Rhimes returns: Recap of 'Grey's,' 'Scandal,' 'Murder'

After giving viewers two months to catch their breath, ABC's Shonda Rhimes-produced "TGIT" lineup returns Thursday,

The three dramas gave ABC its top-rated night of the week for the fall among young adults and its highest Thursday numbers in that category in five years. Here's where the fast-moving shows left off, and where they might be going.

Grey's Anatomy (8 p.m. ET/PT): Derek (Patrick Dempsey) finally accepted a prestigious medical job in Washington, D.C. That would mean moving far from Seattle and his wife, Meredith (Ellen Pompeo).

"What's going to happen next for their relationship? Is he going to go or is he going to stay? It is huge," Rhimes says. "Meredith having to actually stand on her own two feet by herself is an interesting thing for us to explore."

Scandal (9 p.m. ET/PT): Fixer extraordinaire Olivia Pope (Kerry Washington) was enjoying a hard-earned independence in her life and a romantic encounter with Jake (Scott Foley), one of two men — the other being the president, Fitz (Tony Goldwyn) — vying for her affections. When Jake left the room, Olivia disappeared, the only evidence a spilled glass of red wine on her white sofa.

"We've finished a lot of stories out there for (Olivia), emotionally and personally,"Rhimes says. "Her father (Joe Morton) said she was on her own. She finished that relationship. She told Jake that she had no intention of choosing either (Fitz or him). Just when she'd sort of found a place for herself and knew what she was going to do and let go of her demons, something happens to her."

Rhimes wouldn't go into detail about Thursday's episode, other than to say it's "shocking and surprising" and "probably my favorite thing ever of all the episodes we've ever done."

Olivia's definitive state from the midseason finale loses relevance. "What happens when we come back changes circumstances so tremendously that I don't know that any of that matters, at least for a while."

How to Get Away With Murder (10 p.m. ET/PT): In the midseason finale, viewers saw the killing of Sam (Tom Verica), the unfaithful husband of super-attorney Annalise Keating (Viola Davis), at the hands of her law students. The shocker came when student Wes (Alfred Enoch) returned to the body and Annalise was there to observe him.

"Now, we're getting into the guts of the title of our show: How are they going to get away with it? That's very complicated," says creator Pete Nowalk adding the season's six remaining episodes will follow that effort and resolve the Lila Stangard murder, in which Sam is a potential suspect.

Murder picks up immediately after the midseason finale and the rest of the season will cover roughly two months. "They have to work to get away with this awful crime and they struggle with the morality and whether they even want to get away with it," Nowalk says. "The characters really get into each other's lives now. They're this weird, strange family. They didn't pick each other. The murder picked them."