Throughout the last 12 seasons Greys Anatomy fans have been put through the emotional ringer...and we're all still here. This devastating list proves that Shonda Rhimes loves to toy with our emotions. You might want to grab a box of tissues before reading.
Season 2 Episode 17: As We Know it.
Of course, Meredith would put her hand on a bomb, but that's not all that happened in this momentous episode: Bailey was in labor, while her husband was on Derek's operating table. I'm pretty sure the scene where George talked Bailey into having her baby is when he became her favorite intern (and ours). Also why did Dylan the dreamy bomb squad guy have to die? Answer: He didn't Shonda just likes to f*** with our emotions.
Season 2 Episode 27: Chasing Cars.
Not only did Burke get shot the episode before this, Izzie also cut Denny's LVAD wire. While the interns may have been busy organizing prom for Chief Webber's niece, Denny took a turn for the worst. Izzie was so excited for Denny to see her in her prom dress but things didn't go exactly as planned. Alex comforting Izzie gives me so many feels.
Season 3 Episode 15: Walk on Water/Season 3 Episode 16: Drowning on Dry Land.
We still all have a thing for ferryboats despite the traumatic events that occur in the episode. While we were able to celebrate Izzie being able to save her patients life by drilling into his skull while in a parking garage, Meredith gets shoved into the water and we are unsure of her fate until the next episode when we see Derek pull her out of the water, her body practically blue and Derek's face full of fear and anguish. We also see Meredith having a dream that includes Denny, her mother and her first patient that died urging her to figure out for herself that she needs to live. Meredith fate is unknown until the very end of the episode.
Season 5 Episode 24: Now or Never.
I'm still not over this episode, the fact that John Doe is George does not make sense in my mind. It would be so much easier if we could pretend that this episode didn't exist and that George is actually in the military as a trauma surgeon, but alas George is John Doe and he is dead. The heart-wrenching twist about this episode is that there was a moment right after Meredith and Derek had their post it wedding and George wasn't John Doe, and Izzie's memory was back...but then we find out that George is John Doe and everything you thought you knew becomes a lie.
Season 6 Episode 23: Sanctuary/Season 6 Episode 24: Death and All His Friends.
The infamous shooting episode. So many parts of these two episodes kept me on the edge of my seat with a box of tissues in one hand. Between Alex getting shot, Meredith's pregnancy that is unknown to Derek, Teddy and Owen's determination to survive, Bailey's persistence to save Charles, and Derek getting shot, a lot happened in this episode that warranted not a dry eye in the house. Jackson and Christina operating on Derek with Meredith, the shooter and Owen, all in the OR is an emotional rollercoaster. Let's not forget that Jackson and Christina had to trick the shooter (and us) into thinking that Derek was dying when in fact they just removed the wires, and that Meredith pleads for the shooter to shoot her instead of Derek... talk about an act of true love.
Season 8 Episode 10: Suddenly.
Not only did we have to deal with the aftermath of Teddy's husband Henry dying on the operating table, we had to deal with the aftermath of Alex and Meredith being in a car accident and trying to save the other victims that were involved. Just when you thought everything was going to work out for Teddy and Henry, he dies. We then had to watch Christina operate with Teddy all while keeping the secret that her husband is dead. Teddy and Christina had finally reached a point where they were saving lives and having fun together and then Henry dies on Christina's operating table....we should've know it was too good to be true.
Season 8 Episode 24: Flight
Derek, Meredth, Mark, Lexie, Christina, and Arizona suffered a traumatic plane crash but unfortunately some were luckier than others. One of the most heart-wrenching scenes of the entire series was when Mark and Lexie had to say goodbye. Mark and Lexie finally admitted there love for each other... AND THEN SHE DIED.
Season 9 episode 1: Going, Going , Gone / Season 9 Episode 2: Remember The Time
Of course it wasn't enough to have to deal with fact that Mark died, but then we had to relive his death in the next episode through one long flashback. There's a flashback from Derek's wedding with Addison in which Mark boasts about how good a friend he is, in only the way Mark Sloan could. But of course one flashback from a wedding wasn't enough so there was also a flashback from Callie and Arizona's wedding in which Mark is shown professing his love for Lexie... which just makes both of their deaths so much more bittersweet.
Season 11, Episode 21: How to Save a Life.
Possibly the episode that received the most media attention, with good reason! We were forced to say goodbye to the heartthrob Dr. Mcdreamy that filled our screens and hearts for 11 seasons. This episode was an emotional whirlwind. Derek managed to save the lives of victims of a car accident he witnessed, got back his car and was hit by a truck, just like your heart. Don't even get me started on the fact that he was a neurosurgeon and knew that he needed a CT but of course he wasn't able to tell the severely incompetent doctors that.
Season 12 Episode 9: The Sound of Silence.
The newest episode on this soul crushing list. Meredith gets brutally attacked and has to live in the hospital for weeks. I wasn't sure if she would gain her hearing back and am still somewhat unsure if she will return back to the operating table come next week's episode. I completely lost it when Meredith wanted to see her kids so badly but they were scared off by her eagerness and that her jaw was wired shut. The fact that Penney Blake was the doctor who 'helped' Meredith out when she needed it *almost* compensates for the fact that she killed Derek...not quite though.
From ferryboat crashes, getting hit by buses, mass shootings, plane crashes and car accidents, we've pretty much seen it all. So Shonda, not only have you ripped our hears out repeatedly, you've set them on fire and stomped them on the ground (you could say I'm still a little bitter).
Sidenote: I'm no longer able to get through the song "How to Save a Life" without shedding a tear or two.