We got ourselves a Slexie Reunion.

In addition to Lexie, Mark appeared on Mer's beach, too, on Grey's Anatomy Season 17 Episode 10. The hour also gave us emotional cases, Cristina via text, dance parties, and engagement, and more.

Join Meaghan Frey, Jasmin Pettie, and Jasmine Blu as they discuss the hour.

What would you grade the episode and why?

Meaghan: A+! This was the Grey's Anatomy that I loved all these years. Yes, it still had heartbreak and sadness, but there was a sense of hope that was missing from the series this season.

For so much of this season, and if I'm being honest more like the past couple of seasons, not only have the storylines been shrouded in darkness, but the characters as well.

This episode allowed for all of them to shine in ways they haven't in so long. I found myself even rooting for people I don't usually like, such as Maggie and Catherine.

Hell, even Jackson and Jo couldn't damper my good mood. If they keep this balance the rest of the season then they might be able to make me forget the whole first half of the season existed.

Jasmin: I agree. A+ all the way! It felt very much like classic Grey's, as you said, and I loved that. I felt like that balance was back.

I loved the hopefulness of this episode especially seeing the characters dance it out over increased ventilator capacity and Meredith being able to breathe on her own.

It's important to celebrate whatever you can when you can these days.

The scenes with Jo and Catherine in the OR were hilarious. Mark and Lexie brought humor and optimism. Amelia and Teddy brought wry humor and tough love. I loved it!

Jasmine: I gave it an A+ as well. For once, it felt as if they found the balance, and the hour felt the way it used to in the early days. We got a bit of everything, and the lack of darkness was a much welcome reprieve.

Were you shocked that Mark showed up on the beach along with Lexie? How do you feel about the Grey sisters, Dirty Mistresses, and Slexie reunion?

Meaghan: The Slexie reunion on the beach was everything I could have asked for and more. It didn't feel like fan service. Instead, it served to help remind Mer of what she has to lose if she chooses to stay on the beach.

Lexie had such a maturity to her and felt more like an older sister to Mer in their moments together. It was also heart-wrenching to see Lexie get emotional as Mer talked about her happy times with the kids. Lexie lost out on that chance to live a happy and full life.

Mer: So you two are together?
Mark: On your beach, looks like we are.

• Permalink: On your beach, looks like we are.

If anything, Mer should choose to live because Lexie never got to choose. Seeing Slexie together again and knowing they got their happy ending, even if it wasn't in life, was something I desperately needed.

Don't get me started on how much I adored the Dirty Mistresses Club meeting. Mark and Mer had such an underrated friendship, and I loved getting to see them together again. The only thing that could have made this any better was if we had gotten some Derek and Mark content.

Jasmin: I was shocked! I literally screamed out loud twice! It was perfect.

I miss Lexie and Mark so much as characters, and I loved seeing them back on the beach talking to Meredith with Lexie's trademark optimism and sunny disposition and Mark's characteristic dry humor and straightforwardness.

I liked that they helped Meredith see things from a different perspective and helped define the rules of the beach more.

When you love someone, you tell them.

Mark

• Permalink: When you love someone, you tell them.

It's in Meredith's head, and she can leave and go back to the land of the living if she wants to. Their advice is way more helpful than Derek's turned out to be, and I loved watching Meredith work through her thoughts.

We got to learn more about little Bailey too! I love seeing the Grey's sisters again, seeing the Dirty Mistresses Club have a meeting, and knowing that Slexie got their reunion in death was so beautiful.

Jasmine: I wasn't surprised that Mark showed up. Since they spoiled Lexie's appearance, it only made sense that Mark would be the surprise. I loved every moment of it, though.

It was great seeing Lexie again, even if that godawful greenscreen was obvious. I loved that Lexie felt herself.

You're early, killer. Too early.

Mark

• Permalink: You're early, killer. Too early.

I had a much stronger reaction to Mark, and it seemed as if Mer did, too. Their relationship was one of the most underrated in the series, and I appreciated it on display again. Mark got straight to the point and basically told her to go home, and I love him for that.

It also made me smile like an idiot over Slexie got their happily ever after. They were probably my favorite beach appearance.

Mer is closer than ever to figuring out how to leave the beach and waking up. Thoughts?

Meaghan: I feel like we've seen just about everyone that Mer needs to see. Bringing Ellis and Thatcher to the beach wouldn't be necessary, in my opinion.

I was convinced that Mer was going to die, but now, I'm not so sure. They have spent so much time showing us it is her choice if she stays or goes, and her choice to leave her children behind would be too much.

