Grey’s Anatomy built up anticipation for its season 22 premiere with warnings of character deaths and onscreen surprises — so who actually survived the hospital explosion?
The ABC series returned on Thursday, October 9, and picked up moments after a part of the ER was destroyed. When viewers were last in Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital, Piper Perabo played a mother of a patient who brought a highly flammable acetylene tank into the operating room to force Amelia (Caterina Scorsone) to perform a high-risk surgery to save her daughter.
The hostage situation put interns Simone (Alexis Floyd) and Adams (Niko Terho) at risk — but also the rest of the hospital. While the operation was successful, the tank was accidentally opened, which let the flammable contents leak onto the operating floor. The final moments of the finale showed an explosion that only Meredith (Ellen Pompeo) and Warren (Jason George) officially survived.
Grey’s Anatomy didn’t keep Us waiting for too long when it came to finding out the fates of certain characters. In addition to Meredith and Warren, Miranda (Chandra Wilson) was fine after being on the operating floor. Richard (James Pickens Jr.), Teddy (Kim Raver) and husband Owen (Kevin McKidd) were safe and sound too.
Nora (Floriana Lima), meanwhile, found herself having a health scare with only Blue (Harry Shum Jr.) and Adams (Niko Terho) to offer medical assistance. They were able to get her stable but Adams’ good mood didn’t last long because by the end of the episode, Simone (Alexis Floyd) told him she slept with someone else and they broke up.
Elsewhere in the hospital, Winston (Anthony Hill) was alive and well — as was Amelia (Caterina Scorsone). Jules, who was on the operating floor, ended up having to perform a surgery on a young boy with Beltran (Natalie Morales) assisting while trapped on the ground.
Jules was able to save the child but Beltran died by the time the operation wrapped up. Another person whose future seemed bleak was Link (Chris Carmack). After getting trapped under rubble, Link’s coworkers had to figure out a way to drag his injured body to an operating table while he was bleeding out.
Link survived but he was still out of it by the time his wife, Jo (Camilla Luddington), joined him by his side. That left the death count at one after fans were worried Grey’s Anatomy would opt for a fictional bloodbath courtesy of the hospital explosion.
“I’ve had conversations with some of the cast, but they all know it’s a Grey’s Anatomy cliffhanger and they know every year they never know what to expect. They’re here for it. They like to keep our stories exciting and fresh,” showrunner Meg Marinis told The Hollywood Reporter in May. “But even in the last two seasons with what you saw this year, we had to reduce the cast a little bit [because of industry-wide budget cuts], and everybody has very passionate feelings about their favorite characters.”
She continued: “But if we can get the writers upset then we know we’re doing it right. It’s not as satisfying a story if people aren’t upset when someone leaves. It’s supposed to make people upset and sad, so I’m sure there’ll be some arguments. But I’ve been persuaded before to change my mind on things.”
Grey’s Anatomy airs on ABC Thursdays at 10 p.m. ET before streaming the next day on Hulu.
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