Grey’s Anatomy Recap: “Here’s to the Future”
Mer and Derek are cuddling on the floor on the morning after the wedding of Izzie that was meant to be theirs. Derek figured out a way to get Izzie’s tumor, he says.
Izzie is walking with Alex because she doesn’t want to spend their honeymoon in bed. She tells Alex she wants her to meet all her patient friends, as opposed to her doctor friends. She comes into the room and announces, “I’m a bride!” and shows off the wedding ring. She introduces him to the cancer patients. Owen tells Cristina that he had a good session with his shrink, and she asks him about his mom, who doesn’t know that Hunt’s back in the US.
He then asks George to follow him. They meet a patient, Charlie, who obviously has heard of Hunt. Callie says she doesn’t find anything functionally wrong with his leg, other than the fact that he can’t walk or run. Callie says there’s nothing she can do. Charlie has a suggestion: cut it off and replace it with a prosthetic leg so he can get back to Iraq. Callie is aghast at the suggestion, as Owen tries to defend his request. Callie says if the leg is healthy, she is not cutting it. Arizona asks Bailey if she’s busy, and she gets all defensive. All those dying kids must be getting through to her, somehow. Arizona wants her to scrub in, until the Chief comes in and borrows Bailey. The Chief asks her some questions about Santa, and opens the door to what appears to be top of the line nice surgical equipment. Bailey is like a kid on Christmas day. Mark tells Lexie his plans of getting a condo. He sort of hints that she move in with him, but she didn’t take the hint or shot him down.
As she leaves, Derek chimes in and tells Mark it’s too early. Derek plans to surgically remove Izzie’s hippocampus, which, as Dr. Swender points out, can damage her memory, etc. Derek, of course, gets defensive and admits that yes, it is possible that she’ll lose her memory. Suddenly, Izzie imagines herself with hair, on her bikini, on the beach, with Denny. They talk about the number of kids she’ll have with Alex. Izzie continues to mull over the choice she has to make. Alex doesn’t want to make the decision, neither do Cristina and Izzie. George asks Carhlie why he is so determined to go back to Iraq and is even willing to lose his leg. Charlie calls his Iraq family his “real family.” Dr. Swender shows Cristina the scans of a cancer patient who successfully overcame cancer with therapy, and says Izzie should be patient. Bailey is having a go at her new toy, and she’s obviously very happy. She’s like a kid, making light saber noises. This is a ploy by the Chief to get Bailey to stay in general surgery. Meredith points out to Yang that Izzie may not have enough time to whether through the therapy. Suddenly, Derek comes in and notices something weird, but quickly heads out, with Meredith following. Meredith preps Izzie for surgery and shows a series of images in flashcards. Derek starts putting the right hemisphere of her brain to sleep and she needs to remember the images – dog, plane, house. Izzie continues to mouth the sequence then stops. When asked, she couldn’t say it. She can’t identify it. Any of it. She can’t say Meredith’s name, either. Derek, being stubborn, still wants to go through with the surgery. Alex has a talk with Derek outside, while Meredith closes the door and tells Izzie that she’s not having the surgery. Alex wants Derek to talk to him as a friend and not as a doctor. Alex asks Derek what he’d do if it were Meredith who had cancer.
Alex says Izzie is the one good thing that happened to him. Derek says he would ask Mer to have the surgery. Meredith tells Izzie what happened, that she didn’t know Meredith’s name, or who Alex was. The tumor is sitting right at the center of everything that she was. Izzie consults a fellow cancer patient, Allison, and tells her that she’s permanently hallucinating. Allison says she had 15 surgeries until she said enough, and then the therapy worked. Now her brain tumor is gone. There’s no way Izzie will have that surgery now, right? As for Charlie, Callie tries to talk him out of amputation as Owen watches on. Charlie yells at Callie that while he’s not sure of the decision, he’s sure that he’s in hell right now. The Chief announces to Arizona that Bailey just performed a first in Seattle Grace. Arizona is irked because she plans to have Bailey assist her in a peds surgery. Arizona tells the Chief that she’s going to cry. Blinking back tears, she tells him she’s mad at him because he’s her boss and he reminds her of her dad. She says it’s bad to lure Bailey to surgery via robots, and in peds, there are no robots, only kids, which are not as fun as robots.
She vows to fight him for Bailey. Izzie tells Alex that she decided not to have surgery. He, again, shouts at her and says it’s for the best. He practically orders Izzie to have the surgery. Derek is scolding Cristina for crossing the line, and Meredith says it’s her fault. Meredith talks about her mother and that Elis was no longer herself because she lost her memory. Derek tells her she made it personal, so she better go back to Izzie and change her mind. Owen pulls Cristina aside and talks about her mother and his commitment to the army. He tells her that he decided to go back to Iraq.