It will be the most selfish decision she could make, and as much as I want her and McDreamy to ride off into the sunset together, now isn't the time.

If having a life and a body is not worthy of celebration, then what is the point of avoiding death?

Lexie

• Permalink: If having a life and a body is not worthy of celebration, then what is the point of avoiding...

Who knows? Maybe the fan theory going around about Derek being alive and hidden by the government is true, and we won't need Mer to die to get that happy ending (KIDDING, well, kinda).

Jasmin: I agree! Seeing Lexie and Mark really made the beach come full circle for me. Meredith has seen and talked to everyone she needs to at this point to be able to return.

My guess is that next episode we'll see her reunite with Derek on the beach one last time, and then she'll wake up. I agree that having Meredith decide to leave her scared children behind when they've already lost their father and multiple caregivers (Lexie, Cristina, and Alex) in a few short years would be horrible.

As you said, now isn't the time. That time is when Meredith is old, smelly, and senile just like they promised. Right now those kids need her.

Jasmine: I'd love for this to be the end of the beach. They've dragged this shit out too long. I imagine she'll get one last moment with Derek before she wakes up for good.

Initially, I thought she would die, too, but the latest episode felt more hopeful. It isn't fair to her children or her loved ones to die, so I hope she's finished frolicking and fights like hell instead.

After the Cristina texts and all of the mentions, do you think we can expect a Cristina appearance anytime soon?

Meaghan: They've included Cristina texts before, so I hesitate to get my hopes up and reach too much into it, but my god, I really want a Cristina Yang appearance!

Even if it was just via Zoom it would be worth it to see the twisted sisters interact again!

My thought was that she would see something concerning on the monitor and have Catherine charter a private jet to get her to Seattle to save Mer, but that doesn't seem to be the case.

If we see Cristina, I'd say it is safe to say that the show is done. We can consider her the 4th horseman of the apocalypse. Sandra Oh has been very adamant about not returning and only has even entertained the idea of coming back if it is the end.

Jasmin: I would love that! That would make my year. I love Cristina so much as a character. She's the first character I saw on screen in a regular role that really showcased my views and how I felt inside.

She feels how she feels, doesn't apologize for it, and doesn't do things or stay in relationships that are damaging for her. I love her so much.

It really would be great! Even if it was just over Zoom.

But, I agree that since Sandra Oh is currently busy with other projects and has been adamant she'd only come back at the end, so it might not happen. That being said, if they were able to film something last summer as they did with Patrick Dempsey and presumably T.R. Knight, Eric Dane, and Chyler Leigh then it might be possible.

Jasmine: I'm all for a quick Zoom appearance. I can see them doing something like that before Oh steps foot on that set outside of the series finale. Although, we still don't know if this IS the final season or not, so who knows?

What are your thoughts on Hayes' arc with his sister-in-law? Did you appreciate learning more about him? Did you like the MerHayes tease?

Meaghan: My heart grew about four sizes when Irene called out Hayes on talking about Mer to his kids. The man is so precious, and I despise the fact that we haven't gotten a real chance to see their relationship develop.

I actually got really concerned they were trying to set up a JoHayes pairing with their fighting. I breathed a huge sigh of relief when Irene said she was asking if Jo was single for herself.

I can't, I cannot do this again. I cannot look at my boys who have already lost everything and tell them they're losing her too.

Hayes

• Permalink: I can't, I cannot do this again. I cannot look at my boys who have already lost everything...

Jasmin: I loved it! Hayes is finally getting his own storylines, and he is shining. I am here for the character development.

I am here for the backstory and the depth. I am here for the badass that is Hayes' sister-in-law Irene Davis. Me too, Meaghan. I loved seeing Irene call Hayes out about how he talks about Meredith and how big he smiles and that the boys have picked up on it and told her all about it.

My heart broke for them when Irene wanted to meet her, and Hayes told her she couldn't because she was on a ventilator, and she looked at him and said, "Again?"

This poor man. I loved learning more about him and Irene. She seems super cool, and I can't wait to see more of her.

I, too, wish we had gotten to see Meredith and Hayes' relationship develop. I'm so mad COVID robbed us of that. I, too, got concerned, and I was glad to see her paired up with Jackson for that reason. Haha, yes Irene's comment about wanting Jo for herself was the best!

Jasmine: I thoroughly love Cormac Hayes, so it always bugged me that they didn't do much with his character. I appreciated every bit of time we spent with him here and the introduction of Irene. Their relationship made me smile; they felt like siblings.

