Grey’s Anatomy brought back a heavy hitter on Thursday night, with Dr. Addison Montgomery (Kate Walsh) returning to the dramatic halls of Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital for the first time since Season 8. Walsh will be on Grey’s for a multiple-episode guest arc, and viewers could not be happier to have her back on screen.
Fans were perhaps the most excited to see Addison team up with Meredith (Ellen Pompeo) for a particularly complicated surgery. The two doctors have one of the more fraught histories on the show, having both loved and been married to Derek Shepherd (Patrick Dempsey), but it was clear that his death and nearly a decade of distance have cooled the once simmering tension between the two women. Addison is given a chance to grieve Derek in the place where they used to work together, and she even gets to meet his children with Meredith. Fans quickly began to melt down on Twitter over this moment of catharsis.
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“‘Get me Meredith Grey’ literal chills,” tweeted one enthusiastic viewer.
“Addison bringing up Derek. I’m not crying you are,” wrote one inconsolable viewer. “Addison Montgomery and Meredith Grey together makes me so happy,” tweeted one fan.
“THEY’VE GROWN. AND IT’S SUCH AN AMAZING THING TO SEE. THIS IS THE DAY THAT I CAN SAY I AM PROUD TO BE A GREY’S FAN. RIGHT HERE. RIGHT AT THIS VERY MOMENT,” another viewer tweeted after Meredith and Addison had a moving moment in the classic Grey’s Anatomy elevator.
“This really does feel like the old Grey’s Anatomy,” one viewer pointed out.
“it was definitely not a joke when [Kate Walsh] said we were going to laugh and then cry,” tweeted another viewer. “Derek is smiling,” wrote another emotional fan after Meredith and Addison made their peace.
“ADDISON MONTGOMERY AND MEREDITH GREY. THAT’S THE TWEET,” summed up one Grey’s fan.
“Nostalgia did its thing tonight, it’s true,” pointed out one viewer at the intense reactions of seeing a classic Grey’s Anatomy reunion.