Ranking every couple from Grey's Anatomy

Greetings, reader!

It's time for the final post of my Grey's Anatomy theme month, and I saved the most fun concept for last. The series is known for its messy and complicated relationship drama, inspiring endless debates among fans on who was whose engame and which pairings were underrated or overrated - so I went and ranked every couple from the show.

I ruled out the multitude of platonic hook-ups (so, no Callie and Mark), as well as pairings that were purely teased without anything happening (so, no Meredith and Link), as well as ruling that at least one member of the couple has to work at the hospital and be a major character in the series (so, no Joe the Bartender and Walter). I ranked the couples based on a combination of all the factors that make a fictional couple good: the couple's chemistry, iconic moments, their healthiness and mutual respect, and how attached and invested I become in their storyline all count as positives, while elements like toxic dynamics, things ending especially badly, the couple being forgettable and unnecessary/overkill drama count as negatives. Here is my ranking of every Grey's Anatomy couple, based on the show's 20-season (and counting) run!

Oh, and a spoiler alert is in order, obviously.

70. Jo Wilson and Paul Stadler

This arguably shouldn't even be counted, as it's more of a victim-and-abuser situation than a romantic couple. But, they were married (poor Jo), and something had to be ranked last, so this was a no-brainer in that regard. It takes a lot for a pacifist like me to rejoice in anyone's (real or fictional) death, but man, Paul Stadler sure was one of 'em.

69. Jo Wilson and Jason Myers

Jo's tragic luck with men continued with this douchebag, who also turned out to be violent. Thankfully, his time on the series and in Jo's life was short-lived.

68. Miranda Bailey and Tucker Jones

F**k this absolute joke of a man, who was lucky enough to be together with a goddess and didn't treat her like one. I'm glad Bailey finally realized she deserved better.

67. George O'Malley and Izzie Stevens

Friends-to-lovers is a great trope, but not like this! NEVER LIKE THIS!

66. Arizona Robbins and Leah Murphy

I was a big Arizona enjoyer for most of her time on the show, but she had her lowpoints, and taking advantage of an emotionally vulnerable intern was most definitely one of them. At least this mess of a relationship brought some good with it, as the hospital was finally forced to reckon with the implications of its attendings-sleeping-with-interns rite of passage.

65. Simone Griffith and Trey Delgado

(For those who stopped watching at a sensible moment, these are characters introduced in season 19).

Trey Delgado exists in the show's mythos for the sole reason of Simone having such a terrible love interest that it will feel like a massive payoff when she chooses the better love interest over him. And you know what, it worked. Simone and Trey are a bad couple, in a very purposeful manner, and Trey's treatment of her really paves the way for the potential of Lucas and Simone (more on them later).

64. Maggie Pierce and Clive

Clive seemed alright, but a bit boring - and then his wife showed up. Poor woman.

63. Izzie Stevens and Hank the Hockey Player

I should really re-watch the first season in order to be able to rank this more accurately. Low points for memorability at least, as I only very barely remember the dude's existence.

62. George O'Malley and Olivia Harper

George, you were one of my favorites, but your love life was a fucking mess of self-sabotage. Nurse Olivia most definitely deserved someone who's as much into her as she's into them (don't we all?), and O'Malley wasn't it.

61. Maggie Pierce and Ethan Boyd

I guess they were alright, but I must once again deduce points for lack of memorability - because who the f**k even was Ethan?

60. Arizona Robbins and Eliza Minnick

I grudgingly put this duo barely above the utmost deep-end bad ones, because at least they had some degree of chemistry (a bit of a win-by-default, as Arizona has it with literally everyone), and they genuinely cared for each other as long as it lasted. But, y'know, Minnick was a big jerk.

59. Alex Karev and Lucy Fields

This short-lived relationship started out with an okay amount of chemistry and potential, but Lucy really did Alex dirty, thus leaving a sour taste for the whole relationship.

58. Meredith Grey and Will Thorpe

Will was a really well-written, purposefully bad love interest - the writers knew that the viewers wouldn't warm up to the first guy Meredith is with post-Derek no matter what, so they got that out of the way with this red-herring pallet-cleanser of a man, paving the way for better dudes to come.

57. Teddy Altman and Andrew Perkins

Remember that time when Teddy was with a character so obscure that he isn't even the show's foremost Andrew? Yeah, that happened.

56. George O'Malley and Callie Torres

It started out kind of sweet, and I really care for both characters and belive they cared for each other as well. But man, they were not meant to be romantically, they got married for all the wrong reasons, and it ended in such fucked-up way. Poor Callie.

(Fun fact: this is the highest-ranking couple to involve O'Malley. Here, outside the top fifty. Man, the writers did him dirty. Meanwhile, Webber's lowest-ranking pairing still makes the top fifteen).

55. Jackson Avery and Maggie Pierce

I know a lot of fans would put this clown show straight into their bottom three, no questions asked. I will say that they weren't as bad as people say, simply because they had a few sweet moments and they genuinely loved each other for a while there. But yeah, it was littered with red flags from the semi-incestuous implications to the couple's lack of chemistry and communication skills, and it went on for way too long.

54. Owen Hunt and Emma Marling

She deserved so much better. Fun fact: that is my comment for every single one of Owen Hunt's relationships. Some have additional thoughts as well, but "she deserved so much better" is definitely the common thread across them all.

53. Mark Sloan and Julia Canner

They seemed happy(-ish), but from a dramaturgical standpoint, Julia's character development begins and ends at "Woman who isn't Lexie because Shonda Rhimes likes to hurt the viewers' feelings".

52. Jo Wilson and Todd Eames

Very forgettable and might be ranked too high due to recency bias, but hey, at least Todd seemed like a genuinely sweet guy which is always a nice change of pace for Jo's history with men. Fun while it lasted, I suppose.

51. Jackson Avery and Priya

They seemed to have potential on paper, but we never got to know Priya well enough for this to feel like anything to be invested in.

50. Alex Karev and Rebecca/Ava

I get that they really, genuinely fell hard for each other, so points for that. Point deductions for massive red flags, ethical breaches and a dynamic that was harmful for both of them.

49. Carina DeLuca and Maya Bishop

Apparently most of this side-character love story happens on the spin-off Station 19. From the glimpses we see on Grey's, they seem quite happy together (but one would need context in order to rank them higher).

48. Meredith Grey and Cormac Hayes

The protagonist and McWidow had potential, but they never got the timing right. Shame.

47. Owen Hunt and Amelia Shepherd

Some might rank this couple higher because they did last long and had some memorable moments. But, the thing is - they were so bad for each other, and as is the running theme with Dr. Hunt's relationships, Amelia deserved so much better.

46. Mark Sloan and Addison Shepherd

They had chemistry for sure, not to mention a genuine caring for each other. But still - the relationship hailed from a very f**ked-up place, and it makes all the sense in the world that they didn't last in the long run.

45. Jackson Avery and Stephanie Edwards

They were cute, but they didn't exactly have an abundance of chemistry, and we all know how it ended (poor Stephanie).

44. Derek Shepherd and Nurse Rose

Like the previous entry, this is a relationship that could've worked if it wasn't very clearly written to be a temporary obstacle ahead of something inevitable. Hard to be particularly invested in those couples.

43. Meredith Grey and Finn Dandridge

Had to put this right next to Derek and Rose, because it's the same damn thing the other way around. Finn was sweet, but I doubt viewers would have noticed if the character's actual name had been "Not-Derek".

42. Maggie Pierce and Andrew DeLuca

Oh, right, this happened. Fun(-ish) while it lasted, but clearly no long-term potential for either individual.

41. Alex Karev and Lexie Grey

This couple worked surprisingly well when considering their wildly differing personalities. Solid, but nothing particularly deep.

40. Callie Torres and Erica Hahn

More of a bridge for Callie's bi awakening than an actually interesting relationship in itself. But hey, good for Callie!

39. Jules Millin and Benson Kwan

Okay, technically these two new interns haven't become an item yet, but the buildup across seasons 19 and 20 is clear enough that I'm already putting them on the list (and ranking them fairly high, because I enjoy their banter).

38. Jackson Avery and Vic Hughes

Seemed like a solid and respectful relationship for as long as it lasted, but I feel like only saw half of it unfold as I wasn't watching Station 19 simultaneously (also Jackson with anyone other than April feels a bit cursed).

37. Cristina Yang and Preston Burke

Many fans would rank this higher, and I get it - they had their moments, and the relationship was important for Cristina's character development. But at the same time, I never really enjoyed them together, and Burke didn't treat her half as well as she deserved.

36. Levi Schmitt and Carlos Garcia

Travelling nurse Carlos was around for only one episode, but dammit, I was enthralled by the chemistry and potential in this pairing! I'm hoping they pull another Nick Marsh and have Carlos return several seasons later, possibly to be Levi's endgame love interest.

35. April Kepner and Matthew Taylor

Matthew is alright, and these two definitely have their sweet moments. But, can't rank 'em too high, because Jackson and April were so epic that ultimately this coupling can't help but feel like a distraction.

34. Mark Sloan and Teddy Altman

A hard one to rank - their chemistries and personalities weren't nearly enough of a match in order to work in the long run, but for this moment in both character archs, this fling was exactly the pallet-cleanser both characters needed. A nice change of pace.

33. Callie Torres and Penny Blake

I know she has her haters, but I'm an average Penny enjoyer. These two were cute together.

32. Miranda Bailey and Eli Lloyd

Eli was a cool and hot dude, and just the breath of fresh air Bailey needed while temporarily broken up with the man who was always going to be her endgame.

31. Derek Shepherd and Addison Montgomery

Ranked around the middle of the list because it makes all the sense in the world that these two fell in love and got married, but it makes even more sense that their marriage was unhappy and didn't last.

30. Teddy Altman and Tom Koracic

They had sweet moments and I'd like to rank them higher, but honestly, Tom's heart was so much more in it than Teddy's that it felt inevitably unfair.

