Grey's Anatomy has introduced many great characters to us over the last twelve years. Some of the best, other than Dr. Meredith Grey herself have included Dr. Christina Yang, Dr. Derek Shepherd, and Dr. Miranda Bailey. Everyone has gone through their own personal and professional changes. Meredith started out the series as a dark character who never wanted to get married or have children. That changed after she met Derek. Christian Yang started her intern year as the loner girl who only wanted to learn cardio, she didn't think there was any value in learning how to do other things. However, of all the characters on Grey's Anatomy, past and present, none have changed more than Alex Karev.
Alex Karev has changed, for the better, the most out of any of the doctors at Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital. During his intern year, he was a complete jerk. He was nicknamed Dr. Evil Spawn by Christina Yang. He only wanted to work on cases he thought were important or cool, or a plastics case. When Mark Sloan showed up, Alex worshipped at his feet. He was dead set on being a plastic surgeon. His attitude changed a little bit when he rescued a pregnant Jane Doe from the ferry boat crash incident. He took an interest in her case and even started to date her as the season went on. During every surgery she had to fix her internal injuries or to repair the broken bones in her face, he sat and watched a fetal heart monitor to make sure that her baby was ok. He was still a complete jerk to most people, but that was the point when we first saw his interest in pediatric surgery.
In the third and fourth seasons, we see his relationship with Izzie Stevens start to develop. They start meeting in on-call rooms and in stairwells. She brought out the softer side of Alex. He seemed like a real human being when he was around her. He was still Dr. Evil Spawn around other people, and some patients. During this time period, he took even more of an interest into pediatric surgery, especially when he met Dr. Arizona Robbins. She trusted him and instilled a confidence in Alex that no one else had up to that point.
After Izzie ran away and left him, he showed even more of his soft side. He started and Africa outreach program that brought sick orphans to the hospital for pro-bono surgeries. He has started dating Dr. Jo Wilson. After Christina left and Derek died, Alex became Meredith's person. He took over that role of being there when she met her sister Maggie for the first time, or giving her support on the day of Amelia's wedding, since she was sad that she didn't give Derek a big wedding of their own. Alex has turned into one of my favorite characters on Grey's Anatomy and it breaks my heart that he and Jo might be over, especially after the fact that she revealed she was already married to someone. I hope Alex can continue to grow and become the best pediatric surgeon Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital has ever seen.
