Grey's Anatomy Showrunner Teases Arizona's Return

Jessica Capshaw returns as Arizona Robbins for Grey's Anatomy's 20th Season.

By Nicole Drum

Grey's Anatomy returns this week and while fans of the long-running ABC drama are excited for Season 20's premiere to find out the fate of a fan favorite character, they're also excited for the return of some familiar faces — particularly that of Jessica Capshaw's Arizona Robbins. The character last appeared in Season 14 and fans have hoped to see her return ever since. Now, showrunner Meg Marinis is opening up about that eagerly anticipated return.

"We could always be expecting people to come back from the past. It's a 20-season show, we've got so many people that we'd love to have come and go. Jessica, it had been so long since we had seen that character. We're constantly having pitches come up in the writers room, I'm always asking them to think of people that we can see again because it's such a nice way to honor the show. And also, our show is about teaching and learning," Marinis told Deadline. "We've got these new interns and she is an innovative surgeon in fetal medicine and she also has the peeds element to her, so I thought, how interesting for her to come back and see this new class. I think there's got to be so much fun to be had. I think everyone is going to be really happy to see her, we show a lot of things that people loved about Arizona, her humor, her hard work as a doctor, her teaching, her friendships with the people that she loved at Grey Sloan. And it was such a joy to have Jessica back on set. It was like she'd never left; it was a seamless transition."

Marinis also explained that Capshaw would be appearing as Arizona in just one episode for the season.

Marinis Also Revealed Teddy's Surprising Fate

Marinis also teased the fate of Kim Raver's Teddy Altman, who was last seen collapsing in the operating room mysteriously after having complained of a toothache during the Season 19 finale. The moment left Teddy's fate in the balance and while it sounds like Teddy will survive, the story is far from over.

"We've seen Owen have a life-and-death situation, but we haven't seen Teddy recently have one," Marinis told TVLine. "So, like it would with anyone, it has an impact on her relationship with Owen, as well as with patients and how she treats other surgeons. It's not going to be one of those things where she recovers and forgets."

Some Familiar Faces Are Returning For Season 20 of Grey's Anatomy

When Grey's Anatomy returns for Season 20 on Thursday, March 14th, the series will be bringing back some familiar faces. It was previously announced that Jessica Capshaw will be reprising her role as Dr. Arizona Robbins on April 4th while Alex Landi is returning during the season as Nico Kim. Ellen Pompeo is also set to return as Meredith Grey in Season 20. Pompeo departed as a series regular in Season 19. When Pompeo departed Grey's as a series regular, she said that she'd be making some appearances. She also revealed some frustrations with playing Meredith for so long.

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"When you stay on a show and with a character that long…for me, I really need to make sense of things and I really need to see evolution and growth," Pompeo said. "And with network television specifically, there has to be some consistency for the audience. The audience wants familiarity. The writers get stuck in the consistency of something, and it's harder, which I always would argue against and say, 'We have such an incredible fan base. They're so loyal. They'll literally come along with us no matter what we do.' I think it's okay for Meredith to stop making bad decisions."

Grey's Anatomy returns for Season 20 on Thursday, March 14th on ABC.

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