For 19 seasons, fans have followed the medicine, drama, and relationships of the doctors, residents, and interns in Grey’s Anatomy. In the beginning, most of the focus was on Meredith Grey and how she managed to juggle a new job, a dreamy boyfriend, plenty of scandals, and a mother with Alzheimer’s disease. As the show progressed, other characters were given the spotlight to see how they were managing their own professional as well as personal lives. With all of this time spent around the same people, close friendships were bound to happen.
Some friendships, like the legendary bond between Meredith and Cristina, overcame plenty of ups and downs. Several blossomed into relationships that became the ultimate “end goal” such as Miranda and Ben. Then, there are the ones that were simply overshadowed by the rest of the craziness taking place. These underrated friendships were just as strong, if not stronger, and worthy of more screen time.
Check out the 10 most underrated friendships in Grey’s Anatomy, thus far.
10 Cristina Yang and Dr. Thomas
When Cristina Yang moves to Minnesota, she meets Dr. Thomas again, and she wants nothing to do with him because of his old-school style of surgery and prolonged stories. After getting over her ageism, she realizes he is brilliant and worthy of her respect; eventually, this becomes a heartwarming friendship.
There is one instance when Dr. Thomas picks Cristina up on his way to work because her car was buried beneath a mountain of snow. She naturally thanked him for the ride, but genuine kindness erupted when she realized he brought her breakfast. After his passing, Cristina realized there was nothing left in the freezing cold state, so she booked it back to Seattle.
9 Callie Torres and Addison Montgomery
Callie Torres and Addison Montgomery are both smart and beautiful women, and they came together after they each slept with Mark Sloan. Their friendship is not as pronounced as others, but when they are in the same room as one another, fans can feel the warmth and understanding between the two.
Callie helps Addison talk to God when the latter’s brother is hospitalized, and Addie is the first one to bring up the idea that Callie may be bisexual due to her close friendship with Erica Hahn. There is no judgment within this friendship, and when problems do occasionally aside, the two women are fully invested in helping the other do or get what the other needs.
8 Cristina Yang and Derek Shepherd
Derek Shepherd and Cristina Yang’s relationship always on thin ice, and their real connection was through Meredith. Professionally, they were interested in two very different fields, and personally, they did not have much in common. It is not until Derek takes Cristina fishing that they have mutual ground to stand on.
Cristina literally saved Derek’s life after he was shot, and he metaphorically saved her after she could not bring herself to practice medicine due to her PTSD. Their friendship was one of very few words, but when she ultimately says goodbye to him, fans could tell they meant a great deal to one another.
7 Nicole Herman and Arizona Robbins
When Nicole Herman first meets Arizona Robbins, she makes it very clear that they are not friends. Herman says that their relationship is strictly professional, and they have no time for personal chitchat.
As we all know, familiarity breeds fondness, and after Herman’s life-shattering secret gets out, Arizona makes it a point to make her feel like she is not alone in the world. It is not until after Herman undergoes and survives a dangerous surgery which leaves her permanently blind that she admits to appreciating everything Arizona had done for her.
6 Jackson Avery and April Kepner
Before Jackson and April became a couple, they were actually really good friends. The two came into the series when Seattle Grace was forced to merge with Mercy West, and they immediately shared a bond due to being “the outsiders.” After their other friends, Charles and Reed, were killed by a shooter, they felt like they only had each other.
When Karev stupidly tried to take advantage of April, it was Jackson that stood up for her in front of all their peers. When Jackson started questioning his relationship with Lexie, he turned to April to confide in. Even after the chaos of their toxic relationship, the two clearly work better as friends who co-parents than a typical couple.
5 Derek Shepherd and Miranda Bailey
Miranda Bailey and Derek Shepherd are two of the main people who held the show together in the very beginning. Bailey was the only one not mesmerized by McDreamy’s fancy hair or suave tactics. Instead, she would call him out on his foolishness and put him in his place. Derek, in turn, admitted that he feared Dr. Bailey (hopefully on a healthy level) when he was operating on her husband’s brain while she was in labor.
The two are always very honest with one another, and as the series progressed, they even started to be kind and friendly. Fans loved that these two could work past their issues and get along professionally as well as personally.
4 Cristina Yang and Callie Torres
Cristina and Callie are perhaps the sassiest women in the whole series, so putting them together as friends was a genius move. In the beginning, Callie openly says she does not like Cristina because of how little she cares about George. However, after they both undergo some relationship troubles, a fantastic and sarcastic relationship emerges.
The two brilliant women move in together, they confide in one another, and there is even a scene where they break down together over their failed relationships. Though they did not get the screen time they deserved, this friendship was legendary.
3 Arizona Robbins and April Kepner
All the best friendships start with a moment of vulnerability, so when April found Arizona in a supply closet crying over Callie, a night of drinking turned into a great connection. Given that both women have the most bubbly and upbeat personalities in the whole series, it made sense for them to form a strong bond.
Their friendship felt authentic because it was not this blown up and in-you-face type of connection like several others had, and they would often listen to one another’s troubles and offer genuine advice, even if it was not what the other wanted to hear. Because both women went through horrible back-and-forth relationships, they should have had more screen time together.
2 Callie Torres and Miranda Bailey
As the Chief of Surgery, Richard quickly found out it was hard to make friends when he was everyone’s boss. However, Callie was never one to follow the status quo. Their friendship was subtle in the beginning, like when Richard kindly kicked Callie out of her living space in the hospital, but as the years went on, they found common ground in how much they wanted to see the hospital succeed.
When they thought Seattle Grace Mercy West was going down in quality due to their deal with the Pegasus company, Callie and Richard faked being a married couple to get information on their new system. They are often the smartest as well as the funniest people in the room, and fans wished they would have had a more personal connection.
1 Richard Webber and Arizona Robbins
After Callie starts dating Penny, Arizona feels like she needs to get back into the dating scene. She and Richard attend a trivia night together, but Arizona caves and reveals that she is really there to try to pick up women. Richard’s entire demeanor changes, and he starts scouting out the ladies with Arizona. Ever since then, Richard became Arizona’s rock in the relationship world.
She would freely go to him with the latest gossip and how she was making progress with certain women. Then, during her custody battle with Callie, Richard supported her through the trying times. The pair has come a long way since Arizona’s days of fearing authority figures, and fans are truly happy for them.
