November 2020 Station 19 and Grey's Anatomy crossover event

A three-part fictional crossover between the television franchises Station 19 and Grey's Anatomy was aired on the American Broadcasting Company consecutively in a three-hour timeslot on November 12, 2020. It began with "Nothing Seems the Same" of Station 19, continued with "All Tomorrow's Parties" of Grey's Anatomy, and concluded with "The Center Won't Hold", also of Grey's Anatomy. The event served as the fourth season premiere of Station 19 and seventeenth season premiere, as well as the second episode of the seventeenth season of Grey's Anatomy.

"November 2020 Station 19 and Grey's Anatomy crossover event"
Station 19 and Grey's Anatomy crossover event
Meredith Grey (Ellen Pompeo) and Derek Shepherd (Patrick Dempsey) in a promotional image for the event
Original air date	November 12, 2020 (2020-11-12)
Part 1: Station 19
Episode title	"Nothing Seems the Same"
Episode no.	Season 4 Episode 1
Directed by	Paris Barclay
Written by	Kiley Donovan
Episode chronology
← Previous "Louder Than a Bomb" Next → "Wild World"
List of Station 19 episodes
Part 2: Grey's Anatomy
Episode title	"All Tomorrow's Parties"
Episode no.	Season 17 Episode 1
Directed by	Debbie Allen
Written by	Andy Reaser & Lynee E. Litt
Episode chronology
← Previous "Put on a Happy Face" Next → "The Center Won't Hold"
Grey's Anatomy season 17
List of Grey's Anatomy episodes
Part 3: Grey's Anatomy
Episode title	"The Center Won't Hold"
Episode no.	Season 17 Episode 2
Directed by	Debbie Allen
Written by	Andy Reaser & Jase Miles-Perez
Episode chronology
← Previous "All Tomorrow's Parties" Next → "My Happy Ending"
Grey's Anatomy season 17
List of Grey's Anatomy episodes
Crossover chronology
Preceded by	"January 2020 Station 19 and Grey's Anatomy crossover event"
Followed by	"December 2020 Station 19 and Grey's Anatomy crossover event"

All three episodes followed a unified storyline of children involved in a car accident and the rescue and treatment of the victims. Paris Barclay directed the first part while Kiley Donovan wrote it. Debbie Allen directed both of the Grey's Anatomy episodes. Andy Reaser also co-wrote both of the Grey's Anatomy episodes while Lynee E. Litt co-wrote the first Grey's Anatomy episode and Jase Miles-Perez co-wrote the second. The event also marked the surprise and unpublicized return of Patrick Dempsey to Grey's Anatomy who last appeared in the series in 2015. It was watched live by an average of 6.25 million viewers throughout the three-hour period and received positive reviews from critics.

Plot

Part 1: "Nothing Seems the Same"

Station 19 deals with the effects of COVID-19. Meanwhile, the aid car deals with treating child victims involved in a car accident while returning from a party. Things get complicated when the car catches fire and quickly turns into a small forest fire. Sullivan deals with being fired from the Seattle Fire Department and has trouble settling into his new job. Also, Andy continues to process the news that her mother is still alive and she is still grieving the death of her father.

Part 2: "All Tomorrow's Parties"

In April 2020, Grey-Sloan Memorial is in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. Richard returns to work and becomes accustomed to the new protocols and changes enforced at the hospital. Tom welcomes Richard back and tells him and Bailey that he ordered more masks and face shields for the hospital staff. Bailey struggles to find a solution for properly clean everyone's PPE (Personal Protection Equipment). Luckily, Richard is able to use the UV light device — that Bailey presented him earlier as a machine used to clean rooms — to disinfect all the masks. Meredith is feeling the impact of the pandemic as many of her patients are dying alone, and is becoming more and more frustrated. When Station 19 brings in teenagers from a wildfire, Owen and Jackson tend to them, along with Jo. Flashback. Jo tries to get over Alex by attempting to sleep with Jackson, whose relationship with Vic ended after an awkward encounter with Harriet. However she cries while they are making out and Jackson calls it off. In the present, she tells him that she is mortified by what she did and realizes she isn’t ready to move on. Teddy continues to feel the tension between her and Owen as the hospital continue to hold resentment towards her. When the shipment of PPE arrives, Koracick, Teddy, and Maggie find that they only received booties, leaving Tom to take his frustration out on the boxes. In order to ease her anger of all of dying COVID patients, Meredith attempts to call Andrew, but to no avail. Flashback. Cindy Wright, DeLuca's patient who was being sex trafficked, returns to Grey-Sloan. Regardless of his manic episode, DeLuca goes to be with her. Cindy admits that she is from Arizona. Bailey calls the police and reunites her with her family. Later, Bailey, Richard, Meredith, and Carina hold an "intervention" for DeLuca. He breaks down and decides to accept help. In the present, DeLuca decides to return to Grey-Sloan and begins to work, helping out a distraught Meredith. Maggie continues her long-distance relationship with Dr. Winston Ndugu, as they struggle to admit they love each other. Upset by all the COVID deaths, Schmitt attempts to confide in Nico about the whole situation. As they continue to wait for answers, the parents blame each other for the incident. A fight ensues with the parents and they injure Bailey in the process.

