Shondaland Leading Ladies, Ranked By Power | ScreenRant
Several years back, one woman ventured into television and made a name for herself almost overnight. This is none other than Shonda Rhimes who caught everyone’s attention by creating Grey’s Anatomy, arguably the most successful medical drama on television to this day. Since then, Rhimes and her production company, Shondaland, have been behind several hit shows, including Scandal, How to Get Away with Murder, and most recently, Bridgerton.
And although they differ in theme, plot, and story arc, Rhimes’ shows have always been known to feature strong, resilient, and inspiring female characters. Here’s a look at the most powerful ones.
10 Meredith Grey
When Meredith (Ellen Pompeo) started out, she was among a fresh group of interns trying to stand out. Not that she had a hard time doing that considering her and her fellow interns got into all sorts of trouble. Over the years, however, Meredith has grown a lot when it comes to her personal life and career.
For starters, this doctor has since moved up the career ladder, being named the head of general surgery at Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital and serving as one of its board directors as well. She certainly holds more power now than before.
9 Catherine Fox
Unlike Meredith, we don’t meet Catherine (Debbie Allen) until Grey’s Anatomy’s eighth season when she got with Richard Webber (James Pickens, Jr.). From the very beginning, Catherine made it clear that she wasn’t a person anyone would want to mess with, even if that meant giving Meredith and other doctors a hard time.
At some point, Catherine was also crucial in helping Meredith and the other plane crash victims purchase Seattle Grace and rename it, Grey Sloan. And in doing so, she made sure that her son, Jackson Avery (Jesse Williams), would have a seat on the hospital’s board.
8 Naomi Bennett
Private Practice may not have been as popular or successful as Grey’s Anatomy, but it sure had a number of memorable, take-charge female characters from the very beginning. Among them was Naomi (Audra McDonald), the founding partner of Oceanside Wellness Group who convinced her best friend, Addison (Kate Walsh) to move her practice to Los Angeles.
As fans may recall, Naomi had asked Addison to practice at Oceanside without informing the practice’s other doctors/co-owners beforehand. Despite objections though, Naomi put her foot down and insisted that Addison would be working with them.
7 Sally Langston
In the political drama Scandal, Sally (Kate Burton) was every bit devious as she was impressive. At some point in the series, she attempted a presidential run and although it looked like she was going to win the elections at one point, Sally ended up losing to Fitz Grant (Tony Goldwyn).
Nonetheless, Sally went on to serve as the Vice President and even temporarily served as President while Fitz was recovering from his gunshot injuries. Later on, after stepping away from politics, Sally also became a highly vocal and influential personality with her regular tv show, The Liberty Report.
6 Charlotte King
In Private Practice, it initially looked like Dr. Charlotte King was everyone’s nemesis. As the Chief of Staff at St. Ambrose, she regularly told off patients and staff alike. She also didn’t get along too well with the doctors of Oceanside who had hospital privileges there.
As fans may recall, Charlotte was also the woman who ran Pacific Wellcare, a private practice that rivaled Oceanside. Later on, however, Charlotte buys her way into Oceanside and becomes one of the co-owners practicing there as she offered consultations on sexology.
5 Tegan Price
Tegan (Amirah Vann) is a U.S. attorney who started out as a villain of sorts, going toe to toe with series star Annalise Keating (Viola Davis) in the courtroom. She started out as the right hand to Antares Technologies CEO Jorge Castillo (Esai Morales) but Tegan soon became the company’s whistleblower upon discovering that Jorge was behind the death of a district attorney.
Following this, Tegan became a managing partner at Caplan & Gold, working alongside Annalise. Tegan also became Michaela Pratt’s (Aja Naomi King) mentor.
4 Miranda Bailey
It can be argued that Miranda (Chandra Wilson) is a more central character in Grey’s Anatomy than Meredith herself. For starters, she had been Meredith’s immediate boss. Meanwhile, her no-nonsense approach to managing interns earned her the nickname “The Nazi.” At the same time, it wasn’t just interns who feared her.
In fact, the likes of Derek and Dr. Burke (Isaiah Washington) were careful not to piss her off. And whenever necessary, Miranda would even set her own boss, Richard, straight. After working in the hospital for years, Miranda had gone to become the hospital’s Chief of Surgery.
3 Annalise Keating
Annalise is the central character in How to Get Away with Murder. She is a confident and formidable criminal law professor and lawyer. Her students revere her. And inside the courtroom, she’s always had a commanding presence.
Over the course of the series, we’ve seen Annalise go up against Jorge who was among the show’s main antagonists. And at some point, she was also instrumental in forging a deal that would allow for Laurel (Karla Souza) to be reunited with her son after Jorge took custody of the child.
2 Olivia Pope
In the Rhimes’ other political drama, Scandal, Olivia (Kerry Washington) served as Washington D.C.’s most prominent fixers. Olivia had been a commanding force from day one Through her own firm, Olivia Pope & Associates, Olivia and her fierce team of gladiators brokered deals to ‘fix’ scandals that would, otherwise, damage a politician’s career.
She would issue orders and demanded clients to follow them. She also employed threats whenever necessary and they usually worked. At the same time, Olivia also had to go up against a shadow organization called B613 that was once headed by her own father.
1 Mellie Grant
At the beginning of Scandal, it seemed Mellie (Bellamy Young) was contented to play a supporting role in her husband, Fitz’s political career. But then, she and Fitz eventually decide to split, Mellie decided it was time to go after her own political aspirations.
First, she becomes the Senator of Virginia and although she detested Olivia for being her husband’s mistress, the two eventually worked together on Mellie’s own presidential campaign. Towards the end of the series, Mellie is elected and becomes the most powerful person in the world.