(S02E26/S02E27) There's too much. Just too too much. This was two hours of drama, intensity, sexual tension, silliness, plot resolutions, and cliffhangers. There's too much to recap in one post, believe you me, but more than enough to make all of us look forward to next year.

Was there some filler? Yes; there's no way you can stretch a one-hour show to two hours without having some filler. The whole prom subplot, concocted by Webber to give his dying neice Natalie a nice memory (and to placate his wife, who tells him she knew all along about his affair with Meredith's mom) , was really just there to a) keep Team Intern away from the OR while they cover for each other in the Denny Debacle, and b) to show the entire cast in tuxes and pretty dresses.

But the rest? All good.

Let's just go over the stories:

Burke is shot: It really broke my heart every time Cristina shied away from Burke in his moments of need, like when he asked her whether he should have Derek operate on his arm, or during surgery when they need her to keep him focused to test his motion, or even after, when he doubts his hand is all the way back. But she turned it around during her interrogation by Webber (those interrogations were also a little bit of filler, allowing Team Intern to speechify about their storylines one by one, but it was effective), then completed the transformation when she saw what happened to Izzie and Denny at the end of the episode. So Denny's not the only one who might have received a new heart in this episode.

Mer/Der: First of all, can I tell you how sad I was to see Doc put down (yes, it's Doc, not "Dog")? Just that look in that dog's eyes, not knowing what was going to happen but scared anyway, was one of the worst things in this episode (that dog is a hell of an actor). But, otherwise, you knew Meredith and Derek getting together was going to happen, especially when Meredith showed up to the "prom" in that hot dress. As much as Webber may have convinced Derek, through his story about his marriage, to stay with Addison, it just wasn't meant to be. Meredith, telling Webber that she thinks he broke up her parents' marriage... that took some balls, but it may have clarified things for her. And the cliffhanger... well, we'll get to that a little later.

George and Callie: Callie is a big girl, isn't she? Seeing her in that prom dress confirmed that. And I don't mean big as in fat, I mean big as in "she looks like she can crush George in the palm of her hand." Which makes her devotion to him all the more remarkable. She tells him she loves him, he runs to work on the Denny Debacle and doesn't come back. He tells Meredith that he was sorry -- wimp -- for letting himself continue to make love to her despite the fact that he knew she didn't feel anything for him (so he was mad at himself this whole time!); he just wanted to be with her -- and probably still does. Callie, who seems to be the only person at Grace who can express herself, is right to feel like George is playing her, but melts when he tells her that he's just not ready to say he loves her back yet, that's all. She's so vulnerable it hurts; hopefully, we'll find out more about her next year (including why she lives at the hospital!).

And finally....

The Denny Debacle: You knew Denny wasn't gonna make it, right? I mean, anyone who thought otherwise was kidding themselves. It just killed me that the tough interns (the "suck-ups," as Bailey called them), as well as Bailey and Webber, continued to humor this whole ridiculous operation. Heck, even Alex came around after... well, after Denny kicked it. He realized how much Izzie truly loved Denny, and gently got her to let him go. It just bugged me that Izzie almost kills Denny, breaks the law, does all she can to have the hospital lose its acreditation, and drags in all of Team Intern to keep her secret, and their punishment is... a prom? How 'bout they all get to go home and sweat over losing their jobs and a possible lawsuit? Wouldn't that be closer to reality?

But I will say that the scenes of Denny's surgery (done by Dr. Hahn!) intercut with Burke's was compelling, as was the scene where Denny's reading a magazine, happy to be engaged to Izzie, then feels a bit of pain and.... that's it. It's over. And Izzie's going to the "prom" in that foofy dress, thinking she's going to be happy forever. If there's one thing the Grey's writers know how to do is build the drama (like at the beginning of the episode, when everyone tending to Denny says "Burke's been shot!" then it cuts right to a commercial. Nice). Izzie's decision to quit after Denny's demise seemed hollow, because it was likely she was going to lose her job anyway, but it was dramatic nevertheless. Will we see more of Katherine Heigl next year? Not sure. But I hope so, since she did a fantastic job playing lovesick and happy and crazed and devestated in the span of three hours.

Ok, the cliffhanger... I've got to say, I'm tired of Mer/Der. I really wanted Meredith to realize what she had in Finn, especially after he tells her he's starting to "make plans" again because of her. He doesn't deserve this. So, we end this season with the clichéd cliffhanger of "Who will she pick?" I dunno. Seemed kind of lame, considering we all know where she's going to go, even if it's not in the first few seconds of Season Three, but at some point in the future. But as far as I'm concerned, the sonner Meredith and Derek get together, the better. I want to know about the rest of Team Intern, and getting them together soon will allow the writers to explore that...

So, we're done with Season Two. Kudos all around to Shonda Rhimes and her writing staff for giving us a spectacular season. Also kudos to the cast, especially Kate Walsh, who took Addison from "bitchy ex-wife" to "God, I want to cradle her in my arms and tell her it's OK" in 27 short episodes, and Sara Ramirez, who is making me want to find a powerful woman myself. But everyone in the cast did a bang-up job this year. It'll be tough for all of them to top this season. But I can't wait until September to see them try.