Rejoice Grey’s Anatomy fans, for the ABC medical drama has been renewed for seasons 16 and 17. TV renewals often come with news of which cast members will be sticking around for the next batch of episodes. Well, if you’re a fan of Atticus “Link” Lincoln (Chris Carmack), Thomas Koracick (Greg Germann), or Levi Schmitt (Jake Borelli), you’re in luck. All three of those characters’ portrayers have been raised from recurring actors to full-time series regulars for the 2018-2019 season, Deadline reports.
But, this reveal isn’t merely some fun casting news. Instead, the promotions of Chris Carmack and Greg Germann give viewers their first clue about the future of Grey Anatomy season 15’s messiest love pentagon. After the drama of Thursday night’s “Drawn to the Blood,” such hints couldn’t come fast enough.
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The penultimate episode sets up which storylines will dominate upcoming season 15 finale, “Jump Into The Fog.” Towards its close, the very pregnant Teddy Altman (Kim Raver) goes into labor after admitting she’s in love with Owen Hunt (Kevin McKidd, who also directed the episode), the father of her soon-to-arrive baby. She shares this revelation with Amelia Shepherd (Caterina Scorsone), the woman who just broke up with Owen, who is caring for his son, and who is now spending her free time sleeping with Carmack’s Link. Teddy has not told her boyfriend, Koracick (who just bought her an apartment) about her unparalleled feelings for Owen.
Amelia and Koraciak are also constant work collaborators. The former has been telling the latter such a lovestruck Teddy-Owen conclusion was inevitable. Now, Amelia has been proven correct.
It's safe to assume Teddy will tell Owen how she feels about him in the 2019 finale. And that intense admission will likely be shared amidst the most harrowing portion of her labor — remember, this is Grey’s Anatomy.
However, it’s possible Owen and Teddy won’t be getting the fairytale ending Amelia has predicted for weeks. At the close of “What I Did For Love,” the episode prior to “Blood,” Hunt tells his new therapist (Bill Harper) he finally knows if he wants to be with Amelia or Teddy. “And I want to feel perfectly clear when I tell her that I love her,” he adds, suggesting his big speech is imminent. Well, Owen sees Teddy during “To the Blood,” and doesn’t drop any undying pledges of love and devotion. Instead, he runs away from her and towards blood donor on the other side of the city.
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On the other hand, Owen completely avoids Amelia. That means he definitely didn’t tell Teddy he is in love with her but hasn’t gotten a chance to talk to Amelia. Is that because Owen is waiting until he is totally “clear” to unveil his big romantic news? Because that kind of narrative turn would set into motion the exact kind of situation that would make the latest Grey’s Anatomy promotions work.
If Teddy admits her love for Owen and he rejects her for Amelia, she would leave Seattle without a partner but with baby Altman-Hunt. It’s not like she would want to stick around to watch Owen and Amelia figure out their relationship. And a man as powerful and understandably vain as Tom Koraciak wouldn't want to be Teddy's second best. Tom would then continue working at Grey Sloan, where he’s focusing on treating longtime friend Catherine Fox (Debbie Allen), who still has cancer.
This love pentagon twist would leave Amelia to choose between Owen and Link, either by the end of the finale or well into season 16. If you pay close attention during “Drawn to the Blood,” this is exactly the kind of plotline Link telegraphs towards the end of the episode.
“Is this your past or your future? Owen and Leo?” he asks Amelia while she takes baby Leo “home,” as she says, to Owen’s house. When Amelia and Link were just sleeping together as sexy “pain management” the confusing Shepherd-Hunt situation was fine with the Ortho God. Now that Link and Amelia’s relationship is starting to feel real, he has questions. Questions, he wants Amelia to answer soon — and might be even tougher to figure out if Owen chooses Amelia over Teddy.
We know Shondaland loves the hard road over the easy one. So prepare for Amelia’s decision to dominate Grey's Anatomy's already-promised future.