Grey's Anatomy Season Premiere... With a Twist

**Huge Spoiler Alert**

"Grey's Anatomy" || Courtesy of boomtron.com

Fans of "Grey's Anatomy" were finally able to stop holding their breath on Thursday night. After four months of anticipation, viewers were finally able to... um, be disappointed.

Catch up on the finale of season 8 here, but if you already know about the devastating plane crash that took place in the woods, then chances are you were shocked with the twist of events that took place in just the first few minutes. "Going, Going, Gone" wasn't meant to an ordinary premiere. Not only did the Shonda Rhimes circumvent the core details of the crash, but she left viewers frustrated throughout, as scenes jumped from the present to the past and right back again.

Now, don't get me wrong... Rhimes' writing was genius. As annoyed as I was during the first several minutes, I can definitely respect her style of script writing. She threw everyone off. We all expected her to take us back to the site of the crash and we expected her to reveal to us who survives, but she instead brought viewers to Seattle Grace, looking as normal as ever.

"Dying changes everything" are the chilling words of Meredith's narration at the start of the program. New faces emerge and viewers can see that they are brand new interns eager to learn the ropes. Dr. Jo Wilson is apparently afraid of Meredith (known as "Medusa" by the newbies) and when she approaches her, Meredith's tone is sharp and she then dismisses her. Bailey is evidently amused, and asks how Cristina is doing. According to Meredith, she loves Minnesota.

Viewers then see Cristina heading outside of the hospital in Minnesota. She speaks with her Attending, Dr. Parker, and realizes that he wants to change her schedule, due to Dr. Thomas' request.

Meanwhile, back in Seattle, Derek is exercising his left hand--the same hand that he had to smash with a rock, in order to free himself from the rubble of the plane. Webber checks in on him and lets him know that they're all set for 5 o'clock.

As Bailey is doing her rounds with the interns, Ben interrupts and she fails miserably at hiding her bliss, as the interns watch her. With limited time on their hands, she and Ben head straight for the on-call room, but discover the door is locked and occupied by Alex and Heather.

Callie and Derek || Courtesy of tvline.com

As people walk by Callie in the hospital, she insists she is fine, when she catches them staring at her. Viewers can only wonder in horror what became of her wife, Arizona. Derek feels like he is ready to perform a surgery that day and is willing to join her. Callie says it's a big deal, but he repeats that it's not. Even though Callie had already cleared him for surgery, Meredith doesn't think he is ready; yet, Derek said he feels good and he needs to do this, "especially today."

It's 7 hours until 5 o'clock and Callie is seen by Marks' bedside, speaking to him, but we discover that he is on life support. The plan is to grant his wishes and disconnect him if there is no signs of recovery after 30 days.

1994 appears on the screen and a video of Derek and Mark is shown. They are in their black tuxedos preparing for Derek's wedding with Addison. "You will never, ever find another friend as good as me, ever," Mark tells Derek.

Time moves forward to 2007 and a video shows Mark and Callie about to get intimate, right before Callie throws a pillow at the camera.

In the present, Cristina sees how Dr. Parker's OR differs from what she is used to, when she walks in with a question and all surgeons cease their procedure and give her their full attention. There is no multitasking done in there. She doesn't want to have to perform surgery with Dr. Thomas, the "big talker." Cristina and Meredith talk via video chat and Meredith finds out Cristina's flight to Seattle was pushed back, so that she can conduct a surgery. Meredith can only hope that her friend makes it to Seattle Grace by 5 like she said she would. Owen overhears this and of course, his expression is that of interest but pretty hard to read.

During lunch, Jo tells her fellow interns that she'll never see the inside of an OR as long as "Medusa" is her attending; but just as she says this, Meredith walks over to the table and announces that Jo will be performing an appy.

When Dr. Barnett (the new Peds Attending) is introduced to Callie, he says that he heard about her wife and that he is very sorry. Callie later breaks down in the supply closet and at that point, viewers can only assume that Arizona succumbed to her injures in the plane crash. Why else would she be sobbing like this, right? Anyway, Alex and his frisky self comes in with an intern, but soon realized Callie's presence. Despite Callie demanding that he leave, Alex shut the door and silently sat on the floor.

A 2010 video shows Mark conducting a surgery. It's a video in which he's speaking to Avery who's holding the camera and showing him a procedure. He then tells him to scrub in and finish up--which Avery is happy to do. In the present, Jackson is by Mark's bedside talking to him about patients. He speaks to him as though Mark is responding to him.

Back in Minnesota, Cristina is watching a surgery while web chatting with Meredith. She tells her that she won't make it by 5, and has no problem voicing her thoughts that Dr. Thomas needs to retire.

Miranda and Ben || Courtesy of watchtv-showsmoviesonline.com

Miranda and Ben are getting comfortable in the on-call room, and even has her intern slip her a scan under the door. After hearing soft chattering and giggling in the hall, Bailey opens the door to find several interns scattering in different directions. As Alex and Barnett chat, he finds out that he is not continuing with the exchange program, and so this gives us an idea that his John Hopkins plans might change.

