Grey's Anatomy Season 9 finale (Part 1) is a chaotic mix of stories expected and unexpected. Meredith Grey's "out of nowhere" voiceover sets the mood of this special episode as usual. There has been a proposal, a shocking Calzona development, and a huge incident involving Alex Karev. Plus, Meredith goes into labor!

Spoiler Alert: This review contains spoilers for those who haven't seen Grey's Anatomy Season 9 Finale Part 1, "Readiness is All."

One of the best parts of this Grey's Anatomy special is how Alex Karev came in the hospital, commanding everyone to make sure a beating victim survives an attack. Followers of the Jolex (Jo Wilson and Karev) duo have long waited to see her relationship end with the d.b. doc. They got what they wanted in a pretty neat way - she beats him when he grabbed her in a way that reminded her of her awful past. Now this girl does take care of herself. But Alex won't let her suffer the worst of the consequences. (More on this next week.)

Grey's Anatomy, Out of Nowhere: A superstorm!

"The doctors of Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital prepare for a super storm heading towards Seattle," reads the finale episode synopsis at TV.com. Viewers have been prepared of this disaster, but certainly not of the shocking details that come with it.

"They hit you out of nowhere. We rarely get to see the catastrophe coming, no matter how well we try to prepare for it," Meredith Grey's ominous voice over says it all.

April Kepner gets a young Meredith moment as the bosses evacuation of the O.R. out of explosion fears. Avid Grey's viewers have seen Meredith go through this in Season 2, and the writers are quick to hint they know what they're doing. "I've been through something like this before," Meredith says.

Grey's Anatomy creator Shonda Rhimes has earlier told viewers to brace themselves for what's coming in this finale. After an unforgettable tragic plane crash last year, the show runners are back for more.

It's not all bad for Kepner, though. At least not yet. She has recently reconciled with paramedic Matthew, and now he's popped the question - out of nowhere! April is thrilled, but not so much when she catches Jason Avery's so-much-speech-going-on eyes. (More on this next week.)

A lot of Calzona fans have hoped that Callie and Arizona would be safe this finale. After all, Arizona lost her leg in last year's plane crash. Callie stood by her through the most difficult times. Romantic fans had hoped all is well now. But this Lauren doc (Hilarie Burton) is relentless and Callie has been, well, very, very flattered.

So much has been going on, but Meredith Grey will not have 'nothing' happening to her. As expected, she goes into labor. And it's not been exactly smooth despite her being surrounded by supposedly amazing docs. Count the super storm in, and more trouble's easier to imagine.

Overall, the first part of Grey's Anatomy Season 9 finale has been thoroughly engaging. Sure there are old tricks coming into play, but the human drama has several layers. These complex layers are being exposed in Grey's in a way that is predictable and yet still haunting.

The second part of Grey's finale airs next week on ABC.

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