Here's Why The Departure of Series Regular from 'Grey's Anatomy'

The departure of Justin Chambers' Alex Karev shocked all the fans and they just couldn't believe it happened.

The show finally revealed exactly where beloved doc Alex Karev, who has both a wife and a best friend adrift in Seattle in his absence, has run off to. And if you had "reunited with Izzie (Katherine Heigl) to raise their twin son and daughter that she'd been raising in secret for all these years" in your office pool, then it was your lucky night.

Chambers' sudden departure meant that showrunner Krista Vernoff and her writing staff really had their work cut out for them in crafting a satisfying send-off for a character who's been around since day one. How do you pull that off when you don't have the actor available to bring the story to life? That remains to be seen. Would he get a fully happy ending? As fans of Grey's know all too well, Shonda Rhimes & Co. don't hand those out all too often. 

While he got one, poor Jo (Camilla Luddington) didn't, unless you consider Alex's shares in the hospital a worthy consolation prize to your husband ghosting you to join a family he didn't know he had.

Now that we've said our big goodbye to Alex, we're looking back on all the ways Grey's has gotten rid of main characters over the years. And the leading cause of departure just may surprise you.

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