Grey's Anatomy - Season 5

Grey's Anatomy has never been this thrilling. Season 5 was very nicely done, especially at the end, which leaves the audience hanging for more, more, more. Every single episode is packed with intense emotions and unexpected turns.

Denny Duquette - back from the dead?

This season saw the reappearance of Denny Duquette, Izzie's ex-husband, who died after she cut his LVAD in desperate hopes of getting him a new heart. Izzie kept on seeing Denny everywhere. At first, she brushed it off, telling him off by saying that he was just a figment of her imagination. But things did not end that well because her hallucinations worsened to the point that Izzie became terrified. She began challenging the interns to diagnose Patient X (herself). After a series of self-tests and diagnoses, she finally confided in Cristina. Soon, it was discovered that Izzie had cancer and needed intensive treatment.

It's complicated

In the meantime, Cristina got invovled with Owen Hunt, a distant army veteran. Their relationship started off awkwardly, with Owen not quite knowing what to do about his feelings for her. His hesitation eventually frustrated Cristina. However, things took a good turn for a while. That only lasted for a while up to the point when he tried to choke her in his sleep. Cristina, not knowing what drove him to do that, developed a secret fear to approaching him. Despite her struggle to comprehend the turn of events, she still wanted to give him a chance, going against Meredith's advice to stay away from him. It turned out that Owen was affected by Cristina's rotating ceiling fans which brought back memories of the war. Eventually, he sought help to improve his condition.

George O'Malley

Callie Torres

George, who had to retake his internship test, passed his test and was made a resident alongside his friends. His marriage to Callie turned sour as they found that they were not meant to be together. Instead, Callie became attracted to Erica Hanh, who was aggresive on the outside, but soft on the inside, especially towards Callie. Their relationship hit rock bottom when things became getting serious. Callie began questioning her sexuality as she flitted back and forth between Erica and Mark. Moreover, Erica threatened to call Izzie out for her misconduct in the hospital (in cutting Denny's LVAD), which Callie disagreed to. In the end, Erica decided to leave Seattle Grace for good, leaving Callie alone again. But Callie's relationship history did not end there. Instead, she found Arizona, a pediatrician with whom she shared a mutual attraction.

McSteamy - the ever seductive plastic surgeon

Lexie Grey aka Little Grey

Mark Sloan (McSteamy) found himself in a dilemma as he turned from a gallivanting man to a willingly committed partner to Lexie, Meredith's half sister. Derek, on Meredith's request, had told Mark to stay away from Little Grey, but there was no stopping McSteamy. His relationship with Little Grey riled Derek up, resulting in a public brawl between the best friends.

Can their love stand the test of time?

Things were not perfect for Izzie and Alex either. After Izzie discovered that she had to undergo intensive, and even invasive, treatment, she realized how deelpy in love she was with Alex, who, despite his mean disposition, clearly cared for her. Even though Izzie did not reveal to him the fact that she was seeing Denny everywhere, Alex pestered her to talk to him because he knew that something was off with her. When the truth came out, Alex blamed himself for not paying more attention, wanting to take away Izzie's pain.

Throughout the course of her treatment, Izzie occupied herself with planning Derek and Meredith's wedding. Her hospital room turned into a bridal chamber with photos of bridal gowns stuck on the walls. The stress soon got to her and she collapsed one day. In the end, as Izzie's condition worsened, Derek and Meredith decided to turn their wedding into Alex and Izzie's wedding.

Just after Alex and Izzie's wedding, Izzie's condition kept deteriorating to the point where an aggresive and invasive operation was one of her two options (the other being going on a drug that does not guarantee a complete recovery). Alex forbade her to undergo the operation because it imposed a great risk of making Izzie lose her memory, thus lose herself. Alex sought advice from Derek, asking him what he would do if Meredith were the one lying on the hospital bed. Derek said, with all calmness, that he would ask Meredith to go for it because it would save her life. Even after that, Alex still went against Izzie's decision to sign the papers and go for the surgery. When the time came, he had to let her go, even with the papers that she signed so that she would not be resuscitated should anything go wrong during or after the surgery.

Finally?

Derek and Meredith went through their regular ups and downs in this season. Earlier in the season, Derek fell into a depression over his failed surgery when he killed a patient. Over the course of the episode, viewers held their breaths as Derek prepared to propose to Meredith. For a while, it seemed as though the moment would never come, but it did, in the end, when Derek and Meredith very informally wrote down their marriage vows on a Post-It note.

The season ended on a very poignant note with George being wheeled in as a John Doe whose face had been disfigured due to a bad accident with a bus. He'd saved a girl's life nearby the hospital by risking his own life. No one knew that he was John Doe until he traced 007 on Meredith's palm. The residents were sent into a frenzy when they knew that it was their friend lying on the hospital bed, his face mutilated beyong recognition. In the meantime, Izzie underwent the seemingly successful surgery. She woke up and there was a brief moment of relief and happiness. But that moment did not last long. She suddenly flatlined, as did George.

The final scene of the season showed Izzie standing in the elevator, wearing the pink dress that she'd worn when Denny died. The elevator doors slid open, revealing George, decked out in his army uniform, on the other side. They smiled at each other. And that was the end of it.

The end of Season 5 is gripping and nerve-wrecking. Did George and/or Izzie die? According to Wikipedia, George died because T.R. Knight is not returning to the show. Is it true or is it a rumor? What about Izzie? Only time will tell.

I'm anticipating Season 6 already! :)