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It may have shocked some when Meredith reacted fairly calmly when she was told DeLuca had died. Here's the explanation behind that reactions.

Throughout his time on Grey's Anatomy, Andrew DeLuca struggled with his mental health. His death, which occurs Season 17, Episode 7, was sad and, like most Grey's death, hard to take. Could it have been prevented? Probably. His mania had spiraled out of control by Season 16. Colleagues were concerned, and unfortunately didn't believe him when DeLuca expressed outrage that there may be a patient at Grey Sloan Memorial who is a victim of sex trafficking.

When DeLuca decided to go at it alone to find the trafficker himself, he was stabbed (remember, this was the crossover event with Station 19). Carina finds DeLuca on the floor, trying to cover a serious-looking stab wound. She tried to take him to Grey Sloan Memorial, but he was losing too much blood and, during surgery, died.

Does Meredith know DeLuca is dead?

Meredith does know DeLuca is dead. For a bit, Bailey and Webber aren't sure how to break the news to Meredith, who had just woken up from her COVID-19-induced coma (in Episode 13). They finally broke the tragic news, and Meredith is weirdly only upset for a few seconds. She then tells them that DeLuca is fine because he's with his mother now, as she clearly remembers their farewell on the beach.

It's possible that, after so much time spent on her coma beach and getting visits from dead friends and lovers, she has a different...perspective.

Since Meredith already said goodbye and had her moment of closure, is it really that cold-hearted that she didn't spend a long time mourning his death in real life? "I'll miss you. If I go back and you don't, I'll miss you," Meredith tells DeLuca. "You'll be okay, Meredith," DeLuca responds. In the background, we can hear and see DeLuca's mom shouting for him. In the episode in which he dies, we can see doctors doing their best trying to operate on him, but it's clear that his heart gave out.

And that DeLuca chose being with his mother over his at-times tortured existence. It's a bittersweet moment, because fans only wanted DeLuca to get help. Did someone suffering from mental health issues really have to die? Was that really the solution? And knowing how DeLuca felt about Meredith, maybe the episode really should have spent a bit more time on Meredith processing his death. Who knows, coming out of her beach coma has perhaps turned Meredith into a different person.

Back to the present: In last week's episode, DeLuca's death does not go ignored, even if Meredith is feeling zen about it (remember when Meredith drunkenly kissed him in Season 14?). Carina goes back to Italy in order to spread her brother's ashes. Jo tells Carina how wonderful DeLuca was and that she was "incredibly grateful" to have known him. DeLuca definitely deserved some credit from Jo since he nearly was beaten to death at one point trying to help her.

RIP DeLuca. *We* are upset about your death, but hope you and your mom enjoy your beach heaven.

Watch new episodes of Grey's Anatomy every Thursday night at 9 p.m. EST on ABC.

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