CONTENT COVERED: Grey’s Anatomy (ABC) (2005 – Present)
CONTENT WARNING!
*Ye Be Warned! This content contains mild swearing and spoilers of the following book, film, series and/or franchise! Continue at your own risk!*
Isobel Katherine Stevens, Izzie, is one of the original characters from the American TV Medical Drama from ABC, Grey’s Anatomy. The character, portrayed by Katherine Heigl, left the show in season six after being told that she was cancer-free but unable to fix her relationship with Alex Karev (Justin Chambers).
As you can tell by the title of this post, Izzie is a character I strongly dislike. I struggle to watch scenes with her in it. And in all honesty, it’s that character type that I don’t like, which unfortunately seems to be the recurring character type that Katherine Heigl portrays. So, this sadly results in my mind losing interest in her and any film she is in. This sounds harsh, but Izzie is a perfect example of why I say I hate this character type. So, let me explain this a bit more.
When looking at the characters of the show I would best be described as a mash-up of Alex, Christina and Meredith. So, Izzie’s personality wouldn’t gel with me too easy. Knowing this Izzie’s overly cheery and non-stop “nothing can ever go wrong” attitude would drain me out. It is draining to watch never mind actually deal with.
So, moving away from Izzie and I not getting along personally there is also the fact that Izzie never went through any character development. Seriously. She was the exact same person when she left in season six as she was when we met her in the pilot. The character went through absolutely no arcs or development in the six seasons she was there; which equated to about six years in the universe’s time scale.
The Constant Butting Heads Tap Danced On Every Last One Of My Bloody Nerves For Six Seasons.
Izzie Steven miraculously managed to butt heads with nearly every character on the show at least once. Or at least it felt like it. For me, it felt like every so many episodes or a few times per season, Izzie would be in some sort of conflict with another character(s) which would pretty much become her entire storyline. It was constant.
Now, Christina and Izzie’s personalities are complete contrasts of one another. This fact alone doesn’t mean the two couldn’t be friends. Pretty much anyone can be friends with anyone. Izzie was so hypocritical of Christina regardless of how many times Christina explained they were different or apologised.
What do I mean by this?
Well, there was a time when Izzie wanted to specialise in the same field as Christina. Izzie managed to use her people skills to make the staff and patients think she was amazing. This got under Christina’s skin as her bedside manner was non-existent, but her skills were beyond compare.
Eventually, Izzie gave up on that speciality and went on to find something else, leaving Christina to focus on hers in peace. The thing is the whole time this was happening, Izzie didn’t need to do any of it. She knew the whole time that this was upsetting Christina. At one point I’m sure she says something along the lines of that Christina can’t claim a speciality as her own. Yeah, you’re right, but you don’t have to be a bitch about it for the sake of being a bitch.
At the same time as her making Christina feel bad about her actions, Izzie is insistent that she did nothing wrong. A recurring theme throughout the series. Again, seen with George and Denny.
I’ll start with what happened with George and Callie, as this was bad and solidified Izzie as a horribly selfish person in my mind. However, it never came close to what she did with Denny.
George O’Malley (T.R. Knight) and Calliope Iphegenia Torres, Callie, (Sara Ramirez) were two Doctors who worked alongside Izzie. Callie was an orthopaedic doctor and George was a resident alongside Izzie. The two, George and Callie, became a couple and on a holiday away in Vegas, they had a surprise wedding. It was a surprise to them too, don’t worry.
At this point, Izzie had mild to moderate feelings about George, but neither had really done much with them. A relationship had never truly formed between the two and they remained friends.
Well, Izzie had to change that now.
After George blurted out that he and Callie had gotten married when in Vegas, Izzie became enraged. She would act cold and hostile towards George and more towards Callie, who she never liked. After a while of hating George but not being willing to let him go, along with telling him that Callie was wrong for him and he had made a big mistake, they cheated. George and Izzie started an intimate relationship, while George was married to Callie. This was also George’s fault, he isn’t innocent either. However, Izzie was awful to him. I have been on the receiving end of behaviour like Izzie’s, trust me when I say it’s manipulative, maybe verging on abusive and warps your mind into a hazy mess.
