‘Grey’s Anatomy’ EP on Time Jump and More from Season 23 Premiere

SPOILER ALERT: The story includes details from ABC’s Season 23 premiere. Grey’s Anatomy.

Time didn’t stand still at Gray Sloan as Grey’s Anatomy returned with his first jump between seasons in four years. The season 23 premiere took place a month after the events of the season 22 finale. It featured the completed VIP floor and Seth Norton, played by new recurring actor James Wolk, a handsome and arrogant surgeon turned businessman whose company Olympic Regent Health backed the luxury medical suite. His focus on results immediately clashed with Meredith’s (Ellen Pompeo) compassion, putting the two on a collision course as Norton was revealed at the end of the episode as the new chief of surgery at Gray Sloan, Teddy’s (Kim Raver) old job.

There was no hint in the premiere of Nick (Scott Speedman) or mention of his engagement to Meredith in the S22 finale and no updates on Teddy and Owen (Kevin McKidd) and their new life in France.

At the end of last season, Simone (Alexis Floyd) was faced with the Wes (Trevor Jackson) vs. Lucas (Niko Terho) dilemma after the former suggested making their casual relationship official and she had a drunken affair with the latter. A month later, she’s with Wes (and has a new hairstyle) but can’t help but come across Lucas shirtless (and sometimes completely undressed). In one of the big twists of the episode, Simone discovers that she is pregnant.

Ben (Jason George) is still a gentleman and did not report Winston (Anthony Hill) to Bailey (Chandra Wilson) having a relationship with an intern, Jules (Adelaide Kane), giving Winston another chance to come clean. At the end of the premiere, Jules and Winston find themselves in an even more difficult situation when Bailey, trying to delegate more so he can pursue a master’s degree, makes Winston director of the residence hall – and Jules’ direct boss.

Kwan aka Blue (Harry Shum Jr.) is still fired and “self-employed.” He secretly returns to Gray Sloan to save his online French teacher’s life with the help of Simone. Jo (Camilla Luddington) seemed fine and was back at work, but a coding patient triggered painful memories and, in the episode’s final seconds, she told Link (Chris Carmack) that she had quit her job. Moments before, Link had slipped some of Jo’s old painkillers, as her addiction issues only seem to be getting worse.

Lingering tension between Amelia (Caterina Scorsone) and Toni (Jen Landon) following Amelia’s alliance with Cass (Sophia Bush) in the S22 finale exploded during a public fight over the care of a patient. The two eventually reconciled and got back together.

In an interview with Deadline, Grey’s Anatomy Executive producer/showrunner Meg Marinis discussed the decision to introduce a time jump and a new antagonist played by Wolk as well as the availability of Pompeo and Scott Speedman, and broke down the episode’s biggest twists, including Simone’s pregnancy, Jo’s resignation, Toni and Amelia’s shenanigans, and Winston and Jules’ new dynamic.

The Texas native also gave an update on the rural Texas spinoff she’s co-creating with Grey’s Anatomy creator Shonda Rhimes, who has a straight-to-series order for midseason.

DEADLINE: It was the first jump since Grey’s introduced the new trainees at the start of season 22. Why did you decide to do it?

MARINIS: It always allows for a little more flexibility and storytelling, and I wanted to do something different, but it also allowed us to be able to build that VIP floor creatively, because obviously we didn’t see that VIP floor in the finale, and so yeah, that’s behind the decision making. And I also didn’t know if I was going to be able to get Scott Speedman because of RJ Deckerand we left him in a hospital bed, so that would have been a little tricky.

DEADLINE: Scott’s Nick and Meredith got engaged in the season 22 finale, but she doesn’t wear a ring in the premiere. Are engagements still on? It wasn’t even mentioned.

MARINIS: Well, the engagement is still on. Meredith Gray never really wore a ring, even when she was with Derek. So she doesn’t necessarily wear a ring, but that doesn’t mean that once married they can have wedding rings. We’re going to pick up this story again though, don’t worry.

DEADLINE: What is Scott’s show season 2 renewal RJ Decker means in terms of availability? Will you be able to get it this season?

