Team Grey's Drops Spoilers Galore About Season 19's End — And Beyond!

Thus far, Season 19 of Grey's Anatomy has acted as sort of a stress test for its fans, who have seen Meredith's house go up in flames, Link become the most hated man in Seattle, Maggie and Winston's marriage begin to resemble War of the Roses, anti-abortion protesters put Addison in the ER and Catherine confess to Richard that her cancer is once again progressing. And don't even get us started on Simone's boneheaded decision to hit the brakes mid-hookup with Lucas to reunite with her jerky former (and now-current) fiancé.

But our upset is music to the ears of outgoing showrunner Krista Vernoff (who'll be succeeded by EP Meg Marinis next season). "I love putting a viewer through a good wringer," the Grey's Anatomy vet told TVLine at the show's recent PaleyFest Q&A. "I think the tone has really been a return to form, where there's high drama, there's high emotion, and there's also a lot of funny, a lot of humor, a lot of heart.

"It's a magical combination that is a joy to write," she added, "and a joy, I see, for these actors to play. I'm glad the fans are going on the ride."

That, we are. And as we approach the two-hour Season 19 finale (airing on Thursday, May 18, at 9/8c), we've gleaned a whole lotta intel about what to expect in the episodes to come from the series' regulars — in addition to this week's Inside Line update on Lucas and Simone. Care to consult the chart? Keep reading. (With reporting by Scott Huver)

Thus far, Bailey has held it together admirably as anti-abortion protesters have targeted the reproductive-health clinic that she named after her late mother. But "at some point, it's going to start to touch her personally," said Chandra Wilson, the OG who plays Miranda. "So I'm excited for our audience to be able to go through that journey with her. It's one thing to watch somebody you know [and quite another] when it's like, 'Oh, but wait a minute, she's me,' and to see what that awakens in people when you get rid of all the noise and just get down to the basics of healthcare. That's the story that we're trying to tell."

Brother Derek is long gone. Sister-in-law Meredith has taken off for Boston. And in the Thursday, April 13, episode, Kelly McCreary last airs as Maggie. Is Amelia equipped to absorb the blow of yet another loss? "One of the things that we've learned about her over the years," said portrayer Caterina Scorsone, "is that her No. 1 skill, yes, is neurosurgery and, yes, being a mom and a friend, but her No. 1 skill [aside from all that] is resilience. So I think Amelia can get through just about anything" at this point.

Amelia's romance with Kai has been back-burnered a bit this season, but Scorsone is nonetheless thrilled that she gets to play out the on-screen relationship with E.R. Fightmaster at all. "One of the things that I'm so excited about with Grey's Anatomy is that we touch on issues that need to be unpacked for people who maybe don't have tons of access to information or all sides of the story," she said. "One that I feel very passionately about, obviously, is right now the country is so polarized and there's been so much violence against LGBTQ and trans people, and last year, we introduced our first nonbinary doctor and got to present to the world the full humanity and depth of someone in that community. I feel so privileged to be a part of that storyline."

Given the response to Amelia and Kai's pairing, we're all but assured to get more of them. How could we not? As Scorsone noted, "That ship exploded when it came on screen. People saw chemistry there from the beginning and became huge champions of that relationship. So we haven't seen tons of it this year, but every time we have seen it, there's been a lot of excitement about it."

Derek's nephew Lucas has been scrubbing in at Grey Sloan for almost an entire season now, and we still don't know which of McDreamy and Amelia's sisters is the resident's mother. Will we ever? "I have no doubt that you will," Vernoff said, "next season." So, er, probably not before we get to this finale? "Probably not this season." Well, what's a summer, anyway, without a little suspense?

Even after Owen bankrupted his family, nearly went to prison and almost lost his medical license, he's not exactly an altogether changed man, theorized portrayer Kevin McKidd. "He is always going to do things that are out of the box. He leads with his heart, not his head a lot of the time, and it gets him in trouble." Mind you, Hunt would prefer not to repeat past mistakes. "I think he's a little wiser now after what happened," McKidd offered. "Hopefully, he'll go through the correct protocols more [moving forward]. But he's always going to have this kind of rogue element to him."

Before Owen finally said to Teddy those two magic words — "I'm sorry" — things looked awfully bleak for the couple. So he's aware that he's probably pushed it as far as he can with his wife, said McKidd, adding that "what's beautiful about the way they crafted the second half of the season is they've started to show them heal all these wounds [from the affair with Koracick on]. They've been through a lot the last three or four years. And we really start to see them in a more mature couple place."

Ironically, Teddy's new position at Grey Sloan is one of the things that has the greatest positive impact on her and Owen's home life. "Her being chief and him having been chief makes him go, 'This is the toughest job here,'" said McKidd. "It's bonding them. It's reconnecting them, because he's been in those shoes, and he starts to show up for her. Who doesn't like that in your partner? So we kind of see their love start to reignite."

Some viewers were surprised that Ellen Pompeo's send-off as a series regular didn't feel like a real send-off. But that was by design, Vernoff explained. "It wasn't a farewell episode, it was a leaving-Seattle episode, because we knew we were going to see Meredith again this season and more next season as well. So it was a different kind of farewell than some that we've done where it's like, 'That's the last you're ever going to see that person.' We didn't want to do that. We wanted a sweet 'See you later' kind of thing for Ellen. And then, we've still got her voiceover anchoring the show, which I think has a much bigger impact than anyone is fully aware of. Maybe for that reason, I have felt that the show's been pretty steady."

If Grey's Anatomy were to birth another offshoot down the road, McKidd would be more than up for it. "That would be fantastic," he said. "Listen, I'm down. I'll be there. There's a lot of life left in all of these characters. We expanded the world into Station 19. I don't see why we can't expand it yet further. I'm not quite sure how — maybe it's an army medicine thing — but there could be something really fun and quite vital there."

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