Grey’s Anatomy season 20 just began with an exciting premiere episode that finally revealed the fate of the interns and Teddy. Grey’s Anatomy season 19 ended on a cliffhanger with Teddy collapsing, the interns trying to save her, and their jobs up in the air as they’d broken several important hospital rules in the finale alone. The Grey’s Anatomy season 20 premiere picked up right where the season 19 finale left off, answering certain questions right off the bat while leaving others hanging until the episode’s final moments, adding to the level of suspense and thrill.
Grey’s Anatomy season 20 comes off two major character exits, with Meredith moving to Boston and Maggie to Chicago in season 19. The loss of Meredith in particular may have seemed like a good time to end the long-running medical drama. However, Pompeo will be in some Grey’s Anatomy season 20 episodes, and her presence in the premiere was welcome and a good sign of what’s to come. The drama with the interns and other characters also proved that the show can exist without Meredith, if only for periods with the knowledge that she’ll return again.
Teddy Survives, But Almost Loses Her Leg
Winston has to perform surgery on Teddy
The biggest question Grey’s Anatomy viewers had on their minds ahead of the season 20 premiere was whether Teddy will survive or not. In the Grey’s Anatomy season 19 finale, Teddy was experiencing pain from a tooth infection that eventually led to her collapsing. The season ended with her unconscious and her life in the balance. The Grey’s Anatomy season 20 premiere revealed that her infection had traveled from her tooth to her chest, but Winston was able to save Teddy’s life, leaving her still unconscious but more stable at the start of the new season.
Things again took a turn for the worse with Teddy when she developed a pulmonary embolism in her leg. The sight of a blonde doctor with a grey leg was, unfortunately, a familiar and perhaps even traumatizing sight for Grey’s Anatomy viewers, who had seen Arizona lose her leg over 10 seasons prior. Fortunately for Teddy, Winston was able to save her leg along with her life. At the end of Grey’s Anatomy season 20, episode 1, Teddy woke up with Owen by her side, and she’ll hopefully be back on her feet and running things by the next episode.
The Grey’s Anatomy Interns Keep Their Jobs
Bailey becomes the new director of the residency program
Grey’s Anatomy season 20 is far from the first time that a group of interns have been in trouble. In the Grey’s Anatomy season 19 finale, Lucas and Simone performed an unauthorized surgery on a dying patient without attending supervision while Yasuda attempted to revive Teddy. Additionally, Blue disregarded the DNR (do-not-resuscitate) directive of a patient due to the patient’s relationship with Jules. Despite their intentions, the interns broke some pretty serious rules, and it wouldn’t have been surprising if they were all fired from Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital.
Nick was leaning towards firing them but was torn because he wanted to go to Boston to be with Meredith and didn’t feel like he could if the residency program was falling apart. Eventually, a solution was found that worked for everyone, leaving the interns in the best imaginable hands and Nick free to be with Meredith. At the end of the Grey’s Anatomy season 20 premiere, Bailey took over the residency program, sharing her famous five rules with the interns. If anyone can get the interns into shape, it’s Miranda Bailey.
Lucas & Simone Have To Do Surgery In An Ambulance
They get stuck inside because of a malfunctioning driverless car
At the beginning of Grey’s Anatomy season 20, episode 1, Nick ordered the interns to stay in the lab and not practice any medicine. This didn’t last very long, as they didn’t want to get in trouble for ignoring pages as well and tensions arose between the interns. When Lucas and Simone were accidentally tasked with retrieving a patient from an ambulance, they wound up trapped inside with a patient. Lucas and Simone were about to take the patient into the hospital when a driverless car named Wayne malfunctioned and crashed into them.
The malfunction caused the car to ram into them repeatedly, and the Grey’s Anatomy scene quickly became reminiscent of the heart surgery in the elevator. With the car company 20 minutes out and the patient crashing, Lucas and Simone had to open him up and perform a procedure they’d never attempted before, let alone in an unstable ambulance with only Meredith and Bailey guiding them outside. Fortunately for them and the patient, Blue eventually popped one of Wayne’s tires and Meredith and Bailey were able to take over in an actual OR room while they scrubbed in.
Meredith Is In Trouble With The Catherine Fox Foundation
Meredith decides to continue her research behind Catherine’s back
Though Meredith had moved to Boston to work for the Catherine Fox Foundation on Alzheimer’s research, she briefly came back to Seattle for the Grey’s Anatomy season 20 premiere. While all the madness was happening at Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital in the Grey’s Anatomy season 19 finale, the Catherine Fox Awards were taking place on the East Coast. The ceremony also coincided with Meredith’s research discoveries, and she was excited to share them.
While Meredith’s discovery could be groundbreaking, it’s also controversial, as it poses the idea that decades of Alzheimer’s research was wrong. In sharing her new ideas, Meredith ruffled more than a few feathers, including Catherine Fox’s. Towards the end of Grey’s Anatomy season 20, episode 1, Meredith told Catherine she would return to the conventional research, but had other plans behind her back. Meredith asked Amelia to secretly help her with her research from Grey Sloan, which gives Meredith more reasons to return in Grey’s Anatomy season 20.
Webber Is Taking A Break From The Grey’s Anatomy OR
Webber wants to focus on his sobriety
Another shocking moment from the Grey’s Anatomy season 19 finale that was addressed in the season 20 premiere was Webber’s drinking. Grey’s Anatomy has covered Richard’s sobriety before, as his issues with alcoholism have always been a central part of his character. While en route to Boston for the Catherine Fox Awards, the plane full of doctors hit some heavy turbulence, and Richard almost had a drink for the first time in over a decade. Bailey knocked the drink out of Richard’s hand before he could, but he ordered another one at the ceremony.
Grey’s Anatomy season 20, episode 1 revealed that Richard didn’t break his sobriety in the season 19 finale. However, he told Bailey that he didn’t trust himself in the OR at the moment and wasn’t sure if he ever would. Bailey was certain that he would get back to trusting himself, but that his surgeries would be covered in the meantime as he focused on his sobriety. It was a touching moment between the two characters who have been around since the beginning of Grey’s Anatomy, and it set up another important storyline for Webber.
Yasuda Confronts Jo About What Happened With Sam In Grey’s Anatomy Season 19
Jo left the interns alone in the Grey’s Anatomy season 19 finale
One of Yasuda’s biggest storylines in Grey’s Anatomy season 19 dealt with her financial struggles. Yasuda was given a grant to help her out and allow her to continue her surgical training, but the events of the Grey’s Anatomy season 19 finale threatened her job and financial security. Grey Sloan was the only hospital to give Yasuda an offer, and if she were to be kicked out of the residency program, it would have been the end of her career entirely.
In an emotional moment in the Grey’s Anatomy season 20 premiere, Yasuda confronted Jo about her situation and what had happened with Sam. Jo and Link were on Sam’s case and Teddy was about to perform surgery on him when she collapsed. They tried to page the attendings, and when they didn’t respond, the interns made the difficult decision to open Sam up. Yasuda asked Jo where she’d been and why she hadn’t answered, reminding her and viewers alike that the interns should never have been left alone and put in that position in Grey’s Anatomy.