Warning! Major “Grey’s Anatomy” spoilers ahead.

Despite being hyped up as Meredith Grey’s big “farewell to Seattle,” “Grey’s Anatomy” writers let fans down with the midseason premiere titled “I’ll Follow the Sun.” Viewers waited three and a half months for this episode, only for Meredith’s exit to be highlighted for less than half of the episode. 

Where were the flashbacks? Why didn’t “Chasing Cars” or other classic songs from the show play? What happened to the tear-jerking memories? What about the parallels to fan-favorite moments? This episode was a mediocre three out of five stars.

Aired on February 23, 2023, “Grey’s Anatomy” and spin-off “Station-19” had a crossover for their midseason returns, which is a hot topic among fans. Typically, these crossover episodes do not perform as well as standalone episodes. This crossover event was no different.

As an avid “Grey’s Anatomy” lover, it is hard to say that this episode was overhyped and disappointing, but it is the truth. Season Nineteen focuses on a new group of interns, which is good for other episodes, but it took attention away from the characters fans know and love, especially when saying goodbye to one of their favorites.

The episode was centered around a ground-breaking surgery performed by Maggie Pierce and Winston Ndugu being performed on an infant and the interns fighting for a spot in the Operating Room. Other than the surgery, two major couples also had moments. Maggie and Winston continued their relationship struggles, and Meredith and Nick Marsh also had a moment. These scenes all took away from the big goodbye every viewer was waiting for.

The episode was not all negative, however. Both Meredith Grey and Amelia Sheperd had strong, meaningful scenes in the show. When discussing her relationship with Nick Marsh, Meredith made her feelings clear: “I want you in my life if you want to be in my life. But if I have to choose, I pick me, I pick my kids, and I pick what’s best for us, and I am not going to beg you to love me.” This quote was very reminiscent of a younger Meredith Grey who did in fact beg for McDreamy’s love in her all-too-well-known quote, “pick me, choose me, love me.”

Amelia Sheperd also had a moment in which she relived a younger time, which was one of the few tear-jerking, heart-warming moments in the episode. She talked about her baby, Christopher, who had a shortened life due to anencephaly, a condition in which a baby is born without a brain. This moment happened because the family of baby Arlo was unsure about going through with Maggie and Winston’s groundbreaking operation, and Amelia helped to reassure them that the procedure was worth the risk.

Besides Meredith and Amelia’s parallels from the past, this episode was far too overhyped for what viewers had to watch. Many were understandably underwhelmed, as Meredith’s exit as a series regular was not comparable to other main characters such as Cristina Yang and Alex Karev. 

If the episode were not a farewell episode or was not overly promoted and was a regular episode of the season, it would be a good episode with sweet moments and good surgeries. The main issue of this episode is that viewers had no strong, real farewell moment for Meredith Grey, the central protagonist of “Grey’s Anatomy’s” nineteen-season reign.