<P> Derek was mentioned or referenced to a number of times in season 12 as the other characters struggle to cope with his sudden death . In the episode "My Next Life", Meredith had a flashback of their first ever surgery together when a patient named Katie Bryce was admitted to the hospital with a brain aneurysm . Amelia took his death especially hard as he was the sibling she was closest to . At the end of the season, prior to her wedding to Derek's long - time colleague Owen Hunt, Amelia goes on a nervous rant about how Derek was supposed to be the one to give her away, him having given away their three other sisters at their weddings . </P> <P> When Patrick Dempsey auditioned for the role of Derek Shepherd, he was afraid that he was not going to get the part . Creator Shonda Rhimes' first reaction was: "The very first time I met him, I was absolutely sure that he was my guy . Reading the lines of Derek Shepherd, Patrick had a vulnerable charm that I just fell for . And he had amazing chemistry with Ellen Pompeo ." Rhimes admitted that Dempsey's dyslexia threw her at first, particularly at the first few table readings: "I did not know about Patrick's dyslexia in the beginning . I actually thought that he didn't like the scripts from the way he approached the readings . When I found out, I completely understood his hesitation . Now that we all know, if he is struggling with a word, the other actors are quick to step up and help him out . Everyone is very respectful ." Isaiah Washington also auditioned for the part and when he did not get it, he said his reaction was like "I'd been kicked in the stomach by 14 mules ." Washington was, however, later cast as Preston Burke . Rob Lowe was also considered to portray Shepherd but turned the role down . Some of the character's medical cases were inspired by real - life patients of Steve Giannotta, Chair of Neurological Surgery at the University of Southern California Keck School of Medicine, whom Rhimes had consulted in writing for Shepherd's storylines and patients . </P> <P> In January 2014, Dempsey signed a two - year contract to remain on Grey's Anatomy (then in its tenth season) that would ensure his presence for potential 11th and 12th seasons . However, in April 2015, Dempsey's character was killed off while his contract was not over yet . Dempsey explained: "it just sort of evolved . It's just kind of happened . It really was something that was kind of surprising that unfolded, and it just naturally came to be . Which was pretty good . I like the way it has all played out ." In August 2015, Rhimes commented: </P> <Table> <Tr> <Td> "</Td> <Td> The decision to have the character die the way that he did was not a difficult one in the sense of what were the options? Either Derek was going to walk out on Meredith, and leave her high and dry, and what was that going to mean? That was going to suggest that the love was not true, the thing we had said for 11 years was a lie and McDreamy wasn't McDreamy . For me, that was untenable . Meredith and Derek's love had to remain Meredith and Derek's love . As painful as it was for me as a storyteller, because I had never really thought that was going to happen, it preserved what felt true to me, was that Derek was going to have to die in order for that love to remain honest . Because I really couldn't have the idea that he just turned out to be a bad guy who walked out on his wife and kids be a true story . To me, it felt like that was the only way to make Meredith and Derek's magic remain true and forever frozen in time . </Td> <Td>" </Td> </Tr> </Table>

What season did derek shepherd die in grey's anatomy