Grey’s Anatomy season 20’s finale already set up season 21 to include a Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital more different than ever seen before, but one character’s unexpected return 17 seasons after their last appearance inevitably thrills me. Grey’s Anatomy season 19 including the departure of both Maggie and Meredith from Seattle and a reduced role for Ellen Pompeo as Meredith in the medical drama made me fear the path ahead for the show. Indeed, relying for so many seasons on Meredith, Maggie and Amelia’s sisterhood meant Grey’s Anatomy found itself without two out of three key characters after season 19.
With a reputation for killing off secondary and main characters alike, Grey’s Anatomy ensured some characters could return only in specific ways, for example, when Izzie’s illness showed her Denny, or even when Meredith met Derek, George and Andrew on the beach as she fought off Covid-19. However, many Grey’s Anatomy characters simply disappeared after their arc had reached an end, without them dying or anything being revealed about their fate. That is the case for a character return in Grey’s Anatomy season 21, which took me by surprise because of their previous role and how they hadn’t appeared recently.
Dr. Sydney Heron Returning To Grey’s Anatomy After 17 Years Is Great News
Sydney’s Bubbly Personality Set Her Apart From Bailey & MAGIC
Dr. Sydney Heron isn’t a character that may easily come to mind thinking back to Grey’s Anatomy’s earliest seasons, and yet her impact on the medical drama was extensive. Having been introduced as the cheery resident to fill in for and in contrast with Miranda Bailey’s approach, Sydney was loathed by some members of MAGIC because of her attitude to “heal with love.” However, Sydney’s character shone through once Cristina pushed Burke to second-guess Sydney in her OR, revealing an assertive resident who knew what she was doing and was right in the end, even succeeding in getting Cristina’s apology.
Kali Rocha returning as Sydney in Grey’s Anatomy season 21 gives the medical drama the chance to update viewers on what she was up to through Grey’s Anatomy’s many disasters of which she was not seen being part. However, what makes her return particularly interesting is how Sydney’s original role was not central, making her return completely unexpected, unlike Arizona’s in Grey’s Anatomy season 20, as she was a beloved, well-known character. Sydney’s conscious cheerfulness created many adversaries for her, including Miranda, making Sydney Heron’s return even more exciting if she were to interact with Miranda Bailey and Richard Webber.
If Sydney Heron Is Back, There’s Lots Of Potential For Other Returns In Grey’s Anatomy Season 21
Her Return Opens Up Season 21 For Comebacks Of Other Central & Less So Characters
Sydney’s last appearance being in Grey’s Anatomy season 4 makes Webber, Meredith and Bailey the only characters Sydney might know, at least based on the relationships the medical drama established. However, Sydney’s return gives her the chance to impact the lives of the new interns, just like she did with MAGIC in Grey’s Anatomy season 2, this time as an attending. This could prompt another set of interns to despise her methods, but I believe it could also be the trial kickstarting future returns for central characters and those less so.
Grey’s Anatomy season 20 seeing Arizona return only so that Bailey could find again the trailblazing surgeries’ magic already hinted at past characters reappearing to support Grey’s Anatomy’s current main characters. However, Sydney appearing in three episodes of Grey’s Anatomy season 21 could also potentially make the medical drama welcome back again characters like Addison Montgomery, or even less central ones like Erica Hahn. Such returns wouldn’t be necessarily highly anticipated, but they can still show the old guard interacting with the new one, thus convincing me they can be just as exciting as any other Grey’s Anatomy character returning.
Grey’s Anatomy season 21 premieres on Monday, September 26 at 10 p.m. ET on ABC.