Lucas Just Made a Huge Call—And Now Grey’s Anatomy Can’t Keep Ignoring Derek’s Season 21 Mystery”

Lucas Adams’s decision to stay puts him front and center in Grey’s Anatomy season 21, highlighting even more how the medical drama still hasn’t solved its Derek Shepherd mystery. Derek was for a decade a main character in Grey’s Anatomy before being killed off brutally, with his death a consequence of a terrible car accident and the medical malpractice that followed once Derek was brought to a smaller hospital instead of a trauma center. Lucas’s connection to Derek was established when the new class of interns was introduced in Grey’s Anatomy season 19, but it was never explained in detail.

Lucas being a relative of Derek and Amelia made interesting storylines possible from the first moment he was introduced because of his close relationship with established doctors like Meredith and Amelia. Hardly connecting with the interns made their assumption that he was sleeping with Amelia possible because of how comfortable she was to leave him Scout, making Lucas’s connection to the Shepherds a trove of absurdly captivating stories until Amelia forced Lucas to tell them the truth. Grey’s Anatomy season 21 finally hinted a bit more at Lucas’s connection with Derek, but still without sharing through whom they were related.

Grey’s Anatomy Season 21, Episode 2 Emphasizes Lucas’ Similarity To Derek

Richard Highlighted how Lucas Played Golf Better Than Derek

Lucas being a Shepherd was never concealed in Grey’s Anatomy, but similarities between him and his already famous relatives at Grey Sloan were also never highlighted. Coupled with how Grey’s Anatomy never revealed which Shepherd sister was Lucas’s mother, the mystery of Lucas’s connection to Derek continued, and Lucas couldn’t even learn about Derek’s life in Seattle, as someone close to Derek like Richard only could spend time with him in Grey’s Anatomy season 21, episode 2. With Richard’s bond with Derek being the reason he moved to Seattle, Richard would have inevitably noticed the similarities between Derek and Lucas.

Indeed, their different roles at Grey Sloan rarely let them interact, and when they did, they were strictly professional. Richard sharing with Lucas how he had a “standing game every week in the summer” with Derek and Lucas commenting on his uncle being “obnoxiously good at everything” let them bond over their different perceptions of Derek, with Lucas seeing him as more infallible while Richard candidly admitted Derek’s imperfections. Their exchange finally revealed more about Lucas’s immediate family, with his father being responsible for his golf skills, taught specifically so that Lucas could use it to bond with his colleagues.

Grey’s Anatomy Season 21 Needs To Reveal Who Lucas’s Parents Are (& How He’s Connected To Derek)

Lucas’s Connection To Derek & Amelia Was Never Spelled Out

Ever since Grey’s Anatomy season 19 introduced the new interns, their backstories were sometimes explored. Indeed, season 19 let Simone and Meredith bond over dealing with a loved one with Alzheimer’s at first and focused on Mika’s exhaustion from having two jobs and barely scraping by later. Similarly, Grey’s Anatomy season 20 instead put a spotlight on Blue’s backstory, with his friendship with Simone making him share more about his late mother, and even Jules’s history, as his brother made an appearance and her friendship with Maxine continued to be central. However, Grey’s Anatomy had yet to focus on Lucas.

While Lucas’s need not to be known as a Shepherd by his peers was briefly explored in Grey’s Anatomy season 19, the medical drama still hasn’t revealed who among Liz, Nancy and Kathleen Shepherd is his mother. Despite the three having appeared at least once throughout Grey’s Anatomy, the direct link between Derek and Lucas is still unknown beyond the fact Derek was his uncle. Lucas’s decision to remain at Grey Sloan Memorial with the Grey’s Anatomy characters who became his friends and the family he already had in Seattle thus places him at the center of season 21’s story.

What Lucas’ Link To Derek & Amelia Means For His Future At Grey Sloan

Having Family In Seattle Makes Lucas The Most Connected Intern At Grey Sloan

Lucas and Richard’s exchange about Derek already showed how his link to Derek and Amelia could be an advantage for Lucas. Although Lucas expressed his wish not to benefit from the influential connections of his family, Richard suggested his and Derek’s old golf acquaintance could re-evaluate Lucas’s case and rethink his remediation, were he to think it was an unfair punishment. It’s unclear whether Lucas will go through with contacting him, but if he did, it would aid him in a way any other intern couldn’t because Lucas was Derek Shepherd’s nephew.

Even if Lucas didn’t choose to go through the path Richard recommended, his having Amelia and Meredith respectively permanently and temporarily in Seattle makes him the intern who has the most reasons to stay. Lucas’s presence at Grey Sloan Memorial would even mirror Meredith’s own story, who did her residency at the same hospital where Ellis worked, only in his case, Lucas would follow in Derek and Amelia’s footsteps by remaining there, making his the perfect story to focus on in Grey’s Anatomy season 21.

Grey’s Anatomy season 21 releases new episodes every Thursday at 10 pm ET on ABC.