29. Cristina Yang and Owen Hunt

Many fans would rank this notoriously iconic couple higher, and I get it - they had their moments, and their chemistry was undeniable. But very few of the show's couples hurt me as much as this one, because Owen kept proving time and again what a shitty partner he was, with his actions constantly keeping their union from reaching its full potential. Say it with me - she deserved so much better.

28. Jackson Avery and Lexie Grey

These two rascals were cute together, and obviously a strikingly hot couple. But not for one second did it feel like something that could last in the long run, as they had "let's couple these two attractive characters up for a while of fun, before they move on to their actual endgames" written all over them.

27. Stephanie Edwards and Kyle Diaz

Edwards never got a truly proper endgame-coded love interest, which honestly doesn't matter - not every character needs one, and Edwards seemed quite content being 'married to the work'. Still, Kyle Diaz is the closest she got to true love, and their story was a beautifully heartbreaking one.

26. Amelia Shepherd and Kai Bartley

These two made for one of the hotter couples in the show's recent years, and Kai was exactly what Amelia needed after her breakup with Link. Their romance ended somewhat abruptly, and I wouldn't be against them having another go at it if Kai were to return some day.

25. Taryn Helm and Mika Yasuda

Call it recency bias if you will, but this coupling from the newest seasons has so far shown tremendous potential. I was rooting for Helm and Yasuda from their first flirtatious encounter, and I hope they manage to figure things out in the long run, as their chemistry is immensely enjoyable.

24. Teddy Altman and Henry Burton

A classic Grey's Anatomy case of two people falling for each other and beautifully overcoming obstacles in order to be together, only for one half of the couple to be brutally murdered for the sick enjoyment of notorious serial killer Shonda Rhimes.

23. Maggie Pierce and Winston Ndugu

We're now in the hard-to-rank portion of "couples that were storybook perfection until the writers decided to utterly ruin it with some forced and abrupt drama". Maggie and Winston were one of the show's sweetest and most healthy couples for several seasons, but the way in which things ended left such a sour taste that I can't rank them any higher than this.

22. Amelia Shepherd and Atticus Lincoln

The same trajectory as Maggie&Winston, but this one hurts even more, because #amelink was so good while it lasted. Their journey of ending up together was an absolute joy to witness, their chemistry was off the charts, and their overcoming of their first obstacles was empowering. But, yeah, the writers severely dropped the ball on this one, turning things so toxic that both characters turned into the worst versions of themselves when together. What a shame.

21. Levi Schmitt and Nico Kim

Many fans wouldn't rank Schmitt&Nico this high, as they definitely had their bad moments and it makes sense that they didn't last. But for me, their love story is among the most sweet and memorable non-endgame romances in the show - they both learned and grew a lot via each other, their good times were triumphant to witness, and they clearly remain with a strong caring for one another.

20. Jo Wilson and Atticus Lincoln

The build-up to these two getting together was overdone, but I'm a sucker for friends-to-lovers (and glad that Jo is with a safe, stand-up dude after all she went through).

19. Meredith Grey and Nathan Riggs

Nice of this chill Aussie dude to show up and help a post-Derek Meredith get her groove back. Fun while it lasted, and ended in a way that was happy and right for both parties.

18. Owen Hunt and Teddy Altman

Why is this trainwreck of a marriage ranked so high? Well, my initial opinion of them as a couple was the Owen Hunt classic (she deserves so much better), but honestly, Teddy became so unlikable from season 16 onward that (and I can't believe I'm saying this), these two deserve each other. Their drama is pretty f**king fun to follow after the point you've lost your respect for both characters. They're like the shithead version of Derek and Meredith.

17. Nathan Riggs and Megan Hunt

A larger-than-life love story told with impressively little screentime. Would be even higher, but absolutely f**k the writers for breaking these two up offscreen for no good reason in season 18. Unforgivable.

16. Arizona Robbins and Carina DeLuca

Not as powerful of a love story as many below it - but Arizona and Carina were so fun together! And hot. And just a joy to follow.

15. Meredith Grey and Andrew DeLuca

Speaking of hot, this combo of two particularly attractive actors (even by this show's standards) was quite something. While their chemistry wasn't quite an all-time high, Meredith and Andrew were good for each other in many ways, making for one of the show's more respectful and non-toxic pairings.

14. Andrew DeLuca and Sam Bello

Whoa, three DeLuca's in a row! But yeah, what started out as a messy and loaded relationship made an impressive turn to be really heartfelt - only to end in an utterly tragic manner. Classic Shonda.

13. Richard Webber and Catherine Avery

I honestly didn't think Richard would find love again, after losing both of the arguably love-of-his-life women to Alzheimer's. But, in his sunset years, he found Catherine. While their journey has been a rocky one, their genuine affection and profound respect for one another is clear, and their romance is quite refreshing.

12. Alex Karev and Izzie Stevens

The wedding episode alone puts this in the top 15. These two were pretty legendary.

11. Simone Griffith and Lucas Adams

No, really, hear me out - while the overall quality of the show has declined, the relationship drama has continued to rock, and this romance between two new interns introduced in season 19 is honestly among the best-built love stories in the show's run!

10. Izzie Stevens and Denny Duquette

Cute, dramatic, and ultimately tragic and heart-wrenching. Vintage Shonda.

9. Richard Webber and Adele Webber

Just think about the moment in season 8 where Richard's 1000th surgery is interrupted when Adele, whose Alzheimer's was getting worse and worse, wanders into the gallery with utter confused panic, and Richard calms her down by singing My Funny Valentine to her from the OR. That moment alone confirms a top ten placement for them.

8. Meredith Grey and Nick Marsh

I love so much about this against-the-odds love story: how Nick basically is a male version of Meredith (the dude even looks like her), how he was introduced in one random episode only to return after several seasons of me secretly wishing to see him again because they had such great chemistry, and especially how the romance doesn't try to outdo Meredith&Derek. The writers recognize that no one would ever match Derek for Meredith, but Nick was the best option for post-Derek happiness that she had, and the pairing works wonders together.

7. Alex Karev and Jo Wilson

Might be even higher, if it wasn't for the piss-poor way in which Alex was written off the show. But, yeah, the character development and growth that these two gained via each other is powerful stuff.

6. Richard Webber and Ellis Grey

I'm vehemently anti-cheating, but the story of this ill-destined affair deep in the show's backstory is so powerful that it couldn't help but get to me. The Richard-Ellis lore is such a larger-than-life element in the show's core, and the episodes focusing on their past always hit me right in the feels.

5. Lexie Grey and Mark Sloan

Star-crossed lovers who never got the timing right. Mark and Lexie make for a beautifully tragic, even haunting love story.

4. Meredith Grey and Derek Shepherd

A hard one to rank, as there would be good reason to put 'em at #1 - it's the show's most central and iconic couple, after all. Still, on a subjective level, the story of #merder didn't hit quite as hard for me as a select few favorites. Meredith and Derek are below the top three because at their worst, they veered almost into Ross-and-Rachel territory in terms of hurting each other over and over again and drama for the sake of drama. But they're still this high because, well, you know as well as I how iconic they were at their best. The candlelit house, the elevator proposal, the post-it marriage...the stuff of legends.

3. Callie Torres and Arizona Robbins

These two were my emotional support lesbian couple for many seasons, and then they utterly broke my heart. A lower placement could be argued due to how things ended, but I still felt an urge to rank #calizona this high - at the end of the day, they just made me feel so much. Their best moments touched my heart even more than Mark&Lexie or Meredith&Derek, and their worst moments hurt so much (most of the characters in the series have cheated, but Arizona cheating on Callie felt more like a personal betrayal of me as a viewer than any other). I'd like to think that these two were meant for each other, and would've stayed together if things had gone differently, but the plane crash and its aftermath brought so much trauma with it that things could never be the same for them.

And yes - even despite all the pain and understandable reasons for their breakup, I am one of those fans who have chosen to believe in the headcanon that after both characters leave the show, they find each other off-screen, reconnect, and just maybe decide to give things another try. I mean, why would Sara Ramirez' cover of The Story be playing in Arizona's final scene, if not as a clear clue to the audience that some hope still remains?

2. Miranda Bailey and Ben Warren

Gotta love these two. They're the healthiest major couple of the series by a country mile - of course they also have their problems, but they're always dealt with in a mature, respectful manner at the end of the day. I get why many of the show's love stories can't be like this, as it would make for less entertaining relationship drama, but I'm sure glad we got this one dose of perfection. Ben and Bailey are always there for each other, sexy as hell together, and just ultimate marriage goals.

1. Jackson Avery and April Kepner

I had to think long and hard about my specific ranking of the highest places - the top four is clearly above all others, but the ranking between them (and the top two especially) was the toughest part of the whole list, as any of them could be argued to deserve first place. But, when all is said and done - Jackson and April may not have the iconic pop culture status of Meredith and Derek or the always-good-for-each-other perfection of Ben and Bailey, but there's no getting around the fact that their story touched me more than any other on the series. These two were larger than life, and I'm there for all of it.

As I mentioned before, I'm a big fan of the friends-to-lovers trope (except if your names happen to be Izzie Stevens and George O'Malley). And this right here is arguably the best instance of that trope, in any media, ever. No, I'm not kidding. Jackson and April arrive on the show with a pre-existing friendship in season 6, and their inevitability as a couple wasn't clear from the start. It was during the season 7 premiere, when they share a meaningful look during Cristina's wedding, when I first got the idea that these two ending up together might work. I shared this idea with my fiancée Martta, who thankfully delivered a believable "What? You're reading into things" to avoid spoiling me.

Nothing between the two happens for such a long time that I kinda gave up hope, although I kept clinging to the idea that something should happen and that I would definitely give those characters a romantic arch if I was a writer on the show. Well, when sparks finally flew near the end of season 8, I was speechless - those few scenes are the hands-down hottest, most electric chemistry ever seen on the show, and it just felt so right.

