Relationships in the long-running Shondaland drama Grey's Anatomy are vital to the storylines, seeing how the show is a human drama at the end of the day. From sisters to best friends, mentors and their mentees, and husband and wives, most characters on the show have been through some or other major misunderstandings over the years, making them all the more flesh and blood.
The series, which takes pride in depicting the dark as well as the joyous sides of life with admirable sensitivity, has not flinched from creating complicated story arcs that have shown even the most gentle people on the show in a complex light. Whether it was the frustrating miscommunication between Mark and Lexie or April misunderstanding Jackson's motives, life is hardly easy for the beloved characters in this series.
Maggie's Rocky Beginnings
When Maggie first joined Grey Sloan, she started off on the wrong foot with Meredith Grey, who made it her life's mission to misunderstand and be rude to her half-sister, even before she knew who she was.
Maggie didn't go out of her way to make things better with Meredith unlike Lexie had, and the brilliant general surgeon started hating her after her identity was revealed. The sisters had a very rocky start to their relationship. Maggie also suffered from the misconception that Richard was just a concerned senior, not being aware of her true relationship with him, although this was not as much a misunderstanding as it was Richard being unable to make full disclosure.
The Eliza Minnick Fiasco
One of the most meaningful relationships on the show has been that between Richard Webber and his mentee, Miranda. The two share something of a father-daughter relationship. However, there have been frictions in their relationship and major misunderstandings.
When Bailey decided to go with Catherine’s decision of appointing the despicable Eliza Minnick as head of the surgical residency program, a position she had promised to Richard, she never informed him, until he found out himself. He was of course heartbroken, and the two had a bit of a fallout until Miranda finally set things right.
The Misunderstood Callie Torres
Callie Torres became a raging fan-favorite soon enough but her character was introduced as something of a misunderstood rebel. She was different than most, coming from a rich family but living in the hospital basement, infinitely confident and full of body positivity.
When Callie started dating George, the others, especially Izzie, made life very difficult for her, poisoning George against her and telling him that she had hygiene issues. She was not perceived as the kind-hearted friend she was later revealed to be, and her disastrous relationship with George O'Malley, who didn't know about the wealth that her family came from even after their marriage, was based on major miscommunications.
Catherine Thinking Richard Had Cheated On Her
Richard Webber might not be the most faithful husband on Grey’s but he has, as of yet, not been shown cheating on his present wife, Catherine.
Unfortunately, Catherine suspected him of betraying her trust with a woman named Gemma. True, the latter did try to get his attention but Richard had thwarted her advances, which Catherine didn’t believe. This led to a major argument between the two, wherein each became a slave to their ego.
The Hospital Staff Misunderstanding DeLuca
One painfully heartbreaking misunderstanding happened in season 16 when Andrew DeLuca was misjudged by the entire hospital staff, including Meredith and Bailey, all of whom thought he was suffering from an episode of mental breakdown and refused to believe him even when he was right.
DeLuca had rightly read the signs and suspected that a patient of his, a young girl, was a victim of human trafficking. But given how volatile he had been lately, neither Meredith, nor Bailey or even Carina, trusted his instincts, and instead of forming the human barrier around the patient's so-called aunt who later indeed turned out to be a trafficker, the barrier was formed around DeLuca himself. The deeply poignant moment eventually culminated in season 17 when DeLuca was killed off shockingly as a continuation of the same storyline.
April Thinking Jackson Would Take Her Baby Away
April Kepner was a gentle, sweet person but she had her share of pettiness even with those she cared for the most. When April and Jackson were moving ahead with their divorce, the former already knew that she was pregnant. After she had finally revealed this to Catherine Fox-Avery, she overheard Catherine vindictively telling Jackson that they could take the baby from April for not informing them beforehand.
Laboring under the misconception that Jackson was on board with this devious plan, April went ahead and filed a restraining order against the Averys. Of course, Jackson never had any intention of taking the baby away in the first place, so this led to a huge misunderstanding and ultimate embarrassment for April.
Alex Thinking DeLuca Had Harassed Jo
Alex Karev beating DeLuca into a pulp was the result of a massive misunderstanding that spiraled into Karev surrendering himself to the police.
Alex had found DeLuca standing over Jo in the little garage the two rented together. He instantly assumed that DeLuca had taken advantage of Jo. While his protective feelings for Jo did him credit, he should have taken the time to find out the truth rather than blundering on and hitting DeLuca, seriously injuring him in the process.
Izzie Misunderstanding Alex Over Getting Fired
Izzie Stevens disappearing suddenly from Alex’s life was actually the result of a foolish misunderstanding. Izzie had returned to work after her surgery but made a mistake administering the wrong dose of medication to a patient. She was fired over her error by Webber, who was Chief at the time.
However, she somehow got the impression that Alex had something to do with her getting fired, which was the exact opposite of what really happened. Alex had, in fact, tried to convince Richard not to sack her during the hospital merger. But Izzie simply assumed that he had got her fired and went off without even asking for clarification.
Mark & Lexie Misunderstanding Each Other Continually
One of the most romantic and beloved couples in the Grey's universe, Lexie and Mark, didn't have just one misunderstanding but a series of them in spite of both of them being deeply in love with each other. The most major discrepancy in communication took place when Lexie refused to give Mark the chance to speak his mind, rebuffing him and telling him that she needed to be left alone.
She misconstrued his hovering around as oppressive concern for her state of mind which had been volatile ever since the hospital shooting incident. Mark had really been trying to tell her how he felt but he decided to back off after she reacted. Unfortunately, by the time Lexie had realized her true feelings for Mark, the latter had moved on, or thought he had. Their lack of communication continued right until the point where Lexie died tragically in front of Mark, which is when the latter finally told her that he loved her.
Cristina and Meredith's Big Fight
One of the biggest miscommunications in Grey’s to date has been between the series’ two central female characters who were also each others’ ‘person’, Meredith Grey and Cristina Yang.
Meredith had chosen to spend time with her children after she had baby Bailey. Unfortunately, Cristina had a lot to say about this, implying that Meredith was letting the two of them down by prioritizing motherhood. Their rift even caused them to compete with each other over their respective research projects. Fans had a hard time getting on board with this major misunderstanding between their two favorite characters.