'Grey's Anatomy' Boss Teases Big Meredith/Catherine Showdown

'Grey's Anatomy'

Meredith Grey (Ellen Pompeo) has never been afraid of making waves on Grey's Anatomy, but her antics in the Season 19 finale may have made an enemy out of a worthy opponent in Season 20.

When a handful of Grey Sloan attendings made their way to Boston for the Catherine Fox Awards at the end of last season, Meredith revealed that her Alzheimer's research had taken an unexpected turn. She wanted to move away from the theory that plaque in the brain caused the degenerative disease, which would spit in the face of decades of previous research, Derek's (Patrick Dempsey) included.

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Meredith's former colleagues encouraged her to keep a lid on her findings, but instead, she unveiled her theories to a group of Catherine Fox Foundation donors at the award ceremony in front of the foundation's namesake. It's safe to say that Catherine Fox (Debbie Allen) was definitely not pleased with Meredith's research update.

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"She’s Meredith Grey. She can’t help but do the right thing when she thinks it’s the right thing, despite rules and despite bureaucracy, despite how things should go, or how things should look, especially to Catherine Fox," Grey's showrunner Meg Marinis told Parade in a recent interview.

"Debbie Allen plays an amazing villain in Catherine Fox when the two of them are on screen together. I have to say those scenes are some of the most fun scenes to write when it’s Catherine versus Meredith. They bring such an energy to it and you don’t cross Catherine Fox."

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On the bright side, Meredith's personal life is looking a lot less bleak in Season 20. Marinis confirmed that Nick's (Scott Speedman) confession of love in last year's finale was real, and the couple will make a go of it in the upcoming episodes.

"[Meredith] is always going to make decisions based on what she thinks is best. She fights so hard for what is right and sometimes in doing so, it’s at a cost to her personal life," Marinis explained. "There will be bumps in the road based on what happens in the premiere, but I think he made it pretty clear at the end of last season that he’s in this."

Marinis couldn't elaborate on what that means with Nick still working at Grey Sloan and Meredith still in Boston. Even though Meredith will return in the season premiere, she is not leaving the foundation or her research just yet. But we have not seen the last of her this season.

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"She’s not back at Grey Sloan and she will still be in Boston because she moved to Boston for her daughter, for Zola. She’ll be continuing her work in Boston," Marinis confirmed. "She’ll come and go and we love having her here. Whenever we can make it work with her schedule, we welcome her."

Can Meredith survive a face-off with Catherine Fox? We'll have to see. Grey's Anatomy returns Thursday, March 14 at 9 p.m. ET on ABC.

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