I spent all of tonight's season finale covering my eyes, breathing erratically and wiping tears from my eyes. Damn you, Shonda!
In the opening scene of the episode we take a trip down memory lane with footage from the very first episode of Grey's in season one. Our gang looks so young! And there's George. Awww.
That scene cuts to our gang post-crash and the sound of Arizona screaming which was positively unbearable. Across the field Meredith rips a sharp object out of her leg. Ick!
Meredith and Cristina can't find Lexie until they notice a noise. Lexie is banging a seat belt against the body of the plane to get their attention. Mark and Cristina rush to her and try to push the plane off of her, but they can't. To get more power Cristina tells Mark to pop her arm back into the socket! Ahh!
Over the next few minutes Arizona discovers her bone sticking out of her leg, Derek smashes his hand with a rock to release it from the plane wing and Cristina stabs Jerry the pilot's leg with a pen to prove to him that he's paralyzed. This episode is gruesome!
When we return to Lexie under the plane she is talking to Mark and begs him to tell Meredith that she loves her and she's a good sister. She asks Mark to hold her hand over and over again. Mark finally takes her hand and tells her he loves her, they'll get married, they'll have babies and then Lexie whispers, "We're meant to be?" after which she takes her final breath. Mark then closes her eyes and her mouth. This scene was impossible to watch. At this point, I was full on, chest heaving crying.
Meredith arrives to discover Lexie has died and she can't stop crying. Mark won't let go of Lexie's hand either.
Meredith and Cristina try to make some progress but Meredith winds up breaking down. Cristina shouts at her, "I don't know what to do! I've got PTSD so you know I'm not reliable!" Aww, Cristina. Then Meredith fires back, "Cristina, you are still my person even though I'm not yours!"
Eventually Cristina and Meredith find Derek and try to help him stabilize his arm. Derek has Meredith literally sew his arm shut with a safety pin. This is beyond gruesome. I need a new word for gruesome.
Cristina starts yelling at Mark to come and help them and when he doesn't even flinch she realizes he's now unstable. Turns out he's in critical condition and Meredith, Derek and Cristina have to band together to do a cardiac procedure. Mark has to endure this was zero anesthesia!
At this point the gang hears a helicopter over head but the plane's flair gun won't release and they haven't made a fire. I felt my whole body deflate when they couldn't get the helicopter's attention.
Later, after the sun has set, Mark's head is in Arizona's lap and he says, "I should have said it earlier. I should have said I loved her. She didn't know. You take care of our girls. Lexie is waiting for me," and then my heart started shattering. This episode is so heavy!
Back at the hospital Teddy gets an offer from MedCom. In surgery Teddy tells Owen she is turning down the job because she sees Owen is in shambles and she is loyal to him and will not leave him while he is in so much pain.
Owen winds up firing Teddy. She storms out, then comes rushing back in and leaps into Owen's arms. She begs him to fight for Cristina. Do you think this is the end of Teddy on the show?
Later on, April and Jackson have a heart to heart in the locker room. Their conversation was so sad. Also, why does April assume she and Jackson can't wind up together? How sweet was it when Jackson walked over to her and offered his arm?
Toward the end of the episode Bailey storms in on Ben cleaning his tools and starts ranting and raving about how they are partners, how he can't make this UCLA decision without her, etc. She winds up accepting Ben's earlier proposal in her own, worked up, Bailey way. I loved when Bailey said, "I proposed to you in a trench coat and a thong! Proving once again that nothing good can ever come from a thong!" Ha! I really like Bailey and Ben together. I hope next season we get to see their wedding!
Next, the chief takes April, Jackson and Karev out to dinner and he says he wants to give them his best piece of advice, but then he pauses to say he'd rather wait for the others to arrive. Chief, you'll be waiting a very long time.
In the final moments of the episode, Owen listens to the voicemails he'd been ignoring all day and realizes his team is missing. Finally!
The episode ends with zero resolution! Our gang is stranded and falling apart and we have to wait until September to find out if they survive!
Thankfully I was watching with a friend tonight. That was so intense! Did you make it through the hour without crying?
*Image courtesy of TVFanatic.com.
