Grey’s Anatomy’s Plastics Posse was set to ride again at the 2025 Primetime Emmy Awards earlier this month, as Eric Dane was scheduled to present an award alongside former costar Jesse Williams. Unfortunately, Dane wasn’t able to make the ceremony, so Williams presented the Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series award solo.
Fans rushed to wish Dane comfort and strength during his ALS treatment, and now we’re celebrating his Grey’s legacy across nine seasons of the ABC medical drama. Here are our picks for his best moments as Dr. Mark “McSteamy” Sloan. (Spoilers ahead!)
10. Dad Mode
We see a softer side of Mark Sloan in the eighth-season installment “What Is It About Men,” as he takes care of Sofia, his child with Callie (Sara Ramirez) and Arizona (Jessica Capshaw). Cue many new-dad misadventures, including his funny reaction to an unexpected rollover. (And yet it was Jackson with whom Mark was paternalistic in that episode!)
9. Taunting Derek
When Mark sees Derek (Patrick Dempsey) riding the elevator with ex-wife Addison (Kate Walsh), ex-girlfriend Meredith (Ellen Pompeo), and current flame Rose (Lauren Stamile), he cracks up… and then cracks wise. “Bet you wish you’d taken the stairs right about now,” he tells Derek in a stage whisper.
8. Saving Alex
Not only does Mark shield Lexie (Chyler Leigh) from gunfire in the two-part Season 6 finale, “Sanctuary” & “Death and All His Friends,” but he also helps her save Alex’s (Justin Chambers) life, even though he’s clearly still in love with her and she’s dating Alex. And Mark continues said lifesaving measures even as Lexie declares her love for his romantic rival.
7. A Blow to the Manhood
In Season 5’s “Stairway to Heaven,” Mark and Lexie are having an on-call room assignation when he suffers a penile fracture in the heat of the moment. But four episodes later, he assures her that she’s done more good than harm. “You think you broke me, Little Grey?” he says. “You’re the one who put me back together.”
6. A Promise of Marriage
After umpteen romantic complications — including the arrival of his hitherto-unknown daughter Sloan (Leven Rambin) — Mark reaffirms his love for Lexie in Season 6’s “Shiny Happy People,” just one episode before the calamitous season finale. (More on that later.) When she reminds him she has a boyfriend — Alex, at the time — he says, “I know. I’m telling you you can have a husband.”
5. Afterlife Reunion
The ship known as Slexie sets sail again in Season 17’s “Breathe,” as a Covid-stricken Meredith has visions of them while unconscious in the hospital. They tell her they’re together in the afterlife — on her dream beach, at least — and she shouldn’t waste one minute of life fighting change, resisting pain, and thinking that they’re not always with her.
4. His Punchy Intro
Mark makes his debut in Season 2’s “Yesterday” and immediately starts hitting on Meredith… but doesn’t get far before Derek, his former bestie, punches him out. After establishing that he and Meredith are the “dirty mistresses” in Derek and Addison’s relationship, Mark starts suturing his own face. And it’s Mer who gives him his immortal nickname: McSteamy.
3. Mark Says It Loud
Season 9’s “Remember the Time” rewinds the clock to just before Mark’s death, and during a surge of energy, he gives Jackson vital advice: “If you love someone, you tell ’em. Even if you’re scared that it’s not the right thing. Even if you’re scared that it’ll cause problems. Even if you’re scared that it will burn your life to the ground, you say it, and you say it loud. And then you go from there.”
2. A McSteamy Shower
Mark returns to Seattle in Season 3’s “I Am a Tree,” emerging from a hotel room shower — and just barely covering himself with a towel — just as Derek is apologizing to Addison about his role in the breakdown of their marriage. (“Oh, this is awkward,” Mark says. Derek, meanwhile, finishes a humiliated Addison’s champagne and says, “I feel much better now.”)
1. Meant to Be
Mark does all he can to save Lexie from the plane wreckage in the Season 8 finale, “Flight,” and when he realizes he can’t budge twisted metal, he tries keeping her alive through sheer force of will. “We’re gonna be happy, Lex, you and me,” he says. “We’re gonna have the best life, Lexie, you and me. We’re gonna be so happy. So you can’t die, OK? You can’t die, because we’re supposed to end up together. We’re meant to be.”
Grey’s Anatomy, Season 22 Premiere, October 9, 10/9c, ABC
