'Grey's Anatomy' : How Ellen Pompeo's Meredith Grey Left Seattle — and What Nick Said About It

Meredith Grey has come a long way from her famous "pick me, choose me, love me" speech

Photo: abc

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

After 19 seasons, Meredith Grey (Ellen Pompeo) officially bid farewell to Seattle and prepared to move her family to Boston on the winter return of Grey's Anatomy.

Before making her exit, the tensions between Meredith and Nick Marsh (Scott Speedman) continued to grow after she made the decision to move without discussing it with him. She told Nick that she has been through "a lot" after her house was struck by lightning and her family was forced to live in a hotel.

"I know it's been a lot but what was your plan? You're going to leave and not call me back," he responded. "Move across the country without a conversation. I don't get that."

"I moved here to be with you," he added. "Yes, I took a job but I moved here to be with you."

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Meredith revealed that she was upset when he didn't say I love you after she did.

"I said I love you. You were standing exactly in that spot where you are right now. I said I love you," she recalled. "You didn't say it back. You had just taken a job at my hospital… I had hoped we were going to pick it up right where we left off. But, you seem to want to take it slow so it did not occur to me to confer with you about me moving."

However, he didn't feel it was right for her to blame him for their issues: "I didn't do and say exactly what you thought I should do and say exactly on your timeline so this whole mess is my fault that's what you're saying."

She responded, "That's not what I said," but he still left.

Their discussion continued later in the episode, as Meredith gave him a speech — one that proves she's truly evolved since pleading with Derek Shepherd (Patrick Dempsey) in the first season of the show, "pick me, choose me, love me." This time, she declared, "I'm a grown woman with a big life and big career and three kids. This move is what my daughter needs. I want you in my life if you want to be in my life. But if I have to choose, I pick me, I pick my kids, and I pick what is best for us and I'm not going to beg you to love me."

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Elsewhere in the hospital, Mika Yasuda (Midori Francis) and Dr. Simone Griffin (Alexis Floyd) were late for rounds, Levi Schmitt (Jake Borelli) told them a cautionary tale of his former surgical intern Taryn Helm (Jaicy Elliot) who is now "throwing her life away" as a bartender. He warned the residents to be on time unless "you want to wind up like Helm wasting your talents, your family's investment and your futures."

Jo Wilson (Camilla Luddington), Winston Ndugu (Anthony Hill) and Maggie Pierce (Kelly McCreary) prepared to perform the first-ever partial heart transplant on a 2-week-old baby and the interns competed for a spot in the O.R.

Amelia Shepherd (Caterina Scorsone) stepped in to convince the baby's mother that she should go through with the surgery and shared her own experience having a baby named Christopher who became an organ donor. "If there had been a chance that Christopher would have lived…if there had been any surgery and it meant that he might live, I would take the shot," she told the mother.

Meanwhile, Mika went to the bar to get Helm's advice to help her win the competition and admitted that she is worried about the cost of living in Seattle. With her help, she ended up winning a spot in the O.R.

After completing a successful surgery, Maggie tried to convince Winston to stick with her specialty because of the "miracle of science" but he was still upset over their earlier argument — where she told him she didn't respect his willingness to change specialties for the sake of their relationship — and wanted an apology from her.

He told her she was "cold," adding, "I don't respect it," and the future of their marriage appeared bleak.

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Tessa (Patricia Richardson) — a children's author who had a Whipple procedure — returned to the hospital due to complications. Simone and Lucas joined Meredith and Nick in the O.R.; however, Tessa died on the operating table.

Simone later gave Meredith a thumbdrive that held Tessa's final book which she later shared with her children.

Teddy Altman (Kim Raver) tried to put her hat in the ring to become the new chief of surgery after Meredith's exit but Richard Webber (James Pickens Jr.) thought she was volunteering to be part of the search committee.

Before Meredith's going away party, Teddy finally told Richard the truth that she wanted the job and he offered it to her outright. She's going to think it over.

When Meredith arrived at the surprise celebration, she said that it was "very thoughtful and ridiculous because I'm only going to Boston and, you know, I'll probably be here next week." The doctors then shared a toast to bid Meredith farewell.

"You know, once upon a time, you were the bane of my existence. But, no, you grew up to become one of my greatest points of pride." Bailey said before stopping when she got emotional.

"Dr. Grey, what Dr. Bailey is trying to say is this place won't be the same without you," Richard Webber (James Pickens Jr.) added.

While Nick was noticeably absent from the festivities, he went to the bar to escape his problems. However, Helm tried to make him see the error of his ways.

"She's Meredith Grey. She's impossible and she's perfect and she's brilliant and she cares and she can be mean sometimes but only when she needs to be. She can be selfish sometimes because she has earned that right," she shared. "For some stupid reason, she's into men so she never fell in love with me but she fell in love with you. And you're here. How stupid are you?"

Nick then returned to the hospital but Meredith had already left for the airport. When he realized he wouldn't make it in time, Nick called Meredith to tell her, "I love you."

"I fell in love with you the first day I met you," he said on the call. "I fell in love with you the second day I met you and I have loved you every minute of every day that I have known you."

"I can't quite hear you," she responded. "We're about to take off so I'll call you when we get settled."

The episode concluded at Meredith's house — which is still in need of repair from the fire — where three of the new interns, Lucas, Simone and Mika, were moving in.

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Grey's Anatomy airs Thursdays at 9 p.m. ET on ABC.