Part 3: "The Center Won't Hold"

The parents of the children involved in the car accident are treated after injuries from the fight during which Bailey also sustained an injury. Meanwhile, Catherine deals with tight hospital finances as a result of the pandemic. Tom gets demoted from his Chief of Chiefs position after accidentally ordering the wrong type of personal protective equipment; he later gets the news that he is COVID positive, even though he is not symptomatic. Richard and Catherine begin to rekindle their relationship. Teddy also tries to make amends with Owen who is still unable to forgive her. Meredith is found collapsed in a parking garage; in a hallucination dream she sees her dead husband Derek Shepherd on the beach.

Production

Station 19 filming began during the first week of September 2020.^[1] The first Grey's Anatomy episode began filming on September 8, 2020, after filming of the previous season was cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic.^[2] Cast and crew members of both series were required to wear personal protective equipment on scene at all times and take mandatory COVID tests.^[3] All three episodes focused heavily on real world events including the COVID-19 pandemic.^[4]

The third episode of the crossover most notably features the surprising and unpublicized return of former series regular Patrick Dempsey as Derek Shepherd.^[5] Dempsey last appeared in the series in the eleventh season episode "How to Save a Life".^[6] The idea to bring Dempsey back to the series was ultimately revealed to be series star Ellen Pompeo's.^[7] Krista Vernoff, the Grey's Anatomy showrunner, revealed the difficulties of keeping Dempsey's return a secret:

I have to say that it was an epic feat, the keeping of this secret. I didn't send cuts to the studio and network that included that last scene. I didn't have writers' assistants in the writers' room for the last couple of months. There were writers who didn't know we were doing this on that staff. Most of the actors didn't know we were doing this. The crew didn't know we were doing this when they showed up on the day. I put the name "Ellis Grey" in the script that we read at the table, and I had Meredith say "Mom" at the table, so we got there on the day, and no one had been told what was happening.^[8]

Dempsey said that he enjoyed filming the reunion scene and is expected to return for future episodes.^[9] Former head makeup designer Norman T. Leavitt returned to provide services for the scene.^[10]

On September 17, 2020, it was revealed that both Station 19 and Grey's Anatomy would premiere on November 12 in a two-part crossover event.^[11]

Cast and characters

Main

Actor	Character	Episode
		Station 19	Grey's Anatomy (episode 1)	Grey's Anatomy (episode 2)
Jaina Lee Ortiz	Andy Herrera	Main	Does not appear
Jason George	Ben Warren	Main	Guest	Does not appear
Boris Kodjoe	Robert Sullivan	Main	Does not appear
Grey Damon	Jack Gibson	Main	Guest	Does not appear
Barrett Doss	Victoria Hughes	Main	Guest	Does not appear
Jay Hayden	Travis Montgomery	Main	Guest	Does not appear
Okieriete Onaodowan	Dean Miller	Main	Guest	Does not appear
Danielle Savre	Maya Bishop	Main	Guest	Does not appear
Stefania Spampinato	Carina DeLuca	Main	Guest	Does not appear
Ellen Pompeo	Meredith Grey	Does not appear	Main
Chandra Wilson	Miranda Bailey	Guest	Main
James Pickens Jr.	Richard Webber	Does not appear	Main
Kevin McKidd	Owen Hunt	Guest	Main
Kim Raver	Teddy Altman	Does not appear	Main
Jesse Williams	Jackson Avery	Does not appear	Main
Camilla Luddington	Jo Karev	Does not appear	Main
Caterina Scorsone	Amelia Shepherd	Does not appear	Main
Kelly McCreary	Maggie Pierce	Does not appear	Main
Giacomo Gianniotti	Andrew DeLuca	Does not appear	Main
Chris Carmack	Atticus "Link" Lincoln	Does not appear	Main
Jake Borelli	Levi Schmitt	Does not appear	Main
Greg Germann	Tom Koracick	Does not appear	Main
Richard Flood	Cormac Hayes	Does not appear	Main
Anthony Hill	Winston Ndugu	Does not appear	Main