After a while of bliss, #japril broke up, and I was sad. Instead of saying "Hey, you never know, they might end up together again" or something, Martta looked me in the eye and said "Yeah, sorry, they're better as friends" with the utmost credibility, so I believed her. And gave up hope again. Not knowing that Martta, being the angel that she is, knows me so well that she knew what a payoff the couple's reunion would be for me, and she knew that it would hit even harder if I don't see it coming, so that this extra bit of manipulation was just what I needed for the ultimate viewing experience.

And it worked - the moment in the season 10 midseason finale Get Up, Stand Up, where Jackson interrupts April and Matthew's wedding (leading to them running off together), is honestly a top 3 moment of the entire series for me. The use of Total Eclipse of the Heart in the soundtrack, Jesse Williams' heartfelt acting, it's all so perfect that the scene transcends real-life values (a moment like that shouldn't work because doing that in real life would be a dick move regardless of your feelings, but in that particular moment in that particular story it can't help but work, because as a viewer I was so invested in their romance that it couldn't help but feel right). Chills, absolute chills.

Then a bunch of stuff happens that isn't fun to talk about. After their share of happiness, the couple faces unspeakable tragedy with the loss of their newborn child Samuel - and much like the case of the plane crash for Callie and Arizona, this incident is so horrible that it splits up the formerly happy couple, as their ways of coping with the pain are so differing that their attempts to stay together end up hurting each other. It was understandable given the circumstances, but it still hurt like hell, and seeing either one of the characters paired up with anyone else in later seasons just felt wrong.

When April was written off the show, I was clinging on to what felt like a fool's hope that somehow things would work out between her and Jackson after all that time, but off she went with Matthew. Once again, all hope seemed lost.

And then came Jackson's exit arch.

In Jackson's second-last episode as a series regular, we see April for the first time after her departure, as the two discuss what to do about their joint-custody baby now that Jackson is moving to Boston. Seeing April again was nice, although it felt painful to see the characters not being together, knowing that there isn't any hope - and then, near the end of the episode, April confesses that she and Matthew broke up. And my heart f**king leapt. Was the series really going where I thought it was? Going against all odds to once again bring these two characters together, after all hope seemed lost for like the fourth time?!

Yes, it was. We never actually see them getting back together, as they decide to move together for the good of the baby, with the exact relationship between Jackson and April being left open for interpretation. That is, until they make a brief appearance in the show's 400th episode You Are the Blood, featuring a kiss scene that confirmed to the audience that their wildest dreams had indeed become true. All in all, the story of Jackson and April is a goddamn roller coaster, with some truly tragic and difficult moments - but the fact that they endured, and found happiness together over and over again no matter what obstacles life hurled at them, is a testament to just how true their love always was. Absolute cinema.

Thank you for reading! Tune in next week as I honor the recently aired second season of The Last of Us by ranking the greatest-ever zombie episodes from TV shows.

Top 10 Grey's Anatomy Episodes

Greetings, reader!

My Grey's Anatomy theme month continues, with this week's post focusing on the greatest episodes across the show's multi-decade run. With over 400 episodes to pick from, you know that the ones chosen as the best of the best are really something special.

Here are my honorable mentions: Begin the Begin (Season 2 Episode 13), Crash Into Me (Season 4 Episodes 9-10), Get Up, Stand Up (Season 10 Episode 12), Stairway to Heaven (Season 5 Episode 13), The Time Warp (Season 6 Episode 15).

And a spoiler alert is in order!

10. Fear (of the Unknown) (Season 10 Episode 24)

First of all, the show's most iconic character is given a 10/10 exit arch, and that alone makes the season 10 finale one of the best. As the swan song of Cristina Yang (Sandra Oh), Fear (of the Unknown) is a sweet love letter to the character, working as the natural-feeling culmination for the exit arch that had been built throughout the season's second half. The show was never quite the same after Cristina's departure, but it helps the viewer move on when she's written off so thoughtfully, with the episode being filled with poetic moments to remember her by.

But that's not all - the writers were smart enough to know that they need to get some new drama cooking, so that viewers would tune in to season 11 despite their favorite character being gone. That is why the final minutes of season 10 bring about one of the show's biggest bombshell reveals - the new chief of cardio, Maggie Pierce (Kelly McCreary), sits down with Richard Webber (James Pickens Jr.), making it known that she's the daughter of him and the late Dr. Ellis Grey (Kate Burton). I'm one of the viewers who became borderline-obsessed with the larger-than-life Richard/Ellis lore, so this reveal felt f**king powerful, and succeeded in making me curious and invested in all that was to come next.

9. 17 Seconds (Season 2 Episode 25)

There's a certain type of television episode, usually towards the end of a season in a plot-driven series, that is usually mastered best by Breaking Bad or Dexter - it's the type where shit is going down to the utmost degree, causing a seeing-red panic in the viewer, with the intensity remaining high throughout the episode's runtime. One of the best examples of this rare but always-amazing archetype is the third-last episode of Grey's Anatomy's second season.

The multi-episode arch of the heart patient Denny Duquette (played in an unforgettable performance by Jeffrey Dean Morgan) is one of the main reasons why season 2 is among the show's most acclaimed and beloved seasons - and after tons of build-up and many twists and turns, this is where it really hits the fan. The stakes are higher than ever before, with all production elements from cinematography to soundtrack really driving home the point that things are f**king happening.

17 Seconds is a thrilling episode that keeps on giving, with its heart-stopping moral dilemmas (apparently millions of people know what an LVAD wire is thanks to this episode) and adrenaline-rush sequence of events. The episode is so intense that when Dr. Burke (Isiah Washington) GETS F**KING SHOT towards the end, it doesn't even feel like a separate shocking plot twist, but more like a natural "Yeah, this might as well happen" addition to the ongoing atmosphere.

8. Who Lives, Who Dies, Who Tells Your Story (Season 14 Episode 7)

As mentioned in my ranking of the show's seasons a few weeks ago, season 14 is a shockingly good one, rising above all other post-season-10 seasons to be the clear highlight of the show's sunset years (and one that arguably rivals many of the 'golden age' seasons). Out of the many highlights in this against-all-odds kick-ass season is the show's 300th episode, aptly named after the deeply sentimental closing number of the Hamilton musical.

Who Lives, Who Dies, Who Tells Your Story succeeds exceptionally well at what every milestone-celebrating episode tries to accomplish: feeling like a celebration, a look back, and a love letter to what the series stands for. The two elements that the episode is remembered best for are A) the storyline with three patients whose personalities and dynamics bear a striking resemblance to past characters Cristina, George (T.R. Knight) and Izzie (Katherine Heigl), and B) Meredith Grey (Ellen Pompeo) winning the Harper Avery award.

Both of these elements are tear-jerking perfection for the show's 300th episode. The doppelgänger storyline isn't just silly fan service, but rather hits quite hard: at this point, Meredith and Alex (Justin Chambers) are the last two cast members left of the original five interns from season 1, and having them interact with these 'ghosts from the past' is a massive blast of nostalgia for the viewer, and helps the characters deal with unresolved issues (coming to terms with George's untimely passing, getting over Izzie's abrupt departure, missing the friendship with Cristina). As for Meredith's Harper Avery win, it goes without saying how special this moment is for the show's trajectory and the protagonist's character arch. By the time Kate Burton shows up as Ellis' ghost (because of course she does), I could barely see her through my overflow of tears. Beautiful stuff.

7. Losing My Religion (Season 2 Episode 27)

It makes sense that in a series arguably best-known for its myriads of heartbreaking character deaths, the episode with its most infamous sad death would rank highly. Yeah, much like anyone with a heart who watches the second season of Grey's, I cried like a baby when Denny Duquette died. It's not just the fact that a lovable character was killed off after multiple episodes of the viewer becoming invested, but also the ultimately heart-wrenching manner in which it was done - as I wrote in more detail in last week's post about the show's saddest deaths, Shonda Rhimes is an expert at finding the exact way to kill off a character that will hurt the viewer the most and become the saddest possible version of itself.

That's what happens here, and as an emotional viewer, I have to praise the episode for making me feel such large-scale heartbreak. It's typical for me to be sad about a fictional character's death, but the degree to which this show (and particularly episodes like Losing My Religion) utilizes the pain in viewers like me is one of a kind.

6. Give Peace a Chance (Season 6 Episode 7)

Amidst the tear-jerking deaths and messy relationship drama always taking center stage, one might almost forget that on paper, the series is first and foremost about doctors, in a hospital, doing surgeries on patients. It's funny, really, how that setting is always present even though it isn't what the show does best - there isn't very much about the main characters' professions and nature of their work in my reasonings for the highest-ranked episodes. But here's the exception to the rule: while the best episodes of most seasons are ones with romantic payoffs, melodramatic plot twists and heartwrenching death scenes, every now and then Grey's will pull off an episode that really reminds you of what a world-class hospital series it is in addition to all of that.

There are a few truly great surgery-driven episodes; the ones that rise above the interesting surgery plotlines we see in every episode, by focusing on a particularly dramatic, interesting and high-stakes surgery, where the work takes center stage over the relationship drama and character stories. Season 11's The Distance and season 10's Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word are great examples. But the absolute GOAT in this category has got to be season 6's Give Peace a Chance.

It's not just that Derek Shepherd (Patrick Dempsey), a character who is flawed as a human but in the show's top one per cent in terms of legendary surgical skill, has the most challenging case of his career, operating on an utterly exceptional, seemingly impossible, absolutely f**king huge tumor. It's that the people behind the show understood the assignment, making every element in the episode feel like this is something different and remarkable. The directing style, cinematography and especially the music are very different from your typical Grey's episode, as they have a magical and even cinematic feel to them. The episode feels like a mini-movie, which is fitting as it's one of those episodes that you could watch and enjoy even with no pre-existing experience of the series. There are five episodes ranked ahead of this one because there are things Grey's does even better than the line-of-work focused stuff - but if you take away the character archs, relationship stories and brilliant melodrama and only view the series as a hospital show about surgeons, then Give Peace a Chance would be its finest hour.

