Grey’s Anatomy – Season 17 Episode 9 Recap & Review

Teddy’s Dream

Episode 9 of Grey’s Anatomy Season 17 starts with flashbacks of Teddy’s life as we see all of her heartaches and the people she’s lost.

In the morning, Hunt brings Teddy some breakfast but she is having a mental breakdown and doesn’t respond. He talks to her about Meredith, who is now stable, and how Webber wants to take her off the vent. Amelia arrives with some medical supplies after Hunt asks for it, unable to get her to drink or eat.

Teddy, in a deep state of PTSD, starts to experience some vivid dreams of herself in the hospital, seeing Meredith awaken first. She then appears in the OR with DeLuca as she gets ready to save Meredith.

As she looks outside, she sees the twin towers and suddenly remembers Alison. She runs out of the room and follows Alison outside. There, she finds herself in a car park where Koracick is waiting. Meredith then tells her that her problems started a long time before this.

Amelia and Hunt put Teddy on the drip before Amelia offers to stay and help him build a bed for his son. Hunt admits that he is unable to talk to Teddy as he gets so angry when he is around her. He then explains to Amelia who Alison is and how much Teddy has lied to him.

Teddy then steps into Koracick’s car as they head to Vegas to get married with DeLuca. She wakes up in a hotel room where the nightmare carries on. There, she learns that Owen has left and has taken the kids. She starts regretting her decision and tells Koracick that they shouldn’t have happened, putting a grenade in his hands.

We then cut to the day Hunt came to see her in Germany when Teddy turned him down. After talking to DeLuca again, Teddy decides to change what happened and this time, goes after Hunt.

After sleeping together, she finally admits to Hunt that Alison was the love of her life. Hunt is surprised and tells her he is sorry she lost her.

We then jump in time a little as we see Hunt and Teddy getting married with DeLuca officiating. During the ceremony, Owen receives multiple texts from all of his exes, including Cristina.

Things get even more confusing when they have dinner together and Hunt mentions how much he loves Amelia and how important Cristina is.

Teddy is getting frustrated and tells him she is done waiting for him. She realizes that she will never be enough, just as we cut to her in the OR with DeLuca operating on a heart. She then starts telling Deluca about Alison, what she was like and how she helped her when she lost her parents.

On the 11th September 2001, Alison wanted to stay in bed then make pancakes. Unfortunately. Teddy told her she needed to work which led to Alison dying as a result of the terrorist attack.

Meanwhile, Amelia tells Hunt that he needs to forgive Teddy as he has loved her for so long. Hunt is adamant as she lied for so many years. Amelia insists, thinking Teddy must be suffering from PTSD.

She then explains that everyone deals with it differently and reminds him that he once strangled Cristina. Hunt is angry when she mentions this, with Amelia trying to explain that Teddy has her own ways of dealing with traumatic events.

Teddy and Alison are sitting on a bench in Central Park and after spending a peaceful moment together, hear the plane going past and everyone starting to panic.

Alison wants to go and see what has happened but Teddy tries stopping her. Suddenly, Alison struggles to breathe just as if she was surrounded by smoke and unfortunately dies.

We then cut to the hospital as Teddy walks with Meredith and sees multiples beds with corpses covered with white sheets. Teddy blames herself for Alison and DeLuca’s death but Meredith tries convincing her she is not responsible. Meredith then takes her out of the hospital and tells her there is no joy without pain.

In her house, Teddy suddenly gets up just as Amelia says goodbye to Hunt. He then walks over the bedroom and sees Teddy holding their daughter as the episode closes.

The Episode Review

Grey’s Anatomy sinks even lower this week with a poorly written filler episode. Once again, the show tries to shoehorn the Alison-Teddy story onto the audience and it doesn’t work very well.

It doesn’t really do much to bring the narrative forward, and since Teddy is not a well-liked character, I doubt many will enjoy this latest instalment.

Between the constant COVID stories, Meredith’s dreams at the beach and forced political messages, I now have little hope the show will improve in the coming weeks.

It’s a shame too as the series used to bring some very dramatic and entertaining stories. This season though things have sort of fizzled out.

Still, the conversation between Amelia and Hunt was probably the best part of the episode. One memorable line was when Amelia told him that everyone deals with PTSD differently, and that he once strangled Cristina.

This may have been quite harsh but a wake-up call for Hunt, as he seems to be finally thinking about forgiving Teddy.

It looks like we are getting more time at the beach again next week. This storyline is also starting to drag a little but it does act as a big fan service. It has been nice seeing old faces but I think it is time for Meredith to wake up – and perhaps for the show to add a time jump too. That surely would be a very welcome addition to this season and could just be enough to shake up this stagnation.