TGIT: Where We Left Off

It’s no secret that Shonda Rhimes has taken over our Thursday nights (and arguably our lives) with her trio of Shondaland dramas that return Thursday, Jan. 26 on ABC. “Grey’s Anatomy,” “Scandal,” and “How to Get Away with Murder” (HTGAWM) make up the “Thank God It’s Thursday”, or TGIT, lineup.     

The Grey’s and HTGAWM winter finales left us on Nov. 17, 2016 with about a zillion questions, and we haven’t seen our Scandal gladiators since their season five finale on May 12, 2016. So, if you’re anything like us, you’ll be parked on your couch this Thursday with your drink of choice and popcorn at the ready.
In case you’ve forgotten exactly where we left all of our favorite characters, here’s a little refresher on each of the shows to get you up to speed and ready to dive back in this week!
First up, let’s check in with our Grey-Sloan Memorial family.
Grey’s Anatomy:
The mid-season finale is appropriately centered around the collapse of a Seattle apartment building that matches the potential collapse of the hospital as we know it.
While the doctors navigate the insanity following the collapse, we are getting to know the newest addition to the Grey-Sloan team, Dr. Eliza Minnick, who is in the process of taking the teaching program out from under Richard Webber. However, as the episode comes to an end, it looks like the fellow doctors and surgeons are less than okay with this decision and are planning to fight it.

In the biggest ongoing drama this season, the Jo-Alex-Deluca lawsuit, things come to a head as Karev’s trial date is quickly approaching. Jo, out of fear of having to testify and risk her abusive husband finding her, comes clean to Alex in the elevator. When we leave the two of them, it seems that Jo may be ready to take flight again and Alex is in the waiting room ready to confess to the district attorney and potentially spend the next two years in jail. In the final scene, Meredith makes one last ditch effort to keep Karev from leaving, reminding him (and us) that they are the only two left of the original five and she needs him to stay with her.

We also witness some heart-warming bonding between Dr. Hunt and Dr. Riggs, the possibility of a future romance between Robbins and Minnick, and trouble in newlywed paradise as Amelia leaves a note for Owen to find saying that she has left and that it is not his fault.
“Grey’s Anatomy” will air on ABC at 8/7c. We can’t wait to see what kind of drama Shonda has in store for us with the second half of this season.
Scandal:
It’s been awhile since we last saw Olivia Pope and her team of Gladiators. When we left them, everyone was deeply entrenched in the republican convention in preparation for the upcoming election.
Mellie Grant who intends to run has Olivia Pope and Associates (OPA) running her campaign. Frankie Vargas, her opposing republican candidate, is having his campaign run by Cyrus Bean. The episode takes us along as the two hunt for the proper running mates for each candidate and try to tear each other’s campaigns apart. Making the ultimate move, Cyrus surprises everyone and announces that he will be running for VP alongside his candidate Frankie Vargas.

In the midst of all this, it seems that Jake Ballard has been roped back into B613 and is under the thumb of Eli Pope, Olivia’s father also known as “Command.” Jake comes to Olivia asking for her help to get out and, being Olivia Pope, she comes to his rescue. In a move appealing to Command’s paternal instincts, Olivia takes Jake from him and recruits him as Mellie Grant’s VP. Jake, however, has different plans and would like to live an “ordinary” life. Olivia simply tells him to put his tie on and go do what she asked him to do. Jake then realizes and verbalizes that he hasn’t escaped anything. He just went from “being [her] father’s bitch to [Olivia’s].”
In the final scene of the finale, Shonda gave us a montage of conversations between Olivia and her father, highlighting how alike they are and proving that Olivia too, will do whatever it takes to get what she wants.

In the background of this episode, we see things heat back up between David Rosen and Elizabeth North, some healing between now divorced Mellie and Fitz, and a bomb dropped onto Abby’s desk and into the hands of Fitz in the form of Olivia’s medical records which we can only assume (as it is never directly mentioned) reveals the abortion she had recently undergone.
Season 6 of “Scandal” will premiere at 9/8c on ABC following “Grey’s Anatomy” on Jan. 26 and a scandal it most certainly will be.
How to Get Away with Murder:
“How to Get Away with Murder” has become the TV thriller we all never knew we desperately wanted. I think everyone is with us when we say the return to season 3 better have some serious answers in store.
The mid-season finale, aptly titled “Who’s Dead,” did finally answer the question we’ve been asking all season: who’s under the sheet? The episode takes us back to the beginning of the night we have already seen the aftermath of in true HTGAWM fashion.

The episode gives us a glimpse into every facet of the season so far and how we ended up with a dead man under a sheet, a pregnant Laurel in the hospital, and an incarcerated Annalise Keating.
We also finally get to see Frank again and we are not liking the view all that much.The showdown we’ve been waiting for between Annalise and Frank reveals Frank holding a gun to his head, ready to kill himself, and Annalise urging him to do it until Bonnie steps in and talks them both down.
On the student side of the world (because remember this show is about college students!), we get to see the Keating Five – Wes, Laurel, Michaela, Asher, and Connor – take their final exam and celebrate the fact that they all passed by getting drunk on champagne.

Following the showdown with Frank, Annalise goes back to the bottle and calls Bonnie to take care of her. Once she wakes up, seemingly okay, Annalise calls Wes and Laurel telling them to get everyone together then meet at the house. She, however, goes to enlist Oliver, who has now connected the dots about the night Sam Keating died, to help her with her next scheme. With Asher and Connor being too drunk and Michaela taking care of a surprise visit from her mother, the only two who make it to the house are Wes and Laurel. Nate then shows up looking for Annalise and that’s when it all really hits the fan. The house explodes and Annalise identifies the dead body they roll out. Wes Gibbons is under the sheet.
At the hospital, we see the heartbreaking moment when the rest of the Keating Five along with Meggie and Oliver find out that Wes is dead and simultaneously wondering what the hell happened that night.

The first half of this season most definitely left us with more questions than we even knew were possible and we are hoping the second half can give us some of the answers we need. How to Get Away with Murder will return to ABC on January 26th after the season 6 premiere of Scandal at 10/9c.
Hold onto your hats ladies and gentlemen, and get settled in. TGIT is back and Shonda Rhimes is certainly ready to take us for a ride.
Read more Entertainment articles on ClicheMag.com
TGIT: Where We Left Off. Feature image courtesy of hypable.com.