A complete timeline of Meredith Grey and Derek Shepherd's iconic love story on 'Grey's Anatomy'
Esme Mazzeo
·9-min read
Meredith Grey and Derek Shepherd have one of the most iconic love stories in TV history.Vivian Zink/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty Images; Scott Garfield/Getty Images; Randy Holmes/Getty Images; Alyssa Powell/Insider
Neither Ellen Pompeo or Patrick Dempsey are series regulars on "Grey's Anatomy" anymore.
But Meredith Grey's relationship with Derek Shepherd still remains an iconic part of TV history.
Here's a complete timeline of their love story.
Ellen Pompeo's final episode as a series regular on "Grey's Anatomy" aired on February 23, marking the official end of the love story between her character, Meredith Grey, and Meredith's late husband Derek Shepherd (Patrick Dempsey).
Dempsey exited the series in season 11, but Meredith and Derek's story continued after Derek's death.
Below is a complete timeline of one of the most iconic relationships in television history.
Season 1, episode 1: It started as a one-night stand
Ellen Pompeo and Patrick Dempsey on the "Grey's Anatomy" pilot.ABC; ABC
Viewers first met Meredith (Ellen Pompeo) and Derek (Patrick Dempsey) on the floor in the living room of her mother's house. They had met at Emerald City Bar (aka Joe's Bar) the night before and hooked up.
On her first day as a surgical intern at Seattle Grace Hospital, Meredith learned that Derek was a neurosurgery attending and her boss. They couldn't resist each other and eventually started dating.
Season 1, episode 9: Meredith learned she was the 'other woman'
On the "Grey's Anatomy" season one finale, Dr. Addison Montgomery (Kate Walsh) arrived at Seattle Grace to let Derek know she was going to fight for their marriage. She memorably told Meredith that Derek was married by calling Meredith "the woman that's been screwing my husband."
Season 2, episode 5: Meredith begged Derek to love her
Ellen Pompeo and Patrick Dempsey on "Grey's Anatomy" season two episode five.ABC
At the beginning of season two, Derek was caught between his relationship with Meredith and his marriage to Addison. Meredith was upset with him, but eventually realized she wanted to be with him.
To try and fight for him, she gave him one of the most memorable speeches in "Grey's Anatomy" history.
"Your choice, it's simple: her or me, and I'm sure she's really great. But Derek, I love you. In a really, really big, pretend to like your taste in music, let you eat the last piece of cheesecake, hold a radio over my head outside your window unfortunate way that makes me hate you, love you. So, pick me. Choose me. Love me," she said.
Ultimately, Derek decided not to sign his divorce papers and instead work on his marriage to Addison.
Season 2, episode 27 and season 3 episode 1: Meredith loses her panties at the prom
Patrick Dempsey and Ellen Pompeo on "Grey's Anatomy" season two episode 27.ABC
At the hospital prom for Dr. Richard Webber's (Jim Pickens Jr.) niece, Meredith and Derek couldn't resist each other though they came with other people. They had sex in an exam room. When they were interrupted, Meredith hastily got dressed and lost her panties, which Addison found later in Derek's suit. She pinned them to the hospital bulletin board.
Also in season three episode one, Derek told Meredith he was in love with her even though he was with Addison and she was dating Finn, the vet (played by Chris O'Donnell).
Season 3, episode 25: It was so over between Meredith and Derek
Ellen Pompeo on "Grey's Anatomy" season three episode 25.ABC
Meredith and Derek eventually left their respective partners and began dating during season three. But external pressures, like the deaths of Meredith's mother Ellis (Kate Burton) and stepmother Susan (Mare Winningham), combined with Derek's desire to be chief of surgery caused a strain.
At her best friend Dr. Cristina Yang's (Sandra Oh) wedding, Meredith announced that Preston Burke (Isaiah Washington) had left Cristina by saying "It's over, so over." She was also referring to her relationship with Derek.
Season 4, episode 17: The house of candles
Ellen Pompeo on "Grey's Anatomy" season four episode 17.Randy Holmes/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty Images
The pair were dating other people while conducting a clinical trial to cure a specific type of brain tumor throughout season 4. Derek was going to sell the land he bought to build a house for him and Meredith because she wasn't ready to commit and start a family.
When their final clinical trial patient lived, Meredith showed Derek she was ready to commit by building the floor plan for their house out of candles on his land. She told him they could be extraordinary together rather than ordinary apart.
