There is little doubt that Dr. Richard Webber is one of the essential characters in Grey's Anatomy. After all, he was the Chief of Surgery at Seattle Grace Mercy West Hospital for 11 years and is one of the original characters introduced in the pilot episode. However, Dr. Webber always seems to be pushed in the sidelines of the ABC series. Luckily, that's going to change in Grey's Anatomy Season 16.
Showrunner Krista Vernoff has confirmed with TVLine that the upcoming season will finally put the focus on Dr. Richard Webber. According to Vernoff, there will be an entire hour that's all about James Pickens Jr.'s character. "We have big episode for him this season," Vernoff said. She also added that, "I don't feel like he's quite been given his due."
This is certainly welcome news for fans who have been wondering about Dr. Richard Webber after he, Dr. Meredith Grey, and Dr. Alex Karev were fired by Dr. Miranda Bailey in the previous season. It would be interesting to finally understand Richard and his actions in Season 15. Dr. Webber is certainly one of the more complex characters in the series, so it's about time that he gets his own episode. But what can people expect from Richard's hour in Grey's Anatomy Season 16?
James Pickens Jr. seems to already know what will happen but chose not to share too much about his character's standalone episode. He did, however, point out that it made "perfect sense" that Dr. Miranda Bailey would be the one to finally fire Dr. Richard Webber since he was the one who mentored her after all these years.
"If someone was going to fire me, [it had to be] Bailey, who I mentored, but it sets up for some really fascinating and really funny and timely storytelling moving forward," Pickens told Entertainment Weekly. I'm excited to see where it takes us all."
The episode focusing on Dr. Richard Webber isn't the only thing that needs to be dealt with in Grey's Anatomy Season 16. There's also the matter of Dr. Jackson Avery disappearing in the fog, leaving Dr. Maggie Pierce alone in the car. The season finale concluded with Maggie venturing out to find Jackson, and it is still unclear if she found him at all. Hopefully, this will be revealed when the show returns in September.
Grey's Anatomy Season 16 is scheduled to premiere on ABC on September 26.
