Season 11 (Grey's Anatomy)

The eleventh season of Grey's Anatomy premiered on September 25, 2014. It will be broadcast on Thursday nights at 8 PM on ABC. Exactly like the previous season, this season featured 24 episodes, to be broadcast in two uninterrupted blocks. Surprisingly, the eighth episode figures as the mid-season finale, whereas last season, it was the twelfth.

Summary
It's time to bring the thunder as the doctors of Grey Sloan Memorial face stunning surprises, unprecedented challenges and life changing decisions. Secrets of the past come to light and critical choices shape the future. Relationships are in turmoil as things between Callie and Arizona cool - and Owen and Amelia's romance ignites. April and Jackson face a heartbreaking tragedy.

Meanwhile, Meredith makes a stunning family discovery as opportunities pull Derek further away. And Maggie's shocking announcement proves that blood is thicker than water.

Plots

 * Derek decides to stay in Seattle, but Meredith winds up being unhappy about this as his decision makes him feel so bad that he diminishes everyone around him. A professional disagreement sparks another big fight between the two, which ends in Derek calling the President's personal assistant to take job after all and Meredith telling him to go immediately.
 * As her half-sister Maggie takes over Cristina's job, Meredith starts remembering more and more about her mother and helps her new sister to get to know Ellis a little better too. Maggie has trouble fitting in at first and misses her beloved parents, but ultimately befriends the other attendings.
 * Richard tries to cope with the fact that he has a daughter, and doesn't know how to tell Maggie that he is her father. When he finally does, she's mad at him for having waited so long. He struggles to get close to her again, but they start to form a good professional relationship.
 * Callie and Arizona start their journey to get another child, but when Arizona takes on a fetal surgery fellowship, they start fighting again. They realize every step they've taken in the last years were just band-aids, and they decide to go to couple's therapy. After a 30-day split recommended by the therapist, Callie realizes that constantly trying to fix their relationship is what's been killing her slowly, thus ending the relationship.
 * Callie teams up with Owen to dedicate her research to making veterans walk again and finds joy in life as a single woman. Owen misses Cristina and takes on the project to create something good in his life to fill the gap she's left.
 * Arizona discovers her mentor, fetal surgeon Nicole Herman, has a brain tumor. Nicole has only 6 months left to live, and decides to use these months to teach Arizona all she knows about surgery. Arizona decides to keep Nicole's secret in exchange for the knowledge, but she gets too curious and goes behind Nicole's back to find out more about her tumor. She accidentally drags Amelia into it, who ultimately claims she can remove the tumor.
 * Alex and Bailey fight over the board seat, which is ultimately granted to Bailey. Lebackes fires Alex when he finds out Alex might be leaving his practice, but Alex is hired as a pediatric surgery attending to cover the pediatric surgery department now Arizona has started the fellowship.
 * Bailey starts working on her own health and supports Richard.
 * Ben's sister, Rosalind, is hospitalized and comes out as transgender.
 * Amelia becomes the Head of Neurosurgery and butts heads with her brother when he wants his job back. All secrets about her past come to light, which makes her grow closer with Owen, who knows what having a difficult past feels like.
 * Jackson and April prepare for parenthood with help from their mothers, but it turns out their baby has severe medical condition. She gives birth to a baby boy named Samuel, who dies after birth.
 * Jo and Stephanie enter their third-year of residency. Jo grows tired of Meredith and Alex's friendship and eventually even Arizona moving into their house, but she respects that Alex wants to maintain the open-door policy of the house. Stephanie is the one who finds out that April and Jackson's baby has a fatal condition.
 * On his way to the airport as he plans to go to back to Washington D.C., Derek is severely injured in a car accident which leaves him brain-dead and Meredith signs the papers to take him off life-support.
 * After Derek's funeral and unable to cope with his loss, Meredith leaves Seattle with her children and nobody knows where she is. A year later, it is revealed that she is pregnant with her third child and later gives birth to a daughter named Ellis. She returns to Seattle for good.
 * Owen and April leave overseas for a three-month military surgical training program. April ends up extending her leave, but she later returns to Seattle.
 * Catherine proposes to Richard and they later get married at the hospital's chapel. They celebrate at Meredith and Derek's house.

