Grey’s Anatomy: Why Derek Shepherd Was Killed in Season 11, Explained

Dr. Derek Shepherd was the love interest and later husband of the titular character Meredith Grey in Grey’s Anatomy. The role was brought to the screen by People’s Sexiest Man Alive 2023, Patrick Dempsey, who played the role for eleven seasons as a series regular. He made his first appearance in the pilot episode A Hard Day’s Night and his last appearance as a regular in the episode You’re My Home.

Dempsey’s Derek Shepherd was popular among his patients and scrub nurses and well-respected among the interns and residents. He hooks up with Ellen Pompeo’s Meredith Grey before they find out that they work together. They get married unofficially in Season 5 and by Season 7, they make their marriage official to adopt their first child Zola. The loveable character’s sudden death in Season 11 shocked the fandom to the core.

What Happened To Patrick Dempsey’s Derek Shepherd In Grey’s Anatomy Season 11?

The things leading up to Derek Shepherd’s fatal accident in Grey’s Anatomy Season 11 had already hinted to fans that Patrick Dempsey might leave the show soon. The character moves to Washington DC against his wife’s wishes but soon regrets his decision and sorts things out with Meredith over a call.

They both don’t want their marriage to end and Derek decides to move back to Seattle and settle down with his wife and kids. However, he is met with a fatal car accident while driving to the airport to fly to Washington DC and hand in his resignation.

Fans were still hopeful that he would survive the accident. The storyline then briefly shifts to an understaffed and under-equipped hospital, where Derek is taken after the accident. He is declared brain dead after the arrogant doctors and inexperienced interns are not quick enough to treat him (This storyline makes a comeback in later seasons).

In one of the most devastating scenes in TV history, Ellen Pompeo‘s character is informed about her husband’s condition. She reaches the hospital and sees her husband one last time before she consents to remove him from life support. The scenes were made even more poignant after the showmakers decided to narrate the episode from Derek’s perspective.

By the time Derek’s death episode aired, fans had grown accustomed to Grey’s Anatomy killing off beloved characters. The team at Grey Sloan Memorial had already lost George, Lexie, and Mark in previous seasons. However, since Patrick Dempsey played the male lead of the show, Derek’s death hit especially hard, leaving fans even more saddened by his character’s demise.

Why Did Patrick Dempsey Leave The Show?

Grey’s Anatomy‘s biggest loss so far can be attributed to Patrick Dempsey’s career aspirations. In an interview with People in 2016, Dempsey shared that he was ready to move on from the character after eleven seasons of the show. He shared that he was grateful to the show for providing the opportunity to do everything he dreamt of.

However, his dedication to the show came at “a cost.” The long hours and packed schedule took a toll on the actor. He wanted to spend more time with his wife Jillian Fink and three children, Talula Fyfe Dempsey, Darby Galen Dempsey, and Sullivan Patrick Dempsey. The decision was tough but Dempsey had to prioritize his time over money.

He shared that he should’ve made the decision a couple of years before his actual exit. He also added he now wanted to move on to his other projects and interests. He shared with People:

It had been long enough. It was time for me to move on with other things and other interests. I probably should have moved on a couple of years earlier. I stayed a bit longer than I should have.

Dempsey further shared that he discussed the matter with creator Shonda Rhimes and that they “were both ready.” However, Dempsey added that he was not informed about how Rhimes would handle his exit from the show. He called Derek’s final moments in the show “beautifully symbolic in many ways.”

According to EW, Dempsey had signed a two-year contract in 2014, meaning that he should’ve stayed on for another season. While his explanation was satisfactory for many fans, more details emerged about the events leading up to his exit and it painted a not-so-McDreamy picture.

Grey’s Anatomy Producers Revealed Patrick Dempsey’s Difficult Behavior

In 2021, Lynette Rice’s book on the show, How to Save a Life: The Inside Story of Grey’s Anatomy, opened a whole lot more dramatic details surrounding Dempsey’s exit. The Enchanted star admitted in the book that the Grey’s Anatomy schedule was frustrating and exhausting, as it lasted for fifteen hours a day for ten months. He stated in the book (via THR):

You never know your schedule, so your kid asks you, ‘What are you doing on Monday?’ And you go, ‘I don’t know,’ because I don’t know my schedule. Doing that for eleven years is challenging.

