The promo video for Grey’s Anatomy season 19, episodes 14 and 15 suggested Amelia might relapse, but that storyline would be a major mistake. In Grey’s Anatomy season 19, episode 13, Maggie made the decision to move to Chicago, prompting Amelia to tell Richard that she feels like she’s losing another sister after Meredith moved to Boston. In the promo for the upcoming Grey’s Anatomy two-episode event, Amelia says, “I have a history of spiraling when people leave me,” which is a nod to her past addiction struggles.
Grey’s Anatomy season 19 has been all about change, endings, and new beginnings. The season introduced a new intern class and saw Meredith leave Seattle in the winter premiere, and now Maggie will be leaving as well in the next two episodes. Amelia has never had a good relationship with her sisters and was once described by Addison as “the black sheep” of the Shepherd family. Her mother and sisters continuously hold her past struggles with addiction and the mistakes she’s made against her, never able to see the woman she’s become. Maggie moving away will certainly be hard for Amelia, but she shouldn’t relapse because of it.
Amelia’s Relapse Story Was Done In Grey’s Anatomy & Private Practice
Amelia was first introduced in one of Grey’s Anatomy’s spinoffs, Private Practice, and soon joined everyone at Oceanside Wellness Group. Amelia’s past with addiction has always been a part of her character and explained her difficult relationship with Derek when she first appeared on Grey’s Anatomy in season 7, and one of Amelia’s biggest storylines revolved around her relapsing in Private Practice season 5. It was a heartbreaking storyline that saw Amelia descend deeper and deeper into addiction before Addison finally organized an intervention that, along with the fatal overdose of her fiancé, Ryan, led her to rehab.
Her second relapse came in Grey’s Anatomy season 12 when she got a drink with Riggs after a fight with Owen. Fortunately, it was a brief relapse, but it was a relapse nonetheless and doesn’t need to be repeated in Grey’s Anatomy season 19. Amelia’s worked hard to get to the place where she is now, and while addiction never fully leaves someone and that’s important to show, it’s already been shown through both Amelia and Richard. Amelia spiraling after Maggie leaves makes sense, but there are other ways to show her spiraling that don’t involve drugs.
Amelia Has Suffered More Than Enough In Grey’s Anatomy
Amelia is a perfect example of how Grey’s Anatomy puts characters through trauma. As Amelia’s actress, Caterina Scorsone, said at PaleyFest, Amelia’s “large-scale tragedy started when she was 5 years old, and they just kept coming.” She witnessed her father’s murder, woke up in bed to her dead fiancé’s body, gave birth to a baby without a brain, had a brain tumor, and lost her brother. To have Amelia relapse again in Grey’s Anatomy would be a disservice to her character, as she’s fought hard to get to the happy place she’s in now with her son and partner and deserves to be happy and healthy.