Meredith Grey and Izzie Stevens have a lot in common on the hit medical drama, Grey’s Anatomy, but also seem to have a lot of differences. They are both introduced to viewers as surgical interns at Seattle Grace Hospital. They are fellow interns and both quick very hard during their time in the program, but they come from very different backgrounds.
Meredith was raised in the medical community with her mother being one of the best surgeons in the country, while Izzie comes from more humble beginnings and had to work very hard to put herself through medical school and get an internship. The differences tend to outweigh their similarities when it comes to these two characters, which makes audiences wonder if they really are even friends.
Meredith Doesn’t Want To Live With Izzie
Meredith inherits her mother’s very large house once her mother is admitted into an assisted living community to have around the clock help with her Alzheimer’s diagnosis. Meredith starts putting out feelers for roommates, not wanting to live alone in such a big house and as a way to earn a little extra money while in the internship program. Izzie sees Meredith’s classified ad on the hospital bulletin board and asks Meredith if she and George can move in.
Meredith is very opposed to the idea initially, not wanting to live with the people she also works with because they spend so much time together at the hospital. Meredith thinks that if she spends that much time with Izzie, the two will eventually hate each other, which is a legitimate fear.
Izzie Throws A Party
Once Meredith agrees to live with Izzie and George, Izzie decides to throw a house party. Meredith isn’t too keen on the idea but eventually agrees to a small gathering. Izzie’s small gathering turns into a full blow party with nurses, interns, and doctors from the hospital.
The worst part is that Izzie doesn’t even show up to her own party. She gets the opportunity to scrub in on a surgery and chooses that over her social gathering, leaving Meredith to entertain all of the guests at her house without Izzie’s help.
Meredith Isn’t Very Considerate
Meredith has been secretly seeing her and the other interns’ boss, Dr. Derek Shepherd, but has only confided in Christina about her new relationship. Izzie knows Meredith is seeing someone because Meredith and Derek keep the rest of the house awake all night, making Izzie sleep-deprived and irritated with Meredith’s lack of consideration for the other people living in her house.
Izzie retaliates by telling all of the other interns that Meredith is sleeping with someone, embarrassing Meredith with details of her sex life become locker room rumors the next morning.
Izzie Lashes Out At Meredith
When Izzie finds out about Meredith and Derek’s relationship, she’s very upset, to say the least. She makes note that Meredith is getting to scrub in on all the good surgeries and she is sure it is because of who Meredith is sleeping with and has nothing to do with how hard she works.
After a particularly rough surgery, Meredith returns to her friends covered in bile and in need of a shower. Izzie takes the opportunity to gloat about Meredith’s misfortune and then lashes out at her roommate, revealing that she knows who Meredith’s been seeing and thinks it is completely inappropriate.
They Resent Each Other
A lot of Izzie’s problems with Meredith stem from how different the two women are. To Izzie, Meredith has had life handed to her on a silver platter. Her mom is a famous surgeon, she went to a fancy college and seems to have everything going for her. Izzie grew up in a trailer park and had to go to a school she could pay for by modeling on the side.
Meredith has had a perfect life and Izzie thinks she is throwing it all in her face with the choices she makes, especially early on in the show. Meredith thinks Izzie plays the victim too much and eventually gets tired of all the drama caused by Izzie’s choices.
They Both Sleep With George
For two friends, rule number one is always don’t mingle with the other’s romantic interests. Those rules clearly don’t apply to Meredith or Izzie because George seems to get caught in the middle of their friendship, or lack thereof, multiple times. George and Meredith spend a night together that Meredith later regrets in season two.
By season four, George is married, but that doesn’t stop Izzie from sleeping with him, and the two lovers starting having and hiding an affair. One would hope George’s marriage would be enough to deter Izzie, but when that doesn’t, maybe the fact that Izzie’s “friend” Meredith has already been down that road would stop her. It doesn’t.
They Don’t Stand Up For Each Other
Being a woman in a male-dominated field is hard and the work environment in Seattle Grace Hospital is no different. There’s one scene in particular, early on in the first season, where Izzie has to confront sexual harassment at work.
The other interns find pictures of Izzie modeling lingerie in a magazine and with Alex leading the charge, they post photos of Izzie all over the locker room. Izzie confronts the bullying alone. Word gets around about what Izzie went through and Meredith barely bats an eye at the entire ordeal.
Meredith Is Team Alex
Alex and Izzie have a pretty tumultuous relationship and as much as they love each other, they hurt each other. Alex is there for Izzie as her time on the series nears the end. Izzie gets cancer and Alex stays by her side through the entire thing, they even get married. Once Izzie’s cancer is cured, she returns to work, but it doesn’t take long for her to make a fatal error, costing a patient their life.
Izzie is fired from the hospital and leaves town, angry with Alex because she thinks he was partly to blame for her error. Once Izzie is gone, Meredith and Alex bond quickly and become very close, never crossing the friend line, but they definitely become each other’s closest companion.
They Don’t Support Each Other’s Careers
The world of surgical internships is cutthroat. The hours are long, the competition is fierce, and the stress levels are at an all-time high. We see Meredith supporting Christina’s wins and being there for her losses. We see Izzie there whenever George or Alex need a pep talk or a shoulder to lean on.
But, very rarely do we ever see Meredith and Izzie cheering each other on. It’s odd when you think about how many great things each of these characters do throughout the series. There are a lot of times where they have an opportunity to celebrate one another, but they never take the time to do that.
They Don’t Share A Lot Of Screen Time
Out of all of the main characters on the show, Izzie and Meredith seem to share the least amount of time together, which is interesting when you consider that they live and work together for most of the seasons Izzie in on the show. The fact that these two characters interact so little throughout the course of the series, is almost unrealistic, especially when you consider everything they’ve been through.
Of course, they each have their own personal things going on and those don’t always intersect, but it’s strange that they don’t really ever seem to be there for one another, even if it’s just to chat after a long day.
