Grey's Anatomy Season Finale: A Guide to Messed Up Relationships

Apparently no one is supposed to live happily ever after...ever. That seems to be the theme for the season finale of ABC's top-rated weekly drama series Grey's Anatomy. The episode, which originally aired Thursday night, May 17, focuses on relationships--seven to be exact, with but one of the couplings offering just a slight glimmer of hope for the future.

The numero uno relationship, which has been the centerpiece of the show since it first aired in March 2005, is that of the attractive, but very much in need of a sandwich, intern Meredith Grey and her favorite "I'm actually prettier than any of the women I have ever dated" surgeon, Derek "Dr. McDreamy" Shepherd. It may be hard to believe that a romance that starts with a drunken roll in the hay on the very night they meet could ever be on shaky ground, but the Grey-Shepherd match up has been just that from the get-go. The obstacles have been many, not the least of which is the fact that Shepherd is a married man; yet the couple endures the many bumps and appears to be on the road to a long and lasting love...at least until the season finale. Apparently, having nothing in the way to mess up their relationship has really messed up their relationship. The finale leaves viewers with the Grey-Shepherd on-again/off-again love match looking very much off-again.

Dysfunctional relationship number two is expected to overcome its many barriers with the marriage of overdriven and insensitive intern Cristina Wang to equally overdriven but overly sensitive heart surgeon Dr. Preston Burke. But of course Grey's Anatomy would not be Grey's Anatomy without messed up relationships, so the wedding never takes place. With everyone ready to see the bride walk down the aisle, Wang needs a push from maid-of-honor Grey, who finally talks the bride into taking the plunge. The groom, however, grows impatient and calls things off leaving the bride in a blubbering fit of tears.

Then there is the amazing George O'Malley triangle in which the shy, reserved, kind of nerdy intern has two big, beautiful babes both wanting him at the same time. Big beautiful babe number one is his wife, Dr. Callie Torres, who looks like she could break George in two with her bare hands--which she may end up doing if she ever finds out that he slept with big beautiful babe number two. BB number two is George's best friend and fellow intern Izzie Stevens--an ex-lingerie model and every man's idea of what a best friend ought to look like. The two BBs have made no secret of the fact that they hate each other, putting "poor George" in the middle. In the finale, George's world seems to really spin out of control as Callie announces her desire to have a baby and Izzie announces her desire to have George. Poor guy.

Dr. Addison Montgomery-Shepherd, having lost both the battle for her husband to Grey, and interest in Mark "Dr. McSteamy" Sloan--the man she cheated on her ex with while she and her ex were still married--sets her sights on intern Alex Karev. While the two engage in a supplies closet romance, Karev is engaging in a strange relationship with a "Jane Doe" patient. In the final episode, the soon-to-be discharged Ms. Doe--real name Rebecca--asks Karev to give her a reason not to leave. The dim intern tells Rebecca that she should just go back to her old life as he heads to the wedding that never happens. Meanwhile, the viewers know that a relationship with Montgomery-Shepherd will also never happen because she is slated for a spin-off series to begin next Fall. At the wedding that never happens, Montgomery-Shepherd inspires Karev to never pass up a chance for true happiness. The intern hurries to the hospital too late to catch the already departed Rebecca.

Oddly absent from all of this relationship craziness is Dr. Miranda Bailey--"The Nazi"--who apparently is far too scary for her husband to ever have the guts to fall out of line. Besides, Bailey is much too busy trying to keep her subordinates from screwing up their lives to ever have time to mess up her own life.

Finally, there is that glimmer of hope featuring soon-to-be retired chief of surgery, Dr. Richard Webber and his ex-wife Adele. Their marriage has long been wrecked by the Chief's decades-ago affair with Grey's mother, yet the two have only recently divorced. In the season's final episode, Adele miscarries the baby her ex was unaware she was carrying. Webber's gentle, loving concern for his ex--even before she informs him that he is the father--seems to have made an impression on Adele leaving viewers with hope that the two may get back together.

And that sounds about right for Grey's Anatomy:

Have the retiring member of the staff finally figure out how to maintain a sound relationship while the rest of the crew continue to mess things up.