Grey’s Anatomy is currently airing its 21st season. While most television series tend to conclude before the 21st season, that’s certainly not the case with the Ellen Pompeo-led series (though Pompeo’s namesake character has stepped down from the show since Season 19). With more than two decades of run time, the series has gone through many different eras.
Roughly speaking, fans generally draw the first line at the point of Derek Shepherd’s death. It marks the end of the original main storyline, which centers around Derek and Meredith Grey’s relationship. Many would then draw a line at the end of Meredith’s internship and another one after the plane crash. The different Grey’s Anatomy eras have very distinctive tones.
Seasons 1 to 5 Are the Magic Era
Even after 21 seasons, the Magic Era, featuring the original five interns, is still many fans’ favorite. It follows the young intern, Meredith Grey, as she starts her first day at work while juggling her chaotic sex life, new friendships and family problems. The Magic Era tackles the pain of growing up and sees Meredith Grey struggling to shed her old skin. She falls in love with her attending, Derek Shepherd, who she and her best friend, Cristina Yang, secretly call McDreamy. However, it turns out that McDreamy is McMarried. His gorgeous wife, along with her mistress, both decide to move to Seattle and work in the same hospital. Things get very messy and depressing when Derek chooses to stay with his wife. But eventually, he realizes that he can’t help the fact that he has fallen in love with Meredith. Derek eventually leaves his wife to be with Meredith.
The roller coaster of Meredith and Derek’s love story resulted in many great speeches, including the famous “Pick me. Choose me. Love me,” speech from Meredith. At the same time, Meredith’s friends all have strange dramas going on as well. Izzie and Alex have a turbulent relationship. Just when they seem to be in a good spot, Izzie gets too attached to a patient and steals a heart to save the patient’s life. That patient is known as Denny Duquette, who later becomes the famous ghost of the series. Izzie trades her medical career for Denny, but he dies anyway. George’s crush on Meredith ends in flames. Cristina falls in love with an attending as well, accidentally gets pregnant, and loses the baby. She says yes to Burke’s proposal, but he leaves her at the altar.
There are so many great and terrible things that happened in the first five seasons, creating many of the series’ best episodes, like the one where the bomb goes off, the one where Denny dies, the one when Izzie starts having ghost sex, and the one where George goes turkey hunting with his father and brothers. The Magic Era captures something very special — the chaotic and impulsive twenty-something experience, and it does so within a medical setting where people confront their worst fears. There’s simply no replacement for the early seasons of Grey’s Anatomy.
Seasons 6 to 9 Are the Golden Era
With the introduction of Lexie Grey, Mark Sloan, Owen Hunt, Arizona and Callie, and Avery and Kepner, many fans consider the Golden Era the peak of the series. The original five interns have graduated from their internship, despite how chaotic it was. The Golden Era mainly focuses on the original five as residents. With the merger, they have to deal with competition, choosing their specialties and the responsibility of training their interns. Many of the newly added characters go on to become season regulars and fan favorites.
Lexie Grey, being Meredith’s half-sister, is a highlight in the Golden Era. She initially attracts some hate for being a perkier version of Meredith, but Lexie slowly wins fans’ hearts as she exposes herself more as a sweet person, who is annoyingly gifted but has flaws just like anyone else. Lexie also has a dark side. She gets into mischief every now and then and tends to stress eat. Whenever someone’s in trouble, she’ll try her best to help them, even if they’re a person she hates.
Avery and Kepner have a similar arc. The show depicts them as the bad guys when they first enter the hospital, but Kepner turns out to be very relatable, and Avery struggles with making a name of his own just like anyone else. Mark Sloan and Montgomery also gained fans’ attention. Mark and Avery’s mentor-mentee brotherhood is endearing. Callie finds love and family in Arizona, someone she doesn’t expect to fall for. Hunt, on the other hand, is a better fit for Yang, but their relationship is doomed when they want different things out of marriage. Meredith and Derek finally get together. After everything they’ve been through, the Golden Era gives them their version of happily ever after.
Seasons 9 to 11 Are the Dark Era
The plane crash that takes Lexie and Mark away marks the beginning of the Dark Era. Things start to get really dark and upsetting from there on, and not in a cute “twisted” way. Arizona lost her leg in the plane crash, and even though she survives, the trauma drives a wedge into her marriage with Callie. Arizona cheats on Callie, which is devastating. After Meredith becomes a mother of two children, her path begins to depart from Cristina’s. They have different priorities in life, and they are no longer the same type of surgeon. Seeing them fight and say mean things to each other is heartbreaking. Grey’s Anatomy changes as the original cast enters the attending phase.
It almost seems that the show is determined to break fans’ hearts. April and Jackson, after spending some time with the wrong people, get married despite their differences. Before they are ready, April is pregnant. As if the plane crash wasn’t enough trauma for the characters, April’s child has birth defects and won’t survive after being born. The death of their first child, Samuel, breaks the couple in the most gut-wrenching way possible. Every single character is miserable in the Dark Era. The Era also concludes itself with a bang when Meredith’s love of her life dies at the hands of poorly trained doctors.
Derek’s Death Marks the Start of the Rebirth Era
There are many different ways to group seasons into eras, but one thing that nearly all Grey’s Anatomy fans would agree on is the impact of Derek Shepherd’s exit from the show. Grey’s has a completely different tone after Derek’s death. At that point in the show, most of the original cast is gone. It leaves Meredith with just Alex, Balley and Webber.
Grey’s Anatomy, since Season 1, had centered around Meredith’s relationship with Derek. With him gone, the show lacks focus, story-wise. The Rebirth Era has to introduce a lot of new characters to balance out the loss of Derek. While it tries very hard to make fans care about Amelia, Callie and the new main characters that fans have now come to love, the rebirth era lacks spark and creativity. The Rebirth Era is considered by some the series’ flop era.
Seasons 17 to 19 Are the Nostalgic Era
The mess continues until Season 16. Alex Karev’s exit from the show in the season finale turns Grey’s Anatomy in a new direction. Some fans would call Season 17-19 the Nostalgic Era, with the show trying to reconnect with its past, story-wise and character-wise. At that point, Grey’s Anatomy seems to figure out that new characters alone can’t really satisfy the fandom. After 16 seasons of new cases and relationship dramas, it’s time to revisit past events, so Seasons 17 to 20 take the creative route to surprise the fandom with those they have lost over the years. The show manages to bring back the original cast of George O’Malley, Lexi Grey, Mark Sloan and Derek while Meredith struggles to survive. April Kepner and Jackson Avery also come back as guest stars. Addison Montgomery, who led the spin-off show, Private Practice, also comes back briefly in Seasons 18 and 19.
Season 19 Onward Is a Soft Reboot
Season 19 and onward is generally considered a soft reboot, or the Reboot Era. With Ellen Pompeo stepping down from her own show as a regular, Grey’s softly enters the legacy era. Meredith moves to Boston to work with Jackson. Zola is going to school in the city. While Meredith and her family are departing from Grey Sloan, three interns have moved into her house. From there, the show’s namesake steps back and allows others to take her spotlight while Grey’s Anatomy goes onward.
