Grey’s Anatomy season 21 ending a few seconds after Meredith and Warren witnessed the explosion from outside the hospital didn’t fully reveal which ones were the doctors in danger, but the moments preceding the explosion offered a few options. Indeed, Lucas’s sprint to tell about the full tank Webber placed him in danger. Similarly, Bailey, Millin and Beltran were all seen on the OR floor mere moments before the explosion. However, it’s another character who was in OR 2 who risks the most in Grey’s Anatomy season 22, and their death could feel even worse than Derek’s in season 11.
Grey’s Anatomy Season 21 Finale Sets Up Link’s Death
Link Is Shown Handling An Instrument That Could Have Sparked The Explosion
Grey’s Anatomy season 21’s finale disseminated multiple clues about Link’s death even before he set foot in OR 2. The first was the dynamic of the hostage situation when Jenna was slowly falling apart about being the one to push Dylan to get the surgery, which prompted Simone to try and de-escalate the situation, only for Lucas to take advantage of the moment to lunge at Jenna to try and disarm her. In that moment, Jenna opened the acetylene tank’s valve, but no one paid attention to that, as Meredith had just entered the OR with frozen plasma for Dylan.
Grey’s Anatomy lost its fair share of characters through the years, but some of its character departures easily earn the title of most upsetting.
Jenna’s confession that the tank was empty contributed to sowing more chaos, but the second clue had everything to do with Link’s patient who wanted to return to dancing as soon as possible, as that prompted Link to stay behind and not return home with Jo. However, the most damning clue that Link is actually in harm’s way when Grey’s Anatomy season 22 premieres has to do with his request of the cautery while in OR 2, which could have sparked the explosion in Grey’s Anatomy season 21’s ending, given that that OR was previously filled with acetylene by Jenna.
Why Link’s Death Is Actually Worse Than Derek Shepherd’s Demise
Link & Jo Just Got Married And They Are Finally Happy
Various features of Derek’s death made it heartbreaking, including Meredith not being able to say goodbye until he was brain-dead and the fact that his death ended one of the main Grey’s Anatomy romances. However, the saddest part of Derek’s death was its being entirely preventable, as his internal monologue detailing all the mistakes the team who worked on him made proved. Instead, were Link to die in Grey’s Anatomy season 22, it would be due to bad luck, as he ended up operating in OR 2 by chance. Still, other things in Link’s life would make his death heartbreaking.
The timing of Link dying in Grey’s Anatomy season 22 would have the most negative possible impact on his loved ones. Link and Jo tying the knot in Grey’s Anatomy season 21, episode 17 would make his death happen right after their wedding, at a time when Jo and Link are finally both happy at the prospect of expecting twins. Link’s death would leave Scout and the twins orphans, Luna without a father figure in her life, and Jo fully heartbroken after finally trusting that she could be happy.
This could mean that Link is in grave danger when Grey’s Anatomy returns, but could ultimately survive after the medical drama put him in his first serious life-or-death situation.
Link’s death wouldn’t only be a massive loss for Jo but for Grey’s Anatomy as a whole. In all his romances in the medical drama, Link proved entirely unproblematic. While many male love interests in the medical drama were controlling or vindictive, Link always meant well, and even when he made mistakes, he only had the best interests of Jo or Amelia in mind. This wasn’t fully the case with Derek, especially in Grey’s Anatomy season 11, which could have even led to MerDer divorcing, as Derek had once again put his career ahead of Meredith’s and their relationship.
What Are The Chances Of Link Actually Dying In Grey’s Anatomy Season 22?
Grey’s Anatomy Always Making Jo Suffer Could Hint At Link’s Demise
Link being in the OR with the highly inflammable gas makes his demise possible, especially considering how such a development would follow Grey’s Anatomy’s already established path of making Jo suffer considerably. However, there are some hints to Link’s future not necessarily involving his death. While it’s not confirmed who will return for Grey’s Anatomy season 22, no contracts of key Grey’s Anatomy cast members were reported as expiring soon.
Grey’s Anatomy season 21 is available to stream on Hulu domestically and Disney+ internationally.
Moreover, Link’s actor Chris Carmack shared a clip on Instagram joking about Link’s death by recreating the Friends scene of Joey’s Drake Ramoray character dying, something that would be out of place were Link truly dead. However, talking about it would raise the hype about Link’s fate, upping the stakes ahead of Grey’s Anatomy season 22. This could mean that Link is in grave danger when Grey’s Anatomy returns, but could ultimately survive after the medical drama put him in his first serious life-or-death situation.
