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Grey's held the 2.4 demo meaning it's up year-to-year (VS 2.3 for the second episode last year) which is virtually unheard of. It was a full rating point higher than any other show on television Thursday night, with several shows doing 1.3 (which, at this rate, is considered a moderate success - so imagine how happy ABC is with with Grey's). It also scored a 2.0 in the 18-34 demo which is incredibly high. When Big Bang Theory returns after NFL it'll probably take a bit of a hit, but at this rate ABC will be trying to sign actors through season 50.

Synopsis for 13x05: "Both Sides Now": Meredith and Bailey are at odds over their liver transplant patients; Owen is tasked with looking after baby Harriet; Amelia has trouble telling Owen some important news. For those who want to see all the upcoming releases in one place (it can be hard to keep up): 13x03 - “I Ain’t No Miracle Worker” – A car crash at a funeral brings a bickering family into the hospital. Back from New York, Arizona ends up caught between Alex and Andrew. While Ben takes on a new parenting role, Amelia helps Meredith and Maggie through a problem 13x04 - “Falling Slowly” – Alex tries to do the right thing but still cant catch a break. Jackson and April adjust to their “new normal” with the baby. While Meredith and Nathan establish what’s going on between them, Amelia questions the state of her relationship with Owen

I'm struggling to see Meredith as a villain in the situation. I mean, Maggie has the emotional maturity of a 7th grader so of course Meredith is going to be on eggshells around her. She literally gave her a 'don't you ever lie to me again!!!!' speech. I'm not saying I love the storyline by any stretch of the imagination, but I chalk it up to messy writing more than anything. It's not like Meredith is banging Riggs behind Maggie's back, either. They slept together before she knew anything about Maggie's (one-sided) feelings. She stopped sleeping with Riggs immediately, and she's tried to stop Maggie from getting her feelings hurt through the process - of course it's all a bit over-the-top and telling the truth would be easier, but that's Grey's. I'd hardly say she's putting Maggie through any heartbreak or doing anything wrong to her.

Grey's had a big drop last year between the premiere and the 2nd episode; a 2.8 to a 2.3. The fact that they're still doing anything above a 2.0 is insane, especially without the TGIT promotion and essentially being stuck in a lineup with two shows that are really struggling. Even though it was the first show of the block, I believe the #TGIT hype helped Grey's a lot. It made live-viewing and tweeting feel important to a younger fanbase. It's nice to see it not just standing on its own now, but totally dominating.

Whoops, thanks. Fixed. It's also worth noting that unless the demo adjusts down, Grey's is up year-to-year in the demo. If it adjusts down to a 2.3, it would still be tied with the second episode of S12. Pretty remarkable.

Grey's is a BEAST. It did a 2.4 and pulled 8.34M total viewers. It easily won the night, with HTGAWM pulling a 1.3 and Notorious doing 1.1 in the demo. I believe it's the 3rd highest-rated drama across all broadcast networks in the demo this week after Empire and This Is Us. It also beat Modern Family (2.3) for the best demo of any show on ABC this week.

I loved all of the Bailey / Meredith / Alex stuff tonight. I did laugh at the ending and think of a few posts here when Alex ended up back on Meredith's couch listening to Maggie's girl talk. Otherwise all of Alex's stuff was great. I'm so glad he's getting a lot of focus right now. He really carried the first two episodes and Justin has been awesome. I like when Grey's lets it get complicated in terms of who we root for - Meredith and Alex often do morally shitty things and sometimes we have to dislike them even though we're still rooting for them. This episode set that up really well for me with Alex, DeLuca and Jo (plus Bailey and Meredith). Even Meredith acknowledged last week that they're the bad guys in this. I really love their friendship, and I especislly like seeing her support Alex rather than the other way around. I actually liked Mer's elevator scene with DeLuca, too. All that I didn't think worked was the Amelia / Owen scenes. It just felt pointless and underwritten, like they wanted to throw in a B-story for the two of them and wove it together last minute. The episode would have been stronger without it. April and Jackson are fine. Remember when Steph fell in love with Fez from That 70's Show and then he died? No? Neither does she.

I'm not a big Jo fan but I don't feel that way at all. Alex is my favourite character but I get why Jo would want nothing to do with him after what he did in front of her.

Really? It seems like everyone is on Jo's side. She's being painted as sympathetic to me. She's right to be mad at Alex for what he did. Bailey and everyone else seem to be on DeLuca's side as well.

Really like the episode so far but I wish Amelia and Owen were off dancing somewhere still. She has a house-warming party and invited Riggs but not her BFFs / "sisters" Meredith and Maggie? She actually didn't invite anyone but Riggs... Also, when was the last time we heard anyone mention the Duqutte clinic?

