Grey’s Anatomy season 20, episode 8 teased the penultimate episode’s main conflict: Catherine Fox (Debbie Allen) may find out about Meredith Grey’s (Ellen Pompeo) Alzheimer’s research. At the ending of Grey’s Anatomy season 19, Meredith’s groundbreaking research — funded by the Catherine Fox Foundation — threatened to upend the entire field. Worried about losing Fox Foundation investors, Catherine gives Meredith an ultimatum. Instead of backing down, Meredith decides to continue her against-the-grain research. To do so, Meredith enlists the help of her neurosurgeon sister-in-law Amelia Shephard (Caterina Scorsone) and Chief Teddy Altman (Kim Raver).
While Amelia is tasked with helping Meredith with the research itself, Teddy, the somewhat newly appointed Chief of Surgery, provides Meredith with some money from a Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital discretionary fund. Given that Grey Sloan is a Fox-owned hospital, Catherine could easily learn about Meredith’s deception, which threatens not just Grey’s career, but those of Teddy and Amelia as well. As Grey’s Anatomy season 20 nears its end, Catherine is getting dangerously close to the truth — thanks in large part to Owen Hunt (Kevin McKidd), who doesn’t know what Teddy has done behind Catherine’s back.
Owen’s Idea For Medical Basics Classes Will Reveal That Teddy Funded Meredith’s Alzheimer’s Research
Grey’s Anatomy Season 20, Episode 8 Teased Owen Hunt’s Big Mistake
In “Blood, Sweat, and Tears,” the eighth episode of Grey’s Anatomy season 20, Owen and Teddy use their day off to hike around the greater Seattle area. While on the trail, they run into a father-daughter duo who are in massive trouble. Both have fallen into a ravine, and Owen is tasked with talking the daughter through bandaging her father’s bleeding leg while Teddy goes for help. Although talking someone through the procedure is challenging, Owen gains a ton of satisfaction from saving two lives in the field. For the trauma surgeon, it’s a reminder of his Army days.
While Teddy is intrigued by the idea, she’s hesitantly supportive.
At the end of the episode, Owen pitches a new idea to Teddy: Grey Sloan should fund online and in-person classes so that everyday folks can receive basic medical training. In Owen’s mind, if more people knew how to stop a bleed, so many more lives could be saved on a daily basis. While Teddy is intrigued by the idea, she’s hesitantly supportive. Thinking that Teddy, his wife, doesn’t want to be seen as giving Owen’s project special treatment, Dr. Hunt goes directly to Teddy’s boss, Catherine Fox, with his idea.
Teddy Altman Going Behind Catherine Fox’s Back Could Get Her Fired
Meredith Has Implicated Teddy & Amelia In Her Plans
Understanding the importance of keeping one’s marriage out of work, Catherine agrees to fund Owen’s work. In fact, she says that they’ll use discretionary budget money to fund the endeavor. Although Owen thinks his “church and state” approach is genuinely helpful, he could inadvertently reveal Meredith’s scheme to Catherine. Even though Catherine was firm about withholding funding from Meredith’s cutting-edge, field-destroying research, Teddy went ahead and funded the project with Fox hospital money. Needless to say, Chief Teddy Altman could wind up on the chopping block once Catherine learns the full truth.
Grey’s Anatomy Season 20 Has Hinted At Owen Hunt Wanting To Move On
Owen Hasn’t Been Satisfied By His Routine In The Latest Season
In other season 20 episodes, Owen has voiced his dissatisfaction with his work. The trauma surgeon is missing the adrenaline of doing something new or being out in the field. Moreover, Owen has told Teddy that he feels as though their personal life is on auto-pilot, especially with their kids’ needs and schedules. Between Owen’s ongoing restlessness and his desire to implement a new training program, Grey’s Anatomy is hinting that Kevin McKidd may finally be moving on from the show after over a decade. Previously, the show almost wrote Teddy and Owen out, but the actors can’t seem to call it quits.
Seeing as how both Teddy and Owen have been on the series for years, and have run through so much material, it would make sense to conclude their stories at the same time.
At the end of season 19, Teddy Altman was almost killed off, but refrained from ending Raver’s stint on the show. In the past, plenty of Grey’s Anatomy couples have been destroyed when one half of the relationship needs to be written off the show. Seeing as how both Teddy and Owen have been on the series for years, and have run through so much material, it would make sense to conclude their stories at the same time. Both have faced a ton of adversity, especially where their romance is concerned. If Owen wants to pursue other interests and Teddy is fired by Catherine, the couple could team up outside of Grey Sloan.
Grey’s Anatomy Season 21 Is Already Cutting Cast Members
Cutting Kevin McKidd & Kim Raver Would Slash Costs
Although Grey’s Anatomy season 21 has officially been green-lit by ABC, the network has also announced some cast departures, including long-time star Jake Borelli and relative newcomer Midori Francis. Network executives have said that budget cuts are in the works for most ABC shows. Although Grey’s Anatomy is an ultra-popular behemoth, it can’t evade the harsh, cost-cutting truth. That said, ending Owen Hunt and Teddy Altman’s stories satisfyingly would dovetail nicely with Grey’s Anatomy’s need to minimize its budget heading into its landmark 21st season.