The “One Tree Hill” alum played an unexpected part in the season 22 finale.

Sophia Bush breaks down that Grey’s Anatomy cliffhanger: ‘Gay internet has been asking for this’ (Exclusive)

The "One Tree Hill" alum played an unexpected part in the season 22 finale.

By Sarah Hearon

May 7, 2026 11:00 p.m. ET

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Sophia Bush as Cass on 'Grey's Anatomy'. Credit:

Anne Marie Fox/Disney

**This article contains spoilers for *Grey's Anatomy* season 22, episode 18.**

- Sophia Bush appears on the season 22 finale of *Grey's Anatomy* as recurring character Cass.

- While fans might assume she plays a part in Kevin McKidd and Kim Raver's final episode after Cass was involved in Owen and Teddy's open marriage story line, Cass ends up sleeping with Amelia (Caterina Scorsone).

- "When I flipped to that page, the gasp, I mean, I shrieked so loud I scared everyone in my house," Bush tells EW.

*Grey’s Anatomy* fans, Sophia Bush was just as surprised as you were when Cass ended up in bed with Amelia on the season 22 finale.

"When I flipped to that page, the gasp, I mean, I shrieked so loud I scared everyone in my house," Bush tells ** in an exclusive interview.

During Thursday’s episode, Amelia’s (Caterina Scorsone) relationship with Dr. Toni Wright (guest star Jen Landon) seemingly hit a wall when Toni’s ex-wife wanted to get back together. Bush’s Cass, meanwhile, was back at Grey Sloan after a bridge collapse prevented her from getting to Seattle Presbyterian.

With Owen (Kevin McKidd) MIA following the accident, Cass was the trauma surgeon on hand to consult on an injured Dr. Nick Marsh (Scott Speedman). Feeling the pressure of needing to operate on Meredith Grey’s (Ellen Pompeo) partner, Cass enlisted Miranda Bailey (Chandra Wilson) for help, as Nick has had a complicated kidney transplant in the past.

“I immediately was like, ‘You better tell me this man is going to be okay.’ As a Meredith Grey fan, I was like, ‘I am not going to wear that around my neck, you guys,’” Bush jokes to EW. (*Grey’s* fans will recall Patrick Dempsey’s McDreamy dying at the hands of a negligent doctor played by Samantha Sloyan in season 11.)

“You know what I really liked about it? I really appreciate a couple of things,” she continues. “I think when you are a service-oriented person as you have to be, for example, to be a doctor or a nurse to work in healthcare, I like that the response to the bridge and to the crisis of being stuck immediately turns into, ‘Well, let me go to the hospital I can get to. Let me go and help in whatever way I can, because there's probably doctors at Grey Sloan who are stuck on the other side of the bridge.’ I appreciated that initiative that she took. And then what I really also liked a lot about it, and I think this is a testament to what Shondaland does so well. They write women as real, brilliant people. I love that Cass had the wherewithal to say, ‘Oh, I know what I'm excellent at and I know what I don't know, and I'm going to call in someone who's as excellent at this specialty as I am at the rest.’”

Bush adds that she loves “any excuse I ever get to work with Chandra Wilson.”

“I was like, ‘Bring it on. Bring me Miranda Bailey,’” she continues. “I liked the team that they built to do this work, which when I saw that, I was like, ‘Okay, good. They're not going to make me kill Meredith's husband.’ Thank God!”

Amid concerns for Nick, Cass briefly interacted with Amelia, who is on hand to support her sister-in-law, Meredith. Fast forward to the end of the episode, and it's revealed that the two women hooked up when Toni arrived at Amelia’s door to tell her that she wasn’t getting back together with her ex after all.

Caterina Scorsone, Ellen Pompeo, Sophia Bush on 'Grey's Anatomy'.

Anne Marie Fox/Disney

“You immediately get that question of like, ‘What happened? This is insane,’” Bush tells EW. “Also, I was just giggling to myself because from the moment that Cass showed up at Grace Sloan, the whole gay internet has been asking for this. And I was like, ‘Oh, okay. Writers' room, I see you!’”

