Note: This story contains spoilers from “Grey’s Anatomy” Season 22, Episode 18.
“Grey’s Anatomy” packed an emotional punch or two with its Season 22 finale — and not just because it ended with the exit of two of its longest-running cast members.
Episode 18, titled “Bridge Over Troubled Water,” followed as the doctors of Grey Sloan Memorial came together to treat the victims of a bridge collapse nearby. Owen (Kevin McKidd) ended up having to save himself from drowning after his truck ended up in the water, saving himself in time to help a family to safety before returning to the hospital. Meanwhile Teddy (Kim Raver), led the charge on medical response while worried about losing Owen in the tragedy.
The tragedy led both Owen and Teddy — who’ve been key characters on the ABC medical drama from Seasons 5 and 6, respectively — to realize they belong together and to officially rekindle their romance. And for the first time, Owen chose Teddy and opted to follow her to Paris for a new job opportunity.
Beyond these pivotal goodbyes, the finale saw Meredith (Ellen Pompeo) return to Seattle just in time for her partner Nick (Scott Speedman) to also get injured in the bridge collapse and require emergency surgery. That situation led her to a romantic gesture of her own, proposing and signaling a potential wedding for the titular doctor in Season 23.
If that wasn’t enough, almost every character in the ensemble saw big developments in this finale: Blue (Harry Shum Jr.) is officially fired, Bailey (Chandra Wilson) is considering a new career path, Amelia (Caterina Scorsone) accidentally broke Toni’s (Jen Landon) hear, Jo (Camilla Luddington) considered leaving medicine for good and Link (Chris Carmack) may be leaning on painkillers a little too much after his own health scare.
“Every time we have a season finale or midseason finale there’s a lot going on, but especially with this one … I think I told people to speak fast,” showrunner Meg Marinis told TheWrap. “I felt very lucky because I didn’t have to cut any scenes too badly … I think every scene touched on at least four stories.”
Below, Marinis breaks down the end of Teddy and Owen’s time on “Grey’s Anatomy,” all those relationship shakeups and navigating behind-the-scenes changes amid Hollywood upheaval. This conversation has been edited for length and clarity.
TheWrap: “Grey’s” said goodbye to Teddy and Owen in this finale, with Kevin McKidd directing his own action-packed farewell episode as Owen survived another life-threatening accident and decided to get back together with Teddy and move to Europe together for her new job. What made you and the writers decide on that for this couple’s happy ending?
We went through a couple of different options. And yes, there were pitches for iconic “Grey’s” deaths, and I’m sure fans have been wanting one of those for a long time. But I really wanted to show that these two characters who have been with us for so long also had full character arcs and growth. Showing Owen as the medical hero and saving an entire family and then choosing to follow Teddy for once — after she’s been following him for decades — I thought was a beautiful full circle arc for him and also for her too. She came here for him back in Season 6, and she came here thinking that he was calling her to be in a relationship with her. But when she walked into that hospital he was with Cristina Yang. So it’s kind of a full circle moment for her, too, to be pursued by him, and for her to be able to pursue her career and still have everything.
Also, I need a little hope in my life. I didn’t want their journeys to end. I want to believe that they’re moving on to Paris and starting a wonderful life, and maybe getting out of Seattle is what this couple needed, to get away from all of this baggage — and I want to see them again, not as ghosts.
It was fun to catch the little Easter eggs to both Owen and Teddy’s journeys on the show — we got Owen’s pen rescue from his very first episode in Season 5, their final conversation in the scrub room mirroring in some ways when Teddy first left the show in Season 8 — how did you go about finding a place to memorialize these beloved characters in this way?
Well, thank you for noticing, you’re the first person who’s mentioned noticing all of it!
For starters, I just have to give Kevin the biggest compliment and all of the props, because obviously it’s not an easy thing to direct your character’s own exit. But also he was directing himself on location on the bridge, which is not something we typically do, and his performance is phenomenal. He brought everything to it. And again, it was things that we don’t normally do. We normally don’t film underwater here at “Grey’s Anatomy.”
When I was writing the script, the writing staff and I rewatched all of those big Teddy and Owen episodes, looking for things to emulate and to pay off. So things like the crike pen and Owen coming off an ambulance, those things were written. Even Teddy saying “I misread the situation.” That was a call back to when they had that conversation on a bench outside of Grey Sloan in season 6. So little things like that I very carefully write those in — the wedding ring moment [on the bridge] was from the PTSD episode in Season 6.
