Now or Never (2)

Season 5, Episode 24, Aired
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Episode Summary

In the second part of the two hour season finale, George delivers stunning news to Bailey, sending shockwaves throughout the hospital, and Izzie's friends anxiously await her recovery from surgery. Meanwhile Bailey is surprisingly displeased after being accepted into the pediatric fellowship program, and the victim of a near-fatal traffic accident brings the talents of Seattle Grace's doctors together.
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''This is the second hour of a 2-hour season finale. Two episode entries have been created. The 10pm EST marker will mark to beginning of this episode.moreless
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Fan Episode Reviews (53)

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  • a terrible ending to a terrible season

    1.0
    "Abysmal"
    By doggiebag123, Jun 30, 2011 Report Abuse
    after a season of draggin out izzies death they finally show her crash and then make us wait until next season to confirm what we already know. katherine heigle and T R Knight are both leaving so i dont understand how the writers call this ending a cliffhanger. also the "wedding" between mer and der was rediculous. they are no more married than at the begining of the series. the scenes between izzie and denny on the beach were totally stolen from the Locked in episode of house which bugged me. this show used to be great but now its not i this ending has stopped me from turning in next season.moreless

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    3 27

  • Best finale of all the seasons.

    10
    "Perfect"
    By KatieAdams2, Jun 08, 2011 Report Abuse
    I have seen some pretty good finales in the past, but this was the best finale, by far, of all the seasons that I have seen. I love the way it ended with George standing, in his Army uniform, looking at Izzy as the doors of the elevator that she was in closed. I knew immediately that one of them would die and one of them would live, but the question was which one would be which. The way O'Malley saved that girl really touched my heart. He could have saved so many lives if he hadn't joined the Army, but I understand why he did it.moreless

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    3 1

  • If you DON'T want to CRY, then don't watch this episode. You'll ball like a baby, or at least I did.

    10
    "Perfect"
    By Valentine_76, Jun 08, 2011 Report Abuse
    Best finale that I've ever seen EVER. This is part two of the finale. I felt like I was right there with them. George joined the ARMY and everyone is going to intervene and stop him, except Arizona. Arizona thinks that its awesome that he joined, which infuriates Callie. Come to find out; Arizona's brother died because the ARMY didn't have enough doctors over there. Callie reaches out to her and apologizes bringing them closer. Izzy let Shepherd do the surgery but now her brain resets after a minute, which is freaking Alex out. He finally gets so upset that he yells at her that he doesn't know what he's supposed to do now; smother her with a pillow or shoot her full of drugs. Surprise: she tells Yang what he said, which isn't written down anywhere and now her brain is fine. Alex hugs her and she goes limp in his arms. She is DNR, but everyone jumps in (even the Chief) and tries to save her. Meanwhile Meredith realizes that John Doe is George. George pushed a woman out of the way of a bus and is fighting for his life at the time Izzy is being worked on. The last thing we see is Izzy in her pink prom dress in an elevator. The doors open up and George is standing there with a buzzcut in an ARMY uniform. He looked so good.moreless

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    1 1

  • Do you want to cry? To laugh? To get shocked? This episode has it all.

    9.5
    "Superb"
    By chris_friends, Jan 29, 2011 Report Abuse
    Yes, that's right. For the first time since Seasons 2's "Into You Like A Train" (remember that episode? the girl and the guy who had a pole inside of them and they were connected like they were hugging), I cried. And yes, I hated myself for it.

    The episode? I am personally in-love with. I watched it 5 times, cried every time at the end.

    Oh and by the way? Whoever tells you they "knew" it would be George at the end (John Doe) is a big FAT LIAR. Because there's NO way they could've known. There's no way ANYONE could've known.

    So what happened in Now or Never? Well, a lot of stuff happened in Now or Never. Like Cristina and Owen. Cristina, who I loveeeeeee. My favorite line ever? When Cristina tells Owen "I can't breathe without you." That was the breaking point for me. I almost flipped out in happiness when I heard her say that. Because when have we seen Cristina all gooey and love-y and tenderly like that? We didn't even see it when she was with Burke. So Owen must mean A-LOT to her.

    What else did I love about this season finale? Oh yeah Izzie. And Alex. And Bailey. And Richard. Tell me you didn't cry at the last scene, when we're all sitting on the edge of our seats, waiting to see if they're gonna try to save Izzie or not and then Richard (my hero!) goes all "SCREW THE DNR!" That also happens to be one of my all-time favorite scenes. Ever.

    And Alex. Crying. Watching his "wife" falling apart in front of him.

    Oh, Izzie. She breaks my heart. When she remembered the whole pillow and Alex-yelling-at-her-thing, I sort of didn't realize that she actually REMEMBERED. Until Alex screamed it. And rushed to get her. Too late, though, right?

    I guess I don't have to speak about the whole George-jumping-in-front-of-a-moving-bus thing. I guess we already know what happened to THAT. So sad, by the way. When George wrote "007" on Meredith's hand, I was literally SHOCKED. STUNNNED. SPEECHLESS.

    My George? .... Dead?

    But let me leave that for another episode (like the season 6 premiere which I HATED because of what happened to George :( so sad)

    --But the best thing about this episode? The thing that makes this episode so special, so unique that I tihnk it's going to be remembered in TV history forever...is probably the Meredith Voice Overs. Oh my god, do NOT tell me he voice-over in the end doesn't make you get all ... whatever, sad and stuff.

    "Have you said it yet? I LOVE YOU....."