I have to give it to Flood. He takes the little bit of screentime he gets, and he works magic with it, and I was invested in everything happening with that storyline.

I also hate that we never got to see any real progress with MerHayes, so it does feel weird that he expressed his interest in her when they've deprived us of that for so long, but hopefully, they'll revisit that for the remainder of the season.

On a scale of 1-10, how badass was Catherine Fox coming to the rescue? Would Jo make a great Catherine protege?

Meaghan: 10! I have never been a Catherine fan, but I LOVED her in this episode! We usually only get to witness bossy CEO Catherine instead of badass surgeon Catherine so this was a welcome change.

Now, I can definitely see why she is such a respected surgeon. I cringed a tad bit when she suggested that Jo switch to urology, especially when it seemed that Jo was considering it.

Child, who throws away a kidney? Lord!

Catherine

• Permalink: Child, who throws away a kidney? Lord!

Wasn't the whole point of her wanting to switch specialties because she loved the idea of OB and bringing a new life into the world? Urology wouldn't give her that same warm and fuzzy feeling.

Also, pairing up two of my least favorite characters on the show would pretty much guarantee I have no interest in that storyline.

Jasmin: I agree! It's a 10 for me, too. I go back and forth on Catherine, to be honest, but she was hilarious and badass in this episode. Her lines were killer. "Child, who throws away a kidney? Lord," was one of my favorite lines of the hour.

I love the idea of Jo switching from General Surgery to Urology. The idea of Jo randomly switching to OBGYN after never showing any interest before, despite dating and being married to Alex for several seasons, and leaving surgery completely makes no sense to me.

Maggie: If I had known I would've had to choose to vent between a mother and a daughter, I would've quit med school.
Winston: If I had seen a seen a tenth of what I've seen this past year, I would've quit too.

• Permalink: If I had seen a seen a tenth of what I've seen this past year, I would've quit too.

Her switching surgical specialties and challenging herself makes sense to me, and since their scenes were hilarious this episode, I'd like to see more of that. Especially since Catherine is actually interested in training her and her only two OBGYN candidates are Carina and Hayes.

At this point, Carina's been moved over to Station 19. Hayes seems more interested in yelling at Jo than training her, and he's got enough on the go. The woman he's falling for has been hospitalized with COVID-19, his sister-in-law just had surgery for a kidney stone, and he's got two teenage boys at home.

Jasmine: 10. Catherine is a BAMF, and I love it when she dons the scrubs and shows why she is the greatest.She was amazingness, and that line about the kidney killed me too.

Oh, Meaghan, when has Jo ever did anything that made a lick of a sense? She's fickle AF, so I can't even say this is surprising, and as Jasmin pointed out, her last shift was an out of the blue choice. For the sole point of someone choosing something different, I'm not mad at it. At least she didn't choose General.

Are Winston and Maggie moving too fast? How do you feel about his proposal?

Meaghan: They definitely are moving too fast but I'm willing to forgive it because they are so cute. Also, if you think about it, they have both been living in these COVID bubbles where they face the fragility of life every single day.

It makes sense that things would get deeper faster for them. I love Winston in general and want him and Link to become best friends, so I'm fine with anything that keeps him around.

Jasmin: Yes and no. I love Maggie and Winston together, and as you said, they are super cute! I think the proposal was a bit fast and sudden, but I love the idea of Winston staying in Seattle and joining the staff permanently.

I think the stress that they are under and the effects of COVID definitely had an impact. The fact that Winston proposed after only a few months of dating, most of it long distance, shows that.

The fact that Maggie, someone who normally needs to make spreadsheets and pro and con lists, accepted so readily shows that too.

I'm interested to see where this goes and if they actually get married. I'd love to see Winston and Link become best friends. I'd also love for them to become friends with Hayes because that could be interesting.

Jasmine: It's too fast. I don't mind Winston; he seems like a decent guy, but similar to Hayes, we still don't know a lot about him, and most of their relationship felt like it was offscreen. I don't know.

But hey, if Maggie's happy, then so I am. She deserves happiness.

Amelia is a supportive friend to Teddy, and Owen stepped up and showed compassion toward Tom. React.

Meaghan: There must have been something in the water this week because there was not a single character that pissed me off. Teddy and Amelia are an unexpected, yet great, pairing and I loved their scenes together. It proved once again that Amelia is the rock of this show.

I was so proud that Owen showed the man we all know he can be. Tom was not the one who had an obligation to Owen and doesn't deserve the rage Owen has been throwing in his direction. Tom needed someone to tell him it made sense to feel the way he did, and I think it carried much more weight coming from Owen.