He also added that he couldn’t really complain because he was being compensated well. It turned out that he allegedly did complain, in an unpleasant way. According to the former executive producers of the show, he was “terrorizing the set.”

James D. Parriott, a former exec producer, shared that there were “HR issues” that weren’t sexual in any way. Parriott shared, “Some cast members had all sorts of PTSD with him. He had this hold on the set where he knew he could stop production and scare people.” An intervention from the network didn’t prove effective as Parriott felt that Dempsey was done with the show by this time.

Parriott claimed that Rhimes and Dempsey couldn’t see eye to eye as he “didn’t like the inconvenience” of working every day. He shared, “He and Shonda were at each other’s throats.” However, it wasn’t just Rhimes who had an issue with the Scream 3 actor.

According to former exec producer Jeannine Renshaw, Ellen Pompeo was also frustrated with her co-star’s attitude. Renshaw shared that Pompeo had twice as many scenes as Dempsey and would get angry when the actor complained about working too long. Renshaw shared in the book:

She would get angry that he wasn’t working as much. She was very big on having things be fair. She just didn’t like that Patrick would complain that ‘I’m here too late’ or ‘I’ve been here too long’ when she had twice as many scenes in the episode as he did.

However, Renshaw also added that Dempsey would calm down when he was pointed out about the working hours of his co-stars. It was not enough for Rhimes, as she eventually issued an ultimatum. According to Renshaw, Rhimes told the network, “If he doesn’t go, I go.” It was ultimately decided that bringing back Dempsey for more seasons would be hard on the other actors.

Patrick Dempsey’s Projects After Grey’s Anatomy

Patrick Dempsey worked on several small-screen projects after Grey’s Anatomy before making his appearance in the third installment of the Bridget Jones film series. He appeared alongside Renée Zellweger and Colin Firth in Bridget Jones’s Baby. He also appeared in the titular role in the Epix miniseries, The Truth About the Harry Quebert Affair.

During this period, he also appeared in the short film, Red Nose Day Actually, a sequel to the 2003 rom-com film Love Actually. From 2020-22, he appeared in the Sky Atlantic series Devils. His other series lead role in Ways & Means didn’t take off at CBS due to the pandemic. He reprised his role in a sequel to Enchanted, titled Disenchanted, which was released on Disney+.

He starred in a leading role in Eli Roth’s Thanksgiving, which received positive reviews from critics. According to Variety, a sequel to the film is currently in development, and fans expect Dempsey’s character to return in the film. Dempsey also took on the role of Italian racing driver Piero Taruffi in the sports biopic Ferrari.

Derek Shepherd’s Surprising Return During The Pandemic Episodes

Patrick Dempsey has since buried the hatchet with both Shonda Rhimes and Ellen Pompeo when he made his return to the show in Season 17. Derek Shepherd appears in a dream during Meredith Grey’s COVID-induced coma. The dream sequence also brought back other deceased characters like George, Lexie, and Mark.

In the final moments of the second episode of Season 17, Meredith hears a voice calling her on the beach. When it was revealed to be Derek, it was not just Meredith who couldn’t believe what she saw. Fans too were blindsided by Derek’s appearance in the show, as Dempsey’s return was kept tightly under wraps.

In further episodes, they discussed about their kids and she even told him how much she missed him. They even got to have their dream wedding on the beach, where he made her promise not to leave their kids. It was a bittersweet moment before Meredith woke up from her coma. As opposed to his earlier full-time role, Dempsey loved this guest appearance on the show. He shared with Variety:

It was a beautiful way to close it. The intention was to really give people some hope… the thought that we’d have angels hovering around us taking care of us is a good message to send out in such a bleak world we’re living in.

The little closure meant that there was not much scope for the character’s return in the future. However, Dempsey hinted that he may still get a guest spot on the show. He shared with Hollywood Life, “They’ll figure out some way to bring him back.” Fans too don’t mind seeing McDreamy in a few more episodes on the show.

Grey’s Anatomy episodes are available for streaming on Hulu.