While the Seattle Grace regulars battle an "Invasion" of newcomers, one Grey's Anatomy mainstay, Dr. Miranda Bailey (Chandra Wilson), will be crossing to Private Practice!

Bailey brings a kidney transplant patient to L.A., and Addison, her former Seattle colleague, isn't the only Oceanside doc pleased to see her, according to the press release.

We don't know entirely what that cryptic description implies, but from the photo gallery we've seen, it looks like Bailey works closely with Sam (Taye Diggs) on the case.

Meanwhile, Addison's emotional affair with Noah comes back to bite her, while Sheldon and Pete finally - yes, really, finally! - discover who the father of Violet's baby is.

We've posted one image from the exciting episode below. Chanda is so awesome (and not very tall). Follow the link for lots more photos of Bailey on Private Practice ...

Seattle Grace is getting ready to merge with Mercy West, which means more new residents coming in and competing for the same jobs with our gang. Like it or not, the first promo for next week's show suggests one of our own could be on the chopping block. Gulp.

Who do you think will get cut, if anybody? Are you excited for any of the new faces coming to Grey's Anatomy this season? What do you make of this merger story line in general?

Check out the promo for next week's aptly-named "Invastion" and see what you think ...

While Katherine Heigl is taking a five-episode hiatus this season film a new movie and Dr. Izzie Stevens will be MIA as a result, Ellen Pompeo's Dr. Meredith Grey will be in every episode.

That's great to hear after a slew of rumors about new faces and cast musical chairs.

Sources confirm that Pompeo is expected to return to the set of Grey's Anatomy "very soon" after she and Chris Ivery welcomed their first child, a baby girl named Stella, September 15.

The way it's worked out means that every episode will feature the title character.

This is thanks to her early return, as well as her willingness to pre-shoot scenes before the birth (most of which took place in bed after Meredith's liver surgery in last night's episode).

That's a great piece of news for Meredith and Derek fans, right?

Luckily, no episodes of Grey's Anatomy will be MerDer-less anytime soon.

As for all you Owen and Christina fans worrying about trouble in paradise, new recurring guest star Kim Raver will appear on the show starting November 12 as a SGH surgeon.

If it works out, she could become a series regular.

As for Raver playing a love interest for Owen (Kevin McKidd), "It's possible they do have some kind of connection," a show insider says. "But I think Shonda [Rhimes] and the writers are big fans of Cristina (Sandra Oh) and Owen and will do right by them in the end."

Raver's story line hasn't yet been shot.

Last night, Grey's Anatomy turned in another terrific episode as Meredith made a wonderful decision to help her ailing father, Thatcher, if only for her little half-sister's sake.

Things didn't turn out nearly as well in Izzie's world, as she treated a fellow cancer patient who failed to make it. Owen told Izzie she can't be both a surgeon and a patient.

Mark had a lot of face time this week as he vied for a bigger role in Lexie's world, and helped out an elderly patient who needed a new "apparatus." That was pretty funny.

Lastly, the looming budget cuts continue to take their toll on residents.

If you need a refresher, here's our full recap of "Tainted Obligation."

Within the episode main page you can find links to Grey's Anatomy quotes, Grey's Anatomy music, photos and videos from the evening. These are available for all episodes!

Most importantly, what did you think of last night's Grey's Anatomy? Share!

The Chief is making round after round of cuts and it's going to get worse.

It may be a month after the events of the season premiere fell into place and everybody came out of that situation okay, but the doctors of ABC's Private Practice are still a mess.

Addison is upset at losing Noah, even if her affair with him was only emotional. She's also sad about losing Nae as a friend, as Sam laments losing her in a totally different way.

Cooper can't get over the fact that he let that happen to Violet, even if she says it isn't his fault. Pete and Sheldon still don't know how to feel about Violet and her new baby.

Worst of all, neither does Violet herself. She's still so traumatized and lost after what she went through. She says she doesn't even feel anything toward her own little boy.

Follow the link for a recap of last night's episode and more on Private Practice ...

Welcome to the 179th Grey's Anatomy Insider Caption Contest, our fun Friday tradition!

This week's winner is tom. Congratulations! The winning caption appears below the pic.

Honorable mentions go out to blahdeeblah and charlotte. Thanks to all for playing!

Cristina: “Yo Alex, I’m really happy for you, I’ll let you finish, but I had one of the best surgeries of all time. One of the best surgeries of all time!”

Tonight on Grey's Anatomy, Cristina struggled to use her gift, Izzie was told she can't be a patient and a doctor, and Meredith made an incredibly selfless decision to help her ailing father, Thatcher, who needed a liver transplant after years of alcoholism.