Derek is greeted with an applause as he enters the OR and everyone waits for him to declare his renowned introductory phrase: "It's a beautiful day to save lives." During surgery, Derek drops his surgical tool and he immediately flexes his hand. Callie calmly instructs him to take a second, but he walks away from the table. He later states angrily that his hand went numb.

In the present, Meredith is instructing Jo in her first surgery and the interns are watching from the window above, making comments they didn't know were audible at first. Jo freezes when the patient begins to bleed out, and so Meredith quickly takes over. In the Midwest, Dr. Thomas tries to take Cristina's surgery, but she definitely was not about to have that happen.

2009 flashes on the screen and viewers see a video of Mark talking to the camera and congratulating Arizona and Callie on their marriage. "If you had a partner who would it be?" the camera man asks. "Oh, that's easy," Marks said. "Lexie Gray."

Avery goes back in Mark's room and speaks to him one last time. "Plastic Plastic posse's gonna live on," he says. "Because... I can take it from here," and he tries to keep it together as he leaves, but it's obviously hard for him to deal with this.

Although they were well aware of the procedures, Dr. Webber still explained what he was about to do to Derek and Callie, because as much as they thought it would be easy, Webber assured that it wouldn't be. Evidently, Mark's final requests were that only comfort care be given to him in his final moments, and so Dr. Webber finally turned the ventilator off and then extubated him, as Callie and Derek stayed by his side.

In Minnesota, Cristina is in the middle of surgery and she watches the clock strike 5 o'clock. Meredith is in the middle of her own surgery and she sees the clock as well. Later, Meredith says that she's going to the airport and will be visiting Cristina.

Chief Owen Hunt || Courtesy of buddytv.com

Owen finds Jo crying in the hallway and she asks why Dr. Grey is mean. Owen let her know that the surgery was purposely designed for her to fail. She brings up the plane crash as a possible reason for Meredith being the way she is, yet, obviously has no details of the situation. Owen defends Meredith saying that going easy on her would be a disservice and ultimately tells her to cry somewhere else.

Cristina meets with Dr. Parker in his office and requests the Thomas be steered in someone else's direction. Parker doesn't think she is thriving and reminds her that this is not a competition. He gives her a mandatory leave for a while, telling her to "sharpen up those sharp Seattle edges"--in other words: Relax.

Miranda finds out that her nickname is no longer "Nazi" but, BCB (Booty Call Bailey). She thanks Alex for letting her know before he leaves Seattle Grace "forever."

Meredith reaches the airport and bumps into Alex for is headed for John Hopkins, and she gets mad at him for leaving. "Everything is different. Everyone leaving and everyone is dying," she tells him. He doesn't care, because he knows Hopkins won't wait forever. We then see Owen at the airport as well, bumping into Alex and then running to show his ticket and catch his plane.

Why Mark? Why? || 
Courtesy of abc24.com

We see Derek and Callie by Mark's side, as the monitor shows his vitals weakening. He ultimately died and both are distraught. A clip of Mark holding Sofia is shown. Mark Sloan fans may have been in tears at this point.

Meredith is seen seated on the aircraft, but gets up and makes a scene demanding that she be let off the plane. Later, at the bar, she chats with Cristina on Skype and even Cristina admits her own fear of flying. Alex shows up at the bar and sits next to Meredith--he couldn't go either. Alex mentions bumping into Own at the airport and everyone believes that he's on his way to see Cristina.

Owen finds himself on a farm and out of a barn emerges April Kepner. She is shocked to see him and is surprised to know that he is there to rehire her. The next scene is quite a shocking one, because we see Callie talking to a woman in bed, whose back is turned. It's none other than Arizona! Callie is clearly upset and frustrated and demands that she get out of bed and snap out of this. Arizona looks angry and tells her that she can't "snap out of this" as she pulls back the covers revealing her amputated leg that she blames Callie for.

Dr. Mark Sloan || Courtesy of sheknows.com

The final scene shows a happy moment between Arizona, Mark and Callie. Arizona holds the camera and tries to take a photo of Callie, Mark and the baby, but the camera continues recording. Mark takes the camera from her and points it at himself, happily says that hes's got it, and ultimately snaps a picture of himself--all smiles.

R.I.P. Mark Sloan 1968-2012 is on the screen and by this scene, the Mark Sloan fans have either emptied their tissue boxes or have officially ceased watching Grey's Anatomy for good. 

Again, kudos to Shonda Rhimes for being so bold! But come on, Mark? He was favored by so many! And the fact that the next episode is continuing where the season finale left off, is just so... backwards! Either way, fans have been anticipating this upcoming episode in particular because we still need to know how they got out of that intense situation.


It's been a long journey for Grey's so far, and Season 9 doesn't seem to be holding back!