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File this under Speculation: http://tvline.com/2016/01/22/blind-item-drama-series-actor-returning-surprise/ Most of the comments seem to think it's Katherine Heigl.

From TVLine (It's basically nothing - some of the info is repeated from past Spoilers, but I'll post it in full anyway)

I don't think they'll ever turn Meredith and Alex into more than friends. I could be wrong, but I just don't see it. Their friendship has been one of my favourite things about the series since the Thanksgiving episode in season 2. Alex has seen Meredith endure an insane amount of trauma, and she has three children - I think that kiss is simply relief and comforting. They love each other like two best friends do. I really hope that the writers don't use this to cause further rifts between Alex and Jo. There's no way people would side with Jo if she gets upset at Alex for sticking by Meredith during this... I actually hope that Jo plays some active role in helping her, I'd love to see them develop some type of friendship or at least mutual respect. But as we know, Penny finds her...

I'm glad that I'm not the only one who's excited about this episode. Although, realistically this board represents a very, very small percentage of fans. The reactions on twitter and other websites seem to be positive. I don't think they're trying to make people question Meredith's fate at all, I think the hook is what happens to her, how the hospital rallies around her, and what the aftermath will be.

Looks like we'll be getting some powerful stuff from Ellen.

I agree. I mean I haven't been super into their 'story' but I also haven't hated it either. I think both characters are fine, and I think they have decent chemistry. It'll come down, for me, to how they write the rest of it. Now that Giacomo is a regular I think we'll obviously see more of DeLuca, and I'm sure they'll try to develop the relationship as his primary story. That might be the biggest issue - in order to root for him, I need to know more about him than just the fact that he likes Maggie. For example - I think Jo is fine. I think Camila is a fine actress. But really I don't know much at all about her, so I find her scenes with Alex sort of dull. He's my favourite character, but they've never really developed her as anything unique, so I find it extremely hard to care about storylines that center on the two of them aside from how it will impact Alex.

It's weird that Owen still lives in the trailer. He obviously has enough money for a place... maybe he bought that spot of land from Meredith. I'm not sure why they're so attached to that set. I also wonder if we're ever going to see where Arizona and DeLuca live. I'm not sure why they bothered to set that up in episode 1 and then never ever reference it again or show them together.

From EW:

Whatever it is that happens in episode 9 would have been planned long, long before any of that criticism came around. Denzel was confirmed to be directing by early October, which means the episode was already written and had been conceptualized / plotted weeks or months beforehand.

I think one of the biggest problems is that the writers seem to think that they can fill those voids with other characters, and every time we lose one we gain two. Instead of forcing Amelia on us and pushing the whole 'sisters' angle, they could have just brought on Maggie and focused on really developing her relationships with Richard, Meredith, and anyone else. We have so many under-serviced characters (Alex, Bailey, Arizona, Callie, Richard, Jo, sometimes even Meredith, etc.) that they don't need to keep over-compensating. Now we're stuck with characters who are fine, but add nothing really to the show and have never really be given an interesting arc (Steph, Jo, Ben...) New blood is needed from time-to-time, for sure. But the show would be at its best, in my opinion, if they just really focused on providing great stories for the few originals we have left, as well as the characters who are really integrated with them now (Callie, April, Jackson, Arizona, etc.) and then using the rest as supporting players. The cast needs to be trimmed by next season. With DeLuca becoming a regular, we're now at 16... I keep forgetting they made Ben a regular. Trying to service such a huge cast and constantly adding in multiple new recurring characters (Penny is there until at least 12x14, plus the other new interns) just throws off storytelling and ends up short-changing a lot of fans.

I think we're still going to see Meredith considering her future, maybe falling in love again, and dealing with motherhood and all of that (although I'm still surprised how little they showed that in E1 - 8, so who knows.) I don't think the storylines are mutually exclusive though. Unfortunately this series tends to brush over things. But it seems from early spoilers that whatever this accident / attack is, it will result in her going into therapy which is the best possible thing for her character in my opinion (my favourite Meredith story arc is still the end of S4 when she was with Dr Wyatt.) It's also only episode 9 - which means there are at least 15 more episodes, possibly 16. That's a lot of story to tell. I would have preferred something other than a disaster, especially so soon after Derek and everything else. There's already so many stalled storylines with unnecessary characters around. But it's happening, and I'm used to it by now. This is a broadcast TV drama run by Shonda Rhimes - there will always be stunts. I just hope this is pulled off with care, and for once I think it might be because they didn't NEED to do it for ratings. It seems like for whatever reason it's a story that Shonda and Ellen want to tell, and there has to be a reason they're doing it so early. I'm hoping I'm right and that it's well-executed and leads somewhere. At the very least, I've never not been entertained by one of their 'disaster' episodes.

