Grey's Anatomy returned Thursday September 22nd for season 13. With everything that has changed in the past 13 seasons, it's nice to reflect on the past, the best episodes that have always kept us going. If you need to catch up, or look back and see how much has changed in the past, here are 10 Grey's Anatomy episodes you just need to watch.(Sorry if some of these are spoilers for you, they are just the best eps.)
1. Season 1 episode 9: Who's Zoomin Who?
In the season finale of season one, a major bombshell is dropped between everyones automatic favorite couple Meredith and Derek. Fans were dying to know why McDreamy was so secretive at the beginning and when Addison Shepherd (Derek's wife that cheated on him and made him come to Seattle,) walks in at the end of the episode, our jaws dropped and we were shocked but intrigued to know what was going to happen between the "love triangle," in season two.
2. Season 2 episode 17: 17 Seconds.
This episode of season 2 is absolutely mind boggling. Izzie falls in love with Denny (a patient who is awaiting a heart transplant,) and they find out that the man who is ahead of Denny on the transplant list, got ahead of him because he was entered 17 seconds earlier. The doctors find out that there are two hearts for Denny at another hospital but of course when they get there, one of them is unusable and so Alex, Izzie, and Burke fight over who gets the heart. The doctors go to war and take drastic measures to get the heart. To ensure that Denny gets it, Izzie cuts Denny's LVAD wire making him a critical patient. Just as Burke (the best heart surgeon around,) is coming to perform the heart transplant, he is shot and cannot perform the surgery. SO the episode cuts off with Denny in critical condition, and Burke lying outside the hospital with a bullet in his arm. Craziness pure craziness.
3. Season 3 episode16: Drowning on Dry Land.
This episode is following the huge ferry crash in which all of the doctors had to pitch in and help the major injuries that this crash brought on. At the end of it, Meredith is pushed into the water by a man who she was helping. But, in this episode Derek of course goes into the water and saves Meredith. She is not breathing and he works as hard as he can to try and save her (Derek Shepherd crying over Meredith is everything we never knew we needed.) The rest of the doctors do not know about Meredith yet, because Izzie is working hard on a man who is trapped under a car, Christina is stuck at the hospital with news that she is engaged, and Alex is trying to help the families who are searching for their missing loved ones. At the end of the episode, the doctors say that they are "losing Meredith" and she is faced with Denny Duqette signaling that she may or may not be dead (spoiler: she isn't.) This is a season 3 must.
4. Season 4 episode 17: Freedom--Part 2.
The season finale of season 4 has a lot going on. Meredith and Derek though not dating here, have one last shot at their clinical trial, and have a lot riding on it (and their relationship.) They have a cute moment with a couple who they are trying to save where they give them some alone time. Alex is dating Rebecca (the girl with the new identity from the ferry crash) and she is spiraling out of control. She comes into the ER after she slits her wrists and of course Izzie is at his rescue. Christina does a controversial surgery she learned with Burke and Dr. Hahn (the new cardio surgeon who replaced Burke after he left Christina at the altar) is pissed. Lexi tells George that he is destined for greatness, he finds out he is able to retake his boards, and he kisses Lexie. All of this emotional whirlwind going on bringing us right to the end of the episode where Meredith makes her and Derek's future house out of candles and tells him she loves him and they are officially back together at the end of the episode.
5. Season 5 episode 19: Elevator Love Letter.
After Derek returns to surgery with Meredith's help, he is being pressured by everyone around him to make it successful because it is Izzie's tumor. Alex makes rude comments to him, and you think that Derek is going to give up and go back into the woods to hide out because of his failed surgeries. However that is not the only crazy thing that happens Owen Hunt (who comes at the beginning of the season,) has PTSD and is choking Christina in her sleep. After his episode she hides and calls Meredith. Christina eventually tells Owen it is okay leaving both Meredith and Callie stunned because obviously it is so not okay. Derek performs Izzie's surgery and of course she is fine. At the end of the episode Derek proposes in the elevator to Meredith for the 3rd and final time. He makes it beautiful, and says I love you Meredith Grey, and I want to spend the rest of my life with you" to which she replies “And I want to spend the rest of my life with you” and que the tears.
Season 6 episode 23: Sanctuary.
