top of page
Search

The 10 Saddest Grey's Anatomy Episodes.

  • Writer: Laurel Walls
    Laurel Walls
  • Mar 28, 2019
  • 6 min read

In honor of the 14 years of bringing Grey's Anatomy to our screens, I will be counting down the 10 saddest episodes. There's been plenty of sadness that has come out of this show, it's been death after death. It's hard to pick just 10 episodes, but here's my opinion.


10. "Death and All His Friends" (Season 6, Episode 24)


ree

The infamous shooting at Seattle Grace. This episode was so chaotic and saw many favorite characters in danger. It was the season 6 finale so it really had to bring the heat. Gary Clark (Michael O'Neill), was seeking revenge on the hospital, more specifically on Derek Shepherd (Patrick Dempsey) for his wife's death. The hospital was on lockdown and the first to die was Reed Adamson (Nora Zehetner). She was shot right in the head after unknowingly giving him an attitude. This was to the only casualty that the episode saw. A fan favorite, Dr. Bailey (Chandra Wilson) was in a patients room with Charles Percy (Robert Baker) when Gary entered. Bailey lied and said she was a nurse and that's how she was able to escape being shot, Percy did not have the same luxury. He died in Bailey's arms. While there were only two deaths, that didn't stop two main characters from being shot. Both Alex Karev (Justin Chambers) and Derek suffered very dramatic shots and their status on the show was definitely in question.


9. "Deterioration of The Fight of Flight Response" and "Losing My Religion" (Season 2, Episode 26 & 27)


ree

This episode was one of the first major doses of sadness from the show. It was the season 2 finale when Dr. Izzie Stevens (Katherine Heigl) lost her lover Denny Duquette (Jefferey Dean Morgan). Denny was a long time patient and was in desperate need of a heart transplant. The episode was chaotic as she went against every thing she'd ever learned in medical school and cut the wires to his LVAD so he could move up the donor list. He was able to get his transplant, but unfortunately that couldn't even help him. We were fooled into thinking that he was okay he "had warm hands again" but by the end of the episode he had died from a blood clot.


8. "Fear of the Unknown" (Season 10, Episode 24)


ree

Throughout the years Cristina Yang (Sandra Oh) and Meredith Grey (Ellen Pompeo) became one of the most well-known duos in pop culture. Their friendship was loved by fans. It was extremely sad when the time came to say a teary goodbye to Cristina. The scene where Meredith and Cristina have their final dance scene rips your heart out, but it's bittersweet. Her final episode plays great tribute to her character throughout her 10 year history. It's definitely a tear-jerker.


7. "Song Beneath the Song" (Season 7, Episode 18)


ree

Seattle Grace shakes when Dr. Callie Torres (Sara Ramirez) and Dr. Arizona Robbins (Jessica Capshaw) come in after being involved in a severe car crash. This is the musical episode of Grey's Anatomy and you're not sure if Callie is going to make it out alive or not. The whole episode follows Callie's "ghost" who watches as she's operated on. The episode features some of Grey's Anatomy's most well-known sad soundtrack songs including Snow Patrol's "Chasing Cars" and The Fray's "How To Save a Life".


6. "The Sound of Silence" (Season 12, Episode 9)


ree

This episode was so well done, everything about it was incredible and didn't lack emotion. Meredith suffered a brutal attack from a patient. Most of this episode was silent as Meredith was temporarily deaf. The saddest part of this episode isn't the attack itself, but what comes after. Meredith had to have her jaw wired shut and when Alex brought her kids to see her they were scared of her. It was such a heartbreaking moment.


5. "All I Could Do Was Cry" (Season 11, Episode 11)


ree

This episode was soul crushing. Doctors Jackson Avery (Jesse Williams) and April Kepner (Sarah Drew) suffered the loss of their son Samuel. They were informed that in the womb he was in pain and his bones were breaking. The two had no other choice but to induce labor at 24 weeks. April delivered Samuel and the two held their son until he later died. It was gut wrenching to watch and made everyone ugly-cry.


4. "Didn't We Almost Have It All?' (Season 3, Episode 25)


ree

Cristina's wedding to Burke (Isaiah Washington), or almost wedding. We saw throughout the series Cristina having trouble opening herself up to love and being able to commit to relationships. We saw her suffering from doubt right before she walked down the aisle, but ultimately was talked off the ledge. Which is why it is only more heartbreaking when you find out that Burke has ran. Cristina goes into a full breakdown mode saying that she can't breathe. Meredith has to cut her wedding dress off her as she sobs in her arms. It's something that is people worse nightmares and we watching it play out.


3. "Good Mourning" (Season 6, Episode 1)


ree

This episode, I'm still not over it. It was a premiere just like any other when a patient was rushed in. He was so badly hurt he was unrecognizable. The John Doe had jumped in front of a bus to save someone else's life. The doctors did everything they could but weren't able to save him. The heartbreak comes when the patient traces "007" into Meredith's hand. This was the nickname for the beloved character Dr. George O'Malley (T.R. Knight). Fans and the characters have their heart ran through the shredder when Meredith realizes that John Doe is in fact their colleague and best friend George. To make matters worse, this was George's last day before going into the military and he was given the day off to spend time with his family.


2. "Flight" (Season 8, Episode 24)


ree

The plane crash episode, whether you're a fan or not you've heard about this episode. 6 of Seattle Grace's finest and most beloved characters go down in the middle of the woods. This episode absolutely wrecked me. This episode led to the deaths of two of my favorite characters, Lexie Grey (Chyler Leigh) who died right in front of her boyfriend Mark Sloan (Eric Dane) and her sister Meredith. She died underneath the plane and holding Mark's hand. Everyone was crying. In the end Mark and Lexie would be together because as a result of this crash he was put into a coma and later died. It was crushing when Mark relived all his happy memories right before he died and caused me to sob. This episode was not easy on the other characters either, both Cristina and Meredith developed PTSD from the crash that has showed up in later seasons. Derek's hand was severely injured and prevented him from performing surgery. He had a tremor for quite a long time and it was a rough recovery process. Arizona may have suffered the most out of the four who lived. She had to have one of her legs amputated which she was absolutely distraught over. This episode overall is one of the saddest episodes of television I've watched ever.


1. "How to Save A Life" (Season 11, Episode 21)


ree

You knew from the get-go that an episode named after Grey's most infamous sad song was going to be gut wrenching. This episode features the death about one of the most well-known characters ever from TV. Derek Shepherd. When driving down a secluded road, Derek witnessed a car crash where he immediately pulled over and put his medical degree to use. He ended up saving the lives of 4 people. Derek got back in his car and went to drive away, but he was hit by a semi-truck. He was rushed to a nearby hospital that was not Seattle Grace and was given improper medical care. He knew he was going to die when he arrived there and was not given a head CT. He wasn't able to say goodbye to anyone. The cops showed up to Meredith's door and informed her that her husband was dead. The whole episode was so incredibly sad, but by far the saddest moment was when Meredith had to tell their children that their dad wouldn't be coming home.


What moments broke your heart the most? Leave a comment below!

 
 
 

1 Comment


hophead8
Mar 28, 2019

Sounds like if you work at Seattle’s Grace hospital, you will die young and tragically.

Like
Post: Blog2_Post

Subscribe Form

Thanks for submitting!

©2019 by Pop Culture POV. Proudly created with Wix.com

bottom of page