Grey's Anatomy: Every Season Ranked Worst To Best

When a show has been running for as long as Grey's Anatomy, there's almost always a moment where it jumps the shark, taking its drama and the twisty lives of its characters in a direction that proves fatal. 

Such is the case with show's 16th season, which is most famous for the departure of original mainstay Alex Karev. Seeking to leave the show and pursue new things, actor Justin Chambers left Grey Sloan Memorial unceremoniously at best, disappearing without warning before it's revealed he abandoned his wife and friends to live with his estranged ex, Izzie Stevens. 

It's a shocking and terribly executed farewell for a character there since day one, and it doesn't help to make him all that likable despite the nice little letters he writes for everyone he's leaving. Worse still, it distracts from the season's more profound developments, such as Webber's cobalt poisoning and DeLuca's bipolar diagnosis. 

Grey's has always taken big, melodramatic swings (it's had plane crashes, mass shootings, drownings, dreamscapes, you name it), but season 16 may be where it took things too far, executing its biggest storylines with little focus. Potential, wasted.