Grey’s Anatomy Season 22 Finale Breaks Hearts With a Beautiful Tribute to Eric Dane
Grey’s Anatomy closed Season 22 with a quiet gut punch, slipping in a tender nod to Eric Dane as Owen and Teddy prepared to leave Grey Sloan—triggering a rush of bittersweet flashbacks.
Grey's Anatomy wrapped season 22 with a quiet, classy nod to Eric Dane. No title card. No speech. Just Mark Sloan woven into the memories as Owen and Teddy looked back on their years at Grey Sloan. Subtle, and it hit exactly the right nerve.
How the finale honored Eric Dane
In the Thursday, May 7 episode, Owen (Kevin McKidd) and Teddy (Kim Raver) were gearing up to leave Grey Sloan Memorial. As they reflected, the show cut to a run of flashbacks — and in those clips, up popped Eric Dane as Dr. Mark Sloan. Kevin McKidd confirmed to People that this was not an accident.
"Yeah, it was very intentional we did that."
McKidd, 52, exits the series with the finale after playing Owen Hunt since 2008, and he took a minute to look back on his time with Dane, who died earlier this year at 53.
McKidd on meeting Dane back in the day
When McKidd first showed up at Grey Sloan, he was nervous — first-day-at-a-huge-show nervous. He remembers running into Mark Sloan (Dane) and Derek Shepherd (Patrick Dempsey) by the elevators with Richard Webber (James Pickens Jr.). Dempsey welcomed the new guy and basically vouched for him, which set the tone. From there, McKidd says Dane turned out to be exactly the kind of scene partner you hope for: razor-dry sense of humor, could make a beat pop just by looking at it sideways, and always found a way to make a moment land. In his words, Dane is missed and will always be part of the Grey's family. After Dane's passing, McKidd kept his public statement simple: "Rest in peace buddy."
A quick refresher on McSteamy
- Eric Dane joined Grey's in season 2 with a single-episode appearance as Mark Sloan — a.k.a. McSteamy — and stuck around as a fan favorite until his 2012 exit.
- In April 2025, he announced he had ALS, a progressive disease that attacks nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord and has no cure.
- He died in 2026 at age 53. In February, executive producer Shonda Rhimes remembered him with a statement that summed up how the show saw him:
"Eric Dane was a beloved member of the Shondaland and Grey's Anatomy families... We are grateful for the artistry, spirit, friendship and humanity he shared with us for so many years."
The May 7 finale folding Mark into Owen and Teddy's farewell montage felt like a thoughtful little production choice — the kind of tribute that says a lot without saying a lot.