The Best 10 Seasons of Grey's Anatomy, Ranked

Updated on 11/22/2018 at 5:05 PM

Oh, Grey's Anatomy. While Shonda Rhimes's hit medical drama might be headed for an end in the near future, it's still going strong, already making TV history with its current 15th season. Seriously, we can never get enough of the soapy romantic gestures or heart-shattering drama. It's not even a show anymore; it's a way of life.

If you're thinking about rebinging a few seasons or just feel curious about the best that the show has to offer, you're in luck. Here are our top 10 favorite seasons throughout the show's run, from decently solid to the very best. We'll factor in not only how satisfying the plot and ending felt, but also how weepy the season made us. Because if anything, we can count on Grey's for a good cry.

Season 10

Plot: The season gets off to a slow start, with a handful of episodes devoted to a storm that puts some of the doctors' lives in jeopardy. Still, it deserves a spot here for strong performances from Sandra Oh (Cristina) and Justin Chambers (Alex). We see a lot of relationship drama, but none are as particularly juicy as Jackson and April's impromptu elopement. There's also good stuff with Alex's father coming back and the buildup around Cristina's career trajectory.
Ending: This is pretty happy as Grey's finales go. Cristina moves to Europe with Shane the resident, leaving Meredith with a penny for her thoughts about Derek's sometimes egomaniacal ways. At the very end of the season, we also meet Maggie as she's chatting with Richard. The season wraps up neatly, if not a little too neatly, with a new character lined up to take the place of our cardiothoracic fave.
Weepiness: Yeah, I definitely have bittersweet tears for Cristina's farewell. Alex's dad drama and the beginnings of Japril are pretty cry-worthy, too. Otherwise, mostly a safe season for the tear ducts.

Season 7

Plot: Season seven definitely pulls through with Grey's melodrama, albeit sometimes overly so. It steadily explores the emotional consequences after the horrific shooting in season six, especially for Meredith and Cristina. We also learn that Adele has Alzheimer's, and Meredith, acting on emotion, switches her clinical treatment. Of course, there's the Calzona plot, in which Arizona goes to Africa and Callie's pregnant with Mark's baby.
Ending: There's a whole lot of satisfying drama going on in the last episode, but nothing disastrous for the surgeons. Cristina's pregnant. Henry and Teddy make it official. Meredith gets suspended for tampering with the trial, and her relationship with Derek becomes incredibly thorny, even though they've received temporary custody of Zola.
Weepiness: Season seven is definitely more jaw-dropping than teary, if we're completely honest. That said, we may have shed a tear or two because of Sara Ramirez's beautiful singing chops in the divisive musical episode.

Season 14

Plot: Season 14 has a shaky start with Megan Hunt's surgery and Amelia's brain tumor, but it soon evolves into a feel-good season with lots of levity (for the most part). Even the most harrowing parts in the narrative, such as April's near-death experience, turned out for the best. Plus, this is the season when we finally see career payoff for the female powerhouse docs, especially Mer, Jo, Bailey, and Arizona.
Ending: We had to say goodbye to Arizona and April, but otherwise the ending moved along swiftly. Alex and Jo (as well as Matthew and April) marry after some mishaps. There is remaining drama as we wait to find out where Jo goes for her fellowship and how Teddy's baby news unfolds.
Weepiness: Lots of happy tears this season. Emotional high points include the Catherine Fox Foundation, Alex and Jo's wedding, and Meredith's Harper Avery win.

Season 8

Plot: There's intense, juicy buildup with Teddy and Henry's budding relationship, Cristina and Owen's fraying marriage, and Meredith and Derek's reconciliation. But the emotional peak at the end of the season is an unexpected curveball with severe consequences. More on that below.
Ending: Devastating. Absolutely devastating, and happening for almost no rhyme or reason. A group of the surgeons (Meredith, Derek, Cristina, Arizona, Mark, and Lexie) take a plane to Boise to do a surgery to separate conjoined twins. But the plane crashes, leaving everyone hurt. Lexie eventually dies from her injuries, leaving Meredith and Mark in shambles.
Weepiness: There are pretty sad parts this season with Henry's death and Owen's affair, but none can beat the aforementioned.

