Station 19's Boss Teases Who Will Survive That Midseason Finale Cliffhanger

Holy midseason finale, y'all! Station 19continued the jaw-dropping tradition of TGIT shows ending the first half of their seasons on massive cliffhangers that leave us on the edge of our seats until the shows return in 2019. The Grey's Anatomy spin-off ended Thursday's episode with both Andy (Jaina Lee Ortiz) and Sullivan (Boris Kodjoe) in serious jeopardy.

Andy and her new captain were trapped in the aid car together for most of the episode's intense windstorm and were stuck after picking up a victim of a hit and run left in the same spot where Sullivan's wife died years before. As the two waited for dispatch to tell them what hospital was ready to take them and their victim, the aid car started to get blown away. With dispatch not answering, they decided to make a go for it blind, but the episode ended with the image of the aid car turned over a deep ravine and neither Andy or Sullivan visible in the wreckage.

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Back at the station, everyone was enjoying Friendsgiving but emotions were mixed there as well. Maya (Danielle Savre) got her well-deserved promotion to lieutenant, but it means heading to another fire station, which has her feeling a lot of different ways. Elsewhere, Jack's (Grey Damon) PTSD from the skyscraper fire at the end of Season 1 is manifesting in aggressive and dangerous ways. Meanwhile, Vic (Barrett Doss) and Ripley's (Brett Tucker) affair blossomed to new depths, which will create a very murky situation in the second half of the season.

TV Guide talked to Station 19 showrunner Stacy McKee about what that cliffhanger means for the crew and what's next for our A-shift firefighters.

This midseason finale was sort of a crossover event with Grey's Anatomy. Considering how much drama's happening in the cliffhanger, will the winter premiere also pick up with a crossover? Some people need some medical attention.
Stacy McKee: Yeah, it's very possible that some medical attention will be needed. ... I don't think it will have that much of a crossover element in that way, but it will be a direct pick-up.

Who's going to have the hardest, toughest reaction to what's happened to Andy and Sullivan?
McKee: Oh my goodness, well, I mean definitely Pruitt (Miguel Sandoval) is going to be really thrown by everything that's happened because it's Andy. It's his kid, and he's also going to have to face some really tough decisions coming up, moving forward, professionally, because you know, it's possible that there might be a reason for -- we might have a captain opening.

I know you can't elaborate too much more on that, but let's say Sullivan makes it through this situation. Would this be something that could bring him more into the fold, like he's been wanting, or should we not be too optimistic about that?
McKee: I definitely think that when you go through something like this it can be very humbling, and it can definitely change your perspective. Not only on who you think you are, but on who the people around you are, and how maybe you want to interact with them. So yes, I think that an experience like this can be really transformative. It will definitely crack open somebody's walls.

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Could this be something that would allow Maya to stay at Station 19 for a little bit longer?
McKee: It's definitely a possibility. There's also the possibility that she'll wind up having to go to [Station] 23 and not even be able to be around to sort of experience what's happening in the aftermath, and there could be some real difficulties there too.

Ripley and Vic are really blossoming into something, but he's a little bit concerned about his position of authority over her. How are you going to explore that going forward and deal with that delicate balance?
McKee: It's definitely a delicate balance. Both professionally, and I think emotionally, for the two of them. We've established that Ripley has had a number of romantic relationships prior. We said he's been married before and we've never really played that Vic has ever had a really deep, sort of moving relationship. It feels like the two of them really have such a sort of undeniable connection, which is sort of -- it's like magnets, you know? They're so attracted to one another, and they just keep finding themselves pulled toward one another. So we want to explore all the facets of that. I feel like that's a really exciting romance for us to see moving forward.

Jack is also dealing with some very some very intense issues. Who do you think has the best chance of getting through to him?
McKee: A couple of people have tried, and a number of people have noticed that something's a little off. I feel like so many people in the station have had the opportunity to see just a little different facet of Jack that they understand isn't quite right, or something is a little bit off. I feel moving forward, of course, the friendship between Jack and Dean (Okieriete Onaodowan) is something that I just love so much. I love watching how it's been growing this season. To me, Dean is a prime person to really be able to get through to Jack, but you also have to look at everyone else around. I mean, Pruitt has had basically a sort of fatherly mentor relationship with Jack, and so I think moving forward he'll probably stand a really good chance of at least trying to make sure that he's taken care of.

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Jack has obviously a little bit of an adrenaline junkie, but he hasn't been reckless. So what is it about him that makes it so difficult for him to acknowledge that something's not right with himself?
McKee: Well, I think it goes back to some of the things we've learned about his past, even this season. The fact that he grew up really without a family and had to fend for himself a lot, and definitely had to sort of put up those protective walls, I think it's really hard for him to trust people, even though he craves having those deep connections, and having those people around him. It's hard for him to really open himself up and let those people in.

We've also been dealing with this Bailey and Ben separation. How are you going to balance that in the second half of the season, especially going back and forth between Grey's and Station 19?
McKee: The great thing about that is we're able to tell Ben's side of that story, and Grey's Anatomy is able to tell Bailey's side of that story. From the beginning of this season, it's something we've been working really closely [on] with Grey's in order to tell this story. We felt like we had these two amazing characters, and we really wanted to show both sides of the same coin, basically, from each of their perspectives.

Travis sort of finds out that his boyfriend isn't interested in getting married, and he pretends to be OK with it, but how are we gonna see that maybe test them going forward?
McKee: We will definitely see it test them. I think that look on Travis' face, that just says volumes. And we know that Travis is a person who completely believes in the idea of marriage. But I also think the fact that he still wears Michael's wedding ring, even if Grant says that that isn't a thing -- there's no way that you can really move forward with a really committed, serious relationship and have that not come into play somehow.

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Even though we're only halfway through this season, you made a much more conscious effort to crossover with Grey's more, even if it's just events crossing over rather than people. How has that helped you expand this universe in Season 2?
McKee: Yeah, it's been really fun to play with things like that, you know? Because, I mean, we have it as part of the show that the hospital is just a few blocks away from the fire station. So for instance, with the finale, just the idea of being able to have a unifying event that's affecting the city of Seattle, and would of course affect the hospital in one way and affect Station 19 in another way, to me those are the sort of, I mean I'm such a fan first, that that's the kind of fan candy I love. So anywhere we can, and we will do it. Because to me that's just, it just enriches and widens the universe. I think it's so much fun.

What are you most excited for fans to get to see in the second half of the season?
McKee: Oh my gosh, there's so much! And there's so much I can't tell you. We are gonna have some more secret romances. We're gonna have some pretty amazing affairs, some of them perhaps ill-advised. There are gonna be some incredible incidents with such major heroics, I just, I'm bursting because they're gonna be so neat and cool. You know, there'll be some pretty unexpected things too. Who knows? There could be a proposal, there could be, someone might die. You know? We're gonna take big swings. It's gonna be juicy.

Can someone die in an even numbered season? That goes against the pattern.
McKee: Listen, nobody died Season 1. We're basically still in Season 1. This is Shondaland -- you know how that works.

Station 19 will return in 2019 on ABC.