Just when you think Owen Hunt is done being toxic, Grey's Anatomy pulls us back in with another frustrating setback. I have no doubt Season 16 will put Owen and Amelia Shepherd on the same page by the end of the November 7 episode, but the promo for Episode 7, "Papa Don't Preach," has Grey's fans irritated at Owen all over again. Because it's not exactly new for Owen to get angry and lash out -- remember when he told Amelia she wasn't capable of love? -- and he'll probably do it again after yelling at pregnant Amelia in this episode.
Grey's Anatomy has had a couple of surprise pregnancies in Season 16, including one for Derek's youngest sister Amelia. She told Link (Chris Carmack) that she's pregnant, and now his parents know too. We're all operating under the assumption that the baby is Link's. Owen and Amelia were recently married and fought over having children -- he wanted them, she did not. Amelia has a tragic past when it comes to children -- see Private Practice's unicorn baby -- and she also had that brain tumor when she was with Owen.
But Owen and Amelia had bigger issues than just Amelia not being ready to have kids. And Owen is now with Teddy Altman, and they just welcomed a baby together, taking Teddy away from her own healthy relationship with Tom Koracick. So when ABC's promo for the post-Halloween episode showed Owen yelling at pregnant Amelia for being willing to have a child with another man, fans were not having it:
Some fans defended Owen for being upset, since Amelia had just said she wasn't ready for kids. But this was an unexpected pregnancy, and you'd almost think Owen would just be happy for her. It's not like he doesn't already have everything he wanted -- he could've fought harder for Amelia, instead he started a new life with Teddy, whom he got pregnant while on a break with Amelia.
Some fans have been pretty harsh about Owen, writing that he can fuck off and die, while others just called him a hypocrite.
Other Grey's Anatomy fans defended Owen's behavior as PTSD or a natural reaction to Amelia's surprising news:
Yeah, if Owen and Teddy are so happy together, why would Owen be so salty at Amelia trying to have happiness too? Could it be that Amelia just didn't want to have kids with HIM, which seems pretty reasonable considering their tense and toxic relationship?
Owen has a history of treating the women in his life with less-than-ideal behavior -- Cristina can relate -- and since Amelia has her own delicate history with pregnancies, some fans are worried this might set her back:
Many Grey's Anatomy fans are just ready for Amelia to finally be happy, and she seems to have happiness with Link. He's a very different man than Owen, so to me it makes sense that she might be ready to have a baby with him. Their relationship is much less toxic than Amelia + Owen. Owen + Teddy are also less toxic together, although it was pretty telling that she assumed he wanted her to be one of those moms -- like his own -- who had a full-time job and sewed homemade Halloween costumes.
Anyway, this is why I was hoping that the Amelia/Owen/Teddy love triangle storyline was already wrapped up last year when Teddy was with Koracick. I still think Owen needs time to just be single and mature. But if Teddy and Owen are meant to be endgame with their own family, then hopefully Grey's Anatomy moves on very quickly from this Owen/Amelia pregnancy drama. Don't you dare let this somehow be Owen's baby!
Grey's Anatomy will show the entirety of that Owen/Amelia pregnancy conversation on Thursday, November 7 at 8 p.m. on ABC. At this point, Owen doesn't even work at Grey Sloan with Amelia, he's now with Alex Karev at Pac-North. But Grey Sloan will soon be replacing Alex with this new guy.
