‘Grey’s Anatomy’: Teddy’s Fate, Relationship Statuses & More Questions for Season 20
The Grey’s Anatomy writers’ room is open, and the ABC show’s cast is back at work, meaning more heart-stopping drama is headed our way for a (strike-shortened) 20th season.
And it’s about time! We’ve never had to wait so long for Grey’s to return — the show will have been on hiatus for nearly 10 months by the time Season 20 bows on March 14 — but you likely know that Hollywood had issues to work out.
All the while, we’ve been eager to check back into Grey Sloan Memorial, especially because we need answers to the following questions. (Seriously? Seriously.)
Grey’s Anatomy, Season 20 Premiere, Thursday, March 14, 2024, 9/8c, ABC
Will Teddy survive?
Teddy (Kim Raver) mysteriously collapsed in the operating room after complaining of a toothache in the Season 19 finale, and when the episode cut to black, she was getting defibrillated. Is she a goner? (Unfortunately for us spoiler-phobes, the Grey’s cast’s contract developments appear to have revealed the answer.)
Will Adams and Griffith follow Jackson and April’s footsteps?
Many seasons before Griffith (Alexis Floyd) went runaway bride, April (Sarah Drew) did the same, spurning her once-and-future groom Matthew (Justin Bruening) in favor of Jackson (Jesse Williams). And after many trials and tribulations — including a marriage to and divorce from both men — April seems to have reconciled with Jackson. Now that Griffith has left Trey (William Martinez) at the altar and shacked up with Adams (Niko Terho) in a Grey Sloan on-call room, can we expect a love story just as epic?
Will Jo and Link go the distance?
We never really bought Jo (Camilla Luddington) and Link’s (Chris Carmack) never-more-than-longtime-friends dynamic, and their just-friends-with-benefits phase wasn’t much more convincing. To us, it was only a matter of time before one of them declared love for the other, as Link did in the Season 19 finale. Now we’re just waiting to see if Jo and Link are endgame.
How will Helm and Yasuda work out their power dynamic?
As Season 19 wrapped up, Yasuda (Midori Francis) confessed her feelings for Helm (Jaicy Elliot), and it’s clear Helm reciprocates those feelings. But as Helm acknowledged on the show, she’s about to be Yasuda’s boss now that she’s coming back as co-chief resident. So how will her and Yasuda’s relationship evolve (or devolve) now that they’re at different seniority levels?
Is Richard’s sobriety at risk?
Longtime Grey’s fans have seen Richard (James Pickens Jr.) struggle with alcoholism, and he and Amelia (Caterina Scorsone) often bond over their journeys back from addiction. In the Season 19 finale, Amelia said she was going to a meeting, but Richard hung back at the Catherine Fox Awards reception… and received a vodka tonic at the bar.
Will Ben return to his medical career?
Ben (Jason George) has gone from anesthesiologist to surgical resident to firefighter so far on Grey’s Anatomy and its spinoff Station 19. Now that the latter show is ending, he seems like one of the Station 19 characters most likely to transfer over to Grey’s — if, that is, Bailey (Chandra Wilson) can stand another career change from her impulsive husband.
Will there be a 9-1-1 crossover?
Speaking of crossover potential, 9-1-1 is an ABC show now, and it’s scheduled as Grey’s Anatomy’s lead-in this season, while Station 19 is moving to a post-Grey’s slot. Yes, 9-1-1 takes place in Los Angeles and not Seattle like Grey’s. But don’t forget that Private Practice was set in the City of Angels, too, and yet we still saw Addison (Kate Walsh) & Co. on Grey’s.
How many episodes will Ellen Pompeo join?
So far, at least, it seems like former Grey’s lead Ellen Pompeo will be back to play Meredith in at least two episodes of Season 20. “Miss Thing is there, honey. She’s in the first episode, and she’s in the one I’m going to direct,” Grey’s actor and executive producer Debbie Allen told Entertainment Tonight this month. “We have to let her go and do some other things, but she’s still our queen. She’s still our number one on the call sheet.”
Will Scott Speedman return?
Are we to believe that Scott Speedman’s Nick Marsh is Mer’s next great love? And if so, will Speedman pop up in Season 20 to play Nick when Pompeo comes back to play Meredith? Or is this going to be one of those “He’s at home with the kids, but he says hi” situations?
Who else will come back?
One of the joys of recent Grey’s Anatomy seasons is the slew of blast-from-the-past cameos. When Mer was unconscious with a severe case of COVID-19 in Season 17, we got surprise visits from Patrick Dempsey (Derek Shepherd), T.R. Knight (George O’Malley), Chyler Leigh (Lexie Grey), and Eric Dane (Mark Sloan). More recently, Walsh, Drew, and Williams have graced Grey’s. So who will make reprise appearances in Season 20? Is there any chance at all we could see Katherine Heigl back as Izzie Stevens, possibly with Justin Chambers’ Alex Karev in tow?
Will the show be different under its new showrunner?
Fans had plenty to say on Reddit in January when Krista Vernoff announced she would be departing her role as Grey’s Anatomy showrunner. Now we’ll all find out what the show will be like under the leadership of Meg Marinis, who worked her way up from writer’s production assistant to executive producer and now showrunner.
Will Season 20 be the last season?
Grey’s Anatomy’s ratings aren’t anywhere close to what they used to be — and neither is the narrative quality, some would argue — so it’s always possible that ABC will call time-of-death on the long-running medical drama.
Then again, Grey’s closed out the 2022–2023 season as ABC’s highest-rated scripted primetime series in the coveted 18–49 demo. Plus, creator Shonda Rhimes told E! News in May that the show “doesn’t seem to be stopping” and it’s going to “stay a show as long as everybody wants to be there and as long as the fans want to be there.”
