Get ready for an Easter egg hunt!
Grey's Anatomy aired its epic 300th episode on Thursday night, and as promised, the ghosts of Grey's past took over the hospital. And we loved every single second of it. Seriously, there were SO many references (including the one we just made there!), it was kind of hard to keep track of them all. But don't worry, we've got you covered.
We looked to creator Shonda Rhimes, showrunner Krista Vernoff and our own Grey's-obsessed eyes to find all the Easter eggs hidden throughout the episode for fans to enjoy:
Did the opening song sound familiar? It should! "That opening song 'Young Folks' was originally in episode 306 (although this is a cover by The Wind + The Wave)," Vernoff tweeted.
The new interns were sitting in same bridge our tired interns did way back in season one "Seems like five seconds ago we were the interns hiding in tunnels," Alex said.
To honor the show's milestone, the original theme song and opening credits were used. Chills! "And here is where we play Psapp. With that vintage #GreysAnatomy title card," Rhimes tweeted. " Because nobody knows where they might end up. Like, with 300 episodes for example."
The episode's roller coaster accident introduced three doppelgangers, Cleo, Greg and Liza, giving Mer and Alex major Cristina Yang (Sandrah Oh), George O'Malley (T.R. Knight) and Izzie Stevens (Katherine Heigl) vibes. They even dubbed then Baby O'Malley, Baby Yang and Baby Izzie (who is pregnant). And fun fact: they are also doctors, recently becoming second years at Seattle Prep.
The inspiration for the doppelgangers? Vernoff tweeted: "We found @ErynRea when we were shooting in Seattle -- she was the stand in for @EllenPompeo and she inspired the doppelgänger idea for this episode because every time I passed her I felt like I was in a time warp!"
Baby O'Malley and Baby Yang being stuck together is a throwback to an old case. "In 'Into You Like Train' the patients were stuck together and you couldn't extract one without risking injury to the other," Vernoff spilled.
Another musical throwback! Vernoff tweeted, "This song 'THEY' originally played when Meredith got lost in the tunnels in the pilot."
Liza's line "I sound like an ass" was an homage to Izzie being "addicted to silver linings," Vernoff said. "Was my favorite thing about her. I loved referencing that in this scene."
McDreamy (Patrick Dempsey) reference alert: Amelia steps in right before Owen is about to operate a patient...and ends up saving his life (though Owen originally questions if Derek's death clouded Amelia's judgement.) "Derek, he was in my head. He saved that guy. He was that good."
McSteamy (Eric Dane) reference alert: In order to calm Baby Izzie down, Arizona (Jessica Capshaw) talks about missing Sloan. "I miss him all the time, which is actually kind of unexpected [chuckles] Because I didn't really like him in the beginning," she said. "I resented him because he was perpetually relaxed. But he could make me laugh. He could make me laugh when I was afraid or freaked out or annoyed, which actually is really, really annoying."
Music callback: "This song 'Keep Breathing' is by Ingrid Michaelson. This cover by Colyer guts me." And Michaelson wrote the song specifically for the show, with Vernoff calling it her all-time fave.
Though Jo says she'd be OK with Alex calling Izzie, he said he's already imagined what she's up to (which is better than wondering). "She's married with three kids…and she lives somewhere, I think, uh, kind of woodsy? [ Chuckles ] And she's a surgeon and she goes to work every day, so she refuses to hire help, so her house is always a mess. And it has Christmas decorations all over it because she won't let her husband take them down.:
Heigl in real-life has three children with husband Josh Kelley.
Another music throwback cover: "Such Great Heights," with Rhimes tweeting, "This song was used to promote the show season 1. This cover is by Madi Diaz and KS Rhoads."
Ghost of Dr. Grey, Ellis Grey, that is, as Kate Burton made a surprise appearance after Meredith won the Harper Avery for Surgical Innovation award, standing behind a beaming Zola. (Also, how amazing was Jackson's speech on Mer's behalf?! Lexie forever!)
At the end of the episode, Alex and Mer kick the interns out of the bridge. "This is our beach," Alex said...just before Cristina called to congratulate and celebrate Mer's big win with her. With champagne in paper cups. Obviously. "Of course she called, people," Rhimes tweeted. "Of course. That's her person."
And that's our show.
Did we miss any references? Let us know in the comments or tweeting @eonlineTV!
Grey's Anatomy airs Thursdays at 8 p.m. on ABC.