One of the most divisive romantic pairs in Grey’s Anatomy history finally came to a big decision on Thursday’s (March 27) episode, “Ridin’ Solo”: Owen Hunt (Kevin McKidd) and Teddy Altman (Kim Raver) decided to give the open marriage concept a whirl in hopes of saving their always-rocky relationship.
The conversation between them went like so:
Owen: “I don’t want us to feel stuck. And I think I didn’t want to admit it because I have this idea of what our lives should be, and everything that therapist said seems opposite to that which is…
Teddy: Kind of terrifying.
Owen: Yeah.
Teddy: Maybe it doesn’t have to be.
Owen: I’m willing to try something new if you are. Sometimes it just takes me a minute to get there, and it is a little weird picturing you flirting with someone else.
Teddy: I am a terrible flirt. [Laughs.] Okay. If we actually open this…
Owen: I don’t want to know any details.
Teddy: Agreed, and we check in regularly.
Owen: And we stay safe.
Teddy: And our marriage comes first. No serious relationships or feelings.
Owen: Of course.
That exchange is enough to light the fire between them and get them back in the sack together again after the whole Cass and Nora debacles, but is it enough to actually save their relationship in the long run? More importantly, is their relationship even worth saving at this point?!
Owen and Teddy’s is easily the messiest relationship this show has ever seen. After all, Teddy is still the one who left a voicemail of herself sleeping with Tom Koracick (Greg Germann) on her wedding night to Owen, which he played on speakerphone for the entire OR to hear. She’s also the one who named their daughter after the woman who she claimed was her best friend but was secretly the love of her life — whose memory was the whole reason she joined the war effort to meet Owen in the first place, no less. And Owen’s no saint, either. His lawless decision to give death-with-dignity drugs to people left both of them on the run; plus, let’s not forget that he did essentially hop out of Amelia’s (Caterina Scorsone) bed before flitting off to Germany to seduce Teddy.
They are the very definition of hot and cold with one another, and while they haven’t exactly had the most stable relationships with other people, they seem to work best when there’s something keeping them apart. The yearning is the fun part for both of them, it seems.
So will opening up their marriage finally be the ticket to making Owen and Teddy work? Or are they way too far gone at this point? We’ll have to wait and see when next week brings Teddy face to face with Cass again at a medical conference — this time, with permission to explore with other partners, it seems. Could she even do so without catching feelings, per the above-mentioned rule? Dun dun dun… In the meantime, let us know how you feel about this big decision by weighing in with the poll below!
Grey’s Anatomy, Thursdays, 10/9c, ABC