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Here's Everything We Know About Link On 'Grey's Anatomy' So Far

Grey's Anatomy returned for Season 15 last month on ABC and in lieu of introducing us to yet another crop of bumbling interns, writers decided to switch up the new cast additions this season. Instead of a bunch of rookies, fans got hunky new attendings to replace some of the veteran characters the show lost in recent years. Chief hunk among them is Chris Carmack, who joins the cast from CMT's recently wrapped Nashville, playing a character named — brace yourselves — Link. So who is Link on Grey's Anatomy? In short, he's the new Dr. Callie Torres.

Link is short for Atticus Lincoln (I'm sorry, but it's true), and he's Chief Bailey's pick for new attending orthopedic surgeon. Like Callie, he also self-identifies as an ortho god and his patients seem to think the same, based on all the swooning. (Season 15 is only two episodes in and there's already been a lot of swooning.) So far, Link's backstory has only been painted in broad strokes. He used to be the personal orthopedic surgeon to the Seattle Mariners, which made him a pretty sweet catch for the hospital, but while the female doctors on Grey's Anatomy tend to be portrayed as bookish and nerdy, he's more the swaggering, rugged type like the McHotties that came before him. For example, viewers learned in the season premiere that he worked at a bike shop for four years (making him the perfect surgeon to extract a twisted up bicycle from a woman's mangled femur). So, you know, he's not a regular doctor. He's a cool doctor.

He also appears to have been brought in as a potential love interest for Meredith Grey, although she shuts him down speedily every time he flashes a smile. Dude, you have no idea what this woman has been through. She is immune to charm, thirst traps, flattery, and don't even think about needing her. She sees through your hair and abs. She does not have the time. But thirsty fans shouldn't worry; there are plenty of other hospital employees for him to jump into bed with, even if he never unlocks the secret to Meredith's heart.

Fans can also assume that Link is an eager risk-taker, like most of the other doctors at Grey Sloan Memorial. He begged Bailey to let him into the fancy hyperbaric chamber the hospital acquired to speed patient healing time after it had been pressurized, which, uh, is extremely bad for you and, as a doctor, I feel like you should care about that? Jackson had already sealed himself inside the "moon spa," as Link dubbed it, to perform a life-saving surgery on his bike accident patient, but it failed anyway with Link observing enviously from the outside.

Not a lot seems to separate Link at this point from the parade of sexy, thrill-seeking, world class doctors who came before him, but the season is young and he has plenty of time to surprise us with some twisty-turny character development. Grey's Anatomy airs Thursday nights on ABC.