Sometimes, the best thing to come out of Grey’s Anatomy isn’t all the heart-stopping moments, nor is it all the love triangles that the cast seems to get caught up in. No, the best thing about Grey’s is the dozens of friendships that make you feel all warm and cuddly inside.
The hit medical drama probably wouldn’t have been as successful if it hadn’t included these adorable friendships. However, there are also some friendships that featured on the show that left viewers with a particularly sour taste in their mouths. So scrub up as we explore the 5 best and 5 worst friendships on Grey’s Anatomy.
Best - Arizona Robbins and Richard Webber
This friendship was a rather late bloomer as the two doctors only really bonded in the show’s twelfth season. However, despite that, this was a beautiful, and oft hilarious, friendship.
In Season 12, Arizona had recently come out on the other side of a plane crash that had cost her a leg and a devastating divorce, so naturally she was looking to play the field once more. To that extent, she went out to a trivia night to look for hook ups. Richard tagged along as well, initially oblivious to what Arizona had planned. Once he got clued in however, he made for a surprisingly excellent wingman and the two soon became firm friends.
Worst - April Kepner and Robert Stark
When Arizona left midway through Season 7 to take a job in Africa, Dr. Stark was her curmudgeonly replacement. That’s a nice way of saying he was a very grumpy man. He was rude to all the residents, especially Alex but for some reason, he took a special liking to April.
After going on one date, April decided she would rather just stay friends but Dr. Stark didn’t seem to get the message. When April made it clear that she wasn’t interested in taking their friendship further, Stark became distant and treated her like dirt. This wasn’t very appropriate behavior and shortly after, Stark left the hospital.
Best - The OG Interns
Meredith, Alex, George, Izzie and Cristina were the main focus of Grey’s Anatomy for the first five years, so it was imperative that they, and the audience, liked each other. At the very least, it was important that they didn’t appear irritating or obnoxious. Happily, the format worked out better than everyone could have hoped for and the show is still going strong to this day.
Considering the amount of dangerous and crazy situations the core five interns got themselves into on a regular basis, they had to band together. Alex Karev was the wildcard as he was the intern everyone loved to hate. However, even he came around, refusing to rat Izzie out to Dr. Webber during the LVAD debacle.
Worst - Meredith Grey and Sadie Harris
Sadie made her first appearance midway through the fifth season of Grey’s Anatomy. It seemed her primary purpose was to throw a wrench in the extremely popular phenomenon that was the friendship between Meredith and Cristina. While it was adorable watching Cristina get jealous, threatening that friendship was never going to be a good move.
Sadie never actually meant to get between Mer and her bestie but she didn’t stop there. She put Meredith in a difficult position when she encouraged the other interns to operate on each other and later on, it transpired that she cheated her way onto the program. This persuaded Meredith to cut all ties with her.
Best - Callie Torres and Mark Sloan
These two were just adorable together. They first became close after sleeping together for the first time as Callie was upset about her relationship with George and Mark was… well, Mark was Mark. However, they managed to bypass all the complications of this and actually became incredibly good friends.
They were always there for each other and their friendship always remained completely platonic from then onwards, which was a big part of its charm. When Callie was figuring out her sexuality, Mark was there to give her a helping hand and then 2 seasons later, Callie gave Mark what he had always wanted: a child of his own.
Worst - Derek Shepherd and Preston Burke
Derek and Burke were the best surgeons in their respective fields so theoretically, they should have become fast friends. However, it always seemed as though they were in competition with each other for something. To be fair, both men were extremely ambitious, which was what made them such good doctors.
They had so much in common though, that it was weird that they weren’t closer. Certainly, over the course of three seasons, they did begin to bond with each other but they still maintained their professional boundaries. They were dating the Twisted Sisters and even that wasn’t enough to bring them closer together.
Best - Derek Shepherd and Mark Sloan
This friendship went through an awful lot of ups and downs. Growing up together, Mark and Derek were the best of friends. Mark was even the best man at Derek and Addison’s wedding. However, Mark then proceeded to sleep with Addison, seemingly destroying his friendship with Derek for good.
It took a while for Derek to forgive Mark for sleeping with his wife but after Burke left, Derek needed someone who he could talk to. Mark was only too happy to oblige and the two doctors rebuilt their friendship again. Unfortunately, their bond was cut tragically short when Mark perished in the aftermath of the plane crash.
Worst - The New Interns
Jo, Steph, Leah, Heather, and Shane were basically the show’s latest attempt to recreate the bond of the original five. However, the magic just wasn’t there. In Season 9, Steph and Shane were fairly tolerable but the others were irritating at best. Season 10 didn’t really fare any better but at least Jo improved.
These interns just didn’t seem to look out for one another they way Mer, Cristina, Izzie, George, and Alex did. Leah, in particular, was just awful as she was selfish, mean and whiny. It’s no real surprise that the only intern left in the show now is Jo, who has really improved during her 8 seasons on Grey’s Anatomy.
Best - Meredith Grey and Cristina Yang
It was fairly obvious who was going to take the top spot. Meredith and Cristina bonded from day one, literally, and their friendship has been the most supportive, the most emotional and the most hilarious friendship to have ever featured on Grey’s Anatomy.
For 10 whole seasons, viewers watched the two surgeons pick each other up off the floor and dance it out. They survived so many disasters together including a bomb in a patient’s stomach, the hospital shooting, and a plane crash. Even though Cristina has left the show, they’re still in constant communication.
Worst - Owen Hunt and Teddy Altman
These two have actually taken their friendship to the next level but before then, their bond wasn’t worth much. When Teddy made her debut in Season 6, Owen was with Cristina at that time. Unfortunately, Teddy had feelings for Owen which then turned into a fairly lengthy love triangle - proof why you should never fall in love with your friends.
Once that was resolved, their friendship almost got back to normal until Teddy’s husband died on the operating table. Owen refused to tell her because she was operating on another patient at the time, which led to a massive rift between the two former friends.
