Grey’s Anatomy season 20 will have a lot to pack in its abbreviated 10-episode run, as season 19 left plenty of storylines needing to be resolved. With some stories overarching seasons and others newly introduced in Grey’s Anatomy season 19, the medical drama’s 20th season can bring back the focus on romance with which its earliest seasons abounded. Ellen Pompeo’s scaled-down role as Meredith gives Grey’s Anatomy a chance to concentrate even more on its new class of interns first introduced in season 19, with the five already proving they can reach the highs of the original MAGIC’s predicaments in Grey’s Anatomy season 19’s ending.
Some storylines that Grey’s Anatomy season 20 will need to deal with are more time-sensitive than others, especially considering its cliffhanger ending with the patient Sam Sutton dying after Simone and Lucas had started operating on him and Teddy mysteriously collapsing and needing resuscitation. Similarly difficult will be Richard’s situation, as Meredith’s confessions about her Alzheimer’s study rattled him to the point he even ordered an alcoholic drink for himself. Given all the storylines Grey’s Anatomy season 19’s ending set up and those already foreshadowed at least since Grey’s Anatomy season 18, season 20 has the chance to provide crucial answers and forward relationships in a rewarding and entertaining way.
The Interns’ Fate After Sam’s Death Needs To Be Revealed
The punishment for operating on a patient alone must be served despite the dire situation
While Grey’s Anatomy season 20’s teaser trailer still showed the interns working at Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital, it also had Bailey catch Meredith up about their being in trouble. Plenty of interns in Grey Sloan Memorial’s history made lethal mistakes or operated on people when they shouldn’t have, and their actions resulted in dismissals or suspensions. Given the intense way that season 19 ended, Grey’s Anatomy season 20 will have to reveal sooner rather than later what punishment Simone and Lucas in particular must face. Nevertheless, despite Sam Sutton’s death, the hospital might be lenient with them, based on the other medical emergency happening in the room with Teddy’s collapse.
Teddy’s Sudden Illness & Collapse Must Be Explained
The aftermath of Teddy’s cardiac arrest can bring back Megan Hunt
Grey’s Anatomy season 19’s ending only had Teddy fighting a painful toothache, without any other symptom foreshadowing her collapse. Her mysterious illness not only compromised the surgery that might have saved Sam Sutton, but also forced Yasuda to leave Sam’s care to try and resuscitate Teddy, and her fate was still uncertain by the episode’s end. This leaves Grey’s Anatomy season 20 the burden of explaining what had happened to Teddy that led to her cardiac arrest, along with the aftermath of her medical emergency, even making Megan Hunt’s return possible, as she would want to be close to her and Owen with Teddy’s health suffering a big blow.
Meredith’s Controversial Alzheimer’s Research Story Cannot Be Abandoned
The reveals of the Grey’s Anatomy season 19 finale impact too many doctors
While Pompeo’s reduced role as Meredith inevitably makes the character’s centrality to Grey’s Anatomy season 20 smaller, her shocking revelations about the state of Alzheimer’s research in the Grey’s Anatomy season 19 finale must be addressed. Her theory about Alzheimer’s shocked Richard and Amelia to their core, with the first categorically refusing to accept that Meredith could make what she found out public, and the second having problems accepting how Meredith’s research insulted decades of medical research, including her brother Derek’s. The implications of Meredith’s study in the wider world of Grey’s Anatomy are so big that season 20 cannot afford to sideline the story.
Jo & Link’s Relationship Must Be Shaped After Season 19’s Love Declaration
Their will they/won’t they dynamic spanned too many seasons not to show their relationship
Jo and Link’s romantic interest in each other was first introduced in Grey’s Anatomy season 18, when Link was pining over Amelia and Jo ended up falling for him without meaning to, as her feelings greatly complicated their friendship. Their will they/won’t they dynamic persisted, despite Link gradually falling for Jo in secret, as he knew she already had to fight back her feelings to protect what they had. Grey’s Anatomy successfully avoided having them come to terms with their feelings until now as they both pined in secret, but their confession in the Grey’s Anatomy season 19 finale revealed their cards, making season 20 necessarily show their relationship blossoming.
Richard’s Potential Relapse Cannot Be Ignored After Season 19’s Finale
The events at the Catherine Fox Award mirror his past relapse on Grey’s Anatomy
The turbulence they experienced on the flight to Boston distressed them all, but Richard flat-out admitted that he had been wanting a drink since the moment they landed. Grey’s Anatomy season 19’s finale ended with Richard debating whether to drink the alcoholic beverage he ordered after refusing to go to an AA meeting with Amelia, making it necessary for Grey’s Anatomy season 20 to reveal whether he drank it. Grey’s Anatomy already had Richard relapse in season 6, but even if he didn’t in season 19, he could do so in season 20, especially with the added stress of Meredith’s research, his wife’s cancer, and Maggie far away from Seattle.