George O'Malley

"I get it; believe me. But life...things happen. You're going down one path, and it seems like a nice path-it is a nice path-and then, next thing you know it's like-whoa. Wrong path. Not the path for me. But that's good. It's good. Because you learn. And you handle it."

- George O'Malley

George O'Malley was a surgical resident at Seattle Grace Hospital. As an intern, George got off to a rough start but quickly became a very skilled and talented surgeon. He was best friends with Izzie Stevens. He was married to Callie Torres but divorced after he cheated on her. He was kind-hearted, compassionate, and loyal. He died after jumping in front of a bus to save a woman's life.

Early Life
As a child, he was teased by a neighbor, Mike Wilden. Eventually, he snapped and hit Mike's face with a stick. When Mike's father later came over and yelled at George's father, Harold asked George if it was true. When George denied it, Harold and Mike's father got into a big fight. Harold believed George because he thought he never lied. As a result of the fight, Mike's family threw eggs at George's house and Ronny and Jerry blew up their lawn mower.

In school, George was a mathlete. He won a blue ribbon in science for dissecting a fetal pig and was secretary and treasurer of the Dungeons and Dragons club, which is another example of his difference from his brothers.

He asked a girl out to prom and she said yes. He was surprised since she was cooler than he was. On the night of the prom, he got his dad's car for the night and rented the most expensive tux he could afford. He and his date enjoyed the prom until there was an after-party that they were supposed to go to. As they were driving, she asked him to go to the local college and it turned out that she wanted him to drop her off at her boyfriend's dorm. He dropped her off and even waited to make sure that she arrived okay.

He went to medical school at the School of Medicine at Oregon Health & Science University.

Heart Surgery in the Elevator
When George was an intern, he and Alex were treating a GSW (Gun Shot Wound) patient. They were in the elevator with him and it broke down. Burke squeezed some supplies through the elevator so they could perform the surgery and talked George through the steps. Alex was too scared to do it, although he never admitted it, and later he was made fun of because he chickened out. George successfully completed the procedure in the elevator and saved the patient's life.

Falling in Love with Callie
George had a dislocated shoulder, and came to an orthopedic surgeon. Her name is Callie. She reduced George's shoulder. Later in the day, Callie and George met up and Callie wrote her number on George's hand. He called her, but hung up every time because he was nervous.

Father's Death and Marrying Callie
George's father told him before his death to be with Callie. Shortly after his death, George then proposed to Callie (later admitting he did so because she said she love him and it was his father's dying wish for George to be with Callie). They got married in Vegas and George had a hard time as the other interns, especially Izzie, thought he made a mistake by marrying her.

Callie was suspicious of George and Izzie's friendship and told George that she thought Izzie was in love with him. After this fight, George went to see Izzie and the two got very drunk and slept together. George felt extremely guilty for cheating on Callie but ultimately decided he was in love with Izzie, not Callie. Callie suspected George was having an affair and both Mark and Addison encouraged Callie to act on her suspicions.

Later, George told Callie that he slept with Izzie.

Failing His Intern Exam
George failed his exam because he had been distracted by all of his life problems on the day of the exam. He was trying to help Meredith with her problems with Derek and the death of her mother. George had to retake his intern year, he was one of Meredith's interns. George tried to keep the fact he was retaking a secret from the other interns and was doing well with the help of his fellow intern Lexie Grey, but Alex told all of the other interns that were praising him that they really shouldn't because he is really a repeater.

Passing His Intern Exam
George intended to transfer to Mercy West after his internship. After failing his intern exam, George needed to repeat his intern year at Seattle Grace. As a repeat intern, George became popular among the new interns and eventually became the Chief's intern (a job that Chief Webber made up for George). Soon, he and Lexie, whom he moved in with after his break-up with Callie, discovered that he only failed his exam by one point. George then confronted the Chief and asked to be allowed to retake the exam early. He passed and became a resident.

Relationship with Izzie
George had a complicated relationship with Izzie. They were best friends and roommates. He and Stevens shared many fond memories together such as talking about his crush and about "Jimmy and the twins." George slept with Izzie and they both admitted that they were in love with one another, their romantic relationship ended George's marriage with Callie. However, they had a short lived romantic history, which broke off eventually.

