Grey's Anatomy Sees April Kepner Return as Jackson Announces His Exit

[Warning: The following contains spoilers for Thursday's episode of Grey's Anatomy. Read at your own risk!] 

Grey's Anatomy welcomed back April Kepner (Sarah Drew) just in time to see Jackson (Jesse Williams) announce his exit. Deadline broke the news minutes before the episode aired with a statement from showrunner Krista Vernoff confirming that Williams was exiting the show after 11 years. His final episode will air in two weeks on Thursday, May 20. 

"Jesse Williams is an extraordinary artist and activist. Watching his evolution these past 11 years both on-screen and off has been a true gift," Vernoff said. "Jesse brings so much heart, such depth of care, and so much intelligence to his work. We will miss Jesse terribly and we will miss Jackson Avery -- played to perfection for so many years."

This week's episode reunited the couple after Jackson made the decision to take over the Catherine Fox Foundation, which would require moving to Boston. Jackson and April have maintained contact to co-parent their daughter Harriet, but fans haven't seen April since Drew departed the show at the end of Season 14 after April married Matthew (Justin Bruening). Jackson came to her in the episode to ask April to move to Boston to support him in his new dream of taking over the foundation while they continue to co-parent Harriet. 

April was naturally hesitant and the declaration led to a whole night of arguing. Jackson is no stranger to rash decisions and his ex-wife had many concerns about what was spurring the decision, and if Jackson had the guts to stick with it if she did in fact turn her life upside down to support him. At the end of the episode, it was revealed that April and Matthew had actually split up, making the decision to move to Boston a lot less complicated. However, it was a big moment for fans who can now believe their dreams of Jackson and April reuniting on a romantic front is possible again. 

Grey's Anatomy continues Thursdays at 9/8c on ABC.