‘Grey’s Anatomy’ Star Niko Terho on How Lucas Will Change After That Heartbreaking Loss

Lucas Adams (Niko Terho) grappled with several stages of grief on Thursday’s (March 19) newest episode of Grey’s Anatomy.

As expected, Katie’s (Samantha Marie Ware) condition continued to worsen as her body succumbed to the progression of her gastric cancer after her experimental treatment was canceled midway through treatment due to government cuts.

Lucas dutifully tended to her every need, while Simone Griffith (Alexis Floyd) stood by in watch to support him through what she knew would be a heartbreaking inevitability — with some key guidance from Miranda Bailey (Chandra Wilson) about her care, of course.

Lucas and Katie did get the chance to have some alone time together by sending Simone and Katie’s mother off on an errand, and it was then that they imagined what might’ve drawn them together in another version of this life. Plus, he all but confessed that he had romantic feelings for her but couldn’t express them due to their circumstances.

When Simone hid the supplies for another drainage treatment (on Bailey’s orders) that would ease her suffering but worsen her overall condition, Lucas rushed to the hospital and secured some more from Dani Spencer (Jade Pettyjohn). By the time he got back to the house, though, Katie was already gone. In addition to being gutted by the loss, Lucas also blamed Simone for taking away his chance to be with Katie in her final moments.

It was an unusually personal tragedy for Lucas, who grew closer to Katie than any patient we’ve seen since the character first arrived on the scene as part of the new class in Season 19, with echoes of the show’s all-time ill-fated love story of Izzie Stevens (Katherine Heigl) and Denny Duquette (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) even.

So what was going through Lucas’ mind during his last-ditch race to save Katie, and what will become of him after experiencing this heartbreak? TV Insider caught up with Niko Terho to find out that and more!

The relationship between Lucas and Katie has these reminders of Izzie and Denny. Is that something you guys had talked about at all, giving that dynamic a little bit of an echo?

Niko Terho: Yeah, definitely. I mean, that’s definitely something that came up, and we are obviously trying to handle things a little bit differently, but yeah, there are definitely echoes of that relationship, which is one of my favorite relationships and dynamics in the whole series.

From the beginning, Lucas has been on a roller coaster, but this is the first time we’ve really seen him get invested in a patient like this. So what do you think it was about Katie that drew him in so much?

I don’t know. Sometimes you can’t really put words to it. It’s just like a feeling you have. And there was something about the way she saw him and spoke to him. He was intrigued by her. She caught him off guard…. He saw her situation and the vulnerability, and her also being close to his age, and I think that he just related to her in a way that he hasn’t found himself relating to a lot of other patients before.

Disney / Anne Marie Fox

I like that conversation that they had when he says, “Do you want me to say it?” about him having feelings for her. Can you just talk about getting in that headspace and delivering those lines? It was very emotional, but also holding back so much.

It’s such a complicated situation to be in because you’ve got to remember that he’s also her doctor in all of this. So there’s also that professional aspect he’s trying to maintain. But you can’t help but have feelings and emotions as human beings. So there’s a lot of dancing around and navigating uncharted territories to figure out… Something about when we were playing it, just, the less you think about all of that, the more raw and present you can be. And it just brings out a side of human emotion that I think we can all relate to, and it’s powerful.

Also powerful was a conversation they had about “What if?” It was oddly revelatory. I feel like I learned something more about Lucas in that moment. Did you learn anything more about him when you were exploring that?

Absolutely, I feel like, yeah, we haven’t seen many times where Lucas can just fully be raw and present and real with someone and just fully allow himself to just go to a place and fantasize and live and take care of. And it is not often where he just loses all sense of professionalism, doing the right thing, and he can just be himself. So it was definitely eye-opening for me to see that aspect of him and live it out. And, yeah, I was really excited. I enjoyed it a lot.

Lucas has a long history with Simone, but she’s the one who sticks around to be with him. Obviously, she knows this is not going to end well. What do you think it meant to him — before it all went so badly?  

I think it meant the world to him. Yeah, they’ve had a rocky relationship so far this season, and to just see that when it’s all said and done, the care and the love is still there between them, and that she’s able to show up in his, really, time of need and ask. And it was a heartwarming thing to see and witness.

Then, obviously, at the end, we end with him blaming Simone for not being there when Katie passes. Do you really think he’s blaming her there, or is it maybe a thing where you lash out at the people you know will forgive you and love you?

I think it’s both. I mean, he’s so caught up in the emotions of it all, because you gotta think he’s just lost this person that he cared so deeply about. I mean, they’re pulling her out of the room as they’re having these conversations. The emotions are so raw and present within him that you know you’re just gonna say the first thing that pops into [mind]. Your filter is gone. So, whether he really blames her or not in that moment, he needs something to put it on because he’s already put it on himself enough. He’s already blamed himself enough. He needs someone else as an outlier to help with that. And that’s just the way he’s coping with it or dealing with the grief. But he’s not aware, and he’s not thinking logically. It’s all emotional.

Disney / Anne Marie Fox

Do you think there was a small part of the character that maybe he had in his head that it wasn’t gonna end? Like, he could do something to prolong the inevitable? Or did you think he realized the mortality of it?

Yeah, I think he did realize the mortality of it. I think he always knew deep down inside that’s how it’s gonna end, there’s nothing he can do. Because he’s a doctor. He knows how these things are going. But you can’t help but believe in miracles, and sometimes when we’re going through grief and trauma, that’s the only thing we can hold on to. And whether it makes sense or not, we’re trying to grasp onto the idea of “a last-minute miracle could happen.” And he knows — I mean, everything that Simone is saying, he knows it’s true. And Bailey, and he’s trying everything, he wants every last Hail Mary he can get.

OK, now what? So obviously, he’s going to be dealing with this going forward in the season and the show in general. But also the fact that he wasn’t there. What do you think the or what can we know about the ramifications that this is going to take on?

I mean, well, you can imagine it takes a toll. You’re not going to see the same Lucas pre-losing Katie as you’re going to see immediately after losing Katie. That’s all I can really say right now. But as you can imagine, the grief takes a toll, and you can lose a bit of yourself in your grief.

Is Bailey gonna continue being a mentor to him through all of that? Because in the past, she’s channeled her grief in situations to become politically active or do something about it. I just wonder if she’s maybe going to be there for him?

I mean, we’ll have to wait to see. Bailey is always a mentor for everybody in their times of need, so I think it’s a reasonable expectation, but I’m not gonna give it away.

There are a couple of fan theories that I wanted to get through with you. So first of all, fans have always been wondering, since Season 19, which of Amelia’s sisters is Lucas’ mom, and we still don’t know. So I just wondered if you have any theories you’re that you’re working with, even if it’s not the case?

Do I have any theories? I don’t know what I can say here. I can’t say because, I mean, I feel like my theories are evidenced by things that would be unfair to describe.

Then there’s the character Dani Spencer. We’ve seen her come up a little bit more, especially with relation to Lucas. A lot of fans are theorizing that there’s some secret connection there. What do you say to those theories?

 [Laughs.] Those are cool rumors. Those are cool theories to have, and I would say, continue watching the season, and you’ll maybe have answers to certain things. I don’t know.

We just saw Ndugu and Millin finally go there, and that’s something that’s kind of been teased for a while. I just wondered, what do you think about that, and where that’s heading? 

I love them. I’m all aboard. Yeah, I’m a big fan of those two together. They just need to really just go on a vacation together. That’s what I think they need. They need to go, have no distractions, let nothing get in the way, and just get to know each other. And I think that they can be a beautiful couple.

Grey’s Anatomy, Thursdays, 10/9c, ABC