Jack Gibson is back in the spotlight on Station 19 Season 7, as fans wonder whether he will wind up leaving the show after his return.
Portrayed by Grey Damon, Jack Gibson is a Station 19 mainstay, having been one of the main characters in the Grey's Anatomy spin-off since it debuted in 2018.
Gibson works as a lieutenant firefighter at this Seattle Fire Department station, serving as one of the co-acting captains before tragedy hit him at the end of Season 6.
[ Full Cast of Station 19 Season 7 - Every Main Character & Actor Who Appears (Photos) ]
What Happened to Jack Gibson on Station 19?
In the Station 19 Season 6 finale, fans saw Grey Damon's Jack Gibson take a scary fall into a sinkhole, leading him to suffer a nasty hit to the head.
Shortly after hitting his head, he collapsed in the middle of the room and lost consciousness. He then remained unconscious as Season 6 came to an end.
The Season 7 premiere confirmed Gibson survived that fall, but hospital tests revealed he suffered a major injury to his brain. Specifically, he was diagnosed with scarring in his brain from past traumatic head injuries known as Encephalomalacia.
Gibson's teammates hoped that he would get back to his normal self working through physical therapy, but the doctors explained that his injuries look similar to those seen in football and hockey players.
He was told that people with brains that look like his brain later go on to develop CTE (Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy), a progressive degenerative disease that affects people who have multiple concussions and traumatic brain injuries.
The injury was so serious that the doctors had to remove a piece of his skull to reach a hematoma (major blood clot) that threatened his life, leaving him in a dire situation.
Station 19 star Jaina Lee Ortiz addressed that injury with TV Insider, hinting that Gibson "may not be able to perform the way he used to" in future episodes:"
"He’s severely injured to the point where he may not be able to perform the way he used to, and so that will bring up a lot of conflict."
She even admitted that the team will "lose him" in a way, explaining that the prognosis is "not optimistic" for his future on the show.
Damon also touched on the subject with Parade, having prepared himself for the moment with Gibson already going "through the wringer a few times." However, the actor finds some relief in not having to wear so much heavy firefighter gear for the foreseeable future:
"Sadly, I was prepared for things like this because Jack has already been through the wringer a few times, but it is still kind of wild. I will say, I wasn’t completely sad about now wearing all that heavy gear anymore."
Damon also does not see his character as somebody "content sitting behind the desk," hoping that Gibson will tackle some kind of challenge that "would be helpful in the head trauma area:"
"I don’t see Jack being someone who is content sitting behind the desk and helping out in that way, though it is a very important aspect of the job. Jack is a bit of a go-getter. Thankfully, he helped develop this clinic for Dean. Maybe that becomes a bigger full-time job. It’s for the writers to decide, but I would think it would be interesting to see if Jack could somehow get involved with something that would be helpful in the head trauma area."
Episode 2 sees Gibson officially sign off as an active firefighter, packing up his locker after putting up a half-hearted fight against what he knows he has to do.
He questions what exactly he is going to do next with his life now that his days fighting fires appear to be over, giving his journey a semi-ending as Station 19's final season moves forward.
His teammates all feel his departure too, with many of them wondering what their future at the station looks like without Jack beside them on the front lines.
Gibson even sets his departure in stone by signing the bottom of the firehouse kitchen table, which is a tradition for firefighters who leave their positions. That moment becomes more emotional as the entire team joins him, piling on top of one another and providing all the support they can muster.
Does Jack Die In Station 19?
Thankfully, Jack Gibson is lucky enough to make it out alive in Season 7, Episode 1, but his prognosis is not a good one following that news. The injury to his brain is so severe that the doctors say he will not be able to continue working as a firefighter due to the potential loss of fine motor skills on his left side.
That being said, with only nine episodes remaining in Station 19's final season, there is no way to be definitively sure that Jack will not die before the show's closing moments.
However, taking the end of the series into account, it would be quite cruel to have the character killed off after already having the revelation that his work as a firefighter might be over as he knows it.
More than likely, he will find other ways to help out the Station 19 firehouse away from burning buildings and fires, but only time will tell what his job description will look like from here.
New episodes of Station 19 Season 7 premiere every Thursday on ABC at 10 p.m. ET.
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