Callie is trying to avoid Arizona after a crappy date, and so chooses to spend a day in the ER. She jinxes herself by noting that it's totally quiet, and so is rewarded with a number of about-to-be college graduates who were in a horrific car accident. Callie is also being stalked by Arizona, who wants to know why their date went so weird the night before. Callie won't talk to her girlfriend until Arizona finally confronts her at the end of the day because she is so hurt, and Callie spills that she got stressed out going to an expensive restaurant since she has no money anymore. Arizona of course understands, and they decide that they can spend date nights in bed with pizza instead. George is there all day to help out Hunt, but has a very 007 day as six of his patients die despite his rather awesome levelheadedness and trauma skills. He's totally defeated about what happened but Hunt tells him sincerely that he did a great job, and trauma is a team sport. He assures George that he was a crucial part of the team. The lesson that everyone seems to learn from all of the dying (and the single living) patients is that you shouldn't wait to live your life and instead just go for it. While Hunt and Cristina don't go for it, per se, they are at least talking in more than three-word sentences and clearly yearning for each other. Owen tells Cristina that he and his doctor pinpointed the ceiling fan as the trigger that set off the choking incident, so at the end of the night at home she beats it out of the ceiling.
All of this is going on as the hours tick down to Meredith and Derek's wedding. Derek's wedding present to his bride is her first solo surgery, which Richard oversees. He unfortunately hangs too closely over her shoulder and can't be as removed as he was with everyone else, but ultimately she does a fine job. After it's all over, he tells her that her mother would have been proud. Derek wasn't there to witness any of the surgery, however, because he's trying to help Izzie. Denny shows back up again and so Izzie does something shocking and immediately tells her doctors so that they can figure out what's wrong. When nothing shows up on the scan Derek tries out a never-been-done-before procedure (because he is just that good) where they monitor her brain function when she has a hallucination so that he can figure out where the problem is. It works, but it turns out the tumor is so tiny and so deep that he can't operate and he wishes there was something nice he could do for her to make up for the fact that this seems to mean certain death. Izzie has been planning all day for that night's wedding ceremony that she admits out loud is perfect for her and not for Mere and Derek. Yeah -- my head is still sore from the beating I took with the Obvious Stick, but it was executed pretty well when all was said and done. Meredith, Bailey, and Alex in his tux surprise Izzie with the wedding dress and perfect ceremony that she planned from top to bottom. She's thrilled and they have a beautiful ceremony, but when Alex brings her back to the hospital she seems to be in pretty bad shape and her hair is starting to fall out. They shave her head, and then Izzie fully embraces her marriage by telling Denny to go away so she can be alone with her husband.
George has had his turn, as has Alex, so this week the voiceover duties go to Izzie. Although it's not voiceover, exactly, since she's actually saying these things to someone as she lies in bed, extremely pasty and extra sick-looking and with a pink patterned head scarf, she does set the theme of this week's episode. And who could she possibly be speaking to? Well that's just a surprise for now, unless of course you have ever watched TV before and can guess these "twists" and/or saw any promotional pictures or anything about this landmark 100th episode. "You never know the biggest day of your life is going to be the biggest. The days you think are going to be big ones, they're never as big as you make them out to be in your head.
In a slow-mo close-up we see Bailey's hand fluffing a wedding gown, and another of the woman fixing the strap. Izzie continues, wheezing a bit, "It's the regular days, the ones that start out normal -- those are the days that end up being the biggest. And today was the wedding. It was beautiful, perfect." After some shots of the beautifully decorated church and the guests standing up to see the bride (even though we don't get to see her) we cut to Meredith and Derek standing in the not-yet-decorated church by themselves. Meredith says it's just a normal day; they are going to work and then afterwards they just happen to be getting married in a, "churchy church..." her voice is now annoyed and Derek jumps in to remind her that this has nothing to do with them. "We're just the bride and groom." But Meredith then lightens up and smiles as she says, sounding genuinely pleased, "We're getting married tonight," which he repeats. 100 episodes in, Meredith seems to really have grown into a happy, optimistic person.