Death
After he joined the army to be a trauma surgeon, Richard gave him the last day in the hospital off to spend time with his family. On his way home, George jumped in front of a bus to save a woman's life. No one knew who he was because he was unrecognizable until Meredith went into check on "John Doe". George took her hand and traced '007'. Meredith quickly figured out that it was, in fact, George. Many people didn't believe that it was George because there was no proof that he really did trace 007. Callie Torres remembered that George had a birthmark on his hand that looked like Texas, so she went to check and found his birthmark on his hand. His brain swelled during surgery and he was ultimately declared brain dead. Most of his organs were donated following the surgery.

He was mentioned again when his mother was admitted to Seattle Grace Mercy West following a botched operation at another hospital. It is during her surgery that Miranda Bailey admitted to Meredith that George was her favorite intern.

Day of the Dead
George was among the spirits who visited Meredith on Day of the Dead.

Inside Meredith's Visions
When Meredith was diagnosed with COVID-19, she began to slip in and out of consciousness, often waking up on a beach. On a lifeguard tower on the beach Meredith meets George and the two reflect on George's death and their residency. Later Meredith told George how he affected and changed her life.

Personality
George was compassionate and kind. During his early years, he spent his time camping with his father and his brothers hunting turkeys, although George refused to kill one every single year. George was often teased by his brothers due to his apparent lack of masculinity.

He was also very emotionally attached to his dog Bucky, whom he thought had run away, not knowing that his father accidentally ran over and killed the dog after he was chasing after the truck and got caught under the tire. His father, knowing that George would be devastated, lied to him.

George O'Malley loved his friends and was always there for them. He was a loyal friend and he was always ready for anything, even if at first he doubted himself. He was passionate about his job and he enjoyed helping people whenever he could.

Izzie Stevens
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As Cristina and Meredith quickly became friends and the other interns disliked Alex, George and Izzie quickly made friends and soon became best friends. Together they realized that they only watched and they needed to become "doers". Their friendship remained strong, although George disliked her relationship with Alex. After George slept with Meredith, he moved out and blamed Izzie. While treating a patient, they became best friends again, and their patient told George that he and Izzie argued so much because they cared about each other so much. George moved back into the house, which made Izzie happy (although she strongly disliked his girlfriend, Callie Torres). Izzie made fun of Callie constantly, especially when she found out Callie's middle name was Iphegenia. After seeing the ring George got Callie, she said, "Tiny diamonds are great because you know what? No one will ever try to steal it." Callie later told George that Izzie acted that way because she loved him.

After an argument, George left to ask Izzie for her support. They started drinking heavily and woke up the next day after having sex. Only Izzie remembered but after a while, George did too. He decided to pretend it never happened and didn't tell Callie. However he and Izzie shared another kiss and on Cristina's wedding day she told him that she would support him and Callie if he loved her but that she still loved him. After eighteen days of ignoring her, George told Izzie he wanted to be with her too but he needed to break up with Callie first. It took a while but eventually he told Callie he slept with Izzie. However, she misunderstood him and forgave him and took him back. He and Callie divorced later and Izzie and George started up a relationship. However, after failing to recreate the great sex they had before, they decided that although they had great chemistry it wasn't the right time. They decided to stay friends and maybe have a romantic relationship someday. When Izzie started seeing Denny, George was the first to notice something was wrong but she denied any accusations. George took it hard when Izzie told Cristina about her cancer before him. He started to avoid her but almost immediately he befriended her again. He supported her through her cancer, reminding her she was a doer. When George was rushed into a surgery and Izzie started to flatline, in a dream of some sort she went into an elevator and then saw George when the doors opened signifying his death.

Callie Torres
After his disastrous incident with Meredith, George focused on avoiding her. However, he fell down the stairwell at Seattle Grace and went to ortho to get his arm fixed. He met Callie and she gave him her phone number. He didn't call her for a while so Callie refused to speak with him. However he soon called and she forgave him. They began dating, much to the disapproval of Izzie. At the prom, Callie confessed to George that she loved him, but he didn't respond, as Izzie needed him for an emergency. George later told her that he didn't love her yet, but he could, and he didn't want to say it until he really meant it. However, George continued to leave Callie whenever Izzie or Meredith had a problem, which prompted Callie to break up with him and start sleeping with Mark Sloan. After discovering that Callie was sleeping with Sloan he refused to have any relationship with her. But they grew close again when George's father was admitted, and they kissed. After George's father died, George became addicted to sex to forget about his pain, and later he proposed to Callie. They flew to Las Vegas, and after two weeks they returned to Seattle Grace as a married couple.

