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“Grey’s Anatomy” recap (10.24): You are the Sun

Cristina opens the episode with her voiceover, reminding us that this is the last time we get to hear that droll, brilliant voice of her, which only serves to amp up the feels. She’s in Owen’s trailer, running around trying to get ready to finally leave for Zurich. She’s been putting it off for two weeks, but it’s now or never. Owen tries to get her to come back to bed, but Cristina has shit to do, include going to the stupid mall to buy a Euro phone charger. Owen asks if this rushed goodbye is it, but she tells him that she will give him the big goodbye when they see each other at the hospital later that day.

Derek is still commuting back and forth to DC, but he’s found the family a place to stay so it looks like they will be making the move very soon. He hands Meredith some closing paperwork to sign, and a brochure to remind her that she loves their new townhouse. One look at Meredith tells us that “love” is a very strong word, especially when it comes to faraway townhouses.

Also looking at brochures is Alex who is considering buying a sports car, which Arizona calls a “road penis”. Ha! Has Arizona been talking to my mom? All the big shots at his private practice have fancy cars or boats and he just wants to play with the big dogs. Alex is there to perform his first anaplasty, and Arizona inquires if that means Alex will become Dr. Butthole Jr. Man, this never gets old.

Richard and Jackson, who have apparently buried the hatchet, meet to discuss how to fill Cristina’s empty board seat. Just then, Bailey comes in shining like the sun to announce that Brayden has been given a clean bill of health by his pediatrician. The docs don’t share in her enthusiasm. In fact, Jackson breaks the news that her genome project has been shut down due to lack of funding. Also the fact that it nearly got the hospital sued into oblivion. Bailey is furious.

Shane catches Stephanie as she’s coming out of a surgery to ask if she’s heard from Leah. Steph says that Fired McChinDimples is sitting on her couch, eating her feelings and tying to figure out what to do next. Steph can’t hide her own happiness though, because she just got to do a surgery with Amelia Shepherd, or Dr. Shepherdess as they have taken to calling her. Amelia overhears them, but fancies the nickname. Just don’t call her Derek’s little sister. That’ll put you on the shit list.

Dr. Maggie Piece, the new head of cardio, is not thrilled about the fact that Cristina is still hanging around. She’s also not accustomed to Cristina’s curt demeanor. Owen assures her that Cristina is making one last check on her conduit baby, and then heading to Zurich.

Speaking of babies, April tells Owen that she’s got one coming. She’s worried that he’s going to be upset and tells him that she’ll probably work till that baby falls out of her like a cow at the State Fair. He simply congratulates her. They are both distracted by a news report, that there has been a massive explosion at the mall. Oh god…CRISTINA IS SUPPOSED TO BE AT THE MALL! The panic on Owen’s face is palpable.

He heads into his chiefly duties by holding a press conference. Some of the patients coming in have blisters on their bodies, giving rising concern that the explosion could be the work of a dirty bomb. April is doing her trauma thang, and Owen tells her to keep her mask on to limit any possible exposure. Agents from Homeland Security have shown up to question some persons of interest. When Owen is finally alone, he calls Cristina’s cell. She doesn’t answer, so he swallows back his fears before he faces the chaos. He runs into Alex who has jumped in to help. Owen tells him that Cristina might have been at the mall during the blast. Alex advises him not to say anything to Meredith.

April is working on a woman who has been injured and covered with blisters. The woman’s husband rushes in to let her know that their son is missing. They were shopping for shoes when the explosion separated them. The father tells April that he has brown hair, brown eyes and braces, and she promises to keep an eye out.

Jackson and Callie have a victim with severe arm trauma, who also happens to be pregnant. Callie lets her know that they have to go into surgery, but if the baby goes through any distress, they will deliver through C-Section. The patient panics, saying it’s too soon. She’s a surrogate and is worried about the parents of the child.

Derek runs in to check on Amelia, who reminds him that she’s got everything under control. Richard bumps into Catherine who was in town to see Jackson, and came to help out with the victims. She tells him about the Japril baby.

