“Danger Zone”
Original Airdate: October 26, 2017
There are a lot of reasons why the fourteenth season of Grey’s Anatomy has gotten off to a great start, and the fifth episode sums up most of them. With a majority of the episode flashing back to the day that Megan Hunt was kidnapped in Iraq, finally seeing the events that we have all heard plenty about was quite nice. The cast chemistry was absolutely fantastic, which is why it is so hard to accept that this good thing is coming to a halting end. Even more surprising is that the events of the episode are an unconventional send-off for one of the main characters.
THE PAST
The most interesting parts of the episode are the flashbacks to Owen, Nathan, Megan, and Teddy’s time in Iraq — specifically the fateful day where Megan was taken captive. I have never seen Owen so alive as a character than during the military throwbacks. Actor Kevin McKidd always does a great job of making Owen very emotional, but his attitude in the Iraq scenes was fantastic. Owen is definitely a military character through and through, which I feel has never been shown to this extent.
All of the actors looked very at ease and comfortable during the flashback scenes, which translated perfectly for their characters. The four characters click so well, and the beginning of the season has been teasing their tight bond. They really seemed like a big, happy family in this episode. Nathan and Megan’s relationship does get fleshed out a bit more in the past, which revealed that both parties cheated on the other. I liked how the old Nathan was finally showcased because it confirms that he has changed, even though we haven’t seen the full character arc over the past two years.
As great as the flashbacks were, I was very surprised that we only get a glimpse at how Megan was kidnapped. The whole event was not shown, which was disappointing. The episode gives the entire story up to the point where she is taken. This is a sad tease that isn’t quite fair to the viewers. I would much rather have seen exactly how Megan was kidnapped and survived rather than an extended look at the day leading up to it. Based on what happens during the present-day storyline, I don’t think that story is going to be told anytime soon.
THE PRESENT
The other focuses of the episode are Megan and Owen’s trip to her new home and Nathan and Farouk’s bonding time. Unfortunately, there is a bit of a time gap between the previous episode and this one because Amelia appears to be fully recovered. At first glance, Owen and Amelia have started over together and are living under one roof again. The Hunt siblings have picked up exactly where they left off ten years ago, which finally fleshes out with Megan being released from the hospital. It isn’t clear how much time has passed, but it feels like there is an episode missing to explain the sudden changes between the characters.
Owen is still extremely overprotective of Megan and decides that he can’t leave her again in fear of her not making it to her new home in California. Although he is cordial with Amelia again, things don’t feel like they are back to normal with that relationship. The road trip serves a dual purpose for Owen in avoiding Amelia and protecting Megan. At least Megan has a good sense of reality and convinces her rather stubborn brother that he can’t protect her forever and needs to have a life of his own. Their interactions are so much fun to watch, as McKidd and Abigail Spencer are perfect together.
Somewhere in between episodes, Nathan and Megan have committed to being a family and raising Farouk together. They have decided to move out of Seattle together to get a fresh start, which leaves Nathan to set up the new beach house. Watching Nathan struggle to put the house together adds a good amount of comic relief to the episode, which was definitely needed between the flashback scenes. He also has some bonding time with Farouk, which shows how committed he is to being a father figure.
By the end of the episode, the family of three has settled into their new home. Nathan is surprisingly staying in California, which means his time at Grey-Sloan has come to an end. While it was assumed that Nathan would probably wind up with Megan sooner or later, the love triangle with Meredith was so much fun and had a lot of potential left. It seems so sudden that Nathan is leaving. With no previous hinting, the move comes at an awkward time with all of his storylines heating up. I thought Nathan was a great character for the show, so it is sad to see him go.
THE FUTURE
So, with Megan and Nathan’s story abruptly wrapping up, where do we go from here in regards to the rest of the season? The first five episodes were all about Megan and her recovery, so it should be interesting to see what comes next. The other “shocker” of the episode is Owen breaking it off with Amelia. While she did give him the free pass to do so at the end of the previous episode, it was surprising to see Owen give up on her. He made so much effort in his second marriage that it doesn’t make sense for one trip to change his mind.
It is unclear whether the end of Megan and Nathan’s storyline means the end of Teddy’s guest arc as well. Naturally, with Owen ending things with Amelia, the assumption would be that he goes all in with Teddy. After years of flirting, it’s about time that they finally act on those feelings we all know they have for each other. With Nathan leaving, it would be great to have Teddy back full time. Time will tell whether Teddy stays or goes again, but if she leaves, I wouldn’t be shocked at this rate if Owen goes with her.
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