Fans are eagerly awaiting the Season 22 premiere of Grey’s Anatomy. Returning later this week, the previous season of the long-running medical drama ended on a major cliffhanger that could leave several lives hanging in the balance at Grey Sloan Memorial. By now Grey’s fans know not to get too attached to a character, because as we’ve learned in the past, a fan favorite can be killed off just as quickly as they’re introduced.

Ahead of the Season 22 premiere, there’s one critical question that fans are dying to have answered: Who will make it out of the explosion alive?!

“We couldn’t show the aftermath of that, so the premiere will focus on figuring out where everyone is, who’s OK, and who’s not,” Meg Marinis, the Grey’s Anatomy showrunner, recently told TV Insider.

Marinis added: “The season will touch on the long road to recovery … but I also want to focus on hope and where we look for it during trying times — the hope that Grey Sloan Memorial will be able to rebuild and the hope our doctors have for themselves and their patients.”

When will Grey’s Anatomy Season 22 premiere?

Season 22 of Grey’s Anatomy will premiere on Oct. 9, 2025, at 10 p.m. ET, on ABC. New episodes will be available to stream on Hulu every Friday.

How many episodes of Grey’s Anatomy Season 22 will there be?

There will be 18 episodes in total this season.

Who is returning for Grey’s Anatomy Season 22?

While she isn’t around as frequently as she used to be, fans can expect Grey’s Anatomy star Ellen Pompeo to return as Dr. Meredith Grey. She’ll also continue to lend her voice for the narration of each episode.

“I’ll always pop in and out,” Pompeo said on The Jennifer Hudson Show earlier this year. “You know, that’s my home, and I don’t think Miss [Debbie] Allen [the show’s executive producer and frequent director] will let me ever leave.”

Remaining OG cast members Chandra Wilson and James Pickens Jr. will reprise their respective roles as Miranda Bailey and Richard Webber.

Additional current cast members expected to return for Season 22 are:

• Kevin McKidd as Owen Hunt
• Kim Raver as Teddy Altman
• Camilla Luddington as Jo Wilson
• Caterina Scorsone as Amelia Shepherd
• Jason George as Ben Warren
• Chris Carmack as Atticus “Link” Lincoln
• Scott Speedman as Nick Marsh
• Anthony Hill as Winston Ndugu
• Niko Terho as Lucas Adams
• Alexis Floyd as Simone Griffith
• Harry Shum Jr. as Benson Kwan
• Adelaide Kane as Jules Millin

But it’s worth noting that one or many of these characters may meet a tragic end, based on the explosive Season 21 finale.

Wait. Where did we leave off on Grey’s Anatomy?

All right, there’s a lot of drama that goes down at Grey Sloan Memorial in the Season 21 finale. A distraught mother named Jenna (Piper Perabo) threatened to blow up the hospital with a tank of toxic acetylene if Amelia didn’t immediately perform life-saving surgery on her daughter. Jenna crumbles with emotion and eventually admits that there wasn’t actually any acetylene in the tank. She was bluffing — and was soon apprehended by the SWAT team.

A crisis seems averted, that is, until Jenna’s husband says he never keeps empty tanks in his truck — prompting Lucas to sprint to the OR to warn that extremely flammable gas is in the air. But he’s too late. It’s all speculation at this point, but fans believe that Link is in immediate danger, given that he was in the middle of a surgery and had requested a cautery, which likely triggered the explosion.

Elsewhere, complicated relationships get, well, even more complicated. Jules confronts Winston about why she hasn’t been on his service lately. Ben continues to defy Teddy’s orders and, due to the hostage situation, decides to operate on a patient in the ICU, which Miranda grudgingly helps him with. Owen and Teddy break up after she learns that he has lingering feelings for Nora (Floriana Lima).

What has the cast said about Grey’s Anatomy Season 22?

While chatting with Extra TV during the 450th episode celebration of Grey’s Anatomy this month, Carmack remained tight-lipped about whether his character, Link, survived the explosion at Grey Sloan Memorial.

“Well, Season 21 really left off with a bang, and we are eagerly awaiting the status of the doctors who were still in the building, and the patients, and the nurses, and everybody … I can say we’re going to find out what happened,” he said.

Carmack added about working on Grey’s, “You couldn’t have a better cast and crew, the storylines. I mean, we’re 22 seasons in and still getting scripts that are as exciting as day one. You couldn’t ask to be part of a better project.”

Marinis also teased seeing Meredith back in action as a surgeon.

“We’ll still get to follow her Alzheimer’s research, but with her being in Seattle more, I’m really excited to get her back into an OR, occasionally,” Marinis told TV Insider. “I really love seeing her interact with patients, the interns and residents.”