But then as Kevin got into prep, he started rewatching some of his old episodes as well, and coming up with ideas and pitching them to me, and we collaborated [on some other references you see there.]. And again, this episode has been made possible because of him, and having to work through also the messaging and PR and things like that, while directing himself and also saying goodbye to 18 years of his life. I don’t know how he did it. He’s amazing.
As Teddy gets this job offer from an old mentor, the topic of the US falling behind in medical research comes to the surface — this has been coming up throughout this season and also inspires Bailey to seek further education as a potential way to make a difference. Why did this feel like the right time to address what’s happening in our country in this moment?
We always address things from the doctor’s point of view, and I think there’s been a lot of distrust in our health care system about decisions that are being made that’s preventing them from giving health care. It’s not political for our doctors, they’re just trying to take care of their patients.
Hospitals are shutting down, and we haven’t even seen the extent of what will happen with all these research projects being paused right now. For Bailey, she’s been trying to teach her residents that this is just how it is. We have to fall in line. We have to follow the rules. People make the rules for a reason. And I think she’s finally realizing, well, why can’t I be in the conversation with the people who make the rules? Why can’t a doctor be in the room to show that human side of things? So that’s kind of where that’s leading for her.
And we didn’t say this on screen, but there’s a brain drain effect [to these decisions]. Our doctors and researchers don’t want to have to stop their work, so they’re leaving to go places where their work isn’t hindered by bureaucracy.
Beyond that, Meredith returned and ended up almost operating on Nick after he got injured in the bridge collapse. But the emergency makes her realize she’s ready to take the next step with him and she proposes. She already said she doesn’t want a big wedding but will we get to celebrate these nuptials next season, what could that look like?
I think how we get to celebrate will depend on “RJ Decker” and whether or not it’s on screen or not. But I told Ellen at the beginning of the season that I really wanted to work toward a proposal. This was a season about hope, and I wanted to get my characters to realize that they could hope again.
When Nick’s sister comes to visit in the middle of the season, that really set this up for us in that we learned that Nick did have that dream of getting married to someone and getting the house and having the family, and he lost that dream. I don’t think Nick would ever have left Meredith if she didn’t marry him — he loves her enough to be OK with whatever she decides. But I think realizing that she was so scared of losing him, and that it doesn’t matter if there’s a label on the relationship or not, it’s still scary. I think that really helped her move forward and to be able to give him this thing that he’s always wanted.
Of course it wouldn’t be “Grey’s” without some messiness, and that came with Toni confessing her love for Amelia and choosing to stay separated from her wife, only for Amelia to be hooking up with Dr. Cass Beckman. Is this a new love triangle or more of a messy mistake for Amelia and Toni to get through?
Well, Cass Beckman is married and in an open marriage, so I don’t know if Cass is looking to get out of her marriage. So initially, I think this is a messy mistake from Amelia. We haven’t seen Amelia make a messy mistake in quite some time, and I love that side of her.
I do think she honestly believed Toni was going back to her ex wife, and she was upset and sad. A few episodes ago, we saw Amelia make this kind of “Choose me” speech to Toni, so I believe that she has deep feelings for her, and that she is possibly falling in love with her too. So I think she was trying to make herself feel better, not only after a heartbreak, but after almost seeing her sister lose her partner again. I do not think she expected that knock on the door. And I think she’s got a long way to take herself out of this hole.
Fans are loving Toni and Amelia already and this sets up an exciting new path for them. And there’s also the question of Toni’s ex and how she was planning to move to Seattle for her. Could we meet this elusive ex wife next season?
Everyone is asking who Toni’s ex wife is. I mean never say never. Our hope is to be able to get Jen Landon back to come and play with us. She had a great time and I love what her character does for Ben’s character. [Ben accepted a position as a plastics fellow working under Jen in Episode 17.]
Then there’s Blue, who is still fired and basically persona non-grata after Richard threatened to call security on him at the end of the episode. Is this the last we’ll see of this character or is there a path for redemption?
Well, it’s “Grey’s Anatomy” so there’s always a path for redemption. We’ll just have to see if Richard digs his heels in or not when we pick up in the new season.
We’ve had a long history at “Grey’s” of easy forgiveness for mistakes. And what Blue did was pretty terrible. So I was interested in exploring, what if it wasn’t easily forgiven? What if it’s not as easy as, “Oh well, she cut the LVAD wire and it’s fine.” We should be holding our doctors more accountable.
