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Arizona's absence can be pretty easily written in, and it's beyond their control so I don't really care. It seems like the premiere takes place just hours after the wedding, within that night. The next episode could be the next day, or it could be typical Grey's and be days / weeks / months later. Say Arizona went with Sofia to NYC to help her get settled. Meh. I agree that she'd otherwise be central to the story; I never thought of how she has connections to both Alex / DeLuca, so that could be interesting for her to return to. I forget that she and DeLuca were even living together.

Some new first-look photos here. Things look heated with Meredith / Alex and Meredith / Richard.

I'm guessing it's whether or not to tell Alex? Or considering filing for divorce?

The full press release adds a small tidbit; Nice to see all four originals involved in the premiere, and it's pretty cool that they all sort of centre around the Alex / Jo story.

Arizona needs a fresh, new, drama-free relationship. At least to start off. Sticking Callie with Penny just to shoe-horn that red devil into the story was a giant mistake and it really hindered Callie's storyline (and, sadly, her exit). I hope the writers saw and noted the reaction to that. If they do something as contrived as sticking Arizona with Owen's sister, it would be too implausible and just plain soapy. As @mdw noted, they've already started pushing into the overly-soapy storylines in the past year or two, so I hope they stay away from more contrivances like that.

I'm hoping we see all of the originals sort of band together here around Alex, and then Jo too. Perhaps at first Alex will tell Meredith that he caught DeLuca with Jo, so they'll assume she was in the wrong. It sounds like Meredith is keeping his 'secret', AKA not telling anyone that he's the one who beat DeLuca. But I like that Bailey is the one trying to figure out what happened because I'd love to see her find out and have a real talk with Alex. I miss the exploration of Bailey's relationships with her original interns (they did a bit with Bailey / Meredith early last year, which I really liked). Anyway, I hope that by the end of the premiere everything is out in the open and Alex knows about Jo's past, etc. I'm excited about this storyline. I'm also very glad that they're doing this story at all; at the end of last year a lot of people were expecting the premiere to pick up with DeLuca having a little bruise but not making anything of his beating. It seems that they're really following through and going to explore the consequences of Alex's actions rather than glossing it over and moving on.

Official synopsis for 13x01: There's also a brief promo airing on ABC showing DeLuca coming out of an ambulance and Meredith telling Alex "You could go to jail!"

I like Arizona, but two episodes away right off the bat is a good thing to me. Caterina said that Amelia and Owen aren't in the premiere much, and now we know that Arizona isn't there at all - so that means a lot more time to focus on Alex / Jo, etc. I also hope they stick with that they're promising and have a real focus on our four original characters early in the season. Bailey has been used as a prop for other characters for so long that she's turned into a cliched (and often annoying) version of her past self... and she was one of my favourite characters for many, many years. I want a story that really shows us how she feels and what she's been going through. Give her a real point of view again. No more attention-grabby 3-episode arcs where she suddenly has OCD or her husband likes to cut open pregnant women.

That last scene made me laugh long after the show ended. I was totally shocked - I can't wait to see the fallout of this. How the hell do they deal with the fact that she stabbed him? Tons of funny lines tonight, and a few really touching scenes too. I love this damn show.

Absolutely loved last night's episode. It was the best of the season so far. The reveal at the ending threw me through a major loop - part of me expected it, but not in that moment. I'm really eager to see everything unravel next week now.

It's a drama, there will always be darker storylines. I think season 12 was still a lot lighter than 11 and probably even 10.

S13 premiere is titled "Undo". Written by William Harper & Directed by Debbie Allen.

From EW: Are we seeing more of the Owen and Amelia wedding in the Grey’s Anatomy premiere? — Poullete The season premiere picks up right where we left off, but expect the Alex and Jo storyline to play a bigger role in the season opener. “In the first episode, it’s really wedding night, so Owen and Amelia are otherwise occupied,” Caterina Scorsone tells me. “And there’s a big piece of drama going on having to do with another storyline [with Alex and Jo] that I think is going to play for a while in the season. It’s very explosive, very exciting and interesting on social levels and personal character levels.”

I found the poster pretty dull, too. I mean, there's really nothing to it except for a pretty basic design. Caterina is pregnant, but they're probably not writing it in.

TGIT tagline is indeed dropped until Scandal returns.

