Major spoilers ahead for the Season 3 finale of Station 19 on ABC, called "Louder Than A Bomb."
Station 19 wrapped Season 3 with a finale that was originally meant to be half of a two-parter involving parent series Grey's Anatomy, but production shutdowns meant that Grey's wasn't able to finish Season 16 while Station 19 was able to finish Season 3. With Station 19 outpacing Grey's in a TV season packed with crossovers, the final episodes Station 19 Season 3 (especially the finale) were bound to impact the other show. Here's what the final episode of Station 19 in the 2019-2020 TV season means for Grey's Anatomy Season 17!
Krista Vernoff, who serves as executive producer on both Station 19 and Grey's Anatomy, explained to People how she attempted to make the two shows match despite one ending early:
I had to open up some episodes of Station 19 and had to cut some scenes and cut some dialogue that wouldn’t have been satisfying without the opportunity to play it through on Grey’s. I have a bunch of footage that has not yet aired, that I hope to air. I didn’t want to reveal or expose those storylines on Station 19 because I’m hoping to find a way to air them in the fall on Grey’s.
So, what happened in the Station 19 finale, and what does it mean for Grey's Anatomy despite Krista Vernoff making some cuts? Here's how it went down.
In "Louder Than A Bomb," the crew was called to a five-alarm fire despite almost all being hung over, although Andy went to Grey Sloan to be with Sullivan before his surgery while also distracted by the mystery of what happened to her mom. The fire was actually a bombing, and Vic, Dean, Travis, Ben, Jack, and a civilian were trapped in a lab with a device only minutes away from detonation.
Thanks to some heroics from Jack, the firefighters all survived. Andy meanwhile was more or less having a breakdown at Grey Sloan due to her suspicions that her mom actually killed herself to get out of an unhappy marriage, but Meredith gave her some sound advice and a shoulder to cry on. After her father showed up out of nowhere, Maya realized he was abusive, chopped off her hair, and tried to make amends.
Chief Dixon was arrested for his crimes, but Travis and Emmett's relationship seems done. As for Andy, she finally reunited with her aunt and learned that her mother hadn't killed herself, but apparently faked her death. Andy's mom is alive! Basically, while "Louder Than A Bomb" was an intense episode packed with developments, the closest it had to a finale-worthy cliffhanger was the reveal of Andy's mom.
I can only assume that the original plan for the cliffhanger was bigger and probably scarier to lead into the Grey's Anatomy finale. Despite Krista Vernoff making some tweaks to cut some footage that might make it to the airwaves later, some Station 19 finale reveals that will impact Grey's Season 17 apparently couldn't be removed.
For one, Carina took Maya back despite Maya cheating on her with Jack and then throwing it in Carina's face. Teddy deserves some credit (for this, at least) for encouraging Carina to forgive Maya, and the two happily confessed their love. When Grey's Anatomy Season 17 picks up, Maya and Carina will be back together.
Amelia will be back at work in Grey's Anatomy Season 17 based on the Station 19 finale. She gave birth to a healthy baby boy in the Grey's Season 16 finale and hopefully took some time off. However she handles giving birth, she will be back in her scrubs not too long after. She performed the surgery on Sullivan.
Speaking of, Sullivan may still be in the hospital when Grey's Anatomy returns for Season 17, since he only woke up with enough time to reel in agony until a nurse gave him morphine and then realize that Andy wasn't by his side. Depending on whether or not Station 19 returns months after Grey's Anatomy next season, as happened in the 2019-2020 season, this may mean that Station 19 will have to accommodate Grey's by leaving Sullivan in the hospital.
That said, if Grey's gets its regular fall premiere and Station 19 returns at midseason, Sullivan in the hospital could be as minor a deal as Vic appearing on Grey's Season 16 to date Jackson. Station 19 had already seemingly revealed the Grey's Anatomy development that DeLuca would indeed be diagnosed with bipolar, and Krista Vernoff went on to confirm DeLuca's diagnosis, saying:
DeLuca is bipolar. DeLuca was in a really manic state for an extended period of time. Even though he was right about the sex trafficking victim, the way he was behaving was inconsistent with the personality we’ve known him to have all these years. What Carina was saying was, ‘I’m worried about you. You’re not yourself. You’re acting like dad.’ And Meredith saying, ‘You sound like your father.’ DeLuca, after finally diagnosing Richard, went from manic to depressed. That’s what that last scene was when he’s sitting on the floor, crying in a pit of despair after not seeing anything but high for the last several episodes.
DeLuca's diagnosis is obviously a huge deal for Grey's Anatomy, but not so huge that his sister couldn't be in a good enough place in the finale to chase love for herself with Maya. That said, Meredith was showing some strain in her scenes with Andy, which actually made Meredith the perfect person to hear Andy out. As Meredith noted, Andy's problems distracted her from her own for a bit, and I'm guessing some of Meredith's difficulties are tied to DeLuca.
While no Grey's Anatomy character died or anything in the Station 19 Season 3 finale, the episode does impact what Grey's will have to handle when it returns for its next season. Only time will tell what exactly was cut from the Station 19 finale due to Grey's Anatomy's premature finale this season, but some episode photos showed both Bailey and Schmitt in action when Ben brought somebody to Grey Sloane, which didn't happen in the episode as it aired. Take a look at one:
For now, there are no guarantees as to when either show will be able to start production for the 2020-2021 TV season, so it may not even be possible for Grey's Anatomy to return in the fall as usual. Maybe the two shows will be paired right off the bat, with both Station 19 and Grey's hitting the airwaves in midseason.
The good news is that there are plenty of viewing options during the wait for Station 19 and Grey's Anatomy to return. You can find what you can watch and when you can watch it on our 2020 summer premiere schedule.
