Grey’s Anatomy Finally Writing Out Teddy & Owen Is an Act of Mercy That’s Three Seasons Too Late

By now, we all know the bittersweet news, right?

Well, it’s only bittersweet in the sense that Kevin McKidd and Kim Raver are fantastic actors, and there are some Teddy, Owen, and Towen fans still out there, I guess.

But apparently, Grey’s is finally writing out Teddy and Owen, and frankly, it’s been long overdue.

One of the biggest gripes about Grey’s Anatomy Season 22 and for the past three seasons or so, if we’re being honest, is how often the show has crammed Owen and Teddy drama down our throats.

Grey’s Anatomy achieved something unprecedented: reinventing itself with a soft reset that almost felt like a reboot.

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It’s the more recent batch of interns, now residents, that provided a similar edge to the original batch that made fans fall in love with the series in the first place.

And there was excitement and hope, as Grey’s became part of conversations again. But where they fell off and fumbled the chance at a reset was in focusing too much on who remained of legacy characters.

While Bailey and Webber got the expected amount of focus that still aligned with this shift, characters like Teddy and Owen felt like they were clinging to the series by a thread.

Grey’s ultimately resorted to shoehorning them into plots and recycling the same redundant storylines that were frustrating and tedious.

And by this point in the series, they haven’t had anything new to do with these two characters.

As we previously shared, the series has said it’s a “creative decision” to write out the characters, although I’m willing to bet it’s financial, too. And yet this is one of the few times when “creative choice” is exactly the right call.

The show has struggled to maintain even a halfway-compelling arc for them, whether individually or together. I seriously cannot think of two characters left on this show who have basically been put through the wash dozens of times, stuck on the same spin cycle. It’s absurd!

Teddy and Owen’s on-and-off relationship no longer holds the same appeal or elicits the same passion it did five or ten years ago. They’re no longer intriguing; they’re exhausting.

Will They/Won’t they dynamics only work when it hasn’t become Been there/Done That seven times over. At this stage in the game, watching Teddy and Owen circle around each other feels like watching your parents divorce and remarry over and over again.

At some point, it’s time to end it for everyone’s sake and stop sucking everyone into the tumultuous minefield that is their toxic relationship.

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If they can’t figure out if they want to be together after a dozen hookups and breakups, then they’re no longer a legacy couple worth rooting for; they become two immature people who still can’t get their shit together.

And that’s what they’ve stuck them with for the better part of three seasons now.

Even now, as of Grey’s Anatomy Season 22 Episode 14, their primary storyline is that the two of them have casual sex after their divorce, with Owen having feelings and Teddy not being serious. Maybe that was cute a decade ago, but now, it’s just tiresome.

The entire back half of their tenure on the show together is just the two of them navigating lies, a handful of infidelity plots, and the series’ attempts to explore Teddy’s sexuality while still clinging to this pairing.

And individually, neither character has been allowed meaningful growth outside of that dynamic.

Both used to be innovative doctors at the top of their game, and now, anything work-related and remotely exciting has become a C-plot in their lives.

At this stage in the game, there is nothing left for the series to explore with Teddy and Owen, individually or as a unit.

And they no longer have any justification for monopolizing so much screen time when it could go to the newer, less developed characters with loads of potential and stories worth exploring.

The newer crop of residents hasn’t been able to really hold their own in storylines and development, largely because the series retreads water by sticking them with recycled plots, but also because the show tries to cling to its legacy characters by giving them face time.

It’s possible that if Grey’s Anatomy finally lets go of characters like Teddy and Owen and commits to its newer characters, it can really dig in and produce some more interesting stories that don’t just rely on nostalgia.

Teddy and Owen had their prime, and make no mistake, as disparaging as this piece is, there was a time when both characters were compelling and held their own. They’ve been part of some of the most iconic Grey’s moments, too.

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But nearly two decades later, they don’t know what to do with either character anymore, so writing them out feels like an act of mercy.

The unfortunate thing about it taking this long to cut Teddy and Owen loose, finally, is that they’ve waited so long that it’s hard to care about what otherwise would be a shocker.

Ideally, you want to see a character go before they’ve overstayed their welcome, and they’ll make you miss them.

But since both characters have been a shell of what they were before and all the potential they had dissipated a long time ago, it already feels like we’ve grieved them for years now. The two departures are just a formality.

While it’ll suck to see Raver and McKidd off our screens, at least there’s hope that they’ll keep directing. They both have directed some incredible episodes, and Kevin McKidd has at least two seasons’ worth of episodes under his belt in that regard.

But the excitement lies in the potential for new storylines and a shift in focus to characters who need it, if the series doesn’t squander that either.

Hell, Grey’s biggest issues now are having too many characters and not enough time to devote to them. The show can afford to lose more than a few.

Can Jo and Link be next, please? It’s time.

Let’s keep the conversation going — it’s the only way the good stuff survives.
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