Grey's Anatomy Season 6 Finale: Love, Loss, and Gunfire

The season finale of Grey's Anatomy left fans with less of a cliffhanger, and more of a broken heart. Seattle Grace was turned into a scene of chaos after a Shooter started dropping cast members right and left, in addition to a series of unnamed extras.

Dr. Reed, the feisty redhead who joined the cast with the Mercy West merger earlier this season, was the first to go with a gunshot to the head, followed closely by Alex, who took a shot to the chest which was later indicated to not be fatal. More deaths would follow, including the slow and painful demise of Dr. Percy, after a valiant attempt to save him by Dr. Bailey and guest star singer Mandy Moore, who portrayed a patient.

The Shooter was none other than Gary Clark, the grieving man who lost his wife earlier in the season due to a decision by Derrick Shepherd. Over the last few episodes, fans saw Clark pursuing the legal ramifications of Dr. Shepherd's decision, growing steadily more distraught and violent.

The conflict reached a climax with Clark shooting Derrick in the chest.

The final tug at the heart strings started with an early scene of Meredith Grey taking a pregnancy test-with a positive result. This occurred prior to the first gunfire, but later in the show Meredith claimed to be suffering a miscarriage while helping to operate on Dr. Hunt, who was shot while trying to dissuade Clark from killing Shepherd as he lay on the operating table post-gunshot under the skillful hand of Dr. Cristina Yang.

At the end of the episode, Dr. April Kepner informed Meredith that Derrick was asking for her, indicating McDreamy will probably pull through just fine.

During the ordeal, Dr. Arizona Robbins and Callie continued their debate over the eventual outcome of their relationship, which seemed to be resolved just before the closing credits with the pair exchanging talk of 10 future children before kissing. Additionally, Lexie Grey seemed to discover the depth of her feelings for the critically wounded Alex; unfortunately, Alex mistook her for Izzie during the ordeal, asking her to never leave him. Dr. Mark Sloan, who confessed his continued affections for Lexie the episode prior, watched the exchange with sad, sexy puppy-dog eyes.

Ultimately, the Grey's Anatomy writers are certainly prepared to bring in the "big guns" to keep the fan-base hooked. Tonight's episode was easily one of the most on-edge, gut-wrenching episodes to date, simultaneously having the most regular-cast deaths to date. While the ending left fans with only a few questions-will Meredith tell Derrick about the baby?-most Grey's Anatomy viewers agree that tonight's episode renewed their interests in the show, and they can't wait for more.

I know I can't.

Grey's Anatomy airs on ABC, and episodes are available online at the ABC website.