The guy below? Well, he was pretty much awesome.

What did you think of tonight's Grey's Anatomy?

Our recap of "Tainted Obligation" will be posted soon. In the meantime, tell us how you felt about the show this evening by commenting below and by voting in our poll.

As always, the Grey's Anatomy Insider staff will weigh in with its analysis - plus quotes, music, news, photos, spoilers and much, much more - as soon as possible!

"Tainted Obligation" was ...

Tonight, Grey's Anatomy returns with an all-new episode, in which the Grey sisters find themselves confronting their daddy issues once again. Thatcher is back.

For Lexie, it's an opportunity to do what she can do save the dad who was so wonderful to her. For Meredith, the situation is a bit murkier. That's putting it mildly.

Will Mer give him the liver transplant he needs to survive?

We've posted previews, pictures and plenty of news and Grey's Anatomy spoilers that give us an idea of what we can expect this evening in "Tainted Obligation."

Now it's time to sit back, enjoy, and share your predictions and views. What do you think and hope will happen on tonight's Grey's Anatomy?

Discuss this evening's episode by leaving comments below and chatting with other fans in our Grey's Anatomy forum! It's always easy and fun to join and partake!

The merger of Seattle Grace and Mercy West isn't the only problem the residents of Seattle Grace are having when the show returns tonight with "Tainted Obligation."

Thatcher Grey (Jeff Perry) returns and throws the Grey sisters into turmoil. Lexie (Chyler Leigh) fights to save her dad's life. Meredith (Ellen Pompeo) doesn't care.

In an interview with TV Guide, Leigh says that Lexie's budding relationship with Mark (Eric Dane) will have a wrench thrown into it. What else could go wrong? Plenty.

Here's what Chyler Leigh has to say about tonight's episode and beyond ...

On Lexie's daddy issues: "Thatcher comes into the hospital and is seemingly drunk. There's this whole question where I'm saying, 'No he's not drunk, something else is going wrong.' Meredith sees him come into the hospital and goes, 'Oh, he's up to his regular antics again.'"

"I have to convince her there's something else going on. You'll find out that he's got some really intense liver issues going on [and] he has to have a transplant."

On Lexie's sister issues: "Meredith is questioning whether or not she should even care [about Thatcher], and whether or not she should feel bad that she doesn't care. Lexie got this whole and healed kind of a guy and had this really great upbringing. Meredith had an entirely different upbringing of neglect and abuse. It is like you're looking at two separate people."

"It stirs up some pretty big issues between the sisters and ultimately works out really well. Ultimately Meredith helps her, but not in the way that everyone is expecting."

Continue Reading...

With the death of George O'Malley greeting Grey's Anatomy fans at the beginning of this season, Seattle Grace has experienced a void ... or should we say a vacancy?

Thanks to the merger, however, new residents will be abundant soon enough.

And, as we reported yesterday, Kim Raver will is the latest to join the crowded ranks, playing a surgeon and possible love interest for Dr. Owen Hunt (Kevin McKidd).

Raver's prior credits include 24, Third Watch and most recently Lipstick Jungle, which was canceled after 20 episodes, yet had a surprisingly vocal cult following.

The addition of a known actor like Raver could be seen as a concerted effort to bolster the show's audience, which has shrunk over the last few seasons.

After peaking in Season 3 with an average of 21.3 million viewers per episode, ratings for Grey's Anatomy have tapered off somewhat and now hover in the 13-15 million range (typically depending on who is about to die), though it remains a top 10 show.

** INSIDER NOTE: This website's highest-ever traffic came after the cliffhangers that seemingly left Meredith dead in Season 3, and George and Izzie in peril last May.

It's likely, however, that Raver won't have much screen time with two of the show's biggest leading ladies, as this move is probably also meant to counter the reality that Ellen Pompeo and Katherine Heigl will both be missing a decent chunk of time this season.

With those two literally out of the picture, Raver's task will be to continue the show's tradition of strong female leads ... for better or worse, depending if you like her.

The Raver casting also comes on the heels of the news that Greek star Jesse Williams and veteran actress Martha Plimpton will join the cast for multi-episode arcs.

Is Grey's Anatomy having a resurgence in its sixth season, or are these just preventive measures to try and keep more viewers from being tempted by other shows?

Given the intriguing Owen-Cristina love triangle storyline, will Raver's surgeon serve as an antidote for a show that might be suffering from some character fatigue?

What do you think? Is Grey's Anatomy hitting its stride again? Or are there just too many guest stars and too little time for the regulars we've grown to love?