After speaking with his friends, George became worried that he made the wrong decision but eventually decided that he did make the right choice. However, after a fight with Callie, he went to visit Izzie. They got drunk and had sex, but George believed it was a mistake and they should forget what happened. After sharing another kiss with Izzie in an elevator, he decided that he was going to transfer to Mercy West. He and Callie decided to start trying to have a baby, but Izzie told George that she still had feelings for him. After 17 days of avoiding her, he decided he wanted to be with her so told Callie about the affair. She misunderstood and forgave him and took him back but the situation was cleared up and they decided to divorce. After the divorce, they remained friends.

Harold and Louise O'Malley
He loved his parents very much. After his father died, he said he would've given his heart to him.

Jerry and Ronny O'Malley
George never got on well with his brothers. His brothers were jocks and he was a mathlete. However, they still protected him when they felt they had to. When the O'Malley family fought with the Wilden family, Ronny and Jerry blew up the Wilden's lawnmower for George. Every year at Thanksgiving, the brothers and their father would hunt turkeys. George refused to shoot the turkey but after years of refusing, George eventually gave in so that he could go back home and stop having to "choose a car". After hearing that George only assisted in surgeries, his brothers refused to call him a "real doctor" and often made fun of him. Overall, George is very different from his brothers.

Lexie Grey
After being separated from his class, George befriended Lexie. Lexie became like a best friend to George, and they even rented an apartment together. However, the apartment was awful, so in an attempt to get George to stay at their "crapartment", Lexie began stealing things from the hospital. George stayed and they grew closer but he got mad at her after she revealed that he only failed his exam by one point. However, Lexie's snooping managed to get George another chance at taking his intern exam and in a rush of excitement, he kissed her and she realized she had feelings for him. She continued to stay his friend, secretly loving him, but after becoming a resident, he forgot about Lexie and all her help so she refused to speak to him. George realized she liked him, but after she forgave him, she started to take an interest in Mark instead, so they remained friends.

Cristina Yang
George and Cristina had lots of problems with their friendship. Cristina always treated George like a child and eventually called him "007" and "Bambi". George was also one of the first to find out about Burke and Cristina's relationship. When George moved in with the two of them, she walked around the apartment naked once and Burke kicked George out.

Things got worse when Burke was shot and received surgery. After the procedure, Burke began to get tremors in his right hand, and in Cristina's attempt to protect Burke, she didn't tell anyone. When George found out, he remembered that Burke was scheduled to operate on his (George's) father. After this point, George and Cristina's relationship worsens. George later explains that the reason he chose Cristina and Burke to operate on his father was that Cristina was a robot, "a robot in a white coat who never makes a mistake." Cristina even tells his mother, Louise, that George is the best intern and a good person, and that his mother raised a good human being.

George was angry at Cristina for hiding Burke's tremor, and when all the interns forgave her, he did not, telling Meredith that she was the one that started calling him 007, and he didn't owe her any kind of support. When George's father died, at the beginning he was not able to talk to anyone, yet Cristina allowed him to and told him her father also died when she was little and said she was sorry to welcome him to the "Dead Dad's Club"; she understood how it felt to be without a father. After this revelation, they seemed to be cordial to each other.

When Cristina found out that George signed up for the army, she cared for him, yet she described him as "the guy who gets killed while cleaning his own gun."

Meredith Grey
From the moment George O'Malley met Meredith, he fell in love with her. Meredith however, was in love with Derek Shepherd so she never really thought about George as more than a friend. Only a patient and George's best friend Izzie knew how he felt about Meredith. After a small push from Izzie, George decided to tell Meredith how he felt. Meredith had had a very bad day at work so when George confessed his feelings for her, she thought that maybe George was her guy and she had just overlooked him. They proceeded to kiss but during sex, knowing it wasn't right, Meredith burst into tears. George was humiliated and furious and for weeks he refused to speak to her. Eventually he accepted her apology but admitted that he was partly to blame too, he had known how she felt about Derek and knew she didn't love him.