Meredith stands by while an injured young man is questioned by the Homeland Security. The agent gets in the kids face, demanding to know what was in his friend’s backpack. The patient has ruptured eardrums, and can’t hear the questioning. The agent wants to haul him in for questioning, but Meredith warns him that the man could have internal injuries. Just as the words escape her mouth, the patient passes out and needs to be rushed into surgery. Meredith tells to agent to get out of her way.

Alex is in a corridor dealing with a little boy with chest trauma. The child hasn’t been decontaminated yet, so Alex tells the medic to spray them both down as he does chest compressions. Then as if appearing from thin air, Cristina arrives and we all breathe for the first time in 15 minutes. Alex is beyond glad to see her. The child needs to be opened up, then and there, but when Alex goes to pass it off to Cristina, she tells him that he’s more than capable. He goes to work.

The news station plays in the background, amping up the speculation that the explosion could be a terrorist act. As April runs around trying to manage the ER, a familiar face walks in. It’s Leah and she and her chin dimple and flannel shirt have shown up to lend a hand. Say what you want about Leah Murphy, but she did what a true healer would do. She put aside her pride and broken sprint to help when she was needed most. I think that is pretty damn sexy. April tells her to just offer help wherever it’s needed and to be on the lookout for the little brown haired boy.

In the OR, Callie, Stephanie and Jackson work on the pregnant woman, who needs a partial amputation of her arm. As they work, her water breaks so they page Dr. Robbins to assist with the delivery of the premature baby.

Meredith runs into Cristina as they walk the halls. When Meredith asks why she is still at the hospital, Cristina answers in the most Cristina way possible. “They blew up Seattle Mer, I can’t leave.” Meredith tells her about the new townhouse, and does her best to feign happiness. In turn, Cristina does her best to feign support for Meredith’s fake happiness. When Meredith asks if Cristina really is happy for her, Cristina doesn’t answer and jets off to assist Alex with the little boy’s thoracotomy.

Shane is working with a victim whose eyeball is trying to escape his face. He’s giving us Mad-Eye Moody realness. Leah walks over and calmly assesses the situation. Shane is happy to see her and asks if she’s all right. Rather than shoot the shit, she pulls out a syringe and releases the blood from the patient’s eye, then legit squishes it back into place. It works like a charm. Ross runs off to assist in the OR, and the little boy with chest trauma is wheeled by. She shouts after the nurse asking if the little boy, who has brown hair and brown eyes, has braces. He does.

Arizona tracks Cristina down because UNOS has been calling. They have a heart for her patient Linc, and the timing couldn’t be worse. Arizona suggests transferring him to Seattle Presbyterian, but Cristina wants to see this through. She tells Arizona to have the heart delivered to GSM. From the other end of the hallway, Owen sees Arizona talking to a dark haired woman, but since he can’t see her face, he isn’t sure if it’s Cristina. He makes his way through the crowd, but by the time he gets there, she’s gone and he’s left spinning. When he gets his bearing, he sees a reporter on a live broadcast, wildly speculating that the blisters on some of the patients are radiation burns. Owen loses his cool, and interrupts the news report to chastise them for causing unneeded panic and fear. He then kicks their asses right out. Owen, you are all right in my book.

It’s operatin’ time! Arizona meets up with Callie and the pregnant surrogate. The OB hasn’t arrived yet, so she pulls Jackson in to assist with the delivery. Meanwhile, Cristina and Alex work on the brown haired boy. Cristina asks Alex how he’s going to deal with the boredom of building buttholes for the rest of his life. Alex is like, “but money” yet Cristina is unfazed. She saw how he diagnosed and went to work on the little boy, and wonders aloud how it feels to know he’ll never be able to do that again. She reminds him of the innovative and life saving procedures and treatments he’s implemented. He’s shocked that she even knew about them. Cristina tells him that she’s always paid attention to his journey, even if that meant he managed to prove her wrong. He may never be Cristina Yang, but he’s pretty freaking good, and that’s saying a lot. Dr. Pierce steps into the OR to question Cristina about the incoming heart transplant (which Cristina neglected to mention) but Cristina isn’t in the mood to deal with being questioned by the new girl. She cuts Dr. Pierce off before she has a chance to finish her lecture, and asks where she can perform the surgery. Dr. Piece backs down and gives her a room. Alex laughs and tells Cristina he’s going to miss her and asks why she is staying to do Linc’s transplant. “I just need something to feel finished.” She leaves Shane to close up the current patient, despite Alex’s objections.

