page_title: Grey's Anatomy (season 11)
section_title: Critical response
hierarchical_section_title: Grey's Anatomy (season 11) / Reception / Critical response
caption_attribution_description: Actress Ellen Pompeo at the premiere of "27 Dresses"
context_page_description: The eleventh season of the American television medical drama Grey's Anatomy premiered on September 25, 2014 in the United States on the American Broadcasting Company and consists of 25 episodes. The season was produced by ABC Studios, in association with Shondaland Production Company and The Mark Gordon Company; the showrunners being Stacy McKee and William Harper. The season commenced airing with the episode "I Must Have Lost it on the Wind" and concluded with the season finale "You're My Home" airing on May 14, 2015. The season was officially released on DVD as a six-disc boxset under the title of Grey's Anatomy: The Complete Eleventh Season – Life Changes on August 18, 2015 by Buena Vista Home Entertainment.
  The season is the first in which Dr. Cristina Yang, portrayed by Sandra Oh, is not included in the main cast of characters following her departure in previous season's finale. The season's main storylines include Meredith Grey dealing with "her person's" departure, her problematic love-life with her husband Derek Shepherd, and the arrival of Dr. Maggie Pierce, whom Meredith learns is her half-sister.
context_section_description: The first half of the season opened to critical acclaim with many calling it the best season in the past few years, the second half however, garnered mixed reviews. With Season 11 being the first in Grey's Anatomy history to be without Cristina Yang, TV.com wrote, "So, the question I had heading into Grey's Anatomy's Season 11 premiere was just how much Cristina's absence would be felt. And at the end, I have to say-while the lack of Yang was definitely noticeable, I think the show will be just fine with out her."
  Perhaps the biggest storyline of Season 11 was the death of Derek Shepherd. After his last episode, How to Save a Life premiered, many fans were outraged with Shonda Rhimes for how the episode was written and vowed to never watch the show again. Samantha Highfill of Entertainment Weekly wrote: "Of all the ways he could’ve gone—dying while saving that family in a shocking but heroic moment, or dying at Grey Sloan and getting a chance to say goodbye to everyone—this felt cheap. And quite frankly, it felt a little rude to the man himself. He was called McDreamy for a reason, and he deserved better than this." Citing the storylines of Derek's death, Callie and Arizona splitting up, and April and Jackson losing their baby, The Hollywood Reporter wrote that Season 11 is one of the most depressing seasons of Grey's Anatomy.
  Despite all that, the season garnered positive reviews. Entertainment Weekly wrote, "It's nice to see Grey's pull back on the throttle on its soap opera tendencies (and I hate using that word as pejorative) and aim for drama that feels a bit more grounded." TV Fanatic gave a hugely positive review stating, "The acting remains stellar, the drama is mixed with just the right amount of humor and darn it if I'm not now wrapped up in the future of MerDer." TV Equals stated that, "This season certainly had its strong points, the sad loss of Jackson and April’s son was a tearjerker in all the right ways. It was great to see Amelia move past an uncomfortable incident with someone from her past and go on to save Dr. Herman’s life. Maggie Pierce was a great addition to the show and the writers managed to revisit this premise in a way that felt fresh. The storyline was also well-paced and it’s been great to watch Maggie become a larger part of Meredith’s life and to watch her get fully integrated into Grey Sloan." 
  BuddyTV gave the finale a positive review, "You're My Home, proved to be so bright and shiny. This is an episode that nearly could have served as a series finale, though we know that is not the case. Indeed, a few characters notwithstanding, most of our beloved surgeons are in a shockingly good place as season eleven draws to a close." adding, "I was very impressed tonight as Meredith, who can be very selfish but - in fairness - has suffered great personal loss in the death of Derek, stepped up to the plate on behalf of others.  When one considers how this character has grown over eleven seasons, it really is amazing. Kudos to Ellen Pompeo for her fine work. She's actually done the impossible, because I actually care what happens to Meredith Grey in season twelve." The episode Only Mama Knows received critical acclaim with numerous critics calling it "one of the best of Grey's". Spoilertv lauded the episode and wrote, "Outstanding. It’s been a very long time since an episode came along which truly lived and breathed the very core of Grey’s Anatomy. It was faithfully and beautifully written, directed, edited and acted." Entertainment Weekly called the show a "great drama series" stating, "It was also throwing us back to the type of episode we expected from this show in the early seasons, the type of episode that gave you chills and reminded you why this show is so good at drama."  
  Ellen Pompeo garnered huge praise towards the later half of the season for her portrayal of Meredith Grey. Rick Porter of Zap2it lauded Pompeo's performance in How to Save a Life, may not be the ideal Emmy-submission episode for Ellen Pompeo, considering Meredith is off screen for more than half of it. But it's among the 
caption: Ellen Pompeo garnered critical acclaim more so towards the latter half of the season for her portrayal of Meredith Grey.
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