It’s been three years since we had a new episode of Grey’s Anatomy (Thursdays at 9ET on CTV). Actually, it’s only been eight months, but for a second, you kinda believed it, right? A lot has happened since the long-running medical drama was forced to end its 16^th season early, leaving fans wondering how the show would tie up loose storylines and address the ongoing global pandemic. On Thursday night, the two-hour season 17 premiere of Grey’s Anatomy (in it's special crossover with Station 19) used every bit of screen time to bring fans up to date on what has transpired at Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital since the world became consumed by an airborne virus. True to their word, the showrunners brought pandemic to the small screen. It turns out, COVID-19 is just as terrifying and upsetting in a fictional setting as it is in real life. Thank goodness they also gave us a little moment of (Mc)dreaminess at the end...The double-sized episode featured several flashbacks that were used to fill viewers in on what's gone down over the past few months. Thanks to the necessary use of masks at all times when in the vicinity of people outside your household, it was very easy to identify which scenes were in the past and which were in the present. Yay pandemic?

How 'bout That Ending?

The biggest shocker of the night was a surprise dream reunion between Meredith and Derek (Patrick Dempsey). After working non-stop for weeks, Meredith collapsed in the hospital’s parking lot and dreamt that she and her dead husband were reunited on a beach. Grey’s Anatomy has a history of reuniting almost-dead characters with actually dead characters (Izzie and George’s elevator ride ring a bell?), so before viewers start fretting about Meredith’s funeral, let’s just enjoy this as a sweet and surprising reunion, as well as a reminder to take more days off.

This is really, truly happening. #GreysAnatomy pic.twitter.com/EE1GTygjAi

— Greys Anatomy (@GreysABC) November 13, 2020

Reunited ❤️ | ? @KristaVernoff pic.twitter.com/EhHLZy2nuy

— Greys Anatomy (@GreysABC) November 13, 2020

Most of the actors didn’t know. Some of the writers didn’t know. Most of the good folks at the studio & network didn’t know. It’s so fun watching it all unfold. ? #GreysAnatomy pic.twitter.com/LCQj6outeY

— Krista Vernoff (@KristaVernoff) November 13, 2020

This day felt like Christmas, so full of joy! ❤️?Back Together Again! @GreysABC pic.twitter.com/3iQZM81Hcu

— Debbie Allen (@msdebbieallen) November 13, 2020

#GreysAnatomy ending had me likeeeeeee pic.twitter.com/qIAJ3UI5xz

— . (@lovaticphuckery) November 13, 2020

Updates on, Well, Everyone

In the present, the hospital has been turned into a COVID center, halting all nonessential surgeries. The surgical team have become trauma doctors who oversee the care of patients suffering from a disease no one really understands. For Meredith Grey (Ellen Pompeo), the bulk of her day is spent calling time of death and checking in on Andrew DeLuca (Giacomo Gianniotti), who has finally begun to receive help for his bipolar disease after an intervention was staged in the past by Meredith, Miranda (Chandra Wilson), Richard (James Pickens Jr) and DeLuca’s sister, Carina (Stefania Spampinato).[video_embed id='2074670']RELATED: ‘Grey’s Anatomy’ star Giacomo Gianniotti teases a ‘special’ 17th season [/video_embed]Miranda is leading the charge on all COVID protocols in the hospital and only sees her sons every two weeks. As for her husband Ben (Jason George), their face-to-face interaction takes place once a day and from six feet apart during the morning clap-in for medical professionals.Back at work after making a full recovery from his cobalt poisoning, Richard is forced to see Catherine (Debbie Allen, who also directed the episode), his estranged wife. The pair finally agree to take a break from being the world’s most stubborn couple and reunite. Catherine also makes Richard the Chief of Chiefs, which admittedly sounds like a fake title. Richard is taking the role over from Tom Koracick (Greg Germann), who Catherine demotes following his voicemail sex-capades being played in front of his coworkers and after he mistakenly ordered a truck full of booties instead of PPE.Like many of us, Tom is not having a great 2020. After Owen (Kevin McKidd) confronted Teddy (Kim Raver) about her affair with Tom, the pair break up. It does not appear as though Teddy and Tom have decided to finally become a couple, because Teddy is still in love with Owen. Move over Owen, Teddy is now the most frustrating character on Grey’s Anatomy. Those are big Crocs to fill.After ending things with I’m-not-a-stepmom-Vic (Barrett Doss), Jackson (Jesse Williams) is also now single. This gives Jo (Camilla Luddington) the greenlight to approach Jackson with a proposal for him to act as the sex bridge she needs to get over her ex-husband abandoning her. Jackson agrees to his role as sex architecture, but Jo ends up crying in his mouth mid-hook-up. The pair agree to simply be friends, no benefits.Because of their work at the hospital, Meredith and Maggie (Kelly McCreary) are no longer allowed to live in their home with Meredith’s three children. Meredith is living in a hotel while Maggie spends her nights Facetiming with her boyfriend Winston (Anthony Hill) inside the glamping tent he sent from Boston. As for the littlest Greys, they are being cared for by Link (Chris Carmack) and Amelia (Caterina Scorsone), who have spent the past eight months thinking of a name for their newborn son. They eventually go with Link's first idea of Scout. These two need to get better at making decisions if they’re going to have a kid together. "Baby Shark" or "Wheels on the Bus"? The decisions never stop coming.[video_embed id='2074950']MORE TV NEWS: New cast of 'Gossip Girl' spotted filming on steps of the Met in NYC [/video_embed]Schmitt (Jake Borelli) has been relegated to the tent outside the hospital where the families of patients must sit helplessly as they wait to find out whether their loved one has died alone. At one point, Schmitt reveals to his ex-boyfriend Nico (Alex Landi) that he has passed the sobering milestone of notifying the families of 100 patients that they have died. Nico responds with a hook up in the stockroom. Grief comes in many forms.

Some Final Thoughts

The realities facing overworked medical care professionals and terrified citizens are delivered with an unflinching gaze in Thursday’s premiere. Two teenage boys suffer devastating injuries after defying quarantine rules and attending a house party. The fathers of the boys come to blows over their different approaches to physical distancing and end up injuring Miranda in the process. Richard bends the rules to allow one of the boys’ mothers to see him in the hospital. This turns out to be the last time she sees her son alive after he succumbs to his injuries. It’s not likely that the writers’ decision to show the devastation that can come from ignoring physical distancing rules was made in haste, especially with the holiday season fast approaching. The confrontation between the parents and the remorse they felt over their son’s preventable death was something many viewers can relate to as the pandemic drags on and fatigue begins to set in. Keep wearing your masks, keep washing your hands, and stay home if you can.Although COVID has already made a major impact on the series both on and off screen, Thursday’s season premiere of Grey’s Anatomy continued to deliver the entertaining escapism viewers desperately need right now. Of course, this is not the first time that Grey’s Anatomy has taken on a real-world event. But it is the first time it has addressed a topic that is so universal and continuing to unfold in real time.  This is not a medical mystery that a character on Grey’s Anatomy will solve by pouring over their textbooks or using the hospital’s 3-D printer, but we sure would be glad if they did.Watch new episodes of Grey’s Anatomy Thursdays at 9ET on CTV.[video_embed id='2049925']BEFORE YOU GO: 'Horse girl' from Alberta can gallop and jump just like a horse [/video_embed]