4 things to remember about Dr. Sydney Heron before her return to Grey's Anatomy

Paging Dr. Sydney Heron to Grey’s Anatomy season 21. The perky surgical resident comes back to the series.

This is one of those characters you want to forget about but you can’t. Her bubbly and perky personality outshone everyone, and not in a good way. She was insufferably perky throughout her tenure on the series. While you remember her, though, you won’t remember much about who she was and the damage she caused in the hospital.

Here are four important story plots you need to remember to get an idea of why it’s not a good thing that she’s back!

Sydney Heron was rejected from medical school before Grey’s Anatomy

There are a lot of capable doctors who struggle to get into med school or into an intern program. They tend to prove those judging them wrong. However, Sydney did the opposite.

She failed to get into med school at first, and she ended up traveling the world with a local medical non-profit. This should have boosted her experience, but it didn’t quite manage that.

In her first year as an intern, she misdiagnosed a patient, mostly because she didn’t believe a word he was saying to her. She sent a young man home with the diagnosis of gastroenteritis, but he actually had appendicitis. When he returned, his appendix burst and he died in the hospital.

Her loss of a patient early on in her career created the perky personality that she now has.

She does take some risks with patients

While she doesn’t always listen to patients, she does prove that she can learn from her mistakes. She took her job far more seriously after that loss, and she was even willing to take some risks to help treat a patient.

One of those was when a patient came in with necrotizing fasciitis. While Cristina believed that Sydney was going to kill the patient, Sydney’s radical approach saved the young woman’s life. Sydney believed that a couple of sessions in the hyperbaric chamber would lead to a full recovery. While we didn’t see if that played out, the lack of story afterward suggests that it did.

She could offer some decent advice

While the perky personality drove a lot of people nuts, she also proved that she could be empathetic. After the death of Denny, Sydney became a counselor for Izzy. At first, Izzy didn’t want to talk, but Sydney proved that she could trust her and even opened up a little to help with the process.

Then at the ferry crash when Alex was overwhelmed, Sydney realized that a hug would help. She didn’t just go in for the hug. She offered it, also making it clear that she understood the importance of consent.

Sydney went on a date with Derek

There was a point where we got the ship name Sydrek. That was all due to Sydney’s interest in Derek. During a point when Derek wasn’t with either Addison or Meredith, he went on a date with Sydney. It went terribly!

Sydney left the date for a page, and then afterward, she told Derek that there wasn’t anything there. She was too much of a woman for him. It’s hilarious thinking about it, but it was more of a look at people who aren’t everything they initially seem. Just because you think you could work in a relationship with someone doesn’t mean that you can.

Get ready for Sydney’s return in Grey’s Anatomy season 21 on Thursdays at 10/9c on ABC.