Grey's Anatomy (season 8)

Plot

In season 8, Meredith and Derek try to save their marriage after the fallout due to Meredith's tampering of the Alzheimer's trial in Season 7. Their marital unrest, as well as Meredith's professional fallout, threatens to destroy their chances of adopting Zola, but they eventually get full custody of her in episode 10, "Suddenly." After discovering the reason Meredith tampered with the trial was in attempt to deliver the drug to Adele and potentially cure her Alzheimer's, Richard takes the blame, and steps down as Chief of Surgery. Owen is named the new Chief of Surgery (episode 3, "Take the Lead"), which leaves Miranda angry. She blames Meredith for destroying Richard's career, as well as Meredith's.

April is named the new Chief resident, and struggles throughout the season to be taken seriously by the other residents, while also developing a much deeper friendship with Jackson until she finally has sex with him in episode 21, "Moment of Truth." Throughout the season, the fifth year surgical residents (Meredith, Cristina, Alex, April, and Jackson) prepare for their boards. Everyone passes, except for April, who gave her virginity to Jackson the night before the exam.

Cristina chooses to terminate her pregnancy (episode 1, "Free Falling"), which Owen does not want because he wants to have children. He accompanies her to the abortion and supports her, but a huge rift has been made in their relationship. Owen can't accept that Cristina never wants to be a mother. Eventually, he cheats on Cristina (episode 17, "One Step Too Far). Callie, Arizona, and Mark co-parent baby Sofia. Mark and Lexie attempt to move on from one another, but can't. Ben returns (episode 4 "What Is It About Men?"), after giving Miranda space to heal after being traumatized by the shooting in the season 6 finale, but is shocked and hurt to see that she is having a casual, but very physical, relationship with Eli. Miranda breaks things off with Eli, and eventually she and Ben reunite. In the season finale, "Flight," they become engaged. Adele's Alzheimer's progresses rapidly and Richard chooses to have her placed in a care facility, Rose Ridge, the same one Ellis was in before she died. Adele falls in love with another dementia patient (Episode 20) and the staff tell Richard he should not visit as much because it confuses her. Later in the season, he begins a romance with Catherine Avery. Lexie and Mark struggle to let each other go and attempt to date other people, but can't seem to move on. Tragically, they only confess their love to each other moments before Lexie's death in episode 24 "Flight."

Teddy and her husband Henry (Scott Foley), now deeply in love, adjust to life not only as newlyweds, but with Henry's health finally stable, the two adjust to the changing dynamics of their relationship. Henry begins planning for a future, and tells Teddy he wants to go to medical school (episode 8 "Heart Shaped Box"). Teddy balks at the prospect of Henry being in school for the next 10 years, and they have their first big fight. Before they can make up, however, Henry falls suddenly ill due to a new tumor, and his condition is revealed to be extremely serious. At the hospital, Teddy is forced to leave his side because of an emergent heart surgery, and asks that Cristina perform the surgery on Henry to save his life (episode 9 "Dark Was the Night"). Teddy and Owen agree that it may be too much pressure for Cristina if she knows who she is operating on, so they drape Henry's face in the OR before bringing Cristina in. Henry can't be saved and dies in surgery. Because Teddy is still in surgery, and worried about Henry, Owen decides to lie to her and imply that Henry made it through and is recovering. After she learns the truth, Teddy is devastated by Henry's death. She hates Owen for lying to her, and the friendship between the two is over, until he fires her in the season finale and she moves on to another job.

After the residents receive their board results, they weigh offers from other hospitals. When the season ends, Alex has accepted a fellowship at Johns Hopkins, Cristina has chosen to go to the Mayo Clinic, and Derek has been offered an endowment and an opportunity to continue Alzheimer's research at Harvard, which sways Meredith's decision to accept an elite fellowship at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston. In the finale, Meredith, Cristina, Derek, Lexie, Arizona, and Mark board a small plane to fly to Boise, Idaho to perform a surgery separating conjoined twins. Alex was meant to be on the plane, but Arizona, furious at his decision to turn down the Seattle Grace pediatrics fellowship in favor of Johns Hopkins, Arizona boots him from the plane and takes his place. En route, the plane crashes. In "Flight" the six doctors and the pilot fight to survive. Derek's hand is severely injured, as is Arizona's leg. Lexie is trapped and crushed beneath part of the plane. She and Mark finally confess their love to each other, and within moments, she dies. Mere seconds later, Meredith arrives too late, and is devastated by her sister's death. They soon realize that Mark has severe internal injuries. The season ends with the 5 remaining surgeons in peril, lost in the woods and not knowing when or if help will come.

Critical reception

The season received mostly positive reviews. Tanner Stransky of Cinema Blend gave a fresh review to the season, "Juxtaposed against that nightmare that launched season 8's two-hour season premiere was exactly what the show does portray rather accurately (most of the time)- the relationship drama."

Verne Gay of Newsday acknowledged the following for the show stating, "Grey's has had a good season and has an intensely loyal fan base to prove it." TV Fanatic reviewing the episode Free Falling wrote, "This episode set the season in motion, and from the looks of it, it's going to be good."

Carrie Raisler of The A.V. Club gave a negative review to the season saying, "Just because a show is meant to be fun doesn't mean it shouldn't have standards, and this episode just simply didn't measure up."

Poptimal'‍s Tanya Lane regarding the season finale wrote, "Wow…just wow. Grey's Anatomy has once again managed to shock with its season finale." While she appreciated the "realism and authenticity that Grey's is known for", she found the episode was "almost too much" as it was "extremely gory and difficult to watch, initially because of the grisly wounds" but later because of the "heavy and emotional things that transpired". She added that "Ellen Pompeo gave one of her best performances when her character learned that her sister was dead."

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.