Grey’s Anatomy has its very own “what if” episode, creating an alternate timeline where its characters had very different lives. Created by Shonda Rhimes, Grey’s Anatomy debuted on ABC in 2005 as a mid-season replacement, but it was so well-received by critics and viewers that it has lived on for over 10 seasons, and shows no signs of stopping soon, even if most of its original cast is now gone.
Following the basic premise of medical dramas, Seattle Grace Hospital to head of general surgery at the same place. Meredith’s life hasn’t been easy, and she has gone through a lot of trauma and tragedies, so it’s not surprising that the writers decided to give her a break and show the audience what her life would have been like had some things been done differently.
This “what if” episode happened in Grey’s Anatomy season 8 and is titled “If/Then”, in reference to the song of the same name by Rad Kass. In it, as Meredith put her daughter Zola to bed, she began to wonder what her life would have been like had her mother never gotten sick and if she had had a good father, and so the episode begins to explore that alternate reality. A simple change like Ellis (Meredith’s mother) not having Alzheimer’s changed everything, even the lives of those around Meredith, although in most cases they ended up on the same path as in the main timeline/universe. Here’s every major difference in Grey’s Anatomy alternate timeline:
Meredith Grey’s Happier Family Life
As mentioned above, in this timeline Meredith’s mother Ellis is alive and well, so much that she’s the Chief of Staff at Seattle Grace Hospital and got together with Richar Webber, who became Meredith’s father, so she took on the surname “Webber”. One thing that didn’t change, however, was Ellis’ arrogance and coldness, and she continued pushing Meredith to be better, and she also pressured Derek Shepherd all the time as she wanted him to use his full potential. Still, Meredith had a much happier family life than in the main timeline, but that also brought some big changes in other aspects of her personal life.
In this timeline, Meredith and Derek weren’t together, and instead, she was in a relationship with Alex Karev, with whom she had just gotten engaged. Another big change is that Cristina Yang wasn’t Preston Burke, which earned her the dislike of her colleagues. Although Meredith’s life in this alternate universe was a lot happier and to an extent easier than the one in the main timeline, it wasn’t fully safe from drama. Alex ended up cheating on her with April, and they were caught by Cristina, who during an argument with Meredith let the “secret” out. Of course, Meredith’s relationship with Alex and friendship with April was over, but by the end of the episode, she was drinking tequila with Cristina and Joe’s bar, hinting at the beginning of their friendship as known in the main timeline.
Lexie Grey’s Messy Life
While Meredith had a happier life, Lexie Grey’s was quite depressing and tough. In this timeline, Lexie wasn’t an intern, nor had she gone to med school, and was instead a drug addict whose mother died of a “stomach thing” and her father (Meredith’s father, Thatcher) killed himself. She was rushed to Seattle Grace Hospital after overdosing on the street, and once there, Cristina informed her she needed a surgical implant on her heart as a result of all the cocaine she had been using. Once in the hospital, Lexie told Jackson she had a half-sister who worked there, but she didn’t know her. Lexie escaped but was brought back to the ER by Mark Sloan, who found her lying on the street. Meredith saw Cristina and Jackson trying to save Lexie and stepped in, proposing they cracked her chest. Although she refused at first, Cristina eventually agreed and helped Meredith crack Lexie’s chest, and together they saved her life.
Derek Shepherd’s Family Problems
Derek Shepherd’s life in this timeline was very different too, but it led him to the same place as in the main universe. Here, Derek and Addison were still together and expecting their first child together. Professionally, he wasn’t doing so well, as he was stuck, unwilling to teach, publish, etc, earning him the nickname of “McDreary” instead of “McDreamy”, as well as “Bad Shepherd” – Addison, on the other hand, was still working at Seattle Grace Hospital as neonatal and OB/GYN-maternal-fetal head, and was known as “Good Shepherd”. Being together doesn’t mean their relationship was healthy, as they constantly fought and Derek couldn’t even tell Addison he loved her without staring at the floor. Addison ended up confessing to him that the baby wasn’t his, and then Mark Sloan came out of the bathroom, having just washed Lexie’s blood off his clothes. By the end of the episode, Derek was at Joe’s bar where he came across Meredith, who told him that that night he was just a guy in a bar and she was just a girl in the bar.
Derek’s best friend, Mark Sloan, didn’t work at Seattle Grace but ended up there after nearly running Leslie over as she was lying on the street. The love triangle between Derek, Addison, and Mark didn’t change, and Derek ended up at the bar, drinking with Meredith, just as they did the night before Grey’s Anatomy’s very first episode in the canon timeline.
Callie and Owen’s Marriage
Meredith and Alex, and Derek and Addison were surprising pairs, but they can’t compare to that of Owen Hunt and Callie Torres. In this alternate timeline, Owen and Callie got married before she met Arizona Robbins, and the happy couple even had three children. In addition to that, Callie was Head of Cardio instead of orthopedic surgery, while Owen was Head of Trauma, just like in the main timeline (and was also struggling with PTSD). Just like in Meredith and Derek’s cases, there are some hints at their lives eventually going on the path of the canon universe: Cristina, although not with Owen, helped him and ed him on his road to recovery, and while there was some tension between Callie and Arizona over a patient’s case, by the end of the episode there was a spark between them.
George O’Malley Is Still Alive & Izzie Stevens Was Fired
Grey’s Anatomy’s “what if” episode mentioned a couple of characters that by season 8 were already gone, but the most notable ones were George O’Malley and Izzie Stevens. In the main timeline, George suddenly decided to the U.S. Army in Iraq, and Richard gave him the last day off so he could spend time with his family. Sadly, on his way home, he jumped in front of a bus to save a woman’s life and was left severely disfigured. Because of this, no one recognized him when he arrived at the hospital, and it wasn’t until he traced “007” (one of his many nicknames) on Meredith’s hand that they knew who the “John Doe” patient was. The team couldn’t save him, and as his brain swelled during surgery, he was declared brain dead. In the alternate timeline, however, it’s mentioned that George ran away after failing his intern exam, so it’s assumed that he was still alive.
On the other hand, Grey’s Anatomy to the same path as in the canon timeline, but it was fun to take a look at how much their lives would have changed had some decisions been different.
