Grey's Anatomy: Every Season Ranked Worst To Best

Following on from the heartbreak of the previous season, season three decides to double down on the tragedy with a string of major deaths, break-ups, and professional conundrums. 

This time around, the season's centrepiece is Meredith, who drowns attempting to save a man after a ferry accident. The resulting near-death experience throws her into an almost purgatorial state (to be revisited in a big way in season 17), and puts her life - as well as the lives of her loved ones - into crystal clear focus.

Amongst this, there's no pause between each calamity, from the death of Meredith's mother and stepmother, George's father, and Webber and Adele's unborn child. Meanwhile, Cristina starts performing Burke's surgeries so no one will notice he has tremors in his hand from his near-fatal shooting last year. 

Twistingly intense, Grey's third season packs an extra wallop of heartbreak, but it all comes together brilliantly, allowing its interns to become more burdened, more flawed, more lost, and more conflicted than ever before. The results are dynamite, a perfect cocktail of the show's ability to be both wonderfully over-the-top and authentically heartrending.