Greyâs Anatomy, ABCâs No. 1 drama, returns for its 13th season in September with a bang â as well as a renewed focus on its original cast.
Season 12 ended with Amelia (Caterina Scorsone) and Owen (Kevin McKidd) saying âI do,â while Jo (Camilla Luddington) and Alex (Justin Chambers) are at odds after a misunderstanding that resulted in him pummeling Andrew DeLuca (Giacomo Gianniotti). Then thereâs a love triangle brewing after Meredith (Ellen Pompeo) slept with Nathan (Martin Henderson) as her sister Maggie (Kelly McCreary) declared her feelings for the same guy.
To hear Scorsone tell it, season 13 will pick up immediately after the finale and begin, in well, typical Greyâs fashion.
âImmediately on the tail of Amelia and Owenâs wedding, thereâs a big explosive drama thatâs happening right away,â she tells THR, noting that it doesnât have anything to do with Amelia and Owen who will be otherwise occupied on their wedding night. âOn Greyâs Anatomy it could be a literal explosion but in this case, itâs emotionally explosive. Itâs going to be a key story this year that a lot of people are going to be interested in.â
While that may eliminate the appearance of Owenâs presumed dead sister (and Nathanâs love interest), Megan, Scorsone wonât rule out her appearance âcoming down the pike.â
Overall, season 13 will focus on the showâs original stars â Meredith, Alex, Bailey (Chandra Wilson) and Richard (James Pickens Jr.), who all just inked new deals to return to the veteran drama.
âThere is going to be a lot of checking in with the original cast; we love them so much and there has been such a renaissance with the show that itâs nice to focus on the core pieces that have been there since the very beginning,â Scorsone says, referring to the unlikely accomplishment that a show in its 13th season would be back on top at the network.
As for Meredith, Scorsone noted that while Amelia may be moving out of the âSister House,â the siblingsâ dynamic will still be front and center come season 13.
âMeredith has Maggie still helping with the kids and theyâre going to have an interesting dynamic this year based on the whole Nathan love triangle,â she says, noting that her personal pregnancy will not be written into Greyâs this season. âEven though Amelia is moving out of the house, the sister dynamic is going to be central to her storyline. Those relationships â female relationships in general â and familial female relationships are so underexplored in our popular media. Weâre really going to focus on those relationships.â
For Alex, Jo and DeLuca, meanwhile, season 13 will begin with the wake of Alexâs beat-down of DeLuca and Joâs decision about whether or not to tell her boyfriend that sheâs already married.
âJo has got to decide whether she wants to use this opportunity to finally come clean to Alex about her past or if itâs just too great and sheâll keep burying the secret. But if she chooses to bury the secret, she chooses to lose Alex,â Gianniotti says.
DeLuca, however, will have a more central role with Alex this season than ever after the brutal beating. âBecause Alex misinterpreted the situation and beat DeLuca so badly, heâs going to have a lot of legal consequences to deal with,â he says.
The actor, promoted to series regular last season, hopes to see DeLuca taken a bit more seriously by his peers as he looks to figure out his specialty in season 13. Naturally, that could bring him closer to Alex as Greyâs looks to up the drama between the duo.
âHeâs a natural in pediatrics, even though he didnât really like to do it,â he says. âAlex and Andrew relate a lot together and last season was building toward DeLuca being inducted into working with pediatrics. With all the things that have happened with DeLuca and Alex and creating a workspace where the two of them are working together, that could be very tense after whatâs happened.â