Callie is sleeping on a couch in the hospital when she's woken up by an incredibly peeved Cristina, who is upset to find her there since she herself slept in the on-call room instead of at home in her own bed. Her mood was not great to begin with given that she has to work a full day and then, "be happy Maid of Honor and get Meredith down the aisle." So, I guess while viewers can see the changes in Mere, those around her haven't quite gotten how real it is. Apparently Callie asked Cristina to stay away because she thought it was going to be The Night with Arizona, but she tells Cristina that they went to dinner but she then wasn't in the mood, and also she had to be in early to run the ER. Cristina asks, laboring to sound casual, if Hunt isn't in but Callie says that he is and then runs off. Mere then walks in and Cristina puts on her best cheerleader face and rah-rahs, "Big day! Biggest day of your life!" Mercifully, Mere tells her to stop because she's being creepy. Cristina is relieved, but then immediately suspicious that this is just the calm before the storm and asks if she is going to need to drug Mere, or "shave off [her] eyebrows to numb [her] into submission?" Meredith assures her best friend that she is fine, and that she's excited about the marriage, not the wedding. Today is actually the biggest day of Izzie's (possibly short) life. She reminds Cristina that Izzie is the one who has gone bridezilla and Cristina repeats, "Bridezillllaaaaaaaaa," in a hilarious horror-movie voice. It's a total throwaway moment, but it's awesome.
Bailey is examining Izzie but Iz barely seems to notice and just happily chatters away about the wedding: the bridesmaid dresses, the flowers, the amount of money extra she paid for them to decorate the church once Derek gave her his credit card... Alex is clearly not really listening and instead asks Bailey all about how she's doing -- she has been off the IL2 for 30 hours now. Izzie tells him she's fine, especially because it's wedding day, and Bailey has said she gets to go. She tries to high-five Alex, who kisses her and leaves, so Bailey instead gets to give her hand a slap; she then turns and rolls her eyes. Izzie admonishes her for only doing that because she has cancer and Bailey happily agrees -- see, everyone is in a good mood, everything is fine, Izzie's health is good! Of course, when she's alone things are a bit more somber, especially when she realizes she is starting to lose her hair. But things quickly get way, way worse when a voice no one ever wanted to hear again tells her, "You still look good." Denny, all in black, is standing at the foot of her bed like the Angel of Death, and Izzie tells him, unsmiling, that she knows what this means. He apologizes, and she just defiantly tells him she's still going to the wedding.
George asks Alex how Izzie's doing but when Alex says she's fine he starts to fret and ask questions and Alex quickly shuts him down, saying leave it to him. It looks like they have to work together again today and are both reporting to Callie in the pit, but when they ask her what she's got, she says it's slow. Of course ANYONE would realize this was a jinx, and they tell her so, but she remains cocky until the phone rings. She answers and her smug face quickly falls; before she can say anything George runs to get trauma gowns and then Callie starts hollering, "Incoming!"
Cristina is hanging out on the big walkway, like you do, when Hunt walks up to her. There's a terribly uncomfortable silence but both are kind of working their hands towards each other on the railing. She asks how things are going with his shrink and he tells her that he's better, but progress is slow. He pauses and sneaks his hand towards hers a little more, then admits (what those of us who had the aid of camera angles and side effects already knew) that the ceiling fan in her bedroom was what triggered the choking incident, as they were like the blades of a helicopter. What do you say to that? She finally gives a very small, "Oh," and he moves his hand a bit more until they are touching. The second they come in contact, however, she says they should probably get going, much to his disappointment. I guess this means we've graduated from three-word sentences?
The first of the ER patients is wheeled through the door with a bang -- he was the driver of an SUV that was crushed by a semi with a blown tire. His name is David, and he tells the docs that they are going to be late for graduation. A blonde girl, Becca, is brought in and they call, terrified, to one another to see how everyone else is doing. Another guy is brought in, Jordan, and he's screaming about his girlfriend Dana. Apparently there were eight of them total in the SUV, on their way to their college graduation. Everyone is terrified and in shock -- including Callie, who yells for Hunt.
