A Grey’s Anatomy Season 20 Theory Says Lucas Is The New George

Many comparisons have been drawn between the new Grey’s Anatomy interns and the original MAGIC squad (aka Meredith, Alex, George, Izzie, and Cristina). And, yes, there are definitely similar storylines at play — but none have been quite so familiar as the one teased at the end of Grey’s May 16 episode.

To recap: After the interns took their residency exam, the promo for next week’s episode shows Dr. Altman and Dr. Bailey breaking some bad news to Lucas. Apparently, he didn’t do too well. “Our council is recommending that you remediate your intern year,” Bailey says.

“Do I have to start over?” Lucas asks, obviously concerned. Bailey doesn’t answer him in the brief clip — but the implication is certainly that Lucas will have to go back to the beginning.

Ring any bells?

Lucas Could Follow George’s Arc

Of course, this wouldn’t be the first time Bailey had to have this kind of conversation: George O’Malley didn’t pass his exam and had to repeat his intern year, too. Bailey, then a resident, took it hard. She even told George it felt like she failed him, though he assured her that wasn’t the case.

Similar to his forebears, Lucas has had a difficult first year at the hospital — so it would certainly feel like a natural progression for his character.

That’s not the only similarity between George and Lucas, of course. Both interns were dealing with ups and downs in their personal lives while taking the exam — George having cheated on Callie with Izzie, and Lucas having hooked up with Simone then giving her the cold shoulder the next day.

On X (formerly Twitter), several fans theorized that Lucas would indeed follow in George’s footsteps. “LUCAS IS GONNA BE LIKE GEORGE AND REDO HIS INTERN YEAR?!” wondered one viewer. Another couldn’t help but point out the irony that Derek’s nephew, of all people, “would be the new George out of the intern group and have to repeat a year.”

More Grey’s Changes

As you’ll remember, George was ultimately able to convince Dr. Webber to let him retake his test at the end of Season 4 — but for the bulk of that season, his residency experience looked very different from his peers who had passed.

Whether or not Lucas goes down the same route, it seems that there will be changes coming to the Grey’s Anatomy lineup of surgeons soon. Deadline recently reported that both Jake Borelli and Midori Francis (who play Levi Schmitt and Mika Yasuda, respectively) would be leaving the show after Season 20. ABC hasn’t confirmed the exits yet, but their absence would definitely be felt at Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital.