The seventh season of the American television medical drama Grey's Anatomy, began airing on September 23, 2010 on the American Broadcasting Company (ABC), and concluded on May 19, 2011 ending the season with a total of 22 episodes. The season was produced by ABC Studios, in association with Shondaland Production Company and The Mark Gordon Company; the showrunner being Shonda Rhimes and head writer Krista Vernoff.
The website Screen Rant ranked the season #10 on their 2023 ranking of the 19 Grey's Anatomy seasons.
Synopsis The season follows the aftermath of the season 6 shooting, in which Derek Shepherd (Patrick Dempsey), Alex Karev (Justin Chambers), Reed, and Charles are shot, with a total of 11 people dead. Cristina Yang (Sandra Oh) was the most affected by the shooting, quitting her job. Cristina and Owen later marry with "her person", the show's protagonist Meredith Grey (Ellen Pompeo), as her maid of honor. Meredith and Derek start a clinical trial for Alzheimer's disease, with Meredith suspecting that Richard Webber's (James Pickens Jr.) wife Adele (Loretta Devine) may have the condition. Arizona Robbins (Jessica Capshaw) leaves for Africa after getting a grant, leaving Callie Torres (Sara Ramirez) despondent. She sleeps with Mark Sloan (Eric Dane) and gets pregnant. Arizona returns, confessing her love for Callie. Meredith invalidates the trial by ensuring Adele gets the treatment, only to have Alex find out and tell Hunt, and Meredith responds by kicking Alex out of her house. Derek leaves Meredith with Zola. Lexie Grey (Chyler Leigh) decides to give Mark a second chance but later starts a relationship with Jackson Avery (Jesse Williams). Teddy Altman (Kim Raver) starts a relationship with Andrew Perkins (James Tupper), a trauma counselor, but later falls for her patient, Henry Burton. This season marks the first appearance of Caterina Scorsone as Derek's sister, Dr. Amelia Shepherd, who becomes a series regular in season 11.
The season ended with an average of 11.41 million viewers and was ranked #31 in overall viewership and was #9 in the 18-49 key demographic. Loretta Devine won the Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama at the 63rd Primetime Emmy Awards. The season also garnered 7 nominations at the 37th People's Choice Awards and also won the Outstanding Drama Series at the NAACP Image Awards.
Episodes
The number in the "No. in series" column refers to the episode's number within the overall series, whereas the number in the "No. in season" column refers to the episode's number within this particular season. "U.S. viewers in millions" refers to the number of Americans in millions who watched the episodes live. Each episode of this season is named after a song.
Cast and characters
Main Ellen Pompeo as Dr. Meredith Grey Sandra Oh as Dr. Cristina Yang Justin Chambers as Dr. Alex Karev Chandra Wilson as Dr. Miranda Bailey James Pickens Jr. as Dr. Richard Webber Sara Ramirez as Dr. Callie Torres Eric Dane as Dr. Mark Sloan Chyler Leigh as Dr. Lexie Grey Kevin McKidd as Dr. Owen Hunt Jessica Capshaw as Dr. Arizona Robbins Kim Raver as Dr. Teddy Altman Sarah Drew as Dr. April Kepner Jesse Williams as Dr. Jackson Avery Patrick Dempsey as Dr. Derek Shepherd
Recurring James Tupper as Dr. Andrew Perkins Rachael Taylor as Dr. Lucy Fields Peter MacNicol as Dr. Robert Stark Scott Foley as Henry Burton Daniel Sunjata as Nurse Eli Loretta Devine as Adele Webber Jeff Perry as Thatcher Grey Nicole Cummins as Paramedic Nicole
Notable guests Kate Walsh as Dr. Addison Montgomery Caterina Scorsone as Dr. Amelia Shepherd Jason George as Dr. Ben Warren Mark Saul as Dr. Steve Mastow Mandy Moore as Mary Portman Ryan Devlin as Bill Portman Frances Conroy as Eleanor Diane Farr as Laila Héctor Elizondo as Carlos Torres Debra Mooney as Evelyn Hunt Amanda Foreman as Nora Amber Benson as Corinne Henley Jamie Chung as Trina Steven W. Bailey as Joe, the Bartender Adam Busch as Fred Wilson Marina Sirtis as Sonya Nancy Travis as Allison Baker L. Scott Caldwell as Alison Wilmer Calderon as Raul Aranda Toni Torres as Annette Aranda Anthony Keyvan as Miguel Aranda Amber Stevens as Laurel Pinson Candice Patton as Meg Waylon Doris Roberts as Gladys
Reception Ratings Live + SD ratings No. inseries No. inseason Episode Air date Time slot (EST) Rating/Share (18–49) Viewers (m) 18–49 Rank Viewership rank 127 1 "With You I'm Born Again" Thursdays9:00 p.m. 5.4/14 14.32 3 10 128 2 "Shock to the System" 4.6/12 12.53 8 17 129 3 "Superfreak" 4.6/13 12.75 4 11 130 4 "Can't Fight Biology" 4.6/12 12.11 5 16 131 5 "Almost Grown" 4.0/11 10.97 8 23 132 6 "These Arms of Mine" 3.9/10 10.79 15 133 7 "That's Me Trying" 4.3/12 11.92 6 15 134 8 "Something's Gotta Give" 4.0/11 11.13 11 20 135 9 "Slow Night, So Long" 4.3/11 11.46 8 21 136 10 "Adrift and at Peace" 4.0/10 11.02 6 14 137 11 "Disarm" 4.2/11 11.64 11 16 138 12 "Start Me Up" 4.3/12 12.15 6 10 139 13 "Don't Deceive Me (Please Don't Go)" 4.3/11 11.18 8 14 140 14 "P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing)" 3.9/10 10.47 10 20 141 15 "Golden Hour" 3.7/10 10.24 7 23 142 16 "Not Responsible" 3.4/9 9.13 13 143 17 "This Is How We Do It" 3.7/10 10.28 7 17 144 18 "Song Beneath the Song" 4.9/13 13.09 5 10 145 19 "It's a Long Way Back" 3.7/9 10.67 6 15 146 20 "White Wedding" 3.5/10 10.11 8 19 147 21 "I Will Survive" 3.2/9 9.63 14 25 148 22 "Unaccompanied Minor" 3.6/9 9.89 10 20
