Kevin McKidd and Kim Raver dive deep into latest 'Grey's' episode: 'We are multilayered, multifaceted people'

McKidd and Raver discussed the emotional episode with Shondaland.com's Valentina Valentini. Raver gave voice to the importance of showing Altman's flaws:

"We are multilayered, multifaceted people. While we endure a lot, it is beautiful and interesting to show this type of grief. Through the darkness, Teddy is able to find the light—though throughout the episode we don’t know if she’s coming back. Keeping that mystery was a strong note from (showrunner) Krista (Vernoff), which also speaks to the journey of women. That’s the gift of being part of Shondaland, that I get to actually embody someone with that much complexity. I think about starting out in my career, I’d get these slivers of women that have to be stereotypical through the male gaze. But part of (creator) Shonda (Rhimes) and Krista’s vision is giving life to multilayered people—Teddy’s a mother, a bada** surgeon, she was in the war in Iraq, and now she’s battling Covid-19. She’s also trying to figure out the core base of how to self-love, how to be intimate, but, because of her past and because of her pain, that’s not accessible to her. Right there, we’re telling the story from the female gaze, showing a flawed female character who’s not overly sexualized or in service of the male storyline; it’s just such a gift to play that."

McKidd gave voice to the pressure he felt directing: "I felt really lucky to be the one directing that episode, but, honestly, I felt scared too because it is a real departure—it’s almost like we created a whole new show, like a pilot episode, because it really isn’t an episode of the Grey’s Anatomy that we’re known for."

Altman first confronts whether she should have left Owen on what was supposed to be their wedding day and ran away with Dr. Tom Koracick (Greg Germann), whom she had been having an affair with. Then the timeline pans back to her first and truest love, Allison (Sherri Saum), who died in the 9/11 attacks. Up until the end of Season 16, Altman had told Hunt that Allison was just her best friend, so they named their daughter after her. Hunt, these days, is furious with her.

"I know the fans are really upset, and I'm really upset at Teddy, but I think that this is quintessential Shonda and Krista," Raver added in the interview. "Like I was saying: We're human, we’re flawed. And I love getting to show how we navigate through our imperfections. And, in a way, we show redemption too. Not that it’s an excuse for what Teddy did, but it’s an explanation, and I think it’s a really relatable explanation, especially with what we’ve all gone through in this last year in terms of how Teddy has had some extreme loss in her lifetime. Normally, she’s gone into numbing it out by caregiving others, but she finally hit rock bottom."

Thursday's offering finished with Hunt surprised to find Altman not only awake but holding baby Allison.

Matters in and around Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital will only get more intense next week, as Meredith may or may not be taken off her ventilator but regardless will first encounter her long-deceased younger half-sister Dr. Lexie Grey (Chyler Leigh) on her "in-between" beach. Lexie tragically died in a plane crash to end Season 8, and her cameo will come after Grey's  treated fans to resurrections of Dr. Derek Shepherd (Patrick Dempsey) and Dr. George O'Malley (T.R. Knight) earlier this season. Watch the trailer below.