Grey’s Anatomy: 10 Iconic Jackson Avery Moments

On Grey’s Anatomy Season 17 Episode 15, “Tradition,” Dr. Jackson Avery (Jesse Williams) will walk out the door of Grey Sloan Memorial hospital for the final time. He is heading to Boston to run his family’s foundation — the Fox Foundation — to help create positive change within the medical world for marginalized communities. 

Jackson is leaving Seattle for the best reason, but his exit will still hurt. Believe it or not, he’s the last peer Dr. Meredith Grey (Ellen Pompeo) has at Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital. 

Jackson does not begin his internship with Meredith. He transfers to Seattle Grace Hospital as part of its merger with Mercy West on Grey’s Anatomy Season 6 Episode 5, “Invasion.”

After the hospital shooting on the Season 6 finale, he and Mercy West’s other survivor April Kepner (Sarah Drew) bond with the original residents of Seattle Grace Hospital. 

When we first meet Jackson, we know he is “the pretty one” — a former football player struggling to find his place within his family’s medical empire. 

Throughout his 12 seasons on Grey’s Anatomy, Jackson has grown to be a talented plastic surgeon and ENT. He has been a devoted husband, loyal ex-husband, loving father, and a protective son. 

We’re sad to say goodbye but excited to honor Dr. Avery (and Jesse Williams). In no particular order, here are some of the most iconic Jackson Avery moments.

10 Iconic Jackson Avery Moments: 

1. When he renames the hospital after Mark and Lexie (Season 9 Episode 17, “Transplant Wasteland”)

Jackson loses both his mentor Dr. Mark Sloan (Eric Dane) and his ex-girlfriend Dr. Lexie Grey (Chyler Leigh) when they die because of the plane crash on Grey’s Anatomy Season 8 Episode 24, “Flight.”

When the plane crash survivors and Jackson later gain ownership of the hospital (it’s a long, complicated story) it is Jackson who suggests a more meaningful name for it than Seattle Grace-Mercy West. Honestly, thank you, Jackson because who has time to say that whole name? 

As part of his speech to convince his peers to trust his judgment about the hospital he says:

Jackson: We are now officially a hospital run by doctors — that should mean something. It is our responsibility to be the best doctors we can possibly be so that those who come after us can strive to be their best. So, with that in mind, I move to rename the hospital…..I propose that we give this hospital a name that can honor the very reason we’ve come together and been able to do this. A name that exemplifies the spirit of this hospital but also the depth of our dedication…

He then writes “Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital” on a notepad and shows it to everyone. We’ll BRB, we already need tissues and we have a long way to go.

2. When he prevents more of his friends from getting shot (Season 6 Episode 24, “Death and All His Friends”)

Many doctors have heroic moments during the hospital shooting, Grey’s Anatomy Season 6 Episode 24, “Death and All His Friends.” Dr. Avery’s moment is underrated but important.

After Gary Clark (Michael O’Neill) shoots Derek Shepherd (Patrick Dempsey) he goes into the OR to where Jackson and Cristina (Sandra Oh) working to save Derek’s life. 

Gary holds Cristina at gunpoint and wants her to stop operating on Derek. Gary shoots Owen Hunt (Kevin McKidd) and Jackson knows he’s likely to shoot again. He forces his friends to put their hands up so Gary won’t shoot. 

Derek flatlines, Gary thinks he’s dead and leaves the OR. Jackson knew this would happen but that Derek would be alive. When Gary leaves, he and Cristina are able to get Derek’s vitals and continue saving his life. 

Jackson saves himself and five other lives with some quick thinking. This includes April Kepner (Sarah Drew) who is traumatized in the scrub room having also been held at gunpoint by Clark. 

3. When he prays April back to life (Season 14 Episode 23, “Cold As Ice”)

The truth is, there is no “Iconic Jackson Avery Moments” list without April Kepner. She is his ex-wife and the love of his life, after all. 

But, on Grey’s Anatomy Season 14 Episode 23, “Cold As Ice,” April gets in a car accident, falls into a ravine, and nearly freezes to death. 

Maggie (Kelly McCreary) gets her heart beating again, but it’s Jackson who basically prays April back to life. 

See, Jackson is a selective atheist. That means he doesn’t believe in God until April needs him to.