The official S13 Poster is here. Once again, all Meredith and this year there's no tagline.

I think T.R. was probably very unhappy with how everything was handled, but I never sensed bad blood with him and Shonda really. I do wish he had agreed to come back for the two extra episodes in S6 that Shonda wanted him for, but generally I'm happy with George's exit. It seems like he's still close, or at least friendly, with much of the cast (his Instagram has fairly recent photos with James Pickens, Justin Chambers, Kate Walsh, etc.) I don't like The Catch much, but I'm glad that he's part of the Shondaland family again.

Season 13 premieres on Thursday, Sept 22nd at 8pm.

The reason I think I'd like that structure better overall is because at least the characters who I like that get little / no story now would get some focus. As it stands, characters I'm not interested in are getting focus all year. I'd like to see that contained to smaller arcs, or at least have them moved aside a bit so that Alex / Jo / Bailey, etc. can get some spotlight. And like you said, so much of storytelling now seems aimless and just made up as it goes along. It'd be nice to see some forward-thinking that results in actual payoff.

You hit the nail on the head with the Steph / Kyle storyline for me. It just didn't affect me at all and overall added nothing to the show because the characters aren't part of any greater narrative. In the following episode they literally gave Steph 20 seconds of dialogue. They need to start developing connections for the characters that they want to keep around rather than having them exist in little bubbles and throwing random stories at them here and there. Like what you pointed out: I can't even think of a single April / Amelia interaction. Or Jackson / Amelia. Everyone is just so far apart. With Callie gone, we have one less character that had deep history with several other doctors (Meredith, Bailey, Richard, Arizona, Owen, etc.) They didn't even explore so much of that in her final season, which really irks me (though, I know Sara apparently left pretty last-minute). I'm hoping next year they do what I've been thinking they should have done the past few years if they're determined to keep the cast so huge: focus on half-seasons with different characters taking the lead in each chunk, and the the other characters playing supporting parts in those stories. At least that way we get to follow concrete narratives from beginning to end. For example: Episode 1 - 12 focuses primarily on: Meredith / Riggs / Maggie / Amelia / Owen / Alex / Jo / Bailey / Ben Episode 13 - 24 focuses on: Meredith / Riggs / April / Jackson / Arizona / Richard / Steph / DeLuca Now, I don't mean all stories for Alex / Jo / Amelia, etc. should suddenly stop in 13 - 24, just that the focus should shift primary to the characters who were less served in the first half. It could also allow them to throw together some unorthodox pairings: give us 3-4 episode patient arc where Meredith / Jackson / Owen / Ben have to work together, for example. Put Riggs, Richard and Steph on a case together. Anything. Just mix it up. And tell complete, fully developed stories that don't include time jumps or stopping and starting.

Grey's Anatomy's Martin Henderson on Nathan and Meredith's 'Powerful' Bond

It's promising that the actors say we're picking up where we left off; even if it's not exactly where we left off, no time-jump means at least we'll get some immediate resolution of the Alex / Jo situation and get to follow Mer / Rigs a bit more organically, which is great news to me. As much as I don't care about Amelia / Owen, I also think it could be interesting to see some immediate follow-up to their wedding as everything else about their relationship has been so rushed. Still, knowing the show Owen will be asking her for babies within 2 episodes.

I don't think ABC will be the ones giving Shonda or the writers any notice - it will come down to a decision made by Ellen / Shonda, like you said. At this point ABC would gladly keep the series running as long as everyone involved would like. I'm sure when Ellen / Shonda decide to the end the series, it won't be a sudden whim. After all this time they'll ensure it wraps up however it is they want it too. Either way, the network would always prefer long-term contracts for big names and important characters to make sure that if the show does go on, they're locked in. Season 13 will only be the end if that's what Ellen wants. I really doubt it, but you never know.

I would be very surprised if ABC tried for anything less than a 2-year deal. We know that Jessica Capshaw signed a 3-year deal last year. If indeed it's true, it would be a smart move on the actors' part - it gives them the ability to ask for more money at the end of next year. Chances are there may be more contracts expiring next year (Maybe Sarah Drew, Jesse Williams, Camilla, etc.) so it would put our originals in a better place to ask for even more money if a) other actors are leaving, and / or b) ABC has another rough year & Grey's remains their bright spot.

Nothing is confirmed, but speculation is that everyone signed 1-year deals.