I think we as fans, for some reason, seem to really undervalue this show. Why is it that these actors can't possibly be fulfilled by this work? I genuinely believe many of these actors love their characters, love the stories they're telling, and love being part of a show that has such a diverse and wide-reaching audience. Grey's does more than just 'well' in the ratings - it's one of the 3 most-watched dramas on network TV for adults 18 - 49, after 12 seasons. That's insane. And the global reach is incredible. It's easy to nitpick and say certain actors don't get enough to do (in many cases I agree, from a fan perspective.) But as an actor, it's not easy to just go out there and pick up a great, meaty role. Grey's still gives them challenges, still tells great stories, and I think despite our own personal thoughts on quality, is an incredibly hard-working team. I think it's crazy to say that all of the actors MUST be there solely for the paychecks. Ellen, in particular, has been vocal about the fans of the show. Again, people here love to complain and nit-pick, but it's SO rare to be part of something like Grey's that truly reaches people. It has to be so rewarding for Ellen to hear from women who started Med school because of Grey's, or people who used the show to help deal with grief, loss, tragedy etc. The writing is still notches above a lot of what's on network TV right now, and I totally understand why the cast would be proud to continue working on the show. Certainly the money, cast of friends, and flexible schedule help - but I don't think we can shortchange the fact that Grey's is still a quality series that many actors would kill to be a part of.

I don't think Owen and Riggs will suddenly disappear or that the conflict will be totally side-tracked (at least I hope not), I just think we won't get any actual answers until 14. I'm sure we'll continue to see them interact and get some hints at what happened, but I think the reveal won't happen until later. It's been the way the show works for a while now. There are simply too many stories and characters to deal with. Right now: Meredith / Amelia conflict Owen / Riggs conflict Penny / Meredith / Callie conflict April / Jackson conflict Maggie / DeLuca relationship Jo / Alex conflict And then there are about 10 other regulars with no real storylines. Ditto. I think they've done great work this year, and I'm especially excited for 12x09. Probably the most excited I've been for a Grey's episode in a while. I really love Meredith, and I think Ellen Pompeo is so underrated as an actress. I'm looking forward to hopefully seeing a great storyline for Meredith and some real challanging work for Ellen. I hope they can keep up the momentum they built in the first 8. Of course, I have plenty of nit-picks, but generally this is the most I've enjoyed the show in a while and I'm eager for it to come back.

From TVLine's Winter Preview: So episode 9 - 13 are likely heavily focused on the fallout of whatever happens with Meredith. We already also had James Pickens say on the PCA red carpet that the next "three or four episodes" are dealing with the effects of 9, so that sounds right. I don't think they'll stall every storyline, but clearly we won't be getting any major answers about the Owen / Nathan situation for a few episodes.

Exactly. Look at Heigl, Knight, Leigh, Dane... of course they're working, but none of them are in anything as notable as Grey's still is. And they're certainly making nowhere near as much as they would be if they had stuck around. For some (like Knight), I'm sure they knew that, but they'd rather have some professional freedom. But as you put it, right now the regulars have an extremely well-paid 9-to-5 with a group they like and on a top 5 network drama. It's a hard thing to walk away from.

I agree that it must get a bit grating at times to keep being put in the background. But I also think that most of the cast knows what it's like in Hollywood - it's not easy to just go out and score another great job. With Grey's, at least they're doing work that people are really passionate about. And despite having to stick around for a lot of frivolous scenes (which is the case for any show, really), these actors get a lot more time off than the average regulars simply due to the huge cast size. And by this point, Ellen, Chandra, Jason, James, and Sara are all definitely getting pretty paycheques. Plus it's obvious that everyone really gets along. So I think it's not always just about doing big, meaty scenes, but about the fact that they a) have job security b) enjoy the job & their co-workers c) are part of something that is still widely consumed and enjoyed. I think Justin Chamers is incredibly talented, but there's no assurance that he wouldn't be stuck doing guest appearances or direct-to-DVD horror movies if he decides to walk away.

The scariest thing for me is that my favourite characters / actors are the one's most likely to leave. I really don't want Alex or Callie gone. In fact, I'm all here for an Alex / Callie romance. For me, while I think Richard could have left and turned into a recurring character at the end of S11, I hope that all of the regulars + Callie are around until the end.