Notable guests

Actor	Character	Episode
		Station 19	Grey's Anatomy (episode 1)	Grey's Anatomy (episode 2)
Noah Alexander Gerry	Joey	Guest	Does not appear
Justin Ellings	Frankie Morris	Guest	Does not appear	Guest
BJ Tanner	Tuck Jones	Guest		Does not appear
V. Vieux	Rosalind	Guest		Does not appear
Jaicy Elliot	Taryn Helm	Does not appear	Guest	Does not appear
Zaiver Sinnett	Zander Perez	Does not appear	Guest
Louis Ozawa	Steve Lee	Does not appear	Guest
Linda Park	Deborah Lee	Does not appear	Guest
TJ Thyne	Aaron Morris	Does not appear	Guest
Debbie Allen	Catherine Fox	Does not appear		Guest
Alex Landi	Nico Kim	Does not appear		Guest
Patrick Dempsey	Derek Shepherd	Does not appear		Guest

Reception

Viewing figures

Station 19 was watched live by 6.59 million viewers; Grey's Anatomy, which received a single number for the two-hour timeslot, was watched live by 5.92 million.^[12]

Critical response

While reviewing the first part of the crossover, Jessica Lerner from TV Fanatic said that the episode "was mostly positive" but that the main call of the week didn't work stating that "While it was clear the show was trying to send the message that we should be adhering to social distancing guidelines and wearing masks, it just felt heavy-handed. It felt more like a public service announcement than something that happened organically and detracted from the rest of the episode in how preachy it felt at times".^[13] Jasmine Blu from TV Fanatic also reviewed the second and third parts of the crossover saying the multiple storylines "made for a mishmash of confusion and too much crammed into the premiere" but also stated that the ending scene "delivered the shock of a lifetime with a fallen Meredith and a Derek sighting!".^[14]

Lincee Ray from Entertainment Weekly said that "the amount of content the Grey's Anatomy showrunners stuffed into two hours proves that they made good use of their time during lockdown".^[15] Reviewing everything as a whole, Maggie Fremont from Vulture said it "pretty much caught us up, even if very quickly, on where every character's drama from last season stands".^[16]

References

1. "Station 19 season 4 filming underway; go behind the scenes". CarterMatt. September 7, 2020. Retrieved November 13, 2020.
2. Ng, Philiana (September 8, 2018). "'Grey's Anatomy' Begins Filming Season 17: See Ellen Pompeo's First On-Set Photo". ET Online. Retrieved November 13, 2020.
3. Bucksbaum, Sydney (September 8, 2020). "Grey's Anatomy resumes filming as Ellen Pompeo shares first photo from set". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved November 13, 2020.
4. Craig, David (November 13, 2020). "Grey's Anatomy boss talks surprise return for major character". Radio Times. Retrieved November 13, 2020.
5. VanHoose, Benjamin (November 13, 2020). "Patrick Dempsey on His Surprise Grey's Anatomy Return: It Was 'Lovely and Inspiring to Go Back'". People Magazine. Retrieved November 13, 2020.
6. Roberto, Melissa (November 13, 2020). "'Grey's Anatomy' fans stunned by Patrick Dempsey's return in Season 17 premiere: 'I cried so much'". Fox News. Retrieved November 13, 2020.
7. Oliver, David (November 13, 2020). "'Grey's Anatomy' premiere shocker: (SPOILER) returns for the first time in years". USA Today. Retrieved November 13, 2020.
8. Piester, Lauren (November 12, 2020). "How Grey's Anatomy Pulled Off Patrick Dempsey's Surprise Return". E! Online. Retrieved November 13, 2020.
9. Longretta, Emily (November 12, 2020). "Grey's Anatomy's Ellen Pompeo Reveals How Shocking Premiere Reunion Came About — and What's Next". US Weekly. Retrieved November 13, 2020.
10. Andreeva, Nellie (November 12, 2020). "'Grey's Anatomy' Shocker: Krista Vernoff, Ellen Pompeo & Patrick Dempsey On Season 17 Premiere's Dream Reunion & More". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved November 13, 2020.
11. Highfill, Samantha (September 17, 2020). "Grey's Anatomy to return with supersize premiere, Station 19 crossover". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved November 13, 2020.
12. Metcalf, Mitch (November 13, 2020). . ShowBuzzDaily. Archived from the original on November 13, 2020. Retrieved November 13, 2020.
13. Lerner, Jessica (November 12, 2020). "Station 19 Season 4 Episode 1 Review: Nothing Seems the Same". TVFanatic. Retrieved November 13, 2020.
14. Blu, Jasmine (November 13, 2020). "Grey's Anatomy Season Premiere Review: OMG! Did *Spoiler* Return?!". TV Fanatic. Retrieved November 13, 2020.
15. Ray, Lincee (November 13, 2020). "Grey's Anatomy premiere recap: Coping with COVID". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved November 13, 2020.
16. Fremont, Maggie (November 13, 2020). "Grey's Anatomy Season-Premiere Recap: To the Limit". Vulture. Retrieved November 13, 2020.