Grey’s Anatomy has one of the most complex backstories on television, with viewers sometimes needing more than ten seasons’ worth of backstory to understand the decisions of a single character. The periods between the fall finale and spring premiere are often the most confusing, as Grey’s tends to leave many character arcs open while delivering other shocking plot twists.
The midseason premiere of Grey’s Anatomy is scheduled to air on Thursday, March 6th. Before viewing it, however, understanding the developments of the season’s first half are necessary:
This list contains spoilers for Grey’s Anatomy, Season 21, Episodes 1 through 8.
10. Winston Is Still Finding His Post-Divorce Footing
Maggie Was His First Real Relationship
Winston’s marriage to cardiothoracic surgeon Maggie Pierce was tumultuous during Season 19, when both realized that they were not respecting each other and failing to communicate with each other on significant issues. Throughout most of Season 19, Winston debated on whether he truly wanted to divorce Maggie, but ultimately decides to put himself first in Grey’s Anatomy, Season 20, Episode 3, “Walk On the Ocean” and sign the divorce papers Maggie serves him.
Winston’s attempts at re-entering the dating scene include many first dates and one-night stands, specifically with Monica Beltran, the new pediatric surgeon, in Grey’s Anatomy Season 20, Episode 9, “I Carry Your Heart”. He does not seem to be able to connect on a deeper level with any of the women he meets, a consequence Winston has to reckon with in Grey’s Anatomy, Season 21, Episode 8, “Drop It Like It’s Hot”, when one of his patients is the daughter of a woman he ghosted.
9. Amelia Navigates a Budding Relationship
This Time, She Takes Things Slow
Like Winston, Amelia’s luck with relationships ended with the departure of Dr. Kai Bartley in Grey’s Anatomy, Season 19, Episode 15, “Mama Who Bore Me.” She spent much of seasons 19 and 20 focusing on her Alzheimer’s research with Meredith, co-parenting Scout with Link, reconciling with Winston after his divorce with Maggie and even offering parenting advice to Jo when she is overwhelmed with parenting alone.
In Grey’s Anatomy, Season 20, Episode 3, “Walk On the Ocean”, Amelia first meets Beltran when Beltran steals her parking spot, leaving the two to begin an antagonistic relationship. Their relationship develops as they collaborate on a series of surgeries and they begin to understand each others’ approaches. Though Amelia is attracted to Beltran, Beltran has just finalized a divorce, so the two of them are last seen simply finding comfort in each other.
8. Blue Reconnects With His Former Fiancée
He Did His Best To Forget Her
Before starting at Grey-Sloan, it was revealed in Grey’s Anatomy, Season 21, Episode 2, “Take Me To Church”, that Blue had once been engaged to another woman, Molly Tran. Molly first reappears in Blue’s life in Grey’s Anatomy, Season 20, Episode 10, “Burn It Down”, when being treated for smoke inhalation. Molly claimed that she knew Blue from somewhere, though she could not exactly decipher where, as an accident earlier in her life caused significant memory loss.
Blue initially denies the connection between himself and Molly, but when Molly persists, Blue angrily tells her that the reason Molly had gotten into the accident was because of his infidelity and an argument they had had. Though Molly puts the issue to rest, Blue can’t stop thinking about the possibility of rekindling his relationship with Molly, especially when she admits that she has thought about reconciling with him. They are last seen in Grey’s Anatomy, Season 21, Episode 8, “Drop It Like It’s Hot”, in a passionate embrace.
7. Ben Has Returned to Grey-Sloan
He Experiences Yet Another Career Change
Ben was first introduced to Grey’s Anatomy during Grey’s Anatomy, Season 6, Episode 13, “State of Love and Trust”, as an anesthesiologist part of Grey-Sloan’s merger with Mercy West Hospital. He was quickly involved with Bailey, eventually marrying her and becoming a father to her son, Tuck. He also makes the decision to switch specialties from anesthesiology to general surgery, becoming a surgical intern at Grey-Sloan following the hospital shooting at the end of Season 6. He changes career courses again, however, in Season 14, when he abandons surgery to pursue becoming a firefighter. This also leads to Ben’s character being part of an ensemble on the spin-off show Station 19.
In another turn of events, Ben returns to Grey-Sloan in Season 21 as a surgical resident. Seven years have passed since Ben left Grey-Sloan to become a firefighter, and he has since then adopted another child with Bailey. Though the interns don’t see him as competition because he is Bailey’s husband and older than the rest of them, Ben is last seen in Grey’s Anatomy, Season 21, Episode 8, “Drop It Like It’s Hot” being considered a superior resident because of his combined experience as a first responder and a surgeon.
6. Catherine’s Cancer Puts Her on the Table
Despite Her Best Wishes, Additional Treatment Was Needed
Meredith and Catherine have been at odds with each other since Season 20, when Catherine discovered that Meredith had been using Grey-Sloan’s funds for her Alzheimer’s research without giving attribution to the Fox Foundation. The altercation also involved Teddy, Owen, Amelia and Bailey, all of whom were fired by Catherine for their roles. While Meredith does manage to secure back everyone’s positions at Grey-Sloan, save for her own, through blackmailing Catherine, the two still remain antagonistic towards each other throughout the first half of the season.
In Grey’s Anatomy, Season 15, Episode 7, “Anybody Have a Map?”, Catherine is diagnosed with a grade 3 chondrosarcoma, a type of bone cancer. During her campaign to resecure her colleagues’ positions, Meredith finds out that Catherine’s chondrosarcoma has progressed, but Catherine refuses to tell her husband, Richard, about the progression. Though Meredith originally agrees to keep Catherine’s prognosis secret, a routine procedure results in Catherine requiring surgery and Richard needing to be informed.
