These were surprising tear-jerkers.
Grey’s Anatomy, one of the longest-running scripted prime-time television series in the United States, is on its 19th season so far and isn’t showing any signs of stopping anytime soon.
Notorious for the brutal and unabashed ways it kills some of its most beloved characters, Grey’s Anatomy stands the test of time thanks to its solid performances, gripping storytelling, and many unique characters. But the show is also known for its touching and heartfelt stories where science meets humanity and where even the most skilled doctors can’t save the most deserving patients.
Bonnie Crasnoff in “Into You Like a Train” (Season 2, Episode 6)
A train wreck leaves two strangers, Bonnie Crasnoff (Monica Keena) and Tom Maynard (Bruce A. Young), impaled by a metal pole. Bonnie and Tom keep a positive attitude by cracking jokes, which makes them easily likable. Especially Bonnie, who has some touching exchanges with Dr. Derek Shepherd (Patrick Dempsey). Therefore, realizing they’ll have to sacrifice Bonnie to save Tom hits hard.
After extracting Bonnie from the pole, they find her aorta entirely shredded, with nothing left to do. Meredith, seeing herself in the abandoned girl, panics and tries desperately to save her. Yet, among the doctors, no one feels the loss of Bonnie more so than Shepherd, who breaks down in the elevator after telling Bonnie’s boyfriend what happened.
Jamie Carr’s Unborn Baby in “Where The Boys Are” (Season 3, Episode 7)
Dr. Addison Montgomery (Kate Walsh) and Dr. Callie Torrez (Sara Ramirez) examine a young pregnant mother who slipped in the shower and broke her forearm. When Addison notices the baby has no fetal heartbeat, she leaves the room to have her feelings. Joined by Callie, the women observe the happy but oblivious couple and decide to wait and let them live their joy for a few more minutes.
As Addison delivers the sad news, the camera pans out and shows the scene outside the room. The dialogue is inaudible, but the grief inside the room is palpable. The story culminates when Jamie gives birth to her dead baby. No wailing newborn, no tears of joy, only devastating cries of loss and pain.
Jessica Smithson in “Sweet Surrender” (Season 5, Episode 20)
Dr. Miranda Bailey (Chandra Wilson) and Dr. Arizona Robbins (Jessica Capshaw) handle the case of six-year-old Jessica, suffering from Tay-Sachs disease, which is usually fatal. Elden Henson, who plays Matt, the father, gives an emotional performance as the desperate parent refusing to believe that there is nothing left to do for his daughter.
Matt learns about an experimental stem cell therapy in Mexico and wants to take his daughter there. By the end, Matt surrenders to the inevitable. He cuddles his dying daughter, and as the monitor flatlines into a continuous tone, Matt, sobbing, tells her about white sandy beaches, blue skies, and sand castles.
Nancy Temple in “How Insensitive” (Season 6, Episode 21)
Nancy Temple (Amy Benedict) comes to the ER with her young daughter, Kelly (Alyssa Shafer). Nancy is in the midst of a heart attack. The show does not often showcase Cristina Yang’s (Sandra Oh) compassionate side, viewed more as an emotionless robot. But Cristina bonds with Kelly, who is the same age she was when she lost her dad.
In a moving scene where Cristina plays cards with Kelly in the waiting room, Jackson Avery signals to Cristina that Nancy died. Cristina then tells Kelly how she’ll feel if her mom dies. Not wanting to shatter the little girl’s world just yet, they continue playing quietly, and the scene feels as if Cristina is comforting her nine-year-old self.
Mary Portman in “These Arms of Mine” (Season 7, Episode 6)
Six months after the mass shooting at the hospital, a film crew interviews the doctors and the patients who survived. One of them is Mary Portman (Mandy Moore), a patient of Dr. Bailey who was trapped with her that fateful day. Mary returns to have surgery she was supposed to have on the day of the shooting.
The familiarity of the character makes the outcome of her procedure more tragic. Mary never wakes up from her anesthesia. The look and feel of the documentary-style scenes make the story feel real, and her husband’s devastation is all the more intense when Bailey informs him that Mary’s organs are failing. Shaken by Mary’s death, Bailey declines a follow-up interview.
Dr. Bradley Parker in “Transplant Wasteland” (Season 9, Episode 17)
April Kepner (Sarah Drew) oversees the case of a friend who has end-stage ALS. Thinking he’s coming to her for treatment, April is shocked to discover that Bradley (Logan Fahey) wants to be taken off his vent and donate his organs after his heart stops. April realizes that Bradley wants his death to mean something.
The scene where she gives the list of organ recipients is bittersweet. But after his heart stops, his mother, stricken with tremendous grief, clings to his body. Knowing they only have five minutes after his heart stops to retrieve his organs, April has no choice but to rip the crying mother away from her son. The scene is heart-rending to watch but shines a light on the true cost of organ donation.
Frankie McNeil in “Change of Heart” (Season 10, Episode 21)
Cristina works on the unexplained case of the McNeil family, whose three children all developed cardiomyopathy. The McNeils are emotionally exhausted, and the doctors are puzzled as to why the children all have the same heart condition. The episode becomes Sophie’s Choice when both Frankie (Harley Graham) and her sister, Ivy, need a new heart, but only one is available.
Cristina makes the impossible decision, gives the heart to Ivy, and fits Frankie with an artificial one. But Frankie does not survive the procedure. The distraught parents who placed their trust in Cristina to make the right choice feel betrayed and tell her so in a poignant scene.
Blair Vinson in “Don’t Dream It’s Over” (Season 11, Episode 16)
The ER receives a couple whose house was run into by a mad driver. While the husband sustained life-threatening injuries, his pregnant wife, Blair (Mekia Cox), appears stable initially. But she suddenly dies from a massive intracranial bleed. She goes from talking and joking to seizing and dying.
The disconcerting scene barely gives the audience time to recover when Robbins performs a C-section to save the baby. The moment is juxtaposed with scenes of the man who injured them reciting a poem to his wife, seemingly recovered from dementia. His words overlap with the scene where the doctors remove the baby alive and well from his dead mother’s womb.
Daniel Kiefer in “I Choose You” (Season 12, Episode 3)
Laurie Kiefer (Jennifer Marsala) gives birth to twins with hepatic tumors. They both need a liver transplant. When only the father is a match to be a donor, Alex Karev (Justin Chambers) must decide which twin gets the transplant and which must wait for a new liver. Karev picks Emma, the baby girl, for the transplant and performs a Hail Mary on the baby boy, Daniel, by resecting the tumor from his liver. But Daniel is too weak and goes into cardiac arrest.
Knowing nothing is left to do, Karev holds him while he dies in a heartbreaking scene. Later on, as Karev is giving Laurie the sad news, her echoing cries are too much for Dr. Andrew DeLuca, who walks away unnerved by the experience.
Dr. Elsie Clatch in “Til I Hear it From You” (Season 13, Episode 17)
After fainting, Elsie Clatch (June Squibb) is wheeled into the ER with her husband, Dr. Lewis Clatch (Hal Holbrook), by her side. The residents are surprised to learn that the elderly couple used to be surgeons. Dr. Amelia Shepherd (Caterina Scorsone) informs Elsie that she has a fatal brain bleed. She offers to operate but does not recommend it due to Elsie’s age. Hoping the surgery could give her more time with her husband, Elsie insists on the procedure despite Lewis’s protests.
The following day, Amelia does a post-op visit and finds Lewis holding Elsie’s hand, looking defeated. He gives Amelia Elsie’s time of death as he knows they need to record it. Desolate, Lewis leaves the hospital to live a life without his beloved wife.