Ellen Pompeo has led Grey’s Anatomy as Meredith for all 18 seasons, with the actress only being absent from a few episodes. Grey’s Anatomy premiered in 2005 as a phenomenon, depicting the medical drama, workplace conflicts, and romances of young doctors at Seattle Grace Hospital (finally renamed Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital). The show is led by Dr. Meredith Grey, who begins the series as an intern before working her way up to Chief of General Surgery in Grey’s Anatomy season 12.
Aside from its dramatic romances, Grey’s Anatomy is also known as a mysterious series where the doctors’ survival rate is nearly on par with their patients. Out of the original cast, only Ellen Pompeo (Meredith), Chandra Wilson (Miranda Bailey), and James Pickens Jr. (Richard Webber) remain in season 18. Fan favorites like Derek, Alex, Izzie, George, Christina, Mark, Lexie, Callie, Nathan, April, and Andrew have all either been killed off or departed on their own terms, with many only lasting a few seasons. Through the vast revolving cast and characters of Grey’s Anatomy, Ellen Pompeo has always maintained her leading position, even if her character was unconscious for most of season 17.
It wouldn’t feel like Grey’s Anatomy without Meredith Grey’s presence, which is why many suspect Ellen Pompeo’s eventual exit will signal the series’ finale. Out of Grey’s Anatomy’s greater than 350 episodes, Ellen Pompeo has only missed a handful, with these absences occurring in later seasons. Pompeo revealed ahead of Grey’s Anatomy season 17 that she has asthma, and due to safety protocols and precautions with COVID-19, the crew made a life-like dummy of Pompeo to lay on the hospital beds for a significant portion of these scenes, so she didn’t have to unnecessarily be on set. With her character is back in action during season 18 and no end in sight for Ellen Pompeo’s role on Grey’s Anatomy's original series, here are the only episodes the actress wasn’t featured in.
Grey’s Anatomy Season 13, Episode 16, "Who Is He (And What Is He to You)?"
Handing over the narration reigns to another characters, Meredith Grey isn’t the doctor providing the voice-over for season 13 episode 16, with the job going to Jesse Williams’ Jackson Avery instead. Paired with no narration, Ellen Pompeo also doesn’t appear on-screen in Grey’s Anatomy’s episode. “Who Is He (And What Is He to You)?” follows April and Jackson as they travel to Avery Medical Center in Bozeman, Montana, teaming up to perform a surgery on a young patient, with this being the only storyline of the episode. Meredith isn’t actually featured, but her character is referenced numerous times as she was originally supposed to fly to Bozeman with Jackson in Grey's Anatomy's episode instead of April. Making history, this is the first episode in 13 entire seasons not to feature Ellen Pompeo as Meredith Grey in any capacity. “Who Is He (And What Is He to You)?” is largely a stand-alone episode, with the plot only serving to focus on the confined relationship between Jackson and April, while the other characters are only passively mentioned.
Grey’s Anatomy Season 14, Episode 11, "(Don't Fear) the Reaper"
Grey's Anatomy season 14's “(Don’t Fear) the Reaper” is only the second occasion in which Ellen Pompeo is fully missing from an episode. The only appearance of Meredith comes from archival footage, which has already been used and doesn’t count for a new, functional presence of Pompeo. Instead of Pompeo narrating the episode like usual, Chandra Wilson narrates Grey’s Anatomy’s installment as original series character Miranda Bailey. The episode centers on Miranda Bailey as a patient at a different hospital, featuring recurring flashbacks of her childhood and important moments in her life. Meredith appears in a brief flashback to an earlier episode during a surgery, but there’s no new footage nor a voice-over from Pompeo in this episode. Along with archival footage of Meredith, season 14’s “(Don’t Fear) the Reaper” also brings back many deceased characters from flashback clips, including fan-favorite Derek Shepherd. The episode also hardly features any scenes at Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital, making it a rare installment in this sense as well.
Grey’s Anatomy Season 17, Episode 14, "Look Up Child"
At the time of writing, Grey's Anatomy season 17's "Look Up Child" is the last time that Ellen Pompeo has been completely absent from an episode. After 17 seasons, this is only the third occasion in which Pompeo neither appeared on-screen nor in a voice-over capacity. Interestingly, this episode is fairly similar to the circumstances of her absence in "Who Is He (And What Is He to You)?" The season 17 installment again follows Jackson and April (in Sarah Drew's first appearance since her exit in season 14) outside of the hospital, with Jackson facing a life-changing predicament as he searches for guidance from his loved ones. The episode also features flashbacks of Dr. Harper Avery's grandson's life with April from previous episodes, with her support helping Jackson decide to leave Seattle's hospital and instead take over Catherine's foundation in Boston. While "Look Up Child" is an April and Jackson-centric episode, Meredith is still mentioned as Jackson confirms she has woken up from her coma.
Grey’s Anatomy Season 13, Episode 10, “You Can Look (But You’d Better Not Touch)” (Voice-Over Only)
While many of the main characters have been absent here and there, Grey’s Anatomy season 13 episode 10, “You Can Look (But You’d Better Not Touch)” marks the first time that Ellen Pompeo doesn’t appear on-screen as lead character Meredith Grey. Neither fan-favorite doctor Alex Karev (Justin Chambers) nor Meredith Grey physically appeared in “You Can Look (But You’d Better Not Touch)," with the drama of this episode centering on doctors Jo, Bailey, and Arizona facing a dangerous situation while sent to attend to a young inmate in a women’s maximum-security prison. This episode was action-heavy and primarily focused on one core storyline, leaving the looming tension about Alex’s possible prison sentence from assaulting Andrew and Meredith’s supportive voicemail for the next episode.
Grey’s Anatomy Season 13, Episode 13, “It Only Gets Much Worse” (Voice-Over Only)
Similar to Grey’s Anatomy season 13 episode 10, “It Only Gets Much Worse” was surprisingly still well-received, even though it was suspected to be hindered by the on-screen absences of original lead characters Meredith Grey and Alex Karev. The season 13 episode is the second time that Ellen Pompeo didn’t appear as Meredith on-screen, but she still provided the character’s usual voice-over. The reason for Meredith’s absence in this episode is that she was suspended, which was due to her refusing to let Eliza into her OR. Instead, Ellen Pompeo only appears in this Grey’s Anatomy episode by providing the narration, kicking off and ending the drama with explanations of Murphy’s Law. Pompeo’s narrations connect the law to the tumultuous drama through definition of “anything that can go wrong, will go wrong,” a fitting description of the chaos from Grey’s Anatomy’s episode.