Grey’s Anatomy is now in its 15th season, and over the years, there have been plenty of characters who have come and gone. Some were memorable for all the wrong reasons, while others were barely a blip on the radar. However, with so many people walking in and out of the hospital over the years and impacting the lives of the main characters, some were bound to leave a negative impression that the series would have been better off without them.
In some cases, it wasn’t even the characters’ faults. It could have been that they were simply a temporary love interest before a main character figured out their personal life. In other cases, the character only got along with a few select people, while everyone else hated them. Because of that, the character might have affected how a usually beloved character was seen. Then there are the characters who have left (whether on their own accord or passed away) and were promptly forgotten. Also, of course, there are the characters who we associate with some of the show’s worst moments, whether that be the loss of a character or a storyline we wish we could forget.
With that said, here are the 25 Characters Grey’s Anatomy Wants Us To Forget.
Erica Hahn
It wasn’t that Erica wasn’t a good person, it’s just that she didn’t quite mesh well with the other characters. On the one hand, her relationship with Callie was a highlight of the earlier seasons. Grey’s Anatomy took a big step forward by showcasing a relationship between two women.
On the other hand, though, the execution of the relationship and the abrupt departure of Brooke Smith’s character were detrimental to the show and Callie’s character. If no one seems to remember she ever existed, it’s because the series wants it that way.
Nathan Riggs
For someone who was one of Meredith’s post-Derek relationships, Nathan has been forgotten quite quickly. Sure, he and Meredith were never going to last — both were mourning their losses (or presumed, in his case) — but the medical drama seemed very determined to say goodbye to him in such a way that it’s unlikely he’ll ever return.
Following the reveal that Owen’s sister (and Nathan’s fiancée) Megan was still alive, Meredith and Nathan’s relationship ended. He fixed things with Megan and even moved away with her… and that was it. It’s strange that neither he nor Megan has been mentioned since Owen became Leo’s foster father (they’re family).
Stephanie Edwards
Stephanie wasn’t exactly likeable when she first started at the hospital, mainly because of the timing (after the plane crash). However, over the years, she more than proved herself career-wise. (Her relationship with Jackson was a big mistake.)
She got as good and meaningful an exit as someone can get without losing their life. She saved a child during a fire and almost lost her life in the process. After that, she quit. While she was a stellar surgeon, she could have fit in better when it came to her personal life. Because of that, after she left, she hasn’t really been missed.
Leah Murphy
Grey’s Anatomy should have forgotten Leah a lot sooner than they did. For a while, the fans did, too. She lost her job because she wasn’t fit to be a surgeon. Her relationship choices (with Alex and Arizona) weren’t the best, either, considering that neither was going to last. Both were temporary, though she didn’t see it that way.
There was nothing really about Leah — besides the fact that she did improve during her time away from the hospital — that was positive enough that anyone cared about seeing her return for longer than one episode. Fortunately, her (permanent) exit was quiet when it came; she just didn’t return for season 14.
Shane Ross
Shane was one of the interns who came in after the plane crash and talked about Cristina while she was recovering, so he already had that mark against him. Despite the fact that he had quite a bit going on — including a relationship with Cristina and being overworking — it’s not quite easy to remember his storylines, and that should say it all.
Even his exit didn’t really matter, since Cristina’s was the headline at the time. That would overshadow almost every other character’s departure. Shane just wasn’t that memorable. With such a large cast over the years, why would the series spend any extra time on him?
Izzie Stevens
This is a tricky one because Izzie was such a major part of the series in the beginning and was an important part of Alex’s life over the years. She has come up a few times since her departure, but not really in any way that suggests that the show hasn’t completely moved on from her character.
Alex is married, so she couldn’t come back for her personal life. Almost everyone she knew has since left, and she wasn’t really anyone’s “person” like others were. If Izzie wasn’t an original character, it’s likely that no one would ever hear her name again.
Rebecca Swender
Perhaps the biggest mark against Dr. Swender is that she was connected to Izzie. Remembering her means remembering Izzie’s cancer, which also means remembering her passing off Izzie’s case to another doctor.
She also questioned Derek’s surgical skills, which is always going to be a mark against someone. She was a good doctor, but let’s face it: that’s not what matters most of the time on Grey’s Anatomy. The show focuses on how these doctors interact with each other and their patients, and Dr. Swender wasn’t winning any points in that regard. She wasn’t supposed to be particularly memorable since she was only there for Izzie’s storyline, really.
Robert Stark
Let’s be realistic. Whoever followed in Arizona’s footsteps as the Head of Pediatric Surgery when she left for Africa had big shoes to fill. There was also no way they could be as nice or great with kids as she was.
Though he did save Sofia’s life, Stark refused to fund Alex’s project to bring patients from Africa to Seattle for surgery. He took credit for one of Alex’s ideas and didn’t answer Meredith’s pages about a patient. He was too much of an outsider when it came to the rest of the staff. He could have had a friend in April, but he ignored her after she didn’t want to date him.
Lucy Fields
When you think of Lucy, you might only think of one thing: Addison having to take over for her when Callie was injured and pregnant. Despite being Callie’s OB, she was out of her comfort zone when the other doctor was hurt and Sofia needed to be monitored.
Though Lucy’s relationship with Alex was seen as more than just a fling, it might as well have been just a flint due to how it was treated. It basically ended due to miscommunication and misunderstanding, and when you look back at Alex’s love life prior to marrying Jo, she’s barely a blip.
