Leave a Light On (Grey's Anatomy)

The episode was written by Elisabeth Finch and directed by Debbie Allen. Several former characters appear in the episode through archive footage such as Izzie Stevens (Katherine Heigl), Denny Duquette (Jeffrey Dean Morgan), George O'Malley (T. R. Knight), Cristina Yang (Sandra Oh), Derek Shepherd (Patrick Dempsey), Shane Ross (Gaius Charles), Stephanie Edwards (Jerrika Hinton), Arizona Robbins (Jessica Capshaw), Helen Karev (Lindsay Wagner) and Jimmy Evans (James Remar). The only current main cast members that appeared in new scenes were Meredith Grey (Ellen Pompeo), Miranda Bailey (Chandra Wilson), Richard Webber (James Pickens Jr.), Jo Karev (Camilla Luddington) and Atticus "Link" Lincoln (Chris Carmack).

The episode re-visits Katherine Heigl's character, Izzie Stevens, for the first time in over 10 years. Alex and Izzie's storyline was left unresolved in the sixth season, after Heigl departed the series abruptly during her maternity leave. In a January 2010 episode, Stevens leaves after she is unable to repair things with Alex. Joan Rater, the episode's writer, explained that Stevens getting better propelled Karev to let her go.^[3] Izzie's absence after this was intended to be temporary, with the character returning in the season's final 5 episodes. However, Heigl did not show up for filming on March 1, 2010 for the season's twentieth episode. Heigl's 3-month family leave in Utah propelled her to quit the show entirely, feeling she needed more time to bond with her adoptive daughter. She explained, "So before I was due back, I spoke again to Shonda about wanting to leave. Then I waited at home until I was given the formal okay that I was off the show. The rumors that I refused to return were totally untrue." While Heigl felt the departure was “amicable”, despite the shock and feeling that something could have worked out, Heigl felt Izzie returning only to leave again after already having done so twice would "feel a little manipulative" and she felt that she had not created a bond with her adoptive daughter yet that made her feel like she needed her.^[4]

In August 2010, Rhimes stated that she did not feel Alex and Izzie's arc had fully concluded, and hoped to give proper closure to their relationship in the seventh season.^[5] She later confirmed that she had intended to kill off Izzie off-screen, but opted against this a day later as she felt that it would destroy Alex, rather than give him closure. Instead, she concluded: "I'm open to seeing Izzie again. So if she [Katherine] were to come back, we would be thrilled to [wrap up her story]. But if she doesn't, we'll just move on."^[6] While Heigl originally considered the idea of her returning bleak and considered the chapter closed,^[7] she later regretted it and expressed enthusiasm on returning in January 2012^[8] but Rhimes, 2 months after, said that she was on a different track that they were not interested in changing.^[9] 4 months after, Rhimes cast Camilla Luddington as Jo Wilson,^[10] who became the new love interest for Chambers' character. 3 years later, Rhimes said she has completely moved on from the idea of Izzie coming back, "I’m done with that story. I’ve turned that idea over in my mind a thousand times and thought about how it would go. And I don’t think so."^[11]

After the season 16 finale, showrunner Krista Vernoff elaborated on the decision to choose Alex's send-off. “At the end of the day, there were 3 choices,” she explained to TVLine. “Kill Alex off camera; have Alex be alive and in Seattle — and still married to Jo — and we just never see him; or [reunite him] with Izzie.” She felt that killing Alex would have been “cruel to everyone — particularly Meredith and Jo,” Alex's best-friend and wife, respectively. “There was no way to not put those characters through gut-wrenching, ongoing grief if we had killed Alex off camera.” She also felt the second option would have done a disservice to Camilla Luddington who plays Chambers' TV wife. “It wasn’t fair to her to keep her married to a character who was off-screen,” Vernoff says. “It would absolutely eliminate [the chance for her to play] so many colors that she is so good at playing” and finally evaluated as a result that it “...wasn’t even a debate in the writers room,” adding that giving Alex a happy ending with Izzie “was so clearly the right course.”^[12]

Debbie Allen who directed the episode “fought really hard to cast and shoot the kids” according to Vernoff, explaining that it was not in the original script. She further commented, “And that was my favorite material in the episode — the visuals of those 2 kids.”^[13]

"Leave a Light On" was originally broadcast on March 5, 2020 in the United States on the American Broadcasting Company (ABC). The episode was watched by a total of 6.30 million viewers, surpassing the previous episode's 6 million. In the key 18-49 demographic, the episode scored a 1.3/7 rating/share, up two-tenths from the previous episode and the best since the mid-season premiere "Help Me Through the Night".^[14]

"Leave the Light On" received polarized reviews from television critics and fans alike, who were divided on the show's handling of Alex's exit, but many largely felt it made sense given the circumstances of Chambers' abrupt departure. Additionally, the closure to Izzie's storyline as well as the reuniting of Izzie and Alex's popular pairing after 10 years received widespread acclaim.

