Grey’s Anatomy is returning in the wake of one of Grey Sloan Memorial’s biggest tragedies.
PEOPLE has an exclusive look at season 22 of the ABC medical drama, which follows the aftermath of a catastrophic explosion at the hospital. Amid flames and rubble, the doctors scramble to find one another as they realize some people did not make it out alive.
“I’m not going anywhere until I find Miranda,” shouts Miranda Bailey’s (Chandra Wilson) husband, Ben Warren (Jason George).
Meanwhile, Meredith Grey (Ellen Pompeo) attempts to get back inside, but her efforts are stopped by a police officer. In true Meredith fashion, she doesn’t take no for an answer and breaks a window to unlock the door.
“Clinic’s open,” she declares, running inside, where Amelia Shepherd (Caterina Scorsone) is sobbing.
When Catherine Fox (Debbie Allen) arrives, Teddy Altman (Kim Raver) gives her a briefing on the situation.
“The fire chief says he still doesn’t know the extent of the damage,” she begins.
“Fatalities?” Catherine asks, which Teddy answers with a silent, terrified stare.
Jo Wilson (Camilla Luddington) then panics when she realizes that she hasn’t heard back from Atticus “Link” Lincoln (Chris Carmack).
“Linc’s not answering his phone,” she says. “Where is he?”
The teaser ends with a series of clips showing Ben pushing past firefighters, Amelia being held back while screaming and Meredith taking a deep breath as the emotions of their new reality catch up to her.
Grey’s Anatomy’s 21st season came to a dramatic end in May, when a desperate mother threatened to blow up the hospital over frustration about her daughter Dylan’s brain surgery. In the episode, Jenna Gatlin (Piper Perabo) found Amelia and Simone Griffin (Alexis Floyd) and created a hostage situation, telling them that she had a tank of acetylene gas.
“You’re gonna operate on Dylan, and you’re gonna fix her,” she demanded. “And if you don’t, if you don’t save her, I’m taking everyone down with me.”
The OR team stepped in and managed to save Dylan, who later claimed the tank was actually empty. However, a forgotten valve resulted in a deadly exploitation on the surgical floor.
The finale concluded with Meredith watching the flames engulfed the building — a chilling parallel to the scene in season 13, during which showed her watch the hospital burn from the parking lot as well.
Grey’s Anatomy season 22 premieres on Thursday, Oct. 9 at 10 p.m. ET on ABC and will be available to stream the next day on Hulu.
