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The eleventh season of Grey's Anatomy premiered on September 25, 2014. It was broadcast on Thursday nights at 8 PM on ABC. The season consists of 24 episodes.
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 the 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 a 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 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.
The picture of Meredith on the DVD cover is an altered version of this promotional still from the season 7 finale.
On 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.[source?]
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.
There are only two actors from the main cast who appear in every episode of the season: Ellen Pompeo and Kevin McKidd.
As of this season, they stopped using film and switched to digital shooting.[source?]
The cast started filming the season on July 25, 2014[4] and finished on May 5, 2015.[source?]
The first table read took place on July 22, 2014 and the last on April 22, 2015.[source?]
On October 24, 2014, it was announced that Kelly McCreary had been promoted to a series regular.[source?] However, it wasn't until episode 11 that she was credited as such.
For this season, advertisers paid $149,523 to air a 30-second ad during the commercials.[source?]
With Cristina gone, a new doctor, Maggie Pierce, making the rounds, and Derek wanting to move to Washington DC, Meredith struggles to regain a sense of normalcy both at home and in the hospital. Meanwhile, Callie and Arizona come to a decision about surrogacy, Amelia overhears a big secret, Bailey realizes she will have to fight Alex for Cristina’s board seat, and a freak accident causes two teenagers to be caught in a very compromising position.
In this Maggie centric episode, she continues to try to make a positive impression at the hospital but finds herself in extremely unfortunate situations. Meanwhile, Richard continues to hold onto his secret and the doctors work with a dying woman who is being kept alive by her daughter.
Owen introduces Callie to the Veterans Hospital patients in hopes that she will help them with her robotic limb lab, Jo becomes jealous of Alex and Meredith’s friendship, and Maggie continues to confide in Richard. Meanwhile, Alex and Bailey prepare to go in front of the board.
Secrets from Ellis Grey’s past come to light when Meredith watches old videos and reads through her mother’s journals. Meanwhile, Maggie rocks the hospital with an unexpected announcement. Alex gets new responsibilities and Callie focuses her attention on the Veterans' project.
In this Callie and Arizona centric episode, the couple takes a look into the problems that have contributed to their troubled marriage. At work, Callie immerses herself in the Veterans' project, and Arizona struggles to impress Dr. Herman. Meanwhile, Richard leans on Bailey for advice.
Owen becomes invested in a patient when he realizes she may have served in the military, April's mother pays her daughter a visit and bonds with Jackson, and Derek plans a family dinner. Meanwhile, a patient's diagnosis causes Bailey to reconsider her own health issues and Dr. Herman drops a bombshell on Arizona.
Secrets about Amelia's past addictions come to light and cause problems for her at the hospital, Bailey oversees Jo’s first solo surgery, and Arizona must make an executive decision in Dr. Herman’s absence. Meanwhile, the doctors spring into action when a couple arrives at the emergency room after escaping a fire.
Maggie and Meredith disagree with Derek about the best way to approach a patient’s case, which leads to a bigger argument between the couple. Meanwhile, Callie feels responsible when one of her veterans is pushed too far and one doctor’s routine procedure results in a devastating diagnosis.
As Derek prepares for his move to DC, Meredith keeps herself busy at the hospital. Meanwhile, Jackson and April deal with difficult news, and Arizona and Amelia discuss how to best approach Dr. Herman.
April stays optimistic as Arizona begins testing on her baby, Dr. Herman plans out a crash course in fetal surgery, and Owen and Callie encourage each other to get back into the dating scene. Meanwhile, Meredith, Maggie, and Bailey use the 3D printer to gain a better understanding of their patient’s tumor.
After several discussions with Dr. Herman, April and Jackson must face their situation head on and make a difficult decision regarding their unborn child. Catherine arrives in Seattle and bumps into Richard at the hospital. Meanwhile, Meredith tries to find someone to take care of the kids so she can visit Derek for the weekend, and Amelia shows Stephanie some tough love when they work together on a case.
Maggie gets upset when Meredith dodges her questions about DC, Bailey and Ben become concerned about Ben's brother after he is admitted to the hospital, and Dr. Herman starts to warm up to Arizona. Meanwhile, Richard feels manipulated by Catherine.
The hospital doctors become fascinated with Dr. Herman's case when Amelia gives a lecture detailing the intricacies of the surgery. Arizona and Herman continue to bond over the amount of cases they are trying to complete before the big surgery. Meanwhile, Bailey brings them the case of a pregnant woman who is close to her heart.
In this Amelia-centric episode, Amelia engages in the surgery of a lifetime as a crowd of doctors looks on from the gallery. With Stephanie by her side, she begins operating on Dr. Herman, but quickly realizes it's far more difficult than she anticipated. Meanwhile, Bailey becomes skeptical when Arizona takes on one of Herman’s cases.
An earthquake shakes the ground at Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital, trapping Maggie in an elevator and threatening Meredith's long streak of successful surgeries. Meanwhile, Owen gives medical advice to a child over the phone and Ben confides in Jackson.
A patient's condition sparks a conversation between Richard and Maggie about Alzheimer's disease. April and Jackson struggle to return to their normal lives. Arizona is faced with the reality that Callie is moving on. Meanwhile, Meredith reveals her biggest fears about Derek.
Meredith, rattled by the latest events, tries to figure out what to do about Derek. Meanwhile, Owen is shocked when his mother is admitted to the hospital.
A school field trip to the hospital takes a dramatic turn when the kids witness two injured cops enter the emergency room. Meanwhile, Stephanie sets her eyes on one of the chaperones, Callie operates on the leg of the police captain, and Amelia must face her feelings for Owen.
Upon realizing that Owen and Amelia have been seeing each other behind her back, Meredith comes down hard on her sister-in-law causing Amelia to rethink things. Meanwhile, Catherine springs into action when a man is brought into the hospital after his wife seeks revenge on his cheating ways.
A small plane crash in Seattle causes multiple casualties and brings back horrible memories for the doctors, especially Meredith and Arizona. Meanwhile, friction between Owen and Amelia makes for an uncomfortable working situation for Stephanie.
We see how Meredith and the doctors cope after they learn the news of Derek's death. Meanwhile, April makes a shocking decision that Jackson cannot understand, and Bailey and Ben argue over their future.
As the doctors continue to tackle an unfathomable crisis, they are reminded of what is important and brought closer together.
Reception[]
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)
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.
↑The DVD lists that it's from All I Could Do Was Cry, but Chandra Wilson said in a Shondaland: Revealed podcast that she directed it, indicating it's actually from The Bed's Too Big Without You
