'Grey's Anatomy': Wartime memories overwhelm Owen

In Thursday night's "Grey's Anatomy" episode, "Suicide is Painless," we got a long-overdue glimpse into Owen and Teddy's army deployment. We've always been aware of Owen's severe post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms, but they were put on the back burner after he stopped waking up choking Cristina in her sleep.

This week, a lung cancer patient named Kim (Sara Gilbert) brings Owen's issues back to the surface when she asks Teddy to end her life through physician-assisted suicide. Owen, serving as the required second doctor present to witness Kim declare her wishes, begins to experience flashbacks.

Though the initial images of army life are pleasant, with Teddy and Owen flirting and rough-housing with their comrades, things soon turn ugly when Owen and his captain hit a bomb while transporting a patient. Owen and Capt. Dan survive the crash, but Dan's injuries are severe. His body looks wrecked, and when he moves his hand away from his neck, he begins to gush blood. Owen puts pressure on the wound, desperately holding onto his friend, though the moment he moves, Dan is going to die.

Eventually, Dan knows that death will be his least painful option. He asks Owen to let him go, and Owen does. He watches his friend bleed out on the ground just before Teddy arrives in a rescue helicopter.

Though Owen didn't kill Dan, he feels responsible for allowing him to die and draws parallels between the situation and Kim's physician-assisted suicide. He can't handle it, lashing out at Teddy, Cristina, and even Derek when he approves the procedure. He hasn't forgiven himself for what happened to Dan, even though it wasn't his fault. As he says in his Meredith-esque voiceover, surgeons are not equipped to just sit back and watch someone die. They're used to saving lives.

According to her wishes, Kim dies painlessly after washing down her prescribed barbiturates with red wine. She passes away in her husband's arms under her favorite quilt. It's the best thing for her, but of course, she leaves behind a grieving husband who will probably always wonder if there's something more that could have been done, just like Owen.

After the difficult day, Teddy, who has been "getting to know" Sloan without having sex, decides that she's through talking to him about their feelings. When she shows up at his door seeking comfort, his shirt is already unbuttoned and everything. How convenient! I haven't made a judgment call on whether I like McSteamy and the Cardio God together, but they do have some chemistry.

Elsewhere, Derek poaches a surgery from Meredith -- a "gorgeous tumor" that she was looking forward to working on. Being chief may not suit him as much as he thought it did. He barely has 30 seconds for his post-it wife and he misses surgeries so much he's hijacking them without explanation.

I'm worried about Arizona and Callie. Arizona doesn't want children, ever, and when Callie tells her that she's always wanted to have a baby, Arizona looks more devastated than she did when she thought Callie was dumping her. Arizona loves kids! Couldn't she get used to the idea, for Callie? I'll be so disappointed if they break up.

What are your thoughts on the episode? Did you appreciate the flashbacks to Owen's and Teddy's army experience? Do you think Teddy and Derek made the right decision to allow Kim's doctor-assisted death? What do you think is going to happen between Sloan and Teddy, or Callie and Arizona? Let me know in the comments below!

-- Carina MacKenzie (follow me on Twitter @cadlymack)

Photo: Kevin McKidd as Owen Hunt. (Credit: ABC)

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Comments

[Jaq]

I really, really hope Arizona and Callie don't break up.

[Chelsea]

Not an interesting critique. you basically summarized what happened and thats it!

[Josie]

I really hope that Callie and Arizona find a way to stay together!! Also, I think it is obvious that Hunt still feels something for Teddy, so the main person I feel sorry for is Cristina - first Burke, now Hunt (she can't catch a break!).

[Indy]

I LOVE the ep title -- all along, this series has made me miss M*A*S*H, and the reference to the M*A*S*H theme made me squee.

Very glad to see an Owen-centric episode. Kevin McKidd is a fabulous actor, and this series has yet to make the most of him. I enjoyed the flasbacks here -- I've felt they were long overdue, and I'm really looking forward to more of Owen's struggle with PTSD.

I'm comfortable with the Owen/Teddy tensions, and I'm just trusting the writers in their writer room aren't going to betray this fan by having a stand-up guy like Owen cheat on Christina. (A lot of ex-military who suffer from PTSD -- and those who have loved ones suffering with PTSD -- identify with Owen as a character, so REALLY I hope the writers don't mess with us by having Owen pull a Tiger... )

[Lauren]

Good episode review. I thought it was a very good episode all around, especially Owen's PTSD flashback. The acting by Kevin McKidd and the actor who portrayed Dan was superb. People need to keep in mind that the flashback is in Owen's head. Twice in the episode he returns to Dan dying before his eyes. I think the scenes of he, Teddy, and the other(s) playing soccer represent Owen blocking out the trauma of witnessing Dan die and under the circumstances that we saw. This seems to be replaying in Owen's head. I guess this is what someone with PTSD experiences. To me this is less about Teddy in Owen's case and more about his need to talk about and deal with the trauma he experienced. Cristina tried to get him to talk but he didn't open up to her either. Even Derek asked him what was wrong if I remember correctly. This is what Dr. Wyatt warned Owen about in the season premiere. Teddy may know what he experienced in Iraq because she was there but she has no idea what is going on in his head. He wouldn't even respond to her asking him what his problem was when he didn't want the cancer patient to kill herself. I think the writers did a good job with this as they should since there are so many people suffering from PTSD. I have to say however that I'm not a fan of the lame Owen-Cristina-Teddy triangle that's been shoved down our throats this season and hope that it will soon end. I liked the Chief-Derek interaction in the episode as well as Mark's scenes, including with the Chief. I also think Mark and Teddy have good chemistry.

[Katherine]

I really enjoyed this episode. I was crying through the ending scenes, moved by the emotions portrayed by the talented cast. Owen has been something of an enigma to me ever since he joined the cast (as perhaps he was supposed to be) and seeing a bit of where he came from was really helpful. I hope they show some more of his work with Dr. Wyatt. I'm also happy to see Teddy and Mark getting on so well. Also, the dilemma faced by Callie and Arizona is a very real one to many couples. I'm looking forward to seeing where they go.

I miss Meredith! I know it's probably because of her new motherhood that she's been given minimal plot lines, but I really do miss seeing her on screen more. Now, it may seem like a contradiction now to say that I've been enjoying the spotlights on the other characters this season - having Callie and Arizona, Mark and Owen in more major storylines has been nice. But I want more of the old Meredith-Cristina plot action. Yeah, you can't always have everything you want - focus on the old characters, and emphasis on the new. But I can still complain in the blogosphere! :-)