“Grey’s Anatomy,” a medical drama developed by Shonda Rhimes, made its debut in 2005 on ABC. A whopping 16.25 million viewers were introduced to the medical team at Grey Sloan Memorial, including Meredith Gray (Ellen Pompeo), Dr. Derek Shepherd (Patrick Dempsey), and Dr. Izzie Stevens (Katherine Heigl).
Izzie is a talented medical professional, but she’s not without flaws. In many instances, she becomes emotionally attached to people whom she shouldn’t be, including patients and married men — a trait that some fans cannot tolerate. For example, in Season 3, after making snide remarks about the marriage between surgical resident George O’Malley (T.R. Knight) and head of orthopedic surgery Callie Torres (Sara Ramírez), Izzie sleeps with George.
On Reddit, u/simplycyn7 said, “Why, why, why did they make her incapable of any and all boundaries? … I also find it SO weird that she feels entitled to demand attention and priority over someone else’s WIFE. And that was before she slept with George.”
Then there’s Izzie’s romance with heart patient Denny Duquette Jr. (Jeffrey Dean Morgan), both while he’s alive and, well, not alive. After his death at the end of Season 2, Izzie begins to see Denny in Season 5, a hallucination caused by an undiagnosed brain tumor. She and Ghost Denny are even intimate with each other. This storyline has been hailed by some as their least favorite out of the show’s 20-plus seasons.