Live + 7 Day (DVR) ratings No. inseries No. inseason Episode Air date Time slot (EST) 18–49 rating increase Viewers(millions) increase Total 18-49 Total viewers(millions) Ref 127 1 "With You I'm Born Again" Thursdays9:00 p.m. 1.4 2.95 6.8 17.32 128 2 "Shock to the System" 1.5 3.08 6.1 15.64 129 3 "Superfreak" 1.4 2.87 6.0 15.69 130 4 "Can't Fight Biology" 1.5 2.94 6.1 15.10 131 5 "Almost Grown" 1.5 3.02 5.5 14.02 132 6 "These Arms of Mine" 1.4 3.03 5.3 13.83 133 7 "That's Me Trying" 1.3 2.67 5.7 14.61 134 8 "Something's Gotta Give" 1.5 3.02 5.5 14.16 135 9 "Slow Night, So Long" 1.5 2.94 5.8 14.43 136 10 "Adrift and at Peace" 1.4 2.79 5.3 13.82 137 11 "Disarm" 1.3 2.85 5.5 14.51 138 12 "Start Me Up" 1.5 2.81 5.8 14.96 139 13 "Don't Deceive Me (Please Don't Go)" 1.4 2.86 5.7 14.06 140 14 "P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing)" 1.4 2.88 5.3 13.36 141 15 "Golden Hour" 1.5 2.85 5.2 13.09 142 16 "Not Responsible" 1.4 2.87 4.8 12.02 143 17 "This Is How We Do It" 1.5 2.96 5.2 13.26 144 18 "Song Beneath the Song" 1.4 2.91 6.3 16.00 145 19 "It's a Long Way Back" 1.4 2.92 5.1 13.58 146 20 "White Wedding" 1.6 3.14 5.1 13.25 147 21 "I Will Survive" 1.4 2.78 4.6 12.41 148 22 "Unaccompanied Minor" 1.3 2.94 4.9 12.81
Critical response The reviews to the season were mixed-to-positive. Robert Bianco USA Today gave a largely positive review stating, "Happily, it now seems to have landed on solid ground, with its best ensemble and most engaging stories in years, the union of Meredith and Derek strengthened it by pushing them into a more mature place", and praising Sandra Oh's performance:" Cristina, who responded last week with a performance that stands with any you're likely to see."
The TV Addict also lauded the season and wrote, "the seventh season of ABC's genre-defining medical drama is good. Is it "great again"? This would imply that it was great before, a memory I wish I could fondly look back on, but can't. I'll admit to have been taken with the doctors of Seattle Grace in their initial seasons: they had chemistry, gave some nice performances", praising the majority cast including Oh's "powerful performance".
Jennifer Armstrong of Entertainment Weekly also praised the season, "Season 7 hasn't relegated the finale's events to a dramatic stunt; rather, it's reveled in the possibilities of rebuilding life in the wake of tragedy." She added "It's in the shooting's emotional reverberations that the show is regenerating after the past few hit-and-miss seasons."
Tom Gliatto writing for People Weekly called the season "satisfying", "Grey has been on long enough now that it has lost much of its erotic sizzle--McDreamy is edging toward McNappy--but the satisfyingly-steady seventh season is a model of a hit that keeps fitting new characters into the blueprint."
Renee Scolaro Rathke of PopMatters, reviewing the premiere, gave a mixed review, "Unfortunately, the best bits of the premiere were the flashbacks to the finale, though their impact was watered down considerably in the context of an action-less storyline, filled with Grey's usual rambling pontifications." Verne Gay of Newsday was rather critical of the season stating, "Unfortunately, they've settled on far-too-easy and facile answers for the most part."
The marriage of Callie Torres and Arizona Robbins in "White Wedding" was noted for its significance to LGBT representation on network television. The Advocate described Callie and Arizona as the first regular lesbian characters on a prime-time network series to be shown walking down the aisle.
DVD release Grey's Anatomy: The Complete Seventh Season - More Heartbeats Set details Special features 22 Episodes (1 extended) 6-Disc Set English (Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround) Subtitles: English SDH, Spanish & French Runtime: 952 minutes Extended Episode: "Song Beneath the Song" Dissecting Grey's Anatomy - Unaired Scenes In Stitches: Season 7 Outtakes The Music Event: Behind the Scenes Seattle Grace: Message of Hope - 6 Webisodes The Making of "Seattle Grace: Message of Hope" Release dates Region 1 Region 2 Region 4 September 13, 2011 May 28, 2012 November 2, 2011
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