It’s Time To Rewatch Maggie’s Best Grey’s Anatomy Episodes

After nearly a decade on Grey’s Anatomy, Maggie Pierce is leaving Seattle for windier pastures. In the midst of a rocky period with Winston, the cardio doctor announced her intention to move to Chicago. “I’m gonna take my extraordinary passion, and I’m gonna use it to build hearts that will save thousands of lives,” she told him in the show’s April 6 episode.

According to Deadline, Kelly McCreary expressed her desire to leave the show to “pursue other opportunities.” But in a recent goodbye post, the actor had nothing but gratitude for her time on Grey’s — citing “buckets of tears, innumerable fits of laughter, all the medical jargon mastered, a slew of friends for life, [and] myriad collaborators who grew me as an artist.” Fortunately, as recent seasons have proved, surgeons who leave Grey Sloan tend to have an open invitation to return.

Still need some closure, though? To send her off, here’s a look back at some of Maggie’s eight best Grey’s Anatomy episodes, dating all the way back to Season 10. They’re worth a rewatch if you want to better understand Maggie’s inner workings, or simply miss her early days at the hospital.

Maggie’s Big Reveal

Season 10, Episode 24

Let’s take it back to early 2014. Derek was alive and well, Calzona was still (barely) hanging on, and a new doctor was on her way to Seattle with some very personal baggage. In Season 10’s “Fear (of the Unknown),” Maggie started her new job as the head of cardio and told Richard all about her shocking connection to the hospital — that her birth mom was once a surgeon there, and her name happened to be Ellis Grey.

It’s chilling to watch the realization wash over Richard’s face and know that a new branch of Meredith’s family tree has just emerged. In fact, it’s one of those classic, gasp-worthy Grey’s moments that match the stakes of earlier end-of-season reveals, like Addison’s debut in Season 1 or George’s fate as 007 in Season 5.

When She Punched A Homophobe

Season 12, Episode 1

Despite being younger than her peers, Maggie was always one of the hospital’s more professional, by-the-book surgeons — making the rare moments where she acted on impulse all the more fun. Exhibit A? The Season 12 premiere, when Maggie couldn’t help but punch a patient’s mom in the face for going on a homophobic rant. “I lost control,” she told her fellow docs. “I am a monster!” They, of course, had nothing but support for Maggie’s move.

That Incredibly Awkward Dinner Party

Season 12, Episode 5

Is there any Grey’s Anatomy line more iconic than Meredith’s “Perfect Penny killed my husband” during Season 12’s disastrous dinner party? Probably not! While this episode is best known for the awkward confrontation between Meredith and the surgeon who couldn’t save Derek’s life, it also has some fun early moments between Meredith, Amelia, and Maggie as a budding family unit. In one standout scene, they assembled in the bathroom together: Meredith on the floor having a panic attack, Maggie peeing in crisis because she thinks she caught an STI from DeLuca, and Amelia telling her to “woman up” and start helping with dinner, please.

Maggie’s Mom Dies

Season 13, Episode 18

Maggie’s first brush with Grey’s trauma arrived the next season, when she supported her mom, Diane, through her treatment for breast cancer. Optimistic until the end, Maggie wasn’t ready to believe that her mom would really die — but sadly, that’s exactly what happened. Maggie was doing her mom’s nails as she listened to her final words of wisdom (“Be a little lazy... or a little slutty”) when Diane passed away. Be warned: It’s one of those Grey’s scenes that will make you cry every time you watch.

Another Family Tragedy

Season 16, Episode 7

Every surgeon on Grey’s has that one patient loss that makes them question everything — and for Maggie, that was Sabi. Her biological cousin through Richard, Sabi traveled to Seattle to get surgery on her heart tumor. While Richard was hesitant to have Maggie operate on Sabi, Maggie was confident. Tragically, though, she lost Sabi in surgery, in part due to an operating room miscommunication.

What made the moment even more emotional was the fact that McCreary’s real-life sister, Crystal McCreary, played Sabi. “When I thought about my sister being on the table, it caught me up,” the Grey’s star told Entertainment Weekly.

Maggie & Winston Meet (Again)

Season 16, Episode 19

Many of Maggie and Winston’s recent storylines have revolved around the growing strain in their marriage. Three seasons ago, they met at a Los Angeles surgical conference, and it was a steamy time. Winston was Maggie’s resident back in Boston, but it wasn’t until the conference that he confessed his crush on her. What followed was a Before Sunrise-esque sequence of hotel room hookups and deep talks by the indoor swimming pool. As Winston put it, “I can’t say that I’ve never hooked up at one of these, but I’ve never done this ... falling this hard in one night.”

Maggie concurred, establishing that this would be a quick-moving but very real relationship.

The Beach Wedding

Season 17, Episode 17

Speaking of quick-moving, Maggie and Winston’s wedding happened the next season! While all Grey’s weddings are fun, this one had special significance — as the beautiful beach nuptials symbolically marked the end of the show’s COVID chapter. And watching Richard officiate his long-lost daughter’s wedding? Tears!

Ellis’ Letter

Season 18, Episode 12

After finding a letter from her birth mom, Ellis, Maggie had a fever dream where she came face to face with the woman herself — listening to her discuss her relationship with Webber and her decision to put Maggie up for adoption. It didn’t provide Maggie much closure: “I used to feel like there was something missing, and I just figured it was her,” she said, burning Ellis’s letter. “I don’t feel that way anymore.” But it gave viewers a chance to understand Maggie’s inner workings a little bit more. After all, so much of Meredith’s early Grey’s journey was shaped by her complicated relationship with Ellis — it only makes sense that her sister was due for a similarly twisty encounter.