Richard Flood On His ‘Grey’s Anatomy’ Exit, His Final Arc & What Could’ve Been For Hayes & Meredith

deadline.com:

SPOILER ALERT: The story includes details about the Season 18 Episode 10 of Grey’s Anatomy, “Living in a House Divided”.In tonight’s Grey’s Anatomy, which marked series regular Richard Flood’s final episode on the show, Teddy continued her quest to find out what happened in the car after she left which she (rightfully so) suspected led to Cormac Hayes’ (Flood) abrupt resignation.Owen refused to confide in her that he had been assisting terminally veterans who want to end their lives, a secret that forced  Hayes’ hand as he opted to quit faced with the dilemma of either having to report his friend or become an accomplice.In one of Flood’s final two scenes, Teddy confronted Hayes in the parking lot as he was carrying his belongings to his car but he would not tell her, sending her back to Owen.

By the end of the episode, she was on the verge of a breakthrough after she caught the wife of Owen’s patient Noah taking drugs from Owen’s car.Per Grey’s Anatomy tradition, Flood also had a final scene with the show’s star, Ellen Pompeo, for whose Meredith Grey Hayes was once a potential love interest.In the sweet encounter, Hayes explained to Meredith why he had planed 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.”Flood joined Grey’s Anatomy as a recurring in Season 16, when the potential Meredith-Hayes romance was teed off, and was promoted to series regular in Season 17.