Their friendship continued and he moved back to her house. When George discovered that he had to repeat his intern year, he drew away from his group of friends but things soon went back to normal and Meredith and George's friendship continued, and was strengthened as she was his resident. On George's last day at Seattle Grace, he was hit by a bus and nobody could recognize him. Meredith was his doctor and although she didn't communicate with him often, she defended him in front of some of the other doctors and after he traced the word "007" on her hand, she realized it was him and had him rushed into the O.R.

Alex Karev
Ever since the start of their internship, Alex has disliked George. On their first day as interns, George was given the name 007 (when he froze in his first surgery) by Alex and it was the start of their mutual dislike for each other. Later on, George learned that he had contracted syphilis from his girlfriend Olivia. George was given the name "Syph-boy" by Cristina but soon learned that Alex was the person that gave syphilis to Olivia, which lead to Alex being punched by George. And on a different occasion, when Alex told George that Callie had slept with Mark Sloan, George went into denial and got into another fight with him.

Alex repeatedly and frequently pointed out George's flaws - calling him weak and pathetic more than once - but Alex later revealed that he actually respected George and that if he were still alive then he would have beaten all the other residents at each milestone (1st solo surgery, chief resident, etc.). Professionally, George had beaten Alex during important situations, even though Alex was better at poaching surgeries, George would have been better at dealing with emergency cases while Alex would just have frozen (e.g. heart in the elevator). Later, when George's mother returned, which brings back memories of George, Alex revealed to Cristina and Meredith that he didn't like to think of George because it reminded him of Izzie (his ex-wife) which brought pain.

Over the years, Alex’s views on George softened. When Meredith, Callie, and Alex were discussing all of the different doctors that lived in Meredith's house, George was brought up and Alex made a somber toast in his honor, showing that he truly did see him as a friend.

Miranda Bailey
In the beginning, Miranda Bailey didn't care much for George. She treated him the same as any other intern, but after George helped deliver her baby when she was going through a rough time; she gained so much respect and gratitude for him. She even named her child after him, giving him the middle name George. Although there was never a strong friendship, they gained a bond beyond professional. When Miranda heard George had signed up for the army, she, along with Callie, tried her best to convince him not to go. When George died, she suffered a great loss. Later, when George's mother came to Seattle Grace Mercy West Hospital for a surgery, Miranda wanted to make sure she got the best possible treatment. During surgery, Miranda revealed to Meredith that George was her favorite intern and was very saddened by his death, showing that she cared a tremendous amount for George O'Malley.

Richard Webber
Since George failed his first intern exam, Richard was more interested in the potential and knowledge that George had. Richard often gave guidance to George and helped him through many of his surgeries. After George passed away, Richard was very moved and sad. In a conversation with Derek Shepherd, he let him know that he was teaching George so Derek could later take over for him as Chief of Surgery of Seattle Grace.

Owen Hunt
When Owen and George were operating, Owen immediately saw that George had talent for Trauma Surgery. Eventually, Owen focused his teaching on George. Later, behind the scenes, Owen told George that he should join the army, and that George is going to be one of the finest trauma surgeons he's ever known. George's plans were stopped in their tracks, however, when he got hit by a bus and died in surgery.

When he realized that George was brain-dead, Owen asked Chief Webber if he was a donor, since he could save many lives.

Preston Burke
Upon first meeting George, Burke disliked him. George accidentally offended him and Burke chose George to be the intern he punished a lot which would force the others to fall in line. He allowed George to scrub in with him on his first day and insulted and terrified him. However, after working on more cases, George and Burke grew to have a friendship and Preston christened George his "guy". When George moved out of Meredith's house and had nowhere to go, Burke allowed him to sleep at his apartment. They went running together and acted like a team constantly. Eventually, Cristina managed to get George to move out but he and Burke remained friends, even after he left Cristina on their wedding day.

Derek Shepherd
George initially disliked Shepherd because of the latter's relationship with Meredith. During his neurosurgery rotation, he called out on the anesthesiologist Dr. Taylor after smelling alcohol in his breath but was dismissed by Shepherd. When Dr. Taylor fell asleep during surgery, Shepherd promptly kicked him out. After the surgery, Derek commended George for speaking up and admitted that he, as the main surgeon and attending in charge, was at fault for failing to notice Dr. Taylor's breath.

