This article may contain spoilers.
Image courtesy of ABC
In case you missed it, Grey’s Anatomy’s 14th season kicks off tonight at 8/7 central on ABC. When we scrubbed out for the summer hiatus, the hospital was barely standing. Literally. Things were burning, doctors were leaving, and long lost sisters thought to be dead were actually alive. It was a rough day for the docs at Grey Sloan Memorial.
But things may be looking a little brighter in Seattle. Krista Vernoff, who served as head writer and executive producer in the early days of Grey’s, has returned for season 14 as the co-showrunner, alongside Shonda Rhimes. Vernoff is known in the Grey’s community for her very smart, oftentimes comedic writing, a welcomed tonal shift from the dark clouds that seemed to hover over our beloved characters for so long. And we won’t have to wait long for her signature wits!
Here’s what to expect tonight during the 2-hour premier of season 14:
The arrival of not one, but two, sisters will certainly shake things up for the doctors of Grey Sloan.
We can expect to see some drama unfold as Nathan Riggs (Martin Henderson), Owen Hunt (Kevin McKidd) and Teddy Altman (Kim Raver) are all reunited, along with Megan (Abigail Spencer), Owen’s sister and Nathan’s former fiance, who was assumed to be dead for the past decade. But Megan isn’t the only sister making an appearance: Andrew DeLuca’s (Giacomo Gianniotti) sister is swooping in from Italy (time to brush up on your Italian!), bringing with her another bout of drama. The female Dr. DeLuca (Stefania Spampinato) is involved in some type of controversial research project, something that will cause friction between her and her brother.
What about “Griggs?”
Meredith Grey (Ellen Pompeo) and Nathan Riggs have been a hot topic the past season and a half. Now that Nathan’s ex is back in the picture, what does this mean for the couple? Martin Henderson took to Instagram Live to say that he thinks Nathan loves Meredith, and that he thinks she loves him, too. But is love enough? Teddy Altman and Meredith Grey seem to get in quite the little riff over Nathan’s love life… but don’t worry Griggs fans! It looks like Amelia Shepherd (Caterina Scorsone) steps in and defends her sister-in-law. Debbie Allen, executive producer, said Meredith has some thinking to do when it comes to her relationship with Nathan. I guess we’ll have to wait and and see for these two.
Speaking of Amelia…
What will the return of Owen’s former flame mean for their fairly new, already rocky marriage? In case you need a refresher, Owen and Teddy had a thing way back when. It was common for Cristina Yang (Sandra Oh) to bring up his past while she was still around, but will Amelia do the same?
Grey Sloan gets a makeover!
If she was looking for a reason to remodel, a fire would be a pretty good one! Chief of Surgery, Dr. Miranda Bailey (Chandra Wilson), is going to revamp Grey Sloan, although this may cause some issues with other doctors at the hospital. Jessica Capshaw, who plays Dr. Arizona Robbins, hinted at some spoilers during an interview with Entertainment Weekly when she said, “Bailey is trying to make sure that everybody is safe, she’s giving out instructions, and in the middle of that, an entire chunk of the wall falls out.”
Photos courtesy of Entertainment Weekly and Mitch Haaseth, ABC
Anything else?
So Jo Wilson’s (Camilla Luddington) real name isn’t Jo Wilson, but what is it? This may be answered with the arrival of Dr. Paul Stadler (Matthew Morrison), the abusive ex but not technically ex-husband. It’ll be interesting to see how Alex Karev (Justin Chambers) reacts when he shows up. Hopefully there’s no more jail time in his future!
The possibility of a Jackson (Jesse Williams) and Maggie (Kelly McCreary) relationship is brewing and fans are pretty split on this new, potential, paring. And April (Sarah Drew) is helping set them up? We’ll have to let Shonda figure this one out.
Grey’s Anatomy’s season 14 premier is split into two one-hour episodes (Break Down the House and Get Off on the Pain, both written by Krista Vernoff and directed by Debbie Allen and Kevin McKidd respectively), airing back-to-back on ABC tonight, starting at 8:00 p.m. EST.
Make sure to stock up on tissues and wine before it starts. In my experience, you’ll need it.