Grey’s Anatomy season 16 episode 10 preview: Too many lives to save

Who lives, who dies, and who tells Link who the father of Amelia’s baby really is? All will supposedly be revealed in the midseason premiere.

It’s that time of year again — time to break our holiday Grey’s Anatomy hiatus and return to all the trauma, love triangles, and heartbreak we hate to love.

After November’s midseason finale cliffhanger — unless it’s called something else when it’s a car crashing into a building instead of hanging over a cliff — there’s a lot to look forward to. McWidow, for example, just might be absolutely perfect for Meredith — right? And Jo is making bad choices! Again! Is Link going to talk some sense into her?

Right… there’s a car in Joe’s bar. Almost forgot about that. Even if you don’t normally watch Station 19, you’ll want to tune in to the whole two-hour crossover event to find out how everyone gets rescued from the building.

Poor Bailey. Despite how much she annoyed devoted fans last year, she still can’t catch a break and that’s awful. Hey, Krista? Hurt Warren and we riot, understood? Cool.

One of the biggest questions of all facing the Grey’s fandom leading into episode 10 is how (if at all) the show is going to address Alex Karev’s absence.

It has already been confirmed that Justin Chambers’ final episode aired in November, which means, as far as we know, there won’t be an onscreen farewell for the character he has portrayed for the past 15 years.

So what could the show possibly do to give him the sendoff he deserves? And what’s going to happen to Jo with him gone? Now that she has basically stolen a baby, will she be left to sort things out all on her own?

It would be a major disservice to fans if they kept “he’s away taking care of his mother” as an ongoing excuse for his departure for the remainder of the season. If the audience is already aware of the elephant in the room, there’s no point in trying to hide it… right?

Chances are, they’ll keep that placeholder in until they decide how to formally handle the fact that one of the show’s original cast members is gone and never returning. This won’t be a Cristina Yang-level sendoff. And even if they do eventually kill him off somehow, it won’t feel quite the same as Patrick Dempsey’s final episode, when both Meredith and the fandom got to say goodbye.

Whether or not they take the time to address it early on in the season is still up for debate. But until then, there are plenty more possible character deaths to worry about. Plus, come on — we need to know once and for all if Owen is responsible for yet another tiny human..

We get really wanting to be a dad, but this … it’s a little much, don’t you think?

Grey’s Anatomy returns this Thursday at a new time, 9 p.m. ET, as part of a two-hour Station 19 crossover event beginning at 8.