10 Happy Grey's Anatomy Episodes That Aren't So Dark and Twisty

The pilot explores so many different facets of Meredith's life — her family, career, and romance. Yet it's still cheerful and playful, with none of that signature Grey's Anatomy emotional trauma blasting at us with full force. You just can't help but feel something when hearing "Portions For Foxes" play while Meredith scuttles to her first day of work as an intern right after an awkward and sexy encounter with Derek post-one-night-stand.

It's Grey's first Christmas episode! We have Izzie, who lives and breathes the holidays, and Cristina, who's a bit of a Grinch when it comes to getting festive. But for Cristina, the issue runs deeper, since she thought she could rely on Burke not to be spiritual or religious. The tension between them builds when their young patient refuses a heart transplant. Meanwhile, the gang helps Alex study for his board exams the second time, making up hilarious scenarios and trying not to hurt Izzie (since he just cheated on her with "syph nurse"). In typical Grey's fashion, we see drama, but there's a happy ending.

"The Time Warp" has nothing to do with The Rocky Horror Picture Show, but it's still a blast. Derek suggests that Richard give a last lecture if he plans to leave the hospital. So the surgeons, including the former chief, recall their most pivotal cases. Young Richard and Ellis (played by THE Sarah Paulson) fall in love and take on an AIDS patient. Plus, we see Callie having a throwback moment with Alex and a shy past Dr. Bailey standing up to her snotty supervisor. Other than the fact that we're seeing Ellis's marriage crumbling, it's a satisfying episode where good prevails.

Is an alternative-universe plot a little gimmicky? Sure, but this episode is so much fun. It imagines a world where Meredith is a preppy It girl engaged to a wildly energetic Alex, her mother alive and happily married to Chief Webber. Derek no longer has his easygoing disposition — he's a sad sack married to Addison. And Cristina — where do we even begin? She's a goth queen with straight hair and blunt bangs. But even with all of these weird switches, all's well that ends well. The characters somehow find themselves exactly where they should be — like Meredith and Derek chatting each other up at a bar.

It's a Valentine's Day special! In this sweet episode, Meredith and Derek try to get sexy alone time together between work and Zola, Dr. Bailey struggles to wrap up work for a special date, and Arizona's just dreading her camping trip with Callie. The day doesn't go as planned for the surgeons, but romance isn't dead yet. Full disclosure: there will be sad moments, just not anything earth-shatteringly so.

This might be stating the obvious, but Grey's is really about its female friendships. Derek might be the love of Meredith's life, but Cristina is her soulmate. This is the episode where Cristina Yang last graced our Thursday night screens, right before waltzing away to Switzerland to reign over a top-notch heart facility. Our beloved cardiothoracic genius says goodbye to all of the Grey Sloan surgeons and dances it out with Meredith one last time.

This episode is a love letter for anyone who has religiously tuned into Grey's all these years. Meredith's in the run for a Harper Avery (now the Catherine Fox Award), but she decides to kick it in Seattle to focus on a patient. The episode is full of little Easter eggs, such as doppelgänger Izzie, George, and Cristina. It's not just a fun and fluffy instalment, though — it lovingly pays respects to Meredith's character growth over the years. We dare you not to cry over Jackson's lovely little speech for her.

Scott Speedman, a certified handsome man, plays transplant surgeon Nick Marsh, whom Meredith operates on in this episode. Nick and Meredith instantly hit it off, having the deepest of talks that we've seen in a while. Teasing Nick as a potential love interest for Meredith was such a cruel red herring on the show's part, but we'd be lying if we said this episode didn't give us the feels.

Listen, season 14 is just a really happy season. Jo and Alex become the couple to root for who find love in a hopeless place. Trauma-wise, "All of Me," the episode of the great Jolex wedding, is miles away from past season finales (granted, it does follow an installation where a major character nearly dies). We have drunk interns, Alex and Jo boning in a creepy barnyard, and very mild disasters. Everyone has a happily ever after, including the beloved Arizona and April, who are leaving Grey Sloan for good.

In the season of love, "Good Shepherd" is a standout episode. While DeLuca and Meredith, Jackson and Maggie, and Teddy and Owen might be divisive couples in the fandom, Amelia and Link pleasantly caught most of us by surprise. After being acquaintances with benefits for a while, the two find themselves together once more when they take on a New York case. They awkwardly bump into Amelia's sister at the hospital and get invited to dinner, during which Link hilariously pretends to be Amelia's ex-husband Owen. This episode isn't without family drama, but it's cute in a romantic-comedy kind of way — plus, nobody dies!