Grey’s Anatomy Poised to (Finally) Introduce Derek’s Elusive Fourth Sister
Grey’s Anatomy‘s forthcoming Amelia-centric episode has officially morphed into a full-fledged event. TVLine has learned exclusively that the Caterina Scorsone-driven hour will at long last introduce late Derek Shepherd’s oft-mentioned-but-never-seen fourth sister, Kathleen.
An ABC spokesperson confirmed that casting for the pivotal role is underway, but the rep declined to provide further details. Little is known about the mysterious Kathleen (aka “Kate,” but it was previously established that she — like her other siblings — is a doctor (her speciality being psychiatry).
Of Derek’s other three sisters, only Scorsone’s Amelia remains on the show. The roles of Liz Shepherd and Nancy Shepherd were previously played by Neve Campbell and Embeth Davitz, respectively.
“I’ve been doing the show for a long time and just hearing what [the episode is] about fills me with nervous excitement,” Scorsone previously enthused to TVLine of the Amelia-focused hour, which will be written by Julie Wong and directed by Bill D’Elia. “It’s not just, ‘Let’s follow Amelia to the neuro lab.’ It’s definitely a little standalone. It’s almost like a little movie on its own.”
It would be nice to see the other sisters again too. Also Molly, Meredith’s other half-sister, who at least got a mention last week when Thatcher died.
Molly leaving as he was basically on his death bed made no sense whatsoever. Meredith reconnecting with her over this would have been really nice even if they had to recast Molly with another actress. The show is superficial, to say the least, in this type of stuff and often irritates me to the point of wanting to quit.
Thatcher became an alcoholic and an abusive father after his second wife died. It’s not completely unreasonable that his relationship with Molly got fractured, especially when the episode established that even sober he was still self-centred.
I got the impression in the past that Thatcher’s life was pretty good with his new family. I just do not buy that Molly would just walk away from him like that in the end right \when he’s at death’s door. What about the funeral and taking care of his home and belongings, legal affairs, and all that? Did she expect Meredith would take care of it all? Was Molly not going to attend the funeral? She would have to turn right back around, if she was going. Why was she back in the first place? It was just lazy planning, plotting and.or writing for something that should have been more important and could have been a deeper dive into Meredith’s life. As I noted, the show suffers from stuff like this.
It was mentioned Molly and the kids had to get back to their lives overseas. It’s easy to assume that Molly and the kids were with Thatcher for a couple of months, taking care of him and all of his affairs. Ellis was cremated so there’s a good possibility Thatcher could’ve been as well. Molly could’ve dealt with these details while in town. It’s also likely Thatcher was only holding on until he made amends with Meredith – Molly has never wanted a relationship with her half sister so she wasn’t going to call her up and ask her to stop by. Molly probably has the deed to the house in her name so she can return to Seattle and clean the house or sell it or live in it if she chooses to after her kids are finished their school year. These kind of details are like a TV or movie character’s bathroom use – you know they have to do it but you don’t necessarily want to watch.
He wasn’t dead yet; she didn’t had to deal with funeral and inheritance. You got the wrong impression or hasn’t really keep up since season three. A major storyline for Lexie was how Thatcher had fallen off the wagon and, even sober, he was not really the same. You might have not liked the way they wrote this story. But it wasn’t “lazy”. And none of what you suggested would be good writing. Molly had a guest appearance 12 years ago. The show isn’t about Molly. It’s about Meredith and they did explain and made a point of why they had fallen off.
It only took them like 15 years… sounds interesting.
How about Lauren graham,
OMG YES!
SOMEBODY CALL COURTENEY COX
Any chance that the Kate that Jackson met when he went away is Kate Shepherd?
Oh, lordy. I think you hit the bullseye. This is totally something that they would do.
Just checked old recap of that episode. The character ‘Kate’ had lost her ‘brother’ and was seeking answers at the retreat.
Certainly sounds like it.
Very good!