Thankfully he shows up and starts checking out some of the patients. First up is Becca, who is worried for David, especially as this is an even bigger day for him since he's the first person in his family to graduate college. You know what this means, right? Poooor David and what must be some internal injuries. Alex warns her that she's in shock, and while they work she keeps babbling, horrified to realize that she's never done anything else in her life except for school. "Today's the day my life is supposed to start, which is why... I'd really like to live, okay?" Hunt goes into the room where Cristina is working on Jordan. In a panic he tells them that he turned around in his seat to where his girlfriend was sitting, but she was gone. Cristina tries to calm him and promises to look for her -- her name is Dana, and she's wearing a pink sweater. In the third room George is working on David and Hunt tells George he's got it. Lexie comes in with some blood and David asks about their friends Pete, who was wearing red shoes, and Michelle, who dyed her hair blue for graduation. Lexie promises to find them and after she leaves, David tells George that his whole family is coming, that today is for them... and then he codes.
Izzie has paged Derek, and when he walks in she asks him a lot of wedding questions -- did he get the check for the caterers? Cash tips for the waiters? Written his vows? He hasn't done the last one yet, so
she gives him a lecture about how important it is. He's not in the mood and reminds her he has patients, so she admits that she didn't page him about the wedding. She pauses, and he impatiently mentions a craniotomy he has to do. I'm kind of glad, actually, to see someone finally show some annoyance with her, no matter how mild, because cancer or not she's been spending the last couple of weeks completely disregarding anyone's wishes except her own and everyone has just taken it with a guilty smile. Izzie, though, actually has something important to tell him and admits that Denny is back. He immediately tells her he'll page Bailey and order an MRI -- all of which she knows already, being a doctor. Can I get a "hallelujah!" that she actually told someone, right away and in a straightforward manner, what is going on? It makes the unpleasant reappearance of Denny a bit more palatable.Do you remember last week, when the Chief was warned about how he would page Meredith on personal business, and how inappropriate that was? Well, he does it again. It appears Mere must have really accepted his apology last week, though, because she doesn't immediately shut him down. (It takes her a couple of minutes this time.) He is there in Derek's place (he very carefully just says Derek was pulled into something rather than mentioning Izzie) to give her a wedding gift -- one from Derek, but which the Chief has to oversee. This sets her off -- although again, not about Richard's behavior but about how she had no idea she was supposed to get Derek a gift, and this is why weddings are so stupid: their life together should be their gift. As she is ranting about how she doesn't want it and is going to tell him to take it back, the Chief jumps in and announces that Derek got her a colon. She's understandably surprised and Richard explains, "It's nonrefundable, it's inflamed, it's about to go under anesthesia in OR 2." She starts to grin as she realizes that she's getting her first solo surgery and he tells her sincerely, "Happy wedding day, Meredith," as he writes her name on the surgery board.
Mark approaches Callie as she is yelling at someone on the phone. Proving that he is the master at not reading a situation and picking an appropriate time for things, he asks her if she thinks Mere and Derek are going to last. Rather than punching him a la Derek, she gives him a withering stare and reminds him that a semi crashed into a bunch of college kids on the day she decided to pick up an extra shift in the ER. She's got a lot of work for him and begs him to not leave her there, but he just walks off with a grin and a thumbs up, telling her she's handling this. Callie hangs up the phone and heads back to the nurses' station when she's accosted by Arizona, demanding to know what happened the night before. Callie tries to say she's too busy for this but Arizona's got tons on her plate too, and reminds Callie that they went to a four-star restaurant, which was supposed to be romantic, and Callie just ordered a salad, barely talked, and bolted afterward. Arizona asks if she did something and Callie brushes her off by saying she was tired, which is clearly crap and Arizona knows it. But Callie then just gets up and goes to yell at someone, leaving Arizona to wrinkle her brow in confusion.
George is pumping David's chest when Hunt comes back in the room and, after finding out he's been down for 20 minutes, orders George to stop and call it. George doesn't want to but Hunt tells him, quietly but firmly, "You can't save him. Move on to save the people you can." There are going to be more of these kids coming in and Hunt has to order George to get a move on, so a frustrated George turns and orders Lexie to call time of death, clearly not wanting to do it himself.
