About Isobel "Izzie" Stevens

Isobel Stevens

Isobel Stevens, Izzie, is the one who cares the most about her patients out of the interns. Or at least she shows it the most. She is well-known for her good bedside manner and doing all the little things she can to make the patients feel better. Early on in Grey's her and Alex Karev were having a good time in the on-call rooms whenever they could. Still her love for her patients grew stronger. Isobel fell in love with one patient, Denny, (which abruptly threw Alex out of the picture) and he was in desperate need of a heart transplant. They were even going to get married. She took an extremely risky move, cutting his L-VAD wirein order to get his name higher on the transplant list and it led to his death (which was inevitable without the transplant). It was tragic and tore Izzie to pieces. To make matters more complicated, Denny was quite wealthy and left her a large sum of money which she had no idea what to do with. She was strongly reprimanded by the hospital for her actions, was out of work for a long time and came back on restrictions when she was starting to recover. She did decide what to do with the money, though. She donated it to the hospital to fund a clinic for Miranda Bailey, who really wanted it to happen. The clinic was named the Denny Duquette Memorial Clinic after him. Since she's been back, Izzie is desperately trying to prove herself as a surgeon and has kind of been on an emotional roller coaster. It didn't help matters that her best friend, George O'Malley, was off with another woman getting married in Vegas. George's new wife, Callie Torres , was very jealous of their close friendship and was pushing George further and further away from Isobel. After a fight, George came to his friend Izzie for help and after a lot of drinking they slept together. Isobel realizes that she really loves George and reminds him of it every chance they are alone together, eventually driving the marriage to ruin. George is persuaded to end his marriage and pursue the woman he always thought was out of his league. After George finally tells Callie about indiscretions and gets a chance to be with Isobel, the love that they have for each other ends up lacking physical attraction and their attempts at love sort of fizzle out. Isobel is still desperate for emotional stability while trying to prove that she is a good surgeon. Her biggest challenge is finding a balance between having a good bedside manner while keeping her competitive edge. In order to be more competitive she's tried taking on Cristina Yang in an attempt to prove herself, but she is finally realizing that she can't try to be someone else, she needs to find out who she is. She needs to find her own niche and I think she's finally taking some positive steps towards that.

Now she's caught in the middle of Alex Karev and "Ava." She knows Ava isn't pregnant like she told Alex, but has to wait to tell him until she gets patient consent. By the time she does, Alex just assumes she's making mistakes (again) and blows her off. The real problem comes out - she is psychologically unwell - and she is able to rise to the challenge and put Alex in his place. She gets Ava taken care of and Alex seeks solace from her. All her hard work and healing has finally paid off now. After taking on too much for herself, Dr. Bailey gave Izzie the clinic to run. Izzie continues to try to get close to Alex while he continues being a "jerk" back. She persists and finally admits over and over again so he has to hear it that she cares for him. Alex breaks down his armor and lets her in. He may not have the best ways of telling her back that he cares, but they're trying to work it all out.

Everything seems to be on the up and up until Erica Hahn's heart patient brings up ghosts from her past - literally. Izzie is forced to help the patient that she stole a heart from for Denny. Ever since then, Denny's been popping up everywhere. He's following her, talking to her and trying to get her to talk back and touch him. She resists, knowing that its crazy to have a relationship with a dead person. She even tries burning his sweater to make him leave her. Denny's ghost is persistent. She finally gives in to him, talks with him and in her bedroom she's kissing and holding him again. This may not be a good sign after promising Alex she wasn't going to "go crazy on him." Try as she might, Denny doesn't look like he's going anywhere and Izzie's falling deeper into his grasp.

Finally, George starts to notice something is wrong with Izzie-after all, he was her best friend before. No one listens, though he tries to warn them that she's not well. Isobel is with Denny now - the best sex she's ever had and thinks she's happy. Then Alex is chosen for the solo surgery that all the residents are competing for and he blurts out to Izzie, "I love you." He thinks she's distant because she's afraid of getting too close to him after losing Denny. She is caught off guard and unsure of how to react. She has given herself to Denny, but she knows she will have to tell Alex. She finally makes the decision to tell him on her birthday, against Denny's wishes, but knows that Alex is going to make her happy. She wants both and when he tells Alex so, he is surprisingly okay with it. She tries to explain further that she sees him everyehere, hangs out with him and has sex with him. Still Alex says he gets it - he gets that she's "screwed up" after his death and if she needs this to be happy, he's fine with it. He knows that Denny is not alive and he is, so he has nothing to worry about. Denny is jealous, but can't do anything about it. He decides his gift to her on her birthday is to let her have both even though he hates the idea of her with Alex. Alex suprises her with a cake he baked himself for her birthday. She is impressed he remembered and that he did this for her.

Izzie starts to see lives going on around her-Meredith meeting Derek Shepard's mother and Cristina Yang going on a first date. Izzie finally starts to realize how much she can't have with Denny. He's not alive, he can't take her on dates, he can't take her to meet his mother, there are so many things she can't have with him. She confronts him and he asks her, "Izzie Stevens, are you breaking up with me?" She has to admit that she is. This may not be the end of Denny, however. Denny waits until Izzie leaves and tries to talk to Alex, but he doesn't hear him.

Still, Denny isn't going anywhere, but he's talking to Izzie differently, asking her to try to figure out why he's been there so long and why she can't get him to leave. "I'm here for you," is something he's told her over and over again. At first she thinks it's because he loves her so much and wants to make her happy, but when she watches a young patient dying and the words echo through her head. She finally realizes that he's here to tell her something-she's dying. She doesn't know how, but she confronts Denny about it. She's so mad she can hardly stand it. How could he not tell her, how could he have led her on all of this time? His heaven in being with her, is her hell now. She tells him to leave even though he tells her that he won't be able to come back. She's dying and he didn't even tell her. She's too upset.

Season 5:

Wishes (episode 11)

Who Gets the Solo Surgery (episode 10)

Reality or Fantasy (episode 9)

Izzie's Haunting (episode 8)

Denny's Heart (episode 7)

Learning Army Style (episode 6)

"I Care About You" (episode 5)

Alex and Izzie Fight For the NeuroSurgery (episode 4)

Derek Moves in Roommates Move Out (episode 3)

Kisses Left Hanging (episode 1 & 2)

Season 4: