Grey’s Anatomy: Meredith And Derek’s Memorable Moments

Published on January 26, 2017. Updated April 9, 2020

For eleven seasons Derek Shepherd and Meredith Grey had Grey’s Anatomy fans hooked on their turbulent yet amazing relationship. In that span of time the two went through pretty much everything imaginable and somehow came through it all stronger than ever. Now that Meredith (and Grey’s fans) have had to move on without Derek, take a look back at happier times as we recall some of the memorable moments between the iconic TV couple:

10. The Pregnancy (Season 9, Episode 7)

After going through so much else and then having trouble getting pregnant because of Meredith’s “hostile” uterus, one of the most heart-warming Derek and Meredith moments happened when she told Derek she was pregnant. They had only just adopted Zola, and Derek’s face when he found out was absolutely priceless.

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9. The Drowning (Season 3, Episode 16)

Before Meredith had to say goodbye to Derek forever, the couple went through quite a few traumas and brushes with death, including in season three when Meredith almost drowned. Things seemed truly dire for Meredith as no one seemed to realize that she had fallen into the water and was drowning, and if Derek had not been there to save her, she would have been lost forever. Nothing says true love like a dramatic rescuing from a very near-death experience.

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8. Choose Me (Season 2, Episode 4)

After so many seasons, so many great characters, and so much amazing writing, there have been quite a few memorable speeches, but Meredith’s “choose me” speech from season two will forever stand as one of the couple’s most significant moments. After trying desperately to get over Derek, Meredith pulled out all the stops with her heartfelt and unforgettable declaration of love, and after something like that, it is still hard to believe that Derek did not, in fact, pick her at that time and tried to make things work with Addison.

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7. Another Baby (Season 11, Episode 20)

Now, this season 11 flashback is one of the show’s most bittersweet moments. In the episode, Derek tells Meredith that he would really like another baby and that “it’s always been [her].” There was no telling that Meredith would in fact get pregnant, but Derek would not be around to meet his new baby as his death is revealed in the very next episode. Of course, fans didn’t know Meredith was pregnant until episode 23 in which Meredith had been absent for quite a while after taking off following Derek’s death.

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6. Meeting Again (Season 3)

At the beginning, nothing seemed to line up for Derek and Meredith. After Derek vowed to try to make things work with Addison, Meredith was heartbroken, and by the time Derek knew he wanted to be with Meredith, she wasn’t so sure it was what she wanted. A glimmer of hope came for the couple, however, once Derek approached Meredith in the bar while she was there with Mark, and offered to start all over in the very bar they had met at and re-introduced himself. For a moment it seemed that Meredith was not going to play along, but once she did it was clear they were meant to be together.

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5. The Candle House (Season 4, Episode 17)

Looking back, Meredith and Derek had to go through quite a bit before they were actually together. For much of the early seasons, the pair were more off than they were on, and even dated other people as they attempted to get over each other. That all changed, however, when the perpetually “dark and twisty” Meredith put together a huge romantic gesture by laying out candles in an outline of the house they were going to build together. The moment reassured Derek that Meredith was the one he wanted to be in, and we can’t forget Meredith’s iconic words, “I don’t know if I trust you. But I’m going to try because I believe we can be extraordinary together rather than ordinary apart.”

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4. The Meeting (Season 1, Episode 1)

Fans of long-running series are particularly fond of nostalgia, but Grey’s fans are even more so because of the tragic way Meredith and Derek’s storied romance came to an end. There is no better way to remember the pair at their best than when they first met, and when audiences first met them in the opening of the very first episode. Despite it seeming like only a hook-up, the chemistry between the pair was undeniable from moment one and that was all it took for the whole thing to begin and for fans to want to be there every step of the way.

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3. The Proposal (Season 5, Episode 19)

Absolutely nothing about Derek and Meredith’s relationship had ever been easy or traditional, but there was no better moment than when Derek finally proposed to Meredith in season five. In classic MerDer fashion, Derek proposed in the hospital elevator that had been the scene of many of their major moments, and he had decorated the entire thing with X-rays from all the different cases that caused him to fall in love with Meredith. Somehow it was the most perfect and romantic proposal ever, and he didn’t even use the words “Will you marry me?” and that alone makes for an iconic moment.

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2. The Shooting (Season 6, Episode 23)

For a lot of Grey’s Anatomy, it always seemed like everyone else had to constantly come to Meredith’s rescue or defense, but that all changed during the traumatic shooting episode in season six. When the gunman came to the hospital for vengeance, Meredith did the most selfless thing she could and offered herself instead of Derek, taking the “I would take a bullet for you” metaphor much too literally. The entire episode was intense and extremely emotional, but this moment was huge when it comes to sacrificing in a relationship.

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1. Post-It Wedding (Season 5, Episode 24)

Although fans can point to many difficult points for the couple that brought them closer together, there was never anything better than seeing them actually happy. Since things rarely went right and were never conventional when it came to Derek and Meredith’s romance, their “post-it note” wedding in season five was nothing short of perfect. Just because there was no huge ceremony did not mean that the vows they wrote on the blue post-it notes in Meredith’s pocket weren’t some of the most profound and incredible words they could have said to each other.