Warning! SPOILERS about Grey’s Anatomy season 19, episodes 19 & 20 ahead.
Grey’s Anatomy season 19’s two-episode finale was full of twists and captivating developments, and the story arcs it left hanging introduced some stories that will likely take center stage in Grey’s Anatomy season 20. The Catherine Fox Awards and Simone’s wedding already guaranteed something unexpected would have happened in Grey’s Anatomy season 19, episodes 19 and 20. However, the medical complications of two characters and Meredith’s shocking revelations added to the already hectic finale. However, all these monumental events happening in Grey’s Anatomy season 19’s ending hinted at a few major stories the medical drama will have to delve into in season 20.
Despite taking a step back in Grey’s Anatomy season 19, Meredith Grey guaranteed shocking reveals that season 20 will have to expand on, especially after she made the results of her research public in the finale. Still, Grey’s Anatomy season 19’s new interns were at the front and center of the finale’s problems, acting for the first time in an unsanctioned way that mirrored the hospital’s MAGIC of Grey’s Anatomy’s first seasons. Adding to that, Teddy’s inexplicable illness at the very end of the episode brings Grey’s Anatomy season 20 to have already a few story arcs to develop.
6 Meredith’s Alzheimer’s Hunch Could Have Big Repercussions For Grey’s S20
Meredith’s cryptic text to her mentors, Richard and Bailey, along with Nick and Amelia, worried them because of the state they found her in. Still, the magnitude of the consequences of her instincts on Alzheimer’s will undoubtedly play a role in Grey’s Anatomy season 20. Alzheimer’s was always prominent in Grey’s Anatomy, looming over Meredith because of what it meant in relation to her mother, Ellis, but also to her well-being. However, it took an even bigger role in Grey’s Anatomy season 19, with Zola starting to have anxiety because of her worries about Alzheimer’s potentially affecting Meredith, proving the illness never took a small place in the medical drama.
Meredith telling the Fox Foundation’s investors about her hunch on the Alzheimer’s research focusing on the wrong things will risk her career and reputation, as Richard predicted, but it could also jeopardize her funding for the study. Moreover, having come clean about the goal of her research with Catherine and the investors, Meredith will probably have to face significant conflicts to continue, making her story going forward something that cannot be avoided by Grey’s Anatomy season 20, even if she were to be present in the medical drama for a limited number of episodes not comprising the whole season.
5 Richard’s Problems With Sobriety Makes Grey’s Anatomy Revisit An Old Story
Richard’s struggles with alcoholism have been part of Grey’s Anatomy’s fabric for many seasons, with him being open about his sobriety and how he got there, and the difficulties of continuing to be sober. Grey’s Anatomy season 19, episode 19’s plane turbulence upset everybody, but Richard confessed to Amelia that he wanted to drink alcohol from the moment they left the plane in the Grey’s Anatomy season 19 finale. While his open confessions usually meant he wasn’t drinking again, he ordered an alcoholic drink, and he refused Amelia’s offer to go to an AA meeting, suggesting a relapse might actually happen in Grey’s Anatomy season 20.
Grey’s Anatomy toyed with Richard’s possible relapse multiple times, but he only returned to drinking alcohol in Grey’s Anatomy season 6. At the time, not only did he cause several problems, including clipping a patient’s bile duct, but he also lost his position as chief of surgery. While he might not have consumed the drink, Richard relapsed when he was highly stressed with the hospital’s management. Given that Grey’s Anatomy season 19 saw him deal with both Meredith and Maggie moving away. Also, with Catherine refusing to treat her tumor, he will continue to be stressed, risking Grey’s Anatomy season 20 to repeat his relapse story.
4 Simone’s Choice Might Cause Problems Even If She & Lucas Are Okay
Simone choosing not to marry Trey and run to Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital in her wedding dress provided drama in the Grey’s Anatomy season 19 finale but was also a sensible choice. Still, Simone’s decision coming at the last possible moment may continue to cause problems, especially with Trey being involved in a car accident after she left him at the altar. While the timing wasn’t the best, Simone was unsure about the wedding from the moment she accepted Trey’s proposal because she saw the differences between what Trey saw and who she was, which her fiancé couldn’t see.
Despite Simone’s choice having significant consequences, she and Lucas as a potential couple weren’t much destabilized by it. Still, Lucas trying to make excuses for her behavior while she was just grasping at the consequences of her actions was clearly an open wound. Simone choosing not to cling to her past via Trey cemented her acceptance of her new life in Seattle, but Trey’s low consideration of Grey Sloan’s residents and interns and their program proved she made the right choice because he saw an old version of her. In spite of that, the repercussions of Simone’s choices might still trouble her in Grey’s Anatomy season 20.
3 Maggie & Winston Staying Married Marks Uncharted Territories For Grey’s
The Grey’s Anatomy central characters that were fortunate enough not to be killed off but left to move away usually cut the romantic relationships linking them to Seattle and Grey Sloan Memorial. Meredith’s move to Boston marked the first alteration to that by having her not end things definitely with Nick, but her story is still important given the Alzheimer’s reveal, proving that she might still come back relatively often. Instead, Maggie and Winston’s marriage took a step back in Maggie’s priorities because she wanted to prioritize her career seemed pretty definite. Yet, they refused to officialize their lives apart in any way.
The Grey’s Anatomy season 19 finale made an effort to highlight Maggie and Winston’s relationship by having them discuss their status when it could have easily let them reconnect without having to make their relationship explicit. This marks a change for the medical drama, as it always focused on dramatic medical cases just as much as it did on the doctors’ romantic lives, something that seemingly cannot be done with Winston still so clearly linked to Maggie. Grey’s Anatomy season 20 might clarify if Winston and Maggie’s situation changes, but the finale set an intriguingly unusual precedent with their relationship.
2 Sam’s Death Puts The Interns Into Their First MAGIC-like Predicament
Meredith and the original interns put themselves in many difficult positions that could have ended with them being fired, but Grey’s Anatomy season 19’s new interns didn’t do anything similar to MAGIC cutting the LVAD wire before the season finale. Lucas and Simone choosing to cut into Sam without an attending present broke all the rules, making them act rashly, just like Meredith, Izzie, Cristina, and George did before them. Still, Sam would have died even without them trying to operate, something they were actively trying to avoid, but his death might still complicate Lucas and Simone’s punishment, which they’ll likely have to face in Grey’s Anatomy season 20.
1 The Cause Of Teddy’s Unexpected Collapse Must Be Investigated
Kim Raver’s return as Teddy Altman in Grey’s Anatomy season 20 eases worries about Teddy’s unexpected collapse in the OR. Still, the causes behind her sudden illness will have to be explained in the medical drama’s 20th season. Toothache aside, Teddy seemed to manage being a chief of surgery better than her predecessors, handling the stress of the job more easily despite the many challenges.
Teddy’s sudden collapse made the situation more chaotic because of Sam bleeding out on the table and the interns trying to operate without supervision, offering shock value to an already drama-filled finale, but the causes of her illness must be investigated. After all, Teddy has been a crucial character since Grey’s Anatomy season 6, making her well-being interesting to audiences. With such an unexpected event causing ambiguity about her survival in the season 19 finale, Grey’s Anatomy season 20 will have to examine what caused it, especially as it might potentially jeopardize the residents’ program.
