of him as one of our very best friends," she continued. "We will miss him terribly. And we will always be grateful for his impact, on our show, on our hearts, on our fans, on the world.”
Meredith Grey—played by Ellen Pompeo—is now the last of the original five hospital residents viewers were introduced to in the very first episode.
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