Love is in the air! And regardless of your dating status this Valentine’s Day, you might find yourself aching for a little romance by way of your favorite TV show about attractive doctors saving lives and falling in and out of love while also falling in and out of bed. Since you have 18 seasons of Grey’s Anatomy to choose from (that’s a lot of on-call room hookups), we’re here to help. Below, find 10 episodes that each have the romance, the flirting, or the steaminess you’re looking for (sometimes all three!) to get you in the Valentine’s Day mood. And while we promise not to suggest episodes that are too devastating, remember this is Grey’s Anatomy — most of the romance has tragedy baked in. It is the cross Grey’s fans bear.
Season 1, Episode 5, “Shake Your Groove Thing”
Okay, we’re kicking things off with a fun one. Sure, Izzie breaks up with her boyfriend Hank, but he was an ass anyway. Otherwise, we get Izzie making eyes at Alex; Meredith and Derek hooking up in a car; and the reason we’re really here: Cristina and Burke sleeping together for the first time. Has the sentence “thanks for the coffee” ever been hotter? Oh, and there’s a whole story line about a nicked heart, which is probably an apt metaphor if you’re nursing a breakup this Valentine’s Day. Something for everyone!
Season 4, Episode 17 “Freedom, Part 2”
If you are celebrating Valentine’s Day today with someone you love and you haven’t yet built them your dream house out of candles in the middle of the woods, like, what are you even doing? Go buy some candles already.
But first watch this season-four episode in which Meredith does just that, which she also describes as a majorly “stupid, embarrassing, and corny thing” in order to show Derek that she is healed and whole and ready to be all-in with him. Their love, even though they aren’t technically together (Derek is still with Nurse Rose), feels so undeniable. And there is a bonus here: So many other wonderful and sexy and romantic moments happen in this episode. There’s Callie kissing Erica for the first time. There’s Richard telling Adele that he’s moving back home because he’s her husband and he loves her. There’s a very messy but intense Izzie and Alex moment. Even the kid trapped in cement gets a kiss in this episode! Love is everywhere.
Season 5, Episode 19, “Elevator Love Letter”
You may enjoy the very steamy, albeit toxic sex in the on-call room with Cristina and Owen following a harrowing PTSD incident. You may enjoy watching Alex process his feelings for Izzie as he decides to donate his sperm to fertilize her eggs before she starts her chemo (it’s very emotional). You may even enjoy seeing how much Bailey cares for Izzie as she begins her cancer treatment. All of those things are nice and great and lovely moments to take in on your Valentine’s Day. But I’m sorry, if you’re turning on “Elevator Love Letter,” it is really only to see — to experience — Derek proposing to Meredith in an elevator surrounded by scans and documents of all the surgeries they’ve done together. It comes right after a rough patch for the two — you must remember Derek spiraling after losing so many patients and hitting her engagement ring with a baseball bat, right? — and Meredith has told Derek she believes in him, and she brings him his ferry-boat scrub cap to operate on Izzie and … oh, buddy, the emotions are high. Weren’t “I love you, Meredith Grey, and I want to spend the rest of my life with you” the words we were waiting to hear since season one, episode one? Sigh. Do yourself a favor and relive that perfect moment in Meredith and Derek history.
Season 5, Episode 22, “What a Difference a Day Makes”
Now comes the point in your Valentine’s Day Grey’s watch to cry your eyes out. This is Grey’s Anatomy, and bawling every once in a while is tradition. At least this one will get the waterworks going without anyone having to die … yet. This episode takes place on what is supposed to be Meredith and Derek’s wedding day — a big, traditional wedding they’ve been letting Izzie plan to help take her mind off her cancer-riddled body. Sadly, she gets bad news, and her prognosis is grim. Derek and Meredith decide that this was Izzie’s wedding all along and surprise her by giving her the wedding she planned so that she and Alex can get married before she goes into a dangerous surgery. Alex’s vows about how this is the day his life begins will have you ugly crying, but honestly, if you’re dry-eyed by the time Izzie stumbles in the aisle and George gets up to walk her the rest of the way, you might be dead inside.
Season 5, Episode 24, “Now or Never”
I said I was trying to avoid tragedy, and now I’m telling you to watch one of the most tragic episodes of Grey’s Anatomy ever. I’ll give you four words to figure out which one I’m talking about: “John Doe is George!” But listen, I made the rules, so I can break the rules, and this episode has Meredith and Derek’s Post-it Note wedding, and, I’m sorry, but that is just iconic. You have to watch the Post-it Note wedding. Meredith and Derek promise to love each other even when they hate each other. Iconic!