Sydney Heron
Sydney was one of the most forgettable doctors, and Grey’s Anatomy didn’t try to fix that. She wasn’t anything special. The ABC medical drama can’t expect every character to resonate with fans, and some have to be given more attention than others. Because of that, Sydney was one who lost out.
Does anyone want to remember any of the temporary love interests that either Meredith or Derek had? Not really, because it was obvious that none of them ever stood a chance. At least this one didn’t last longer than it needed to, otherwise Sydney would have been someone the series should have forgotten before it did.
Charles Percy
Charles Percy was one of the doctors who lost his life in one of the (many) tragedies to hit the hospital over the years. However, because he’s far from the only one, most fans don’t even remember him. When people think about doctors who have passed away, he may not even be one of the first five mentioned.
What Percy has against him is he was part of the merger between Seattle Grace and Mercy West, which, at the time, was awful. He didn’t win himself any points with his attitude, either, especially his attitude towards Izzie, since he took advantage of their friendship.
Sadie Harris
On the one hand, Sadie was one of Meredith’s friends before she started working at the hospital. On the other hand, Sadie also made quite a few medical mistakes. She had her moments where she helped others, like covering for Lexie so the others wouldn’t find out that she had been with Mark. However, she just wasn’t cut out to be a doctor, especially at this hospital.
A lot of doctors have come and gone over the years, so not everyone can be remembered. However, considering that she also had a friendship with Meredith, one that could be brought up at least once over the years, it says something about her forgettable character.
Heather Brooks
It says something that the most memorable thing about Heather is how she lost her life. Some interns are more memorable than others in each group, and, unfortunately, Heather wasn’t very memorable at all.
Furthermore, the other interns couldn’t even think of anything nice to say about her to her mother after she lost her life. Does Grey’s really want anyone to remember a character whose “friends” stole a story about George, another doctor who lost his life, because they had nothing else to share with her mother?
Sam Bello
This has nothing to do with who Sam Bello was as a person or as a surgeon – instead, it’s about everything that has happened since she left. She had to leave because an ICE agent came to the hospital looking for her. While DeLuca offered to go with her, she turned him down and ended their relationship.
Now, the series has set up DeLuca as a potential love interest for Meredith. Sam seemed to be a significant part of his (love) life, but Grey’s has apparently forgotten all about her and their relationship for the current story.
Olivia Harper
Let’s put it this way, Olivia isn’t remembered for anything she did as a nurse. She’s not even really remembered by name. People know her because of her relationships with Alex and George and the nickname she got after she contracted an illness from the former.
Perhaps the biggest surprise was that she came back in season 14, and even then, the storyline focused on her personal life, and not her professional one. Olivia herself wasn’t a bad character, but she was part of the messy personal lives of the doctors in the early seasons and should thus be forgotten.
Rose
Rose was a nice person. She just had the bad luck of being one of Derek’s temporary love interests before he and Meredith got their acts together. She had her moments after her relationship with Derek ended, which included being careless with surgical instruments. However, she also removed herself from his service to protect her reputation, so that didn’t last.
Rose ultimately deserved better from Derek (though she could have handled things better after their breakup). No show wants anyone to remember someone who makes a main character look like the bad guy.
Finn Dandridge
Finn never stood a chance. He was never going to be more than a temporary love interest for Meredith with Derek around. However, that’s not why Grey’s Anatomy would love nothing more than to pretend he never existed.
He attended the hospital prom with her, but she snuck off to be with Derek. Then, despite Derek being in the picture, Finn was still around because she couldn’t choose. All Finn had against him was that he wasn’t Derek. He was never turned into the villain. Instead, he was just an innocent party hurt by the fact that Meredith and Derek kept choosing (then not choosing) each other.
Denny
Grey’s Anatomy may want fans to forget Denny because of his later appearances, but, unfortunately, it’s impossible for most fans to forget about him. Izzie fell for him when he was in the hospital as a patient, and she even risked her career to try to save him. However, he eventually lost his life. However, that wasn’t the end of him on the medical drama.
Later, Denny came back as a “ghost” multiple times. He even appeared in what is easily one of the worst storylines of the show. Izzie started seeing him because she had cancer, and, somehow, that eventually lead to a storyline about her becoming intimate with his ghost.
Henry Burton
Henry was a great guy. He could have even been a great guy for Teddy in the long run… if he wasn’t sick, hadn’t lost his life, and if she felt the same about him. (Scott Foley would also go on to star on Scandal, so there was that, too.)
However, Grey’s doesn’t have a great history of doctors dating patients (see Izzie and Denny), so he already had that mark against him. Also, now there’s the matter of Teddy and Owen (and Amelia and that strange love triangle and pregnancy and kids). There’s no room in the story to even remember that Henry ever existed.
Ava/Rebecca
Ava/Rebecca started off in Grey’s with a storyline that could have been great. Alex saved her when she was a Jane Doe. She needed multiple surgeries to recover from her injuries, she had no idea who she was, and she needed to choose her own face for her reconstructive surgery. This could have been a great story.
However, it fell off the rails when Alex’s relationship with her became personal. No one wants to remember what happened next: the “pregnancy,” Alex having to take care of her, and her attempt to end her life. At least she ended up getting the help she needed, but the story certainly took some wild turns.