    In all, no episode can make me say "THE BEST EPISODE EVER" except this one. Brilliant.moreless

    DO YOU AGREE?

    6 0

  • Shonda outdid herself!

    10
    "Perfect"
    By ZSinnett, Dec 29, 2010 Report Abuse
    This episode, Now or Never (2) was so absolutly, positivly, without a doubt, one of the best ever! I can't imagine waiting until September for the outcome. The Meredith/ Derek Post-it wedding was perfect for them. Izzie coming out of surgery memory impaired and everyone's struggle with it, was heart wrenching. I hated that Izzie signed a DNR. George being John Doe? I didn't see it coming, and I almost died when Meredith said "007". I don't know how Shonda thought of it, but Izzie and George somewhat dying at the same time and how everyone was divided up in trying to save their lives. Derek, Meredith, Owen, and Callie with George, and Cristina, Alex, Baily, and the Chief with Izzie. Also I am glad that the Chief said screw the DNR and they rushed to save Izzie's life. It was so awesome in the elevator scene. Like the "midlife" when you are stuck between life and death. Izzie was wearing the dress she did the nioght Denny died and George was in his army uniform. They looked at eachother and pondered (Izzie in the elevator, George right ouside of it). All the whie everyone is desperate to save them both. They both flatline, and then it ends. Boy does Shonda know how to keep a crowd on the edge.moreless

    DO YOU AGREE?

    10 1
 

Trivia, Notes, Quotes and Allusions

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  • Trivia

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    • At the beggining, when Izzie woke up, she said that it's 2009. However, according to the show's timeline, the first 3 seasons took place in the same year. Either it was a mistake, or the pilot episode took place between 2007 and 2008. Edit
    • Alex is reminded of "the woman who couldn't remember her husband". That was Betty Kenner, from this season premiere Dream A Little Dream Of Me. Edit
    • Goof: Listen closely when Alex is yelling at Cristina about how if Izzie's memory completely diminishes, she'll end up needing round-the-clock baby-sitters. He mentions that she may not even be able to find her way to the bathroom, and he clearly says "torlet" instead of "toilet". Edit

  • Notes

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    • International Episode Titles: Slovakia: Teraz alebo nikdy (Now or Never) Czech Republic: Teď, nebo nikdy (Now or Never) Edit
    • Original International Air Dates: Italy: July 13, 2009 on Fox Life Australia: July 16, 2009 on Channel 7 Germany: September 2, 2009 on ProSieben The Netherlands: October 16, 2009 on Net5 Norway: January 26, 2010 on TV2 Slovakia: March 22, 2010 on STV1 Czech Republic: July 29, 2010 on Prima Edit
    • Spoiler alert!: According to creator Shonda Rhimes, George's absence for most of this season leads up to this episode, where the audience wouldn't notice the he had disappeared for the duration of the episode. Edit

  • Quotes

    ADD QUOTES
    • Richard: What happened? Bailey: Is it her brain? Cristina: No, it's hypokalemia. Alex: We couldn't control the arrhythmias. Cristina: Her pressure's dropping off a cliff. Alex: Get me an intubation tray. Cristina: Alex. She signed a DNR. Alex: Shut up, Yang! Cristina: She knew this might happen, that's why she signed it. Alex: I don't give a crap what she signed. Cristina: Alex, it's not what she wants. (Izzie flatlines) Alex: Get a crash cart! (starts CPR) Bailey: Karev, if she doesn't... Alex: Look at her, get a crash cart! Richard: Oh, screw the DNR. Hand me those paddles. Bailey: Yang, take over compressions, Karev back up. Cristina: I got it, I got it. Richard: 1, 2, 3. (they turn her over) Hand down. Okay. Hand down. Charge to 300. (they shock her again) Come on, Stevens. Edit
    • Owen: We have you O'Malley. You hear me. We have you. We'll fix this. Just stay with us! Derek: O'Malley. It's Shepherd. You're not going anywhere, you understand me! Meredith: BP's dropping. Derek: Alright, lets put him out now! Edit
    • Derek (entering John Doe's room): How's his ICP? Owen: Worse than what I was expecting. I thought you were getting married? Derek: We did. (Mer and Derek smile at each other) Owen: Oh, congratulations. Are you sure you wanna start your honeymoon in an OR? Meredith: We're sure. (Derek smiles and nods, looks at Mer and walks out. Owen also leaves) You can't be in here. I'll come and get you in the waiting room. Amanda: Hold his hand until you put him under. It really does make him feel better. Meredith: Okay. (Amanda leaves) You made a good friend there. I guess that happens when you take a bus for somebody. Okay, I know this is scary. But, you do have a great team up there. You wanna try to write again? Can you hold the pen? (he starts writing on Mer's hand) 0...0...7? ... Double 0... 7. (he grabs Mer's hand, Mer realizes it's George, she gasps has a horrified look on her face) Oh god! Oh god! Edit

  • Allusions

    ADD ALLUSIONS
    • Alex (about Izzie): She's like the woman who couldn't remember her husband was dead. We had to keep telling her every 5 minutes. This quote refers back to a patient that they treated in the season premiere of season 5 Dream A Little Dream Of Me. Edit
    • Episode Title: Now or Never Now or Never is a song by Three Days Grace. The title could also be a reference to the lyrics from a Bon Jovi song's chorus, It's My Life. The lyrics from that song fit this episode. The chorus goes: It's my life / It's now or never / I ain't gonna live forever / I just want to live while I'm alive / It's my life Edit

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