Grey's Anatomy season 22 episode 11, "(If You Want It) Do It Yourself," introduced a new attending plastic surgeon, Dr. Toni Wright, and the actress is likely familiar to fans for her previous film and television roles. Every season of Grey's anatomy continues to grow the cast, introducing regulars and guest stars. Toni Wright has a history with Dr. Amelia Shepherd (Caterina Scorsone), as they went to medical school together, and Amelia always thought that Toni hated her. However, when they finally talked about it, Toni admitted that she had avoided Amelia because she had a crush on her.
After working together on a successful procedure, Amelia confessed that she'd had a crush on Toni too, but she didn't understand what she was feeling at the time, although she wished she'd known. Toni then asked Amelia out for coffee, and they ended up at Amelia's apartment, where things got physical between them. The two start dating and bond over the fact that they're both mothers. However, the end of Grey's Anatomy season 22 shows that the couple might be in trouble.
Considering Toni is such a prominent part of the story, audiences might be curious to know the actor and her background. Toni Wright is played by Jen Landon, who got her big break playing the pink-haired, brave rancher Teeter in Yellowstone seasons 3 through 5.
Jen Landon Plays Dr. Toni Wright In Grey's Anatomy
Jen Landon plays Grey's Anatomy's newest doctor, Toni Wright. The 42-year-old actress comes from a famous family, as her father is the late actor and filmmaker, Michael Landon. Her mother is Michael Landon's third wife, Cindy Clerico.
Landon graduated from New York University, and began acting in 1991. She started to gain traction as an actor in 2006, when she was cast in the popular soap opera As The World Turns, appearing in multiple genre shows. Her big break in Hollywood finally came in 2020.
What Dr. Toni Wright Means For Grey's Anatomy Season 22
After Amelia's harrowing experience with the hostage situation, which resulted in the tragic death of her potential love interest, Dr. Monica Beltran (Natalie Morales) and the serious injury of her baby's father, Dr. Atticus Lincoln (Chris Carmack), she took a sabbatical from her job. As Amelia gets back on her feet, Toni is a steadying force.
However, their relationship is tested when Toni's ex shows up, wanting to get back together. She considers it, but then decides her son would be better with two happy moms than two miserably married moms. Unfortunately, when she goes back for Amelia, Toni finds her love with someone else, setting up a big conflict for Grey's Anatomy season 23.
Toni is not only Amelia's newest love interest, but she also has challenged Dr. Ben Warren (Jason George) to strive for excellence. Ben was excited to work with her because he wants to pursue a career in plastic surgery, but he felt that he wasn't living up to her expectations, so he asked her what he could do to remedy that.
Toni told him that the most successful residents were confident in who they were, which translated to them being confident in what they did, and that led to excellence in plastics. Her frankness with Ben pushes him to be a better medical provider.
Where You've Seen Jen Landon Before
Landon has many film and television credits to her name. She appeared in the films, L.A. D.J. (2004), I Spit on Your Grave III: Vengeance Is Mine (2015), The Front Runner (2018), and Brothers (2024). However, fans probably know her best from her work in television.
From 2005-2008, and again in 2010, Landon played Gwen Norbeck Munson on the soap opera As the World Turns. She won three consecutive Daytime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Younger Actress from 2006-2008 for the role. Landon also played Heather Stevens in 28 episodes of The Young and the Restless.
Landon has also appeared in Animal Kingdom, The Resident, and FBI: Most Wanted in recurring and special guest star roles. Most famously, she played Teeter in Yellowstone season 3–5 from 2020-2024, for which she was nominated for a SAG award alongside the rest of the ensemble cast. The Western TV show is off the air now, but Yellowstone's ending set up Teeter joining the 6666 ranch. If the postponed 6666 spinoff moves forward, she might be central to that show as well.
In the meantime, there's a good chance that Landon will return as Toni in Grey's Anatomy season 23. The doctor might have a heartbreaking character arc on the horizon, but she still has a place at Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital.
20 Years Later, 'Grey's Anatomy' Needs To Stop Expanding
Once upon a time, the newest addition to the Grey's Anatomy roster felt like a special occasion, and there were various reasons for this, particularly the fact that someone could potentially die in increasingly ridiculous ways. But one of the biggest reasons was how well the show conveyed who the main characters were as individuals compared to virtually all other shows on network television.
Meredith Grey (Ellen Pompeo), Cristina Yang (Sandra Oh), Alex Karev (Justin Chambers), Izzie Stevens (Katherine Heigl), and George O'Malley (T.R. Knight) built a strong connection with audiences throughout the first several seasons of the show. While all the medical calamities were very entertaining, they were ultimately worth watching only because they affected the lives of the central characters. As a result, when looking forward to ABC's Grey's Anatomy spin-off, it doesn't feel as exciting as it probably should.
