‘Grey’s Anatomy’ Recap: Another Beloved Original Character Returns & Reunites With Meredith

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The Dec. 3 episode of ‘Grey’s Anatomy’ featured the return of another major person from Meredith’s past. Meredith had a long and emotional reunion with one of the OG interns.

Meredith hasn’t gotten any better. She’s still very sick from battling COVID-19. Richard goes to see Meredith, who is unconscious, before addressing the team and giving an update about Meredith. Her lungs are flooded and she’s sleeping around the clock. Teddy and Deluca want Meredith to a part of this new trial, but Richard says he needs time to think about it.

On the beach, Meredith sees someone else in the distance — it’s GEORGE! They both call out to each other and George asks, “What are you doing here?” Meredith clutches her chest and looks so happy to see her beloved O’Malley.

George and Meredith do some much-needed catching up. He tells her that she’s got “great kids,” and Meredith notes that he never got to meet them. “I check in sometimes,” George sweetly says.  Meredith wonders why George has gotten older. He tells her that maybe it’s more peaceful for her to imagine him as older. They share a good laugh about that. Meredith asks if she gets to choose whether or not she goes back to the land of the living.

“I didn’t,” George says. “I would have stayed. If I could’ve.” He tells Meredith that it’s “different for everyone” when they die.

As they walk along the beach, Meredith and George continue to talk. “I was devastated when you died,” she says. George quips that everyone was “cracking up” at his funeral, but it actually made him happy. Meredith reiterates that she was devastated when George and Derek died but says that “eventually you go on.” She thinks her kids would eventually go on if she died.

George notes that it may be “different” with them. “Some grief is heavier than other griefs,” he says. George admits that his mom has never really moved on from George’s death. “She carries her grief,” he tells Meredith. Meanwhile, Deluca confronts Richard about Meredith. She’s just getting worse, and they need to act fast to get her into this trial. Deluca begs Richard to “do something.”

George asks Meredith if she still dances. Meredith says she doesn’t anymore, not since Cristina left. Meredith begins to hear how much Richard is worried about her. George admits that if she stays (and dies) that it might break the people who love her most like Richard, her kids, Deluca, and more. When Richard leaves the room, he tells Deluca to put Meredith in the trial.

Jackson tells Jo to come over again, but she initially refuses. He calls this a “friendship reboot,” and she eventually relents. She over to Jackson’s place and falls asleep. Eventually, their lips lock once again and they hook up… again. Once they’re done, she says they can’t hook up again, but both of them know that’s not going to be the case.

When Jo stops back by later, Jackson says he can’t be in a relationship right now. She comes right back with, “I am super broken.” She’s still trying to put herself back together after Alex left her. “What I need is friendship and sex,” Jo continues. Jo is also not looking for a relationship, especially with someone like Jackson.

Tom is still quarantined at home. He keeps testing positive but still doesn’t have any symptoms. It isn’t until Teddy stops by his place later that we learn Tom has gotten worse. Teddy knocks on his door, but Tom doesn’t answer.

“I was so mad at you,” Meredith says to George about “choosing someone” over himself. She asks him if he regrets saving that girl’s life at the bus stop. “Does that matter?” he replies. He knows Meredith would have done the same thing. “You changed my life, George,” Meredith says. “I didn’t say it then, but it’s true.” The final moments of the episode show Richard, Meredith, George, and Bailey on the beach together. Find your people, as Meredith says. And keep them close. Always.

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