Back in the pregnant surrogate’s OR, Arizona walks Jackson through delivering the baby as he pulls the infant from the C-section opening. (Man, the Grey’s sound effects department really outdid themselves this episode.) The baby is fine and pretty huge for a preemie.

Meredith’s patient is out of surgery and already the Homeland Security guys are on him before he even regains consciousness. Meredith begins to fight with the agent, but they are interrupted by a phone call. The agent tells her the situation has changed and they no longer need to question the patient. When Meredith follows after him to ask if he plans to apologize to the patient he harassed, he tells her that they both have a duty to keep people safe.

Owen debriefs April on the cause of the blisters. The CDC determined that chemicals from a dry cleaner at the mall caused the blisters. Also the real cause of the explosion is determined. It was a gas main explosion, not an act of terrorism. They are relived but there are people who still need help, so it’s back to the races. Leah finds April to tell him that she might have an ID on the brown haired boy, so April runs off to find his parents. Linc and his mom show up, much to Owen’s surprise. She tells him that Dr. Yang just called and told them to come by for the operation. Owen realizes that if Cristina spoke to them, then she is safe and sound. His face washes over with relief then happiness. He attempts to escort them to Cristina, but he’s pulled away for a trauma emergency, so Leah shows them the way. April is so happy to reunite the brown haired boy with his father, but when she brings the man to see him in recovery, the devastated father reveals that the boy is not his child. April is crushed.

We finally see Catherine Avery again when she goes into the supply room to find some essentials. There she finds a crying April, and does her best to comfort her daughter-in-law. April is scared about bringing a child into the world where they could be hurt by any number of unexpected terrible things. Catherine tells her the story of when she was a little girl, eating waffles at a diner with her father. It was 1960’s Texas, and some racist assholes began to taunt them. Little Catherine was scared but her father stood tall and unafraid. She tells April that by giving into fear, you let it have all the power over you. “Good people raising their babies right,” she tells April is what brings about beautiful change in this world. April smiles and Catherine ushers her back to work.

Meredith finds Cristina scrubbing in to do Linc’s surgery. Meredith tells her about the gas main, and how now that it’s not a terrorist threat, just some normal everyday disaster, and that she can leave and catch her flight. Cristina continues to scrub in so Meredith contaminates her, which would force a rescrub. She calls Cristina out on her stalling, and Cristina tells her that nothing feels finished here. She and Owen broke up but they never stopped being Cristina and Owen. It doesn’t feel finished with her and Meredith. How can you ever finish something that feels like second nature? Like a part of you. They both begin to tear up (make that all three of us) and Meredith oh so wisely tells her, “You don’t feel finished because this isn’t the end for you.” Cristina doesn’t know how to just leave, so she asks for Meredith’s help. A nurse comes in to say that the donor heart was delayed, so Meredith wipes away Cristina’s tears and says what needs to be said. “Let’s go.” (At this point a ballad version of A-ha’s “Take Me On” begins to play, which I’m pretty sure will cause me to sob uncontrollably for the rest of my life.)

As they leave, Cristina runs into Derek. She pauses, then tells him goodbye. These two has always been like members of the same orchestra, playing different parts, but whose relationship has always been there to underscore the melody. Meredith is their melody. He walks up and hugs her sweetly before she rushes off.

Shane comes by to check on Leah, who is tending to a patient. He suggests that Richard was wrong about her, but she defends her beloved Dr. Webber. If it were anyone else, she would have not taken it to heart, but Richard was the greatest teacher she’d ever had. His word is her gospel, and in her heart she knows he was right. She tells Shane that she just needs to find what she’s good at. He wishes her luck and runs off. Just then Leah’s patient comes too, disoriented and afraid. Leah comforts her with a genuine tenderness we’ve never seen before. When the patient calms, Leah looks around her at the other patients resting, their wounds healing, and their lives out of danger. She calmly walks to the nurse’s station, hands over the charts, peels off her scrubs, and confidently walks right back out the door she came in. She doesn’t look back.