Season 5, episodes 17 to 19: The ring, the woods, and the engagement
Ellrn Pompeo and Patrick Dempsey on "Grey's Anatomy" season five episode 19.ABC
In the middle of season five, viewers learned that Derek had an engagement ring for Meredith. But after he made a mistake during surgery that killed a pregnant patient he had bonded with, Derek went into a deep depression.
When Meredith went to Derek's trailer to confront him about his state and the fact that he was going to propose to her, Derek got so angry he hit the ring into the woods with a baseball bat.
After he saved Izzie Stevens' (Katherine Heigl) life, Derek finally proposed to Meredith in an elevator at Seattle-Grace on season five episode 19, "Elevator Love Letter." He covered the walls with the CT scans of patients that represented milestones in their relationship and work together.
Season 5, episode 24: The Post-it note wedding
Meredith and Derek planned to get married at city hall on a random busy day at the hospital. When they realized they couldn't get away to sign papers, they wrote their vows down on Post-it notes and signed them. They considered themselves married from that moment on.
Season 6, episodes 23 and 24: A pregnancy, a shooting, a miscarriage, and a dangerous proposition
Ellen Pompeo on "Grey's Anatomy" season six episode 24.ABC
At the beginning of the hospital shooting on season six, episodes 23 and 24, titled "Sanctuary" and "Death and All His Friends," respectively, Meredith found out she was pregnant.
A disgruntled widower named Gary Clark (Michael O'Neil), who believed that Derek was responsible for the death of his wife, shot Derek before Meredith could tell him. When Gary found the operating room where Cristina was trying to save Derek, Meredith ran in and told him to shoot her instead.
Then, while she was operating on Owen Hunt (Kevin McKidd), who Gary had shot, Meredith had a miscarriage.
Seasons 7 and 8: Legal marriage and Zola's adoption
Zola and Meredith on "Grey's Anatomy."ABC
After trying and failing to have a baby throughout season 7, Meredith and Derek decided to adopt their daughter Zola, an orphan with spina bifida at the hospital. They legally married each other on season 7 episode 20, "White Wedding," so they could begin the adoption process.
At the beginning of season eight, social services learned that Meredith lost her job for tampering with Derek's Alzheimer's clinical trial and removed Zola from their custody. Dr. Webber eventually took the blame for tampering with the clinical trial because Meredith was trying to help his wife. After an agonizing wait, Zola was returned to Meredith and Derek's custody and the adoption became official.
Season 9: Derek Bailey Shepherd's birth and buying Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital
After surviving the plane crash on the season 8 finale, Meredith and Derek discovered that Meredith was pregnant. Their son Derek Bailey Shepherd was born at Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital in the middle of a blackout.
Meredith, Derek, and the other survivors of the plane crash bought the hospital with the money they got from suing the former owners. Along with majority owner Jackson Avery, (Jesse Williams) and the Avery Foundation, the new owners of the hospital decided to rename the hospital after the two plane crash victims who died, Lexie Grey (Chyler Leigh) and Mark Sloan (Eric Dane).
Seasons 10 and 11: Tension rose because of their careers
Patrick Dempsey and Ellen Pompeo on "Grey's Anatomy season 10 episode four.ABC
Meredith and Derek agreed that Derek would focus on childcare while Meredith focused on her career. But tension rose between them after Derek was offered a job working for the president at the White House. He eventually turned down the offer to keep his promise to Meredith and be with his family.
Derek became so resentful of Meredith because of his choice that on season 11, she told him to take the job and go to Washington D.C. They were estranged when he left but eventually made up.
Season 11, episode 21 & 22: Derek's death and Ellis Shepherd's birth
Patrick Dempsey and Ellen Pompeo on "Grey's Anatomy" season 11.ABC
Derek committed to Meredith, his kids, and staying in Seattle. He was on his way to the airport for a flight to Washington D.C. when he saw a car crash as it happened. He saved all of the victims, only to get hit by a semi-tractor trailer later.
He was rushed to Dillard Medical Center with life-threatening brain injuries that went undetected because doctors failed to order a CT. He was pronounced brain-dead in surgery and when Meredith got there she took him off life support.
