"Family Affair" is the twenty-fourth episode, serving as the season finale of the twelfth season of the American

medical drama A medical drama is a television show or film in which events center upon a hospital, an ambulance staff, or any medical environment. Most recent medical drama (film and television), dramatic programming go beyond the events pertaining to the chara ...

television series ''

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 se ...

'', and is the 269th overall episode, which aired on

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

on May 19, 2016. The episode was written by William Harper and directed by

Debbie Allen Deborah Kaye Allen (born January 16, 1950) is an American actress, dancer, choreographer, singer-songwriter, director, producer, and a former member of the President's Committee on the Arts and Humanities. She has been nominated 20 times for an ...

. At the time of its initial release, the episode was watched by 8.19 million viewers and was well received among television critics. The episode marked the last appearance of longtime cast member

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. R ...

, who played

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 by ...

since the second season. Ramirez announced their departure from the series stating that she was “taking some welcome time off” as their character moved to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

with her daughter. ''Grey's Anatomy'' follows groups of physicians as they struggle to balance their professional and personal lives. "Family Affair" features the wedding of

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 ...

(

Caterina Scorsone Caterina Scorsone (born October 16, 1981) is a Canadian-American actress. She is best known for playing Dr. Amelia Shepherd on the ABC medical drama ''Grey's Anatomy'' (2010–present) and its spin-offs ''Private Practice'' (2010–2013) and ''St ...

) and

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 ...

(

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'' ...

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 ...

(

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 ...

) and

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 ...

(

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 at ...

) support Amelia on her wedding day. Jo Wilson (

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 ...

) reveals that she has been keeping secrets from

Alex Karev Alexander Michael Karev, (né Evans), M.D., F.A.C.S is a fictional character on the ABC television series ''Grey's Anatomy'', portrayed by actor Justin Chambers. Introduced as a surgical intern at the fictional Seattle Grace Hospital, Karev eve ...

(

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 ...

) while

Arizona Robbins Arizona Robbins, 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 television series ''Grey's Anatomy'', portrayed by Jessica Capshaw. She was intro ...

(

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 ...

) and

(

) deal with the impact of their custody arrangement. Meanwhile, Ben Warren (

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 Cole ...

) performs an emergency C-section on

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 "In ...

(

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 Dr ...

) at Meredith's house.

Plot

On Owen and Amelia’s wedding day, Amelia has doubts about the marriage after Meredith talks to Owen about Cristina. Meredith confides with Amelia, leading them to run away with Maggie. April is serving as Owen’s best man, but when she forgets the ring, she and Ben run back to Meredith’s house to get it. As her contractions get closer together, Ben must step up and deliver the baby with an emergency C-section. Alex and Jo fight over Jo not wanting to marry him, leading him to storm out, and her getting drunk at Joe's bar. Andrew takes her home where she reveals to already being married, but is afraid of the guy. Alex walks in on Andrew helping Jo, in which he misunderstands and punches Andrew. Amelia makes it back to the wedding and marries Owen. Ben is able to save both April and her daughter's lives, while Arizona makes amends with Callie and allows her to move with Penny and share custody of Sofia. As Nathan is looking at Meredith, Maggie confides with her that she really likes Nathan, which shocks Meredith.

Production

The episode marked the last appearance for long-time cast member

who played Dr.

on the series since 2006. Her character was involved in a custody battle with ex-wife Dr.

, played by

, which led to the former's move to New York City from Seattle. On May 19, in a note posted on Twitter after the season finale, Ramirez wrote that she was “taking some welcome time off”. Rhimes replied to the tweet by saying, “I will miss Callie tremendously, but am excited for what the future holds for Sara. She will always have a home at Shondaland.” Later, speaking at the Vulture Festival in New York City on May 22, Rhimes, told that she didn't know that Ramirez was leaving until they had shot the finale. She addressed Callie’s send-off and said, “This one was different because it wasn’t a big planned thing, I had a different plan going and when Sara came in and said, ‘I really need to take this break,’ I was lucky that we’d shot the end of the season with her going to New York City.”

Reception

Ratings

"Family Affair" was originally broadcast on May 19, 2016 on

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) in the United States. It served as the season finale for the twelfth season of the show. On its initial release the episode was watched by a total of 8.19 million viewers and scored a 2.3/9 in the key 18-49 demographic in the Nielsen ratings, which was an increase from the previous episode "At Last" watched by 7.77 million viewers and received a 2.1/8 ratings/share. The episode was ranked 12th in overall viewership rank and 4th in 18-49 demographic. The episode was also the second-most watched drama of the night.

Critical reception

The finale was well received by television critics. It was given an A grade by ''

The A.V. Club ''The A.V. Club'' is an American online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was cre ...

'' which declared the season overall as "phenomenal".

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Family Affair (Grey's Anatomy) Grey's Anatomy (season 12) episodes 2016 American television episodes Television episodes about weddings