Main Cast

 * Ellen Pompeo as Dr. Meredith Grey (24/24)
 * Justin Chambers as Dr. Alex Karev (23/24)
 * Chandra Wilson as Dr. Miranda Bailey (23/24)
 * James Pickens, Jr. as Dr. Richard Webber (22/24)
 * Sara Ramírez as Dr. Callie Torres (22/24)
 * Kevin McKidd as Dr. Owen Hunt (24/24)
 * Jessica Capshaw as Dr. Arizona Robbins (22/24)
 * Sarah Drew as Dr. April Kepner (21/24)
 * Jesse Williams as Dr. Jackson Avery (21/24)
 * Caterina Scorsone as Dr. Amelia Shepherd (23/24)
 * Camilla Luddington as Dr. Jo Wilson (23/24)
 * Jerrika Hinton as Dr. Stephanie Edwards (23/24)
 * Kelly McCreary as Dr. Maggie Pierce (22/24) (as of All I Could Do Was Cry; recurring previously)
 * Patrick Dempsey as Dr. Derek Shepherd (17/24)

Recurring Guest Stars

 * Patrick Fabian as Dr. Oliver Lebackes (1/24)
 * Kate Burton as Dr. Ellis Grey (2/24)
 * Sally Pressman as Young Ellis Grey (2/24)
 * Geena Davis as Dr. Nicole Herman (12/24)
 * Jason George as Dr. Ben Warren (13/24)
 * Rebecca Field as Sabine McNeil (1/24)
 * Billy Malone as Jon McNeil (1/24)
 * J. August Richards as Young Richard Webber (1/24)
 * Nicholas D'Agosto as Dr. Graham Maddox (3/24)
 * Connie Ray as Karen Kepner (2/24)
 * Debbie Allen as Catherine Avery (6/24)
 * Marla Sokoloff as Glenda Castillo (2/24)
 * Lance Gross as Dr. Ethan Boyd (2/24)
 * Debra Mooney as Evelyn Hunt (1/24)
 * Drew Rausch as John Finch (1/24)
 * Kevin Alejandro as Dan Pruitt (2/24)
 * Samantha Sloyan as Dr. Penelope Blake (1/24)
 * Joe Adler as Dr. Isaac Cross (2/24)
 * Irene Keng as Dr. Audrey Shaw (2/24)
 * Giacomo Gianniotti as Dr. Andrew DeLuca (2/24)
 * Heather Matarazzo as Joan Paulson (2/24)
 * Joe Dinicol as Dr. Mitchell Spencer (2/24)
 * Dan O'Brien as Keith Gardner (2/24)

Prominent Guest Stars

 * Jennifer Rhodes as Jean Dominy

Recurring Co-Stars

 * Curtis Walker as Medivac Guy (1/24)
 * Cynthia Youngblood as Nurse Cynthia Youngblood (1/24)
 * Payton Silver as Dr. Knox (3/24)
 * Grace Rowe as Paramedic Grace (1/24)
 * Aria Leabu as Young Meredith Grey (2/24)
 * Teresa Huang as Nurse Ruth (1/24)
 * Nicole Cummins as Paramedic Nicole Cummins (3/24)
 * Danny Jacobs as Doctor (2/24)
 * JoAnna Rhambo as Nurse (1/24)
 * Casey Corn as Nurse (1/24)
 * Kevin Clarke as Paramedic (2/24)
 * Olivia-Diane Joseph as Nurse (1/24)
 * Gregory Michael Smith as Paramedic (2/24)
 * Shi Ne Nielson as Paramedic (1/24)
 * Danny Nero as Anesthesiologist (1/24)
 * J. Omar Castro as Paramedic (1/24)
 * Michael Anthony Rogers as Paramedic (2/24)
 * Ariel Felix as Anesthesiologist (1/24)
 * Carissa Kosta as Nurse (1/24)
 * Mara Hall as Nurse Kathleen (1/24)
 * Alixandree Antoine as Nurse (1/24)
 * Jennifer Lauren DiBella as Andrea Dibella (1/24)
 * Kate Mines as Nurse Gloria (1/24)
 * Wayne Lopez as Paramedic (1/24)
 * Aniela Gumbs as Zola Grey Shepherd (2/24)
 * John Cappon as Paramedic John (1/24)
 * Robert Neary as Hal (2/24)