5. What a Difference a Day Makes (Season 5 Episode 22)

Ah, right in the feels. Making the viewer cry is one of the things Grey's does best, and rarely do the waterworks flow with such power as they do with the show's 100th episode. The main storylines leading up to the fifth season's endgame, such as Meredith and Derek's upcoming wedding and Izzie's struggle with cancer, clash in an utterly perfect way - one that I didn't see coming, but fit so perfectly that it feels like it was headed there all along in retrospective.

Alex's decision to marry Izzie, knowing she might be dead very soon but wanting to give this experience to the woman he loves, is some of the most heartstring-tugging content in the series, especially considering his character development. There's no way that the season 1 Alex would've pulled this, but he had grown a lot over the span of five seasons, and a lot of that was thanks to Izzie, so this works on just so many levels. The wedding sequence is absolutely beautiful down to every detail, and the emotional core of the events is staggering.

4. It's the End of the World / As We Know It (Season 2 Episodes 16-17)

This episode is the BOMB!

No, really. It's the one with the bomb. In the patient.

Everything about this absolutely iconic season 2 two-parter is pretty great, but I have an especially strong fondness for the opening act. The moment where Alex realizes what is going on, and rushes in a panic to call a 'code black', is possibly the most adrenaline-charged, pulse-racing moment of intensity that the series ever produced. The directing and editing choices really highlight the chaotic panic of the situation, and things remain hellishly suspenseful to the very end of the two-parter. Hell yeah.

3. Silent All These Years (Season 15 Episode 19)

It takes quite something special for a show in its fifteenth season to produce an episode that scores a 9.5 on IMDB. Silent All These Years is extra special because it's not exactly unique in its seriousness: Grey's Anatomy is a generally serious show, and one that gets very serious at its darkest, as we had seen countless episodes dealing with themes like domestic violence, suicide and pretty much any given depressing topic. So, for one episode out of over 400 to earn the reputation of the serious episode, with the most bleak and thematically powerful story we've seen across the 20+ seasons, it really has to be something with an exceptional quality to it.

In Silent All These Years, we follow a heart-wrenching story of sexual violence via three different storylines. One consists of thematically relevant flashbacks to earlier in the season, as Jo (Camilla Luddington) meets with her estranged birth mother, and thus learns a horrible truth - she was conceived via rape. This connects to the episode's main present-day storyline, where a victim of sexual violence is admitted to the hospital and Jo treats her. The episode's subplot seems light and disconnected at first - Bailey (Chandra Wilson) and Ben (Jason George) learn that their son Tuck (BJ Tanner) is dating a girl - but the realization of what this has to do with the rest of the episode dawns upon the viewer at just the right moment, as Ben does what every father should do and gives Tuck 'the talk' about consent.

Silent All These Years is extremely hard to watch, but it is also so very important. The phenomena it deals with are so depressing that they're borderline unimaginable to fathom for us people who are lucky enough to not have firsthand experiences, but they're very much a part of real life for too many people, which is why we need to do a lot more learning and listening as a society. I appreciate Grey's for doing its part, shedding light on these topics via this absolutely tear-jerking and ultimately beautiful episode.

2. Now Or Never (Season 5 Episode 24)

This has to make the all-time top five in the category of TV episodes that made me cry the most. Say what you will about George O'Malley (many have, and I'm not here to defend the character's many flaws) - but at his best, he was a sweetheart, and I grew to care deeply about the character. The way in which he's killed off doesn't hit so hard just because it's sad, but also because it's written and executed in such a genius fashion, making for one of the most well-built TV deaths of all time, as well as one of the saddest.

When watching Now Or Never for the first time, it took me forever to realize that the John Doe patient is George, because the cleverly written episode does an amazing job in tricking the viewer into ruling out the possibility. We see George at the beginning of the episode, and very soon after this, we meet the patient with the unrecognizable face who was hit by a bus. Due to genius details in the dialogue, the viewer is under the illusion that George is still around, doing something off-screen, so that it can't dawn upon the first-time viewer that we haven't seen him after the John Doe patient was admitted. While I haven't been able to bring myself to re-watch the full episode (it's still too painful), I've re-watched certain scenes, and it's spooky as hell how you can recognize George from his eyes, if you know to look. But yeah, when watching for the first time, I was fooled.

And the reveal hits so Goddamn hard.

The moment in which Meredith realizes who the patient is, going into a panic (much like the viewer) while rushing to try and save her friend's life, is written, directed and acted with perfection. I cried so f**king hard when watching the final moments of the episode - the manner of the death was so shocking and tragic, but also so heartbreakingly fitting. Dying from getting hit by a bus, because he jumped in front of it to save a stranger, even though the stranger had just been a jerk to him, is just the most George O'Malley thing imaginable, and the heroic nature of his death left a haunting mark on the rest of the series. Rest in piece, man.

1. Sanctuary / Death and All His Friends (Season 6 Episodes 23-24)

I know, it's a bit of a basic take to put the mass shooting two-parter at #1, but really - it couldn't be anything else.

With the first instalment Sanctuary, we follow what starts off as a typical day at Seattle Grace - until it isn't. I had avoided spoilers when I arrived at the episode, although I knew it had a 9.7 on IMDB so I had speculated what might be behind such an exceptional rating. The minute I saw Gary Clark (Michael O'Neill), the man bitter about his wife's death from some episodes earlier, walking on the hallway with a bitter look, I felt my heart sink. I immediately knew what was going to happen. The rest of Sanctuary was sheer panic, with Stephen Cragg's expert directing making the atmosphere feel even more serious, real and claustrophobic than the show's other disaster episodes. It ends with Derek being shot, which made it to #15 on my list of the greatest-ever television cliffhangers.

Then we get the second instalment Death and All His Friends, which is somehow even better. It contains the hands-down best, most powerful moment of the series: with Derek about die, Cristina is in full despair upon learning there's no attending on their floor while they're on lockdown, and April (Sarah Drew) remarks that they can't operate on him because they don't have a heart surgeon - and Jackson (Jesse Williams), with a calm sureness, says that they do, giving Cristina a meaningful look. Yes, that right there is the greatest moment of the entire 20-season run. Not only did they manage to pull off a tragic, frighteningly real-feeling mass shooting episode, but they also utilized this context to create just the most ultimate moment of character development: after six seasons of kicking ass as a genius intern and resident, Cristina gets to / has to prove herself in the direst of circumstances. She has to take the lead on an impromptu high-stakes surgery, on the chief of surgery, who is also her best friend's husband, all while the hospital is undergoing an excpetional crisis.

The two-parter ends with 11 people dead, many more wounded, and ramifications that would reverberate throughout the following season - but with Derek Shepherd alive and well, thanks to Cristina being a goddamn hero under extraordinary circumstances. Powerful, powerful stuff.

Thank you for reading! Tune in next week for the final instalment of my Grey's Anatomy theme month: a ranking of every couple in the entire series.

Grey's Anatomy: Top 10 saddest deaths

Greetings, reader!

My Grey's Anatomy theme month continues, with this week's post focusing on one of the things the series does best: tear-jerking character deaths. Brutally killing off a beloved character is an art form that very few have mastered as well as Shonda Rhimes.

Goes without saying - a MAJOR spoiler alert is in order!

Here are my honorable mentions: Craig Thomas (William Daniels), Diane Pierce (LaTanya Richardson Jackson), Ellis Grey (Kate Burton), Heather Brooks (Tina Majorino), Kyle Diaz (Wilmer Valderrama).

10. Charles Percy (Robert Baker)

One never grows all that attached to Dr. Percy as a character - but that doesn't stop his death in the infamous season 6 finale from being utterly heartbreaking. What really gets me here is the reaction of Miranda Bailey, my favorite character of the series, who spends much of the mass shooting two-parter's runtime trying to save Percy from bleeding out after he's shot. Chandra Wilson's acting is grippingly believable in expressing how badly she wanted to save the intern who happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.

9. Henry Burton (Scott Foley)

A lot of fans would rank this even higher, and I can see why. Henry was a true sweetheart, and arguably the best love interest Teddy Altman (Kim Raver) ever had. As is the case with most of the sad deaths in the series, it's a surgery that seems to be going alright until something goes very very wrong, and it ends in multi-level heartbreak as some of the doctors blame themselves while dreading how to break the news to Teddy, who is in the middle of surgery herself. Classic Shonda Rhimes cruelty.

8. Mark Sloan (Eric Dane)

If you're wondering why this isn't ranked even higher, I suppose that it's partially because the show quite simply has even heavier character losses in its ranks, and partially because at least with this one, I was prepared. Things looked pretty bad for Mark's fate in the season 8 finale, and especially once we lost Lexie, I had sort of accepted that he's going as well - there's some heart-wrenching poetic beauty in killing off the star-crossed lovers who never got the timing right in consecutive episodes.

The season 9 premiere Going, Going, Gone jumps ahead in time to show the aftermath of the infamous plane crash once the victims have returned to the hospital, with a special focus on Mark Sloan as his fate is in the balance. The episode gives him a beautiful sense of closure, giving him moments with many characters with whom he shared a deep relationship while he's lucid in between procedures. In a bizarre yet fitting style choice, the episode ends with a dedication to Mark Sloan, in a way usually reserved for when an actor passes away behind the scenes, but used here because the fictional character was so beloved that he deserved such a tribute.

7. Derek Shepherd (Patrick Dempsey)

When talking about the show's biggest deaths, in terms of plot impact, this would undoubtedly be the GOAT - Grey's was never the same after McDreamy was offed. It ranks slightly lower in terms of pure sadness - don't get me wrong, it was heartbreaking and I cried like hell, but because it's Grey's Anatomy, there's a high f**king bar when discussing the very saddest deaths. A death like Derek's might be the show's saddest one in a normal show, but in the Mona Lisa of tear-jerking TV, there are six even more painful ones.

But, yeah. Derek had his flaws, but he was such a legend in his best moments. When you think about his most arrogant and insufferable moments, it can easily feel like "Yeah, he overstayed his welcome, the rest of the show might even be better off without him", but when you think about the infinite charm oozing from that smile and hairdo, you can't help but miss the guy. Obviously, the saddest part about his demise is its effect on those around him - Meredith Grey, a far superior character, loses the love of her life, Amelia loses a brother, Bailey and many others lose a dear friend, and Meredith&Derek's kids have to grow up without a father. There aren't probably any other deaths in the series that have caused as many tears after the episode of the death - there are countless times in the rest of season 11 as well as the seasons after it, where Derek's absense is felt in an emotion-provoking manner, and it never gets any easier.

