16 Iconic Grey's Anatomy Speeches That Completely Wrecked You
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Grey's Anatomy fans know the complicated emotional punishments and rewards of a perfectly delivered speech. When we're done feeling distraught by them, these monologues give us incredible insight into the characters and their relationships with one another. Plus, they make for damn good sound clips that play in our hearts forever and ever. Seriously, we can't forget heart-wrenching moments like Lexie's sentimental love declaration to Mark and Cristina's empowering farewell to Meredith.
Prepare your tear ducts, because we've rounded up 16 of the best speeches from Grey's Anatomy!
01
Meredith Asks Derek to Pick Her
- Episode: Season 2, Episode 5
- What happens: At the beginning of season two, Addison, Derek's estranged wife, ends up working at Seattle Grace, and Derek is uncertain about signing his divorce papers. Meredith's love triangle with Derek and Addison eventually ends up being one of the smaller dramas in the grand scheme of Grey's Anatomy tragedies. But that definitely doesn't take away from how sweet this moment is when she confesses to Derek how much she loves him and implores him to choose her.
02
Derek Tells Meredith That He Loves Her
- Episode: Season 3, Episode 1
- What happens: Derek admits to Meredith that he loves her and that he wants her to take her time to choose between him and Finn. It's so disarming to see the usually suave Derek be at such a loss for words.
03
Callie's "You Don't Destroy the Person You Love" Speech
- Episode: Season 4, Episode 4
- What happens: Callie confronts a late patient's boyfriend, who coaxed his girlfriend into dieting and training so that she would lose weight. He tells Callie that he loved his girlfriend, but Callie, who is seething after George confesses to cheating on her with Izzie, lectures that you don't destroy the person you love.
04
Meredith Builds Derek a House of Candles
- Episode: Season 4, Episode 17
- What happens: After learning that their clinical-trial patient is improving, Meredith pulls off a wildly romantic gesture by building Derek the house of their dreams from candles. (Albeit self-conscious of how cheesy she's being.) Following their messy breakup, Derek had planned to sell this patch of land, but Meredith's speech puts their relationship back on the map.
05
Cristina Tells Owen About Why She Went Into Surgery
- Episode: Season 5, Episode 7
- What happens: Owen accuses Cristina of being callous and hypercompetitive. Cristina, of course, puts Owen in his place by sharing with him why she chose to go into cardiothoracic surgery. Cristina explains that as a child, she witnessed her father in a car accident and felt his heart stop beating when he died. Boy, do we miss Sandra Oh on this show.
06
Derek's Elevator Proposal
- Episode: Season 5, Episode 19
- What happens: After just sadly handing Meredith a ring, Derek transforms into the McDreamy we know and love, proposing to our dark and twisty heroine in the most romantic way possible. He plasters one of the elevators at the hospital with CT and MRI scans from all the cases that they worked on together. With a little push from Dr. Webber, Meredith gets on the elevator. Derek tells her that he's going to marry her. Then, our hearts exploded. The end.
07
Alex Announces to Izzie That This Is the Day His Life Begins
- Episode: Season 5, Episode 22
- What happens: Alex draws inspiration from a car accident victim who was just about to give her college valedictorian speech. He incorporates her lines into his wedding vows. He sweetly announces to Izzie that this is the day his life begins. We know, we know, Alex and Izzie don't last, but that doesn't take away from the sweetness of the moment.
08
Arizona Tells Callie's Dad That She's a Good Man in a Storm
- Episode: Season 6, Episode 5
- What happens: Callie's dad drops by the hospital to convince his daughter to date men. Arizona speaks with him, sharing her own story about coming out to her father, a strict Army man. When she came out, Arizona's father only asked her if she was still who he raised her to be. The peds surgeon assures Callie's father that she's "a good man in a storm" and that she loves his daughter very much.
09
Cristina Explains to Owen That Burke Took Pieces of Her
- Episode: Season 6, Episode 13
- What happens: While they're making out, Owen tells Cristina to ignore a page from Teddy. Later on, Cristina accuses Owen of screwing her into submission. She then explains to Owen that while she loves him more than she ever loved Burke, she can't allow him to take away pieces of her like Burke did.
10
Lexie Confesses That She Loves Mark
- Episode: Season 8, Episode 22
- What happens: After trying to make things work with Alex and Jackson, Lexie realizes that she loves Mark. Unfortunately, her heartfelt declaration of love ends up being one of her very last exchanges with Mark after the bloodbath that is the season eight finale.
11
Mark Gives Jackson Advice About Love
- Episode: Season 9, Episode 2
- What happens: While in the ICU recuperating from the plane crash, Mark shares a heart-to-heart moment with Jackson, his protégé at the time. Echoing Lexie, Mark makes Jackson promise him that if he loves someone, he'll tell them. Mark dies shortly after, but his advice sticks. Jackson, if you recall, confesses to April that he loves her . . . just as she's about to marry Matthew.
12
Meredith Teaches the Interns How to Talk to Families About Death
- Episode: Season 12, Episode 4
- What happens: Meredith teaches the new interns about how to talk to families about death. It's a sobering moment when you put it in the context of what Meredith herself went through during Derek's recent passing.
13
Cristina and Meredith Dance Things Out
- Episode: Season 10, Episode 24
- What happens: Cristina finally leaves Grey Sloan to jet-set to Switzerland and take over Burke's cardiothoracic facility. She beseeches Meredith not to do anything reckless, like get onto a plane that can crash or stick her hand in a cavity with a bomb. After they dance things out, Cristina reminds Meredith that Derek's not the sun, she is.
14
Jackson's Harper Avery Speech to Meredith
- Episode: Season 14, Episode 7
- What happens: After deciding to stay in Seattle to take on a case, Meredith learns over a video call that she has won the Harper Avery. Jackson accepts the award on her behalf. In his speech, he mentions how Meredith turns all of the losses in her life into drive. Be right back, we're sobbing.
15
April Loses Her Faith
- Episode: Season 14, Episode 10
- What happens: OK, so this is technically a voiceover as opposed to a speech. But it's definitely one of the most impactful moments in Sarah Drew's final season of Grey's. April learns that Jo's estranged husband, Paul, and Matthew's wife have died under her care. Struggling to maintain her faith, April recalls how Jesus died on the cross and how God cursed Job.
16
Jo Proposes to Alex
- Episode: Season 14, Episode 15
- What happens: Somehow, Alex manages not to notice all of the candles in his room when Jo begins her romantic speech about how she never fit in anywhere. He searches for his ring, but Jo is already wearing it. Jo proposes, telling Alex that he's so screwed up that he makes her make sense.