Bailey, who is still a ball of fire about her genome lab, follows Richard as he makes his way down the corridor. He gets real with her and tells her that she does not belong in a lab. Unless she’s performing surgeries with her God given talents, she’s simply wasting her time. Just as she opens her mouth to continue the fight, he lets her know that he recommended her for Cristina’s position on the board. She’s left fumbling for words, but thankfully interrupted by Cristina and Meredith who are racing through the hospital. Shane also finds them, and asks Cristina to take him with her. Richard tries to intercede, but Shane is determined. “My teacher is leaving,” he tells her. He wants to be in charge of his education and future. “I choose you.” She smiles and says yes. Shane leaves and Cristina takes the opportunity to pull Bailey in for a hug. Richard gets in on the action too, telling Cristina that he’s proud of her.

Owen is in the OR working on his trauma victim when he hears a knocking on the glass above him. He looks up to find Cristina watching. She waves goodbye, and all either of them can do is watch each other wordlessly, knowing that this is the goodbye that the world is going to allow them. It’s not a grand display, with kissing and tears, but it’s full of all the “I love yous” and everyday heartaches that they have always known as a couple. Owen’s eyes well up with tears, and he turns for a second to attend to his patient. When he turns back, she is gone. (This is when I reach for my second glass of wine.)

Meredith leads Cristina outside and a taxi pulls up. It’s actually not for Cristina, and out of it climbs a courier with Linc’s heart. When Cristina realizes this, she tries to back out, but Meredith pushes her into the cab assuring her that Linc is in good hands with Dr. Pierce. When Cristina asks her to wait, Meredith says, “What do you need? An ‘I love you” or something?” Cristina looks back at her and Meredith tells her that she does indeed love her. Meredith watches at the cab pulls away.

Meredith finds Amelia looking out onto the lobby from the causeway. Meredith asks her if anything is wrong, but Amelia says no. Everything is so right. Amelia tries to put it to words, but Meredith knows what she’s trying to say. Working at GSM is like “Candy, with blood.” Amelia agrees and starts talking about living out of Derek’s shadow. She doesn’t have much of a chance to continue, because suddenly Cristina appears and pulls Meredith away by the arm. They end up in an on call room, and Cristina tells her that she can’t go. Meredith protests, but Cristina needs to feel finished and there is only one way. “We have to dance it out, that’s how we finish.” Of all the perfect things that have been said in Grey’s Anatomy, this might just be the tops. Meredith pulls out her iPhone and chooses a song but before she can press play, Cristina stops her. She asks Meredith to look after Owen, and make sure that Alex is properly mocked on a daily basis. She warns Meredith not to get on small planes, or put her body near bombs. “You’re my person. I need you alive. You make me brave.”

Now it’s time to dance like no one is watching. Meredith chooses Tegan and Sara’s “Where Does the Good Go” which they danced to all the way back in Season One. They bounce around in slow motion to the rhythm of ten years of friendship. Of broken hearts and babies, plane crashes and tequila shots. Every hangover and every life lost and saved. It’s all right here, as their hair flies through the air, and they simply leave it all behind. Cristina didn’t come back to say good-bye to Owen, or perform one last life saving surgery. She came to dance with Meredith one last time, because no matter what, Meredith and Cristina’s friendship has always been the lifeblood, the circulatory system, the oxygen that breathes life into Grey’s Anatomy. When they stop, they take a long last look at each other. Cristina goes for the door, but before she can leave, she turns to Meredith and says these words that make my heart stop.

“You are a gifted surgeon with an extraordinary mind. Don’t let what he wants eclipse what you need. He’s very dreamy, but he is not the sun. You are.” With that, Cristina Yang finally leaves it all behind.

We next see Meredith, sitting in bed, staring at the DC mortgage paperwork. Derek comes in after tucking in the kids, and tells her that she’ll talk to Cristina soon. Oh Derek, it’s true, you are dreamy and your hair defies all natural laws, but you don’t really get it. Meredith can’t bring herself to sign the papers. She thinks she needs to stay there.