Season 7, Episode 20, “White Wedding”
Do you love a good wedding? Because Grey’s Anatomy loves a good wedding. There have been so many (as this list proves). One of the most moving over the years was the season-seven nuptials between Callie Torres and Arizona Robbins. From Mark making sure both of his girls are taken care of on their big day, especially after Callie’s mom objects to her daughter marrying a woman (she tells Callie she’s going to hell! Her mom! On her wedding day!), to Bailey making Callie — and us — believe in love and magic again, to Callie’s dad showing up at the last minute for the father-daughter dance, the Calzona wedding is an emotional but uplifting affair and just full of so much love. And it’s not the only wedding in this episode: Meredith and Derek finally make things official by taking a trip to City Hall. The Post-it Note isn’t enough for the adoption agency — yep, that’s right; this is the episode they meet and decide to adopt Zola. It just warms your little heart, doesn’t it?
Season 8, Episode 21, “Moment of Truth”
Is it weird that the two major hookups in this episode come by way of a mother and son? I mean, obviously, they are hooking up with other people, but still. I’m talking about the Averys here: First, this episode, which takes place as our residents head to San Francisco to take their board exams, is the beginning of the Jackson and April saga. They’re just friends at the start, but the night before the exams, the two of them get into a fight with an idiot messing with April. They are hyped up as they head back to their hotel rooms and can’t help but smash their faces together. And then April tells Jackson she’s ready to lose her virginity. And she does. It’s complicated, but it is the birth of Japril, and it’s wonderful (if you want to see more heat between these two, stick around for the episode and the bathroom sex after this one). But let’s get real: The hottest sex in this episode belongs to Richard and Catherine. Richard’s resigned to the fact that his marriage is over — Adele, suffering from Alzheimer’s, doesn’t even recognize him — and he and Catherine have a genuine, deep connection. After dinner, Catherine tells Richard that she doesn’t want dessert, and she isn’t tired, and she does want him to get the check. Ohhh, baby, this scene is so steamy, you might need to go watch it twice. Hey, it’s Valentine’s Day. Live a little!
Season 10, Episode 12, “Get Up, Stand Up”
“Say it loud, and go from there.” If grand gestures and love despite the odds are your thing, you’ll enjoy heading back to this season-10 episode in which trauma surgeon April Kepner is supposed to get married to Very Nice Paramedic Matthew. Jackson Avery has other plans. After a few seasons of torturing themselves by hooking up and breaking up and hooking up again, the two best friends ended up in committed relationships with other people — that doesn’t mean the spark isn’t still there. Jackson realizes at the last minute — like the very last minute; the priest is about to make Matthew and April husband and wife — that he loves April and he can’t lose her. So, he takes advice from his late mentor Mark Sloan and stands up in front of everyone and tells April how he feels. He wants her to pull a runaway bride with him. The episode cuts right before she makes her decision, but you can guess how it’s going. Elsewhere in this episode, you get a super-hot make-out session against a barn (one of the top 10 locations for a hot make-out) between Alex and Jo, and some great moments in Meredith and Cristina’s friendship for anyone celebrating Galentine’s Day.
A windstorm double feature: Season 15, Episode 8, “Blowin’ in the Wind” and Season 15, Episode 9, “Shelter From the Storm”
Come, get swept away in a double feature that takes place during a massive and deadly windstorm in Seattle. Sure, you’re going to have to watch a man almost lose his legs when an elevator crushes them, but love hurts, baby. On the bright side, you get two very hot love stories throughout these two episodes. First, this is when Levi Schmitt and Nico Kim finally hook up, and, honestly, it was worth the wait: The two of them end up trapped in an ambulance as the wind rages around them, and Schmitt, who has only recently come out, admits that he’s never felt more himself than when he kissed Nico, and it is moving. So moving that the guys can’t help but take their relationship to the next level. It gets steamy. Then enjoy an elevator full of sexual tension — a Grey Sloan staple — when Meredith and DeLuca get stuck together after the power goes out. DeLuca’s only just made his feelings for Meredith known, and while she’s trying to take things slow, DeLuca opens up about his father and starts talking about kissing her in Italian. Maybe it’s the whole “people being trapped in an enclosed space thing,” but I’m sweating.
Maggie Fremont is a freelance pop culture writer with a focus on television. You can find more of her writing on Vulture, Entertainment Weekly's EW.com, and TV Guide.
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