Grey's Anatomy: Why Season 19's On-Set Energy Surprised Sam Page

"Grey's Anatomy" still has the juice, if the two-part Season 19 finale is any indication. Season 19 went out on a gloriously dramatic high note, with a botched wedding and Teddy Altman's (Kim Raver) devastating collapse in the OR. The series also had time to introduce a new character, and in Episode 17, Sam Page made his "Grey's Anatomy" debut as Sam Sutton, a patient with severe injuries from wingsuiting.

Holed up in bed with extensive casts, Sam spends his time charming the interns and flirting with Jo (Camilla Luddington). As a "Grey's" transient, both Page and his character are flies on the wall, making the actor well-suited to soak in the on-set environment. For Page, the "Grey's Anatomy" set didn't feel like a show approaching its twentieth season.

"I wasn't there before that, so I wouldn't know what that was like," Page told People, "but there's an extraordinary sense of excitement on set at all times, which is something you kind of don't expect in the 420th episode of a show." Indeed, he sensed that the long-running series was experiencing a "rebirth."

Having premiered in 2005, "Grey's Anatomy" is one of the longest-running scripted series in primetime. For Sam Page, its age is hardly evident on set. "I was very surprised that it did not have the feeling of being there at the end of the run of a show," he told People. "It had quite the opposite feeling." Page credits a lot of that energy with the new class of interns introduced in Season 19 — Simone Griffith (Alexis Floyd), Blue Kwan (Harry Shum Jr.), Jules MIllin (Adelaide Kane), Mika Yasuda (Midori Francis), and Lucas Adams (Niko Terho). "The narratives of the storyline of the show are kind of being bolstered by this crop of young interns," Page continued.

The show's veteran cast members agree, says Page, and they indicated to him that the new characters and their storylines have injected "Grey's Anatomy" with new life. Viewers tend to feel the same way, with fans comparing the Season 19 interns to the original characters. "I'm kind of falling for the new interns and really love them all," wrote u/Zabyzauna on Reddit. "This year I have to say I really love all of them — they are complex, funny, smart and remind me so much of the first season." Another fan agreed, saying, "Their addition really got me back into the show."

With Sam Sutton's life on the line in the Season 19 finale, it's unclear if Page will return in Season 20 to gossip more with Lucas or keep teasing Yasuda's type-A formality. If he does, the actor will certainly relish in the series' influx of energy.