We were just beginning to make peace with the news that George was gone forever now that T.R. Knight has declined to come back for one more episode of Grey’s Anatomy. Then we found out what the episode that we’ll never see was supposed to be about. Now we’re back at square one.
After a rocky history with the show, Knight reportedly chose to leave at the end of the fifth season after his character’s role received significant cuts in stories and screen-time. (This is in spite of a $14M paycheck.) But according to the show’s creator, Shonda Rhimes, if he had returned next fall, the episode would have centered around the last day of George’s life, just before he jumped in front of a bus to save a girl’s life.
T.R. Knight still thinks that the final shot of him outside of the elevator was “the best way to leave it” and Rhimes says she is pleased with the character’s overall story arch. But for us George fans, it’s a hard blow to take, knowing what could have been. Guess we’ll have to get our Knight fix on Broadway. [via EW]