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Grey's Anatomy Season 23: Release Date, Cast Changes, and Everything Else to Know

Here's what you need to know about the next year at Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital

Megan Vick
Megan Vick
Caterina Scorsone, Ellen Pompeo, and Sophia Bush, Grey's Anatomy

Caterina Scorsone, Ellen Pompeo, and Sophia Bush, Grey's Anatomy

ABC

Fall TV is finally upon us, which means it is almost time to check in for more surgeries and hospital drama on Grey's Anatomy. The Shondaland series returns to ABC this October for Season 23, extending its record as the longest-running hospital primetime drama on TV. 

While we always expect cliffhangers and messy romantic entanglements, this season will look a little different from the past. Kevin McKidd and Kim Raver exited the series at the end of Season 22, meaning Grey Sloan will be missing a trauma attending and a chief of surgery. That's going to cause some shakeups. Does anyone actually want to be chief anymore? We have run through a lot of the obvious options. 

Whoever ends up in that office will have a lot of HR issues to deal with, including intern love triangles, attendings dating residents, and messy breakups between attendings. A lot went down at the end of Grey's Anatomy Season 22. It's been months since we last checked in with the Grey Sloan doctors, though, so here's everything you need to know to be ready for the new season. 

Everything you need for fall TV:

Grey's Anatomy Season 23 Release Date

Grey's Anatomy returns Thursday, Oct. 15 at 10/9c on ABC, following the new season premieres of 9-1-1 and 9-1-1: Nashville. Check out the full ABC fall schedule to see what else is premiering.

How did Grey's Anatomy Season 22 end? 

As with most Grey's finales, the Season 22 ender was a rollercoaster. We said goodbye to Teddy (Raver) and Owen (McKidd), and left several other characters in emotional distress. Jo (Camilla Luddington) is having another professional crisis after almost dying on the operating table while giving birth to twins earlier in the season. Link (Chris Carmack) is being supportive, but he hasn't told Jo that his shoulder still isn't 100 percent after he was injured in the Season 21 finale explosion. One of them needs to be holding down a job, and they can't figure out a real plan until they start being honest with each other. 

Meanwhile, Lucas (Niko Terho) was a little too honest with Simone (Alexis Floyd) when he admitted that he still has feelings for her. She'll just get over all of the horrible stuff he said to her about their breakup earlier in the season, right? Even if she did, things have gotten serious with Simone and Wes (Trevor Jackson). Lucas may be ready to patch things up, but Simone has a serious choice to make, and neither option is going to make for a comfortable work environment. 

The same is true for Amelia (Caterina Scorsone), who was so sure that Toni (Jen Landon) was going back to her ex that she rushed into a hook-up with Cass Beckman (Sophia Bush). That blew up in Amelia's face when Toni showed up at her door to say she wanted to give her and Amelia a real chance, and she realized that Cass was half-naked on Amelia's couch. The neurosurgeon is going to have to do some God-tier-level groveling if she wants to get herself out of this mess. 

Harry Shum Jr. and Jason George, Grey's Anatomy

Harry Shum Jr. and Jason George, Grey's Anatomy

Disney/Anne Marie Fox

Jules (Adelaide Kane) and Winston (Anthony Hill) might also have trouble balancing work and romance in Season 23. The pair finally got together at the end of the season, but they haven't declared the relationship to HR yet. That needs to happen ASAP if they plan to continue as attending and resident. They may not get the chance to declare the relationship themselves yet, though, because Ben (Jason George) caught them coming out of an on-call room together. He's going to tell Bailey (Chandra Wilson), which is almost the same as narc'ing on them. 

There's a chance that Bailey is too busy fighting for her job after Blue (Harry Shum Jr.) implanted an experimental treatment into a terminal cancer patient. Richard (James Pickens Jr.) found out what Blue did and fired the resident, but Bailey is also suspended for not turning Blue in once she found out what happened. The former chief is considering a career pivot of her own by getting a master's in public health, but can she really leave the OR behind?

Grey's Anatomy Season 23 cast changes

We already know that Kevin McKidd and Kim Raver won't be returning for a while, at least not in front of the camera. Scott Speedman, who plays Meredith's (Ellen Pompeo) doctor boyfriend Nick Marsh, is also a question mark because he's starring in R.J. Decker, which is also airing on ABC this fall. Will we get to see them exchange vows at the courthouse? We'll have to see. 

It's not all goodbyes, though! A new face will also be joining Season 23. Deadline reported in early September that James Wolk (Watchmen) is coming to Seattle! He'll play Seth Norton, "a handsome, arrogant surgeon-turned-businessman whose focus on the bottom line never wavers." 

2026 Fall TV schedules:

Here's who we do expect back in Season 23. 

Main Cast

Recurring Cast

  • Jen Landon as Toni Wright
  • Sophia Bush as Cass Beckman
  • Debbie Allen as Catherine Fox
  • Scott Speedman as Nick Marsh
  • James Wolk as Seth Norton

Where to watch Grey's Anatomy

All previous seasons of Grey's Anatomy are available to watch on both Netflix and Hulu.

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