5. Bailey Is Returning to Her Roots
She Has Always Advocated For the Interns
During the first few seasons of Grey’s Anatomy, Bailey was lukewarm with the interns, considering them beneath her as she was a resident. As the seasons progressed, Bailey came to grow fond of them and see them as equals, more so as she became an attending of general surgery. By the departure of each original intern, Bailey had developed strong interpersonal relationships with each of them and still maintains a strong, professionally reciprocal relationship with Meredith, as demonstrated in Grey’s Anatomy, Season 21, Episode 2, “Take Me to Church”, when Meredith confides in Bailey on Catherine’s condition.
Over the years, Bailey has grown close with the rotating intern classes, but none more so than the most recent class. When Catherine threatens to replace the interns in Grey’s Anatomy, Season 20, Episode 10, “Burn It Down”, Bailey is the one to step in, threatening to quit as well if Catherine fires the interns. Bailey is also the one to give permission to Yasuda to leave Grey-Sloan after the death of her sister, after first advocating for Yasuda to stay but then understanding why she cannot. Given her willingness to sacrifice her position and the relationships Bailey is developing with each intern, Bailey seems to be returning to her original role as a major asset to the interns’ lives.
4. Owen Still Suspects Teddy of an Affair
He Believes Things Are More Than They Seem
During Season 20, it became evident to Owen and Teddy that their marriage was in trouble, as it suffered from a lack of variety due to both being full-time parents and in their leadership positions. A session of couples counseling brought them to first try relaxing outside of work, though that brought them only to more disaster in Grey’s Anatomy, Season 20, Episode 8, “Blood, Sweat, and Tears” when they rescued a young woman caught in a rocky hole.
A dinner with colleagues of theirs in Grey’s Anatomy, Season 21, Episode 6, “Night Moves”, led to Teddy sharing a kiss with Cass, a fellow trauma surgeon at Seattle Presbyterian. Though both women chalk it up to Cass misreading the atmosphere in the room and the wine, Teddy still feels guilty and tells Owen about the encounter. By Grey’s Anatomy, Season 21, Episode 8, “Drop It Like It’s Hot”, Owen has been both angered and incensed by the kiss, but viewers are last left with Owen catching a glimpse of Cass and Teddy with Cass’ hand on Teddy’s shoulder, flaring up his distrust of the meaning of their kiss once more.
3. Jo’s Pregnancy Is in Danger
A Robbery May Mean Miscarriage
At the beginning of Season 21, Jo was expecting her first child with Link. Only having just learned of the results at the end of Season 20, Jo spent the first episodes of the season agonizing on how to tell Link about additional children, given that the two of them were already parents to Luna and co-parenting Scout, whom Link fathered with Amelia. It was also revealed that Jo was expecting twins with Link rather than a single child, which neither of them had been expecting.
The burden of parenting four children rather than three put a strain on Jo and Link’s relationship, with Link growing emotionally distant and leaving Jo to care for both Luna and Scout. During Grey’s Anatomy, Season 21, Episode 8, “Drop It Like It’s Hot”, when Luke and Jo visit a nearby convenience store to find ice during a heat wave, they are held hostage by an armed robber. The stress of the situation takes a toll on Jo, and she is last seen bleeding while she and Luke try to extricate themselves from the situation.
2. Yasuda Departs Grey-Sloan
Her Sister’s Death Is Too Much To Handle
Yasuda was first introduced in Grey’s Anatomy, Season 19, Episode 1, “Everything Has Changed”, and she stood out as one of the most promising interns. She had many hallmarks of the show’s original intern team, like living in her RV, having a thirst for cardiothoracic surgery and dating a superior. She was also the intern who led a push for better conditions for interns after she was found grabbing a two-day-old donut from the trash can. Kwan once described Yasuda as the “glue” of the interns, something that’s evident throughout her time on Grey’s through her personal connections with each of them.
Yasuda chose to leave Grey-Sloan after the death of her sister, Chloe, in Grey’s Anatomy, Season 21, Episode 7, “If You Leave”; both of them were involved in a car accident that killed Chloe. She attempted to return to work at Grey-Sloan after Chloe’s death, only to find that she could not mentally stand being in the same place that resulted in the death of her sister. Her next steps were unclear, only that she needed to leave, and while Bailey and the interns were devastated to see her leave, none were more so than Millin, with whom Yasuda had developed a fledgling relationship.
1. Schmitt Makes a Career Change
He Decided To Pursue Research Instead
Schmitt was first introduced in Grey’s Anatomy, Season 14, Episode 1, “Break Down the House”, as a group of pre-interns present to learn more about Grey-Sloan before interviews. Throughout his time on the show, Schmitt evolves from a bumbling, mistake-prone intern to a confident surgeon, first deciding to specialize in general surgery before ultimately deciding that he wanted to specialize in pediatrics. Schmitt was also paired with a number of surgeons throughout his time on Grey’s Anatomy, from a one-night stand with Jo to a failed romance with orthopedic surgeon Nico Kim. In Grey’s Anatomy, Season 21, Episode 5, “You Make My Heart Explode”, Schmitt decides to pursue a relationship with James Morgan, the hospital’s chaplain.
Schmitt’s farewell to Grey-Sloan comes when Beltran offers him a research position in Texas, which offers him a better chance to earn a pediatric surgery fellowship and increases Schmitt’s likelihood of being able to pursue his dreams of pediatric surgery. Schmitt had never left Seattle permanently before, and after trying to decide between research and a general surgery attending position at Grey-Slown, he eventually chose to go to Texas in Grey’s Anatomy, Season 21, Episode 6, “Night Moves”, with James following him.
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