5 Times Grey's Anatomy Made Viewers Want to Hide Behind a Pillow

Grey's Anatomy has run for 20 seasons with 430 episodes and shows no signs of stopping. That's an unimaginable number of storylines. But ask any long-time viewer (yes, there are people who have been with the show since it premiered in 2005), and without skipping a beat, they'll name a handful of scenes and episodes that made them feel real emotions, especially embarrassment.

Grey's Anatomy is known for being over-the-top with drama, suspense, and stakes, so it is natural that some of its scenes felt ridiculous and cringe-inducing rather than anything else. Some of them have even become iconic in modern pop culture. Here are five examples that are all too familiar to any seasoned fan.

Spectrophilia Hour

S5E9 In the Midnight Hour

The Season 5 scene in which Izzie Stevens and her long-deceased fiancé Denny Duquette have sex for the first time haunts viewers to this day. This shocking moment was later explained as a result of Izzie experiencing tactile, visual and auditory hallucinations due to her brain tumor. Still, the whole thing was wild and unsettling, no matter how you slice it.

Pathetic Lovemaking

S2E19 What Have I Done to Deserve This?

After pining for the title character Meredith Grey for two seasons, George O'Malley finally ended up in bed with her. What followed was the most cringe-worthy sex scene in TV history. With Meredith breaking down in uncontrollable sobs mid-session and George selfishly angry with her, it was a moment fans wish they could erase from their memories.

Awkward Singing

S5E15 Before and After

The storyline that really rubbed viewers the wrong way was Naomi and Sam Bennett's attempt to get Addison Montgomery and Derek Shepherd back together, even though Derek was happy with Meredith. This embarrassing plot reached its climax when the meddling duo made Derek sing a love song he had written for Addison long ago. Derek's discomfort was palpable, making the scene painfully awkward.

Like a Broken Record

S5E10 All By Myself

Many fans were rooting for the unexpected couple, Lexie Grey and Mark Sloan. So at first, her 'teach me' line leading up to their first steamy scene had quite the allure. But after hearing it seven times in a row, the charm quickly wore off. By then, the entire audience was cringing in embarrassment - a perfect example of taking things too far.

Pick-Me Girl

S2E5 Bring the Pain

Of course, in compiling this list, we had to include the most iconic cringe-worthy moment of the medical show, and possibly all of television, which gave birth to the real-life term 'pick-me girl.' Meredith's uncharacteristic 'pick me, choose me, love me' plea to Derek left millions of viewers feeling betrayed and frustrated. The scene's intense cringe factor only became bearable when it turned into an inside joke among Grey's Anatomy fans.