13x04 - Falling Slowly Alex struggles to do the right thing, but can't get a break; Jackson and April adjust to life with the baby; Amelia is uncertain about her relationship with Owen. Ugh. Here comes the Amelia / Owen drama...

A 2.5 is fantastic. Thanks @windsprints. I started watching when I was in 8th grade and I'm 25-years-old now. I have friends who have watched all along with me, friends who dropped it and picked it up again on Netflix or with DVDs, and now my young cousins (high school and college aged) are all watching too. I have an Uncle who watched all 12 seasons on Netflix last year. Grey's really has an incredible audience. I'd say it's one of the shows to benefit the most from streaming.

That 2.8 was hugely inflated, too. They were down to a 2.3 by the second episode. This year is also lacking the #TGIT hype; the numbers for all 3 shows (GA, Scandal, HTGAWM) premieres last year were huge. And the S12 premiere of Grey's was really pushed by all of the post-McDreamy hype. Being down year-to-year is normal, as you said @Greysaddict every show is down every year. It's especially hard to retain young viewers for live viewing, as they'd typically rather watch commercial free on-demand and online. Those numbers for Grey's are great. Notorious premiered to a 1.2 last night, and HTGAWM did a 1.4 while last year it premiered to a 2.6.

Grey's did a 2.4 in the demo last night, with 8.60M total viewers (the highest they've gotten in audience since November 2015). The finale did a 2.3, so it's up 0.1 from the end of last year. Aside from the NFL, it was the top-rated show of the night. It also has the 5th highest premiere demo of any shows since the new season began. The top 10: 1. Empire 4.2 2. The Big Bang Theory 3.8 3. This is Us 2.8 4. Kevin Can Wait 2.6 tie Modern Family 2.6 5. Son of Zorn 2.4 tie Grey's Anatomy 2.4 6. The Good Place 2.3 7. NCIS 2.2 tie Bull 2.2 tie Lethal Weapon 2.2 tie Designated Survivor 2.2 8. The Goldbergs 2.0 tie Speechless 2.0 tie Black-ish 2.0 9. Law & Order: SVU 1.8 10.Chicago PD 1.6

It's a soap. Dramatic things have to happen. Alex did an awful thing, but at least they're addressing it. This type of thing is in his DNA, we've seen for years that he gets violent and has a temper. Justin's EW interview is a good read. This is the type of show they've always made - he screwed up but obviously he'll work through it and get 'redemption', however that works. I don't think there was no sympathy for DeLuca, either. Everyone was worried about him, and Meredith felt strongly enough about what happened to him that she turned in her best friend knowing that he'd be arrested. I think we'll see more people rally around DeLuca, too. This ep only took place over just one night, a couple of hours basically.

Justin and Ellen both did great work tonight, I love their scenes together. Alex getting the spotlight tonight was great, I love that they're really digging deep into this and not letting him off the hook (which was a big fear I had during the finale.) They escelated that cheesy cliffhanger into something with some real meat. It seems like Jo will get some real POV in this, too, which is good. Her scenes with Alex were quite sad - they're both so broken, it makes me upset that they haven't been given these stories earlier. I'm ready to dig in now, though. I hope they really explore Alex's relationships with other characters in the wake of this, especially Bailey and Richard (in addition to Jo, of course). I really like Riggs, and enjoy him with Meredith - and Maggie still tends to get on my nerves. I hope the triangle doesn't drag too long. I don't need 6 episodes of build-up to seeing more Sad Maggie. At least she won't be talking to Alex about her vag anymore, though. No Amelia and Owen tonight was great.

Justin Chambers post-premiere interview. It's great. I love how excited he still is to play Alex and work with Shonda and the cast.

Ellen, with Kristen Bell and Kurt Russell, on James Corden last night: Bonus: Ellen and Debbie Allen getting down on set...

Yup, this. They used a few pieces in previous articles but just published the entire thing.

TVLine did 'Fall TV predictions' and for Grey's they predict that Jo's ex-husband will be someone that the audience already knows. Of course this is just a totally random guess, but I wouldn't be surprised at this point. How soapy / revisionist can the writers get? Was she married to Denny? Burke? George? Derek? Alex's dad? Izzie? It could be anyone...

The return of Arizona! Episode 13.03 - I Ain't No Miracle Worker A family argues at the hospital following a funeral car crash; Arizona is caught between Alex and Andrew; Ben has a new parenting role; Amelia helps Meredith and Maggie work through a problem.

Here is Ellen's GMA segment from today:

New press release. Who the hell throws a dinner party right after their wedding?

Grey's Anatomy to Explore Domestic Violence in S13 Full article in the link above, includes quotes from both Rhimes and Justin Chambers.

The new tidbits from EW make it sounds like Alex finds out about Jo's past rather quickly. 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.