izzie stevens left grey's anatomy in the sixth season.
izzie stevens left grey's anatomy in the sixth season.
what season does izzie stevens leave grey's anatomy?
the sixth season
speculation resumed, however, when dean morgan returned to the show for a second time in its fifth season. cast member james pickens, jr. announced that both heigl and t.r. knight were set to depart from the show, but he later retracted his comment. during the course of the fifth season, izzie was diagnosed with metastatic melanoma (stage iv) which spread to her liver, skin and brain. following the show's one-hundredth episode wrap party, heigl revealed she did not know if izzie would survive, as no one on the production team would disclose her character's fate to her. it was confirmed in june 2009 that heigl would return as izzie for the show's sixth season. heigl's appearances in the season were sporadic, seeing izzie depart and return twice. although she was scheduled to appear in the final five episodes of the season, heigl requested that she be released from her contract 18 months early, and made her final appearance on january 21, 2010. heigl explained that she wanted to spend more time with her family, and did not think it would be respectful to "grey's anatomy" viewers to have izzie return and depart yet again. michael ausiello spoke further on katherine heigl's perspective on izzie's departure. he said, "[katherine] thinks her jan. 21 farewell - while not originally intended to be her last episode - oddly works as a bookend to izzie's story. "even though there's a part of me that would like to go back and do the quick izzie farewell, " she says, "i also think that my last scene - where meredith says to izzie, 'please don't go, this is your home,' and izzie's response was, 'no it’s not, not anymore it’s just a place i worked and i can do that anywhere' - was kind of tragic and appropriate all at the same time. when i was playing the scene i was really trying to convey that, for izzie, that was a lie that she had to tell herself to have the courage to have to move on."
izzie stevens
the season was primarily filmed in los angeles, california. fisher plaza, which is the headquarters building for the media company fisher communications and fisher's abc affiliated komo radio and television stations for seattle, is used for some exterior shots of seattle grace mercy west hospital, such as air ambulances landing on the komo television newscopter's helipad. this puts seattle grace conveniently close to the space needle, which is directly across the street from fisher plaza, the seattle monorail, and other local landmarks. however, the hospital used for most other exterior and many interior shots is not in seattle, are shot at the va sepulveda ambulatory care center in north hills, california. most scenes are primarily taped in los feliz, los angeles, at the prospect studios, and the set occupies two stages, including the hospital pieces, but some outside scenes are shot at the warren g. magnuson park in seattle. several props used are genuine medical supplies, including the mri machine. prior to being cast, sara ramirez was seen by abc executives, in her broadway performance of "spamalot", which garnered their attention. due to their admiration, the network offered ramirez a role on any abc television series, of her choice, which ultimately led in her choosing "grey's anatomy". ramirez further explained that at her initial audition, the producers liked her, and had intentions to add her to the show, but did not know who to cast her as. she also said she was in awe of how the executives said, "pick a show, any show", a statement she deemed rare. ramirez's character was given recurring status in the second season, having been conceived as a love interest for george o'malley. at torres' initial appearance on the show, she was disliked by fans, due to her getting in the way of o'malley and grey's relationship. when asked of this, ramirez said: "you do run across a lot of people who are extremely invested in that story line. obviously, i've heard some negative stuff." discussing izzie stevens' relationship with alex karev, katherine heigl described her character as naive enough to believe she can save him, assessing that: "even when alex was a complete dirtbag to her, she forgave him and gave him another chance. and he really screwed her over." writer stacy mckee described izzie's moving on from alex to patient denny duquette as "karma", as alex previously treated izzie badly, yet as he begins to realize his true feelings, he is forced to watch her embark on a romance with denny, regarded by her as "undeniably handsome and totally charming". series writer blythe robe commented on izzie and denny: "i love the way izzie lights up when she’s around him. i love their relationship because it's so pure and honest and completely game free." writer elizabeth klaviter noted at this time the way izzie "seems to be sacrificing her reputation because of her feelings for denny." when izzie deliberately worsened denny's condition to move him up the transplant list, series writer mark wilding questioned the morality of the actions, asking: "is izzie bad for doing it? is she tremendously irresponsible? she cut the wire for love so does that make her action understandable?" series creator shonda rhimes discussed costuming choices in the scene which saw the interns gather around denny's deathbed, explaining: "meredith and george and cristina and callie and alex are all dressed, not for a prom, but for a funeral. everyone in dark colors, everyone dressed somberly. as if they were in mourning. only izzie is in happy pink. only izzie looks like she didn't know this was coming."
grey's anatomy (season 2)