'Grey's Anatomy' Finale Recap: Cristina Says Goodbye; Richard Meets His Daughter

by Chelsea ReganMay 16, 2014, 12:00 amNews >

Grey’s Anatomy opened with a meteorologist forecasting a cloudless 74 degree day, which paradoxically implied that the day would be anything but sunny for the doctors of Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital.

Grey's Anatomy Recap

Cristina (Sandra Oh) is getting dressed in Owen’s (Kevin McKidd) trailer after spending another commitment-free night together. She’s in a rush because today is the day she’s finally heading off to Zurich to start her new life. Before heading to the hospital, she needs to stop at the mall to pick up a few things. Though Owen thinks they should say their goodbyes now, she suggests they do it at the hospital to spare any double-goodbye awkwardness.

At the Shepherd household, Derek (Patrick Dempsey) tells Meredith (Ellen Pompeo) that they’ve landed the townhouse in Foggy Bottom and will be all set to move in after some paperwork. Though they’re getting ready to settle down in Washington, D.C., they’ll remain members of the board by telecommuting. Yang, however needs to be replaced. Richard (James Pickens Jr.) seems to think that Bailey (Chandra Wilson) will be the one to take her spot.

Though Bailey could be looking at a spot on the board and a stake in the hospital, her genome project had its funding cut. Jackson (Jesse Williams) argues that it was necessary due to budget constraints, but she’s not going to take no for an answer. After all, her bubble boy had his first check-up and he received a perfectly good bill of health.

Alex (Justin Chambers) is back in the hospital, scheduled to perform an anoplasty, forcing Arizona (Jessica Capshaw) and Jo (Camilla Luddington) to joke about him being known as Dr. Little Butthole or Dr. Butthole Jr. He’s more concerned about whether or not he’s going to invest in a boat or a sports car, which Arizona dubs a “road penis.”

Explosion Rocks Seattle Hospital

While Kepner (Sara Drew) is telling Owen that she’s pregnant, but that she’ll “work till it falls out of her,” he catches a glimpse of the news report that says there’s been an explosion at a Seattle mall that may have been an act of terrorism. Holding a press conference, checking the DECON area, and helping out Homeland Security, Owen is trying to mask his fear that Cristina could be getting rolled into the hospital.

One of the patients that gets rolled in is a woman who’s 31-weeks pregnant. The catch it that it’s not her child; she’s a surrogate. She really likes the child’s parents and fears that she’ll lose their baby. When she goes into labor in the OR, they manage to safely deliver the baby. In the end, she loses an arm, but the child is in perfect health. As the parents go meet their child and check-in on the surrogate, Arizona and Callie (Sara Ramirez) look on and seem to settle on getting a surrogate of their own.

Homeland Security eventually finds the patient they were looking for, a Middle Eastern teenager in Meredith’s care. They want to take him, but Meredith insists that she hasn’t run all of the necessary tests yet. When the boy falls off his hospital bed, she wheels through the government officials, letting them know she’s the boss here – and for all they know he’s an innocent civilian. As it turns out, they realize the boy had nothing to do with the explosion.

Cristina Steers Alex Away From Private Practice

Eventually, Cristina shows up at the hospital and helps Karev save a child before bumping into Meredith and finding it hard to hide her reservations about her friend uprooting to D.C. They don’t dwell on the topic for long, as Arizona informs Cristina that a heart has arrived for her patient. Instead of sending him off to a nearby hospital, Cristina insists the heart by sent to Grey Sloan. Before she gets around to the transplant, she not-to-subtly tells Alex he’s wasting his talents in the private practice.

News reports are spinning narratives based merely on conjecture. At first, they reported that it was likely a terrorist attack committed by two teens with backpacks. The burns were theorized as being a rash from radiation. Anthrax was tossed into the mix, as well as a dirty bomb. In the end, it wasn’t a chemical attack or a bomb. The mall had a gas main explosion.

Katherine Avery (Debbie Allen) runs into the supply closet to find her daughter-in-law April crying in the corner. April confesses that she can’t wrap her head around bringing a child into a world where one’s first reaction is to assume an act of terror. After telling a story from her own youth, Katherine tells her that what changes the world is “good people raising their babies right.”

Bailey Thinks She's On The Board

Bailey, frustrated about her trial, confronts Richard. Richard tells her that she doesn’t belong in the lab, and, that she’s the frontrunner to take a seat on the board. He promises that he’s going to recommend her and that she’s basically a shoe-in to take Cristina’s spot. Later on, Bailey and Ben (Jason George) share in their excitement for her new role at the hospital.

After confessing to Meredith that she’s been finding it hard to leave Seattle, Meredith lights a fire under her, causing her to make a goodbye tour of sorts at the hospital. She shares a hug with Derek, Richard and Bailey. She wouldn’t be saying goodbye to Shane (Gaius Charles), though, as her protégé convinces her to take him with her to Zurich. Cristina’s goodbye to Owen was a simple wave from the gallery glass, as he was working on a patient in the OR.

Meredith & Cristina Say Their Goodbyes

For part one of Cristina and Meredith’s goodbye, the latter pushes the former into a waiting cab. “What do you need an I love you or something. I love you,” said Meredith, holding in her emotions. “Call me when you get there.” Back in the hospital, Meredith runs into Amy, who’s been dubbed “Shepherdess” by the residents. Amy admits that she feels amazing, like a kid with candy after not losing anyone all day. And despite being in Derek’s shadow, she couldn’t be happier. The sister-in-law moment is cut short, however, when Cristina shows back up and pulls Meredith to the on-call room.

Cristina tells Meredith, “We have to dance it out. That’s how we finish.” But, before they get to dancing, she stipulates they have to call each other and text and that Meredith has to take care of Alex and not willingly put herself in mortal danger anymore. “Don’t be a hero. You’re my person,” she says, and then the dance it out. Before Cristina leaves, she has one more things to tell her friend.“You are a gifted surgeon with an extraordinary mind. Don’t let what he wants eclipse what you need,” she advises. “He’s very dreamy, but he’s not the sun. You are.”

MerDer Have A Blowout

In bed later, Meredith is holding the documents for the Foggy Bottom townhouse. When Derek comes in and asks if she’s signed them, she tells him she thinks she needs to stay here. He argues that he’s already taken the job, a job of a lifetime, while Meredith tells him that it was supposed to be her time and she doesn’t want to be a trailing spouse. “I have to be selfish, because you think your career is more important than mine,” she says. Meredith also explains that her life is in Seattle and at the hospital she fought to keep open. While she doesn’t tell him to chose between his family and his career, she makes it clear she’s not going anywhere.

As the finale came to a close, it’s revealed that Cristina is preparing for her first meeting in Zurich, that she left her share of the hospital and seat on the board to Alex and that the new, young head of cardio Cristina had selected is Ellis Grey and Richard Webber’s daughter.

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