Grey's Anatomy scoop: Meredith 'brutally' attacked in midseason premiere

Remember that TGIT promo that showed Meredith Grey in certain peril? We now have an answer to what’s really going on.

When Grey’s Anatomy returns for its midseason premiere, Meredith (Ellen Pompeo) will be the victim of a violent assault. “Meredith gets attacked by someone you would least expect and it is just as terrifying, shocking and harrowing as it appears,” Kelly McCreary tells EW.

“She’s attacked really brutally, really viciously and in a completely surprising, weird way,” Sarah Drew adds, noting that everyone else is really on the sidelines during the Meredith-centric episode directed by Denzel Washington — which means you won’t find out what Jackson (Jesse Williams) wanted to say to April (Drew) right away.

Obviously, what happens to Meredith will reverberate throughout the hospital, but it will have a big impact on Amelia (Caterina Scorsone). “Amelia takes that really hard,” says Scorsone, whose character was kicked out of the Grey house by Mer in the winter finale. “Amelia always holds herself extremely responsible for the misfortunate of others. In this case especially, she feels somehow responsible, even though she’s really not. She often takes it all very personally when someone she’s close to is hurt. When we come back, Amelia is at a very, very low point.”

In the promo, Meredith (Ellen Pompeo) is featured bloodied on the ground wearing her hospital scrubs, which raised many theories as to what happened — being stabbed, shot, and/or in an explosion, among them.

Grey’s Anatomy returns Thursday, Feb. 11 at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.