Notes and Trivia

 * This season is the first one not to feature Sandra Oh as Cristina Yang, though the character, played by someone else, appeared in one episode.
 * ABC officially renewed Grey's Anatomy for its eleventh season on May 8, 2014.
 * Shonda stated this season will be a very Meredith-centric season.
 * As of this season, the show airs at 8 PM Thursdays instead of 9 PM Thursdays, the timeslot that it held from seasons three to ten.
 * Shonda tweeted that she did a lot more writing on this season than she did in ages.
 * Like season 10, season 11 featured the winter finale, which is the eighth episode.
 * Like season 9, this season features a two-part finale, aired in two separate parts.
 * This season is very flashback heavy, featuring numerous clips from prior seasons, especially Meredith-Derek scenes from seasons 1, 2, 3, 5, and 8.
 * Ellen Pompeo colored her hair darker this season so it correlated with Meredith's dark storylines.
 * This season seems to contain a lot of episodes centered around one or two specific character(s).
 * Puzzle With a Piece Missing is Maggie-centric.
 * Only Mama Knows focuses on Meredith and Ellis.
 * Bend & Break focuses on Callie and Arizona.
 * Could We Start Again, Please? focuses on Amelia and Derek.
 * All I Could Do Was Cry focuses on Jackson and April.
 * Staring at the End is focused on Nicole Herman.
 * The Distance is Amelia-centric.
 * How to Save a Life is focused on Derek.
 * Shonda Rhimes tweeted that there will not be a photoshoot to promote this season.
 * Meredith Grey has narrated the voice overs for 19 episodes (out of which 17 on her own).
 * Maggie Pierce narrated the voice over for Puzzle With a Piece Missing.
 * The voice overs for Only Mama Knows and She's Leaving Home were shared with Ellis Grey.
 * Arizona Robbins and Callie Torres did the voice over for Bend & Break.
 * April Kepner did the voice over for All I Could Do Was Cry.
 * Nicole Herman did the voice over for Staring at the End.
 * Amelia Shepherd did the voice over for The Distance.
 * 7x22-7.png June 23, 2014, it was announced that Caterina Scorsone was promoted to a series regular. This makes her the first character introduced in Private Practice to become a regular on Grey's Anatomy.
 * Sarah Drew was pregnant when the first half of the season was filmed, giving birth right after shooting episode 11. Therefore, she does not appear in episodes 12 and 13 because of her maternity leave.
 * This season's DVD cover is the first one not to have a picture of each main cast member on the front. It only features Meredith.
 * As of this season, they stopped using film and switched to digital shooting.
 * The cast started filming the season on July 25, 2014 and finished on May 5, 2015.
 * The first table read took place on July 22, 2014.
 * On October 24, 2014, it was announced that Kelly McCreary had been promoted to a series regular. However, it wasn't until episode 11 that she was credited as such.
 * For this season, advertisers have to pay $149,523 to air a 30-second ad during the commercials during episodes.
 * The table read for You're My Home took place on April 22, 2015.

DVD Release
The "Grey's Anatomy: Complete Eleventh Season – Life Changes" boxset was released on August 18, 2015 in Region 1. On October 5 and 7, 2015, the DVD was released in regions 2 and 4 respectively.

Set Details
The boxset contains the 24 episodes of the season, with one extended. The DVD box includes 6 discs. Other set details are:
 * English (Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround)
 * Audio Commentaries

Special Features
In addition to the episodes, the season 11 DVD set also contains a couple of special features:
 * Spotlight: Caterina Scorsone - Get to know long-time ShondaLand actress Caterina Scorsone. From her days on "Private Practice" to joining the cast of "Grey's Anatomy," Caterina has fabulously portrayed Dr. Amelia Shepherd, little sister of Dr. Derek Shepherd. Find out how she came to the role, what it is like to be a series regular on two of Shonda's shows, and what a typical day on set is like for her. (10:22 min)


 * Extended Episode: You're My Home


 * How to Say Goodbye - Show creator Shonda Rhimes reflects on the heartbreaking loss of the show's character Dr. Derek Shepherd, aka McDreamy. (4:46 min)


 * Deleted Scenes: Back from the dead, these scenes have a new life on DVD.
 * "If It Looks Like a Duck" - Got to Be Real (00:43 min)
 * "You Left His Appendix Inside Him?" - Got to Be Real (1:00 min)
 * "The Little Prince" - Bend & Break (1:40 min)
 * "The Little Prince Part 2" - Bend & Break (1:42 min)
 * "This Thing with Amelia Shepherd. Did You Hear?" - Could We Start Again, Please? (00:48 min)
 * "Watch It!" - Where Do We Go From Here (00:53 min)
 * "We Broke Their Hearts" - The Bed's Too Big Without You (1:38 min)
 * "Our Babies are in Trouble" - The Bed's Too Big Without You (2:22 min)
 * "Glass Hookers Shouldn't Throw Stones" - All I Could Do Was Cry (1:10 min)
 * "Game Faces" - The Distance (00:23 min)
 * "Do You Believe Him?" - With or Without You (00:25 min)
 * "So He Didn't Cheat" - With or Without You (00:39 min)


 * In Stitches: Check out the cast cutting up in and out of the OR. (2:17 min)

Cast Promotional Photos
Only promotional photos for Caterina Scorsone were made, as she is a new main cast member.

Posters
Staffel 11