‘The Boys’ Showrunner Says That ‘Grey’s Anatomy’ Jeffrey Dean Morgan Nod Was Not on Purpose
Note: The following story contains spoilers from “The Boys” Season 4, Episode 6
“The Boys” revealed a major plot twist about Jeffrey Dean Morgan’s Joe Kessler, one that must have given the actor a funny sense of deja vu.
Episode 6, titled “Dirty Business,” featured plenty of big twists and turns. But Thursday’s new hour saved the biggest surprise for last, with Butcher (Karl Urban) figuring out that his recent partner Kessler has been a hallucination since his introduction in the Season 4 premiere. The twist introduced a whole new level of chaos for Butcher’s arc this season, while also acting as a hilarious nod for a fan-favorite role of Morgan’s on ABC’s “Grey’s Anatomy.” But “Boys” showrunner Eric Kripke said that Denny Duquette’s fate on the medical drama did not contribute to how he crafted this reveal on the Amazon drama.
“No no. That’s funny though, because Denny was a ghost for a minute,” Kripke told TheWrap. “We wanted an angel and a devil on Butcher’s shoulder this year… to dramatize the human and inhuman sides of him that were at war with each other.”
Butcher was diagnosed with a terminal illness at the end of last season, stemming from his use of Compound V. His condition involved a tumor in his brain, which initially manifested as a hallucination of Butcher’s wife Becca (Shantel VanSanten) that embodied his conscience.
Kripke said that the condition, along with his distance from The Boys after the events of Season 2, made for a very “isolating” season for Butcher. Being on his own helped cloak the fact that his old work colleague could also be a hallucination, but this time of his darkest desires. The truth came to the surface in Episode 6 as Butcher debated with Kessler and Becca about whether to unleash the supe virus, potentially killing them all in one fell swoop, when Kessler and Becca started acknowledging each other — revealing that the entire conversation was taking place inside Butcher’s head.
“The notion that [Butcher] will know the angel is imaginary, but what if he thinks the devil is real?” Kripke said. “That could help find us a good midseason twist.”
“Grey’s Anatomy” fans will recall Morgan’s role as Denny Duquette, a heart patient who falls in love with Katherine Heigl’s Izzie Stevens in Season 2. His arc involved Izzie breaking the rules to get him moved up the heart transplant list and succeeding, before a complication after surgery led to his death. Morgan then reprised the role in the show’s fifth season, this time as a ghost that appeared in Izzie’s life.
After episodes of mystery, and some backlash from viewers, the show revealed that Izzie was suffering from a serious case of skin cancer that had spread to her brain. Morgan made his last appearance in the Season 5 finale, before Izzie underwent surgery to get a brain tumor removed.
Raquel “Rocky” Harris contributed to this story.
New episodes of “The Boys” stream Thursdays on Prime Video. All episodes of “Grey’s Anatomy” are now streaming on Netflix and Hulu.
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