6. Adele Webber (Loretta Devine)

On a purely rational level, this one shouldn't have been among the heaviest - Richard Webber's wife was old, she had lived a fulfilling life, she had been struggling with Alzheimer's for a long time so the viewers were sort of prepared, and she was a recurring character (as opposed to the main cast members that one usually grows even more attached to). But, of course, an emotion-driven viewer's reaction to a heartstring-tugging death scene doesn't stop to look at rationality.

In addition to the obvious reason of Adele being an iconic and lovable side character, the thing here is how the death is done - Shonda Rhimes is like a world-class chef but for cooking maximum-sadness death scenes, adding just the right amount of every necessary element to make the moment the ultimate, most tragic possible version of itself. Of course it had to happen on the night of Bailey and Ben's wedding, and of course the still-ongoing surgery is cut away from so that the viewer doesn't know what's up when we see Richard arriving at the wedding, and of course the man who JUST LOST HIS WIFE forces a smile when talking to Bailey because he doesn't want to ruin his dear friend's special day - and only when Meredith comes to talk to Richard, the smile fades, and James Pickens Jr.'s acting in the scene is so utterly f**king devastating that my heart breaks just thinking about it.

And, because Shonda is on a mission to make every single viewer burst in a fit of tears, we cut from Bailey and Ben dancing to a flashback/vision of Richard and Adele dancing, to My Funny Valentine (known to viewers as 'their song'). It's a cruel, cruel show.

5. Lexie Grey (Chyler Leigh)

DID I MENTION THAT IT'S A CRUEL SHOW? They didn't have to take Lexie from us, especially like that. Lexie Grey was one of the sweetest, most pure and innocent characters on the show, and for her journey to end in the way it did is an absolute travesty (but, who am I kidding, great television). It's not just that it's a plane crash, or that the death is slow and painful as she succumbs to her injuries, or the effect her death has on Meredith and others - it's also that her love story with Mark (one of the show's greatest romances) has such a poetically tragic ending.

Being the star-crossed lovers they were always destined to be, they embodied the "never got the timing right" cliché by spending very little time actually together throughout their seasons in the series - and the fact that they were killed off, both due to the same plane crash, before they got their happy ending, is pretty damn depressing. At least Mark got to profess his love for her in the moments before she let go.

4. Denny Duquette (Jeffrey Dean Morgan)

Ah, the Citizen Kane of sad Grey's Anatomy deaths. The passing of Denny is the death that all the following deaths would be compared to, and while a select few managed to barely outdo it in my view, it is infamous for a reason.

There are many reasons for why it hits so hard - Jeffrey Dean Morgan was so damn lovable in the role, we spent so many episodes getting invested in the character and his story, his romance with Izzie was raw and real, and the manner of how it's revealed to the viewer is so utterly heartbreaking - after things had looked better for a while, a sudden complication and then cutting to Bailey informing Richard of Denny's death is just the absolute saddest possible way to relay this information to the viewers. This was a particularly hard one to get over.

3. Samuel Avery

I don't really feel like this one needs much of a description. Samuel was the newborn child of Jackson and April, and his fate makes the aptly titled episode All I Could Do Was Cry into one of the most heart-wrenching, hard-to-watch episodes in the entire series.

2. Andrew DeLuca (Giacomo Gianniotti)

All of the characters on this list are somewhat good people, because why would the death of a total monster be sad (I may have given a standing ovation when Jo's abusive ex-husband Paul was killed off)? While there are many factors that contribute to the sadness of a character death, the likability of the character is definitely one of the big ones - it's far from being the only factor, but there's a clear correlation. And that's a big reason for Dr. DeLuca being this high on the list - while all of the show's main cast members whose names don't rhyme with "Throw-in stunt" are generally good guys, there's arguably no one in the show's ensemble who is as pure as Andrew DeLuca.

When DeLuca took the fall for Meredith in the season 15 finale, potentially sacrificing his career to protect her's, I blubbered something amidst my tears about what a stand-up dude Andrew was, and my fiancée Martta replied "Not a bad bone in his body". Now that is something you can't say about many Grey's characters, as pretty much everyone has their share of flaws despite being likable for most of the time. So, while no one deserves a fate like this, Andrew was probably the least deserving of all, which makes it extra heartbreaking. And of course there were heroics involved - he put his life on the line to try and help a victim of sex trafficking, and that's what got him killed. A brutal, borderline unnecessarily cruel death, but one that sure scores a lot of points for today's list.

1. George O'Malley (T.R. Knight)

Say what you will about George - I couldn't help but care a great deal for him despite his flaws. Yes, he was an over-whiny victim-player at his worst, and I was very upset with the incel-coded direction the writers took the character in during seasons 3 and 4. Whether it's because of the way the brilliant T.R. Knight plays the role, or the endless potential the character had via his more lovable qualities and moments, I just really, really cared for the guy. In his worst moments I hoped he'd get his shit together, and, well, his best moments - the heroic heart-in-elevator surgery, joining the nurses on the picket lines when they go on strike, spitting facts to the neo-Nazi patient when no one else would, or helping an intersex child find their identity when their parents were busy being close-minded bigots - absolutely the stuff of legends.

When he was killed off in the season 5 finale, I cried more than I have during any other Grey's episode. It's not just that it happened, but the way it is revealed - the episode is ingeniously built to trick the viewer into thinking that the John Doe patient with the unrecognizable face couldn't be George, because we saw George at the hospital only moments before the patient was admitted, so in the first-time viewer's' mind George is still hanging around off-screen. When the reveal hits, it's the most heart-piercing moment of the entire series for me personally. Also, the specific manner of the death - dying because you jumped in front of a bus in order to save a total stranger EVEN THOUGH THE STRANGER HAD JUST BEEN MEAN TO YOU was absolutely the most George O'Malley thing one could imagine. Poor guy.

Thank you for reading! Tune in next week as I continue my Grey's Anatomy theme month with a ranking of the show's 10 best episodes.

Top 10 Grey's Anatomy Characters

Greetings, reader!

My Grey's Anatomy theme month continues, with this week's specific topic being the show's best characters. With a combination of various factors such as likability and emotional investment, character writing and arch, entertainment value, acting performance and significance to the the show's DNA, these are the very best characters from the massive main cast the series has provided over the years.

A spoiler alert is in order: specific plot points will be discussed, as the post is aimed at people who have watched the series.

Here are my honorable mentions: Andrew DeLuca (Giacomo Gianniotti), April Kepner (Sarah Drew), Arizona Robbins (Jessica Capshaw), Jo Wilson (Camilla Luddington), Lexie Grey (Chyler Leigh).

10. Mark Sloan (Eric Dane, Season 2-9)

The character of Dr. Mark Sloan, remembered by many as 'McSteamy', works well for several reasons. The obvious one is his redemption arch - the way he's brought into the series makes you feel sure you'll never the like the guy, as we've been treated to a bunch of antagonistic lore before we even meet him for the first time. However, he gradually grows in a realistic-feeling way, and no matter how against him a viewer like myself has been at the start, he will end up melting your heart with antics like the plastics posse, Sofia's parenting trio and the star-crossed romance between him and Lexie.

Of course, Eric Dane is great in the role throughout it all - which means that even before he becomes especially likable, the character is extremely entertaining and great pot-stirring content for all the relationship drama in the series.

9. Derek Shepherd (Patrick Dempsey, Season 1-11)

I swear, it's a coincidence that I have McSteamy and McDreamy ranked in immediate succession. But yeah, Derek is a complex one - he could be annoying as hell at his worst, and the character writing wasn't always consistent. But, ask yourself: can you imagine Grey's Anatomy without Derek? Yes, I'm obviously aware that we've gotten ten seasons of Grey's without him after the character's death, but I mean it in the sense of imagining the series from its beginning without the character's existence.

Derek is absolutely one of the most inherent characters to the show's DNA. As the larger-than-life love interest of protagonist Meredith Grey, and just as a character who became a household name and pop culture phenomenon due to his charm, chemistry with Meredith, incredible hair and perfection of the 'handsome doctor character' archetype, Derek is rightfully one of the most iconic characters in the series, even despite all his flaws. And let's face it, most humans are complex, and Derek was so endearing at his best that it more or less makes up for the moments of frustrating arrogance.

8. Amelia Shepherd (Caterina Scorsone, Season 10-)

The show itself was better in the era where 'Dr. Shepherd' referred to Derek and not his sister Amelia, but as a character, Amelia is more complete, more likable, better-written, and just more my Dr. Shepherd in every possible way. Like her brother, Amelia is a complex character with her share of demons, but her 'flaws' come from a much more understantable and sympathetic place (one is a conventionally successful family favorite whose privilege often lead to an arrogant and dismissive attitude, while the other is the family's 'black sheep' who has had to struggle with anxiety, depression and addiction, and has had to constantly prove herself to everyone throughout her life).

The storylines of Amelia dealing with her mental health and other issues while balancing them with her tormented-genius career and turbulent love life are gripping and inspiring. In a show filled to the brim with strong female characters, she is one of the biggest badasses, and a character you really grow to care about as a viewer.

7. Meredith Grey (Ellen Pompeo, Season 1-)

"You can't work on your family"

"Everybody in this damn room is her family"

From what I've gathered, Meredith is a bit of an opinion-splitting protagonist, with some viewers feeling like she's constantly outshined by supporting cast members while others feel that she absolutely is the personification of the series. I see both points - she is less of a unique/colorful personality than many of the characters in the ensemble, but I completely see that as a purposeful choice from showrunner Shonda Rhimes and company - it's not like they forgot to write a vibrant personality for Meredith, but rather that a relatively stable and 'normal' personality in the main character works wonders for this particular show. The main character of a TV series is like the striker of a football team, and while many protagonists are the show-stealing goalscoring Haaland type, Meredith Grey is more of a Thierry Henry type, using the position to selflessly make everyone around her better and only taking the spotlight when needed.

