[Warning: This story contains spoilers from Thursday's "Perfect Storm" episode of Grey's Anatomy.]
Grey's Anatomy's Shonda Rhimes said there would be an "emotional death" in the season nine finale and was very right -- on multiple levels.
During Thursday's "Perfect Storm," several couples were presented with life-altering scenarios as multiple story lines accounted for the figurative death the showrunner warned was coming. Here's a look at how everyone fared in the superstorm, ranked in order of how big of an emotional impact their story line had on us.
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1. Arizona, caught cheating. After sleeping with Lauren (Hilarie Burton), a guilt-ridden Arizona (Jessica Capshaw) rushes to get dressed and return to work -- and grabs the wrong scrub top in the process. It turns out to be a costly mistake after Callie (Sara Ramirez) spots Arizona's wedding ring pinned on Lauren's scrub top. Oops. Arizona Robbins, we're taking your wheely sneakers away. That is, until Arizona exclaims that Callie wasn't on the plane and didn't have to watch Lexie and Mark die and is still angry with her wife for breaking her promise that she'd save her leg. Fine, you can have your sneakers back.
2. Cristina (Sandra Oh) doesn't want to stand in Owen's (Kevin McKidd) way of becoming a father. The on-again divorced couple is back to off-again as they walk away from each other. While it's heartbreaking to see this couple split, we give credit to Rhimes for having Cris remain true to who she is and not wanting children. Still, we were really rooting for these two to be MFEO.
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3. Webber's (James Pickens Jr.) down, but is he out? Grey's Anatomy's resident father-figure is electrocuted doing what he does best -- working to find a solution to the hospital's problems. In this case, the power outage has the facility in the dark and Cristina operating essentially blindly -- a procedure that Webber walks her through, earning the long overdue praise he's always deserved. Will The Chief survive? Time will tell …
4. April (Sarah Drew) has a choice to make: Matthew (Justin Bruening) or Jackson (Jesse Williams). After she fears Jackson died during a bus explosion, he re-emerges from the smoke as a hero -- having saved a child from certain death. Sorry Matthew, but saving a child from a burning bus tops flash mob marriage proposal.
5. Meredith (Ellen Pompeo), Derek (Patrick Dempsey) and McBaby Boy. Considering Meredith's rather uneventful pregnancy, we were very worried that the McBouncing McBundle of McJoy wouldn't make it and had Mer at the top of this list during most of this episode. I think we can all breathe a sigh of relief now for the McDreamys, right Shonda? Right?
6. Alex has found his person -- and he shares the news with Arizona, who may have lost hers. It's great to finally see Alex (Justin Chambers) confess to finally finding his person and own how he feels. We just wish it wasn't Jo (Camilla Luddington). (Memo to Rachael Taylor: We miss Lucy.)
7. Bailey (Chandra Wilson) gets back on her horse. It hurts us to see Bailey hurting so much, but she's back on the road to the OR after saving Meredith's life. Now that is a way to get your groove back, Bailey. In a fitting gesture, Mer and Derek give her the ultimate thanks: They name their son Bailey. Best. Baby. Name. Ever.
What did you think of the Grey's Anatomy season finale? Hit the comments with your thoughts.
Email: Lesley.Goldberg@thr.com; Twitter: @Snoodit