But Derek’s been dead for year by that point.
grief has no time table. people can continue to struggle with it years later (at this point, I think they indicated his death was in 2015, so it would be about 4 years later). and this does sound like something right up Shonda’s alley. although, if the sister is only appearing in the Amelia-centric episode so it might not occur with other characters, namely Jackson or Maggie, or at the hospital.
Derek sister was also married and has three children.
OMG good call! That would be kind of cool. And I wonder if that would pave the way for the character to potentially stick around beyond the one appearance.
now there’s a TV show waiting to happen, 4 sisters all very strong and all very different characters and all doctors in the one spin-off show!
I knew he had more than one sister! It had been bugging me of late. Thanks for the reminder, as I completely forgot about Campbell and Davitz. It does seem odd they never seem to get mentioned by Amelia. Were they ever mentioned during her whole brain tumor story? How about the flashback to Amelia and Derek’s traumatic incident where their father was killed, if not mistaken?
I think Amelia’s mom was mentioned, but I don’t recall that her sisters were. The sisters weren’t in the flashback to their father’s murder because it was only Amelia and Derek in the store with him when it happened.
Yeah, I know that flashback only showed Derek and Amelia, but they still may have mentioned how the incident affected their other sisters. I just did not remember if it did or not, but I did not think so.
Is this kate is the one that Jackson met? I wish her existence will end both jackson and maggie.
End them as a couple, or literally end both of them because she’s a serial killer?
So we’re really meeting any other possible sister, while the show acts as if Alex’s doesn’t exist. This is just great. He has no screentime, let alone a storyline and his siblings are the only ones being ignored. I’m so tired of this crap.
I would pick Sasha Alexander or maybe Shannen Doherty, or someone of that type. The resemblance to Caterina (Amelia) will probably be the most important since we won’t see them opposite Derek. I hope this is Amelia, Meredith, and assorted kids hitting the road for a family reunion (maybe this whole Betty/Brittany drama will spur Amelia to reconcile with her family), though they probably wouldn’t be able to get Tyne Daly. Hopefully it doesn’t mean that Carolyn Shephard is getting killed off.
How about bringing Derek back as his sister. That would be a fit in Hollywood.
Sick burn?
I’m sure I remember Derek commenting about Meredith really got on well with Kathleen and she (Kathleen) could be the back up for taking care of the kids if anything happened to MerDer.
I really hope the writers include us seeing Der’s mom, the wonderful Tyne Daly, in the episode. Does this grandmother EVER see her three grandchildren from her son’s marriage? In other words, I am hoping Meredith and kids will go as back up for Amelia if involves a plane trip.
find somebody for Meredith worth her time and who will fit in her family- not just a boy toy- she’s too mature and new scenes dont fit
I agree Mary, look at that man. *sigh* so handsome. But let’s put his ex leading lady with a kid. ugh……….
Isn’t Michelle Forbes guest starring at some point. She has that “Shepherd” look..
I was wondering when Meredith he was talking about her having anthoer sister as well….1 have we seen her? Or will she will she be coming to the show as well ?
You mean when Meredith was telling Thatcher that she has another sister? She was talking about Maggie, she even said that this sister was the best of Ellis Grey and Richard Webber.
I’m trying to figure out where each Shepard sister falls as far as age goes. I don’t seem to recall that being made clear. My pick, just a quick browse over actresses that favor Patrick Dempsey, Embeth Davidtz, Caterina Scorsone and Neve Campbell, Jennifer Connelly would be one of my choices.
Seriously, couldn’t care less about that fourth sister. She hasn’t shown up while Derek was still alive or when he died. No one did, actually.
I would have liked to see his mother again, but that apparently was a one off, too.
I’m almost certain its been stated that she was involved in Derek and Meredith’s life. I also don’t know if it was ever confirmed one way or another if his sisters were at his funeral.
Why did they have to kill dereck can they make him come back tat would be so amazing I love him so much 💝💕💜💓✨😍