Top 20 Small Details in Grey's Anatomy You Never Noticed

#20: Madonna’s “Like a Virgin”

“The Becoming” & “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together”

Music on “Grey’s Anatomy” is never random, and Cristina Yang proves it twice with one unforgettable song. Right after Burke leaves her in Season 4, Cristina is so wrecked she ends up in the morgue, of all places, singing Madonna’s “Like a Virgin.” For Cristina, that was a strange but powerful outlet for her grief. Fast-forward to Season 10, when Burke reappears to offer her a job in Switzerland – guess what’s playing in the background? Yup, a slowed-down cover of the same song, “Like a Virgin." The musical callback is no accident – it’s a clever twist that perfectly ties Cristina’s heartbreak to her healing. “Grey’s” proved to fans that they use music for storytelling. Talk about a full-circle moment.

#19: Mark Strokes Lexie’s hair

"Stairway to Heaven" & “Flight”

This show loves planting little moments that only hit you seasons later, and this one is a heartbreaker. Remember in Season 5 when Lexie Grey tells Mark Sloan that when she’s upset, nothing soothes her like someone stroking her hair? It feels like a really cute character quirk – a confession that’s easy to overlook at the moment. Here’s where it gets painful. In Season 8, after the devastating plane crash, Lexie’s trapped, she’s dying. But Mark is right there with her, and what does he do? He leans over and gently strokes her hair, giving her the exact comfort she once asked for. It’s subtle, easy to miss, but unforgettable once you connect the dots. “Grey’s Anatomy” always delivers a gut-punch in hidden details.

#18: The Fork MRI

“Band-Aid Covers the Bullet Hole”

If you’re not familiar with common medical machinery, this moment would’ve gone way over your head! In this season two episode, patient Sylvia arrives with a fork lodged in her neck after an unfortunate… intimate incident. Now, while that in itself is strange enough, Derek orders an MRI to be performed on her. We can only hope this procedure was intended to be done after the fork was removed, as an MRI– Magnetic Resonance Imaging– would prove lethal! Thankfully, Sylvia isn’t further maimed by the end of the episode, but this small detail had some fans totally confused!

#17: Bailey’s Five Rules

“A Hard Day’s Night” & “A Change Is Gonna Come”

This one’s so easy to miss but it’s genius. Remember Miranda Bailey’s five rules? In the pilot, she preaches them like a gospel to the new interns – except she accidentally skips one. Get this, on her very first day, Meredith is the one who corrects her. Bold move, right? Now fast forward to Season 4, it’s Cristina Yang drilling those same rules into her interns. But just like Bailey, she misses one. This time, it’s Lexie Grey who jumps in to complete the list. Both Grey sisters, years apart, catching the same mistake? It’s hilarious, satisfying and a testament to the writers’ attention to detail.

#16: Karev’s CGI Appearance

“A Hard Day’s Night”

Believe it or not, Alex Karev wasn't even supposed to be in the “Grey’s Anatomy” pilot. When they first shot episode 1, Justin Chambers wasn't part of the cast at all. But then, the producers quickly realized their intern lineup was missing a certain energy – someone cocky, sharp and just a little unbearable. So what did they do? They literally edited Karev into the episode after it’d been shot, using CGI to slip him into scenes … like we wouldn’t later find out. The thing is, once you rewatch, you can kind of tell something feels a little off. But what’s most interesting is that Karev, the last-minute add-on, turned into one of the show's longest-running and most beloved characters.

#15: Izzie’s Dog Posters

Various

Back in Season 2, Izzie Stevens needed a bit of cheer, so she and her roommate Meredith Grey adopted a dog, Doc. Things didn't go exactly smoothly with the dog, and in a later episode, Izzie tries to give him away. She hangs flyers of Doc all around the hospital, basically begging for someone to adopt him. It’s funny and awkward, but it gets even wilder. If you look closely in Season 12, one of those dog posters is still hanging in the hospital hallway. Doc had died later in Season 2. We all most likely missed this bittersweet Easter egg, but we can’t help asking if it’s just a set slip or the writers’ way of honoring Doc.