Jasmin: Haha glad to hear it! I loved that Amelia continued to step up and be there for Teddy out of the goodness of her heart and that Teddy and Owen finally stopped fighting and he finally showed some compassion towards Teddy and to Tom. He's no saint, and he's been acting very high and mighty lately.

I loved Amelia's line that, yes, therapy can be uncomfortable, but so are mammograms, and we still do them to be healthy.

Teddy: I tried therapy, it makes me uncomfortable.
Amelia: Mammograms make us uncomfortable, we still get them.

• Permalink: Mammograms make us uncomfortable, we still get them.

I agree that Owen's rage was misplaced. What Tom and Teddy did was wrong, but he should be angry with Teddy for that, not Tom. Teddy was the one who decided to instigate an affair and then lie about it. Tom agreed because he was in love with Teddy and still is.

I really like the moment where Tom is standing there holding his rosary praying for Meredith feeling that survivor's guilt and Owen shows compassion to him and tells him how hard it was for him when he returned from Iraq after his whole platoon was killed.

Jasmine: Amelia has been killing, and she's been one of the best characters of the season. I like her relationship with Teddy, and her not mincing words is what Teddy needs.

Owen acting like a mature adult and showing Tom compassion and support was a breath of fresh air. It's heartbreaking that Tom was dealing with this by himself.

Do you have any other additional thoughts to add?

Meaghan: Mama Ortiz needs to get more screen time. I think she is a great addition to the show and has taken too much of a backseat with this large cast.

The way she stepped up and reassured the daughter when she felt like she would be responsible for killing her mother was incredible. No other doctor in that room budged, and she didn't even hesitate.

She will be a fantastic doctor, and I almost think she shouldn't be a surgeon because she has such an amazing bedside manner, and it will be wasted.

Jasmin: I agree; she does. She's great! Mama Ortiz holds a special place in my heart because she played Sandy on ER, and she was great in that. Watching her step up and comfort the patient was beautifully done. I love how she used her training as a social worker to help that patient in her time of need when the other doctors were paralyzed by suffering.

I loved seeing Meredith play on the carousel and the swing set with Mark and Lexie. I also loved seeing Levi step up and step into his own as a doctor. He’s no longer the bumbling fool of seasons past. He’s got his crap together, and he’s going to do what needs to be done to keep his patient alive and healthy.

Jasmine: I agree that Mama Ortiz is a great addition. She and her daughter navigated the mother/daughter case well.

What was your favorite quote or scene from the hour?

Meaghan: This may be the first time in forever that it is this difficult for me to choose because I loved so many. Obviously, the beach scenes tugged at all my heartstrings, so I'm going to go with that, but I've got too close runner-ups.

The whole gang dancing it out when Mer successfully came off the vent was perfection. It is exactly what Mer would have wanted them to do, and it brought me back to the good ole days.

I also adored the Ortiz ladies embracing each other in the room with the mother and daughter patients once they were both vented. You could feel the weight of the moment and how hard their cases must have been for the mom and daughter duo to go through. All in all, it was just a stellar classic Grey's episode.

Jasmin: Gosh, there were so many! I already mentioned one of them. Another one for me was when Hayes gave Irene a tour of the hospital on the way to the OR, and he said to her, “And that is a supply closet!” Cracked me up!

Every line from the beach scenes with Lexie and Mark was perfect.

As for scenes, I, too, loved seeing everyone dance it out, and Levi's song about hump day made me laugh so hard!

The scene with the Ortiz ladies was so touching. I loved every scene with Hayes and Irene. It was funny and heartbreaking at the same time. It really was stellar.

Jasmine: I pretty much liked everything. Catherine's kidney line killed me. I did love the Ortizes sharing an embrace.

Mark stole the beach scenes for me, so I loved every aspect of him there. I adored Hayes with Irene, too.

Over to you, Grey's Fanatics.

Do you agree with us? Do you disagree? Sound off below.

Grey's Anatomy airs Thursdays on ABC.

Jasmine Blu is a senior staff writer for TV Fanatic. She is an insomniac who spends late nights and early mornings binge-watching way too many shows and binge-drinking way too much tea. Her eclectic taste makes her an unpredictable viewer with an appreciation for complex characters, diverse representation, dynamic duos, compelling stories, and guilty pleasures. You'll definitely find her obsessively live-tweeting, waxing poetic, and chatting up fellow Fanatics and readers. Follow her on X.