Williams gives one of his best performances on the show and cries very natural tears as Jackson begs the heavens, “I want to believe. I will… I will believe in you, okay? I’ll do whatever you want. I’ll do anything. If you exist, don’t take her away, okay?” 

And He listens. God is a Japril shipper, too. 

4. When you love someone, you tell them… (Season 9 Episode 2 “Remember the Time”) 

Okay, we’ll admit that Mark Sloan (Eric Dane) is in the spotlight during Jackson’s scenes on Grey’s Anatomy Season 9 Episode 2, “Remember the Time,” because you know, he’s dying.

But Mark is a huge reason why Jackson is the doctor he is today, so we’d be remiss not to include a scene between the dynamic duo — and this is their best one. 

The scene right before Jackson brings Sofia to a dying Mark showcases the great rapport between Williams and Dane as acting partners. Some of Mark’s advice and Jackson’s responses are full of sarcasm that makes this mentor/mentee team one of the most iconic in Grey’s Anatomy history. 

Mark also gives Jackson the most important advice of his life.

Mark: If you love someone, you tell them. Even if you’re scared that it’s not the right thing. Even if you’re scared that it will cause problems. Even if you’re scared that it’ll burn your life to the ground. You say it and you say it loud. And then you go from there. 

Jackson heeds this advice at the end of the episode and goes to try and find April, who has already left for Ohio. 

Of course, one season later, Mark’s words come back to Jackson on April’s wedding day on Grey’s Anatomy Season 10 Episode 12, “Get Up, Stand Up.” It’s Mark Sloan, the original Japril shipper, who inspires Jackson to make the best decision of his life. We could not leave this out. 

5. When he makes plans with his mom to sneak in to watch Harriet’s first surgery (Season 15 Episode 11, “The Winner Takes It All”)

It’s hard to pick the best Jackson moment on Grey’s Anatomy Season 15 Episode 11, The Winner Takes It All,” because it’s such a big day for Jackson. 

He is obviously scared waiting for his mom to get out of surgery, and we always get emotional when Jackson references his late son Samuel. Williams does some of his best work when the people Jackson is closest to are in trouble. 

But let’s highlight a moment of joy (the dancing is sweet but not it for this list). 

The moment between Catherine (Debbie Allen) and Jackson in the OR where they reminisce about first surgeries, Jackson’s childhood, and make a deal to sneak into Harriet’s first surgery together is by far the most sincere. 

Williams and Allen have built a solid bond together as mother and son that comes through on-screen. We just want to take a moment to savor Jackson’s joy in that scene, because it doesn’t come through too naturally often. 

6. When he schools cops about racial bias (Season 14 Episode 10, “Personal Jesus”) 

We learn on Grey’s Anatomy Season 17 Episode 14, “Look Up Child,” that Jackson is moving to Boston to run The Fox Foundation in large part to bring about change in medicine for marginalized communities. 

Social justice has always mattered to Jackson, and Williams is a social justice warrior in real life. So, we have to include one of Jackson’s shining moments when it comes to standing up for his oppressed patients and what is right. 

There are many, but none more important than all of Jackson’s scenes on Grey’s Anatomy Season 14 Episode 10, “Personal Jesus.” 

Jackson is part of a team of doctors that treats Eric Sterling, a 12-year-old boy who is shot by police because he is locked out of his house and tries to get into his own home through a window. 

Eric Sterling is named after Eric Garner and Alton Sterling, two Black men who were shot by police. He is the same age as Tamir Rice, who was shot by a police officer whilst playing with a toy gun. 

Dr. Avery (and Williams) have many impactful scenes while treating Eric, but he ultimately dies from a complication of his injury. During a conversation with cops at the hospital, Jackson delivers a monologue that everyone needs to read/hear once in their life. It addresses police behavior and racial bias. 

Jackson: No. There was no judgement in that call, that was just a reaction. You see skin color, we all do but the reaction that you give to a white kid versus a Brown kid in that split second, that’s the measurable, fixable difference. Bias is human. You have guns, you’re using guns. So, yours is lethal….I didn’t say anything about racist, I said biased. And lucky for us, bias is fixable. You have protocols in place. Those can be adjusted. You can fix it. Or, you can keep pretending that it doesn’t exist at all. Kids are dying. This kid is dead. For what? So many people that look just like him are dying. For what? 

