Grey’s Anatomy has been on air for 13 seasons and is still going strong. If you’re anything like me, you started watching the show like any other nighttime viewing: optimistic, interested, and happy. Your hopes for the characters’ and plotline were soon crushed, though, because Shonda Rhimes apparently has a knack for breaking her viewers’ hearts and ruining our lives in the process. Here are the top 10 times Grey’s Anatomy completely shattered our world: This article will contain spoilers.
1. When Addison showed up. Leggy, red-headed, and a vixen, Addison Montogomery completely changed the game when she intruded on Meredith and Derek’s life. (For the record, I always loved her for it)
2. When Denny died and Izzy lost everything. This was, by far, the most physically painful plot twist to watch. Seeing Izzy risk her entire career for her fiance was all too familiar for us hopeless romantics (I can’t be the only one who was ever willing to put anything on the line for a man) and seeing said fiance die was the first real shocking death in Grey’s Anatomy history. If the literal wrenching of Katherine Heigl’s body from his didn’t send you into a fit of sobs- you’re lying.
3. When Burke left Cristina. And not because they broke up. No, instead our hearts broke and our lives were turned upside down because our loved Cristina Yang was finally able to break free from her suffocating relationship. Sandra Oh’s portrayal in the scene where Meredith has to literally cut her wedding dress off left me in shambles and truly revealed the weight of a toxic relationship.
4. When Mark showed up- and stayed. The appearance of McSteamy made all of us women swoon on our couches. The pain felt between him and Derek at the beginning was almost too real for anyone who ever lost a best friend. Tthe fact that he stayed for a good portion of the show allowed us to witness an epic manwhore-to-doting-father-and-loyal-friend transformation- and I can honestly say that changed lives.
5. When it was revealed that John Doe was George- and he died. As predictable as it seems now, I definitely didn’t see this one coming. Rumor is, George died because his actor wasn’t getting enough screen time. I wish they’d changed that instead of, you know, murdering him.
6. When Derek was shot. Do I even have to explain this one?
7. When Owen used Cristina’s abortion against her. He shouted something like “you killed our baby” to her in front of all of their colleagues, and he broke my heart when he did it.
8. When Mark Sloane died. Worse, he died before he could hold his daughter one last time. Am I the only one who was angry that he didn’t get a lot of screen time with Sofia? Why, why was this one necessary, Shonda? We’d all love to know the reasoning behind killing Callie’s baby daddy and Derek’s best friend. #StillBitter
9. When Cristina leaves and gives Meredith one last piece of advice. To be completely honest with you, this was it for me. The season after Cristina left left me devastated and I could no longer bring myself to watch anymore. Until…
10. Derek died. It’s not necessarily so much that he died but HOW he died. He never got a goodbye from Meredith (not one where he was conscious, anyway) or his kids and he was hit by a truck. Out of all the heroic, jaw-dropping ways for him to go…and he was hit by a truck. Definitely stopped watching after this. My heart couldn’t take much more.