The dance between Owen and Amelia continued in this episode as we saw their exploration of the potential for more than a friendship between them continue alongside yet more medical interruptions. This time professional connected deeply to personal as the patient they both ended up treating was Owen’s mother.
Owen struggled to process his reaction as Richard summarized how his mother landed in the emergency room after a fall through her glass shower door. While she seemed mostly embarrassed by her fall, the dizziness Owen’s mother admitted to had Amelia recommending tests to further diagnose her condition. Owen’s concern accelerated further as he learned the emergency responder in the room, a man younger than Owen, was his mother’s boyfriend.
We heard more about that relationship as Owen’s mother nervously talked to Amelia during her tests. We also learned more about Owen’s history, including that he got his military connection from his mother who served in Vietnam and that he’s been worried about his mother being lonely since his father died 32 years ago.
After she was admitted to the hospital, Owen nervously approached his mother to discuss his concerns about her new relationship. Unfortunately the way he expressed those concerns soon put up a barrier between them and resulted in her asking her son to leave her room. Soon thereafter Owen was putting up further barriers by taking out his frustration on Amelia who approached him to talk about his mother. As she walked away we saw a chagrined expression cross Owen’s face, showing us he was perhaps aware of the mistakes he was making even as he wasn’t sure in the moment how else to handle his feelings.
A further medical crisis for Owen’s mother, whose name we learned was Evelyn, brought her son around to encouraging her happiness. We learned Owen said as much to her boyfriend while she was in surgery. And by the end of the episode we also saw Owen apologize to Amelia for his behavior as the two of them made time for each other away from the hospital.
Elsewhere in the hospital: Derek tried to make progress with Meredith regarding her concern about the status of their marriage; parallel scenes of Derek’s research lab showed us his life in D.C.; Alex asked for Meredith’s help with one of his patients while continuing to act as her confidante; Stephanie and Jo vied with each other for the most challenging cases; Ben continued to work in plastics with Jackson; and Callie and Maggie were concerned about the news Derek might share with Meredith about his time in D.C.