Wost of all, Izzie then acted like the victim. When Callie found out and was destroyed by what happened, Izzie acted like it was all Callie’s fault and that Izzie was a victim in this situation.
Callie was destroyed – again, been on that side of things, it splinters your soul. She did nothing wrong. George told Callie multiple times not to worry about Izzie, that everything was fine and then he cheated on her and Callie broke.
AND PEOPLE STILL LIKED IZZIE AND GEORGE AFTER THIS!
This was the moment I no longer cared about either of them. If I knew them in real life I wouldn’t waste the oxygen on them. But, Izzie got worse. Yes, worse.
Denny Duquette, Jr.
This was a shitshow and a half that somehow kept this wreck of a character as a somewhat likeable character. So, who was Denny? The final nail in the coffin?
Denny was a patient, yes, a patient that the residents were introduced to. Denny had a severe and life-threatening heart problem that he was dying from. Izzie quickly started to fall for him but continued to treat him. Fast forward a bit, Denny is on a device called an LVAD to help his heart pump blood. (I’ve linked to the Mayo Clinic’s explanation of what it is. I’m a student of Journalism and English, so I know little to nothing on the medical side of things.) Denny at one point is solely relying on the LVAD to keep him alive but needs a heart transplant. Unfortunately, when a heart becomes available, there is another patient who beats Denny to the first position (meaning they get the heart).
Can you see where this is going?
Izzie, who is completely in love with Denny at this point is determined to get him the heart so cuts his LVAD wire and hand pumps his heart, which puts him at the top of the list. So, he gets the heart and she loses her job?
No.
Izzie drags in the rest of the residents in her group, taking them down with her. And to top it off, the Doctor who was sent to get the heart is shot. The group were found by higher Doctors, who took over and got the transplanted heart to Denny. Denny Lives.
No.
Denny threw a clot hours after his surgery and died later that night and the other patient was left without a heart.
Now, Izzie did so much more than what I’ve spoken about here, these are just the moments I can think of that piss me off the most.
She was kept on after the Denny situation. Fair enough, not easily, but eventually she was given a second chance. Like, no. Screw her. Mistakes happen, yes, but she knew what she was doing every step of the way. She lied to the Doctor who was bringing the heart, then had to fake labs, so destroyed a life-saving device, forced her other fellow residents to become accomplices, and then the patient and heart both died anyway. WTF.
I was so happy when she finally left. Izzie Stevens was such an entitled character who felt she deserved the world because of her sad childhood and disregarded everyone else’s feelings and the rules. She should have been kicked from the friend group or program well before she finally left.
Her leaving wasn’t satisfying either. She left of her own accord. No, she should have been forced out of the hospital. Forced out of the medical field. If you can’t separate your feelings and professionalism in a healthy manner then you can’t stay. Yes, both should mix, but not the extent Izzie’s did. She broke rules, endangered lives and disregarded others for her own sake. She always played the victim to her own crimes.
I’ve not watched many of the newer seasons, but I know her storyline with Alex reappears again. I’ve watched some of these scenes on YouTube to prepare for this post. I don’t like it. Mainly because Izzie has a happy ending and also because it shits on Alex’s ending. Izzie never changed in six seasons, but Alex grew so much.
It’s almost like a step backwards for him.
Katherine Heigl portrayed Izzie very well and I do appreciate that and have absolutely nothing against her. The character was written well and in a way that made the character a mixed one. Some would love Izzie and some would hate her. I just happen to be one who hates her. Which makes it interesting. I don’t understand how people like her, but there will be people who can’t understand why I like her! It’s so cool to think about!
Anyway, I’ve rambled on enough about Izzie Stevens. This is a long post but I hope you’ve enjoyed a look into my mind!
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