Grey's Anatomy took a break from the usual storylines Thursday night, bringing its viewers into an alternate reality at Seattle Grace during the episode entitled 'If/Then.'

SPOILER ALERT!!!!

It all started with Meredith (Ellen Pompeo) at home, putting her baby down for the night. During the narration she says that the adoption people told her that the baby you have is the baby that you were destined to have, it was meant to be. But then she wondered, “Everything else in the world seems completely random, what if one little thing said or done could have made it all fall apart?”

As the narration continues, we see some of Meredith’s friends and co-workers doing what they would normally do on a nightly basis; Yang (Sandra Oh) and Owen (Kevin McKidd) were lying awake, deep in thought, ex-chief Webber (James Pickens Jr.) wanders into the kitchen, to help his ailing wife back to their bedroom, and we see Calzona (Sara Ramirez and Jessica Capshaw) at peace, sound asleep, spooning in their bed. Then Meredith’s narration ends with a question that we all ask ourselves at one time or another, “what if, what if, what if?”

Well, during the episode we saw exactly what could have gone down with all of the crew and, at times, it was a nice departure from the weekly norm. Some stories didn’t work out like we were used to, while others gave us hope that what is meant to be, might always be…even if different choices are made.

In this alternate reality, we saw the return of Kate Walsh as Addison Shepard, and old favorites Izzie Stevens (Katherine Heigl) and George O’Malley (T.R. Knight) were even referred to in what might have been one last dig at Heigl by the writers. Alex (Justin Chambers) tells the group that Izzie and O’Malley left the program because of a firing and a failure to pass an intern exam respectively.

In this version, Seattle Grace is being run by a healthy and productive, but still emotionally unavailable, Chief Ellis Webber (Kate Burton). You may be asking, Ellis Webber and not Ellis Grey? Yes, she is happily married to Richard Webber, and Meredith now goes by the name Meredith Webber.

Some of the other notable departures were Callie and Owen married with three children, while Arizona was seemingly single and full of hostility towards Callie, Derek (Patrick Dempsey) and Addison, still married and expecting, Alex and Meredith engaged, a homeless Lexie Grey (Chyler Leigh)being rolled in on a stretcher, in full cardiac arrest due to a drug overdose, and a soft spoken, self conscious Bailey (Chandra Wilson) losing her job for a mistake made by Ellis in the OR.

However, the overarching theme of the show seemed to be that the more things change, the more they actually stay the same.

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At one point Callie was oddly curious about a doctor who Arizona was meeting with in the cafeteria, and there was a very cute scene towards the end of the episode where you could see a definite spark between them. Arizona compliments Callie by saying she’s amazing, Callie suggests celebrating after the completion of their successful joint surgery and Arizona responds by asking her to get a drink.

All the while, sharing longing glances at one another and prior to that at least one lingering hug that makes Callie take note.

And then there was my favorite part of the show (besides Calzona of course), Meredith and Derek end up at the bar together, sharing a drink as just another “guy and girl in a bar.” After a flirty exchange between them, the episode ends with a toast, while Meredith narrates, “as if they were just meant to be.”

For die-hard Grey’s fans, this scene could be a prequel to the pilot. If you remember, in the very first episode, Meredith and Derek woke up together after a one-night stand, having met each other at that same bar, the night before Meredith was set to start her internship at Seattle Grace. Way to come full circle writers!!

I won’t tell you how the rest of the storylines resolved themselves; you’ll have to watch the full episode for that. What I will share is that it ended with a glimpse of hope for Calzona, Meredith and Derek, and Yang and Owen. Even though their choices had brought them to different places in their lives, the viewers could sense that the universe might right itself and they might all end up where they belong.

And I think that’s a nice message that we should all take away as well.

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