“15 seasons of feels.” That’s the new Grey’s Anatomy tagline, which you can see in the trailer below, and it’s hella appropriate. Honestly, it’s hard to believe 12 years ago a plucky group of surgical residents landed at Seattle Grace hospital and asked us, “Would you lie with me and just forget the world?”
My answer has always been a resounding YES. Since then it’s been appointment television, even through the rough patches and those characters we’d rather forget. (Here’s looking at you, Sloan’s daughter Sloan, Penelope Blake, Eliza Minnick, and Dr. Stark…)
We’ve loved and lost and loved and lost and loved and lost with these doctors, and we’ve shared so many tequila shots at Joe’s and won Harper Averys (before we found out he was a lecherous abuser of Weinstein-like proportions).
And while I have no right to ask anything of this show that’s already given me so much, here are 15 things I want to see happen in season 15.
1. The Meredith/DeLuca tease in the season promo must be a dream
It has to be. I won’t stand for it otherwise. Mer simply cannot sleep with DeLuca, who in my opinion is low-key personality-free. Plus, he used have a thing with her sister, Maggie, and we already did a version of that song and dance with Riggs. My guess is that she has a sex dream about him, and this makes her act weird when she’s sees him in person. End of story.
2. Multiple Cristina Yang references
In a dream world, Yang would drop by Grey Sloan Memorial to see her “person” while attending some conference at which she was the brilliant keynote speaker. But Sandra Oh is pretty busy being incredible on Killing Eve, so I won’t get my hopes up. Let’s just pray there are more mentions in conversations between Meredith and Karev and FaceTime calls we don’t get to see. Grey and Yang will forever be the show’s greatest pairing, after all.
3. Sell me on Jackson and Maggie
April’s gone and these two got their very own Entertainment Weekly cover, so it’s safe to assume they’re going to be a major couple this season.“Maggie and Jackson are exploring love they have finally claimed,” executive producer Krista Vernoff told EW. But I’ve just never bought into anything more than friendship between them—and I really love both of their characters separately. Here’s hoping they’ll prove me wrong.
4. More stress-inducing, dramatic, case-of-the week moments
I’ll always be here for the dramatic personal lives of my favorite docs, but I also like being reminded of how awesome they are at solving medical mysteries and saving the seemingly unsaveable. The lady who couldn’t stop having orgasms! When Demi Lovato could hear every sound inside her own body! Bonnie and Tom stuck together by that pole after a train accident! The concrete kid! I would be very happy to have my heart ripped out by characters I’ll only know for a single episode.
5. An iconic music moment—or two
No, I don’t mean another musical episode. I’d love to see Grey’s get back to its (yes, somewhat sappy) musical roots of old. The memories I have linked to the aforementioned”Chasing Cars” or “Breathe” are so vivid. I want that overpowering emotion again.
6. The return of Addison Forbes Montgomery (formerly Montgomery-Shepherd)
In rewatching early Grey’s on Lifetime, as I like to do while working from home, I’ve realized how desperately I miss Addie. Kate Walsh had such incredible chemistry with everybody she interacted with. Even when I hated her, I loved her. Now that Arizona’s gone to New York to be with Callie and Sophia, the hospital could use a highly-skilled neonatal surgeon and OB/GYN to pair with Karev. Just saying.
PHOTO: Scott Garfield
7. A relationship worthy of the great Dr. Meredith Grey
Ellen Pompeo deserves every dollar of the $20 million a year she’s now receiving to play our titular character. Mer has had time to mourn McDreamy, win a Harper Avery, raise her kids, and even grow tiny livers. Now she needs a complicated, amazing, grown-up relationship all her own. “Patrick Dempsey is a very tough act to follow and it’s challenging to get someone to come on a season 15 show,” Pompeo recently said in EW. “We’re gonna find someone who makes an impact. That’s our biggest challenge this year.” I. Can’t. Wait.
8. An ortho god amazing enough to follow in Calliope Torres’ footsteps
Welcome to the Grey-Sloan, bitch! Chris Carmack, of The O.C. and Nashville fame, is joining the show, and I have high hopes for his character—and his hair. But Callie was the last ortho god we knew; I just hope he likes breaking bones as much as she did, but with his own special touch, of course.
PHOTO: John Fleenor
9. Don’t make Owen too domestic
I’ve never been the biggest Owen stan, but he’s grown on me over the years. And if he was good enough for Cristina’s affections, he should be good enough for mine. But with Teddy showing up pregnant—I’m assuming with his baby—and the foster kiddo already at home, I hope he still has time to use those surgical and leadership skills. Grey Sloan needs the militaristic structure he brings sometimes.
10. Let Bailey Be Bailey
Miranda Bailey is one of the most badass fictional surgeons to ever grace a television screen. She’s been in administrative limbo lately as the Chief of Surgery, and then she had to deal with her husband joining a spin-off, er, the fire department. I want surgical Bailey back. If she yells at some young interns along the way, that’d be fantastic too.
11. Some true happiness for Jo and Alex
At least for a little while. These kids have been through it, guys. They both survived tough childhoods only to face seriously dramatic adult lives with abusive ex-husbands and so many dead doctor friends. They deserve some time in the sun (to quote another Shonda show) after ending last season with a perfect ferry boat wedding.
12. More Debbie Allen, please!
She is a gift to this IRL world and Catherine Avery is one to Dr. Richard Webber, who will always be the Chief to me. I love Catherine’s complicated, yet loving relationship with her son, Jackson. I admire that she never backs down, even when she’s wrong—which is, frankly, so relatable. Allen also directs a lot of Grey’s which is another reason to adore her.
Oh, and there’s this:
13. Solve the problem that is Amelia Shepherd
I’ll be honest here: I do not like Derek’s little sister and never have. (I didn’t watch Private Practice—where her character was first introduced—after the first season, so maybe my view of the character is skewed.) To me, she’s always been a side character trying to become a main character who whines more than any of Mer’s three kids. But I have hope that this season she’ll be amazing!
14. A storyline fully focused on the four OGs
Weber, Bailey, Grey, and Karev. Everyone else from that first magical season has either left Seattle or the earthly plane completely. Please Grey’s writers: Bring on a multi-episode plot that gives each of our original faves space to shine and bicker and be the doctors we’ve watched them grow into over 15 seasons. Only good things can happen if you do.
15. Teddy stays in Seattle for good
I’m hoping Dr. Teddy Altman’s return will not be limited to a mini-arc. She’s the kind of tough, fun friend Meredith could use more of, especially now that she’s (hopefully) getting back into the dating scene. Teddy’s got a soft side, too. Remember how heartbroken she was when Scott Foley died? Plus, she’s a brilliant surgeon who’s also going to have some uterine drama given that she announced in the season finale that she’s pregnant, presumably with Owen’s baby. The possibilities for her character are endless.
Grey’s Anatomy returns tonight on ABC at 8 p.m. ET.
