Melissa Hanson  Asst. news Editor

Grey’s Anatomy creator Shonda Rhimes and her team of writers have, as usual, surprised fans with twists and turns just two episodes into the second half of season nine.

“See change come to Seattle Grace…” tweeted Rhimes.

Long-time fans are ecstatic to watch protagonist, Meredith, make it through her first trimester of pregnancy, carrying a baby she and husband/co-worker Derek struggled to conceive for years.   However, the acting from Meredith (Ellen Pompeo) seemed quite overdone in the most recent episode.  Throughout most of the hour-long duration of the show, Meredith was either crying or screaming at her pesky, surgery-hungry intern.  Although these are realistic and common side effects of pregnancy, they seemed out of character and awkward coming from Meredith.

Another surprising plot point of the most recent episode was Meredith’s decision to travel on a plane.  After the plane crash from season eight’s finale, Meredith, as well as other characters who were involved, refused to travel on a plane again.  In last Thursday’s episode, Meredith was performing a surgery that involved harvesting a heart from a donor at another hospital.  At first she refused to go on board, but then in the last seconds before take-off proclaimed, “I can do this.”  It was a true shock from the writers of the show, but made fans proud to see her moving on.

This moving on comes with a price to pay.  The amount of compensation the doctors involved in the crash received from their lawsuit against Seattle Grace-Mercy West shocked viewers during the mid-season premiere.  However, with the joy of seeing the grief-stricken doctors finally get some closure, as well as 15 million dollars each, it is revealed that the hospital, not backed by insurance due to a mistake by the Chief of Surgery, will have to come up with the money on its own, and perhaps close its doors.

The sneak peeks for the Jan. 24 episode were quite dramatic and prepared viewers for the worst.  But once getting into the episode on Thursday, it was clear that the hospital had not closed its doors. Although under evaluation, the doctors and overall flow of the episode were pretty calm.  The scenes did not provide the drama viewers were hoping for, although they may have been relieved to see the hospital running as it normally does.

No staff members were cut during the episode but it was proposed that Seattle Grace-Mercy West close the doors to the ER.  The scene provided tension and a clear distinction between the doctors who had inherited millions from the plane crash, who were completely opposed to this idea, and those who were not involved and thus open to the cost cutting suggestions.  Miranda Bailey spoke up for the remainder of the surgical staff, who did not have millions of dollars to fall back on, saying that she would rather close the doors than be without a job.

“Grey’s” fans will have to wait and see what is in store for this week’s episode.  The hospital could be filled with theatrical trauma cases as it always is, or it could be empty.  There is also the question of who will stay and who will go. With such a financial setback it seems as if the staff will be cutting doctors who are not completely necessary.

Other questions lead to Meredith’s pregnancy. Previews for the Jan. 31 episode hint at a complication, and hopefully for Meredith, Derek, and die-hard fans, it is just a clip to get viewers hooked, and not the end of a long awaited pregnancy.