The untitled series, co-created by Shonda Rhimes and current Grey’s showrunner Meg Marinis, will move the franchise to rural West Texas for the first time. Instead of centering on an established Grey’s character like Private Practice did with Addison Montgomery (Kate Walsh) or Station 19 did with Ben Warren (Jason George), this series will reportedly focus on an entirely new group of doctors.
‘Grey’s Anatomy’ Already Feels Like a Different Show Than the One Fans Fell in Love With
Katherine Heigl, TR Knight, and Sandra Oh in an episode of Grey's Anatomy
Grey’s Anatomy has survived longer than almost anyone expected. It can be quite hard for a network drama to last upwards of 20 seasons, especially when it’s based on a rotating cast. Nonetheless, the amount of time a show has been on air and its continuing imaginative flow differ vastly. The original magic of the show stemmed from the comedic representation of dysfunctional, yet loving relationships and genuine emotional stories. Longtime fans of the show think that, as a whole, it has changed since it first began airing. The medical cases mattered more, but they also played a part in these characters' lives. The show struck a balance between that and never losing sight of the interns trying to survive impossible hours while ruining each other’s lives in on-call rooms.
Nowadays, it just seems like Grey's is trying to redo all of that. The show still knows how to manufacture cliffhangers, complete with explosions, hostage situations, near-death experiences, and surprise pregnancies, but there’s a growing sense that the series is repeating emotional beats instead of building toward anything meaningful. That’s part of why so many fans point to earlier seasons as the show’s natural endpoint. Some argue that Season 10 would have been the right place to stop after Cristina’s departure, while others think the COVID-focused Season 17 could have worked as a surprisingly poignant conclusion. There are even viewers who believe Season 14’s wedding-centered finale, “All of Me,” gave several core characters the closest thing the series has ever had to a satisfying ending. Instead, Grey’s kept going. And now, years after Pompeo stepped back from being the show’s full-time lead, ABC is preparing to expand the universe even further.
‘Private Practice’ Worked Because It Had a Reason To Exist
The cast of Private Practice in a promotional image.
Private Practice made sense because Addison was one of the franchise’s most beloved characters. The show also had a clear identity separate from Grey’s Anatomy. It traded Seattle’s chaotic surgical energy for a more intimate, slower-paced character drama in Los Angeles. Whether viewers loved it or not, it justified its existence almost immediately. On the other hand, Station 19 had a harder time carving out its own personality, but at least it still felt connected to the larger Grey’s world through familiar characters and frequent crossovers.
This new series doesn’t have either of those components just yet — news did just break, but where will the connections come from? Right now, the pitch mostly sounds like “Grey’s, but make it Texas.” That may change once casting details and storylines emerge, but it was the first impression fans got. A franchise can only expand so many times before audiences start noticing the machinery behind it.
ABC is turning nearly all of its biggest scripted dramas into franchises. 9-1-1 now has Nashville, The Rookie is getting The Rookie: North. One of the only ones missing is Grey's. Network television has become obsessed with expandable universes because recognizable IP is safer than launching something original from scratch. Viewers and advertisers know the name, and the network already knows there’s a built-in audience, but television history is full of franchises that kept growing long after the creative spark faded.
The Bigger Problem Is What the Spinoff Says About ‘Grey’s Anatomy’
Dylan Young (Kyle Chandler) carefully guiding Meredith Grey (Ellen Pompeo) through removing a bomb in Grey's Anatomy.
What makes the timing of this announcement especially strange is that Grey’s Anatomy itself is reportedly receiving reduced episode orders for budget reasons, so while the flagship series gets smaller, the franchise keeps getting bigger. ABC clearly still sees enormous value in Grey’s Anatomy as a brand. The ratings remain solid, and the streaming numbers are strong because viewers have been tuning in to the show for numerous reasons over the course of 20 years, including as a habit, out of loyalty or nostalgia, or through an emotional connection with the show's veteran characters.
However, a show can continue to survive, sometimes for a very long time, but not necessarily have a chance to evolve. The medical drama genre has taken on a whole new approach since Grey's Anatomy began airing in 2005. The success of HBO Max's The Pitt, among others, relies heavily on the relatable realism and the emotional exhaustion that many viewers experience after watching Grey's, as well as Grey's original "glossy" style appearing more and more like an extreme version of reality TV, while maintaining some of its original elements (which was a huge part of the show's original appeal).
Yet it is hard to ignore that we, as viewers, currently see Grey's generating momentum towards a franchise rather than creative urgency. This does not indicate that the new spin-off will undoubtedly be a failure; after 20 years, Grey's has proven its critics wrong. Texas could bring a refreshing change of pace to the series. Perhaps a new group of doctors will strike a similar chord with viewers, just as they once did with Meredith and Cristina or George and Izzie.
It would just be nice if Grey's Anatomy just ended as we know it and aired reruns of Seasons 1-10. So many people would be here for that.
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