Wow this is the penultimate recap of the season and if rumours are to be believed then Ellen and Patrick have resigned for seasons 9 and 10 so it’s not the penultimate recap ever, which I feared initially! As much as I’ve felt ready to walk away from grey’s at various points I’m more than happy that Ellen and Patrick are sticking around as I’m nowhere near ready to say goodbye to my OTP MerDer and I’m hoping and praying that they have some input on what they would like to see happen next for their characters…I hope its good!

At the beginning of the episode Derek is eager to find out from Meredith if she is accepting the job in Boston as he has been offered a job at Harvard and he needs to let them know by the end of the day! Meredith is eager to stay in Seattle and Derek is adamant that they are leaving. The pair disagrees on their future and neither seems keen to back down on their opinion.  Both seem to believe that their reasoning is more than enough to stay or go and as the episode progresses we have no idea where they are going to end up.

Derek: "Hunt needs to know where we are on Boston and I'm gonna let Harvard know what I'm doing by the end of the day."
Meredith: "We're not going. Anything else you need to know?"
Derek: "I may have told you I have family on the East Coast."
Meredith: "A couple of times. And I may have replied that my sister lives here. And if Cristina chooses Stanford, it's a two hour plane ride."
Derek: "If she chooses Columbia, it's only a two hour train ride."
Meredith: "We're not going."
Derek: "They want me to run the entire Neurosurgery department at Harvard."
Meredith: "Webber loves me. Bailey loves me."
Derek: "I'd be teaching the best fellows in the world!"
Meredith: "We are staying!"
Derek: "We're leaving!"

The next Meredith and Derek scene is FINALLY inside the dream house…and it’s beautiful! Meredith overly exaggerates her love of the stone work and the view in order to support her desire to stay in Seattle (we are all on your side Mer, we want you to stay! We don’t want our MerDer to leave!! Derek points out that he can build her a dream house in Boston and jokes that Mark can buy the one they have as they have always shared dreams (I suppose a certain red head and a love of grey women does seem to suggest a common theme for the brothers!)

Meredith seems to listen a little more when Derek points out exactly what Harvard are offering him as she finally begins to see where he is coming from, especially when he points out that curing Alzheimer’s is his dream, not the house.  Even though he doesn’t say it directly it’s clear that he wants to cure Alzheimer’s for Meredith, he never wants her to have to go through what her mother and Adele went through…his love for her is bigger than any dream house. As Derek asks her to make the decision with him (her husband) and not Cristina it’s clear he has got Meredith thinking. (Random side point, I LOVED the little face Derek pulled when he asked Mer to make the decision with him, did anyone else spot it?)

Derek: "Harvard is offering me a ten million dollar endowment. They are setting me up with an entire research team. I'm gonna cure Alzheimer's, Meredith. That's my dream. Not this house. You're making this choice with Cristina."
Meredith: "She's not the only factor."
Derek: "I'm your husband. You should make it with me."

Back in the hospital Meredith and Derek are working together (yes, Merder surgery scenes always make me smile soooo much!)

Meredith assists Derek as he removes a worm from a patient’s spine and the pair are present as Ben proposes to Bailey on a crossword puzzle! (The looks/eye brow raises Meredith and Derek share during this scene are fantastic, if you missed them go back and look!!)

Later Derek, Meredith, Cristina, Arizona, Lexie and Mark set off to Boise to operate on Siamese twins. Meredith points out to Cristina that she has picked Boston and she has told Owen, to which Cristina replies that she picked Mayo so both of them will be leaving.

 As the episode begins to end Meredith and Derek are sitting next to each other on the plane to Boise  and exchange a loving glance to each other, Derek touching Meredith’s forearm in comfort before the screen goes black…only to then show birds flying through the air, and the wreckage of the airplane scattered over the floor in the middle of nowhere…an injured Meredith is pictured lying out on the floor, a piece of metal sticking out of her leg… and Derek is nowhere to be seen…

Hurry up season finale we need to know what happens next!!

I’m sure you watched last week and have wished the hours away since then to find out what happens next! I can’t wait for Thursday night, I’m scared, nervous and excited all at once…but I’m already preparing myself now for a LONG summer hiatus as I’m without doubt we will be left with a petrifying cliff-hanger…

Note to self…and others…tissues and/or tequila will be a must Thursday night, I’ve got mine, hope you have yours!