Over the years, viewers have come up with a variety of theories about Grey’s Anatomy and its lead character, Meredith Grey (Ellen Pompeo), among those one that suggests the whole show is told by future Meredith. The branch of medical dramas has seen some of the most popular shows in TV history, and one of those is Grey’s Anatomy, created by Shonda Rhimes. Grey’s Anatomy has been going strong since its premiere in 2005, and while its quality has decreased in recent years, it’s now preparing for its 19th season, and it’s unclear if the show is nearing its end.
Following the basic premise of medical dramas, Grey’s Anatomy focuses on the lives of surgical interns, residents, and attendings as they do their best to balance their personal and professional lives, which always overlap and make way for a lot of drama and interesting stories inside and outside the hospital. Grey’s Anatomy has been led by Meredith Grey since its first episode, and viewers have seen her go from an intern at Seattle Grace Hospital to head of general surgery at the same hospital, (now named Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital), as well as go through many losses and tragedies. Grey’s Anatomy has been around for over a decade, so speculation on when and how it will end is not new, as well as theories about what will or has been happening to Meredith since the beginning of the series.
The many tragedies Meredith has gone through, as well as the various parallels throughout Grey’s Anatomy, have made way for different theories on how her story will end and what has been truly happening to her all this time, and one of those theories suggests Meredith’s voiceover is actually her future self, and this theory could even connect with the darkest theory about how Grey’s Anatomy will end.
Grey’s Anatomy Voiceover Is Future Meredith
Grey’s Anatomy has stood out from other medical dramas thanks to its combination of drama and comedy, as well as how relatable the characters have turned out to be. Other details that have made Grey’s Anatomy so unique are that every episode (except for one) is named after a song, how it relies on music to enhance the story of each episode, and that they have a voiceover by Meredith. It’s the latter detail that has made way for theories about where those voiceovers actually come from, suggesting that Grey’s Anatomy is told by a future and thus older Meredith. The voiceovers come from either entries from her journal that she’s reading to her children or grandchildren (or that they are reading), or she’s directly telling these stories to her family in a distant future – and if that’s the case, then Meredith’s story would be mirroring that of her mother, Ellis Grey (Kate Burton).
How This Theory Mirrors Meredith’s Mother
Ellis Grey was a world-famous surgeon, twice honored with the Harper Avery Award, the mother of Meredith Grey and Maggie Pierce (who she had with Richard Webber), and the best doctor in Grey’s Anatomy. However, Ellis didn’t have an easy life, and that was reflected in her relationship with Meredith. When Ellis became pregnant with Meredith, she refused to acknowledge it, and she struggled to connect with her daughter. Ellis also had an affair with Richard Webber, which led to her suicide attempt and to a very complicated relationship with Richard. All this and more came to light in Grey’s Anatomy thanks to Ellis writing in a number of diaries during her residency at Seattle Grace Hospital, in which she detailed her relationship with Richard, the surgeries she took part in, her other works at the hospital, and more. Meredith found these diaries after Ellis passed away as a consequence of Alzheimer’s, and they helped her get to know her mother (who she realized was a lot like her best friend, Cristina Yang).
Meredith could have been inspired by her mother’s journals to start writing hers and leave her children something through which they can know her better while also having something to look back on her best and worst moments. Meredith has definitely learned from her mother’s mistakes and has grown to be a better person than Ellis was, so Grey’s Anatomy being told by future Meredith through her journals would also be an interesting and even heartwarming parallel to her mother’s story, showing that she broke the cycle – however, these parallels can go even further and connect to the darkest Grey’s Anatomy theory about Meredith’s ending.
Does Meredith Have Alzheimer’s?
Perhaps the most famous and darkest theory about Meredith and Grey’s Anatomy is the one that suggests she, just like her mother, suffers from Alzheimer’s. This disease has been present in Grey’s Anatomy since its first episode, where Meredith’s voiceover narration was revealed to be her talking to her mother at the assisted living facility she lived in, a detail that can further support the theory about future Meredith. Ellis hasn’t been the only character suffering from Alzheimer's as so did Adele (Richard’s wife), and Derek Shepherd (Patrick Dempsey) worked on a research trial to find a cure, while Meredith tested positive for several genetic markers for Alzheimer’s. It’s been theorized, then, that it will be revealed in Grey’s Anatomy that Meredith is also suffering from Alzheimer's, which would explain why she and the hospital have been through so many tragedies and many of the characters closest to Meredith are now gone, as this would be Meredith not remembering everything as it happened, making way for a combination of fiction and reality.
As heartbreaking as it would be if Meredith turned out to be suffering from Alzheimer’s, it would give a much more emotional reason to her deciding to write journals like her mother did, as it would be a way for her to immortalize her memories while also leaving something to her children through which they can get to know her better. This, of course, would be yet another way in which Meredith’s story would be mirroring that of Ellis, and as tragic as it would be to see Meredith going through the same struggles as her mother, it would be a fitting ending to Grey’s Anatomy in terms of the tone of the series and all those clues it has left through the years.
How Will Meredith’s Story End?
Of course, Meredith suffering from Alzheimer’s isn’t the only theory out there on how Grey’s Anatomy will end. Meredith’s story doesn’t have to end tragically, and among those theories is one that suggests Richard Webber will finally retire and Meredith will take his spot at Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital, and the final scene of the show will see Meredith giving the new interns the same speech Richard gave her, Cristina, and the other interns in season 1. Another theory that has gained a lot of force after the Grey’s Anatomy season 18 finale is that Meredith will relocate to Minnesota with her family and Nick Marsh (Scott Speedman), thus finally breaking free from Grey Sloan and Seattle, where she has gone through a lot of traumatic and tragic events. The theory about the voiceover in Grey’s Anatomy being Meredith from the future can still work with some of the aforementioned, less sad theories, as Meredith doesn’t need a tragedy to start writing journals that could be read by her or her children in the distant future.