‘Grey’s Anatomy’ Wraps up Fall Finale With Devastating Cliffhanger, and There’s a ‘Station 19’ Connection

Grey’s Anatomy finished its run of 2019 episodes with an eventful midseason finale, and an ending that has us wishing it could be January already. The ABC long-running medical drama followed as Meredith (Ellen Pompeo) returned to Grey Sloan Memorial after getting her job back. The episode also featured a heavy presence of Station 19 moments, setting up a heart-pounding cliffhanger that could change everything.

Spoilers ahead for Grey’s Anatomy Season 16, Episode 9: “Let’s All Go to the Bar”

While Meredith celebrated her anticipated return to the hospital, Jo (Camilla Luddington) spent some time at Station 19 as she started her new position as a safe haven volunteer. The episode also showed as Jackson (Jesse Williams) was forced to introduce his mother Catherine (Debbie Allen) to new “girlfriend” Vic Hughes (Station 19’s Barrett Doss).

The surprises kept coming as Bailey (Chandra Wilson) met with her patient Pruitt Herrera (Miguel Sandoval), begging her not to tell her husband Ben (Jason George) that his cancer is back. Before confirming Pruitt’s diagnosis, Bailey revealed she is having an ultrasound later that day to find out the sex of her baby.

After she gets a call that a baby was dropped off at Station 19, Jo meets Vic and the other members of the firehouse. Given her own history of having been left at a fire station as a baby, the episode saw as Jo looked back at her history for the first time since her treatment.

Ben and Jo head to the hospital for Bailey’s ultrasound/taking the rescued baby to be checked out. As Bailey updates Pruitt about the severity of his new diagnosis, she realizes she started bleeding. When Ben arrives in the room, he gets the news she lost the baby.

Bailey tells Ben they should process their loss separately and encourages him to go spend time with his friends while gets back to work. She then hides the tragedy from Amelia (Caterina Scorsone), who had also expressed her fear of getting an ultrasound.

The episode gave shocker after shocker in its final moments. Maggie (Kelly McCreary) quit her job as she continues to deal with the loss of her cousin. Koracik (Greg Germann) offered the open position to Teddy (Kim Raver), as he played with the fact Owen (Kevin McKidd) hasn’t proposed to her yet to play with her feelings.

Bailey then arrives in her office and breaks down. Meanwhile, Jo takes the baby she saved home, not knowing exactly why she did it. Amelia gets a reality check at during her ultrasound when it’s revealed her pregnancy is further along than she thought, meaning the baby she’s carrying could be Owen’s.

The episode ends with tragedy as a car slams into Joe’s Bar, leaving the lives of many Grey’s and Station 19 characters’ lives in peril.

Ahead of the episode, Grey’s and Station 19 showrunner Krista Vernoff told Deadline the decision to kick off the firefighter drama’s third season with a big crossover event made sense.

“It felt very organic to launch the premiere of Station 19 off this incident that happens on Grey’s Anatomy,” she told the outlet. “We often do catastrophes or disasters in the season finale of Grey’s Anatomy, and it felt organic to do that and then allow the Station 19 first responders to be on the scene when we come back in January. There is an incident at the end of the Grey’s episode that requires you to come back in January at 8 PM to see how the first responders handle it.”

Station 19‘s return will come with the firefighter drama taking over the Thursdays at 8 p.m. ET timeslot, with Grey’s moving to 9 p.m. Both shows will return with the big crossover event Thursday, Jan. 23 starting at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.