That is a mic drop, ladies, gentlemen, and non-binary folks. 

7. When he demands answers from his father (Season 17 Episode 14, “Look Up Child”) 

Jackson’s father’s absence defines his son’s life more than his presence. Robert Avery left Jackson and Catherine and the family medical dynasty when Jackson was young. 

Jackson first goes to visit his father in Montana on Grey’s Anatomy Season 13 Episode 16, “Who Is He (And What Is He To You?)” But he is on a business trip and ultimately doesn’t find the courage to ask Robert things he really wants to know. Jackson says things on that episode but does not get answers he does not know he deserves. 

Four seasons later on Grey’s Anatomy Season 17 Episode 14, “Look Up Child,” Jackson goes back to Montana to get them.

Williams gives a powerful performance throughout the whole episode, but Jackson’s last moment with Robert on the steps of his dad’s restaurant stands out. 

Robert tells Jackson that he left because he was scared. He thought Jackson would be better off without him. With tears in his eyes, Jackson lists all of the times in his life he could have used his dad. 

Robert apologizes to a sobbing Jackson and assures his son that they are nothing alike. It’s what gives Jackson the conviction to go to Boston and it is sad but beautiful. 

*Honorable mention to Grey’s Anatomy Season 13 Episode 16, we love it but it’s hard to narrow down 10 moments of television out of probably thousands of scenes. 

8. When he prays for peace for his devastated wife (Season 11 Episode 11, “All I Could Do Was Cry”) 

Jackson and April now have a daughter named Harriet, but before she was born they lost a son named Samuel to osteogenesis imperfecta on Grey’s Anatomy Season 11 Episode 11, “All I Could Do Was Cry.”

April gives birth through a process called induction termination, and throughout most of the episode she has a difficult time accepting the idea that it is time to let her son go. 

The episode is hard to watch and difficult to write about even now. But throughout it, Jackson is a broken yet devoted husband.

We have mentioned before that Jackson believes in God when April needs him to — or at least speaks to a hypothetical God. “Show up for April,” he begs through tears in a chapel.

Honestly, that is all we can say about it. You just have to watch and try not to cry. 

*Honorable mention to the scene where Jackson subtly and carefully tries to coax his wife to undress to get ready to give birth. 

9. When his wife throws fortune cookies at him and then they have sex (Season 12 Episode 11, “Unbreak My Heart”) 

Jackson Avery and Japril fans are incredibly lucky to have three stand-alone episodes affectionately referred to as Japril movies. 

Grey’s Anatomy Season 12 Episode 11, Unbreak My Heart,” rewinds Jackson and April’s relationship from the day of their divorce to the day they met at Mercy West. 

The whole hour is an iconic moment for Jackson, April, Williams, and Drew honestly. But there is a scene early in the episode that is basically a one-act play. People would definitely pay to see it live, too.

The couple is separated, but over dinner, they try to talk about actually getting a divorce. They open old wounds related to their son’s death and April leaving to go to the army. Drew and Williams are really good at acting together, period, and this scene runs a gamut of emotions.

The way that Jackson looks at April while she prays is sweet. But then it’s heartbreaking to watch them scream at each other because they couldn’t be there for each other while grieving. 

They start throwing fortune cookies and then things get really sexy because Drew and Williams have amazing chemistry. And 9 months later their daughter Harriet is born.

10. When he stands up for the woman he loves (Season 10 Episode 12, “Get Up, Stand Up”) 

Jackson: I love you, April. I always have. I love everything about you. Even the things I don’t like, I love. And I want you with me. I love you and I think that you love me too. Do you? 

Do we really have to explain this moment? Jackson interrupts April’s wedding on Grey’s Anatomy Season 10 Episode 12, “Get Up, Stand Up,” and there is not a word strong enough to describe it. 

It’s one of those things that only happens on TV. It could have been a really cheesy or insincere moment, but it is the opposite. Because when Jackson is motivated by April and Williams is onscreen with Drew, magic happens. 

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What are your favorite Jackson Avery moments from Grey’s Anatomy? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

Grey’s Anatomy airs Thursdays at 9/8c on ABC.

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