'Grey’s Anatomy' foreshadows the beginning of the end for Alex Karev

This week’s episode of Grey’s Anatomy (Thursdays at 9 p.m. ET on CTV) jumped between characters and storylines so much viewers may have TV whiplash. Thankfully, there are lots of TV doctors on call to administer pain relief, which in this case means more Grey’s drama. Setting things up for the rest of the season, Thursday’s episode foreshadowed what’s to come and it’s not all good. Take two drama-reducing pills and call us in the morning.

THE EMPTY APARTMENT

We know Alex Karev (Justin Chambers) isn’t coming back from Iowa. But it’s only starting to sink in with his wife Jo (Camila Luddington) that the honeymoon phase is over with a capital O. Karev’s response to Pac North being bought by the Fox Foundation was a laugh-cry emoji, which feels very on-brand for Karev. But ghosting Jo isn’t part of his personality and marks the official beginning of the end of the character, a fact that was highlighted with Jo coming home to an empty apartment at the end of the episode. How Karev will take his final off-screen bow is TBD, but Chambers’ abrupt exit from Grey’s Anatomy could very well mean that his beloved character isn’t going to get a hero’s ending.

MIRANDA’S MISSION

Station 19 is continuing its cross-over with Grey’s Anatomy and this week introduced a family of foster kids who have been living together on the streets. When Joey, the leader of the group, is injured, the rest of the kids are split up while he recovers in the hospital. Miranda (Chandra Wilson) has taken an interest in the devoted teen and has put her efforts towards finding a solution to keep Joey and his pseudo-family together. Miranda’s devastating miscarriage may have opened her up to the idea of enlarging her family and Joey and his siblings could soon become Baileys. Or, not. It’s anyone's guess.[video_embed id='-1']RELATED: ‘Station 19’ cast tease ‘Grey’s Anatomy’ crossover[/video_embed]

MEREDITH’S TRIANGLE

Meredith (Ellen Pompeo) and Andrew (Giacomo Gianniotti) are back together. Meredith is also still maintaining her friendship with Cormac (Richard Flood) and meeting his sons. Meredith has great options. It’s good to be Meredith.

THE FOX FOUNDATION FALLOUT

Well, she did it. Catherine Fox (Debbie Allen) put her money to vengeful use and bought Pac North, forcing her soon to be ex-husband Richard (James Pickens Jr) back under her wing. Thrown into the middle of the expensive breakup is Tom Koracick (Greg Germann), who interviewed the doctors that were either fired from Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital or quit. Tom has no beef with Richard or Maggie (Kelly McCreary) but did make Owen (Kevin McKidd) suffer in a waiting room all day. Honestly, can you blame him? The rest of the Attendings used Owen’s painful ordeal (not really) as motivation to team up and threaten Tom with quitting if he didn’t meet their demands. You know, like bullies. Sure, Tom is brash and egotistical, but that can be said for literally every other Attending. Richard says he refuses to work on Tom’s terms (what terms?) and tells Tom that he can inform Catherine that she can go to hell. So yeah, the divorce is still on.

WHO IS THE FATHER?

Amelia (Caterina Scorsone) is still pressuring Link (Chris Carmack) to decide whether he wants to raise a child that may or may not be his and then lies (we assume) about getting the results of the paternity test. Is she really confused about why he’s unsure about raising a child with someone who has made zero good life choices outside of medicine? Really?

THIS IS NOT THE NOTEBOOK

Levi (Jake Borelli) is happy to create a Notebook-esque scene for an elderly couple by way of turning the cafeteria into a ballroom, but on the other end of the romance spectrum is his boyfriend Nico (Alex Landi), who isn’t ready to share a nightstand let alone his happily ever after. Nico may have been all for Levi moving out of his mom’s basement, but that doesn’t mean he was ready for the pair to live together. Maybe Nico is James Marsden and not Ryan Gosling. Still very handsome and cute, but not about to write a letter to Levi every day for a year.Watch new episodes of Grey’s Anatomy every Thursday at 9 p.m. ET on CTV and catch up online anytime at CTV.ca.[video_embed id='1896512']BEFORE YOU GO: Brad Pitt is actually a big 'Letterkenny' fan[/video_embed]