A previously deceased patient's husband brings a gun to the hospital and is looking for revenge against her doctors (aka Derek.) He shoots Alex, and kills one of the other doctors (Reed who is kind of irrelevant. At the same time Christina asks Owen if he loves Teddy (the surgeon he previously worked with in Iraq and now brought to Seattle Grace.) April Kepner (another surgeon) finds Reed's body and runs to tell Derek (the new chief) what she has seen and he puts the hospital on lockdown. Meredith has just found out she is pregnant and ignores the lockdown to go tell Derek but Derek tells her not to move because of the lockdown. Her and Christina are hiding in a closet while the shooter faces Derek and eventually shoots him. The episode ends with Derek bleeding out on the floor, Meredith screaming, and Christina trying to hold her back because hello there is a guy with a gun two feet away!
Season 7 episode episode 18: Beneath the Song.
This episode may come off as a little weird because of the signing doctors, but it is still awesome and as shocking as ever. So basically Arizona (peds surgeon) asked Callie to marry her right before they get into a major car accident, risking the lives of both Callie and her unborn baby. “I asked her to marry me and a truck came out of nowhere" Arizona says as Callie is brought into the hospital with her life on the line. The episode is spent with the doctors singing to our favorite Grey's songs (Chasing Cars,) and trying to save the lives of everyones favorite ortho surgeon Callie Torres. Callie has to undergo multiple surgeries one with Christina and Derek working at the same time, and you don't really know if Callie will live or not.
Season 8 episode 24: Flight.
Hands down one of the saddest episodes in television history. All of our favorite doctors Lexi, Meredith, Mark, Derek, Christina, and Arizona are all in a plane deadly plane crash. The doctors have to go into survival mode out in the "forest", trying not to lose their cool while those around them dwindle. Lexi is trapped under the plane and is dying, while Mark is holding her hand and telling her how he loves her and how they are meant to be. He has to have open heart surgery right there in the "forest" while he holds Lexie's hand as she dies. Meredith has to deal with her sister dying, and her husband's hand being crushed in the crash. Christina is trying to hold everyone together, and Arizona also has one leg trapped under the plane. A crazy whirlwind of emotions and nothing but tears. Definitely a must watch.
Season 9 episode 10: Things We Said Today.
It's doctor Bailey's wedding day and of course she keeps putting it on hold because she has more important things to deal with at the hospital. The Chief's wife Adele's Alzheimers is getting worse and worse, and there is not much Meredith and Bailey can do to save her. Christina and Owen sign divorce papers so they stop hurting each other even though they are in love they just want two totally different things. Alex and Jo are officially friends, and they hang out at the bar at Bailey's wedding and talk about who had it worse growing up sparking the first signs of romance. Bailey and Ben finally get married and the chief goes to the wedding telling Meredith that Adele has died of a heart attack, as he watches Bailey and Ben dance and we all cry.
Season 10 episode 12: Get Up, Stand Up.
April Kepner is getting married and her and Jackson are still low-key in love. Jackson takes Stephanie (another intern) to the wedding as a guest but cannot stop thinking of how much he loves April the whole time. Alex's father comes into the hospital and Alex and him almost have a fight because Alex had to pick up the pieces when his father left them years ago. Derek is getting offers to work for the white house causing some tension between Derek and Meredith. And finally the biggest moment of the episode, April walks down the isle ready to say "I do" and Jackson stops the wedding telling April he is in love with her and wants to be with her and of course, she leaves with him because I mean who wouldn't?
Season 11 episode 21: How to Save a Life.
Bring on the tissues, this is the episode everyone cannot believe happened: Derek Shepherd dies. He is on his way home to Meredith after quitting his job with the president because he wants to be with his family. He witnesses a car accident on the side of the road and he stops to help the victims. After he does all that and gives long speeches about how much he loves his wife, he gets in the car to call Meredith and is hit by a truck. Meredith gets a message from police that there has been an accident and she rushes to the hospital with their two kids to go see him. As our tears run from watching this all unfold, we see Meredith and Derek's final moments as she tells him its okay to let go and that she will be okay. This might be the saddest moment in television history.
Season 12 episode 22: Mama Tired.
Callie and Arizona are in a nasty custody battle over Sofia because Callie wants to go to New York with her new girlfriend and take her daughter with her. Each of the two ask the other doctors to appear on the side during the trial and words get said to each other that can never be taken back. It is a sad episode because you love Callie and you love Arizona and you love them together. So the fact that this is happening really rips fans up. At the end of the episode, you see Arizona come to Meredith's house asking to pick up her daughter. She and Sofia go walking on their way home and you realize that it is Arizona who gained custody, and you then see Callie crying in Arizona's house saying "how did this happen?" You will cry at this episode.
There are a lot of other great episodes and shocking moments in this show, but those are just one of the must sees from each season. If this article is a spoiler for you, then you need to get your act together and watch Grey's Anatomy because you're really missing out.
