Meredith and Derek Spoilers for Grey's Anatomy

What Will Season 5 Mean for "MerDer"?

Meredith Grey and Derek Sheppard are the star-crossed, on-again, off-again couple who headline the hit television drama "Grey's Anatomy". ABC's breakout hit television show took viewers by surprise in 2005 as a hit mid-season replacement. Now, with four seasons under its belt and Season 5 starting soon, what can viewers expect from Meredith and Derek's surprise reunion? Spoilers and speculation abound.

Well...no one was really surprised, as stories about the plot line were leaked long in advance of the actual season finale in May 2008. Even Shonda Rhimes, the series producer and creator, leaked the reunion. But no one expected Derek to kiss Meredith deeply after she admitted she wanted to marry him, have kids, build a house--the whole nine yards--and then tell her he needed to leave and...talk to Rose?

Rose, a surgical nurse at Seattle Grace Hospital, had been Derek's "rebound" person. Referred to pejoratively by unadoring fans as "The Plant," Rose inspired viewers to new levels of hatred on message boards devoted to Grey's Anatomy. "MerDer" fanatics (like Trekkers to Star Trek) freaked out when Derek and Rose appeared to intensify their relationship at the end of Season 4, seeing no way out for Meredith and Derek to come together. The somewhat rushed reunion (the season finale, two hours long, compressed a LOT of psychological growth for Meredith into 88 minutes) led to Derek, attempting to be honorable, walking away from Meredith and her candle-lined house plan on Derek's land.

Message board fans speculated that Derek might die in a car crash on the way to see Rose. Or that Rose will be pregnant in Season 5. Or that Derek would get into a car crash and have amnesia. Shonda Rhimes put rest to those rumors in her podcasts, though.

So what can we expect? Spoilers and speculation on Meredith and Derek in Season 5 on Grey's Anatomy to follow: