The thirteenth season of the American television medical drama ''

Grey's Anatomy ''Grey's Anatomy'' is an American medical drama television series that premiered on March 27, 2005, on ABC as a mid-season replacement. The series focuses on the lives of surgical interns, residents, and attendings as they develop into s ...

'' premiered on September 22, 2016, in the United States on the

American Broadcasting Company The American Broadcasting Company (ABC) is an American commercial broadcast television network. It is the flagship property of the ABC Entertainment Group division of The Walt Disney Company. The network is headquartered in Burbank, Cali ...

(ABC), and consisted of 24 episodes. The season was ordered on March 3, 2016, along with ABC's other shows. The season is produced by

ABC Studios ABC Signature is an American television production studio that is a subsidiary of Disney Television Studios, a division of Walt Disney Television, which is part of the Disney General Entertainment Content division of The Walt Disney Company. ...

, in association with

Shondaland Shondaland (stylized as ShondaLand from 2005 to 2016 and shondaland thereafter) is an American television production company founded by television writer/producer Shonda Rhimes. She founded it to be one of the production companies of her first s ...

Production Company and The Mark Gordon Company; the

showrunners A showrunner (or colloquially a helmer) is the top-level executive producer of a television series production who has creative and management authority through combining the responsibilities of employer and, in comedy or dramas, typically also the ...

being William Harper and Stacy McKee. The bulk of the season revolves around the residency program's teaching operation being analyzed and revamped, with the help of new residency program leader and education consultant Eliza Minnick, portrayed by Marika Dominczyk. The revamp causes tension and divides the staff who disapprove of these new methods. Other plots include the fallout of Alex Karev beating up

Andrew DeLuca Andrew DeLuca, M.D. is a fictional character from the medical drama television series ''Grey's Anatomy'', which airs on ABC in the United States. The character was portrayed by Giacomo Gianniotti. Gianniotti was cast in April 2015 and was promot ...

and his impending trial, Jo Wilson's true identity and past as well as Amelia's trauma over having children. This season was the first not to feature

Sara Ramirez Sara Elena Ramírez (; born August 31, 1975) is a Mexican-American actor and singer. Born in Mazatlán, Sinaloa, Ramírez moved to the United States at eight years old, eventually graduating with a fine arts degree from the Juilliard School. ...

Dr. Callie Torres Calliope Iphegenia Torres, M.D. is a fictional character from the medical drama television series ''Grey's Anatomy'', which airs on the ABC in the United States. The character was created by series' producer Shonda Rhimes, and is portrayed b ...

since her introduction in the second season, following her departure at the conclusion of the previous season. On February 10, 2017, ABC renewed ''Grey's Anatomy'' for a fourteenth season.

Episodes

The number in the "No. overall" 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 Ellen Kathleen Pompeo (; born November 10, 1969) is an American actress. She is best known for her role on ''Grey's Anatomy'' as the titular Dr. Meredith Grey. One of the world's highest-paid actors since 2017, she has made multiple appearances ...

as Dr.

Meredith Grey Meredith Grey, M.D., F.A.C.S. is a fictional and titular character from the medical drama television series ''Grey's Anatomy'', which airs on the American Broadcasting Company (ABC) in the United States. The character was created by series pro ...

Justin Chambers Justin Willman Chambers (born July 11, 1970) is an American actor and former model. He is best known for his role as Dr. Alex Karev in the ABC television drama ''Grey's Anatomy'' from 2005 to 2020. Born in Ohio, he went to Southeastern High S ...

as Dr. Alex Karev *

Chandra Wilson Chandra Danette Wilson (born August 27, 1969) is an American actress and director. She is best known for her role as Dr. Miranda Bailey in the ABC television drama ''Grey's Anatomy'' since 2005, for which she has been nominated for the Emmy ...

as Dr.

Miranda Bailey Miranda Bailey, M.D., F.A.C.S. is a fictional character from the medical drama television series ''Grey's Anatomy''. The character was created by series creator and producer Shonda Rhimes, and has been portrayed by actress Chandra Wilson since t ...

James Pickens Jr. James Pickens Jr. (born October 26, 1954) is an American actor. He is best known for his starring role as Dr. Richard Webber on the ABC medical drama television series ''Grey's Anatomy'', and for his supporting role as Deputy Director Alvin Kers ...

as Dr.

Richard Webber Richard Webber, M.D., F.A.C.S is a fictional character from the ABC medical drama television series ''Grey's Anatomy''. The character was created by Shonda Rhimes and is portrayed by actor James Pickens Jr. since the start of the show in 200 ...

Kevin McKidd Kevin McKidd (born 9 August 1973) is a Scottish actor and television director. Before playing the role of Dr. Owen Hunt in '' Grey's Anatomy'', for which he is widely known, McKidd appeared as Tommy Mackenzie in Danny Boyle's '' Trainspotting' ...

as Dr.

