Meredith Grey is the central protagonist of the hit ABC medical drama Grey's Anatomy. The series has recently kicked off its seventeenth season after a record run over the years.
Meredith is a brilliant surgeon and one of the most empowered women on popular television. Over the course of the series, she has had some well-crafted episodes revolving around her character, ranging from romantic to shocking, tragic, and even powerful.
Season 2, Ep. 5: "Bring The Pain"
Who didn't cry into their hankies after Meredith's profuse submission of love to 'McDreamy' Shepherd, "Pick me, choose me, love me", when she gave him a choice between her and his wife Addison, telling him that she loved him, well, let's just say, madly.
Of course, Derek went on to choose his wife, in a sad anti-climax, but the episode remains one of the most memorable as far as Meredith is concerned, as she finally found clarity regarding her own heart.
Season 4, Ep. 17: "Freedom Part 2"
Meredith built her 'McDreamy' a splendid house of candles in the exact spot on the hilltop where Derek intended to build a house for both of them.
This was yet another of the MerDer moments when Meredith pours her heart out to Derek after a whole lot of drama surrounding the clinical trial the two were part of, that sought to find a cure for a brain tumor. Given all the devastating tragedies that followed Meredith and Derek afterward, these beautiful moments between the two definitely stood out.
Season 5, Ep. 24: "Now Or Never"
One of the most romantic marriages in the history of popular television, although it wasn't a marriage at all, was Meredith and Derek's post-it wedding.
The two were not really the kind of people who dreamt of a big church wedding and whipped out a post-it to jot down their wedding vows in a short, sweet, and utterly romantic on-the-spot-understanding of love, trust, and appreciation.
Season 6, Ep. 24: "Death And All His Friends"
Derek was shot by the gun-wielding grieving husband of a dead patient at the end of the penultimate episode of season 6, "Sanctuary", followed by one of the most thrilling season finales in Grey's Anatomy.
In "Death And All His Friends", Meredith is frenzied after she witnesses Derek being shot, and things take a turn for the worse when Cristina has to operate on Derek at gunpoint. Devastated at the prospect of losing her husband, Meredith offers herself to the shooter, willing to sacrifice herself for Derek. She also goes through a miscarriage at the same time, as a result of all the panic, making this episode one of the best and most important ones ever.
Season 2, Ep: 17: "As We Know It"
Fans will remember this episode as one of the most tragic episodes in the early years of the series when a patient arrived in Seattle Grace with a bomb inside his chest cavity. Meredith had just slipped her hand in without a thought into the cavity when the bewildered EMT finally took her hand off the bomb and ran for her life.
The episode ended with the bomb squad leader Dylan Young, played by Kyle Chandler, getting blown into smithereens as he tried to dispose of the bomb. But in spite of the tragedy, this remains to date one of Meredith's most heroic episodes.
Season 12, Ep. 5: "Guess Who's Coming To Dinner"
Meredith throws a dinner party for her colleagues at Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital, but a spanner gets thrown into the works when Callie shows up with her date, Penelope Blake, the same intern who was present at the time Derek died due to medical negligence after his shocking accident.
The episode sees Meredith trying to come to terms with being civil to her guest who she holds responsible for the death of her beloved husband. This is a mature Meredith who holds her tongue for much of the episode, not revealing Penny's identity even though she is dying inside, but finally blurts it out when she realizes that Penny was there to stay in her life.
Season 12, Ep. 9: "The Sound Of Silence"
Famous for being named after popular songs across decades, this episode saw Meredith being subjected to a brutal physical assault by a patient whose condition stopped him from realizing what he was doing.
The episode is painful to watch, and even more so, for Meredith had already been through so much. It's also aptly named as Meredith loses her speech for a good while as a result of the assault, and can only watch her friends as they go around frantically trying to help her.
Season 14, Ep. 7: "Who Lives, Who Dies, Who Tells Your Story"
Meredith Grey had evolved into a brilliant general surgeon over the years and this episode celebrated the character's professional journey and growth.
Meredith won the Holy Grail in the medical community - the Harper Avery, which had been renamed into the Catherine Fox Award - for her outstanding research and contribution. One of the supporting characters, Jackson Avery, gave a moving speech on Meredith's strengths as a woman and how she had moved past every tragedy and taken everyone along with her.
Season 1, Ep. 1: "A Hard Day's Night"
The very first episode, the pilot, still ranks as one of the show's best. It kicked off the series with the lovely young Meredith Grey starting her first day at work as a surgical intern in Seattle Grace Hospital and realizing this was the beginning of a hard life.
As the interns labored through their first 48-hour shift under the supervision of Bailey, and Meredith found out that the incredibly handsome attending surgeon she had been assigned to at the hospital was the same man she had slept with the night before. One of the most memorable scenes from this episode is between Meredith and George as they contemplate the life ahead.
Season 16, Ep. 8: "My Shot"
Meredith's glory was further celebrated in the thrilling courtroom drama in season 16 when a medical panel was set up to debate on whether or not she would get to keep her license after she had knowingly committed insurance fraud to help a patient financially.
Not only did the episode bring together many of the patients Meredith had ever saved in a tear-jerking moment but she also finally came face to face with the doctor who had actually been responsible for the mishandling of Derek's case. While Penny had only been an intern on the case, it had been Paul Castello who had made the ignorant decisions that had cost Derek his life. Meredith confronting him was one of the most heartbreaking but also fulfilling moments in the series.