The events of Grey’s Anatomy have made way for a variety of theories, but there are some that went as far as to claim Derek Shepherd (Patrick Dempsey) is still alive and will return at the end of the series – and here’s how they suggest this will happen. The world of medical dramas is home to some of the most popular TV shows in television history, and one of the most successful ones is Shonda Rhimes’ Grey’s Anatomy, which made its debut on ABC in 2005. Since then, Grey’s Anatomy has become one of the biggest TV shows of the last decade, and even though its quality has been decreasing for years now, it still has a loyal fanbase that keeps following the ups and downs in the life of Meredith Grey (Ellen Pompeo).
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 inside and outside the hospital. Since its first episode, Grey’s Anatomy has been led by Meredith Grey, who started her journey as an intern at Seattle Grace Hospital and is now head of general surgery at the same hospital, which is now named Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital. Over the course of more than 15 seasons, Meredith has gone through many ups and downs, but unfortunately, her story has been marked by many tragedies, among those the death of her husband, Derek Shepherd.
Grey’s Anatomy has become infamous for how it handles the departure of its characters, usually opting for killing them off, as it did with Derek. After a lot of trouble in their marriage for different reasons, Derek decided to move back to Seattle from DC to be with his family, but he had to go back to DC to resign. On his way there, he got into a car accident, and after a lot of complications, he couldn’t be saved and Meredith had to make the hard decision of removing him from life support, so Grey’s Anatomy season 11 saw the end of “McDreamy”. However, there are different theories that claim Derek never died and will eventually return to the show (even though he already did, but as one of Meredith’s COVID-19-induced dreams), with some of them connecting to a popular theory about who Grey’s Anatomy will end. Here are the theories on how Derek Shepherd is still alive.
Derek Shepherd Was Kidnapped By The White House
The wildest theory about Derek Shepherd being alive in Grey’s Anatomy suggests he was kidnapped by the White House and they faked his death. The surprising return of Patrick Dempsey in Grey’s Anatomy season 17 as part of Meredith’s dreams while she fought COVID-19 raised a lot of questions and made way for various theories, such as one (shared on Reddit) that simply claims he was taken by the White House because he was “too important” and has since been working undercover for them, but that also meant faking his death. Fans have debated whether Meredith would know about this or not, but if she knew, that would only make it all worse as that would mean she agreed to make her children believe their father was dead. Derek being kidnapped by the White House doesn’t fit the tone and style of Grey’s Anatomy and there’s nothing that can actually support the theory besides Derek being a renowned neurosurgeon, so this specific theory is a big stretch.
Meredith Forgot Derek Due To Alzheimer’s
In a now-deleted video on TikTok, user lpaulster (via Bustle) suggested that all the characters who have died in Grey’s Anatomy aren't actually dead, and they left the show because Meredith forgot them as she has been suffering from Alzheimer's since the beginning of the series. The most popular (and the saddest) theory on how Grey’s Anatomy will end suggests Meredith will have a similar fate to her mother, who suffered from Alzheimer’s. This particular theory has much bigger implications than Derek (and other characters) being alive, as it would mean that many other events might have not happened as shown or at all because the series is relying on Meredith’s memories, which get more and more distorted with time due to this disease.
Derek Shepherd Is Secretly Working On A Cure For Alzheimer’s
Another theory that brings together the previously mentioned ones suggests Derek has been secretly working on a cure for Alzheimer’s, and so he will return at the end of the series as he will have cured Meredith. Derek actually tried to find a cure for Alzheimer’s and started working on trials, but after Alex Karev (Justin Chambers) dropped out due to how depressing it was, he asked Meredith for help. However, Meredith tainted the trial by switching the envelopes so Richard’s wife, Adele, would get the active agent instead of the placebo, which led to Derek being blacklisted by the FDA and the trial data being sent to another doctor to continue working on it. With all this in mind, Derek could be secretly working on a cure for Alzheimer’s, and due to being blacklisted after the aforementioned incident, he would have had to fake his death to continue working on the cure. Surely, it would have been an extreme thing to do, especially since his kids and the rest of his family had to deal with his loss, but this would also mean that he will eventually return with a cure, which could also benefit Meredith if she ends up suffering from Alzheimer’s, too.
Did Meredith’s COVID Dream Hint Derek Is Alive?
Derek’s appearance in Meredith’s COVID dreams has been theorized to have subtly hinted that he’s still alive. Fans were quick to share on social media that the deceased characters Meredith came across at the beach were wearing white shirts, while Richard and Bailey, who are still alive, appeared with colored shirts. Derek showed up wearing a light blue shirt, which could be a very subtle hint at him still being alive, though why he would have faked his death is unknown. Some fans even noted that the doctor who took Derek off life support never said his time of death, which could be yet another hint at his death being fake. It’s unlikely Grey’s Anatomy faked Derek Shepherd’s death, but he could still return for the show’s final episode in some way, though not as a reveal of him being alive after all this time.