Owen Hunt Major (Ret.) Owen Hunt, M.D., F.A.C.S. is a fictional character from the medical drama television series ''Grey's Anatomy'', which airs on the American Broadcasting Company (ABC) in the United States. The character was created by series' produc ...

Jessica Capshaw Jessica Capshaw (born August 9, 1976) is an American actress known for her roles as Jamie Stringer in ''The Practice'', and as Dr. Arizona Robbins on the ABC medical drama ''Grey's Anatomy''. Early life Capshaw was born on August 9, 1976, in ...

as Dr.

Arizona Robbins Arizona Robbins, M.D., F.A.C.S. is a fictional character on the ABC television series ''Grey's Anatomy'', portrayed by Jessica Capshaw. She was introduced in the show's fifth season as an attending surgeon and the new chief of pediatric su ...

Sarah Drew Sarah Drew is an American actress and director. She played Hannah Rogers in The WB family drama series ''Everwood'' (2004–2006) and Dr. April Kepner in the ABC medical drama series ''Grey's Anatomy'' (2009–2018, 2021–2022). Early life D ...

as Dr.

April Kepner April Kepner, M.D., F.A.C.S. is a fictional character from the ABC's medical drama series ''Grey's Anatomy''. The character was created by series producer Shonda Rhimes and is portrayed by actress Sarah Drew. She was introduced in the episode ...

* Jesse Williams as Dr.

Jackson Avery Jackson Avery, M.D., F.A.C.S. is a fictional character in the ABC prime time medical drama, ''Grey's Anatomy'', portrayed by actor Jesse Williams. The character was created by series creator and executive producer, Shonda Rhimes. He was introd ...

* Caterina Scorsone as Dr.

Amelia Shepherd Amelia Frances Shepherd, Doctor of Medicine, M.D., Fellow of the American College of Surgeons, F.A.C.S. is a fictional character on the American Broadcasting Company, ABC American television ''Grey's Anatomy (TV series), Grey's Anatomy ''medical d ...

Camilla Luddington Camilla Anne Luddington (born 15 December 1983) is a British actress, best known for her role as Dr. Josephine "Jo" Wilson in the ABC medical drama series ''Grey's Anatomy''. She is known for voicing Lara Croft in the ''Tomb Raider'' video ga ...

as Dr. Jo Wilson * Jerrika Hinton as Dr. Stephanie Edwards *

Kelly McCreary Kelly J. McCreary (born September 29, 1981) is an American actress, best known for her role on the ABC drama series ''Grey's Anatomy'' as Dr. Maggie Pierce, the half-sister of series protagonist Meredith Grey. She joined the series as a guest a ...

as Dr.

Maggie Pierce Margaret Pierce, M.D., F.A.C.S. is a fictional character from the American television medical drama ''Grey's Anatomy'', which airs on the American Broadcasting Company (ABC) in the United States. The character was created by series producer Sho ...

Jason George Jason Winston George (born February 9, 1972) is an American actor and model. He is best known for his roles as Michael Bourne on the NBC daytime soap opera ''Sunset Beach'', as J.T. Hunter on the UPN television sitcom '' Eve'', as Dr. Otis Col ...

as Dr. Ben Warren *

Martin Henderson Martin Henderson (born 8 October 1974) is a New Zealand actor. He is known for his roles on the American medical drama series '' Off the Map'' as Dr. Ben Keeton (2011), the medical drama series ''Grey's Anatomy'' as Dr. Nathan Riggs (2015–201 ...

as Dr. Nathan Riggs *

Giacomo Gianniotti Giacomo Keaton Gianniotti (born 19 June 1989) is an Italian-Canadian film and television actor. He studied theater at Humber College and made his acting debut in the Italian television series ''Medicina Generale'' in 2010. He went on to play rec ...

as Dr.

Recurring

Tessa Ferrer Tessa Rosiola Ferrer (born March 30, 1986) is an American actress. She is known for playing Dr. Leah Murphy, a surgical intern then resident, in ''Grey's Anatomy''. She is the daughter of singer Debby Boone and Gabriel Ferrer. Career In 2012, S ...

as Dr. Leah Murphy *

Joe Adler Joe Adler (born March 29, 1993) is an American actor. He is best known for playing the role of Zart in ''The Maze Runner'' and Jason Wylie in ''The Mentalist ''The Mentalist'' is an American drama television series that ran from September 23, ...

as Dr. Isaac Cross * Debbie Allen as Dr. Catherine Avery *

Vivian Nixon Vivian Nichole Nixon (born May 31, 1984) is an American actress and dancer. She played Dr. Hannah Brody in the medical drama series ''Grey's Anatomy'' and voices Millie in the adult animated web series ''Helluva Boss''. Early life Born in Mia ...

