It has been a tough year quite frankly, an uneven year, even for diehard fans.
Guest stars have flitted in and out, more unreliable than a 23-year-old boyfriend.
Ghosts have shown up, more reliable than a call from Mom on Sunday night.
Credit: Scott Garfield/ABC
to who might be leaving the show for good (George?
We knew Bailey would leave her hubby; we guessed Mer and Der might finally tie the knot.
(Anyone else sufferinga massive pop cultural hangoverright now?
Herein, the answers insofar as we know to the biggestGreysquestions of the day:
WHO IS JACOB?
AND HOW DID HE MANAGE TO BEAT DANNY GOKEY?
AND WHY AM I SO DAMN HAPPY ABOUT THAT?
Let me start again.
One last swig of wine.
(It was only one glass.
WHATS TO BECOME OF CRISTINA AND OWEN?
Friday Night Lights own Matt Saracen (i.e.
Not that its hard to fluster them.
He really didnt have to go to nerve-damage lengths.
I could use your support, he said when he told Cristina.
You dont have it, she snapped.
Later, she explained, slightly more lovingly, I dont want you to die.
(And she was played by the lovely Debra Mooney ofEverwood.
Because apparently it was all-stars-of-my-favorite-shows-ever night onGreys Anatomy.
Yeah, there were more.
The best I can approximate it in print is I …love…you…?
But thats not even close.
You know what Im talking about.
I said I love you, she continued incredulously.
I dont want…its like I cant breathe without you.
You said it, sister.
His answer: All you have to do is say yes.
Well get to her answer in a bit.
IS BAILEY GOING TO DO ANYTHING ABOUT HER FAILING MARRIAGE?
It started with an 8-year-old neuroblastoma patient.
(Its a kind of cancer kids get where tumors form outside their cranium.)
Arizona wanted Bailey to scrub in.
That depends, Bailey quipped.
Got any more dying children you want me to become overly attached to before they expire?
Cool move: She was visibly thrilled, even making light saber noises as she tried it out.
Arizona broke down in front of the Chief and cried cried!
blathering something about this being how she reacts when authority figures make her mad.
I was glad Callie wasnt around to see it.
Its wrong and mean to use a robot to lure Bailey back into general surgery, she said.
Is it, though?
Bailey even brought a bummed-out Kimberly Elise and Callie with her to see the joy.
DID DEREK GET THAT HAIRCUT FOR THEIR WEDDING?
His grey streak is nearly invisible.
I am sad on all counts.
WILL IZZIE KICK CANCER?
Okay, lets get to one of the biggies now.
That doctor played by Kimberly Elise (her names Dr. Swender, but who knew that?)
touted other therapies as possibly just as effective with less risk.
So that would be a really bad worst case.
(But you want acting to do, you got acting to do, Katherine Heigl.
And you did it well.)
That gave Meredith flashbacks to her Alzheimers-stricken mom, and she demanded Izzie not undergo the surgery.
Meanwhile, Alex begged Derek for answers: Shes the one good thing that ever happened to me.
Derek said if it were him, hed ask Meredith to have the surgery.
Still, she decided that if Paris could live without surgery, so could she.
Would he really say that to a resident who wasnt his fiancee?
She never recovered, and would be stuck on a ventilator, likely for the rest of her life.
For the first time, I truly believed Izzie would likely leave the show.
I mean, would they really have a character as a vegetable for the better part of next season?
So shed either have to die or pull off what was starting to look like an extremely miraculous recovery.
You know what to do, he said, wisely.
Youre just scared to do it.
This back and forth is just fear.
(True, incidentally, in almost any situation in life in which youre wavering.)
I have a headache, were her first words.
Derek informed her that hed gotten the tumor out.
She appeared to know what was going on, who everyone was, and even how to talk medical.
She kept asking every few minutes.
Her short-term memory was shot.
Alex had to write everything on little notes all over her bed just so shed remember it.
He relentlessly quizzed her in hopes of making something stick.
Her future is on me, he snapped to Derek.
You made me promise you that you wouldnt live like this.
So now what the hell am I supposed to do?
Smother you with a pillow?
Shoot you up with an overdose of morphine?
Not really psyched about that.
Because Im not really psyched about that either.
So I guess Im kinda screwed, right?
I mean not as bad as you, but not a freakin walk in the park either.
No, I told you to get it off your chest, she replied.
Did you forget yet?
But minutes later she still remembered.
And then she still remembered.
And then she told Cristina about it.
WILL MER AND DER EVER MAKE IT OFFICIAL AFTER GIVING THEIR WEDDING TO ALEX AND IZZIE LAST WEEK?
Lets go to city hall tomorrow, Meredith said next to Izzies gurney.
I dont want to spend another day not being married to you.
It doesnt seem like the day for it, she said.
But Meredith still refused to wait another second to show Derek how much he meant to her.
Or to show her best friend how much she meant to her.
I love you, Cristina Yang.
Cristina quipped, Youhavechanged.
But then Cristina initiated the hug, showing Meredith wasnt the only one.
Well get to whether Mer and Der really made it in a bit.
She told him she would in maybe like five years.
Hes buying a house anyway.
We are proud of the progress he has made.
Gold stars for many heretofore emotionally immature adults this week.
NEXT: In the army now
WHAT WILL BECOME OF GEORGE, GIVENRUMORS THAT T.R.
KNIGHT IS LEAVING THE SHOW?
This is a big one.
Ive tried fitting in here, Ive tried being a regular person.
I tried getting a job but there arent any.
It worked on Callie, and it worked on George, apparently, too.
Because George decided to enlist in the Army.
(The line was funnier with him doing the Bailey voice.)
He was right, she was like that and as news spread among Seattle Gracers, reaction was mixed.
Some were proud of him, but many mostly his closest friends were like, What did you do?
Hes the guy who gets killed cleaning his own gun, Cristina said.
AND HOW DID THIS ALL TURN OUT?
Shannon lingered whenever she could, convinced that is my prince in that bed.
Clearly it was not becoming any easier for Derek and Meredith to end their day with a wedding.
I wanna check on Izzie, Derek told Meredith in the locker room.
Maybe we can do that first and then go get married after.
Meredith replied, We cant because we have the George intervention after that.
But she still wanted to do the wedding.
There is no other day, she said.
Every day is like this.
Then they decided to write their vows to each other right there.
On the Post-Its, with the pen that Cristina gave her.
Im about as sappy as Cristina and Meredith, but even I found it absolutely adorable.
They signed their vows.
But, really, that was just the beginning of the waterworks.
Before we could be too happy about that, though, Izzie coded.
Which was particularly bad because shed signed the DNR.
That was the last wed know of her for this episode.
He couldnt quite do it earlier, but he finally did this time: 007.
Meredith ran to tell everyone.
Cliffhangers are a bitch.
What did you think,Greyswatchers?
Was this the most emotionally loaded finale ever?
Were you happy to see Cristina and Owen moving forward?
Did Bailey do the right thing by leaving her husband?
Did Mer-Ders wedding live up to your expectations?
Did you like Dereks haircut?
Oh, right, one other thing: Will Izzie and George live or die?
How did you feel about the George twist?
What did you think of leaving it unresolved?
