Grey's Anatomy interns cause quite the reaction among fans

This past summer was quite busy for the medical hit drama, Grey’s Anatomy. Not only did series star and executive producer Ellen Pompeo announce she would have a reduced role in the new season, but the show also announced a handful of series regulars that were added to the cast to play Grey Sloan Memorial’s new class of interns. Undoubtedly, they were brought on to help fill the void in Meredith Grey's upcoming absence. 

Speaking on the decision to bring on the new class of interns, Grey’s Anatomy showrunner Krista Vernoff told Entertainment Weekly in September: 

"It's allowing us to get back to the early model of teaching and learning. To have five series regulars with the talent and chops and resumes that this group brings allows for storytelling focused on what it is to be a brand new surgeon again and how everything feels life and death and every mistake that you make could kill someone. And it just felt like the right moment."

With all of that said, viewers weren’t sure what to think of the idea of adding more interns to the show going into the new season. After all, since Meredith’s original group of interns graced the screen all those years ago, there have been several other classes of interns featured on the show, including Jo Wilson (Camilla Luddington) and Levi Schmitt (Jake Borelli). 

So just how did the new class of interns fare in the season 19 premiere? 

We’d say they left quite the impression. The amount of attention paid to the interns in the first episode of the season made longtime viewers of the show reminiscent of the old days when Meredith, Cristina Yang (Sandra Oh) and company roamed the halls of the hospital searching for ways to get into surgery, trying not to stick their foot in their mouths with attendings and, more importantly, doing their best not to kill any patients. 

There were definitely a few moments last night that reminded us of that young group of doctors from season 1. For example, when Jules (Adelaide Kane) realized she slept with her attending before her first official day on the job, that clearly drew parallels to how Meredith and Derek Shepherd (Patrick Dempsey)
met. Speaking of McDreamy, it was a nice touch to find out that Lucas (Niko Terho), the intern that made the biggest blunder in the premiere, is his nephew. 

The audience also couldn’t help but get a sense that the writers were trying to give us flashbacks of an ambitious Cristina Yang with the baby surgeons. While at first, it seemed this person would be the sarcastic Mika (Midori Francis), it turns out that Benson "Blue" (Harry Shum Jr.) may actually be the most ambitious and even ruthless of the bunch. Not many people would make up a story about their brother dying just to convince a parent to donate their deceased child’s organs. 

As season 19 continues, there’s some anticipation to see how the new characters infuse more life into a drama that’s been on the air for nearly 20 years. 

Fans react to the new Grey’s Anatomy interns

The light blue scrub-wearing doctors seemed to be a hit among viewers. Take a look at some of the things they’ve been saying.  

Grey’s Anatomy season 19 airs live exclusively in the US on ABC, with episodes becoming available on-demand on Hulu. UK viewers will be able to watch new episodes on Disney Plus.