as Dr. Hannah Brody *

LaTanya Richardson Jackson LaTanya Richardson Jackson ( Richardson; born October 21, 1949) is an American actress. She began her career appearing in off-Broadway productions, before playing supporting roles on television and film. Richardson has appeared in films includi ...

as Diane Pierce * Marika Dominczyk as Dr. Eliza Minnick

Notable guests

* Sumalee Montano as Lena McCallister * Kimberly Quinn as Reena Thompson * Rusty Schwimmer as Patricia Phillips * Jen Lilley as Kara Fisher * Vicki Davis as Morgan Fisher *

Betsy Baker Betsy Baker is an American actress, best known as playing Linda in the film '' The Evil Dead'' (1981). Early life Baker was born in Cedar Rapids, Iowa - a middle child - and grew up in St. Joseph, Michigan. She started piano lessons at the age ...

as Barbara Davis * Ravi Patel as Timir Dhar *

Bridget Regan Bridget Catherine Regan (born February 3, 1982) is an American actress known for portrayals such as Kahlan Amnell in the television series '' Legend of the Seeker'', Rebecca Lowe / Rachel Turner in '' White Collar'', Rose Solano in '' Jane th ...

as Dr. Megan Hunt *

Wallace Langham James Wallace Langham II (born March 11, 1965) is an American actor. He is best known for playing the role of Phil the Head Writer on ''The Larry Sanders Show''. He has also played the roles of David Hodges on the crime drama television series '' ...

as Dr. Steve Corridan *

Anjul Nigam Anjul Nigam (born December 15, 1965) is an Indian-born American actor, producer, and writer. Early life and education Nigam was born in Kanpur, India. He is a graduate of Cheshire High School in Cheshire, Connecticut and the New York Universi ...

as Dr. Raj Sen *

K Callan Katherine Elizabeth Callan (née Borman; January 9, 1936) is an American author and actress known for playing Clark Kent's mother Martha in the ABC television series '' Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman''. Early years Callan was born ...

as Janis *

Matthew Alan Matthew Alan (born Matthew Gerbig, c. 1979) is an American actor. Early life Alan was raised in Evansville, Indiana, where he graduated from Reitz High School in 1996. He went on to obtain a degree from Western Kentucky University in 2000. His p ...

as David Fisher *

June Squibb June Louise Squibb (born November 6, 1929) is an American actress. In 2013, she was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for the film ''Nebraska''. Squibb has appeared in the films ''Alice'', '' In & Out'', ''About Schm ...

as Elsie Clatch *

Hal Holbrook Harold Rowe Holbrook Jr. (February 17, 1925 – January 23, 2021) was an American actor, television director, and screenwriter. He first received critical acclaim in 1954 for a one-man stage show that he developed called '' Mark Twain Tonight!'' ...

as Lewis Clatch *

Eric Roberts Eric Anthony Roberts (born April 18, 1956) is an American actor. His career began with a leading role in '' King of the Gypsies'' (1978) for which he received his first Golden Globe Award nomination. He was nominated again at the Golden Globes ...

as Robert Avery *

Matthew Morrison Matthew James Morrison (born October 30, 1978) is an American actor, dancer and singer-songwriter, best known for his role as Will Schuester on the Fox television show '' Glee'' (2009–2015). He has starred in multiple Broadway and Off-Broadw ...

as Dr. Paul Stadler

Production

Development

''Grey's Anatomy'' was renewed for a 13th season by ABC on March 3, 2016. ''

TVLine ''TVLine'' is a website devoted to information, news, and spoilers of television programs. History In late 2010, ''Entertainment Weekly''s Michael Ausiello announced that he would be leaving ''EW'' after nearly two years in their employ to est ...

'' announced that the 13th season will begin airing on September 22, 2016. Production began on May 25, 2016, when Rhimes announced on Twitter that the writers were in full swing mapping the 13th season. Production began on July 21, 2016, with prepping for the season officially starting on July 28, 2016. The table read for the premiere was on July 22, 2016. Filming for the season began on August 1, 2016, with Shonda Rhimes tweeting that the crew were filming the 270th episode of the series, the season premiere. A promotional poster for the season was released on August 2, 2016, portraying Dr. Meredith Grey in

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

, for which the series is located. The poster started speculation of its meaning towards the storyline for the 13th season. However Rhimes denied the speculation about the poster on Twitter as she said "For anyone trying to interpret the "meaning" of the new ''Grey's Anatomy'' poster design: it means ABC designs really cool posters." The remaining fall schedule for ABC was announced on October 22, 2016, where it was announced that ''Grey's Anatomy'' would air nine episodes in the fall, rather than eight episode the previous two seasons has done, with the fall finale to air on November 17, 2016, just like the rest of ABC's primetime thursday-lineup '' Notorious'' and ''

How to Get Away with Murder ''How to Get Away with Murder'' is an American legal thriller television series that premiered on ABC on September 25, 2014, and concluded on May 14, 2020. The series was created by Peter Nowalk, and produced by Shonda Rhimes and ABC Studios ...

