Top 10 Meredith & Derek Moments on Grey's Anatomy
These are the most memorable Mer and Der Moments! For this list, we'll be looking at the most important and memorable moments in Meredith Grey and Derek Shepherd's relationship.
#10: Meredith Telling Derek She’s Pregnant
“I Was Made for Lovin' You”
The road to happily ever after has always been paved with land mines when it comes to Meredith and Derek. Mer was expecting things to go wrong, as they often do, when she and Derek decided to have children. After having a difficult time getting pregnant, and then having a miscarriage, they decided that their path to parenthood was leading towards adoption. After bringing baby Zola into their life, their family seemed complete. So when a nervous and excited Meredith reveals to Derek that she is pregnant, we all squeal alongside for the good news. Tragedy follows this couple like a shadow, but this moment was picture perfect.
#9: Meredith’s "Choose Me" Speech
“Bring the Pain”
When you find out that your sexy, smart one night stand who you’ve started dating turns out to be married, what is a girl to do? If you are Meredith, it starts with drinking lots of tequila, being in denial about your feelings, and then finally making a romantic speech to plead your case. Mer’s hail Mary to win Derek’s heart against the odds gave us hope that it really wasn’t over between these star crossed lovers. The effort was so valiant that a decade later, many devoted Grey’s fans can still recite the epic lines “choose me…pick me…love me”.
#8: Their First Meeting
“A Hard Day's Night”
She is just a girl in a bar, and he is just a guy with a thing for ferry boats. But in Shonda Rhimes’ world, a meet cute wasn’t on the agenda. Instead of the typical story of guy meets girl and falls in love, Rhimes had Mer and Der fall straight into the sack. The next morning posed plenty of awkward moments as Meredith struggles to even remember Derek’s name as they both ramble through a hurried goodbye. Of course, it only got more awkward later when they found out that they were about to be colleagues.
#7: Meredith Setting Up a House of Candles
“Freedom”
Mer and Der’s relationship is full of starts and stops. By the time we find them working together on a clinical trial, Derek is dating nurse Rose while Meredith struggles with her lingering feelings for Derek. A glimmer of hope arises that gives Mer the confidence to make a grand gesture, Derek style, by creating a house made of candles. In true Meredith fashion, she is cursing herself for being such a sap when Derek finally arrives, fulfilling the promise that they can be “extraordinary together instead of ordinary apart”.
#6: Derek Saving Meredith from Drowning
“Drowning on Dry Land”
A disaster of crashing ferryboats sets the stage for Meredith’s dark fall into cold Seattle waters. Right before, her rarely lucid mother expresses her disappointment that in her absence, Meredith has turned out to be nothing but ordinary. With this weighing heavy on her mind while treating patients on the edge of the dock, Mer is thrown into the freezing waters. Derek is desperately searching for Meredith, realizing that she has fallen into the sea and needs help despite being a good swimmer. After rescuing her, Derek is visibly devastated as the prospects of Meredith’s survival hangs by a thread making it clear how much he couldn’t live without her.
#5: Derek Getting Shot
“Death and All His Friends”
When a vengeful shooter guns down Derek in the hospital, Meredith’s whole life shatters before her eyes. Mer and Der’s love story seems certain to end here, in one tragedy or another. With Cristina and Jackson working to save Derek’s life at gunpoint, a resolved Meredith walks in and offers herself instead. Newly pregnant, she unselfishly sacrifices her life for the sake of Derek’s, actively working to convince the shooter that her death for Derek’s would be the better deal. When she sees Derek flatline, she drops to the floor in hysterics while the shooter, satisfied that he got what he came for walks out.
#4: Adopting Zola
“White Wedding”
After losing their baby during the hospital shooting, Mer and Der were eager to become parents. But like many things for this couple, there would be more pain before happiness. After trying hard for so long, it seems that this dream may not come true. But when Alex brings kids from Africa to perform pro bono surgeries, Derek falls in love with baby Zola. Charmed by his love for her, Meredith easily connects with Zola and realizes that this is their chance to have a baby. After legalizing their marriage and winning the trust of an adoption counselor, Mer and Der finally get the family they always wanted.
#3: Meeting in the Exam Room
“Losing My Religion”
Absence may make the heart grow fonder, and for this couple it also makes exam rooms steamier. After Mer asked Der to "choose her”, he stuck to being the good guy and tried to make it work with Addison. But good intentions can’t stop smoking hot chemistry. While Derek and Addison were struggling to make their marriage work, Meredith tried to move on with Finn. But their true feelings come out when Derek and Meredith see each other at the “prom”. Their short fight spills over into unbridled desire, which ends with a pair of lost panties and proof that this couple was MFEO (made for each other).
#2: Their Post-It Note Vows
“Now or Never”
If you haven’t shed a tear so far, prepare to let the floodgates open for the post-it wedding. Even the most cynical of us have a soft spot for this charming scene that contains everything that we love about Mer and Der. Because there is “no time”, they write their vows on Post-It notes promising to love each other and never run. The framed vows hang over their bed as a reminder of their promise to love each other even when they hate each other. Both unconventional and traditionally romantic, this “wedding” is uniquely MerDer, and beautifully captures the complex, fragile, and heartwarming nature of their love story.
Before we unveil our number 1 pick, here are a few honorable mentions.
Their DC Fight
“Fear (of the Unknown)”
Derek Revealing That He Wants a Second Child
“One Flight Down”
Derek’s Death
“How to Save a Life”
#1: Derek’s Proposal
“Elevator Love Letter”
Who knew that brain scans could be so romantic? But when you spend your days and nights in a hospital, it turned out to be the most poetic way to say, “I choose you.” Derek uses scans and hospital charts to remind Meredith of the journey of their romance, recalling the cases where he first kissed her, and the trails that brought them closer together. This may be the only proposal that includes words like “dark and twisty” and skips the kneeling and the ring, but it has fans wanting to jump up and down just the same for this couple’s must deserved happily ever after.
