Oh Leah “Easy Peasy” Murphy, we hardly knew ye, which is a damn shame. The Hollywood Reporter says a source has confirmed that Tessa Ferrer (Leah Murphy) and Gauis Charles (Shane Ross) will be exiting Grey’s Anatomy after the current season concludes. This is particularly surprising considering that Ferrer and Charles were upgraded to series regulars just this year.
Leah Murphy has been a polarizing character on Grey’s Anatomy since the get go, but this past season, she drew the ire of many a Calzona shipper for having a relationship with Arizona Robbins. However, as the season progressed, Leah began to reveal herself as a much more nuanced character. Normally stanch and petulant, Leah fell hard for Arizona after the two had an encounter following the hospital’s fundraising ball. Uninterested in labeling herself, Leah went all in for Arizona, even trying to fight against her intense nature to become “easy peasy” for the sake of the relationship. When Arizona reconciled with Callie, Leah was left broken-hearted and humiliated. Things got worse when Callie found out about the relationship during a surgery that went south. It was this incident that compelled Leah to file a complaint against Callie. This did not exactly endear her to the Grey’s fandom.
What I always found fascinating about Leah Murphy was her ability to make me care about her, even while I struggled to find her likable. I think that is a testament to Tessa Ferrer’s skills as an actress and the way her character was written. I’m sorry that we will not get to see Leah grow into her own fully fleshed character, because there was a lot of potential there. In particular, her blossoming friendship with Stephanie was a really lovely part of the show.
With Sandra Oh leaving the show after this season (and presumably a giant emotional hole of sadness), Grey’s Anatomy will have to go through its growing pains, just as it did with the exits of Katherine Heigl, Eric Dane and Chyler Leigh. Only time will tell us what the post-Cristina/Leah/Shane Grey’s Anatomy will look like, but if history is any indication, the show will somehow find a way to survive and thrive.