For Richard, after so many transgressions that he has let go, he knows he was the reason that they lost the residency program several years ago, before this class joined. So I think he’s digging in, but he’s fighting for the residency program. But Debbie Allen had this little hint on her face as Catherine in the scene. What’s interesting is Catherine may not agree with what Richard decided when it comes to Blue.
His future is a little bit unknown right now. We’ll have to pick that up in Season 23.
Jo ends the season uncertain about her future in medicine, while Link clearly is hiding lingering pain from his injuries in the hospital explosion and potentially becoming dependent on painkillers. Why end things there for these two?
This year, they both had very severe health scares. In previous storylines, we’ve had a lot of people have serious health scares, and sometimes they get right back up on their feet within two episodes. I wanted to show the reality of what it’s like to almost die at the place that you go to work every day, and how you come back from that — in particular with Jo’s postpartum journey. A lot of people, when they’re looking at maternal mortality, they think it’s a happy ending if the mother and the baby survive. And obviously it’s beautiful that the baby and mother survive, but there’s still a long journey of trauma to come back from that, and I feel like it’s a disservice to mothers out there if we didn’t show a realistic response to that. And you know, unfortunately for Jo, her triggers are in her career, so it’s really hard to get away from that. So I think it’s about whether or not she can find something to help her return to doing what she loves, or if it’s better for her not to return for her own health. That’s what she’s facing right now.
As for Link, he is a traditional guy. He wants to take care of those he loves, and he doesn’t want to show weakness. We saw that throughout the season. Even from the start, when he was recovering [from the explosion] he didn’t want to lean on people. He also had an illness as a kid, and he was always dependent on other people’s help. And as an adult, he does not want to be that person anymore. He doesn’t want to be seen as weak. So he wants to be strong for Jo, and even though he wants her to talk to him, he does not want to burden her with this. So he’s trying to power through.
We’ll just have to see. Does he power through to the point where it becomes dangerous for him, or does he eventually come clean to her and get help?
The episode also makes it clear that Simone, Lucas and Wes are entering a new messy love triangle dynamic, while Jules (Adelaide Kane) and Winston (Anthony Hill) continue to get closer. What are you looking forward to explore with those dynamics next season?
For Jules and Winston, I’m interested in exploring that it looks like they’re coming close to maybe wanting to tell people at the hospital that they’re together. But they’re a little bit too late because Ben sees them, and he’s going to tell his wife. So what Winston has been fearing all along is about to happen and he doesn’t know it? We’ll see whether or not he can forgive himself for that and what happens to their relationship when things come out into the open, when it’s not on their timeline. He doesn’t want to be known as the person who took advantage of a power dynamic, and she doesn’t want to just be known as somebody’s girlfriend. She’s starting her career. She wants to be known as Jules Milling, the surgeon. So it’ll be really interesting to see what happens there.
As for Wes, Simone and Lucas. I love that Simone’s got these two options, but Lucas was pretty terrible to her recently. It’s going to take a little bit more for him just saying, “What if I don’t regret [hooking up again]” to change her tune. And I don’t think she was expecting Wes to open up to her in this way and that’s interesting to her. But there’s also a power dynamic there and he clearly has some mystery going on behind that attractive face. So I think she’s a little cautious. She’s doing really well in her career as a surgeon and doesn’t want to mess that up. But now she’s got these two guys just smiling at her, and it’s going to be messy.
The Season 23 renewal took a little bit longer to materialize this year, was there ever a point where it seemed like this upcoming season could be the last?
I would hope that I would get a little bit more lead time if it was going to be the last season. But, you know, especially in the last several years, this industry is constantly changing, so until you get that official phone call, you never feel like it’s a sure thing. It’s a crazy time right now. So I just have to be grateful for what we have, and grateful that we get to make something so historic as Season 23. It’s an interesting time, and I hope it’s on the upswing, but we’ll just have to see.
A big conversation for fans this season came from Caterina Scorsone’s extended hiatus from the show — with reports blaming that on budget cuts for the show. Do you expect to have any other cast members take extended hiatuses like that in Season 23?
I think those conversations are still being had. We haven’t finalized budgets or anything like that. That’s next on the list after we deliver the finale. We never hope to have that phone call. But like I said, any season and any number of episodes, we’re grateful to have. We’re problem solvers over here. So if we get delivered a challenge, we will come up with a creative solution that feels good for everybody and go from there.
“Grey’s Anatomy” Season 1-22 are now streaming on Hulu. The show has been renewed for Season 23.
The post ‘Grey’s Anatomy’ Boss Explains Those Cast Exits, Meredith’s Romantic Milestone and Amelia’s Messy Mistake appeared first on TheWrap.
