Jackson Avery Leaves On The Latest ‘Grey’s Anatomy’ Episode—But Did He Go For Good?

Dr. Jackson Avery (played by Jesse Williams) shocked millions of “Grey’s Anatomy” viewers when he left Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital without saying goodbye to anyone, including his partner, Dr. Maggie Pierce, in the Oct. 4 episode.

The episode took viewers by surprise, because at the end of the last episode, Jackson had finally said “I love you” to Maggie, and vice versa. However, on the Oct. 4 episode (“Gut Feeling“), Jackson took a page from his ex-wife April’s book and simply left without giving an explanation to anyone, even Maggie.

In fact, she learned the news at the same time as everyone else and struggled to hide her shock and anger.

And, let’s just say, fans felt the exact same way. They took to Twitter to air grievances and express their feelings:

One fan even addressed Jesse Williams (the actor who plays Jackson) directly:

Williams did not reply yet, and the showrunners haven’t shared whether or not Dr. Avery’s exit is for good.

The speculation has many people reflecting back to Ellen Pompeo’s infamous words only a few months, in which she implied that the writers and producers punish actors with unpleasant exits if they get too caught up in fame and vanity.

“You only get killed off when your behavior is bad,” Pompeo, who plays titular character Meredith Grey (the half-sister of Jackson’s love interest, Maggie), told Entertainment Tonight. “If you’re a nice actor, you die nice.”

Notably, characters like George O’Malley, Lexie Grey and Derek Shepherd died quite unpleasantly. (O’Malley was hit by a bus, Grey died in a plane crash and Shepherd dies in a car accident.) Is it possible that they received gruesome endings because of their behavior on set?

It is impossible to say, but we do know that T.R. Knight, who played O’Malley, was rumored to have a rocky relationship with show creator Shonda Rhimes.

“My five-year experience proved to me that I could not trust any answer that was given [about George],” Knight said to CNN. “And with respect, I’m going to leave it at that.”

As for Rhimes, she admits that writers do sometimes take vengeance on actors they don’t like. She once confessed to Larry Wilmore, host of “The Nightly Show,” that she did once “kill” a character because she didn’t like the actor. However, she refused to name names.

In the meantime, fans are left waiting. Or appreciating this appreciation post for Dr. Avery:

So what do you think? Does Jesse Williams have cause for concern, or is his character Jackson safe in the writers’ hands?