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'Grey's Anatomy' Season 17 Episode 3 Preview: Is Patrick Dempsey's return as Derek enough to keep fans hooked?

To bring back Dempsey even for a handful of episodes comes as a relief for many hardcore GA fans, who were beginning to lose interest in the show

Patrick Dempsey's return as Derek Shepherd in the Season 17 premiere of 'Grey's Anatomy' came as a shock to everyone. Derek died in Season 11 in a devastating car crash leaving behind a heartbroken Meredith (Ellen Pompeo) and millions of fans. It had taken Meredith a while, but she slowly began to piece herself back together and even finally move on with Andrew DeLuca. However, at the end of Episode 2, Meredith collapses. In her limbo state, she sees Derek. Meredith only sees Derek whenever she's in a near-death situation and this time is no different.

To bring back Dempsey even for a handful of episodes comes as a relief for many hardcore GA fans, who were beginning to lose interest in the show, due to the convoluted love triangles and the unceremonious actor exits, including that of Alex Karev (Justin Chambers), Arizona (Jessica Capshaw) among others. Barring Miranda Bailey (Chandra Wilson) and Richard Webber (James Pickens Jr), none from the old team of 'Grey's Anatomy' remains, so it does serve as relief to see Derek. Dempsey had left the show in its eleventh run and there were rumors about the tensions between him and creator Shonda Rhimes. However, Rhimes doesn't have an active role in the show and Krista Vernoff takes all the calls, so is that the reason for this return? It also seems like a last-ditch effort to get fans back into the GA game, as Season 16 had received much backlash for undoing character development. 

In an interview to Deadline, Dempsey spoke about how it felt to return to the show. "It was really enjoyable. It was really exciting, and fun, and it was great to see everybody. Kevin [McKidd, who directs Episode 3] was there as well, so there was a lot of familiar faces, a lot of new faces. The dynamic behind the camera had changed. There’s much more diversity within the crew. There was a nice balance, too, of equality that I was seeing. So, culturally, there was a lot of things that were different, that I thought were very positive and very inspiring, actually." 

Since the premiere of Season 8, fans have flooded social media with speculation on his appearance and what it means. There are several possibilities. For starters, Meredith could be dying and this hints at a happy reunion with Derek, or that she will survive, but not without having a conversation with Derek.

It remains to be seen whether Derek's presence will be enough to keep fans hooked, though.

'Grey's Anatomy' airs on Thursdays, ABC, at 9 pm.