Greetings, Grey’s Anatomy fans, and welcome to the recap of the penultimate episode of the season, “At Last.” During the promo for this episode, we were promised two proposals and a “shocking” hookup. I’ll be the judge of how shocking it was but there was, indeed, a hookup. As for the proposals, we got those as well, including two different answers! Throw in a breakup and a death and it was one jam-packed hour as things were set in motion for the season finale.

A Raging Infection

I’ve really loved Meredith this season, so it was a disappointment when she went and lost her mind. It all started as Mer arrived at the hospital to witness Owen selling his trailer (at last!) because he bought a house (at last!). The problem was, though she had sold the trailer to Owen and he was free to do with it what he wished, seeing it sold brought back memories of the trailer’s original owner, Derek. That, in turn, pulled Grey into a vortex of loss and self-pity. Things went from bad to worse when Meredith found out that Amelia and Owen were moving forward in their relationship in a big way (or so she thought as Omelia’s “hypothetical” conversations about moving in together and getting married and having kids escalated throughout the day as they had fun being “fake married.”) It turns out that Meredith, despite encouraging Amelia to get back together with Owen, only wanted Amelia to have a “hobby” of sorts and still considers Owen as belonging with Cristina. And she’s really bitter about Derek.

Which I get, except it is not okay to do what Meredith did next.

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Regular readers of these recaps know that I’m not always a fan of Amelia. That said, when she has herself together and isn’t treating herself and others badly, I can tolerate her. Sometimes I even like her. Tonight, I felt really badly for her as Meredith unleashed a torrent of pent-up pain and grief spewing nasty, spiteful words accusing Amelia of taking Derek’s job and Cristina’s husband, as well as living in Meredith’s house with Meredith’s children and Meredith’s sister! As a stunned Amelia could only look on horrified, Meredith basically told her to get her own life and stop stealing everyone else’s. Ouch. So mean. Fortunately, Amelia sucked it up (more on that later) and Alex called Mer out on her crap, topping it off with the insistence that when he married Jo (because happiness still exists) Meredith would be his Best Man. Go Alex!

With The Right Person

I was really worried that Amelia would far apart completely after Meredith’s tirade, but she didn’t. That said, the smack down took place right before Kyle’s surgery, which did not go well. Kyle’s brain was too badly compromised and he ended up dying on the table as a stoic but devastated Stephanie watched from the gallery. Spurred on by the loss of Kyle and the realization that she and Owen should be building a life together instead of wasting precious time playing make-believe, Amelia proposed to Owen. Judging by the promos for next week, he said “yes.”

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I’m Ready

Unfortunately, things didn’t go so well for Alex and Jo. Alex spent the day dodging the matching of a patient, hearing about the Omelia plans, and pondering why his relationship with Jo was perpetually stuck. So, after months of the engagement ring being in a drawer (out of sight, out of mind?) Karev finally brought up the issue of marriage again. Telling Jo that he’s not afraid to commit and that he wants to be married to her, Alex proposed again. And Jo turned him down again. Yikes. Now what?

Three Things and a Hookup

* Callie broke up with Penny, saying she won’t leave Seattle without Sofia and Penny would only resent Callie if Penny gave up her grant to stay. Why postpone? Things had been icy between them since the custody hearing anyway. Better to cut their losses now. Penny left in tears, later thanking Meredith for teaching her. Callie continued to push her luck with Arizona, who was fresh out of grace and sympathy.

* Ben and Miranda each continued to bide their time believing they were right and the other party would eventually apologize. Good luck with that 

* I’m worried about Richard, who didn’t seem well, but maybe was just discouraged? Luckily, Catherine returned home a week early which lifted his spirits immediately.

* Meredith and Nathan got into a blazing argument in the parking lot as Nathan both complimented Meredith’s surgical skills but laid into her about her behavior. Sparks flew as Meredith grabbed Nathan and started kissing him roughly. Voila! Hook up! Not with Alex (thank goodness) but with Nathan! I would argue not-so-shocking since viewers have kind of been expecting this since Martin Henderson joined the cast (plus Meredith and Alex need to be just friends, seriously), but whatever. More importantly, what about the flirty vibe I was getting between Nathan and Maggie? And what about Owen, Amelia, Derek and even Cristina? Was this hookup of Meredith’s fueled by the Megan, Omelia,  MerDer and Crowen of it all? The fallout of all of this is not going to be pretty.

P.S. The promo for next week is cray cray! Omelia wedding? April giving birth? AAAAAHHHH!

Memorable Moments and Quotes

Meredith (to Owen after learning he’s selling the trailer): “Don’t you need a place to sleep? Or are you moving into my house, too, and no one told me?”

Meredith (to Alex): “Maybe you guys (Omelia and Jolex) could have a double wedding – then I would only have to live through it once.”

Nathan (to Maggie, holding out a box): “Bacon?”

Maggie: “Is that bacon? A cardio-thorasic hand grenade…(she sighs after eating some)…it is good.”

Meredith (to Alex): “You and Wilson are doing it right. Not rushing into things.”

Alex: “Rushing into things? We’ve been together a million years.”

Owen (to Amelia): “Are we really talking about this? Marriage and kids?”

Jackson (on the Ben/Bailey situation): “So you’re not mad?”

Ben: “Nah, man, I’m mad as hell, but she’s the love of my life. I mean, you get it. You’ve got April.”

Jackson: “April and I are divorced.”

Ben: “Well, like I said, waiting game. Stay strong. You’ll get there.”

Jackson: “You’re out of your damned mind.”

Ben: “Yeah, I know.”

Meredith: “I’ll probably end up hosting this wedding. I hosted Owen’s first wedding.”

Nathan (protesting Maggie pushing a surgery onto him): “I gave you bacon!”

Amelia (to Stephanie, who won’t back off): “Hello, Resident-Who-Is-Not-On-My-Service-Today.”

Meredith (to Amelia): “You don’t even see it. You think you’re making all these choices and building this life when none of this is actually yours.”

Amelia: “That doesn’t even make sense.”

Meredith: “It does make sense. You are living in my house helping to take care of my children with my sister. You are marrying my best friend’s ex. You are trying to do my husband’s job. You know, you used to have humility. Even a little anxiety. And now you even has his confidence. But why not? Because you’ve taken over everything else.”

Amelia: “What are you saying?”

Meredith: “Get your own life.”

Alex (to Meredith): “See? Happy endings. They happen.”

Meredith: “Oh please. Everyone’s in love in a foxhole. He saved her kid. That’s like post traumatic stress romance.”

Alex: “You know what? Give it a rest. Just because you choose to be unhappy doesn’t mean everyone else has to.”

The season finale of Grey’s Anatomy airs Thursday, May 19 on ABC.

(Photo courtesy of ABC)

Janalen Samson

Contributing Writer, BuddyTV