‘Grey’s Anatomy’ season 13 premiere review: The aggravations of Alex

Meredith said it best on the “Grey’s Anatomy” premiere Thursday night: When she first arrived at the hospital, Alex was one of the worst people she had ever met. Yet, over the ten-plus years she came to knew him, he grew. He became better. His heart fell into the right place. Unfortunately, that darkness still lingered within him, and it came rising out like a Leviathan in the season finale in the direction of one Andrew DeLuca.

Through much of the premiere, Alex’s journey was about trying to capture the dragon again. At one moment, he breathed fire in the direction of Jo; then, the smoke dissipated when he tried to apologize to Andrew, making it subconsciously all about him and not thinking he was the last person DeLuca wanted to see in that moment. It’s not clear he will ever operate again, and his entire future is in shambles.

Meredith spent much of this episode wrestling over what to do, and also if there was a way she could get Alex out of this. As time progressed, it quickly became clear that there was nothing else she could do. She eventually made it clear that Andrew was behind this, and he himself opted to accept his fate for what it was. They handled this pain for what it was, but also realized that these decisions could change their entire future — potentially even the Meredith / Alex friendship given that this propensity for darkness was back on the surface.

In the midst of all this, Meredith also has to feel the scorn of Maggie, who was infuriated over her keeping a secret about what happened to her ex. To think, Maggie still doesn’t know about Meredith and Riggs, and that may escalate into something more in the coming episodes.

For the most part, this was a concentrated premiere, as almost everything was about the Alex crisis, Jo’s instinct to try to escape the situation, and then also if Meredith’s friendship will ever be the same. There was a small side-story about April and her new daughter Harriet (sorry Catherine, the baby’s not named after her). Meredith did also seemingly turn away Riggs in the closing minutes, but we have a hard time thinking that’s the end.

All in all, a strong premiere — and one we’re happy was small rather than scattered. Episode Grade: B+.