'Grey's Anatomy': Meredith and Amelia Find Themselves in Hot Water as Show Celebrates 20th Anniversary (Exclusive) (2025)

Meredith Grey (Ellen Pompeo) and Amelia Shepherd (Caterina Scorsone) are in for a surprise as Grey's Anatomy celebrates its 20th anniversary.

On the Thursday, March 27 episode of the hit ABC medical drama, “Meredith and Amelia prepare for a funding presentation for their Alzheimer’s research. Meanwhile, Teddy and Owen hit a breaking point in their marriage, while Jules has an awkward encounter with Dr. Beltran,” according to an official synopsis.

In PEOPLE’s exclusive clip from the episode, which airs the same day as the series turns 20, Meredith and Amelia are blindsided when presenting their medical research.

“Is there a problem?” Meredith asks, to which a committee member responds, “More of a question about the veracity of your research.”

“We have data to support everything,” Amelia clarifies and the man says, “That's not our concern. Another team presented something similar this morning, except there's several steps ahead.”

“That's impossible,” Amelia replies.

Realizing they could be in hot water, Meredith wants to know who presented the earlier research.

It doesn’t take her long to realize, it could only be one person, Tom Koracick (Greg Germann), who she quickly finds.

“Grey, Shepherd, ah, this is a surprise,” he says. “Welcome!”

As fans may recall, season 20 of Grey’s Anatomy concluded with Catherine Fox (Debbie Allen) discovering their secret Alzheimer’s research. After Meredith apologizes, Catherine acknowledged their research “changes everything,” but then threw them a curveball: she asked them to turn over all of their work to Koracick who would take over the research.

“You said yourself, Fox resources funded all the research. That means it all belongs to the Fox Foundation, so hand it over by end of day,” she demanded. However, Meredith didn’t follow her direction and allowed the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to publish her research.

While Meredith finds herself at another crossroads with her research, she has certainly come a long way since her days as an intern at Grey Sloan.

As the show celebrates its 20th anniversary, showrunner Meg Marinis reflects on the legacy of Grey’s Anatomy and her own experience on the show.

“When Grey's Anatomy premiered 20 years ago, I don't think any of us thought it would still be here two decades later!” she tells PEOPLE. “My career started at this show as a writers PA during season 3 and I can genuinely say this show, Shonda [Rhimes], Betsy [Beers] and the people who work here have changed my life and I know I'm not the only one who can say that.”

“From the viewers who have said Grey's Anatomy made them want to study medicine to those who saw themselves portrayed in a storyline or saw a medical case that sparked their interest regarding something in their own lives, Grey's Anatomy is a part of the framework of our culture in so many ways,” she adds. “Here's to the drama, the heart and the moments that will live on forever. Happy 20th Grey's, now let's dance it out!”

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Grey's Anatomy airs Thursdays at 10 p.m. ET on ABC.