Jesse Williams’ Return to ‘Grey’s Anatomy’ Brings Tense Reunion for Jackson and Meredith

Jesse Williams‘ highly anticipated return to Grey’s Anatomy had Jackson and Meredith at odds before Ellen Pompeo left Grey Sloan Memorial — again.

During the Thursday, October 30, episode of the hit ABC series, Jackson (Williams) was back at Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital to help with a reconstructive surgery. His first interaction with Meredith (Pompeo) was far from perfect after she saw Tom Koracick’s (Greg Germann) published paper about Alzheimer’s research.

Meredith pointed out that Koracick’s work didn’t factor in female patients, but Jackson fired back at her criticism of his mentor. Ultimately, Jackson needed Meredith’s help with his procedure, so they had to scrub in together after their confrontation.

By the end of the episode, Jackson and Meredith found common ground. Meredith also realized she needed to continue her research, which meant she could no longer be as present at the hospital as she was right after the explosion that kicked off season 22.

Pompeo, 55, began playing Meredith in 2005 when Grey’s Anatomy premiered on ABC. After hinting at her exit for years, Pompeo confirmed in September 2022 that she would have a reduced role for season 19.

“I’m going to always be a part of that show,” she told Deadline at the time. “I’m an executive producer. I spent two decades of my career on [Grey’s Anatomy] — it’s my heart and soul. I’ll never truly be gone as long as [it’s] on the air.”

The actress starred in eight episodes that season before exiting the show as a series regular in 2023. “I’m only going to Boston, and you know, I’ll probably be here next week,” Meredith told her friends and coworkers before boarding a plane with her three children.

Pompeo is expected to be featured on screen for at least seven episodes this season, appearing in the first four so far. Deadline reported that Pompeo’s screen time could “grow” with the season planning to air 18 total episodes.

Grey’s Anatomy is already reducing the minimum guarantees for its veteran cast members to 14 out of the show’s 18 episodes per season. While some fan favorites won’t appear in as many as four episodes each, Caterina Scorsone‘s absence was doubled after her character, Amelia, chose to take a sabbatical. Deadline subsequently reported that Scorsone’s break will last until 2026.

Elsewhere in Thursday’s episode, Link (Chris Carmack) missed working and found a way to help Owen (Kevin McKidd) on his newest case. Owen, for his part, was dealing with the end of his marriage to Teddy (Kim Raver) as she moved on with Cass (Sophia Bush). Owen had his own romantic development when he went out to dinner with Nora (Floriana Lima).

Bailey (Chandra Wilson) was determined to help her patient with stage IV cancer, which Lucas (Niko Terho) helped with, while Jules (Adelaide Kane) worked through an issue in her friendship with Simone (Alexis Floyd). As for Blue (Harry Shum Jr.)? He won points with his plastics fellow after allowing her to help Jackson.

Grey’s Anatomy airs on ABC Thursdays at 10 p.m. ET before streaming the next day on Hulu.