The real story of "Some Kind of Miracle" was friendship.

A troubled friendship between George and Izzie, a broken friendship on the mend between Derek and Mark, the end of a tangled friendship between Chief Webber and Ellis Grey, and the very real, lasting bond between Cristina and Meredith.

Early in the episode, Izzie takes out her building frustration of not being able to help Meredith on Callie. But Callie holds her ground, as she should.

A distraught Izzie feels like she's losing George, but in her attempt to hold onto him, she might be driving him further away.

Mark Sloan shows an almost-human side as he tries to be a friend to Derek. It seems like they could both use a friend right now, and maybe enough water has finally passed under the bridge for that to happen.

Mark also accepts Addison's challenge to prove he still cares about her, meaning no sex for 60 days. If he's willing to go the distance, he could actually win her back. But even if Mark can do it, chances are Addison can't. She's very vulnerable and unstable right now.

Any advances of any kind from anyone, specifically single interns named Alex Karev, would surely be reciprocated on Addison's part.

The Chief's goodbye to Ellis Grey revealed just how much he did care about her throughout their affair and their subsequent friendship. He knew she would be happier in a better place, with her mind and body whole. But he's going to miss her. They have such a history together that most of his life is built around choices he made regarding Ellis.

It took Meredith nearly dying for Cristina to understand what it means to have Meredith as her "person." We got to understand a little bit of why Cristina does have such a hard time with intimacy. Her fear of losing the people she loves is very real, based on her experience with her father.

If Burke doesn't know this part of her life, he needs to find out. Such issues are bound to creep up later, and if their engagement and marriage are going to last, they need to understand each other a little bit better.

Meredith's own issues are brought to light by the insight of the people she meets in her afterlife. They know she sort of let herself drown, and eventually, Meredith admits this to Denny.

Through her conversation with Denny, she's able to see the pointlessness of letting her issues keep her from living her life. In Denny, Meredith is able to see the full picture of what both she and Derek would experience if she didn't recover from her accident.

Seeing the connection between Denny and Izzie is both heartbreaking and hopeful. But Meredith wants more than that.

Ellis, as she loses her own battle against her illness and meets Meredith in her afterlife, finally gives her the closure she needs to let go of her emotional baggage by telling her she's anything but ordinary.

With these words, Meredith takes off down the hall, back toward the room of doctors that are still working on bringing her back to life.

It's interesting that Cristina is by Meredith's side as she wakes from her brush with death. It's not Derek; it's not any of the other interns. It's Cristina.

Maybe this means their relationship will outlast all the others. Or maybe it's just a coincidence. But either way, both doctors learned something about themselves that will change their lives, and maybe even change the lives of those around them.

Steve Marsi is the Managing Editor of TV Fanatic. Follow him on Google+ or email him here.