On Dr. Teddy Altman in Grey’s Anatomy
Teddy was really wronged as a character… one of those high potential characters the viewers like more than the writers. Teddy isn’t even in the top 5 of my favorite characters, but I find her and her treatment very interesting.
This contains spoilers for Grey’s. It’s been on TV forever, so if you don’t know by now that’s on you.
Teddy became Izzie 2.0. It’s not that their personalities are similar – in my opinion, Teddy is actually seen on screen as a good doctor and Izzie was almost never seen actually practicing – but their writing is similar. Teddy’s work storylines are always overshadowed by her emotional arcs. Other than her male counterpart, Owen Hunt, none of the male doctors on Grey’s Anatomy are emotionally dominated as characters. Even George O’Malley helped birth Bailey’s baby, sassed a Nazi, and did “heart in an elevator”. Other than Izzie, I would argue Teddy Altman gets the least amount of surgery-based character arcs. And this is only based on my viewing up to season 17, the Covid season. After that I sort of give up.
read the rest on substack for FREE
