Callie tends to the surrogate mother, Leanne, who is recovering from not only her amputation but her C-section as well. Arizona stops by to tell Callie that the baby’s parents are there and hoping they can stop by. Leanne says yes and they rush in, bringing the baby to show her. The baby is doing amazing and it’s obvious that the bond between the parents and the surrogate Leanne is strong. Callie and Arizona walk out to leave them all to talk. The whole thing touches Arizona. Callie wonders if perhaps the mom couldn’t have a child and that’s why they used a surrogate. All of a sudden, something clicks for both of them. An option they hadn’t even considered. Neither Callie of Arizona says a word, but they gaze at each other, knowing they have found a way to bring a Torres-Robbins baby into this world. They lean over and kiss each other, and while brief, it’s one of the most blissful kisses they’ve ever exchanged.

Jackson and April find each other in a darkened hallway, and Jackson tells her that he delivered a baby that day. She runs and kisses him, and with eyes full of happy tears, tells him that their baby will be just fine. They kiss and kiss and kiss. It’s kind of adorable. Get a room you two.

Dr. Pierce and Owen come out to let Linc’s mom know that he’s doing well. Dr. Pierce…well we should be on more familiar terms now…Maggie gives her the recover speech while Owen looks on, and sighs. He turns around to face a new day, one without Cristina, but a day full of potential nonetheless.

Bailey and Ben lie in bed while Ben gives her a hell of a foot massage. She’s still glowing from knowing that Richard recommended her for the board seat. She can’t help but think of the things she could accomplish given that power. Also in bed are Alex and Jo. Jo rolls over onto a thick envelope that Cristina left for Alex. Inside are deeds to her shares of the hospital and her seat on the board. He’s flabbergasted. This isn’t going to be pretty come Season 11.

Speaking on not pretty, Derek and Meredith are arguing. (I hate when mom and dad fight.) He’s pissed and she reminds him that he had promised to step back so she could shine. He admits that he lied (not intentionally, but still), but opportunities like this don’t just happen everyday. She talks about giving up more and more pieces of herself so he can grow bigger and bigger. She doesn’t want to do that anymore because pretty soon she won’t have any pieces left. When he reiterates her that he scored her a job in DC, she brings up how that’s exactly what happened to her father. They wanted her mother so they threw him a bone, Meredith Fucking Grey doesn’t want any bones. She wants the marrow and the meat too. He accuses her of being selfish. She says that she has to be, because he truly believes that his career is more important than hers. She doesn’t want to be that person who will always be in his shadow. He calms down and tells her that all she can do in Seattle, she can do in DC. For Meredith, it’s so much more than that. Her life is there in Seattle. So the McDreamys are at an impasse.

Sitting alone on a bench outside the hospital is Maggie Pierce. Richard sees her and joins her. She’s feeling out of sorts, in a new place, not having any friends yet so he offers up his friendship. She tells him that she was adopted, and she was drawn to Grey Sloan Memorial because she found out her birth mother had been an important doctor there. Maybe you’ve heard of her? Ellis Grey. Congratulations Richard! Looks like you might have yourself a surprise daughter.

Cristina looks out onto the beautiful city of Zurich. Her office is filled with boxes and pictures of her friends and loved ones back in Seattle. She has a satisfied smile across her face when Shane comes to the door to announce that the staff is ready for her. Her smile turns into a grin, which Shane mirrors back and she heads out to meet her destiny.

This finale was so satisfying, and such a fitting tribute to Cristina and in the same respect, Sandra Oh’s time on Grey’s Anatomy. Nearly a decade of heart pounding, tear jerking performances. When a character has been a part of your life for so long, they feel like family. Cristina Yang, you will always be a part of ours.

As a final note, I want to thank all of the readers and the folks at AfterEllen for trusting me with Grey’s Anatomy. It has been an absolute pleasure to go on this journey with you. Please know I read every tweet, and every comment. Your words and passion mean a lot to me and I thank you for allowing me to be a part of your Grey’s experience.

As always, than you to Chen Drachman who has stayed up to the wee hours screencapping for these recaps. She’s awesome and you should follow her on Twitter (@shokoshik) if you don’t already. I’m there too.

Until the next time we meet, #GreysGays, here are some of our favorite tweets from the Grey’s Anatomy Season 10 finale.

             

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