Grey's Anatomy Romance Check-In

In matters of the heart, doctors should know best, right? Here, we check the pulses of the show’s hottest pairings — with scoop on what’s ahead in season 13 from executive producer Shonda Rhimes and the cast.

Grey’s Anatomy returns on Sept. 22 on ABC.

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After a secret hookup with Riggs last season, Meredith discovered that Maggie has feelings for the new cardio doc — a good excuse for her to push Riggs away, while also insisting he do the same with Maggie so her sister doesn’t get hurt. “She’s finding herself in this triangle that Maggie for sure is going to see as a betrayal,” Pompeo says. “Call me crazy, but I smell a little drama.” But don’t expect a cat fight, per se. “What I love is that we’re not ever a show that’s about a guy coming between two women, because I really feel like that’s never interesting,” Rhimes says.

Alex will soon be facing the ­consequences of beating up DeLuca, both professionally at the hospital and personally at home with Jo. “That relationship is going to be deeply affected,” Rhimes says. “The fact that Alex is a guy whose response is to beat somebody up is a little problematic.” But Alex will be just as hurt over learning that Jo isn’t who she says she is. “They bonded over their past, and to leave that part of her past out, he’s going to feel very betrayed,” Chambers says.

The recently divorced duo will navigate co-parenting with mixed results. “Those feelings are still there,” Rhimes says. “Just because they couldn’t make it work doesn’t mean that they don’t still really care about each other.” But the show will go for a lighter tone with “what it means to be uncoupled… and how it feels to see your ex go out on a date, and do you try to sabotage it a little bit? There’s some flirting that happens. We think we can have a little fun with it versus being dark and grim.”

After their quickie marriage, Owen and Amelia will be adjusting to married life. “I love the fact that the last episode was, ‘Oh my God, what the heck am I doing?’ because [Amelia] did do something awfully fast with not that much thought put into it,” Rhimes says — though Owen may come to realize he feels much the same. “How does a man who is married to someone like Amelia — who loves to talk everything out and take all 12 steps of everything — how does somebody like him, who doesn’t want to talk about anything, how does he cope with this when she’s a very much, ‘Let’s heal!’ kind of person? Watching him deal with this will be very interesting.”

After facing the trials and tribulations of Ben’s suspension, the two are in a relatively good place. “I love seeing this very healthy couple that truly loves each other, that can fight, get along, be sexy, and feel real that we can enjoy watching be a couple with all of the ups and downs of whatever that means,” Rhimes says. “That feels rare on television. There’s something delightful about watching this couple — that you know is going to make it — struggle through life. Even if Bailey gets jealous of somebody, or even if he’s having a hard time with her job, there’s something lovely about watching them figure this thing out together.”

With Callie out of the picture, Arizona truly will be moving on and getting a new love interest this season. “We’re absolutely going to see it,” Rhimes says. “Jessica was very, very delightfully pregnant at the end of last year, and so she’s not in the first two episodes — which everybody brace yourselves for — because she’s taking a little bit of time off for kids, but then she’s back. I’m very excited to introduce a love interest for her, and to get to tell a story with her that lets her be who she is, and to see who she is post the relationships that she’s had.”