Also, in a show largely reliant on emotionally invested viewers caring about the characters and having their heartstrings tugged, very few are as strongly care-worthy as Meredith. While she might be slightly less entertaining than some of the characters (again, a purposeful choice and not an oversight), one thing she has going on for her is that she goes through a lot over the course of the series - losing her mother, losing her husband, losing her sister, losing a fuck-bunch of friends, having a miscarriage while being trapped in a mass shooting, barely surviving a drowning incident, barely surviving a car crash, barely surviving a plane crash, barely surviving physical assault and barely surviving not one but two explosions in the hospital are just some examples. The strength showcased by the character, as she survives all this baggage and continues to practice medicine no matter what obstacles life throws at her, is inspiring and beautiful.

6. Callie Torres (Sara Ramirez, Season 2-13)

While I do like and care about a vast majority of the show's major characters (and even Owen Hunt has his moments), I do admit that they're all very flawed. That's very much the point in a series focused on relationship drama, but as someone who likes to like people, it helps when there are some characters you can stand behind at any given time. Out of all the doctors in Seattle Grace (later Grey Sloan Memorial), Callie Torres is probably the closest to this.

Of course, even Callie has her bad moments, like any fleshed-out character is bound to. But in a vast majority of situations, I found myself on Callie's side in any given conflict, and it's nice to have an emotional support character you can root for and rely on to such a degree. Sara Ramirez is a wonderful actor, and they put so much effort into playing Callie, who left a huge mark on the show by being one of its most consistent, lovable and badass characters.

5. Alex Karev (Justin Chambers, Season 1-16)

You'll probably hear the same take from any given Grey's Anatomy fan - with Dr. Karev, it's all about the arch. Even more so than with the case of Mark Sloan, Alex begins his journey as a massive, massive asshole, someone I truly despised when watching the first season. Then, you start to learn his backstory. And follow how he grows in the present day, with important character relationships (romantic ones with Izzie and later Jo, as well as his friendships with Meredith and Arizona) helping him learn, mature, and change his behavior.

Throughout all of this, Justin Chambers is pure dynamite in the role, selling the smug jerk -moments just as believably as the heartfelt moments where you think about how much Alex has been through and just want to give the guy a hug. One of television's finest character archs.

4. Jackson Avery (Jesse Williams, Season 6-17)

Okay, perhaps Jackson (especially in his later seasons) goes even ahead of Callie, or at least onto the same level, in terms of likability. What started out as an average-seeming, by-the-numbers character grew into a massive favorite of mine during his twelve seasons in the show's main cast, thanks to elements like Jesse Williams' role performance, the character's larger-than-life relationship with April Kepner, and the opinion-dividing writing decision to more or less turn the character into a mouthpiece for the many social statements the politically charged series was keen on making.

I can see how the lastly mentioned element would rub many viewers the wrong way (as proven by many angry IMDB reviews). But for someone like me who shares the showrunners' left-wing views and appreciates TV shows using their platform to highlight important issues by integrating them into their stories, it felt powerful and relatable to follow how Jackson became more and more aware of, and invested in, the social injustices in the world of medicine, and became a real warrior on that front. No other character caused as many inspired fist pumps in this viewer than him. The way he was written out really amplifies this, and it's nice to think that currently in the show's timeline he's still out there, fighting the good fight.

3. Richard Webber (James Pickens Jr., Season 1-)

Yeah, we love Hospital Dad. Yes, he has his flaws like anyone in the show, but Hospital Dad loves the hospital and its doctors with an unwavering passion, and the warmth eminating from him turns the characters around him into better versions of themselves. This makes it all the more heartbreaking when he deals with struggles like alcoholism, or the two love-of-his-life women both dealing with Alzheimer's disease. Thankfully, for a lot of the time, Hospital Dad gets to be the comic relief of the show (especially in his post-chief years), with just the right brand of dry, dorky humor.

But, yeah, the lore behind this character and his vastly complicated character relationships is an almost mythical theme in the show. This goes for his friendship with Bailey, his sort-of father-daughter-but-it's-severely-complicated relationship with Meredith, his romantic relationship with Adele and later Catherine - and of course the Richard-Ellis lore, which is the most significant (and heart-piercing) piece of backstory in Grey's Anatomy. The episodes focusing on their past are among the show's best.

2. Cristina Yang (Sandra Oh, Season 1-10)

Sandra Oh's career-defining performance is more or less synonymous with the series itself in pop culture, and for good reason. As much as Grey's tries and succeeds to be an ensemble-driven show with the large cast taking turns in the spotlight, there's no getting around the fact that Cristina manages to steal the show in a vast majority of her scenes. She's just such a well-rounded and complete character - all of her actions, decisions and lines of dialogue are consistent, fleshing Cristina out to the point of feeling like a real person you know and love. While I had my reasons to continue watching the series from season 10 onward, I do admit that a part of the show died when she left for Switzerland (the only exit arch even better than Jackson's) and things were never quite the same.

While one must appreciate Shonda and her writing team for envisioning a character like Cristina, the lion's share of my praise towards the character has to be directed at Sandra Oh - as good as the character is on paper, the concept of her wouldn't be a top five character if she was played by a lesser actress. Sandra Oh made the character her own, adding brilliant nuance and variety to Cristina - she always had her 'default setting' nailed down to perfection, and whatever nuance a specific scene would call for, be it emotional vulnerability or dry humor or sexual tension or painful conflict or literally anything the script needed, she would simply add that layer while keeping in the believably same character. Absolute brilliance.

1. Miranda Bailey (Chandra Wilson, Season 1-)

There are countless reasons why for me, Doctor Miranda Bailey will always be the best. Let's start off with the fact that her chief-of-surgery arch was written in the stars to an epic degree; despite being a mere resident when the show begins, it is always in the cards through subtle hints in the dialogue, becoming more and more obvious as the show progresses, that becoming chief is simply her destiny. It's because of this that in a series where the chief changes every few years, her assuming of the position in the season 12 premiere is the only time I was moved to tears from the selection of a new chief. I felt so deeply how this was something the character has wanted (and worked her ass off for) for so long. Her tenure as chief seemed like the series in its final form, and the seasons with post-Bailey chiefs have felt like an epilogue or a slightly different show.

Furthermore, Bailey hits a great many superlatives - she's the arguably funniest character on the show, but also the one with the most heart (who am I kidding - she is the beating heart of the show if you ask me). In a series delightfully full of strong women, she is the ever-reigning queen, not taking bullshit from anyone. She's flawed like anyone on the show, but unlike many characters, she's aware of her flaws and is constantly trying to learn and adapt - this can be seen from her marriage with Ben Warren being the healthiest romantic relationship in the series by a country mile, the storyline of Bailey dealing with her OCD diagnosis and its implications, and her general character growth from the distant and mean resident with an unfortunate nickname we meet in the pilot episode to the warm and lovable (but still someone you do not want to mess with) character we know and love today.

Many of the show's most emotionally powerful moments have to do with Bailey, because she encapsulates so much of what makes the series great - her victories feel like victories for the whole hospital, just like her losses are mourned by all those around her. Quite simply, as an invested viewer who cares about all the major characters, there is no one I care as deeply about in the series as the fragile yet powerful, complicated yet consistent, utterly magnificent Doctor Miranda Bailey.

Thank you for reading! Tune in next week as I continue my Grey's Anatomy theme month with a ranking of the show's saddest deaths.

Ranking the seasons of Grey's Anatomy

Greetings, reader!

Almost two years ago, I started to watch Grey's Anatomy from the beginning. Now, I'm all caught up (well, okay, I haven't seen the brand-new 21st season yet as it hasn't been released on streaming, but still, I watched 20 seasons and I think I deserve a medal for this). There are many, many top-list-worthy topics concerning the by-now legendary medical drama, so the entire month of May 2025 will be dedicated to Grey's Anatomy -posts; I'll be looking at the show's best episodes, characters and much more. To kick off this theme month, here's my ranking of all 20 seasons!

A spoiler alert is in order, as I'll be discussing specific events and plot turns.

20. Season 16

Yeah, this is where things got really bad before they started to look up again (to some degree, at least). While no season of the series is completely bad, the sixteenth one is the closest it gets - between Bailey suddenly running the hospital like an authoritarian tyrant, Richard playing with fire and purposefully miscommunicating to cause drama in his marriage and Alex being written off in a very "f**k the viewers, the sixteen-year character growth meant nothing" manner, the season temporarily ruined some of my very favorite characters.

There must have been some major changes in the writing team behind the scenes, because the season is riddled with inconsistent and disloyal character writing. Also, the overall decline in quality when it comes to dialogue and production values is noticeable here as the show appears to simply care less. The episode My Shot, with Meredith fighting to keep her license and the medical community rallying to help her in a touching manner, is a standout episode that more or less keeps the season from being terrible.

19. Season 20

Assuming you've made it this far in the show and are looking for positives, there's surprisingly much to like about season 20 - on paper, at least. Ideas like "Let's have the season be 10 episodes long instead of the usual 20+" and "Now that Meredith was written out but Ellen Pompeo didn't want to fully leave after all, let's have the former protagonist be a recurring character who appears in half the episodes" seem fresh enough. The problem is that, while these ideas might be what keeps the season from being bad, they in of themselves don't do much to make it good either. Thus, season 20 ends up being quite bland and neutral.

There are high points (I found the episode with the suicidal patient to be very sensitively and powerfully done, and the season finale ends on a properly dramatic note), but they are scarce and few. Most of the season is semi-dull - the story is well-thought-out enough to not piss one off like the storytelling choices in season 16, but it's not especially attention-grabbing or fascinating either. That being said, I will be tuning in to see season 21 when it arrives on streaming, but that's just my personal insanity.

