Is Link Leaving 'Grey's Anatomy'? Fans Beg Showrunners for Mercy After Season 21 Cliffhanger

Warning: this article contains spoilers for Season 21 of Grey's Anatomy.

Shows like Grey's Anatomy don't hold back when it comes to tearing your heart out and stomping on it. Grey's is here for a good time, but it's also here to remind you that life is occasionally cruel and capricious. As are, apparently, the showrunners.

A Season 21 cliffhanger left fans begging the showrunners for mercy after a fan favorite found himself imperiled. So is Link leaving Grey's? Here's what we know about Season 22 plans and whether or not Jo will be raising their twins alone.

Poor Meredith Grey. Once again, she found herself facing an explosion on the side of the hospital she loves so dearly. But before we determine whether or not Link died in that explosion, it may be easier to look at what the cast has planned for Season 22 to determine whether or not Link will be returning.

Link, played by Chris Carmack, is a fan favorite. With his boyish good looks and the way he charmed his way into the hearts of millions with that sweet wedding song, losing him would be a wallop to the series. So will Chris be returning for Season 22?

Deadline reported in April 2025 that things looked good for a whole-cast return for Season 22.

According to the outlet, all of the veteran cast members have deals in place for another season. But does that include Link? It's unclear since he's technically considered a "returning cast member" rather than one of the original core characters.

So unfortunately, we don't have an answer yet about whether or not Link is leaving or will return for Season 22.

All of this uncertainty comes from that one gut-wrenching scene at the end of Season 21.

Link is in the operating theater, holding a saw that can make sparks after Jenna threatened the hospital with a gas explosion, when the camera cuts outside and shows Meredith walking away from the hospital. In a horrific repeat, Meredith hears an explosion and looks back to, once again, see a fireball curl out of the side of the building. And then the episode ended.

Fans immediately took to social media, with TikTok filling up with videos of fans begging the showrunners, "Please don't kill Link!" And others taking a more threatening tone, with several videos captioned, "If they kill Link off, I swear to god!"

And unfortunately, showrunner Meg Marinis didn't offer a lot of comfort in a May interview with Deadline. The outlet asked if they would be so heartless as to leave Jo raising twins without a father.

To which Meg responded, "Well, that story is such a great story in the finale because you think, they get married and then they have this lovely blissful storyline where they’re completely oblivious to what’s going on. And so that was all very intentional to just sucker punch the fans because that’s what we do so well here."

She added, however, "But no, nobody wants those two unborn girls to be fatherless, but everyone’s just going to have to tune in to see if Link was in the part of the hospital that went kaboom."

This means that we have zero clue what Link's fate is until Season 22 airs.

In typical tear-your-heart-out Grey's fashion.