11 Times Grey's Anatomy Characters Predicted Their Own Future

Of all the catastrophes in Grey's Anatomy's 12 seasons, McDreamy's death may have been the most traumatic — and it seems like Shonda Rhimes and company knew all along he was going to die. In the second episode of the first season, Derek tells Meredith, "You know I have four sisters? Very girlie, tons of kids. If I was in a coma, they'd all be here. I'd want them here."

Cristina seems to hint at Dr. Shepard's demise and maybe even the plane crash, too. When Meredith asks her to be Zola's godmother, in true Cristina Yang-style, this exchange happens:

Cristina: "So, if you and Derek are in a plane crash and you die, the kid is mine?"
Meredith: "Yes."
Cristina: "I have to admit I kind of hope you and Derek die just a little bit. So I can raise the kid with decent priorities."
Meredith: "I have priorities."
Cristina: "Oh?"
Meredith: "Surgery."
Cristina: "Oh, you can raise a good little surgeon. I take it back."

That plane crash in season eight is a huge deal. It was a punch in our TV-loving hearts and left us all with a little bit of low-key PTSD. But we may have overlooked a lot of moments that would have prepared us for the trauma. Way back in season five, Arizona may have given us a glimpse of the horrible future. She and Alex get on a plane to harvest some organs from a donor in another hospital, and Arizona complains about her fear of flying. She says this very, very cryptic thing: "I hate flying. I always feel much closer to death flying than in the OR, don't you?"

Early in the Grey's run, George earned the nickname "007" because he had a "license to kill." It's this very nickname that allows Meredith to identify him as the John Doe who saves the old lady from getting hit by a bus. George is injured so badly he is completely unrecognizable when he arrives in the ER, and he has to sign the numbers "007" into Meredith's hand so she would know this is him. Although this isn't technically foreshadowing and falls more under the "irony" tab, it's still a boss move on the part of the writing staff.

In the season eight episode with the sinkhole, Callie and Owen are working on saving the victims together. They come across a man in the hole, and Callie has to talk the man through the process of amputating a leg. In the not-too-distant future, Callie would have to make the decision to amputate Arizona's leg after the plane crash.

Little Grey's death is incredibly sad and felt like such a huge waste. I mean . . . we were robbed of the chance to see her and Mark live happily ever after! But her final moments are exactly as she had wanted. Back in season five, in the now-infamous "broken penis" episode, Lexie tells Mark exactly how she wants to be treated when she's ill. She tells him that when she's hurt she "wants someone to hold my hand and play with my hair," and that's EXACTLY what Mark does in her final moments.

Way back in season two, before there was a Post-It wedding (or a real wedding, for that matter), or any children, or before half of the calamities that eventually befall Meredith and Derek, they were merely star-crossed lovers and heart-eyed emoji. They were so in love, Derek regularly said things like this to Meredith: "It's like I was drowning, and you saved me." This is very sweet, but also wildly cryptic; merely one season later, Derek is the one who saves Meredith from drowning during the ferry crash.

Related:

Ranking the Top 9 Grey's Anatomy Weddings

In fact, the episode "Walk on Water" from season three opens with Meredith in the bathtub, looking a little like she's trying to drown herself. Derek intervenes and tells her then, "You would have drowned in that bathtub if I had not been there." Whether it's irony or foreshadowing, this is some serious attention to detail.