Grey’s Anatomy season 14 episode 9: The meaning of ‘1-800-799-7233’

Grey’s Anatomy season 14 episode 9 was originally titled “Four Seasons in One Day,” but the show has made an interesting change. Now, it will be referred to as “1-800-799-7233” leading up to its airing on Thursday night.

So why the change? As executive producer Krista Vernoff told the wonderful Caterina Online on Twitter, the title was changed due to a suggestion from cast member Giacomo Gianniotti (who plays Andrew DeLuca on the show). “1-800-799-7233” also just so happens to be the phone number for the National Domestic Violence Hotline.

Changing this episode title is obviously a powerful statement, one that is heavily tilted towards the story of Jo Wilson and her estranged husband Dr. Paul Stadler. Morrison made his debut in the closing seconds of the winter finale, and he will be a big part of what is sure to be a harrowing and emotional story coming up. We applaud Gianniotti for the idea and Vernoff / the entire writing staff for the powerful decision to change a title at the last minute when they certainly did not need to. The power of the story within this episode likely relays a similar message.

Regardless of what happens at the end of this episode, we hope that Grey’s Anatomy viewers can take away something from watching this that could help change someone’s life.

Related – Want to get some other Grey’s Anatomy episode title news?

Other interesting things to point out here

The Grey’s Anatomy trend is to name episodes after song titles, and on the surface it looked as though this was the extremely-rare example of one that was not. However, that’s not actually the case. There actually is a song by this name by the Uppity Blues Women that is on the subject of domestic violence, and you can listen to that below. It doesn’t necessarily seem as though the title was changed with the knowledge of this song’s existence in advance, but it’s still interesting for those of you out there who love the Grey’s Anatomy episode title tradition.

As you would imagine, this is a powerful and painful song to listen to. Know that before you push play below.

As always, feel free to share some of your thoughts regarding this Grey’s Anatomy season 14 episode title now in the comments. Meanwhile, like CarterMatt on Facebook in the event you do want some additional news regarding the series and others we cover. (Photo: ABC.)