Dempsey left the show back in 2015 when his character Derek died tragically in season 11. Thankfully, we will see Derek again in next week's episode according to this sneak peek.

The cast of Grey's were hit by the pandemic we have all been dealing with in the premiere. You can see them all wearing masks and immense amounts of protection like hospital staff has been this entire pandemic. This premiere episode was dedicated to frontline healthcare workers.

The show touched on the adversity that healthcare workers have and still are facing with coping with the deaths and the struggle to fight the disease without enough PPE.

At the end of the episode we see Meredith unconscious in the parking lot of Grey Sloan Memorial and this is when Meredith dreams of the beach and is reunited with Derek. Although it is so exciting that we are seeing Derek and Meredith together again, there is definitely something wrong with Meredith.

The reunion was supposed to be a way to bring Grey's fans some joy during these tough times. Grey's showrunner Krista Vernoff, Pompeo and Dempsey did an exclusive interview with Deadline on the shocking season premiere.

They spoke about how the idea of bringing Derek Shepherd back came about. Vernoff and Pompeo had been discussing a dream scene where they bring back a dead character and it was Pompeo's idea to get Dempsey on board.

Very few people knew about Dempsey's return in order to keep this epic surprise a secret. Vernoff told Deadline:

"I have to say that it was an epic feat, the keeping of this secret. I didn't send cuts to the studio and network that included that last scene. I didn't have writers' assistants in the writers' room for the last couple of months. There were writers who didn't know we were doing this on that staff. Most of the actors didn't know we were doing this. The crew didn't know we were doing this when they showed up on the day."

She also mentioned that she changed Derek's name in the script to Meredith's mom and told Pompeo to say "Mom" at the table read. This truly was the best kept secret and an epic surprise for all Grey's fans. I am sure everyone is on the edge of their seat just waiting for next week's episode.