MARINIS: Yes, we will see Nick. Obviously, scheduling is always tricky, but the nice thing is that it’s the same family with the show, so they help us out a little. But yeah, it’s tricky because they don’t shoot here, so it takes a little bit of logistical magic, but yeah, we’ll see. (Both Grey’s And RJ Decker are produced by 20th TV for ABC, filming in California and North Carolina respectively.)

DEADLINE: Was James Wolk’s character introduced because you knew you wouldn’t have Scott Speedman for a long time or did you just need another person in Meredith’s life?

MARINIS: He was introduced as someone for the whole hospital, not necessarily just to make fun of Meredith. He’s going to be the source of this conflict between this new floor and the rest of the hospital, and how our other characters play off of that. In particular, we’ll see Richard and how he feels about working alongside someone who doesn’t really know… That’s the crazy thing, we haven’t had a boss like this who isn’t part of the hospital, so he’s essentially a stranger to a lot of our people, and he maybe doesn’t see the interpersonal dynamics that everyone else has.

DEADLINE: But Seth and Meredith will still interact, even if it’s not romantic, right? There was something between them at the premiere.

MARINIS: You will see them together again. Nick is the romantic partner but it’s always nice to do so, I feel like Meredith fights all our battles for us. She’s the one who always says what we always think but can’t say, and so we’ll see her say some of it to Seth.

DEADLINE: And Nick is fully recovered from the accident, right?

MARINIS: He is doing very well.

DEADLINE: Meredith attended the premiere before leaving for Boston. How many episodes is Ellen in this season?

MARINIS: We don’t have an exact number because we still have to wait to see what our schedule is. But don’t worry, this isn’t the last time you see her. You will see it several times.

MIA Doctors: Teddy, Owen and Kwan

DEADLINE: There was only a fleeting reference to Teddy and Owen in the premiere as Winston complained about having to take over their cases, but no mention of how that happened.they do it in France.

MARINIS: Because it’s been a month of story time, I think it’s a little weird to keep talking about them, but man, do we miss them? And I miss the actors too. I feel like the hospital is short on doctors, and I didn’t want the hospital to look like it already replaced them, so that’s kind of what Winston is talking about, he has to cover for them, and it’s taking its toll.

DEADLINE: Speaking of missing doctors, Kwan is still fired a month later. He said he was self-employed in the French class. What does he do as a freelancer?

MARINIS: He was just saying that to cover up for his class. But no, he’s unemployed, and I think he’s kind of in denial and says he likes being unemployed, but we know that’s not real. He definitely misses it.

DEADLINE: How did he share Shum Jr. with Dancing? Did you have to reduce his presence on Grey’s this season?

MARINIS: No, we didn’t have to reduce its presence at all. We haven’t adjusted the design yet because blue is a very important part of the series. Obviously, it can be tricky in terms of scheduling, but we knew that from the start, we had everything on the table at the start of the season. We know what day and a half they still need him, and we’ve been able to make it work. He trains here, he rehearses outside of scenes with his partner. He’ll be recording (Dancing) Tuesday night and will be here at 6:15 the next morning.

DEADLINE: Aren’t you worried that Shum Jr.’s Dancing video shows him wearing a scrub on the hospital set? Grey’s spoiled any suspense over Blue’s firing, revealing that he will be returning to Gray Sloan?

MARINIS: I feel like after watching the premiere, people will know that one way or another it’s going to fold. It is the how that we will discover.

DEADLINE: Any chance Harry dances Grey’s?

MARINIS: Well, now you know I’m going to want it.

Who is the daddy?

DEADLINE: Simone’s surprise pregnancy. We saw Wes and Simone in the premiere being careful about using condoms. Does this automatically mean Lucas is the father because his relationship with Simone wasn’t planned or are we going to get another Who’s the Dad mystery like the one with Amelia’s baby?

MARINIS: This doesn’t automatically mean it’s Lucas. It’s a big old question, and it’s complicated, and I guess yes, we did it with Amelia, but it’s just as fun, and it’s going to play out differently. She’s an amazing surgeon, but when it comes to her personal life, Simone is a bit messy.

DEADLINE: So we won’t know right away, will the mystery continue for a while?

MARINIS: Yeah, I don’t know how you find out.

DEADLINE: Simone knows how to count dates, I guess.

MARINIS: Everything happened at the same time, so it’s nice…