Dr. Ben Warren hung up his firefighter dreams in the Station 19 series finale in pursuit of his previous medical career.
In the final moments of the Thursday, May 30, season 7 finale, Ben (Jason George) gave Station 19 captain Andy Herrera (Jaina Lee Ortiz) his two-week notice.
“Let me guess, you’re going back to finish your residency,” Andy told Ben after their team put out a harrowing wildfire and accompanying fire tornado. “No explanation needed, I get it. Look, you’re a great firefighter, but I know your love for medicine and helping people knows no bounds. We all have our calling.”
Ben first appeared on Grey’s Anatomy season 6 as an anesthesiologist, who expressed romantic interest in Dr. Miranda Bailey (Chandra Wilson). As the years went on, he decided to switch his specialty to surgery. He never completed his residency after gaining a late-in-life interest in being a firefighter.
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With Ben deciding to focus on his surgical passions again, it could set up a return to Grey’s Anatomy for its already renewed 21st season.
“We wanted to give options. We don’t have any kind of crystal ball about what’s going to happen, but we don’t want to lock in someone that didn’t necessarily need to be locked in,” Station 19 showrunner Zoanne Clack toldTheWrap ahead of the series finale. “We could have killed Ben off in Episode 5 … but I think we’ve set up well that everyone is moving on or moving up and [medicine] seemed to be just the next place to take him.”
Clark further stressed that “whether or not” the long-running medical show brings George, 52, back is “up to Grey’s.” (ABC has not confirmed whether George’s Ben will officially rejoin Grey’s Anatomy. As Miranda’s husband, Ben has frequently appeared during crossovers with Station 19.)
At the end of Station 19, fans saw a time jump at the Seattle-based firehouse where Andy had become the Fire Chief and Maya Bishop (Danielle Savre) returned to the captaincy. One of the new Station 19 recruits was Pruitt “Pru” Miller-Warren. A toddler version of Pru was adopted by Ben and Miranda after the death of her father, Dean Miller (Okieriete Onaodowan), in the line of duty.
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“It just seemed like this beautiful moment that Pruitt was going to follow in the footsteps of both her fathers,” Clack told Deadline. “Bailey was not going to be that happy about it but also understood.”
Onaodowan, 36, left Station 19 at the end of season 5 to pursue other opportunities. He also returned in Thursday’s finale, reconnecting with BFF Victoria “Vic” Hughes (Barrett Doss) in a dream sequence.
“It was gorgeous. We called him up and told him we had this idea. It’s not gonna be like a big thing, but it’s really important,” Clack recalled to Deadline. “And he was like, ‘Stop talking. Yes.’ So, he flew in from New York and he did it for us. He just realized the importance of [the scene] and how deep that went.”
The Station 19 series finale is currently streaming on Hulu.
