Other story-arcs include Amelia Shepherd (Caterina Scorsone) moving to Seattle, learning the ropes at Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital, Callie Torres (Sara Ramirez) and Arizona Robbins (Jessica Capshaw) try to save their marriage by going to marriage counseling, April Kepner (Sarah Drew) and Jackson Avery (Jesse Williams) end up having a boy, named Samuel, who dies moments after birth having been diagnosed to have osteogenesis imperfecta, a lethal birth defect.

The season also focuses on the deepening friendship between Meredith and Alex Karev (Justin Chambers) causing problems for him and girlfriend Jo Wilson (Camilla Luddington).

Callie and Arizona find themselves in marriage counseling where the counselor suggests a 30-day separation with the rules of no talking or sexual activity.

Jo becomes emotional after performing surgery on a homeless veteran that was living in her car, which makes her realize her progression with Alex.

Bailey learns a lesson about her health after one of her patients dies from cancer to the esophagus after not taking good care of himself.

April and Jackson continue to struggle with their situation, with discussing what to do if their baby has Type II of osteogenesis imperfecta.

After receiving news about their baby having Type II osteogenesis imperfecta, April begins to doubt her beliefs in a just and loving God.

Catherine Avery arrives at Grey Sloan Memorial to comfort her son and daughter-in-law and suggests that they set a date to induce labor, baptize him, and love him until God takes him.

Richard feels used by Catherine, Callie reenters the dating scene, and Owen and Amelia kiss for the first time.

After weeks of radiation therapy, Dr. Herman's tumor finally invades the optic chiasm, rendering her visually impaired, leading Amelia to schedule surgery for that day.

Maggie learns from April and Alex about the plane crash that killed Lexie, while Stephanie tries her hardest to make her patient remember the pilot with whom she fell in love.

Meredith gives birth to a baby girl named Ellis, and Alex shows up to support her as he was her emergency contact person.

A collapse of a tunnel sends multiple victims to the hospital, and April, Maggie, Amelia, and Meredith are sent to the site to help rescue others.

Callie and Arizona work on Joan, a patient who goes into labor after the tunnel collapse, but one of the new interns loosens her collar, leading the neck to dislocate.

However, instead of the 12 and 12, there will be 8 episodes in the fall which will end with a winter finale on November 20, 2014, like the rest of ABC's primetime lineup "TGIT" Scandal and How To Get Away with Murder.

[40] In another interview, Rhimes revealed that she and the writers were thinking about doing flashback periods to the younger days of Dr. Ellis Grey and Dr. Richard Webber.

[43] On May 2, 2014, the rest of the 6 original cast mates, Justin Chambers, Chandra Wilson and James Pickens Jr., excluding Sandra Oh, renewed their contracts for another 2 seasons (11 and 12) as Drs.

[48] Geena Davis was announced to appear in the season and would have a major guest arc as Dr. Nicole Herman, a fetal surgeon at Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital.

[49] On September 2, 2014, Annet Mahendru of The Americans was announced to guest star for 1 episode, and she played Ana, an undocumented immigrant whose daughter had an 8-pound tumor.

[50] It was announced on September 23, 2014, that Connie Ray, known from Space Jam and Stuart Little, would guest star as Dr. April Kepner's mother, Karen, and would appear in the sixth episode.

[52] On April 15, 2015, Reign alum Giacomo Gianniotti was announced to be cast on the show as a possible recurring role for Season 12.

[56] After the 4th of July weekend, Rhimes tweeted that the writers' room was once again buzzing, as the team had returned from vacation to start writing new episodes for Season 11.

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.

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.

"[111] 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.

"[112] TV Equals stated that, "This season certainly had its strong points, the sad loss of April and Jackson's son was a tearjerker in all the right ways.

Maggie Pierce was a great addition to the show and the writers managed to revisit this premise in a way that felt fresh.

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.

"[115] Ellen Pompeo garnered high critical acclaim towards the latter-half of the season for her portrayal of Meredith Grey.

"[117] Reviewing the episode "She's Leaving Home", Matt Carter commended on the show's "shocking" longevity and that it "is still in a position where it makes sense."