Cristina says he doesn’t have her support. Charlie goes up to Callie and George and tries to apologize. He proceeds to talk about what the army means to him, and compares his being a solider to Callie’s being a doctor as George takes it all in. Izzie complains that Alex and she are already fighting to Allison. She assures Izzie that Alex will come around. Meredith wants Cristina and her to explain again to Izzie her options, and confesses that she practically threatened Izzie to not get that surgery. Cristina gets a page. Izzie is trying to revive Allison. Cristina takes over. On the amputation of Charlie’s leg, Callie wants someone to remind her why she’s doing it as she holds on to a drill. Owen tries to convince Callie that they’re doing the right thing. Operating on Allison, Dr. Swender and Cristina argue about something, and Swender gets defensive and asks her if she thought it was her fault. She admits that sometimes the toxins that they use for therapy kill the patient. It’s cancer, after all, and there is no cure. Mark abandons subtlety and tells Lexie that he wants her to move in with him. During the conversation, it’s made clear that they have different things in mind. Mark wants to move in within the next one year and Lexie, the next 10. They end up in an awkward talk about marriage, then eventually walk away in opposite directions. Izzie looks on as Swender breaks the news to Allison’s family.
Cristina tells them that it’s unlikely that she’ll be able to breathe again on their own. This is the deal breaker in Izzie’s mind. George tells Izzie that she knows what to do and gives her a pep talk.
Surgery time.
Meredith comes into Derek’s office with Izzie and gives him the go signal but says she’s also signing a DNR because she doesn’t want to end up a vegetable supposed it doesn’t go well. As she is being wheeled to surgery, Alex reminds her that this is exactly what made her crazy, when Denny signed a DNR and she ended up cutting LVAD wires. She says she does not want to live like this, with all the hallucinations, and she just wants to go to the other side rather than go through this.
Tearfully, they share a kiss.
Meredith invites Derek to go to city hall because she doesn’t want to spend another day not married to her. In a bench outside Seattle Grace, Cristina tells Owen that it is sometimes all pointless, because no matter how good you get, your patients are still going to die. And she tells Owen she doesn’t want him to die. Bailey comes into the room to two distraught people – Callie tells her she just cut off a healthy leg, and Swender says her only miracle case is on life support. Bailey tells them to follow her to witness the “joy” of Arizona’s patient’s family. “That’s why we do this,” she says. “The joy.” Owen and Cristina are in his car, and they go to his mom’s house. “I’m home,” he says simply to his stunned mom. Mother and son hug. Meanwhile, George signs up for the Army. Picking up where “Here’s to the Future” left off, part two of the two-hour season finale begins with Bailey in the Chief’s office, joined by Arizona, who breaks the news to her that she was accepted into the peds fellowship program. Izzie, recovering from surgery, starts making sounds or talking. Alex yells “Shepherd!” Cristina wants to know why Owen was hugging O’Malley and he says he was able to sleep last night because Cristina came with him to see his mom. He says he can now be a better man, and he kisses her. He also says that O’Malley has some amazing news but he will let him relay it. George breaks the news to Bailey: He joined the Army, and he’s reporting to duty tomorrow. She is understandably shocked. Mer tells Cristina that she’s going to city hall to get married. She gives Mer her post-it and favorite pen. They think about hugging but pass.
A trauma patient arrives.
A woman, slightly injured herself, comes in and says a now- unconscious guy jumped in front of a bus to save her life. The face of the man is revealed – and there is no face. He is messed up that bad. The woman vomits and is taken out. Derek asks Izzie a bunch of questions and she answers everything right – her name, etc – and she’s talking about the surgery, apparently quite lucid. A few seconds later, however, Izzie asks the same questions about the tumor – did Derek get it all out? Ten seconds later, she repeats herself again. Yang, Alex, and Derek exchange confused, concerned looks because the surgery has obviously done some something to Izzie’s brain. After the third time Izzie asks how the surgery went, with absolutely no idea that she just did twice before, she asks them what’s wrong. Outside her room, Alex panics, asks Derek if he screwed up her brain. Derek shuts him up and says freaking her out won’t help. The faceless patient starts coding again, as Derek and Mark join the fray. Mer screws the guy’s skull as a last-ditch procedure and his blood starts oozing out. The man wakes up and opens an eye beneath the carnage that is his face. Lexie is suturing the woman the guy saved. Mark enters the picture and the two talk about their previous conversation and Lexie says she’s OK with sharing power in the relationship.
Mark completely ignores her. Of course, when Mark talks to the patient, she talks about what she just heard and shares her opinion on the matter. “It sucks being the girl,” she tells Mark, to which he disagrees. When the patient enumerates the things that describe a girl, and they agree Mark is the girl in the relationship because he can’t wait to move in. Bailey confronts Owen for convincing George to join the army. He says he was just offering him an option. Bailey tells – no orders him – to get George out of there. Arizona tells Bailey that she looks pretty dark for someone pursuing peds. Callie, meanwhile, comes in and tells Bailey that she has plans to stop George from joining the army. Arizona makes a big deal out of it, and tells Callie that she thinks it’s “awesome” that George joined the army. Callie and Bailey brief Meredith, Alex and Yang about doing an intervention that they’re going to do to stop George. Izzie will do cancery eyes. Karev will pull the harsh childhood card, etc., at 6 tonight to stop him. Meredith tries to comfort the faceless, mangled patient by telling him that he’s a hero. The guy tries to write something and was given a pen. The woman, Amanda, says she and faceless guy had 30 seconds of interaction before the bus came. She says the “ordinary-looking” guy smiled at him and she never gives him a second look. She proceeds to call the guy her prince, and a hero for doing what he did. She says she was too busy looking for hot guys. Bailey is not as determined to pursue the peds fellowship, and Arizona is giving her a hard time for it. Bailey drops the bomb – if she indeed goes for it, her husband will divorce her.
