This Is The Character Shonda Rhimes Regrets Killing On Grey’s Anatomy

Shonda Rhimes is one of the most threatening women in fictional TV America. She has killed many characters throughout many incredible years working on TV Shows such as Grey’s Anatomy, Scandal, or How To Get Away With Murder. During Grey’s Anatomy‘s 13 seasons, the showrunner has killed off a lot of beloved characters. In spite of that, there is  one character she regrets killing. That character appeared for a short time on Grey’s.

In an oral history over on Entertainment Weekly, Shonda Rhimes accompanied by director Peter Horton and Ellen Pompeo, broke down a particularly memorable 2006 episode. You may remember that episode in Season 2 where a bomb was stuck inside a patient’s torso. It was one of the most memorable episodes since Meredith almost died. After the bomb left the patient’s body, we saw Dylan Young, walk away with it in his hands and then explode. Dylan was played by a (relatively unknown) Kyle Chandler.

Shonda has some regrets about killing off Dylan.

“I remember thinking Kyle Chandler was amazing,” Pompeo said. “I wasn’t surprised his career really took off after that because he was so natural.”

It was quite hard for Shonda to watch Chandler go — especially since he really wanted to stay.

“He would pitch me ideas on how Dylan, his character, could maybe not explode,” she told Entertainment Weekly. “I would show him the line in the script that said, ‘Dylan explodes.’ That’s literally all it said. He was written to explode.”

Turns out, this is something she kind of regrets.

“I did not expect to have Kyle Chandler,” Rhimes admitted. “I didn’t want to explode him.”

Nevertheless, they had to. Fortunately, Chandler went on to become the star of Friday Night Lights where he played coach Eric Taylor, and his Grey’s Anatomy episode went on to be one of the most iconic in the series.

“It was the highlight of Grey’s Anatomy in all of its 12 years,” Horton revealed to EW. “It was a special moment when it all came together in just the right way.”

Still, we can’t imagine what could have been if Chandler stayed on as a regular, and changed Grey’s Anatomy history as we know it. But, doesn’t that occur every episode?