On a show with over 370 episodes, there are bound to be some duds.
There are also bound to be some experiments gone wrong, which is how we might describe the season seven episode of Grey's Anatomy, "Song Beneath the Song." You might know that episode better by its unofficial title, The Musical Episode.
The episode begins with Arizona (Jessica Capshaw) waking up with her face in an airbag. She and Callie (Sara Ramirez) have just been in a car accident, and the pregnant Callie is half in the car, half through the windshield. For the rest of the episode, she's comatose and imagining that she and everyone else in the hospital are singing. It is, to say the least, an experience.
Today, March 31, 2021, happens to be the 10 year anniversary of that episode, and show creator Shonda Rhimes celebrated the milestone with a tweet and a behind-the-scenes video of Ramirez performing one of the songs.
"Today is the anniversary of one of my most memorable moments on Grey's Anatomy," she wrote. "Easily in my top 10. This musical episode reminds me of all the fun we used to have on set. Such a great experience. So grateful."
Reactions were quite mixed when the episode aired in 2011, and it has landed on many worst lists. Patrick Dempsey even called it a "big mistake" in an interview with TV Guide. Mention the episode to many a fan of the show and they'll cringe. It's definitely not a fan favorite episode, but is it really as bad as many of us remember it to be?
After Rhimes' tweet, we gave it a rewatch, and we have to be honest with you and say that it was kinda good. Yes, it was a strange detour for the show and yes, the soundtrack was wild, but it is genuinely not bad.
Ramirez, in particular, is a great singer, and her vocal performances are great. Capshaw, as Callie's terrified girlfriend, and Eric Dane, as Callie's terrified baby daddy and best friend, both do some really great acting. If you just accept the fact that the singing is all happening inside Callie's head during her coma, it makes just as much sense as a lot of other things. Currently, Meredith (Ellen Pompeo) is hanging out with dead people on a beach. Singing ain't so bad.
Back when the episode aired, we were two years into Glee. TV musicals were a bit of a touchy subject and we all made a lot more jokes back then about Snow Patrol and their association with Grey's. Watching the musical episode now feels both like stepping into another Grey's era and like a precursor to where the show is now. Callie's coma musical walked so Meredith's coma beach could run!
It's also just fun to see everybody who is no longer around, whether they're dead like Derek, Mark, Lexie or Henry (Scott Foley), or just gone, like Cristina (Sandra Oh), Alex (Justin Chambers) and April (Sarah Drew). Plus, nobody sings who shouldn't be singing, which is always nice.
So this is us telling you to give "Song Beneath the Song" a rewatch. If you still hate it, then that's fine for you, but you also just might find yourself watching it with new eyes. Or at least, it will make you want to do a full Grey's rewatch, which we can also personally recommend.
Grey's Anatomy airs Thursdays at 9 p.m. on ABC.