George died on Shepherd's operating table. Shepherd had saved him the first time but he coded the second time as his injuries were too extensive.

Sadie Harris
George didn't have a close relationship with Sadie. He also didn't understand how Meredith could be friends with her. During the intern bowl, he noticed Sadie didn't have the basic medical knowledge for her level. He also caught her cheating to win. George offered her assistance, but at the end, he gave her an ultimatum that he would tell the chief or she would have to. After that, Sadie quit and called George an "ass".

Erica Hahn
While not known for being friendly towards interns and residents, Erica Hahn did not seem to treat George any differently from other interns and residents. She did not seem to have a problem with him being in her O.R. Before starting her employment as head of cardiothoracic surgery at Seattle Grace, George 'hired' her to operate on his father as he knew of Preston Burke's tremor following his gunshot wound. Despite clashing with George during her tenure as his father's surgeon, she did not appear to hold this against him during her time at SG. George managed to talk two of Hahn's reluctant patients into having surgery. Hahn was called to Seattle Grace to harvest a heart from a brain-dead car accident victim whose father was in the hospital awaiting a heart transplant. He refused to take his daughter's heart. However, he agreed after George told him he would have donated his heart to his father if it would have saved him. George later also talked a frightened 8-year-old into having heart surgery after showing him the inside of an O.R. so he would know how things worked in there and would no longer be scared. While Hahn originally refused, she eventually consented to the plan.

Mark Sloan
Mark Sloan disliked most interns and George was no exception. After George and Callie divorced, Mark decided to humiliate George for Callie so when two patients were admitted in a competition which involved holding a wedding dress, Mark ordered George to hold the dress while he treated one of the girls.

Amanda
George met Amanda the day before he left to join the army. They met at a bus stop but when he smiled at her she ignored him, interested in finding better-looking guys, a bus almost hit Amanda. George threw himself under it and pushed her out of the way, saving her life. They were brought to Seattle Grace, George's face unrecognizable and Amanda's arm in a sling. Because nobody knew who the John Doe was, no family was called so Amanda refused to leave his side. She stayed with him as much as possible. Before discovering it was George, Meredith said to him that he "...made a good friend there. Guess thats what happens when you take a bus for someone".

Carlos Torres
When Mr. Torres first met George, he mistrusted him because he assumed that George had married Callie for her money. It didn't help that George was hungover. Callie, her father, and George met at Joe's bar where they discussed finance and how George apparently talked too much. However, when Mr. Torres started talking about giving them money, George refused it having just remembered sleeping with Izzie the previous night. Mr. Torres later approached him and told him that he just wanted to protect his daughter and warned George not to hurt her. Months later after George and Callie's divorce, Mr. Torres came to visit his daughter at Seattle Grace. When he spotted George he pushed him up against a wall and threatened to kill him for cheating on Callie but Callie told her father that she had cheated on him with Mark too. Mr. Torres dropped George who ran away and grabbed Mark Sloan instead.

Career
He attended Oregon Health & Science University School of Medicine.

When George applied to become an intern at Seattle Grace, he barely made it into the program (although George later discovered he had the most, and best, recommendation letters). During the beginning of his internship, he was picked by Dr. Preston Burke to perform the first surgery of all the interns. During the surgery, he almost killed the patient and earned the nickname "007" (after James Bond's License to Kill). Later in their intern year, George and Alex Karev get stuck in an elevator with a patient who has been shot. The patient begins to bleed out and when Alex freezes up, Burke has to talk George through surgery and George "flies solo" for the first time.

At the end of his intern year, George failed his intern exams. By the time the summer ended, George seemed to have changed his mind and went ahead with repeating his internship with Meredith as his resident.

