Major spoilers below for anyone who hasn't yet watched the latest episode of Grey's Anatomy, titled "Jukebox Hero."
Like the world's most unprofessional doctor, Grey's Anatomy left viewers with a big problem back in November and then hit the road for two months before returning with a resolution, and not even in the midseason premiere. That problem, of course, involved what would happen to Dr. Alex Karev, who was seemingly heading straight for the slammer due to him assaulting DeLuca in Season 12. (So, technically longer than a two-month wait.) Thankfully, viewers learned tonight that Alex didn't go to jail after all, although that didn't seem like it would be the case.
Of course, we didn't actually find out that Alex was okay - and getting some beauty sleep at Meredith's place - until the very last minute, in true primetime fashion. "Jukebox Hero" had everyone thinking something completely different happened at first, though, when a misleading Internet page fooled her into thinking Alex was facing decades of hard time. But no, it turns out that Alex's trial was merely postponed indefinitely, a sign that he had indeed taken the plea deal that would have put him behind bars to begin with. So we got to see a bit of Ellen Pompeo as Dr. Detective as she tried to find the prison that Alex would have been sent to.
The final "Gotcha" of Alex in bed wasn't even explained, so audiences aren't even sure what went into his trial getting postponed. (It's a good thing there are so many other characters on this show, considering how slowly Alex's story is seeping out.) However, an interesting bit of foreshadowing may hint at how things played out in the legal system.
Not long before Meredith discovered Alex safe and sound, Arizona made a remark in front of DeLuca that she was going to miss Alex, implying that he was going to be away in jail for a while, and DeLuca was incredulous as to why. It's not the most complex mystery in the world, but it appears as if DeLuca possibly could have dropped his charges against Alex, leaving him a free man who has just his guilt to live with. Hopefully we'll find out ALL the details next week, when Alex and Jo get to hang out again.
Speaking of, you can watch the trailer for next week's episode of Grey's Anatomy below, in which Alex's mystery problem is only one part of Meredith's line of obstacles.
Grey's Anatomy airs Thursday nights on ABC at 8:00 p.m. ET. To see when everything else is returning to the small screen in the near future, head to our midseason premiere schedule.