Season 5

Plot: A few memorable plots brew in the fifth season, including the budding relationship between Callie and Arizona, Derek and Meredith's engagement, and, ugh, Izzie's heartbreaking cancer diagnosis. The characters grow more vulnerable, especially Meredith when it comes to taking the next step with McDreamy and Alex when it comes to taking care of Izzie.
Ending: George gets hit by a bus and is admitted as John Doe at Seattle Grace. Since his face is unrecognizable, Meredith only realizes who he is after he draws 0-0-7 into her palm. Then, Izzie flatlines and everyone decides to go against her DNR. Cue the iconic elevator scene when Izzie wears her hospital prom dress and sees George in an Army uniform.
Weepiness: Season five gets five out of five tear-stained stars for its heavy dose of romance and drama.

Season 3

Plot: Season three isn't quite as grounded as the season that precedes it, but it visits interesting emotional spheres. It explores Meredith's relationship with her mother and her feelings of depression because of that bond. This all builds up to the ferry incident, in which Meredith lets go in the water and almost dies, entering a dream state where she sees dead people from her past.
Ending: Heartbroken, Cristina declares that she's finally free after Burke leaves Seattle on their wedding day without a trace. Meredith, supporting her best friend, also realizes that she and Derek are done.
Weepiness: Meredith almost dying and Cristina getting left at the altar? You bet we cried.

Season 12

Plot: Season 12 is all about Meredith's life after Derek. This might be a controversial stance, but Derek's death is possibly what the show needed to freshen things up around Grey Sloan. We get to see Meredith focus hard on her career and develop her relationship with Alex, her sisters, and even Penny, the intern who was on call when Derek died. There are also solid secondary plots, especially April and Jackson's marriage drama after her return from Jordan.
Ending: Season 12's finale isn't all that sad, but we're still heartbroken over Callie's departure to New York after an intense custody trial with Arizona. Ben saves the day by assisting with April's delivery before help arrives. Amelia, after getting a bit of cold feet, finally marries Owen. All is well, except for, um, Alex punching the living daylights out of DeLuca.
Weepiness: It's not a particularly weepy season, but you're bound to get teary-eyed here and there thinking about how Meredith is grieving.

Season 6

Plot: Grey's Anatomy gets dark this season. George is officially dead. Izzie leaves Alex. Richard grapples with his alcoholism. The finale involves a shooting. On top of it all, there are structural changes as the hospital merges with Mercy West, introducing extra relationship drama to the series.
Ending: "Death and All of His Friends" has to be one of the most heartbreaking finales, and it's as tense as a horror movie with everyone vulnerable to the hospital's biggest threat yet. Really, it's arguably one of the show's finest episodes. Reed and Charles come out dead. Meredith miscarries after Jackson and Cristina pull the plug on Derek in order to convince the shooter to leave. Richard talks to Mr. Clark, who ends up shooting himself. Alex, Owen, and Derek are hurt but come out alive.
Weepiness: Grey's Anatomy does its best melodrama in season six, so prepare for lots and lots of tears. You'll be getting residual tears after the George and Izzie departures, but nothing can really prepare you for the devastating finale.

Season 1

Plot: After sharing a one-night stand with the man who would become the love of her life, Meredith takes on her first year as a surgical intern at Seattle Grace. The opening season is all about Meredith's relationships with her peers, her superiors, and Derek. First seasons are usually clunky, but we ranked season one in second place for its heart, warmth, and character development. It also nabbed a few SAG, Golden Globe, and Emmy nominations, so it's definitely not too shabby!
Ending: There's an STD outbreak among the interns, which is as much levity as the episode gets. (And let's be frank: STDs are no laughing matter.) Meredith and her superiors operate on Dr. Webber, who wakes up only to learn that Mer and Derek are seeing each other. That relationship doesn't last too long, though, since Addison, Derek's estranged wife, pops up on the scene.
Weepiness: You'll shed a few tears here and there this season, but there's nothing that's tragically devastating . . . yet. It's all about buildup for Shonda Rhimes.

Season 2

Plot: This season primarily focuses on Meredith navigating her life after learning that Derek is married. We get a taste of Finn, the handsome vet, but season two is so much more than Meredith's love life. We get to see how brave she is in the bomb arc and how fiercely she protects her friends with regards to Cristina's abortion and Izzie's LVAD decision. The character growth that we see for the other characters is also sublime, as Cristina softens and George grows confidence.
Ending: Oh man, where do we start? Meredith and Derek hook up at the hospital prom and Denny dies not long after Izzie cuts the LVAD wire so that he can get a heart. Two words: "Chasing Cars."
Weepiness: We bet you didn't cry as hard in any other season as you did in season two. It's just that good, and there are so many major moments, including Meredith's "Pick me, choose me, love me" speech, bomb-squad guy's death, and the train passengers' tragic uncoupling.