If there is one thing that broadcast fans have come to accept in recent years, it’s that the changing television landscape has resulted in serious cuts to the shows they love. Episode counts have gotten smaller for many shows, actors have been let go, and series regulars no longer appear in every episode.
This applies to shows across all the biggest broadcast networks including ABC’s longest-running primetime drama, Grey’s Anatomy.
Like many long-running shows, Grey’s Anatomy has faced budget cuts in recent years which have reduced the number of episodes series regulars appear in each season. Typically, this results in series regulars missing just a few episodes each season; however, one longtime cast member is about to miss an extended number of episodes, which will keep her off the air until 2026.
Caterina Scorsone will miss several episodes of Grey’s Anatomy season 22
In an unexpected development, Caterina Scorsone is set to take an extended break from Grey’s Anatomy and will miss several episodes of season 22.
Scorsone’s exit was set up in the second episode of the season, in which her character, Amelia Shepherd, announced that she was going to take a sabbatical. It seems that sabbatical will keep her character off screen for an extended period of time with Deadline reporting that Scorsone will miss a total of eight episodes.
This means that fans will not see Amelia back on the show until the eleventh episode of the season, meaning fans will have to wait until 2026 before Amelia checks back into Grey Sloan.
The departure is seemingly connected to budget cuts which will result in a reduced number of episodes for the show’s veteran cast members. While most of the cast will miss four of the show’s 18 episodes as a cost-cutting measure, Scorsone is only slated to appear in 10 episodes total this season.
Amelia will be back on Grey’s Anatomy, but not for a while
The good news is that while Caterina Scorsone will miss several episodes of Grey’s Anatomy season 22, Scorsone is not leaving the show. She remains a series regular and will be back as Amelia later this season.
With Scorsone missing eight episodes beginning with episode 3, it’s expected that she’ll return in episode 11 which won’t air until 2026. This means Amelia’s sabbatical will be a lengthy one, but fans can at least rest assured it will not be a permanent goodbye.
The storyline does make sense for the character. In the season 21 finale, Amelia was forced to operate on a patient when her mom held the ER hostage with help from a gas tank. While the mother thought the tank was empty, it proved to be full resulting in an explosion that claimed the lives of several individuals in the season 22 premiere. Among those who died as a result of the explosion was Amelia’s friend and colleague, Dr. Monica Beltran.
In the wake of the events, Amelia recognized that she needed to take some time away from the hospital in a storyline that was woven into the series to accommodate Scorsone’s reduced episode count this season.
It’s likely we’ll get updates on Amelia in the episodes ahead via one-off lines from the other characters on the show, but we won’t see her back in action until March 2026 when episode 11 is likely to air.