While Bailey helps Izzie get into the MRI machine, she tries to assure Izzie (and herself) that this could be anything, but Izzie is certain it's a tumor. When Bailey repeats that she doesn't know, Izzie tells her that Denny is standing right behind her and repeats that it's a tumor. Bailey is kind of freaked out as Izzie asks, "Right, Denny?" Denny, all serious in his role as the Grim Reaper says yes and adds, "It's good to see you, Dr. Bailey." Bailey of course can't see him, but when Izzie reports that he says hi, Bailey responds, "Tell Denny Duquette I say 'go home.'" She speaks for a nation -- nay, for the WORLD. Although to be fair, I have to say that now that his appearance has a purpose and is actually being dealt with (in a timely manner and without any ghost sex), it's not so bad. If only they had considered that earlier, before this character was completely ruined for me... Bailey sends Izzie into the machine as Izzie again repeats that it's a tumor, and Somber Denny watches.
While Alex works, Becca apologizes to him for crying so much, even though he's explained that it's from the shock and the morphine. She's devastated by David's death, and admits that she should have slept with him. But she was waiting until she was done with school to do life and relationships and knew that she'd fall in love with David before her schedule permitted, so she didn't. Golly gee, I wonder if maybe our main characters will learn a lesson about not waiting to do what you want to do in life? Wow, this is heavy-handed, though at the same time Becca is really likable so it's more palatable than it might have been from another character. Hunt comes in and Alex quietly reports all the bad stuff going on in Becca's innards, so Hunt tells her they are taking her to surgery soon. She just repeats that she should have slept with David when she had the chance.
Jordan is still desperately worried about Dana, and Cristina repeats that the paramedics have not brought her in yet. When she asks about his family he tells her they are in Argentina, and that he was supposed to fly home the day since they didn't have enough money for him to stay. He and Dana knew that this was coming, and Jordan did all he could to break up with her and stay away so it would be easier but he couldn't do it. "When you love someone... love is love. It doesn't matter that you're not supposed to be together." Okay, that's a little anvilicious for me. Hunt walks in and the music starts so that we're even more aware of how meaningful Jordan's words are, and Jordan tries to tell himself that maybe Dana got out of the car in time and she's fine. Cristina's face falls, because common sense says that she probably didn't leap from the speeding vehicle to safety in a split-second.
George is dealing with another coding patient, trying to stop blood gushing out of a guy's torso. Lexie sees the kid's red shoes and realizes this is Pete, but George cuts in to have her hold the dressing while he tries to suck out the extra blood with a syringe. He's super calm and professional throughout, though underneath you can see a few hairline cracks forming. Pete flatlines and George goes to town with the compressions, vowing that he's not losing another patient.
Meredith is ready for surgery and surprised to see that the Chief is scrubbed in, rather than reading a magazine in the corner. He tells her that this is her big day, so he's just taking precautions; she knows that this means he's a little worried she might kill the patient on her wedding day. She assures him it will be fine and he claims to know that, telling her to pretend he's not even there. But he makes it difficult when she asks for the scalpel and he jumps in to tell her how great she sounded when she asked for it. Kooky music tells us that this is only going to keep happening throughout the surgery.
Mark feels positively shoehorned into this episode -- everything feels organic and then suddenly there he is, seemingly worried about Derek and Meredith's future. He is bugging Callie again and asks if it's good that Derek doesn't talk about the future or whether or not they will make it. Callie doesn't get a chance to answer because Arizona comes back to try and continue their conversation from earlier. She thinks Callie can't be that tired if she's wo
rking in the ER on her day off, so Callie counters that she rallied. Arizona challenges that she's lying, so Callie tells her she loves the ER and can't get enough of it. Sigh. Welcome to yet another plot that wouldn't even be a story if this GROWN WOMAN would just SAY what is wrong in the first place. Mark suggests this route, but Callie tells him to suck it.George walks in to where Hunt is working on a girl with blue hair. He holds his head high and doesn't whine or cry, but does say that all of his patients are dying and Hunt needs to pull him. Hunt won't do it, saying that it's his decision, and instead sends George to meet another ambulance. George doesn't budge and pleads, "I'm in over my head." Hunt just orders him to walk away, and Lexie comes in at that moment to recognize and remind us that the one with the blue hair is Michelle.
