If you were watching TV in 2014, you couldn't escape Hozier. His voice was everywhere. But for those of us glued to ABC on Thursday nights, the song "Take Me to Church" isn't just a radio hit; it is the sonic wallpaper for one of the most stressful, high-stakes finales in medical drama history. Specifically, the Grey’s Anatomy Take Me to Church moment happens during the Season 10 finale, "Fear (of the Unknown)." It wasn't just a background track. It was the heartbeat of Cristina Yang’s exit.
Shonda Rhimes has this uncanny ability to pick a song that sticks to your ribs. You know the feeling? You hear a few chords and suddenly you're back on your couch, crying over fictional surgeons. This was different, though. This wasn't a "Chasing Cars" sob-fest. It was about momentum.
The Chaos of the Mall Explosion
The episode starts with a literal bang. A possible terrorist attack—later revealed to be a gas main explosion—at a local mall sends a flood of victims to Grey Sloan Memorial. It’s chaotic. It’s loud. And right in the middle of the surgical frenzy, Hozier starts humming.
The choice of "Take Me to Church" was brilliant for a few reasons. First, the tempo. The song has this driving, rhythmic pulse that mimics the adrenaline of an ER during a mass casualty event. You see Owen Hunt barking orders. You see the interns looking terrified. The music builds as the trauma bays fill up.
Most people forget that the song actually plays twice in different capacities or feels like it spans multiple heavy sequences. Honestly, the juxtaposition of the "religious" metaphors in the lyrics with the "sanctuary" of the operating room is classic Grey's. Surgeons in this universe basically treat the OR as their cathedral. For Cristina Yang, surgery was her only religion.
Why Cristina Yang’s Departure Needed This Sound
Sandra Oh’s exit remains, arguably, the best-written departure in the show’s twenty-plus seasons. She didn't die in a plane crash. she didn't get hit by a bus. She just outgrew the place. But before she could leave for Zurich, she had to save a few more lives.
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As "Take Me to Church" swells, we see the sheer technical mastery of these doctors. But underneath the cool professionalism, there's this crushing weight of "goodbye." Cristina is trying to leave, but the mall explosion keeps pulling her back in. She’s wearing her street clothes under a lab coat. She’s halfway out the door, yet she’s still the most "God-like" figure in the room when a heart needs fixing.
The song’s dark, bluesy undertones captured the mood perfectly. It wasn't happy. It wasn't entirely sad either. It was heavy.
The Hozier Effect on Grey’s Anatomy
Let’s talk about the "Grey’s bump." Before this episode aired in May 2014, Hozier was already gaining traction, but being featured in a Shondaland finale is like being shot out of a cannon. The show has a history of doing this—Snow Patrol, The Fray, and Brandi Carlile all owe a debt to the music supervisors at ABC.
- The Lyrics: "I'll worship like a dog at the shrine of your lies."
- The Context: The surgeons are literally kneeling over bodies on the floor, doing whatever it takes.
- The Vibe: Gritty, desperate, and soulful.
Some fans at the time felt the song was a bit too "on the nose" because it was so popular on the charts. Kinda like when a show uses a song that's currently Top 40. Usually, that feels cheap. Here? It felt earned. The raw vocals matched the raw nerves of Meredith Grey realizing her "person" was actually leaving this time.
Misconceptions About the Scene
A lot of people on TikTok and X (formerly Twitter) mix up which episode this is. Some think it’s the hospital shooting. Nope. Others think it’s when Derek dies. Wrong again.
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The Grey’s Anatomy Take Me to Church sequence is strictly tied to the Season 10 finale. It’s the "Mall Explosion" episode. It’s also the episode where we get the iconic "Dance it out" scene, though that happens to a different track (Tegan and Sara’s "Where Does the Good Go"). The Hozier track is for the work. The Tegan and Sara track is for the friendship.
It’s also worth noting that the song choice wasn't just about the lyrics. It was about the silence that followed. When the song fades out and the reality of the empty lockers sets in, that’s when the emotional hammer drops.
The Technical Brilliance of the Edit
If you rewatch the scene today, notice the editing. The cuts between the OR and the waiting room are timed to the drum beats in the chorus. It’s a masterclass in tension. The music supervisor, Alexandra Patsavas, really outdid herself here. She understood that by 2014, the audience was used to the "Grey’s formula." To make us feel something new, she needed a sound that felt more "adult" and grounded than the indie-pop of the early seasons.
Hozier provided that. His voice sounds like old floorboards and rain. It made Grey Sloan feel less like a TV set and more like a place where life and death actually happen.
How to Relive the Moment (If You Want to Cry)
If you’re looking to find this exact moment, don’t just look for a music video. You need the context.
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- Open Netflix or Hulu.
- Go to Season 10, Episode 24.
- Fast forward to the arrival of the mall victims.
- Turn the volume up.
You’ll notice things you missed the first time. Like the way Leah Murphy—remember her?—steps up during the crisis even though she’s been fired. Or how Shane Ross realizes he’s following Cristina to Switzerland. The song blankets all these small character arcs in one cohesive, moody atmosphere.
What This Scene Taught Us About Television
Grey's Anatomy proved that a song doesn't have to be "indie" or "underground" to be effective. Sometimes, the biggest song in the world is the biggest for a reason. It taps into a collective anxiety. In 2014, we were all a little anxious. We were losing Cristina Yang, the feminist heartbeat of the show. We were seeing the end of an era.
The song choice acknowledged that. It gave the exit the gravity it deserved. It wasn't just a TV show ending a season; it felt like a funeral for a certain version of the show we loved.
Next Steps for the Superfan
If you want to dive deeper into the music of the show, check out the official Grey’s Anatomy playlists on Spotify, but specifically look for the "Patsavas Era" collections. You can also compare the Season 10 finale's use of Hozier to the Season 2 use of "Chasing Cars" to see how the show’s musical identity evolved from "emotional yearning" to "gritty survival." For a real deep dive, watch Sandra Oh’s interviews about her final days on set; she often mentions the frantic energy of filming that mall explosion, which perfectly mirrors the intensity of "Take Me to Church."