#Star Giacomo Gianniotti on DeLuca’s Dangerous Pursuit

Grey Sloan Memorial surgeon Andrew DeLuca (Giacomo Gianniotti, above) is like a dog with a bone when he believes in something. That has never been more true than on March 11’s Station 19, the first half of a tension-filled crossover with Grey’s Anatomy, as DeLuca and his protective older sister, Carina (Stefania Spampinato), try to stop a child sex trafficker.

DeLuca first suspected the woman, Opal (Stephanie Kurtzuba), of being up to no good last season when she posed as the aunt of a terrified teen he treated in the hospital’s clinic. But at the time he was in the throes of his then-undiagnosed bipolar disorder and his accusation was ignored. (The girl later escaped and filed a police report.) DeLuca spotted Opal again in the winter finale of Grey’s after she snuck into the hospital to check on her coconspirator, who was injured during the rescue of two more teens in Station 19‘s winter finale.

DeLuca is “no longer the boy who cried wolf,” Gianniotti says. “He’s been taking his medications, eating right and getting sleep, and is back on track to living a more balanced lifestyle.”

Now, the chase is on as the siblings follow Opal from the hospital parking lot. “Sex traffickers are extremely dangerous criminals,” the actor notes. “Carina and Andrew will have to be very tactical with their pursuit.”

The doctor isn’t the only good guy whose complaint about the criminal outfit first went nowhere. Station 19 firefighter Dean Miller (Okieriete Onaodowan) is suffering the fallout of his arrest while trying to get police to stop Opal’s partner in crime.

The ramifications of the DeLucas’ mission to find Opal will then be felt on Grey’s Anatomy. Of course, the hospital staff is also still in the thick of treating COVID patients, including DeLuca’s ex-girlfriend, Meredith Grey (Ellen Pompeo), who is deathly ill.

“If [DeLuca] is to repair his relationship with Meredith — there are a lot of wrongs to make right — he must first save her life,” Gianniotti says. “Saving her life is the miracle all the doctors need.”

Station 19, Grey’s Anatomy, Midseason Premieres, Thursday, March 11, 8/7c and 9/8c, ABC