Izzie, Bailey and Derek are looking at the scans from the MRI, and they are totally clean. Izzie's not satisfied, though, given the reappearance of her dead fiancée, and Derek has to admit he doesn't know why she's seeing him again. But Izzie points out how badly she wants to go to the perfect wedding that she planned, so why would she tell them about Denny if it wasn't true? The girl has a good point. She tells them that all this can mean is that there's something in the brain, causing Bailey to say oh-so-casually, "It's not like we can just map the brain for hallucinations the way we do with seizures..." But wait just a second there, you've got the world's most brilliant, gorgeous, fluffy-haired neurosurgeon sitting at the same table! Derek of course has an idea, given that hallucinations are neurons firing -- it's never been done before but if they can induce a hallucination they could maybe pick it up on an EKG and figure out where it is! Yes, ladies and gentlemen, this simple solution has up until now gone undiscovered because Derek Freaking Shepherd hadn't yet taken the five seconds it just took to come up with it. He is THAT GOOD.
Not that good: A girl in a pink sweater is rushed into the ER on a gurney. It turns out she's been down for over 30 minutes, and the paramedics think she's gone and just need a doctor to call it. When the blanket covering her torso is pulled back, everyone gasps as it looks like she's almost been severed in half. Cristina walks out and realizes this is the pink sweater she's been looking for, so she tries to hustle them out of the room. But the paramedic stubbornly just tells them they need to call it, so George starts giving the time of death. As he does, Jordan sees this, cries out, collapses, and after writhing on the floor in sobs he begins to code.
It appears that running the ER mostly consists of yelling at people on the phone -- now Callie is yelling at someone that they can't accept any more traumas. She turns around to find the ever-present Arizona, who is now pretty ticked off. She yells at Callie that the ER is fun, but she is not? She then asks Callie if this is the end of them, adding that women are lining up for Arizona because she's hot and if Callie wants to end it, she should just say so. After she suggests maybe this is a fling that has run its course, Callie actually agrees that maybe it is over. This stuns Arizona, and she leaves.
Meredith is operating away but the Chief is being the Chief -- when she asks for a particular tool he hums a "no" under his breath but when challenged says that she is doing fine. Mark then comes in to again force this weird, extra storyline back in to the episode, though first he asks how it's going. Meredith tells him that she thinks it's fine but pointedly adds that he should ask the Chief, and Richard tries to act all innocent as he says that she did something one way that he might have done differently, but she made it work. She'll be out in plenty of time for the wedding. Mark answers that's good, then she won't have any excuses. He then digs an even bigger hole for himself, saying that this is the second time he's been Derek's best man, and he doesn't want to then do it a third time, "If you know what I mean." Meredith should get extra points for doing her first solo surgery surrounded by morons trying to lead her off-course. She replies, "So you came in here to threaten me." She keeps working away, though, and Mark just replies that he's the best man and that's his job. Both the guys then "Hmmmm" at another choice Meredith makes. And if you were wondering? That's that for Mark and this weird little storyline of his. I get that Meredith and Derek have had a lifetime worth of problems already, but it all seems to be moving along genuinely well, and it's everyone else that's making it worse. In fact, I could argue that they are even stronger than I thought given that all of this crap isn't making Meredith re-think the whole idea. But anyway, having made his useless cameos this hour, that's it until the Big Event.Bailey is attaching little nodes to Izzie's head while Derek looks at a monitor, and Izzie just now needs to try and have a hallucination. She then asks Iz if the hallucination is always Denny, which we know it is. Bailey tells her this makes sense, since he is the man she loves, but Izzie interrupts her musing to say that while she will always love Denny and he means a lot, she thinks that he's here because she associates him with death and dying. The man who she loves now, who gives her a flutter in her chest, is Alex. Bailey smiles at this as if she didn't already know this piece of information -- you know, because they've been so secretive about their relationship -- and Izzie sits back to get the show on the road. She says it's time to find the tumor and get it out, "So that we can have our perfect wedding, a wedding not wasted on two people who don't appreciate weddings." What? What's that? I can't hear you on account of the ringing in my ears from the beating I just took with the Foreshadowing Stick. Derek points out that he can hear her, and Izzie knows, because she wanted him to hear it. He tells her that he'll stay until they find it, which freaks her out anew because she refuses to let him be late to the wedding. She then begins to beg Denny quietly to show up.
