‘The Boys’ Showrunner: ‘Grey’s Anatomy’ Jeffrey Dean Morgan Nod Unintentional

Note: The following story contains spoilers from “The Boys” Season 4, Episode 6

“The Boys” revealed a significant plot twist about Jeffrey Dean Morgan’s character, Joe Kessler, which likely gave the actor a strange sense of familiarity.

Episode 6, titled “Dirty Business,” was filled with major twists and turns. However, the biggest surprise was reserved for the end, when Butcher (Karl Urban) realized that his recent partner, Kessler, had been a hallucination since he first appeared in the Season 4 premiere.

This twist added another layer of complexity to Butcher’s storyline this season while also serving as a humorous nod to a beloved role Morgan played on ABC’s “Grey’s Anatomy.” However, “The Boys” showrunner Eric Kripke clarified that Denny Duquette’s story on the medical drama did not influence how this reveal was crafted on the Amazon series.

“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.”

At the end of last season, Butcher was diagnosed with a terminal illness due to his use of Compound V. His condition involved a brain tumor, initially manifesting as a hallucination of his wife Becca (Shantel VanSanten), who represented his conscience.

Kripke explained that Butcher’s condition, combined with his separation from the team after the events of Season 2, made for a very “isolating” season. This isolation helped hide the fact that his old colleague could also be a hallucination, this one embodying his darkest desires. The truth emerged in Episode 6, as Butcher debated with Kessler and Becca about releasing the supe virus, potentially killing them all, when Kessler and Becca started acknowledging each other, revealing that the entire conversation was happening inside Butcher’s mind.

“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.”

Fans of “Grey’s Anatomy” will remember Morgan’s role as Denny Duquette, a heart patient who fell in love with Izzie Stevens, played by Katherine Heigl, during Season 2. His story involved Izzie breaking rules to get him moved up the transplant list and succeeding, only for him to die due to surgical complications. Morgan reprised the role as a ghost in Season 5, appearing to Izzie, who was ultimately found to have severe skin cancer that had spread to her brain.

After episodes filled with mystery and viewer backlash, it was revealed that Izzie’s visions of Denny were due to her brain tumor. Morgan made his final appearance in the Season 5 finale, before Izzie’s surgery to remove the tumor.

New episodes of “The Boys” stream Thursdays on Prime Video. All episodes of “Grey’s Anatomy” are available on Netflix and Hulu.

Source: TheWrap