One of the most heartbreaking and unforgettable storylines in Grey’s Anatomy was that of Izzie Stevens and Denny Duquette, and while the series explained why she started hallucinating him after he died, there’s a darker, more tragic reason for her hallucinations. Medical drama is a popular network TV genre, and one of the most successful titles from this branch is Grey’s Anatomy, created by Shonda Rhimes. Grey’s Anatomy shows no signs of stopping soon, and it has become infamous for saying goodbye to its most beloved characters, who don’t always get good endings.
Grey’s Anatomy follows the lives of surgical interns, residents, and attendings as they try to balance their professional and personal lives, and through season 19 has been led by Meredith Grey (Ellen Pompeo). Meredith’s journey started as an intern at Seattle Grace Hospital (now Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital) alongside other characters who quickly became fan favorites, including Izzie Stevens (Katherine Heigl). Unfortunately, Izzie abruptly left Grey’s Anatomy and became one of those characters that didn’t get a proper goodbye and whose arc came to a full end when another character’s did, which was unfair given everything she had gone through, starting with her arc with Denny Duquette (Jeffrey Dean Morgan).
Izzie Hallucinates Denny Because She Has Cancer
Izzie met Denny Duquette in Grey’s Anatomy season 2 episode 13 “Begin the Begin”, as he was a long-time patient of Preston Burke (Isaiah Washington). During his extended stay in the hospital, Denny he got to know Izzie quite well and they fell in love. Izzie’s feelings for Denny led her to cut his LVAD wire so he could get a heart transplant, and while the surgery was successful, he died of a stroke soon after. Denny left a big amount of money to Izzie, which she used to fund the free clinic Miranda Bailey wanted to open, named “Denny Duquette Memorial Clinic”. He returned in season 5 when Izzie started having hallucinations, and while it’s generally accepted it was due to the trauma of losing him, Denny appeared to Izzie because he was the person she associated most with death.
Izzie’s arc took a turn in Grey’s Anatomy season 5, where she started hallucinating Denny and initially thought it was due to residual grief and trauma, but after examining her body, she grew suspicious of her being seriously ill. And in Grey’s Anatomy season 5, episode 17, “I Will Follow You Into the Dark”, Izzie finds out she has cancer, stage IV metastatic melanoma with metastases to the liver, brain, and skin. This is why she was having visual, auditory, and tactile hallucinations. While it’s understandable that, of all the people Izzie had met and seen die in front of her, Denny was the one who appeared to her as they had an emotional connection, it was also because he was the person she closely associated with death, and at that point, Izzie was dying too, and had only a 5% of survival.
Denny’s Reappearance Meant Izzie Still Had Cancer
Derek performs brain surgery on Izzie, but in Grey’s Anatomy season 5, episode 22 “What a Difference A Day Makes”, Izzie knows she still has cancer because she starts hallucinating Denny again. She’s right, as her scans pick up another small tumor. Even though Meredith and Derek were supposed to get married that day — an event Izzie was excited for — the spouses-to-be give Izzie and Alex their wedding because of Izzie’s cancer. This is one of the sweetest moments in Izzie and Alex’s Grey’s Anatomy relationship timeline, and it’s their wedding that helps Izzie let go of Denny.
Denny Duquette went from patient to Izzie’s fiancé to an omen of death for her, and even though he won over the hearts of the audience, not many Grey’s Anatomy fans were on board with Izzie’s cancer “hallucinations” storyline. Their biggest complaint is that Izzie, being the experienced doctor she is, should have known that those hallucinations weren’t normal, not even out of trauma and grief. However, it might help to see it from the perspective of Denny being a figure associated with death as Izzie was dying of cancer. Izzie and Denny are one of the most memorable couples in Grey’s Anatomy, so much so that they are still a topic of debate among fans.