18. Season 18

The biggest negative for the eighteenth season isn't any individual storyline or episode, but rather the fact that it is the eighteenth season, meaning that no matter how hard the production team would try to make the series feel fresh (and honestly, they could've tried harder), some elements will feel tired and rehashed no matter what. It does feel like a series in its eighteenth season, and especially for a show as formulaic as Grey's, that can't be an especially good thing.

However, it's not all bad - in addition to my completist nature and morbid curiosity, the third big reason why I wanted to watch the whole thing through was that it remained worth watching despite the inevitable quality decline, especially when you're as invested in the characters and long-term storylines as a viewer like myself is bound to be. Season 18 did provide its share of highpoints to keep me committed to continue the viewing process, such as the return of Meredith's best post-Derek love interest Nick who joins the main cast, and the season finale (also the show's 400th episode) being a brilliant walk down memory lane, with myriads of sentimental fan service moments.

17. Season 19

Now, season 19 may not be a masterpiece, but it was a surprising breath of fresh air after the few that came before it. This is thanks to many things, but the biggest individual element is definitely the new batch of interns - in a time when many beloved characters had either left the show or were just hanging out with their most interesting archs and storylines behind them, we're suddenly introduced to five new interns who, against the expectations for a show in its nineteenth season, are all interesting and fleshed-out characters. Although the series was at a place where as much thought isn't put into dialogue, patient storylines and consistency as in the show's prime, a lot of thought clearly was put into these new characters, and they feel like a very welcome jolt of energy into the series.

The first episode of the season is one of the best episodes from the show's sunset years, as they found many clever and nostalgic ways to mirror the pilot episode and first season of the show - managing to feel more like a homage and less like a copycat, the writers find delightful parallels between the personalities and life situations of the five new interns and those of the iconic quintet who we started off with in season 1. The callbacks to the first episode range from funny to endearing and powerful - my heart almost stopped when Lucas Adams spoke out the iconic "It's a beautiful day to save lives" quote in the O.R., with the dialogue right after that revealing in a profound manner that he is the late Derek Shepherd's nephew and that Derek was his hero and the reason he became a doctor. Good stuff, and the fresh storylines of the new interns more or less make up for an otherwise somewhat generic and forgettable season!

16. Season 15

One cannot overstate how much season 15 is carried by Silent All These Years, a top 3 episode for the entire series. It's not like it'd be a bad season without it - but it would be a very, very subpar one. The season opens with a void-like feeling after the departures of April and Arizona, and takes its sweet time getting back into rhythm and properly ushering in the new characters like Link. Even the better episodes are quite mediocre in the grand scheme of things - that is, until we get to Silent All These Years, a dark and touching masterpiece that singlehandedly puts season 15 ahead of the very worst ones. 

The rest of the season is alright, made somewhat better due to the aftermath of that episode (Jo Wilson's character development leading up to it and after it is pretty great). The season's endgame definitely isn't among the show's best (after surviving the plane crashes, explosions and mass shootings, an intense fog doesn't really feel like anything), but also isn't among the worst (Bailey firing three major characters, attendings no less, is quite the dramatic cliffhanger).

15. Season 13

There are two very clear elements that set season 13 apart, and form my opinion of that season specifically - and both of them are 50% positive and 50% negative. The first is multi-episode storylines that start off intriguing but conclude anticlimatically, and the second is sidequest episodes that are good but also highlight the show's overall decline.

To open these up a bit, I'll start with the storylines that begin with excitement but fall flat. One is Alex Karev's legal trouble - in the aftermath of him beating up Dr. DeLuca in the season 12, the season premiere follows his dramatic arrest, and the first several episodes that advance this storyline are quite riveting. However, the midseason finale ends the storyline in a very lazy fashion. The same phenomenon can be seen later in the season with the Dr. Minnick / "civil war" storyline - an attempt to reform Grey Sloan Memorial in a questionable way splits the beloved main cast in dramatic battle lines, and the storyline makes for some great drama. But again, it's resolved in a very anticlimactic fashion.

As for the second partially good and partially bad aspect of the season - I'm referring specifically to the episodes You Can Look (But You'd Better Not Touch) and Who Is He (And What Is He to You)?, the first of which follows Bailey, Arizona and Jo on a medical visit to a prison while the second one follows Jackson and April on a trip to (among other things) meet with Jackson's estranged father. Both episodes are good and among the season's best, but they really highlight how the show's overall quality had declined - if the main, hospital-centric storylines that the typical episodes revolve around were of the quality we had in the show's golden years, the sidequest episodes would cause a "man, I can't wait to return to see what's going on in the main storylines!" sense. However, a lot of the typical hospital drama in season 13 was semi-boring, which is why the sidequest episodes felt a bit too good - the show had started to become formulaic and generic enough, that just doing something different suddenly felt like a very fresh and welcome change of pace. That's never a great sign.

14. Season 11

We're now starting to get to the "very flawed and not in its prime, but pretty solid nonetheless" portion of the list. Season 11 has one of the weakest beginning acts of any Grey's season, with the Meredith-Maggie drama in the first three episodes feeling painfully forced and unimaginative. The season takes a turn with the episode Only Mama Knows, which fleshes out the Richard-Ellis lore in a powerful manner, and from thereon out, the season is quite alright.

Season 11 has its negatives (Derek's inconsistently written and out-of-character arch in the episodes before his death; the finale You're My Home being one of the weaker season endgames in the show), but dammit if it doesn't do some amazing heartstring-pulling in episodes like All I Could Do Was Cry (Jackson and April’s baby - Jesus, this show is cruel) and How To Save A Life (Derek's infamous death - I've understood it splits opinions, but I for one thought it was done quite well).

13. Season 12

Season 12 opens with Sledgehammer, one of the show's best season premieres, with its ultra-powerful LGBTQ+ patient story and the beautiful moment of manifested destiny as Miranda Bailey finally becomes chief of surgery.

For most of season 12, the series is pretty average - there aren't many bad episodes, but more mediocre ones than in previous seasons, despite some diamonds in the rough (Guess Who's Coming to Dinner is peak relationship drama). I didn't think the season would rank nearly this high on my list, but it really got its shit together towards the end - I'm not just talking about the season finale, but the several episodes leading up to it. Pretty much everyone in the loaded main cast gets an arch for the season's endgame, and this plethora of storylines comes beautifully together in the tear-jerking finale Family Affair.

12. Season 17

I'll just come out and say it - one of my many, many hot takes is that the notorious Covid season of Grey's Anatomy is actually pretty damn good.

First of all, let's address the Covid stuff. Every series that decided to include the pandemic in their canon polarized their fan base, but whether it's Brooklyn Nine-Nine or It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, I'm pretty much all for it in the cases I've come across. I'm the kind of viewer who just finds it really intriguing to see how a set of fictional characters I'm invested in would deal with the predicaments we all had to deal with in real life. And, I mean, it's a hospital series, so it would've almost felt weird not to address the pandemic.

Furthermore, by the time we get to season 17, the show had become generic and predictable enough that a true change of pace was very called-for. This far into the show, you get a lot of points for sticking out of the crowd and being memorable, and the Covid season certainly did that. I've also always liked the very left-leaning political messages of the series (I know, quite a shocker), so I respect season 17 for being the absolutely most socially charged season of the show. It wasn't just dealing with the pandemic - it was using its platform to raise awareness of the systemic injustices in the American medical system that made Covid so much more lethal to minorities.

Also, it's not just the Covid season - in fact, for a season so late in the show's trajectory, there were many individual elements that made it one of my favorites from the show's late era. We get the multi-episode storyline of Meredith in a coma, which gave us the beach sequences, a.k.a. the return of not one, two or three but four beloved actors whose characters had been killed off, and it feels like they all got a more proper send-off in these bittersweet sequences. We were also treated to one of the most shocking and heartbreaking character deaths in a series that really prides itself with brutal killings-off, as we said goodbye to Andrew DeLuca (R.I.P. legend). And last but not least - Jackson Avery, one of my favorite characters, is written off the series, getting one of the best and most heartfelt exit archs of the show. So, in conclusion - I sort of get why so many fans hate season 17, but for me it was a nice change of pace, an inspiration to my activist spirit, and a proper emotional roller coaster.

11. Season 10

Speaking of great character exits - the season 10 finale is where we say our goodbye to Dr. Cristina Yang. And with one sole exception, all the seasons with Yang are simply better than all the seasons without Yang.

The reason season 10 is slightly outside of my top ten is mainly that a certain degree of decline in overall quality was becoming visible - the past-its-prime signs had already been there during season 9, but here they really started to show, before escalating further in the post-Cristina seasons. Mind you, it's far from bad, but it just starts to feel like a clear drop from the greatness that was the show's 'golden era'. This can be seen in the dialogue, level and balance of main plotlines, and the fact that there are only a few great episodes amidst tons of semi-average ones.

But, oh man, those few in the midst - they are gold. The midseason finale Get Up, Stand Up is, in my opinion, the best moment for the romance aspect of the series, as it culminates in a hellishly powerful moment for Jackson and April, one of the show's greatest love stories. I cried like a baby when watching that unfold. Tears were also present in the season finale - after multiple episodes of building up Cristina's exit arch, Fear (of the Unknown) gives her a pitch-perfect departure. It's sad to see her go, but honestly, the exit is done so well that it's hard to feel too upset about it. That's how you write off a beloved character.

10. Season 4

The fourth season was one of the toughest ones to rank. You see, for the era of the series that it's in, it's remarkably subpar - whether it's the amount of great moments, the quality of the season's average episodes or the intrigue and entertainment value of the storylines, it's nowhere near as good as the three seasons that came before or the several that come after it. My initial impulse was to rank it even lower, because it was such a clear momentary drop in quality when watching.

However, I had to admit that even if it was strangely underwhelming for the early era of the series, it's still better television than pretty much any of the post-season-10 seasons. Even with its flaws, it's early Grey's Anatomy, which means that A) no storylines felt too repetitive, lazy or rehashed as they often might in the show's sunset years, and B) the main cast still had heavy-hitters like George O'Malley, Lexie Grey, Mark Sloan et cetera in the mix. So, yeah - it may be a somewhat uneventful season, with the only truly standout episode being the Crash Into Me two-parter, but it still gets a lot of points simply for lack of veering-on-jumping-the-shark material.

