Grey’s Anatomy: 5 Most Shameful Things Izzie Ever Did (& 4 She Should Be Proud Of)

Grey’s Anatomy fans might have some polarizing opinions about Izzie Stevens, and no doubt, Izzie had some traits that weren’t always the best fit for a doctor. She could be a little careless and could get too personally involved in cases, which often led to her making some grave mistakes.

However, that’s not to say there weren’t any good qualities to Izzie’s tenure. For one, Izzie was one of the most humane interns at Seattle Grace and was kind to all; no one has ever had a great bedside manner like her. Her compassionate nature also helped save the lives of many of her patients too, particularly since her determination to get to the bottom of a case meant that they got the best care possible. Sadly, these moments are often overlooked by her bigger scandals.

9 Shameful: Interfered With Everyone’s Personal Life

Izzie had the habit of interfering with almost everybody else’s personal lives, especially the men she thought she was in love with. It’s true that George and Callie Torres were never really well suited as a couple but Izzie seemed to go out of her way to create suspicions in George’s mind about Callie’s habits and drive a wedge between them.

She also made it her business to make Alex see that Ava was not meant for him, making it her mission to drive him away from her. Poking her nose where it didn’t belong was one of her worst qualities as a person.

8 Proud: Treated Alex Kindly

Izzie was the only one who treated Alex with kindness initially. Even though Grey’s Anatomy fans often thought that Alex and Izzie made no sense together as a couple, they were nonetheless one of the original Grey’s couples.

However, it was Izzie’s considerate behavior towards Alex Karev that put the insolent young intern on the path to redemption. Having had a difficult childhood, Alex was rough around the edges when fans first met him. But it was Izzie alone who had faith in him which eventually helped him embark on a journey towards becoming a mellower, more lovable person.

7 Shameful: Became The Third Wheel In George’s Marriage

Izzie tried hard to break up George’s marriage to Callie. Not only had she intervened before the two had their whirlwind wedding, she also shamelessly nagged George after he got married, implying that it was a mistake. Ultimately, the two of them ended up sleeping together, leading to an awkward love triangle between George-Callie-Izzie forming.

Since Izzie and George never had any chemistry apart from being best friends, their relationship never amounted to anything. Yet, fans cannot deny that Izzie had a major role in breaking Callie and George up, even if it was fated to happen anyway.

6 Proud: Was Very Patient Friendly

Izzie Stevens was one of the most amiable of the original Grey’s Anatomy interns, the other one being George O’Malley. Izzie had a way about her that instantly put patients at their ease, and she often went out of her way to help patients. For instance, in the season 4 premiere, her soft-heartedness led her to treat and save a deer that would otherwise have ended up on a plate.

Izzie also treated a patient, Qing Lu, who was unable to tell her what she wanted due to language barriers. However, Izzie didn’t give up and eventually ended up treating Qing Lu’s friend, Ahn, who had a more severe injury but couldn’t come inside the hospital since she was an undocumented immigrant. Izzie stitched her up outside the hospital in the rain, thus proving that she prioritized her duties over everything else.

5 Shameful: Broke All Rules To Help Denny

Probably one of the most shameless things Izzie did was when she broke every ethical, legal and moral code to get Denny Duquette a heart in season 2.

Denny’s death will always be remembered as one of the most tragic patient deaths in Grey’s Anatomy. However, the infamous cutting of the LVAD wire to push Denny up the transplant list was something that should have ideally got Izzie fired at once, and possibly got her friends, all of whom declared complicity, suspended. Izzie’s love for Denny was undeniable, but the incident did rather prove her to be unethical and irresponsible as a doctor.

4 Proud: Gave Her Cheque To Create Free Clinic

Izzie did make herself rather notorious in the whole Denny affair. But she redeemed herself somewhat when she donated the $8.7 million she had been left by Denny for the “free clinic” that Miranda Bailey so enthusiastically wanted to set up.

Helping to create the Denny Duquette Memorial Clinic was a noble, thoughtful gesture and made up a little bit for Izzie’s thoughtlessness in the LVAD scandal. Rather than depositing the check at the bank where it could have earned interest and probably sustained Izzie for the rest of her life, she chose to donate it for a good, human cause–something she most certainly could have been proud of.

3 Shameful: Left Alex Without Clarifications

Izzie left Alex suddenly and with nothing more than a ‘Dear John’ letter. In season 6, Izzie was fired for medical negligence but somehow she simply assumed that Alex had had a hand in it.

Her departure was particularly annoying as she made no efforts to clarify the situation with Alex, and left abruptly with nothing but a letter to let him know she was leaving. She even refused to answer his phone calls or let him know that she was okay. As in the Denny incident, this sudden move showed her to be inconsiderate.

2 Proud: Struggled Growing Up

Izzie had a hard time growing up with a mother, who would use up her daughter’s hard-earned savings to see psychics. She lived in a trailer park with her mom, spent years waiting tables to save up for college, performed extremely well in school, and then became a fashion model to get through medical school.

Although many people underestimated her, believing she would amount to nothing, Izzie proved them wrong. In fact, as of now, she is a respected attending surgical oncologist in Kansas – showing all how much she has evolved since leaving Grey Sloan Memorial

1 Shameful: Coming Back Suddenly Expecting Everything To Be The Same

Izzie came back in season 6’s “I Like You So Much Better When You’re Naked” as suddenly as she had left. But what irritated fans was that she expected to get everything back in a platter after having left Alex and everyone else without a word.

After Izzie had left in season 6 accusing Alex of having got her fired, she couldn’t have expected him to wait around for her indefinitely. While Grey’s Anatomy fans wondered if Izzie and Alex were the perfect couple after all, or not, yet when Alex finally chose to part ways with her, they were saddened all the same. Although he did love her very much, he had perhaps justifiably had enough and wanted both of them to be able to move on with their lives. However, Izzie had initially simply hoped that things would fall back into place after she had blown things so spectacularly.

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