Initially, none of the new interns knew that George was a repeat intern. Lexie kept his secret and stayed by his side as a friend when all of the other interns find out about it. He moves in with her and starts accepting and living with what he has, befriending the other interns and hosting a party at their ugly apartment (or as they called it, crapartment). It was later revealed that George failed the intern exam by only 1 point and received 14 outstanding letters of recommendation, making him and Lexie doubt his repeated internship even more. During a brief outburst at the chief, George is allowed to retake the intern exam. When he comes home to Lexie, they share a brief celebratory kiss although just as friends (although Lexie looked hopeful for more). George finally passes his intern exam, after a little difficulty from a hospital flooding and after a little friction with his interns, he became as qualified as the rest and as Izzie tells him he is the best, putting the most time into teaching and hours in the skill lab.

Owen Hunt joins the hospital, he notices George's talent in trauma surgery and urges him to choose Trauma as his specialty. After connecting with a patient from Iraq, who like himself, had a family completely different from him, George decided to go to be commissioned as a medical officer in the Army and serve in Iraq.

After telling the Chief of his decision, he was given the day off to spend some time with his family before he left, preventing an intervention by Bailey, Callie, Meredith, Cristina, Izzie, and Alex. The same day, a patient was admitted after jumping in front of a bus to save a woman, his face unrecognizable with severe injuries to his left arm, head, face, pelvis, and abdomen. Meredith was the resident assigned to the case and remained with the patient, and he attempted to communicate with her using his hand due to him being intubated. The second attempt to communicate with Meredith, he wrote down the numbers 007 for her. Initially confused, Meredith realized that it was George writing his nickname. She got up and told all the other doctors. George was rushed into surgery while Izzie coded. In some sort of afterlife, dream, or hallucination, the two met, Izzie in her prom dress and George in an army uniform.

Notes and Trivia

 * He and Lexie nicknamed their apartment The Crapartment.
 * George had seen Meredith, Izzie, Callie, Cristina, and Olivia naked.
 * He had a freckle in the shape of Texas on his right hand.
 * George could play the clarinet.
 * He had a Catholic background.
 * In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Shonda Rhimes had said that she requested T.R. Knight to return for the Season 6 premiere, to see George's last day, from when he left the hospital to when he would later return as John Doe.
 * They put him in his army uniform in Izzie's dream because he had already left Grey's Anatomy and had cut his hair.
 * His last line in the show was 'Yeah, that's where I thought we'd start.' (to Bailey), not including him writing '007' on Meredith Grey's hand.
 * George was the first character aside from Meredith to narrate an episode.
 * George was the first intern to perform a solo surgical procedure, albeit coached by Burke, when he cut into a patient in the elevator, garnering the moniker "Heart in the Elevator Guy."
 * George also had the most letters of recommendation (14) when he applied for the surgical program.
 * In the alternate universe, he did not return to the hospital after failing his intern exam and has not been seen or heard from since.
 * He was 29 years old when he died. He saved several lives by donating all possible organs:
 * His kidneys went to St. Luke's Children's Hospital in Boise, Idaho, for Molly Kemper, age 8, who had hypoplastic kidneys.
 * His heart and lungs went to Portland Medical Center in Portland, Oregon, for Terry Class, age 22, who had cystic fibrosis.
 * In George's final scene, we learn he was granted the rank of Captain, which is the entry-level rank for Army physicians.
 * When he was in high school, he was secretary and treasurer of the Dungeons and Dragons Club.
 * He was a mathlete.
 * He won the blue ribbon in biology club for the best fetal pig dissection.
 * George is the only original character to not complete his residency and become an attending physician due to his death.
 * George didn't like needles.

Notable Episodes
These episodes are George-centric or are otherwise very informative about his life.
 * What Have I Done to Deserve This?
 * Great Expectations
 * Let the Truth Sting
 * Now or Never
 * Good Mourning
 * Heart-Shaped Box
 * You'll Never Walk Alone

Memorable Quotes

 * George: I get it; believe me. But life...things happen. You're going down one path, and it seems like a nice path-it is a nice path-and then, next thing you know it's like-whoa. Wrong path. Not the path for me. But that's good. It's good. Because you learn. And you handle it.


 * George: Did you only shave one leg?


 * George (to Meredith): McDreamy did the McNasty with a McHottie? That McBastard.


 * George (to Bex): You just have to get through high school. 'Cause high school sucks for anyone who's the least bit different. But then there's college, and then out in the real world, you'll find where you fit in.

Appearances
George O'Malley George O'Malley George O'Malley