What Happened to Dr. Nico Kim? Why Did Alex Landi Leave Greys Anatomy?

Nico Kim arrives at Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital in the fifteenth season of ABC’s medical series ‘Grey’s Anatomy.’ He joins the team of Atticus “Link” Lincoln as an attending orthopedic surgeon. He eventually forms a relationship with Levi Schmitt and they navigate their life together through several challenges. Alex Landi plays the first gay male surgeon in the renowned series. Nico is an integral part of Levi’s storyline from the fifteenth season to the eighteenth. As Levi starts dating a traveling nurse named Carlos, the viewers must be wondering what really happened to Nico and Landi. Well, here’s what we know about the same! SPOILERS AHEAD.

What Happened to Dr. Nico Kim?

After arriving at Grey Sloan as an orthopedic surgeon, he starts to work with Levi, who is a resident at the time. Levi opens up to Nico that he is gay and they start sharing intimacy. They eventually come out as a couple and attend Maggie Pierce and Winston Ndugu’s wedding as one. Nico’s life turns around when Link turns down an opportunity to rejoin the Mariners. The surgeon asks Nico whether he would be interested. Link even prepares Nico for the interview and offers to recommend him for the job. A thrilled Nico gets excited about the opportunity but his decision to give it a shot affects his union with Levi.

Nico’s decision to get into the Mariners affects Levi’s feelings for him. The latter starts to feel that he is making all the sacrifices in their relationship. Offended by his partner’s actions, Levi decides to break up with the former. During the Covid-19 pandemic, Nico extends his support to Levi despite their separation. Although they get closer again, it doesn’t get nurtured enough to become a relationship. In the eighteenth season finale, they break up for good. In the eighth episode of the nineteenth season, it is revealed that Nico is working for the Mariners.

Why Did Alex Landi Leave Grey’s Anatomy?

As of yet, neither ABC nor Alex Landi has released a statement concerning the reason behind the actor’s departure from ‘Grey’s Anatomy.’ Nico is introduced as an integral part of Levi’s storyline. His storyline seemingly gets concluded with his breakup with Levi and his departure from Grey Sloan, the prominent setting of the series, to join the Mariners. Thus, Landi must have exited from the series as a part of the narrative developments. Since the actor hasn’t joined the cast of any projects after leaving the medical drama, it is safe to assume that he didn’t leave due to other commitments. After Nico and Levi’s break-up, the writers of the series must have decided against having the former in the narrative as an independent character.

The nineteenth season introduces five new interns as main characters to “reboot” the narrative of the series along the lines of the first few seasons of the medical drama. The writers might have felt that they wouldn’t be able to justify having Landi’s Nico in the narrative of the season with limited screen time. Since the show has explored all the dimensions of Nico and Levi’s relationship, the conclusion of the former’s storyline makes sense as well. Still, ‘Grey’s Anatomy’ has a long history of exited cast members returning to the series. Since Nico is alive, we may not be able to rule out Landi’s return to the medical drama, especially when the orthopedic surgeon can visit his former workplace.

However, the chances of the same happening are extremely low, specifically due to Levi and Carlos’ budding relationship. In the upcoming episodes of the series, we can expect to see more of the new couple. “I’ve been pitching for quite a long time, especially because Levi and Nico broke up over a year ago now, to have Levi experience more sides of the queer community, and to really meet more queer people and see what he actually wants and actually deserves and actually needs. We’re starting the ball rolling here with Carlos and we’ll see where it goes,” Jake Borelli, who plays Levi, told TheWrap about Nico and Levi’s breakup paving the way for the latter’s relationship with Carlos.

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