USA Today noted that the episode was "polarizing" to fans, and on discussing Alex's whole journey said, "He was there for us as we watched a succession of doctors depart the series. Karev was a constant; Where else would he go? After a rough upbringing, he craved stability – making the timing of his exit all the more perplexing. Then again: Maybe Izzie was that stability all along..."^[15]

Deadline noted "fan-favorite" Alex's ending's similarities to that of ER's Doug and Carol, played by George Clooney and Julianna Margulies respectively, "who also left the show at different times" and there "Carol also had given birth to the couple’s twins unbeknownst to Doug, with the couple eventually reuniting to live happily ever after with their kids".^[16]

In a 3-out-of-5-star review, Maggie Fremont for Vulture expressed disappointment that the "clip-show" exit showed no physical reunion between Izzie and Alex. Then Fremont elaborated, "It just felt like Alex dying, although tragic, would’ve been the only way to write the character off that made sense after everything he went through" and that "Alex Karev we’ve watched for — holy hell, almost 2 decades if we’re rounding up — wouldn’t do that" although admitted the exit "almost works", as Alex chooses to not miss a second with his children and to be a great dad, but that "Alex not being mad for one single second about the fact that Izzie had secret kids 5 years ago and never told him" made "less sense". Fremont also noted that Alex could have asked Jo to move to Kansas to help him be there for his children so that it was obviously "ALSO about the women he loves". She discussed the dramatic nature of Richard's speech saying, "I’m sorry, Richard’s speech is lovely and all, but he’s acting like he can’t just go to Kansas and see the guy. Richard thrives on that drama, you guys. Fremont also commented on Jo's reaction saying, "Poor Jo! And poor me for having to sympathize with a character I can’t stand, you know? Jo’s letter truly sucks", with both commenting on the impersonal nature of the letter."^[17]

Ashley Bissette Sumerel for Telltale-TV gave a moderately positive 3.5 out of 5 star review of the episode. She complimented how the writers worked with the circumstances of Chambers' abrupt departure feeling "[his] sudden exit meant the writers needed to change course and figure out the best way to write out his character, and I believe they did that, with a few exceptions" and said, I’d actually told a few people that there was one ending for Alex that I felt like I’d be able to accept, and lo and behold, this is it. The timing is terrible considering his relationship with Jo, but again, I think in this case, we do have to consider the circumstances."^[18]

Sonya Field for Hypable criticized the "unrealistic" storyline, feeling that it underscored Alex and Jo's story "because he was so ready to leave her". She opined that the Izzie/Alex flashbacks "bothered" her. She finished saying, "It worries me that this might mean the whole issue will largely be swept under the rug after this episode. It’s already upsetting to see how Alex was able to walk away from Jo so quickly, and I hope they at least handle things differently on Jo’s end."^[19]

Jasmine Blu for TV Fanatic gave a mostly negative response to the episode. They noted Meredith as being "self-absorbed" saying, "Meredith has been so far removed from the missing Alex storyline, and before that, she hasn't so much as visited him at Pac-North. Alex's final season had a startling lack of Merlex, so the final goodbye was even more bitter." while also acknowledging how no goodbye, short of death, would satisfy everyone. The reviewer criticized Alex's development in the episode saying, "Alex, who has spent years resenting people for abandoning him turned around and left those he loves. It's a struggle to wrap one's head around it." Blu also criticized Alex for seemingly using his sick mother as an alibi, and noted it as being uncharacteristic of the "straight-shooter" and "guy who tells it like it is whether you like it or not" that fans know him by. The reviewer also noted that it was "already a disservice that it took so long for anyone to pay attention to his absence" and that "Jo probably should've contacted his mother ages ago". Blu also criticized the storyline for how it will service Jo as a tragedy later, calling "Woe is Jo hours [...] irritating" and that "so much of Alex's storylines in the last few seasons have been playing second to Jo."^[20]