Arizona is dumbfounded.
Mark and Derek talk about their respective relationships. Mark says he’s buying a house, Derek says they’re going to city hall. The two hug, and Meredith comes in. Arizona is once again bugging Callie for all the wrong reasons. The two continue to argue about George. When Arizona calls her by her real name, Callie replies “Don’t Calliope me because you called George joining the army awesome.” Meanwhile, the guys continue to operate on the faceless patient. Owen says he thinks George will do well, Mark says he’ll be back on a body bag. Alex is writing post-its on Izzie’s bed to remind her of everything that she’s supposed to but doesn’t. Cristina and Alex argue about what Alex is doing. Alex says he wants her to practice the little memory that she has, and Cristina wants him to calm down and leave her alone for a while. Alex yells at Cristina and says she’s only looking after Izzie’s welfare. Cristina assures him that she’ll be better. Amanda asks Meredith if the faceless guy is going to be OK. Meredith asks Yang if Izzie is doing better. Meredith says she’s going to city hall. She points out the things that are happening in Seattle Grace – Izzie not knowing Alex is working very hard, the faceless guy maybe dying, and the girl not having the chance to tell him she loves him. Meredith thinks that if you love someone, you have to say it, while they can hear you. Taking her own advice, Mer tells Cristina she loves her. Cristina tells Meredith that she has changed, in a good way. The two hug. Arizona comes up to Callie and reiterates that she thinks George joining the army is awesome. She offers some rhetoric in defending the war. She tells her that her brother died in Iraq because there are not enough doctors in there. Callie grabs her hand and apologizes. Down in the underground vent, Yang is thinking about something when Owen comes in and acts like it’s an occupied restroom. Inspired by Meredith, Yang tells Owen that she loves him. She narrates the two’s love story and tells him that “I can’t breathe without you.” Owen assures her that all she has to do is say yes.
Alex continues to berate Izzie for not remembering stuff. She says she wants a break, and Alex tells him to suck it up. Alex is very pissed at what’s happening. After an outburst that included the hypothetical thought of smothering her with a pillow, he apologizes. She said it’s OK, just give her a minute and she’ll forget anyway. Bailey, meekly, tells the Chief that she changed her mind about the peds fellowship and asks if there’s still a spot in general surgery. Trying to contain tears, Bailey tells the chief that it’s very hard, trying to make a choice between her marriage and the fellowship, says that a marriage that gives her an ultimatum is not a marriage. Bailey finally breaks down, citing George and Izzie. Lexie drops in with Mark scouting for houses. Being a girl, Lexie says he’s only doing that to make her feel bad that he’s moving on. He tells her that he’s a better woman than her. Meredith and Derek are trying to find a way to juggle their busy surgical schedule to make time to go to city hall and get married. Derek wants to reschedule, understandably, but Meredith insists that today is the time. Derek wants to write vows on a piece of paper, and Meredith gives him the post-its from Yang.
The two brainstorm about their vows. They came up with the following:
1. To love each other even when we hate each other
2. To never walk away
3. To take care of the other when they are old, senile, and smelly – “this is forever.”
The two sign the post-it, and Meredith declares this is the wedding. A post-it note. The two kiss, and you can tell it’s more real than any big ceremony in some big church.
Izzie complains to Cristina that Alex marched in earlier and told her that being married to him is the worst thing ever. Once again inspired, Cristina rushes out, looks for Owen, and kisses him full on the lips.
She tells him yes, and shuffles off – still smiling. The Chief tells Bailey and Callie that George took the day off. Uh oh.
Meredith and Derek – newly married – tell Owen that they’re OK with spending their honeymoon on the OR, as they prep up for operating on faceless guy.
Meredith tries to comfort the guy and tell him it’s OK. He writes something on her hand – 007 – and Meredith yells “Oh God oh God!”
The faceless patient is George O’Malley.
Alex is happy that Izzie remembers something, even if it is his outburst. The two hug, but then she loses consciousness. Meredith comes running down the hall and yells, “It’s George!” And at about the same time that they figure it out, Izzie crashes. Knowing that it’s George, everybody – Derek, Owen, and Meredith – tells him to hang in there. Izzie flatlines and despite signing a DNR, Karev tries to revive her. The Chief goes, “Screw the DNR” and grabs on the defribillator to revive her, too. Everybody goes to work. A montage follows of the Chief trying to revive Izzie and people working on George. We see her on a dress in the elevator (the same dress she wore when Denny died, it appears), and suddenly the elevator opens and it’s George, in an army uniform. The two smile.
Izzie is not responding to the efforts of everyone. Alex sobs.
Download full “Here’s to the Future” Episode | HD Quality
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