A story entirely unrelated to Meredith unexpectedly introduced the perfect replacement for the Grey’s Anatomy protagonist in season 23, episode 5. Ellen Pompeo scaling back her appearances in Grey’s Anatomy season 19 raised questions about whether an existing character on the ABC medical drama would take over from Meredith for the kind of storylines that focused on her, both in terms of her centrality to several storylines and how she always propelled drama and important themes in them. Over the years, Grey’s Anatomy proposed several Meredith replacements, but they rarely worked perfectly.
Meredith appearing several times throughout each season at Grey Sloan Memorial made finding some kind of replacement superfluous, especially as her visits managed to coincide with either momentous developments in her research and the hospital, or disasters. However, in the day-to-day of Grey Sloan Memorial’s happenings, some characters channeled the Grey’s Anatomy protagonist more than others. Among them were two of Meredith’s mentees, Jo and Simone, who both suffered a lot in their past, had a complicated history with Grey Sloan Memorial, and proved their resilience just like Meredith did before them.
However, Grey’s Anatomy season 23, episode 5 may have just introduced another unlikely contender in the contest for Meredith’s replacement, one whose story might not completely fit within Meredith’s parameters, but who had his fair share of family drama. The arrival of his father at Grey Sloan Memorial in Grey’s Anatomy season 23, episode 4’s ending and what that caused in him made his similarities with Meredith impossible to ignore.
Benson Kwan’s Father Story Mirrors A Meredith Story From 17 Years Ago
Grey’s Anatomy season 23, episode 5 doesn’t even reveal the name of Benson Kwan’s biological father, but the effect he has on him is evident. Kwan doesn’t want anything to do with him, and yet after learning a little more about him, he still offers to test for compatibility for a potential bone marrow transplant, as a way to help him with his myeloma. Only Jules overhearing his private call reveals that the only reason he had come to Grey Sloan Memorial was to convince Kwan to help him.
While bearing some differences, including how despicable Kwan’s father is for wanting to simply manipulate his son to save himself, Kwan’s dynamic with his father in Grey’s Anatomy season 23, episode 5 is eerily similar to Meredith’s with Thatcher in season 6. In Grey’s Anatomy season 6, episode 4, Thatcher arrived at Seattle Grace with liver failure. While Lexie wanted to help him, Meredith didn’t want anything to do with him, and yet it was Meredith who was compatible.
Thatcher didn’t want to accept Meredith’s generosity because he didn’t believe he deserved it, proving a better parent than Kwan’s father. Still, Meredith was eventually swayed by Lexie’s request rather than caring about Thatcher’s fate specifically. Kwan might still decide to help his father, although how they left things makes it extremely unlikely. Even if he didn’t, though, his willingness to help his father despite all the hurt that he caused him makes him extremely similar to Meredith Grey, both in his decision and family dynamic with his father.
Why Kwan Is A Better Meredith Replacement Than Any Other New Resident
Meredith didn’t leave a lasting impact on Kwan’s training in the little time they were both at Grey Sloan Memorial. However, Grey’s Anatomy highlighted time and time again the similarities between Kwan and Meredith’s values and professional histories. After all, Kwan was so burned by having to pay for his mother’s medical bills well after her death that he suggested his patient and her husband divorce to help with the insurance. Meredith went to greater extremes by committing insurance fraud in Grey’s Anatomy season 16, but it’s clear they came to the same conclusion that their system was broken.
In her long career at Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital, Meredith did so many illegal and unethical things in a bid to help her patients. Among them was messing with Derek’s trial so that Adele received the real drug and not the placebo to help Webber. Kwan being fired for injecting his patient with something the FDA had recommended against for his patient only made his similarities with Meredith more evident, in addition to setting up Kwan’s redemption as Grey’s Anatomy season 23’s biggest story.
These key aspects of Kwan’s story thus make him the most similar to Meredith for the characteristics that count among his resident group. Hopefully, if he still finds himself coming to grips with his father’s horrible requests when Meredith is at Grey Sloan Memorial, Meredith can guide Kwan to move on in Grey’s Anatomy season 23, serving as a full-circle moment for her and Kwan, too.