#14: “Portions for Foxes” Homage

“A Hard Day’s Night” & “Who Lives, Who Dies, Who Tells Your Story”

This show has always known how to pull at our nostalgia, and this time they set the tone with Rilo Kiley’s “Portions for Foxes." In the pilot, that’s the first song we hear as Meredith starts her intern journey. Then, in true “Grey’s Anatomy” fashion, the song resurfaces in the iconic 300th episode – right after Meredith wins the Harper Avery Award. Talk about goosebumps. Sure, the track popped up in other seasons too, but this hits harder as it bookends Meredith's journey from an intern to an award-winning surgeon. We may not have noticed, but it wasn't just background music – it was the show’s way of paying homage to the song and to the fans who stuck around since day one.

#13: Real-Life Nurses

Various

We all love nurses, right? Here's one the show hid in plain sight. That’s BokHee An, the quiet scrub nurse who’s always in the O.R. She’s not just acting – she’s actually a real-life scrub nurse! While most of the “Grey’s Anatomy” cast trained with medical experts to look convincing, actor Kathy An already knew the job inside out. She’s been in the show from day one, silently assisting Dr. Derek Shepherd and the rest. But in reality, she's assisted in countless surgeries off-screen. BokHee’s role is usually easy to overlook, but once you know her backstory, it hits you. You then realize that in fact she might be the most medically qualified person in the room – both on set and in the storyline.

#12: O.R. Board

Various

Ever catch yourself staring at the O.R. board in “Grey’s Anatomy”? Probably not – most of us were too busy following the drama. That giant board was always there, in the background, filled with names of different surgeons and we all just assumed it was a prop. It even became a flashpoint when Dr. Eliza Minnick came in and started shaking things up – becoming a symbol of tradition versus change. But what we failed to notice was that those names on the board weren’t just random. They were names of the real crew behind the show, not just fictional doctors. For years the board blended into the background, with a subtle tribute to those who kept the show alive.

#11: Post-It Note Marriage

Various

Life at Grey Sloane always gets in the way, and this makes Derek and Meredith ditch their big wedding. So, in the Season 5 finale, Derek grabs a post-it and pens their vows. Get this – he was actually supposed to use a prop with prewritten lines, but Patrick Dempsey just went for it. He writes their vows in real time as they’re speaking them, somehow squeezing every promise onto that tiny square. It made that moment feel real and unforgettable. Then, fast-forward to Season 19, that same little blue post-it reappears after it was saved from a fire by Maggie. This iconic callback didn't just honor Derek – it reminded Meredith of the vows they made, shaping her choices and reevaluating her future.

#10: Secret Pregnancy

“Tainted Obligation”

Just because an actress is pregnant doesn’t mean her character has to be, so hiding pregnancies is a common practice in the television industry. There have been some clever tactics used over the years, like strategically placed props or CGI. Even though “Grey’s” used some of these tactics, they took things to another level to cover Ellen Pompeo’s pregnancy in a particular episode. They created an entire story where Meredith donated her liver to her father, which meant Pompeo could lie in a hospital bed and wear a hospital gown, in addition to giving both the actress and Meredith a good reason to be absent for a while.

#9: Doppelgangers

“Who Lives, Who Dies, Who Tells Your Story”

This detail has us seeing double, three times! For the monumental 300th episode, the show decided to give us some nostalgia with doppelgangers of some of our favorite characters. You’ll find a George lookalike, wearing his signature brown jacket, a Cristina lookalike wearing a leather jacket and an Izzie wearing a pink sweater. All three are doctors, who take us on a rollercoaster ride of emotion and nostalgia. Executive producer Krista Vernoff revealed that actress Eryn Rea inspired the doppelganger story, since she looked so much like Katherine Heigl, and we definitely agree!

#8: Return of the Post-it Notes

“Now or Never”

To everyone else, a Post-it note may seem like an ordinary piece of paper, but to a “Grey’s Anatomy” fan it’s a legally binding contract. Derek and Meredith’s first wedding vows were written on a blue Post-it and the show actually foreshadows the moment earlier in the episode. Before the couple gets to their vows, Cristina gives Meredith a pen, blue Post-its and an old grocery list for the traditional “Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue” bridal rhyme. That very pen and blue Post-its were later used in this episode for MerDer’s iconic Post-it wedding, so we can thank Cristina for saving that impromptu moment.