After his death, Meredith learned she was pregnant. She took her kids and left her friends and family in Seattle to have the baby in a secluded town on the beach. Because of complications during labor, doctors called Alex Karev (Justin Chambers) who arrived to take Meredith and the kids home to Grey-Sloan.
Season 17: Their love story continued in Meredith's COVID-induced visions
Patrick Dempsey on season 17 of "Grey's Anatomy."ABC
On season 17, Meredith got COVID and would slip in and out of consciousness. While unconscious, she'd see visions of loved ones who had died, including Derek. The scenes were on a beach.
In one of her dreams, the couple had a traditional wedding, complete with spoken vows and Meredith in a white wedding dress. But instead of joining Derek in the afterlife, Meredith eventually woke up to continue caring for their three kids.
On Friday morning, during the Maori New Year public holiday, a 16-year-old teen named Jason was brutally attacked on an Auckland bus by a woman wielding an iron rod. The assailant, described as a Maori woman “more than 200 kilograms," hit Jason multiple times and stabbed him in the face, knocking out five of his teeth, on board the bus after having allegedly shouted "ch*nk" at him at Johns Lane stop. Man intervenes: A 75-year-old Chinese man, Penglai Qiuyue, intervened and managed to grab the weapon, though he was also injured in the process.
The 2024 US Presidential race intensifies. Speculation abounds over potential replacements for President Joe Biden amid increasing pressure from his party and the media to step aside after a jaw-dropping, catastrophic debate against Donald Trump last week. Among the names circulating, a game-changer is emerging: Michelle Obama. Could this be America’s worst nightmare?
A woman accusing a religious leader of exploiting and sexually abusing her told the High Court he has done it to “hundreds” of his followers over the last 40 years.
A series of incidents that left scores of airline passengers needing medical attention has shone a spotlight on the problem of severe in-flight turbulence.
Activist claims she was threatened with release of the footage in order to silence her, amid multiple reports of sexual violence inflicted upon imprisoned Afghan women
Jimmy Tsui, a former member of the Sun Yee On triad in Hong Kong and Tung On in New York City's Chinatown, breaks down 12 Chinese organized-crime scenes in movies and TV shows based on realism. Tsui breaks down the accuracy of triad activities in Hong Kong and the United States, such as the money-laundering scenes in "Rush Hour 2," with Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker; "A Better Tomorrow," with Chow Yun-fat and Leslie Cheung; the human smuggling ring in "Lethal Weapon 4," with Jet Li, Mel Gibson, and Danny Glover; and the connection of triads with the nightclub and movie industries in Hong Kong in "Young and Dangerous 3." He explains the realism of triads dealing with law enforcement and other international criminal organizations, such as the Irish Mob in "The Departed," with Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon, and Jack Nicholson; the tensions between the yakuza and the San Francisco triad in "War," with Jason Statham; the relationship between the Hong Kong police and the triads in "Infernal Affairs," starring Tony Leung and Andy Lau; and the interaction with motorcycle clubs in "Sons of Anarchy" S6E10. Tsui also looks at scenes in New York City's Chinatown, such as the rivalry between two Tong associations in "The Corruptor," with Mark Wahlberg and Chow Yun-fat; and the gambling-house scene in "Year of the Dragon." Tsui also explains the rituals and hierarchy of the triads, such as the initiation-ceremony scene in "Election" (2005) and the voting scene in "The Brothers Sun" E7, starring Michelle Yeoh. Tsui was involved with the Sun Yee On triad and Tung On in New York City's Chinatown for over 10 years. In 1985 in New York, he was arrested and charged with robbery and homicide with a $1.5 million bail. The case was dismissed and resulted in his transition into Sun Yee On in 1988. He was involved in karaoke bars, gambling houses, and various scams. After leaving the triads, Tsui got involved with Chinatown Gang Stories, a YouTube channel organized by Mike Moy, a former gang member and New York City Police Department officer. You can learn more about Jimmy Tsui's story here: https://www.youtube.com/@chinatowngangstories
Zara Tindall has been left “shaken to the core” by her mother Princess Anne’s mystery encounter with a horse which left her with a brain injury that has resulted in amnesia, according to a report.OK! Magazine says that Zara, 43, has been left freaked out by the incident which saw Anne, 73, also known as The Princess Royal, struck by a horse while she was out walking, alone, on Sunday, June 23, at her home, Gatcombe Park, in the Cotswolds.She was treated at the scene and then hospitalized for fiv