Becca has a number of different tubes running out of her arm as she lays in the OR, clearly terrified. She asks Alex how her friends are, insisting she can take it, then admitting she can't, but then she can. Rather than give her the news right before her surgery, Alex tells her to give her speech. She repeats that she can take it, but Alex tells her to give the speech -- she worked hard on it and should do it now. And thus our first guest semi-voiceover begins. "Today is the day my life begins. Today, I become a citizen of the world. Today, I become a grownup. Today I become accountable to someone other than myself and my parents." She goes on in this vein as we see David, some kid I don't think we met, Michelle and Pete all zipped into body bags. At the same time, Izzie waits and then begs for Denny, Meredith continues working and then staples her guy up, and Cristina shocks Jordan's chest. It all continues in this vein as Becca's voice asks what they are waiting for. "I don't know. For anything. For everything." The Chief congratulates Meredith on a job well done, while Cristina sighs over Jordan's dead body. Hunt tries to take her hand, but she walks away and so he gives time of death. VO: "To take on the responsibility and possibility. And I for one? Can't wait." And with that, Derek notices something on the screen and pinpoints right where something is wrong with Izzie's brain, and Denny morosely appears and says, "I'm here for you Izzie." Way to take your time, buddy. But Izzie is relieved, although also terribly sad.
Bailey and Derek then look at a second, more precise scan, and he points out a tiny pinprick of a spot. Bailey is stunned at how small it is, and Derek explains that it was so small a regular MRI couldn't pick it up. Bailey asks then, how is he going to go in and get it? His sad face tells her that he isn't. Tears form in his eyes as he tells Bailey he wishes
there was something he could do for her. "I like Stevens. She's one of the good ones." Yeah, that's a little heavy-handed since he's clearly found her annoying and doesn't like that she still lives with them, but whatever. It gives Bailey the opportunity to tell him, "I know something you can do."Arizona finds Callie napping on a gurney and walks straight up and begins talking. Proving she hasn't been here long, she comes right out and says that she's hurt and angry. She thought they had something... mercifully, Callie stops her pretty quickly. She brings up the date and how they went to a fancy and very expensive restaurant, and as she talks about how expensive her measly salad was and how much the wine cost, and how freaked out she was to realize she was blowing her entire week's food budget on one dinner. She begins to cry as she admits her father disowned her, cleaned out her bank account, and now she's broke and exhausted, and working in the ER because she needs the money. Hang on a second, didn't Arizona already know this? I mean, I guess not, but they talked right after her dad left, so how did this not come up? And again, seriously, does she not get a paycheck from her job as a SURGEON? It doesn't seem like I'm supposed to be asking these questions, though, since the story is now "Callie has no money" and that's that. At any rate, Callie cries about the six people who died on her watch today, and how she wanted to just stay in the night before. Arizona finally cuts in and assures her that things are okay and that they can stay in and have sandwiches. Callie points out that she doesn't even like sandwiches, but Arizona very sweetly tells her, "But I like the girl who has the sandwiches." Aw. Callie conveniently remembers that she doesn't like sandwiches either, and so they agree to stay in and have pizza. Look at that folks -- if you talk about your problems, you can solve many of them very easily with simple honesty! It's a groundbreaking idea, but one I think could catch on.
Meredith is all finished and the Chief tells her that he's been reading Ellis' journals and wishes she was there with them. Meredith rightly points out that she's not sure how her mother would have felt about her marriage, but Richard actually means he wishes she was there for the solo surgery. To this, Meredith answers that she probably would have said that with all the mistakes she made, she's lucky the patient is alive. But Mere is smiling as she said this, and she clearly just knows what her mom was like versus internalizing all of it. They both chuckle and Richard agrees, but tells her that she also would have been thrilled even if she couldn't actually say it. Meredith grins and gives him a big thank you.
