Favourite Character(s) - Izzie Stevens

An overwhelming lack of ideas has led to this - every once and a while, I'll write about one of my favourite television characters. Izzie Stevens from Grey's Anatomy seemed like a great place to start, especially since the way the character is viewed can vary from person to person so greatly (of all the forum posts I have read about the character, the reaction was hugely mixed - people loved her at first, then hated her, then really hated her, then liked her again - for whatever reason, Izzie wasn't a character you could just be alright with. It was either love, or hate. In most cases, at least). For me, obviously, it was love. No matter what Izzie did, I couldn't help but love her.

The rest of this blog will contain spoilers for Grey's Anatomy.  

From the word go, Izzie was my favourite character on Grey's Anatomy. She was intelligent, hard-working, sweet, hilarious, and willing to stand up for herself. Her relationship with her patients was always fun to watch, because she genuinely cared for them. There is a moment early on in the series when Alex discovers that Izzie used to be a model. He posted the pictures of her modelling job all around the hospital (Bethany Whisper, heh), leading to a changing-room confrontation with Izzie exploding with rage in front of an entire room of people, showing that she was confident and that it didn't effect her, and that she was out of debt.

Everything with Izzie is a dramatic moment. The woman is a drama queen, and I absolutely love her for it. Her roommate gets involved with her superior? Then Izzie must give her opinion and tell her how idiotic she is being. Izzie's kind-of-but-not-really boyfriend has sex with someone else? Everyone has to hear about it, and even when helping him Izzie freaks out and brings it back to how great she is for helping him ('Because it's what Jesus would freakin' do!'). Izzie ain't getting any sex lately? Then she'll tell literally anyone near her (that was clearly exaggeration on my part, but I thought she was going to break George in the Thanksgiving episode after declaring how long it had been, heh). Her entire backstory is full of drama - lived in a trailer park, got knocked up, gave the baby up for adoption, swore that she would make something or herself, worked as a model to pay for med-school. That doesn't even mention the most dramatic moments during Izzie's time on Grey's. There was the whole Denny situation (for the record, amazing television. I kind of shipped them). There was the aftermath of his death (quitting, laying on the bathroom floor, getting rich, refusing to cash the cheque, hysterically crying while cashing the cheque, paying for a patient's surgery, building a clinic in his name with the money, literally feeling his presence in the hospital, etc.). Then there was Gizzie, ghost sex, and beyond.

Izzie is both extremely judgemental, and above judgement. She can voice her opinions clearly (and she frequently does, no matter who is offended), but when Izzie does something ridiculous or ill-judged, she'll create an excuse for herself, and rarely face the consequences (getting involved with Denny and jeopardising her career even though she had previously told Meredith against her relationship with Derek for similar reasons, being a part of the George and Callie break-up but being unwilling to accept any blame even though she kind of tormented Alex for a much less serious offence).

Even with all of these glaring character flaws, she remains one of my favourite characters on television. Everything she did entertained me, and Katherine Heigl owned that role (she was comedically and dramatically brilliant, and deserved her Emmy. Although, granted, her co-star Sandra Oh is equally deserving).

Favourite Izzie Moments;

- 'I'm out of debt!'

- Meredith, George, and Izzie laying in bed - 'seriously?!'.

- Meredith, Cristina, and Izzie in porn guy's room, tilting their heads at the screen!

- Anything with Denny (season two - the three-part finale, in particular).

- The bathroom floor.

- Driving a power drill into a man's skull in a disaster - 'rockstar!'.

- Getting hammered with George (but, y'know, not what they did after).

- Anything involving her daughter in 'Time After Time'.

- Causing a scene in the hospital, thinking that Callie wanted a fight. Childish juvenile behaviour, but hilarious nonetheless.

- Breaking down and telling George that she only had the energy to shave one of her legs.

- 'Did you just quote Gandhi at me?'

- All of her crazed behaviour during the sparkle pager contest (love that entire episode).

- Calling Owen a monster because of his pig slaughtering teacher methods.

- Anything with Cristina during the brain tumour arc (the scene on the bench, picking her as her bridesmaid because she was 'honourable' - so nice to see them getting along).

- Izzie/George elevator cliffhanger!

- Getting all crazy on the girl from The OC who George saved.

- Her bitter departing scene with Meredith, 'this was never my home'. Really bitter on Izzie's part, but I don't think she truly meant it.