While Grey’s Anatomy and sister series Station 19 have been off the air for months and there is no news of when exactly they might be back on ABC with new episodes, there is some big news for both shows. Grey’s is losing another star for the sake of the spinoff, and there are already questions about why exactly it is happening from a story perspective, and what it will entail. Stefania Spampinato, a.k.a. Dr. Carina DeLuca, is switching from a recurring actor on Grey’s Anatomy to a series regular on Station 19.
Stefania Spampinato’s jump from Grey’s to Station 19 will start in Season 4, according to TVLine, and nothing could make more sense from a Station 19 standpoint. Despite her relationship with Maya hitting a major speed bump when Maya slept with Jack while struggling to deal with the situation with her dad, Carina forgave Maya after an apology (and haircut) and they were back together by the end of Season 3. Since Maya and Carina are pretty great together whenever Maya’s issues with her parents don’t rear their ugly heads, more Carina on Station 19 is probably going to be great from a relationship standpoint.
But what about a professional standpoint for what Carina has going for her on Grey’s Anatomy? I’m guessing it’s pretty safe to say that Carina isn’t pulling a Ben Warren and quitting her job as a doctor to join the fire department, so Station 19 will either need to find a reason for Carina to be around on a regular basis or establish that Carina still works at Grey Sloan off-screen or in guest appearances. Is Carina’s main purpose in the shared universe going to be as Maya’s love interest?
Carina is still going to have strong ties to Grey Sloan even if she won’t be roaming the halls of Grey Sloan and delivering all the mystery babies that may or may not be conceived. Her brother was just diagnosed with the same bipolar disorder that their father has (as spoiled by Station 19 due to Grey’s Anatomy ending prematurely), and the two shows do cross over with each other very frequently.
All of the overlap between Station 19 and Grey’s Anatomy had its detractors during the 2019-2020 TV season, and it caused problems when Station 19’s finished Season 3 finale was tied to Grey’s Anatomy’s unproduced Season 16 finale, but it could theoretically mean that not a whole lot changes for Carina DeLuca while Stefania Spampinato gets a big promotion to series regular status. Maybe she really will just keep working at the hospital off-screen and/or as a guest star, and Carina’s appearances on Station 19 will be social rather than medical.
Hopefully it means that Carina’s relationship with Maya will be going strong in Season 4, at the very least! Stefania Spampinato’s switch to Station 19 for series regular status isn’t the only cast change heading into Grey’s Anatomy Season 17 and Station 19 Season 4. Richard Flood, who joined Grey’s in Season 16 as the dreamy pediatric surgeon Cormac “McWidow” Hayes, will be a series regular, as will Anthony Hill’s Dr. Winston Ndugu in some good news for Maggie.
The bad news is that there are still no details about when Grey’s Anatomy and Station 19 will be able to begin production on their new seasons, although the shared universe is going to address the pandemic when the shows return. If you’re in the mood to relive some days gone by of Grey’s Anatomy and Station 19, you can find the first 16 seasons of Grey’s streaming on Netflx and the latest seasons of both Grey’s and Station 19 streaming on Hulu. For the shows that have already received premiere dates for the 2020-2021 TV season, check out our fall TV premiere schedule!
