In a few short weeks, Grey’s Anatomy will return for its landmark sixteenth season, which is pretty incredible as far as television goes. It is the longest-running medical drama of all time having beat ER for the title last season. However, that said, just because Grey’s Anatomy has been on the air for more than 15 years and aired more than 300 episodes, that doesn’t mean every episode has been a winner.
Any fan who has stuck around since the beginning knows how much the series has changed since the early years. Characters have come and gone, some storylines were amazing and others not so much. Here are the 10 lowest-rated episodes of all time according to IMDb.
Jukebox Hero (13x11)
This list starts off with an episode from season 13, which is fitting, since many episodes on this list come from season 13. It simply wasn’t a popular season with fans for many reasons. Between the Alex and Andrew storyline and Eliza Minnick, there was quite a few things to dislike. This episode starts with Alex missing. Meredith and Jo panick, thinking he could be in jail.
Meanwhile, hospital staff is doing everything they can to block Eliza from going into the OR to try and prevent her inspections from taking place. The focus so heavily on two detested storylines, you can see why no one was fond of this episode.
In the Air Tonight (13x20)
Fans were not particularly keen on the blossoming relationship between Nathan and Meredith. Creating another love interest for Meredith was always going to be difficult due to the hole left behind by Derek’s death, but it certainly didn’t help that Nathan wasn’t a very popular character and fans never warmed up to him.
He didn’t stay on the series for very long. This entire episode featured only Meredith and Nathan while traveling on an airplane to a conference. Meredith opens up to Nathan about Derek, the plane crash, and even Lexie. By episode’s end, the two agree to give this new relationship a chance.
None Of Your Business (13x12)
This episode finally brings about the end of the long-winded Alex and Andrew saga. Andrew winds up dropping the charges against Alex, but he only does so for Jo’s benefit. Alex does get his job back but Meredith gets suspended by Eliza Minnick.
As we’ll discuss again later on this list, no one particularly loved the heavily political Eliza Minnick storyline that caused a giant rift to divide the hospital staff. Elsewhere, people who liked Owen and Amelia were disappointed to see their relationship take yet another nosedive as Owen decides he’s through waiting for her to come around.
Two Against One (10x08)
There is quite a bit to dislike about this episode. For starters, it’s the beginning of Bailey’s OCD storyline. Fans weren’t crazy about this storyline because it happens and then it vanishes and is never really spoken about again in later seasons. But perhaps the biggest frustration with this episode is Cristina’s betrayal of Meredith.
Their friendship is the heart of the show and no one wanted to see something so colossal happen to break them apart. Cristina goes behind Meredith’s back and wrecks her work on the 3-D printed liver leading to a big blowout between them.
Do You Know? (10x17)
In this episode, Cristina imagines two distinct scenarios about her potential future with Owen. It all surrounds the patient she’s treating who may or may not decide to be taken off the ventilator. In one scenario, she and Owen get married, have kids, and get a dog. But Cristina doesn’t ever win a Harper Avery Award.
In the second scenario, Cristina still winds up with Owen and they’re happy, at first. She decides not to have kids and they continue being on-again-off-again, Owen drinks heavily, she wins multiple Harper Avery Awards. By episodes’ end, her feelings for Owen are still left unresolved.
Song Beneath the Song (7x18)
“Song Beneath the Song” is the fabled and much-maligned musical episode of the series. It takes place in the aftermath of Callie and Arizona’s horrible car crash. In her coma-state, Callie reimagines everyone in the hospital in ways she’s never seen before, namely, they’re all singing. This was Grey’s attempt to cash-in on the musical episode trend that had become incredibly popular at the time.
Some fans still enjoy this episode but many agree it was a major miss for the series due to some of the poor singing and clunky writing. For a show that is already fond of saccharine tropes, adding a musical episode was just too much.
Civil War (13x15)
Most Grey’s Anatomy fans did not like the introduction of Eliza Minnick into the show. She suspended Meredith and made things difficult for many of the best characters. This episode initiated some of the most tiresome storylines in season thirteen.
Plus, it was only the beginning of the impending turmoils to come between Owen and Amelia. For people who were frustrated about the “civil war” between the old administration and the new one, they had to deal with the beginning of a fairly tedious storyline involving hospital politics.
Who Is He (And What Is He To You?) (13x16)
This episode has been dubbed by fans of Jackson and April as #JaprilTheSequel in the aftermath of the season twelve episode that was called #JaprilTheMovie and mainly featured the couple. In this episode, Jackson and April travel to Montana to perform an elaborate and complicated surgery. But Jackson isn’t focused and April has to focus on getting his head in the right space.
People who don’t like Japril were not pleased about watching an entire episode focused on them and no other main characters. Not even Meredith is in this episode, making it the first time that has ever happened. Japril fans were disappointed the couple didn’t reconcile.
Thriller (10x07)
“Thriller” is one of the few Halloween episodes that Grey’s Anatomy ever did. The medical side of this episode is pretty fun. It involves a “zombie” patient. Plus, we get to see many of our favorite characters in adorable Halloween costumes! So why is this episode the second-lowest rated of the series?
Well, it involves Arizona hooking up with Leah Murphy. Not only were fans upset about Callie and Arizona breaking up, Leah was one of the most hated characters on the show. As if it wasn’t bad enough for one of their most popular pairings to split, they had to hook Arizona up with someone no one wanted to see her with.
How To Save A Life (11x21)
It isn’t surprising this episode ranks as the worst of Grey’s Anatomy. In “How to Save a Life,” Derek Shepherd dies after witnessing a terrible car accident and trying to jump in to rescue those involved. Fans were not happy with Derek’s shocking death.
For 11 seasons, he had been one of the main and most popular characters on the series. The romance between Meredith and Derek was easily the show’s most legendary and notable. No one could have anticipated his death. Even though Grey’s has continue on without him, for many fans this was the end of the line.