'', which was the same last year. The remaining 15 episodes will air after the winter break beginning airing on January 26, 2017.

Writing

In an interview with ''

TV Guide TV Guide is an American digital media company that provides television program listings information as well as entertainment and television-related news. The company sold its print magazine division, TV Guide Magazine LLC, in 2008. Corpora ...

'',

said that the 13th season would be focusing heavily on the characters that have been on the show since the first season; Dr.

, Dr. Alex Karev, Dr.

and Dr.

. McCreary went more into the storyline as she commented that "After such a long period of time and so many new people coming in and out, they remain the foundational characters of the show. We're gonna be spending some more time with them to check in with where they are." In another interview, McCreary talked about the love-triangle drama that will unfold between Meredith, Nathan and Maggie, to which she commented on how "Maggie's ego will probably be wounded." Caterina Scorsone said that Amelia would be "the middle-person between her sisters should the Nathan-news come out." She confirmed that the season premiere will pick up right after where the finale ended and that

' character Alex and his storyline with girlfriend Jo would play a bigger part of the premiere, in addition that Amelia and

's character Owen would not be much in the premiere.

will not be in the first 2 episodes, confirmed by Rhimes, because of wanting to be a little more with her kids. Rhimes reported that Capshaw's character Dr. Arizona Robbins will have a new love-interest.

Casting

At the end of the twelfth season, the cast's contracts had expired after previously renewing them at the end of the tenth season of ''Grey's Anatomy''.

and

Patrick Dempsey Patrick Galen Dempsey (born January 13, 1966) is an American actor and race car driver. He is best known for his role as neurosurgeon Derek "McDreamy" Shepherd in ''Grey's Anatomy''. He had early success as an actor, starring in a number of fi ...

renewed their contracts for another 2 seasons (seasons 11 and 12) on January 23, 2014, but Dempsey later left the series at the end of the eleventh season. The rest of the 6 original cast mates,

and

, excluding Sandra Oh, renewed their contracts on May 26, 2014, as Drs. Alex Karev,

, and

, respectively, for the eleventh and twelfth season.

also renewed her contract for another 2 seasons as Dr. Callie Torres. On June 28, 2015, before the twelfth season had begun airing, it was announced that

, whose contract expired after season 11, had renewed her contract for another 3 seasons as Dr.

. That meant that her character would be staying on the show through seasons 13 and 14.

had previously said that he was in negotiations to renew his contract after the twelfth season on January 9, 2016. After the season finale, McKidd confirmed that he would be back for the 13th season.

announced on March 11, 2016 that he had renewed his contract and will be playing Dr. Alex Karev in the 13th season. ''

The Hollywood Reporter ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Hollywood film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade paper, and in 2010 switched to a weekly larg ...

'' reported on May 4, 2016, that the original cast were all negotiating new contracts. After the finale, Pompeo said that she would be returning in the next season, which was officially confirmed by ''

Deadline Deadline(s) or The Deadline(s) may refer to: * Time limit, a narrow field of time by which an objective must be accomplished Arts, entertainment, and media Comics * Deadline (DC Comics), a fictional villain * ''Deadline'' (magazine), a British ...

'' on June 1, 2016. Series-veteran

announced after the finale that they would not be returning for season 13 as Dr. Callie Torres, after the character left for New York to be with her girlfriend Dr. Penny Blake. Thus, this will be the first season since her introduction in season 2 in which Dr. Callie Torres, portrayed by Sara Ramirez, is not included in the main cast of characters. On June 10, 2016, it was officially announced that the rest of the cast members whose contracts expired after the twelfth season,

and

, will return for the next season. On September 28, 2016, it was announced that the '' Days of Our Lives'' alum Jen Lilley would appear in the third episode, playing Kara.

announced on her Instagram account that she would be appearing in the eighth episode "The Room Where It Happens". It was reported that

would be reprising her role as Dr. Leah Murphy in a recurring role for the 13th season. On October 17, 2016, ABC confirmed that Marika Dominczyk had been cast in a guest stint as Eliza Minnick. On January 31, 2017, it was announced that Jerrika Hinton would be departing the series-regular cast this season.

Ratings

Live + SD ratings

Live + 7 Day (DVR) ratings

DVD release

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Grey's Anatomy (Season 13) * 2016 American television seasons 2017 American television seasons Grey's Anatomy seasons