Bush reveals that she created a “whole backstory” for how the pair might have ended up in bed together.

“Maybe when Meredith storms off down the hall and leaves Cass and Amelia to figure out what to do just ahead of Nick's surgery, Amelia said, ‘Text me updates. I'll go deal with her,’” Bush suggests. “Maybe that was the sort of connection. And then everybody winds up at the bar afterwards to get a beer or whatever, blowing off some steam.”

Thursday’s finale also marked McKidd and Kim Raver’s (Teddy) exits from Grey’s Anatomy ahead of season 23. Bush initially joined the show as a love interest for Teddy when the on-again, off-again couple debated opening up their marriage on season 21. While Teddy and Cass, who is married to a fellow surgeon named David, didn’t hook up at the time, they got together earlier this season when Teddy and Owen opted to divorce.

When EW points out that McKidd and Raver’s departures leave room for a new trauma surgeon at Grey Sloan, Bush notes it’s an “excellent point” before analyzing whether Cass and Amelia could ever really give things a shot amid Cass’ marriage to David.

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“I think it's such an amazing thing that this many years into a show like this, the entire team at Shondaland is still asking the question, ‘What taboos can we break? What can we explore that is relevant to people, but maybe other shows aren't quite as tough on and don't feel like they can take those risks?’ It's really fun for me to get to ask questions as a character, especially when they're not questions I ask in my real life,” Bush says.

“I understand that plenty of people are in versions of open relationships and love it, and I love that for them," she continues. "Maybe because it's not the way that I'm personally wired, I wonder, ‘Well, wouldn't that be a sign of something? Are you really happy at home?’ I don't know. I think for me as an actor, I always want to have a little bit of tension underneath a character because I think that's real life. I think we're all constantly trying to figure out how to balance on the seesaw of our individual experiences.”

Bush says she approaches Cass as someone who “really loves David, [but] maybe is not necessarily in love with him anymore.”

"But they've figured out this way to get what they need and maintain what they have. If that's the case, as I believe it is, other people can have a different opinion, I don't know how long that lasts," she says. "Maybe it works forever and maybe it doesn't, but I do think there's an awful lot of women I know and women in the world who are having this sort of similar experience going, 'Did I choose my life or did I just sort of follow the path that was laid out for me if I were going to choose now in my adulthood, knowing what I know, having the experiences I've had, would I choose differently?' And I think if Cass is wondering about what her answers are to those questions, there's absolutely room for something more than just an exploration, but maybe something that begets even more questions for her.”

Sophia Bush offers her 'classiest' answer for why the 'One Tree Hill' revival has seemingly stalled

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She adds, "Let's be honest, we're talking about Amelia Shepherd. She's incredible. She's not like a fly-by-night kind of moment. This is, obviously, just me spitballing and trying to consider how these experiences feel as real as possible."

While fans can tune in to season 23 to see if Bush’s Cass returns, Teddy and Owen will be gone after the bridge collapse inspired the pair to get back together (one last time!) and move to Paris for Teddy’s new job opportunity.

“It's weird to be in the position that I exist in the show as cast because I'm reading [the finale script] and going, ‘Oh my God. Oh my God, is something horrible? Is something horrible going to happen to him? Are people going to say that's my fault? Oh my God.’ And then they choose this joy and to give it the umpteenth shot as a couple,” she said. “And then I was like, wait a second, but now I lose my Teddy! This feels terrible!’”

Still, Bush is down to return — and hopes to be in the OR with Pompeo at some point.

"Who doesn't want to do a surgery with Meredith Grey?" she ponders. "But Ellen's also just the most fun person to be on set with. She's a f---ing riot. It's really fun to observe from her being the top of the spear all the way down through the whole ecosystem, the way that they run that set, both with such efficiency and so much joy. Everybody's kind, everybody's happy to be there. Everybody's just lovely and it's really fun on camera and off."

*Grey’s Anatomy* will return for season 23 in fall 2026.

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