Please note: this article contains spoilers on the unfolding of episode 17 “Look Up Child” of season 17 of the series Grey’s Anatomy.
While this season 17 of Grey’s Anatomy has been marked by the pandemic and the return of several familiar faces, the series is gearing up for the departure of one of its surgeons. Indeed, the last episode broadcast, namely the seventeenth of the season, allowed both to reconnect with April but also to discover the new direction that Jackson will take, thus announcing the departure of Jesse Williams from the series.
More specifically, in this episode, Jackson visits his father Robert (Eric Roberts), and has an honest chat with April (Sarah Drew), the mother of his daughter Harriet who lives in Seattle with her husband Matthew (Justin Bruening).
Jackson Avery then teaches them his desire to take the helm of the family foundation to create real change and opportunity to help achieve racial equality in the world of medicine – which he cannot. accomplish by working within the health system. But for that, Jackson must then move to Boston, and he wants April, Matthew, and Harriet to follow him so that he can be present in his daughter’s life.
April’s return was therefore also there to offer a note of hope to fans of the couple, the latter revealing to be separated from her husband.
If the character’s departure is confirmed, this is not the last episode of the actor who will therefore make his last appearance in the series in the next one, namely the fifteenth entitled “Tradition”, announced for May 20.
Grey’s Anatomy | Season 17 Part 1 Recap
Dr. Jackson Avery arrived in Grey’s Anatomy in Season 6, joining the hospital as a result of the merger with Mercy West Medical Center. He comes from an important family in the medical community, being the grandson of Harper Avery (the founder of the Harper Avery Prize).
Jackson will specialize in Plastic Surgery, under the guidance of his mentor Mark Sloan (Eric Dane). He also had three important romantic relationships: with Lexie Gray, April Kepner, and Maggie Pierce. Above all, he will marry (and divorce) April, with whom he will have two children: a son Samuel, stillborn than a daughter, Harriet. In the end, Jackson will have been present in 12 seasons of the series.
For his part, Jesse Williams has developed his career in other directions in recent years, going behind the camera for episodes of Grey’s Anatomy and Rebel, but also as a producer. He is one of the producers of the Oscar-winning short Two Distant Strangers. in the category of Best Fictional Short Film, available on Netflix.