‘Grey’s Anatomy’ Planning Standalone Episode Dedicated to Amelia

Grey’s Anatomy will be dedicating an entire upcoming episode to one of its longtime characters.

The long-running ABC medical drama will shine a spotlight on Amelia Shepherd (Caterina Scorsone) as one of the three bonus episodes the network recently added to the Season 15 order.

The network recently announced the season had been upped from 22 to 25 episodes, which as TVLine first reported, executive producer Krista Vernoff thought was not expecting.

The Grey’s showrunner revealed in a recent interview that she was hoping just to make it to the traditional 24 episodes.

“I knew for a long time that we were making 24,” she told the outlet. “We’ve been making 24 episodes a year for many years now. ABC asked about [doing one more] and I spent a week thinking about whether or not we could accomplish it. I [ultimately] said yes because I like to be a team player.”

After agreeing to the extra hour, Vernoff said she didn’t have to think too much about who to focus on during the standalone episode.

“I had an extra standalone episode idea that I wanted to do this season,” she added. “So it doesn’t really lengthen our season too much. It allows us to tell [this Amelia-centric] story that we might not otherwise have gotten to tell this season.”

Scorsone also commented on the upcoming episode, saying she is “cautiously optimistic” that she can pull off leading the hour.

“I’ve been doing the show for a long time and just hearing what it’s about fills me with nervous excitement,” the actress teased, revealing to the outlet that the episode will feel like its own “mini movie’ not taking place at the hospital.

“It’s not just, ‘Let’s follow Amelia to the neuro lab,” Scorsone joked. “It’s definitely a little standalone. It’s almost like a little movie on its own.”

Given Amelia’s journey this season has gone from figuring out her evolving relationship with Owen (Kevin McKidd) to coming to the decision to she wants to become Betty’s (Peyton Kennedy) foster parent, we are curious to see what the upcoming episode will explore.

Amelia will also be dealing with more relationship drama when the show returns with its winter premiere, upon finally finding out that Owen is the father of Teddy’s (Kim Raver) baby. The three doctors will be forced to talk about their predicament during the episode, as they will be stuck in an elevator together due to the windstorm.

The series did not announce when the Amelia-centric episode will air. Grey’s Anatomy returns from its winter break Thursday at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.