Derek then finds her in the locker room ready to go, and she excitedly tells him, "Best wedding present ever." She then asks if he knows why it's the best -- that's because she has to go home and get brided up in a corset and petticoat so that she looks like a wedding cake topper to walk down the aisle. "But it's okay, because I got to cut someone open today from start to finish! I saved a life!" He doesn't really answer and when she asks what's up, he asks her, "What do you say we make this day even better?"
George is watching as someone cleans up the bloody mess from the day when Hunt tells him good work. George questions that, since everyone is now dead, but Hunt reminds him that in fact one of them lived. George must be thinking about how similar this feels to his 007 start as an intern way back when. He answers that the one patient he didn't touch is fine, but Hunt jumps in to try and snap him out of funk by explaining that she lived because Hunt was able to get to her, and that's because George was on his team. He doesn't seem terribly comforted, and as he leaves Hunt calls after him that trauma is a team sport, where you don't have to be a hero, "You just have to go where you're needed."
Alex is sitting outside, and Mere walks up and joins him. She rubs his back as he asks if she heard about Izzie's new tumor. As he sniffles, he admits that he doesn't think they're going to be able to get this one, and he starts to cry as he concedes, "I think she's gonna die on me. I think she's really gonna die." Justin Chambers has been absolutely amazing the last few weeks -- it's kind of shown how underutilized he's been for much of the series, but I'm so glad we've gotten to see him be so awesome now. He then asks Mere what she's even doing there, since she's got a wedding to get ready for, but that's just what she came to talk to him about.
Lexie heads into Becca's room and introduces herself. As she works on Becca's central line she gets teary and when the patient tells the doctor not to cry she points out, "You're breathing." So at least there is one good result to come from the accident that day.
Bailey, rocking a coral patterned dress and dangly earrings, is holding a purple bridesmaid bouquet and looking anxiously out into the hallway while Izzie puts some makeup in a bag. Izzie tries to talk to her but Bailey is totally distracted, and Iz starts to freak a bit and asks if she can still go. Bailey assures her yes, and then breathes a sigh of relief that the person she was waiting for has arrived. Meredith, her hair in curlers bigger than the circumference of her arms, runs in with the wedding gown. Izzie freaks out, wondering why she's not at the church, and Meredith breathlessly tells Izzie, "I just came to say this isn't my dress." Izzie assures her it is and launches into a speech, kind of resigned, like she thought this might happen. She assures Meredith that Derek loves her and marriage is a good thing, and turns to Bailey for help. While Bailey agrees, she tells Izzie with a big smile, "She's saying it's not her wedding dress." Izzie is now totally confused when Alex runs in, looking dapper in a tux. He announces, "She's right. The dress isn't for Meredith." Meredith and Bailey could light up the entire hospital, they are beaming so much. Izzie starts to smile, and if you'll excuse me I just got a little bit of dust in my eyes here that I need to take care of. I am totally NOT CRYING, I swear.
Now we see some of the shots from the beginning of the hour again, of Izzie getting flowers in her hair, and someone fixing the strap on her dress. You see, this is a MAGIC wedding dress -- much like the traveling pants that fit four girls of completely different sizes and shapes, this dress tailored for Meredith happens to fit her taller, bustier friend like a glove. As she waits in a wheelchair with Cristina and Meredith (one of the bridesmaid dresses appears to be magic as well, since now Meredith is wearing it and it also fits her perfectly) Izzie is at a complete loss for words and finally tells Mere, thank you, with all the feeling in the world behind her words. Meredith then asks who the maid of honor is, and Izzie immediately picks Cristina. Cristina only has a moment to look smug, however, since it turns out Alex asked for Meredith to be his best "man." But when Cristina asks if she's just leftovers, Izzie tells her, "You tried to save my life. That makes you honorable." I only threw up a little at that line. Mostly it was very sweet, and Cristina's smile twitches just slightly between happy and sad for her friend.