What's weird is that we know that in this episode or the one right after there is an ambulance explosion. That seemed like the most likely explanation for what happens to Meredith until these actresses spoke. Lots and lots of people are speculating now that Meredith is raped from the way they phrased things, but that doesn't seem right to me. We know that there's another person on the floor behind her, so she isn't the only one affected by the 'attack'. We also know that it occurs at the hospital, and from the looks of Meredith she's disoriented and seems to have blood all over (hands, face, etc.) The only thing I can think of is that it really is an insane attack where an ambulance explodes and then Meredith is taken away and raped / beaten, but that seems HIGHLY unlikely and over-the-top. I think the incident will occur before the first act break and then the rest of the episode will be after-math. The only other obscure bit of info I could think of was Cross (the blonde intern) mentioning in an interview that he has some big medical jargon at some point. He said it was quite huge, and he knew that he had to learn it all and that it wasn't going to be used because it would cut to a Meredith voiceover. So if Cross is in it, I'm guessing the whole cast will at least be featured somehow. Especially with Denzel directing I'm sure they wanted every regular to get to be on set. I'm still having trouble justifying how they could have Owen (or any other regular) hurt Meredith so badly without having them leave immediately after.

Typically the traditional lead is always billed first and the "And..." is saved for another prominent actor. I don't think they'd ever move Ellen out of that top billing. I can see them putting "And James Pickens Jr." or something like that.

More from TVLine: Of course, over the ABC serial’s 11-1/2 seasons, Meredith has “had a lot of brushes with death,” McCreary acknowledges. “But this time is different because, as Sarah Drew has actually pointed out, in other instances where Meredith came close to death, she has had a little bit of control over the situation. She could save herself in some way, or make a choice that might help herself. But in this case she’s physically impaired in a way that she has not been before.” All told, McCreary previews, “As bad as things have gotten for Meredith, this is bad in a whole different way.”

In terms of storyline, I'd love for them to make Riggs an ass or some type of villain. But I never really saw him as being a jerk to Maggie, though I knew a few people definitely did. I sort of thought it was the other way around. She was pushy and he was just trying to do his job. But I'd be so pleasantly surprised if the writers tried something different here. Certainly all of the characters can be jerks at times (Meredith, Alex, Bailey, Derek, Cristina, Callie, etc.) which is something I like about this show. But having Riggs brutally attack Meredith for some reason seems like a pretty far jump to me. I never thought of Owen as a possibility but now it's probably my favourite idea. It would have such far-reaching reverberations. But I remember back when the shooter episode was announced, people thought it would be Owen. The writers have yet to go there (although his choking Cristina was dealt with really well back in s5, I thought.)

The more I think about it, the more I think this has to be a major catalyst for whatever is coming. This is only episode 9 - I don't think they're pulling a stunt for the sake of it, especially so soon after Derek. I really think whatever happens will have consequences that run throughout the rest of the season and drive the storytelling.

What I think is interesting is that there's very clearly another doctor unconscious on the ground behind Meredith in one shot. So, whoever attacks her doesn't just attack her. That makes me think it definitely isn't rape. "A surprising, weird way" could be anything. The only thing that makes me believe maybe Owen is somehow involved is the Amelia quote from the article, but even then I'm not sure, but I think that would be ballsy and really interesting, honestly. I definitely don't think it's Riggs. They want us to like this guy, they're not going to have him 'brutally attack' our lead in his 3rd episode.

Meredith is "brutally attacked" according to EW: http://www.ew.com/article/2016/01/10/greys-anatomy-meredith-attacked-spoilers “Meredith gets attacked by someone you would least expect and it is just as terrifying, shocking and harrowing as it appears,” Kelly McCreary tells EW. “She’s attacked really brutally, really viciously and in a completely surprising, weird way,” Sarah Drew adds, noting that everyone else is really on the sidelines during the Meredith-centric episode directed by Denzel Washington — which means you won’t find out what Jackson (Jesse Williams) wanted to say to April (Drew) right away. So, yea... I doubt we'll see the results of the Alex / Jo proposal or anything else.

Hush is such a genius episode of Buffy because of exactly what you described. Without any dialogue, it moved along arcs, gave the characters and audience new perspectives, was truly scary, and it did everything in such a unique way. It's one of my favourite TV episodes ever. What you described for Grey's could be really impactful, and I could see it playing out that way. I just hope that whatever it ends up being it isn't treated as a crazy one-off event episode, but that it really reverberates throughout the season.