9. Season 9

Season 9 is where the slow, slow downhill of the show's quality begins, but it begins so subtly that it doesn't affect this season's quality all that much. Yes, it's not as good as the many before it, partially due to changes in the cast (Lexie and Mark were killed off in the season 8 finale and season 9 premiere respectively, and their dynamic star power was hard to replace), and partially due to the season simply having slightly less engaging storylines and episodes by average than seasons 5-8.

But still - for a show in its ninth season, it's remarkably fresh, especially when looking back on the 20-season perspective I recently gained (it's funny how for many shows, season 9 might be where the writers really run out of ideas, but after following Richard contemplate retirement for like the thirteenth time while Owen deals with his 1000th instance of marital issues, season 9 of this show honestly still feels like the nostalgic good ol' days). The ninth season is at its best about halfway through, when the aftermath of the season 8 plane crash gets to the point that the hospital is in danger of going out of business, and the series more or less turns into Succession for four of five episodes. Quality drama right there.

8. Season 1

Ah, season 1. I get why many fans would rank this cute nostalgia-fest even higher, and it's very possible that my own opinion would improve further upon re-watch. Based on my first viewing of the series, however, it can't help but fall a bit short of the show's prime. Mind you, it's still well in the better half of my ranking of an overall kick-ass series, because there's a lot to enjoy here. The core of the show's original premise (following the original group of five interns under Bailey's watch) is immensely enjoyable, and everything feels fresh and new for obvious reasons.

Still, there is room for growth - the season at its best is nowhere near the bombastic quality and masterpiece episodes that we'd get in later seasons, after the viewer has become more invested in the characters and many major storylines have been developed into fruition. Still, season 1 deserves a lot of thanks for starting that process, and giving us a cozy atmosphere and some iconic lines in the process.

7. Season 14

No, really!! I was as surprised as anyone to notice that the fourteenth season of Grey's Anatomy was so much better than it had any right to be. After many flawed seasons indicating that the drop in quality was irreversible, they pulled off this amazing individual season, only to return to the overall negative direction right after it. But, yeah, season 14 is pretty great, mainly thanks to an odd abundance of above-average episodes and storylines. The main cast, production values and dialogue were pretty much on par with the few seasons before this one, but there are more remarkable individual episodes and memorable moments here than in the three previous seasons combined.

The season starts out strong, with a four-episode arch focusing on major character Amelia Shepherd's brain tumor diagnosis and high-stakes surgery. Only a few episodes after this chain of events, we get Who Lives, Who Dies, Who Tells Your Story - the show's 300th episode, and one that celebrates the milestone in question with a brilliant blend of nostalgia, fan service and tribute to the show's core themes. Soon after this, we get 1-800-799-7233 and Personal Jesus, two consecutive episodes that aren't exactly a two-parter but have a lot in common, and they take the show's tear-jerking potential and hard-hitting real-life themes to a fucking extreme - three separate storylines in these two episodes manage to tackle police brutality, trans issues and domestic abuse, and all three themes are dealt with in a sensible and powerful manner.

After that, it keeps going! Again, there's just a few average episodes in between, and then we get to One Day Like This, a fantastic episode with Saul Rubinek's guest role as Rabbi Eli Rigler being one of the show's best one-episode-only characters and April Kepner's crisis-of-faith storyline taking a fantastic turn. Later, the season treats us to Judgment Day (season 14 episode 20, heh), the show's hands-down funniest episode by a long shot, as we follow the doctors at Grey Sloan getting accidentally high due to a hilarious chain of events. The season's penultimate episode, Cold As Ice, is an emotional powerhouse as April fights for her life while Jesse Williams acts his heart out in the role of Jackson Avery, and the season finale All Of Me works as a nice bookend for the season - Jo and Alex get married, April and Arizona are written off the show, we finally get to see BokHee's face et cetera. It's all pretty awesome.

6. Season 3

Season 3 is absolutely, start-to-finish solid television. It does miss the wow factor that defines this list's top three in particular, but that's okay - every season can't be total banger after total banger, because then the best seasons wouldn't be exceptional. The main cast, long-term storylines, relationship drama and individual episodes of season 3 are all in the same tier: not quite at the show's best, but definitely in the upper tiers and ahead of most.

The season has many good-but-not-elite storylines for viewers to enjoy: Burke's tremor and Cristina getting into trouble for covering for him, George processing the grief of his father getting ill and passing away, and Addison being written out as a backdoor pilot for the spin-off Private Practice. The season's highpoint can be found from three consecutive episodes (Walk on Water, Drowning on Dry Land and Some Kind of Miracle), which feature many of the shows strengths simultaneously: a disaster that brings a rush of dramatic patient cases to the hospital, a major character fighting for her life, and an emotional death scene. Good stuff!

5. Season 7

Now we're really getting to the good stuff. While season 7 is the weakest of the four consecutive seasons that clearly form the show's utmost prime, it still rocks - the main cast is absolutely stacked with legends, the best episodes are quite magnificent, and even the worst ones are a-okay. A big theme throughout the season is the aftermath of the mass shooting at the end of season 6 - not only did that event make for the show's best individual episode, but it caused a ripple effect that made for a season's worth of character development. Following the beloved characters grapple with their trauma is gripping and completely fascinating.

Many of the season's most memorable episodes are gimmicky ones - either in the fun and unserious way (I will forever defend the infamous musical episode Song Beneath the Song), or then utilizing a gimmick for a somber and serious episode (such as the documentary episode These Arms of Mine). We also get the marriage of my emotional support lesbians Callie and Arizona, the arrival of Zola Grey Shepherd into our lives and hearts, and an underrated endgame with the subdued lowkey dramatics of the finale Unaccompanied Minor. A chaotic season, but a damn good one at that.

4. Season 8

And the chaos continues! The opening act of season 8 has Meredith Grey, the show's protagonist, kidnapping a child (she has her reasons), and it doesn't get any less crazy from there. Throughout season 8, we get the show at its most fun (the baseball episode!) and at its absolute least fun (R.I.P. Henry Burton - man, this show is cruel), then back to most fun (what the f**k was up with the "What if" episode? I don't know who came up with that but I love it), and then least fun (The Girl with No Name is maybe the hands-down most depressing episode of the series, and that's saying a lot).

Things get exciting towards the end, with the main residents taking their oral boards, as the heart-melting love story of Jackson and April gets its electric beginning while all sorts of tensions fly high. Oh, and speaking of flying, the season's second-last episode appeared to end as it cut to black for a few seconds after a nice shot of the plane carrying several major characters being up in the air. It was at that moment when I noticed that my fiancée Martta, a megafan who has seen the series countless times, was holding back tears in an attempt not to spoil anything from this first-time viewer. And, well, we all know what happens next, and of all the notes to leave a season on, that is certainly f**king one of them.

3. Season 2

Ah, season 2 - it's like season 1, but the training wheels are off. Meredith, Alex, George, Izzie & Cristina are still in their intern year, but instead of nine low-stakes episodes, we get 27 quite dramatic ones - and when I say dramatic, I mean things like "O'Malley performs a heart surgery in an elevator" and "The hospital goes on a code-black lockdown because there's a BOMB in a PATIENT" and "That Goddamn train episode, you know the one" and "Let's do a high-stakes gray-area moral dilemma storyline so iconic that millions of Americans will learn and remember what an LVAD wire is thanks to this".

We also meet legendary characters like Callie Torres and Mark Sloan for the first time (and Addison, if you don't count her bombastic entrance in the final seconds of the season 1 finale). The season starts to dip its toes into the political themes that would become a big staple (the episode where the nurses go on strike is underrated as hell), while really starting to shape the identity of the things the show would go on to be best-known for (the relationship drama here is vintage, and Denny Duquette is the Citizen Kane of sad Grey's Anatomy deaths).

2. Season 5

First of all - pretty much every major character on Grey's Anatomy has had one or two close calls with death over the course of the series (or like 23, if you're Meredith). These storylines are often among the more dramatic ones, as a longtime character you've grown to care about as a viewer hits different than a 'patient of the week'. And I'd argue that the hands-down best-written, most emotionally powerful and most unforgettable narrative of the doctor becoming the patient, throughout all 20 seasons, is Izzie Stevens' battle with cancer in season 5. That storyline is a fucking emotional rollercoaster, causing a near-endless supply of twists, turns and tears.

That alone earns high marks for season 5, but oh man, there's so much more to love as well. Arizona and Owen join the main cast (say what you will about Owen, but that's one hell of an acting performance and an entertaining character in all his bullshit), Bailey finally realizes what she's worth and dumps the sorry jackass Tucker, Derek and Meredith get engaged - the season is a powerhouse of great TV, and this is especially evident in its endgame. The third-last episode is What a Difference a Day Makes, the show's 100th episode, and perhaps the biggest individual tear-jerking cry-fest that Shonda ever put together. Except that just two episodes later, we get the season finale Now Or Never, which against all odds made me cry even more. Absolute cinema.

1. Season 6

Still, it has got to be season 6 at the top. Opening with the confirmation and aftermath of O'Malley's death? Bittersweet closure. The storyline of Richard struggling with his sobriety? Heartbreaking and ultimately beautiful. Individual episodes like the whodunit I Saw What I Saw, the movie-like Give Peace a Chance and the emotionally powerful The Time Warp? Majestic. The hospital merger that brought us dramatic tensions as well as new characters Jackson and April? Perhaps the biggest individual catalyst into the show's 'golden years', with the main cast from that point up until Mark&Lexie's deaths being the all-time best version of itself.

And on top of all that, the season finishes off with the double episode Sanctuary / Death and All His Friends, which is hands-down the show's finest moment. Panic, heartbreak, tragedy, chaos and heroism ensue in this poetically written and intensely directed sledgehammer of quality TV. Bravo.

Thank you for reading! Tune in next week as the Grey's Anatomy theme month continues with a ranking of the show's best characters.