Although there are plenty of new faces this new season on Grey’s Anatomy, we’ll also sadly have to say goodbye to a few familiar ones, including longtime star Jake Borelli (aka Levi Schmitt). The actor, who joined Grey’s way back in 2017’s season 14, will be hanging up his scrubs after a handful of episodes this year, leaving fans without their beloved sweet, awkward, good-hearted chief resident.
Before you start shedding some tears, though, let’s reminisce on all the good times we’ve had with Levi — and all the important life lessons he’s taught us during seven seasons of Grey’s Anatomy.
Early on in his tenure on Grey’s, Levi made a massive mistake by dropping his glasses in a patient’s body during surgery. Luckily, the patient was okay, but the incident had a lasting impact on the brand-new intern, giving him the nickname Glasses and a reputation for messing things up.
Yet while his mistakes have certainly pained Levi, he’s never let them get him down for good. Even when he made one of his biggest errors ever, in season 16 — accidentally reporting Meredith’s insurance fraud by revealing that he was the one to show the damning ID bracelet to Bailey, which led to Meredith’s (temporary) firing — and was ostracized by his peers, he got through the rough patch by reminding himself that people are human, and mistakes don’t make you who you are.
We can’t talk about Levi Schmitt’s impact on Grey’s (and its viewers) without mentioning his deep, loving friendships with both Taryn Helm and Jo Wilson. With Helm, Levi knows that there’s no problem a great bond can’t endure; when she became furious with him over his betrayal of Meredith, for instance, Levi not only apologized but also emphasized his love and respect for his pal. And when treating patients during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic severely burned out Helm, Levi invited her to move in with him so she could have some much-needed support.
Then there’s Levi’s friendship with Jo, also his longtime roommate. With her, Levi knows he has someone he can trust and talk to at any hour of the day and get that loyalty right back. Whether it’s about Levi’s dating life or Jo’s switch into OB, the duo have helped each other make some big, important decisions.
Although Levi has become a skilled and confident doctor over the years, fans know that he has no shortage of anxiety and fears. But we’ve also seen how he always pushes through those fears when it’s important, whether by giving blood to help a patient or going back to work after a depressive episode. Levi understands that being brave doesn’t mean not ever being scared — sometimes, bravery is doing the thing that scares you.
Despite Levi’s occasional struggles with insecurity, he’s impressively good at standing up for what he knows he deserves. From telling Nico that he wanted more out of their then-casual relationship to moving out of his mom’s house due to her homophobia, Levi has always made it clear that he won’t take abuse from anyone, even if it means being left alone.
And during the rare times when he hasn’t stood up for what he wants or needs? Others have reminded him to demand more from himself, including Nico when he caught Levi saying that he’ll always be a screwup in season 16.
During his very first year on Grey’s, Levi heroically helped a patient named Judy badly in need of a blood transfusion by donating some of his own — despite having a weak stomach for blood — since the blood bank was inaccessible then due to a hack of the hospital’s systems. When he went to meet Judy in recovery and spoke of what he’d done, though, she chastised him for hunching over as if he’d done something wrong and encouraged him to stand up proud and straight. Levi took the smart advice to heart. A similar sentiment came later when, in season 15, Levi realized that he didn’t outwardly look as confident as he felt. He decided to switch from glasses to contacts, another time when a physical change inspired a mental one too.
One of Grey’s Anatomy’s most moving storylines has been Levi’s coming-out journey (not to mention Borelli’s own moving decision to come out as gay moments after Levi did the same in a November 2018 episode). Although the character has known since he was young that he has feelings for men, it took him a long time to embrace his identity — let alone actually act on those feelings with Nico. But taking that extra time allowed him to figure out how and when he wanted to come out to the people in his life, and to feel strong enough so that when loved ones (like his mom) responded negatively, he didn’t let them make him feel ashamed for being who he was. And speaking of shame …
Levi is an unabashed nerd, a passionate fan of school, video games, and well-argued debates (just take the conversation between him and his new romantic interest James in episode four this season, when he told the chaplain that he’d rather be the Starship Enterprise captain than Han Solo). While many people would try to hide the less-cool parts of their personalities, Levi proudly shows his off — and as he once told Nico, he isn’t here for anyone’s judgment or shame. He’s happy with his life and hobbies just as they are, however dorky they may look, and as we learned, they’re clearly not a turnoff for James.
Earlier this season, Levi — having just learned that his test scores weren’t high enough for him to earn the pediatric fellowship he’d hoped for — briefly took on an attitude of “professional detachment,” not wanting to get emotionally involved in tough situations (and thus, likely getting hurt). Despite his best efforts, though, that goal proved impossible when Levi learned that a cancer-ridden teenage patient was going to die — and he had to be the one to break the news. He couldn’t control his grief and anger and (with some help from James) realized that he can’t avoid his emotions, nor should he.