The crowd then all turns to see the bride, and Alex smiles as Izzie starts to walk down the aisle. Her smile falters a bit as she walks, though, and she wobbles and then holds on to a pew. Just as quickly, George gets right up and takes her arm, helping her walk the rest of the way. Once they get up to the front, he hands Izzie off to Alex and they have a curt nod, if not of understanding, at least of acceptance. As the priest speaks about how everyone there helped shape the lives of these two, we see shots of all the usual players, happy for the couple. I just wonder what all of the other guests not from the hospital thought when a bride and groom they didn't know turned out to be the stars of the show. The church is beautiful, with twinkle lights in all of th
e flowers -- nice location scouting, Grey's! (I am assuming they didn't build an entire church set for this, and if they did -- beautiful set building, Grey's!)He then tells the couple it's time to read their vows, and Izzie jumps in and says they didn't have time to write anything. But Alex actually has something to say. "Today's the day my life begins." Hmm, sound familiar? But rest easy, he doesn't copy it verbatim, he was just inspired. "All my life I've been just me, just a smart-mouth kid. Today I become a man. Today I become a husband. Today I become accountable to someone other than myself." He says he now is accountable to her and their future together, and promises that he's ready for whatever happens. "Today, Izzie Stevens, our life together begins. And I for one can't wait." She sighs that she loves him and leans in for the kiss, but is stopped by the priest clearing his throat, and Alex tells him to hurry up. Even though he's grown up, there's Old Alex still in there, which is cute. By the power vested in him, etc. etc... he declares them husband and wife. As they kiss, Bailey tries not to cry, Mark puts his arm around Lexie, and Callie kisses Arizona on the cheek. Cristina smiles and then looks for Hunt, who is furrowing his brow per usual as he stares right back. Meredith and Derek beam at each other. Yes, yes, I know there's been a lot of "beaming" this hour but it just describes very well how genuinely happy everyone has seemed!
As we see Alex help Izzie back into bed, she picks up where she left off earlier: "You never know the biggest day of your life is the biggest day. Not until it's happening." The wedding clearly took it out of her, and she's weak and shivering. Once in bed, Alex takes the flowers out of her hair and happens to pull out a lock of it at the same time. She starts to pull more out in horror but he assures her that she doesn't need it. She tells him it's just going to keep falling out, but he tells her they can just shave it off, and that he bets she looks good bald anyway. I think she should be happy that she was able to style it for her wedding and have it look amazing when it actually started coming out that morning, actually. He goes to put her oxygen mask back on when she starts to sob, and he tells her she's beautiful and kisses her.
"You don't recognize the biggest day of your life, not until you're right in the middle of it. The day you commit to something or someone. Callie and Arizona are in bed, laughing and eating pizza.
"The day you get your heart broken." Cristina takes a hammer to her ceiling fan to try and loosen it from her bedroom ceiling.
Derek and Meredith, meanwhile, are in front of a roaring fire, surrounded by wedding decorations, celebrating the "best non-wedding day ever." He asks if she wants to go again and she laughs, and then... well, you can figure that part out. "The day you meet your soulmate."
"The day you realize there's not enough time, because you want to live forever. Those are the biggest days. The perfect days. You know?" She's now wearing the scarf we saw earlier, and in the biggest non-surprise ever, she is saying all this to Denny, who tells her he bets she was a beautiful bride. She tells him it was a beautiful day, and then Alex walks in with champagne. He notices she put the scarf on when he told her she doesn't need it and looks beautiful without it. to him, Denny agrees. Alex goes to set the champagne down and Izzie says, "Go away now. Go away. I want to be alone with my husband." I don't know if he really didn't hear her, he's ignoring what she said, or he's just letting her settle things with her hallucination, but Alex doesn't react to that and just sits down on the bed, smiling at her. As he sits, Denny disappears behind him. He then pulls off her scarf to show her realistically grey bald head with an unrealistic lack of brain surgery scars, kisses her forehead and declares, "My wife is hot."
And with that, we look forward to the big two-hour season finale that only for the 87th or so time in 100 episodes, promises to be huge and shocking. Will Izzie live? Will she die? Or will they leave that as a cliffhanger until September or when news of actors' contracts shows up on the internet, whichever comes first? We'll find out Thursday!