'Grey's Anatomy' : A Couple Gets Engaged While Another Ties the Knot — and 1 Pair's Future Is Unknown

Grey's Anatomy's 17th season came to an emotional end on Thursday

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Published on June 3, 2021 10:00 PM

This post contains spoilers from Thursday's episode of Grey's Anatomy.

The 17th season of Grey's Anatomy has ended with heartbreak, joy and more surprises.

During Thursday's finale, titled "Someone Saved My Life Tonight," viewers watched as the doctors of Grey Sloan Memorial faced personal and professional highs and lows over the span of eight months — including two proposals, two weddings, a promotion and a possible breakup.

Going back to August 2020, Jo Wilson (Camilla Luddington) — who was still trying to figure out a way to legally adopt a sick baby, Luna, who had been under her care at the hospital — decided to sell her shares of Grey Sloan Memorial and hire a lawyer to help the adoption process.

Meanwhile, Meredith Grey (Ellen Pompeo) — who had been recovering from COVID-19 — took on the role of resident director while her sister, Maggie Pierce (Kelly McCreary), and Winston Ndugu (Anthony Hill) prepared to say their "I dos" in a backyard ceremony before an unexpected interruption.

"You have more family, uncles, aunts, cousins and I have a savings account for a wedding to do this right," Maggie's father said, begging them to wait until they could safely have a bigger wedding. "What's the hurry?"

And, well, they agreed to wait!

Amelia Shepherd (Caterina Scorsone), on the other hand, was dealing with her own inner struggles as she continued to question her relationship with Link (Chris Carmack) and discussed her doubts in her Anonymous meetings.

"And my boyfriend, he is not one of us," Amelia, who has struggled with substance abuse, said during a virtual meeting. "I am so glad that he does not have to go through life like that. But sometimes there's a part of me that wished he got it. I feel lonely in it. So I'm here."

"I don't want what he wants," she later continued. "And I don't know if that's diseases thinking or if that's just me. Marriage and more kids, I don't want it. I can't tell him. I'm mad — not at him, he's nothing but wonderful — I'm mad at me. I know all of this would be unimaginably worse and more confusing if I was high, so since I can't be sure of anything, I'm just being sure of that."

CATERINA SCORSONE — Dr. Amelia Shepherd. ABC

A month later, Jo asked her BFF Link to foster Luna "just on paper" while she figured out her next steps.

"Unlike me, your background check will be spotless," said Jo. "I have never loved anyone like this and the idea of her going to live with somebody else, it carves out my stomach. I can't lose her. It's temporary. We will eventually transfer custody to me."

If that wasn't enough drama, Teddy (Kim Raver) tested positive for COVID and was forced to quarantine for two weeks.

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Moving on to December 2020, Meredith, Amelia, Link, Owen Hunt (Kevin McKidd) and Teddy enjoyed a Christmas morning together — and Owen took full advantage of the magic and proposed to Teddy in front of everyone.

"This is not the first time I've asked you this," Owen said while kneeling on one knee. "We've hurt each other. But we have forgiven each other. We may not make sense to the rest of the world, but we make sense to us. I am asking you in front of everyone, would you please continue to make me the happiest man alive?"

She said "yes!"

The next month, the doctors of Grey Sloan received their first doses of the COVID-19 vaccination while Jo got some more good news.

"Luna's lawyer is a shark. I am definitely getting custody," she told Miranda Bailey (Chandra Wilson). "She is expensive though."

"Is this you asking for a raise?" Miranda asked.

"No, this is me telling you I did sell my shares of the hospital," Jo said as she FaceTimed former Grey Sloan doctor (and now shareholder!) Tom Koracick (Greg Germann).

A few months later, in April 2021, Maggie and Winston finally had their dream beachside wedding and exchanged their vows in front of their closest friends and family.

Meanwhile, Jo — who was in the company of baby Luna — FaceTimed Jackson Avery (Jesse Williams) as they discussed her buying his Seattle apartment so she and Luna could get settled in together.

"Welcome home, Luna," Jo said.

Flashback to the wedding day, Link finally found the perfect time to propose to Amelia — after months of waiting — but the response wasn't what he had expected.

After he popped the question, a shocked and hesitant Amelia stared at him without actually giving his an answer.

While it's unclear what their conversation looked like, that evening, a visibly heartbroken Link showed up at Jo's house — asking if he could crash with her for the time being.

And the icing on the cake to this emotional finale? A (text) cameo from Cristina Yang (Sandra Oh).

After a successful lung transplant with Cristina's patient, who had been suffering from post-COVID complications for the past eight months, Meredith texted her former coworker to let her know the patient was "stable."

"Donor lungs available, booking the O.R. for tonight," Cristina texted back.

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"Don't forget who did it first," Meredith wrote, to which Cristina responded with multiple laughing emoji.

In May, ABC announced that the long-running medical drama was renewed for an 18th season. No decisions have been made regarding Grey's Anatomy's future beyond season 18 as of yet.

"The writers, directors, casts and crews of Grey's Anatomy and Station 19 worked so hard to bring these shows to life this past season," executive producer and showrunner Krista Vernoff said in a statement. "Keeping each other safe on set while paying tribute to the front-line heroes and first responders has been a challenge and a privilege. I've been truly blown away — particularly by our tireless crews — as they reinvented the TV-making wheel. Thank you to ABC and ABC Signature for the support and extraordinary partnership through this unprecedented season. We are so grateful for the opportunity to tell more stories."