#7: MAGIC Exists

“Who Lives, Who Dies, Who Tells Your Story”

Do you believe in magic? Well, if you’re a fan of “Grey’s Anatomy,” there’s a good chance you do! If you look at the first letters of the original interns; Meredith, Alex, George, Izzie and Cristina, what do you get? M-A-G-I-C! In the Easter egg-filled 300th episode, Meredith may directly be referencing the acronym during her voiceover when she says, "we are forced to acknowledge that certain kinds of magic exist..." It may sound like a stretch, but it is the episode with doppelgangers, and she not only says this right after imagining her late mother but also right before she gets a call from the real Cristina!

#6: Tribute to Derek

Various

Most of us will never really accept the death of Derek Shepherd, but at least the show includes little details to keep his memory alive. For those who don’t know, Derek had a thing for ferry boats, so naturally he has a scrub cap decorated with his favorite ships. It was his signature cap, so when he passed away Meredith took up the mantle, and began wearing the cap in her own surgeries. She’s even wearing it when she finds out that she’s won the Harper Avery Award, so it must be lucky!

#5: The Rhimes Café

“Sanctuary”

This detail is very subtle and quick: blink and you’ve missed it. While Richard Webber is in a café leisurely reading his paper, he sees police cars going towards the hospital so he pays and runs off. If you look at the waitress in that short scene, her shirt says “The Rhimes Cafe,” which is a reference to Shonda Rhimes. Rhimes is the creator of “Grey’s Anatomy” and wrote the episode, so it’s only natural that she’d want to slip her name into her own creation, even if it’s only for a split-second.

#4: Episode Names

Various

Something the show does really well is its music choices. They always manage to pick the perfect song to fit the mood – and you can’t forget their entire musical episode. Something you might not have noticed is that almost every episode of the series is actually titled after a song. The aforementioned musical episode, for example, is titled “Song Beneath the Song,” which is genius, as it’s basically like songception. The episode where Derek dies is titled “How to Save a Life,” which is the title of a song by The Fray. There have been many episodes now, so the dedication to relevant song titles is impressive.

#3: Amelia's Presidential Remark

"Ain't That a Kick in the Head?"

Sometimes politics have a way of slipping themselves into a show; in this case Amelia Shepherd gave a subtle diss to President Trump. Even after going through a traumatic surgery to remove a brain tumor, and even though she feels like a new person, there is one thing that remains the same for Amelia – and that’s her dislike of the President. She is going through routine questions for discharge following brain surgery when she’s asked by her doctor if she knows the current president. Without missing a beat, she responds that she wishes she didn’t. Like we said, subtle but to the point.

#2: Nurses Are More Like Background Players

Various

Where the nurses at? We know they’re physically there, and sometimes, they even sneak into a romance every once in a while, but they never seem to be doing regular nurse duties. Instead, the doctors do everything and the nurses take a backseat, often just observing the doctors and following whatever menial task the doctors give them. If you’ve ever been hospitalized or visited someone in the hospital, you’ll know that nurses are extremely hands-on with their patients and can even handle a medical procedure or two.

#1: Foreshadowing What Happens to Derek

"Dream a Little Dream of Me: Part 1"

Most of us felt pretty blindsided by the death of Derek Shepherd; he was a major character, Meredith’s soulmate and our McDreamy! We didn’t think they could kill him, but his death may have been foreshadowed as early as the first season. That’s when Derek says that if he was ever in a coma, he’d want his sisters there, and wouldn’t you know it, he was in a coma before he was taken off life support! Then in Season 5, Meredith has vivid nightmares of Derek dying in an accident, which is how he ends up dying several seasons later. Are these merely coincidences or was Derek doomed from the beginning?

Which of these exciting “Grey’s” Easter eggs did you miss? Let us know in the comments section.