Grey’s Anatomy fans are irate over what looks like Alex Karev’s exit

“Grey’s Anatomy” rose to its highest TV ratings in five weeks, and there are no prizes for guessing why.

It’s over for Alex and Jo on Grey’s Anatomy. The long-running medical drama said goodbye to Camilla Luddington‘s onscreen husband, Justin Chambers, on the Thursday, March 5, episode.

The latest episode of Grey's Anatomy finally gave the fans the closure they needed. While the fans already knew that Justin Chambers‘ character Alex Karev will not return to the show, they were still waiting to find out exactly what happened to Alex and the makers have now answered that question with a jaw-dropping twist.

Warning: Major Grey's Anatomy spoilers ahead.Grey's Anatomy fans were shocked earlier this year when it was announced that Justin Chambers, one of the show's original cast members, would be in the middle of the current season. In fact, once we learned the news, his final episode had already aired.“There’s no good time to say goodbye to a show and character that’s defined so much of my life for the past 15 years,” Chambers (a.k.a Alex Karev) .

We did not see that coming, but maybe we should have.  After weeks of telling us Alex was visiting his mother in Iowa and then finally revealing that he had never been in Iowa at all, this week's episode provided some serious closure for both Alex and another surprise, long-gone character from Grey's Anatomy past.  Basically, Alex was with Izzie (Katherine Heigl).

Grey’s Anatomy aired Dr Alex Karev’s departure from the show in this week’s episode and it’s fair to say we weren’t expecting that ending…

gave Alex Karev an ending no one saw coming.

Grey's Anatomy finally wrapped up Alex Karev's story after weeks of build-up — and it all came to a gut-wrenching conclusion in a special farewell-themed episode.

[Warning: The following contains spoilers from Thursday's episode of Grey's Anatomy. Read at your own risk]

Another OG is gone. Grey’s Anatomy said goodbye to Justin Chambers‘ Alex Karev on the Thursday, March 5, episode in an emotional tribute.

By Nellie Andreeva, Amanda N'Duka

Ready to say goodbye. Following the Thursday, February 27, episode of Grey’s Anatomy, ABC aired a promo for the official goodbye episode to Justin Chambers‘  Alex Karev.

Justin Chambers will get an actual goodbye on next week's Grey's Anatomy.  Since it was announced in January that Chambers, who has been a cast member since the show's pilot, was leaving and his final episode aired in November, all we've known is that his character, Alex Karev, has apparently been in Iowa visiting his mother.

Saying goodbye. Alex Karev (Justin Chambers) will get a farewell episode of Grey’s Anatomy airing on Thursday, March 5. At the end of the Thursday, February 27, episode, Jo (Camilla Luddington) gets her hopes up when she gets a knock at the door. However, when it’s Link (Chris Carmack) — not Alex — she breaks down.

The time has come to say goodbye to Alex Karev.

The time has come to say goodbye to Alex Karev.