SPOILER ALERT: The story includes details about the Season 18 Episode 10 of Grey’s Anatomy, “Living in a House Divided”.
It’s official: Grey’s Anatomy series regular Richard Flood is leaving the venerable medical drama after playing Dr. Cormac Hayes for the past three seasons. As Grey’s traditionally does with its departing major cast members, Flood’s final episode tonight featured one last scene with series’ star Ellen Pompeo as Hayes and Meredith Grey got to say a proper goodbye.
In the episode, Hayes, in street clothes, bumped into Meredith (Pompeo) at Grey Sloan Memorial after he’d handed Bailey his resignation last week, telling her that he was returning to Ireland with his kids.
“So what, your whole life flashed before your eyes, and you realized you are unhappy and need to quit?,” Meredith asked him.
“Something like that,” replied Hayes who actually resigned after learning Owen’s (Kevin McKidd) secret that he had been assisting terminally veterans who want to end their lives. (He had already been reevaluating his life and priorities.)
Hayes confirmed to Meredith that his plan had been to leave without saying goodbye.
“Because if I say goodbye to you Grey, I might not actually leave,” he said. “In all the years since Abigail died, you are the first person who got it. You made me feel less alone. You helped me believe that there might even be life after Abigail. Thank you for that.”
Check back after the end of the broadcast for Deadline exclusive Q&A with Flood. The Irish actor joined Grey’s Anatomy in Season 16 as a recurring and was promoted to series regular in Season 17.
“He is great, I love working with Richard,” Flood’s Grey’s Anatomy co-star Kevin McKidd recently told Deadline. “He is such a great actor to work with. He is so talented, he is so committed and such a nice guy. I’m Scottish, he is Irish so we are basically blood brothers, essentially, there is a long, deep connection between the Scotts and the Irish. So I’m very sad personally to see him go. I think he is a great actor he’s had a great career for these years, and he’s going to continue that. I’m excited to see what he is doing next.”
