Grey’s Anatomy fans spot nostalgic Easter egg in season 18 premiere

Eagle-eyed viewers recognised an item from Meredith Grey’s wardrobe

Grey’s Anatomy fans have spotted a callback to season one in the season 18 premiere.

The Easter egg can be found in the episode “Here Comes the Sun”, which aired on Thursday (30 September) in the US.

Meredith Grey (Ellen Pompeo) can be seen at one point wearing an innocuous-looking, pale beige button-down shirt with thin stripes.

Eagle-eyed fans recognised the garment from the show’s first-ever episode, series premiere “A Hard Day’s Night”.

Meredith wears it in one of her earliest scenes in the series, when she and her fellow surgical residents take their first steps at Seattle Grace Hospital.

Pompeo herself confirmed the presence of the Easter egg by sharing a tweet from a fan who had noticed it, adding: “Easter egg found … Look out for more!!”

Grey’s Anatomy’s previous season included multiple storylines about the coronavirus pandemic, with Meredith herself catching the virus.

This new season opens with a disclaimer that it’s set in a “fictional, post-pandemic world which represents our hopes for the future”.

“In real life, the pandemic is still ravaging the medical community,” the disclaimer adds. “Get the latest information on how to protect yourself and your loved ones from Covid-19 at GetVaccineAnswers.org.”

GetVaccineAnswers.org is a website run by the Ad Council, a nonprofit organisation that distributes public service campaigns, and the Covid Collaborative, a coalition of experts in health, education, and the economy, with input from the CDC.