Teddy Altman
Theodora Grace Altman, M.D. is a fictional character from the ABC medical drama Grey's Anatomy. The character was created by series' producer Shonda Rhimes, and is portrayed by Kim Raver. She was introduced as a recurring character in season six, but is later upgraded to series regular in the same season after Katherine Heigl's departure from the series.
Altman was conceived as the third major attending cardiothoracic surgeon in the series, following Preston Burke and Erica Hahn 's exits. In the storyline, Altman is a gift for Cristina Yang, recommended by Oh's character's love interest, Owen Hunt, to practice Cardiothoracic surgery in her residency, after failing to receive practice from Hahn after Burke's departure. Yang discovers there is more than meets the eye with Owen and Teddy as friends, leading to a brief love-triangle. Other storylines include Altman's relationship with a psychologist and later marrying a patient to take care of his health care, eventually falling in love with him. Raver's first tenure in the show lasted three consecutive seasons, with her final appearance being the eighth season finale.
Altman is mentioned for the first time again five years later when Owen discovers his sister, Megan is still alive and Altman reportedly bears witness in identifying her in the thirteenth season finale. Raver reappears in five episodes of the fourteenth season, then is upgraded again to series regular in the fifteenth season, following a storyline involving her pregnancy with McKidd's character. Since her second promotion to series regular, her storylines have included being caught in two love-triangles with Owen and his ex-wife Amelia Shepherd, and Owen and Tom Koracick, played by Greg Germann. The character is also later revealed to be bisexual, with best friend Alison who died in 9/11, shown to be a romantic partner in a flashback.
Storylines
Teddy attended the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center. She completed her surgical residency at George Washington University Medical School and her fellowship at the Mayo Clinic in Florida. As an attending physician, Teddy worked at Columbia, but after her best friend and lover Allison was killed during the collapse of the second tower on September 11, 2001, she left and joined the army, meeting trauma surgeon Owen Hunt during her tour in Baghdad.Owen brings Teddy to Seattle Grace Mercy West hospital to mentor his girlfriend, Cristina Yang. Teddy admits that she is in love with Owen, but he tells her that he loves Cristina. When Teddy assigns Cristina a difficult surgery for her first solo cardiothoracic case and refuses to assist, Owen questions Teddy's motives. Teddy decides to leave Seattle Grace; Cristina pleads with her to stay, even offering to break up with Owen if Teddy will continue to teach her. Although Teddy agrees to stay, Owen convinces Cristina to stay with him, and Teddy briefly removes her from her service.
Teddy develops a friendship with pediatric surgeon Arizona Robbins, who sets her up with plastic surgeon Mark Sloan. They have a brief relationship, which they both enjoy despite knowing that neither wants the other—Teddy still wants Owen, and Mark is in love with Lexie Grey. The two separate amicably when Teddy walks in on Mark sleeping with resident Reed Adamson.
Towards the end of season six, Teddy has to fight for her job as Chief of Cardiothoracic Surgery. Cristina asks Owen to put in a good word for Teddy; he does the opposite by telling Chief of Surgery Derek Shepherd that she would land on her feet. Ultimately another candidate refuses to take the post and Teddy receives a full-time contract. Teddy later learns of, and is hurt by Owen's betrayal.
Teddy has a brief relationship with Dr. Andrew Perkins, whose service at the hospital is temporary. Before his departure, he suggests that Teddy has a tendency to fall for people who are either otherwise engaged or only in town for a month. She later meets Henry Burton, a patient with the rare genetic condition Von Hippel-Lindau disease, who can no longer afford to pay for his medical care. Teddy marries him so that he can use her health insurance, and only comes to appreciate the gravity of this decision when Henry suffers a near fatal complication of his illness. Teddy discovers that he has listed her as his emergency contact and is forced to make a life-or-death decision regarding his care, not as his doctor but as his wife. Though the newly-weds both maintain that theirs is a simple marriage of convenience, and Teddy continues to date other men, Henry later confesses that he has feelings for Teddy. She tells him she does not feel the same way.
Teddy again removes Cristina from her service when she performs a surgery despite Teddy's opposition. She tells Owen that Cristina's over-abundance of confidence makes her dangerous, and that she will keep Cristina off her service until she feels she is ready to return. When Andrew returns and asks Teddy to move to Germany with him, she accepts, and agrees to divorce Henry. However, in the seventh season finale, Teddy changes her mind and tells Henry that she is falling in love with him. The two begin their married life properly, but in season eight, Henry dies, leaving Teddy distraught. She blames Owen because she wasn't told that Henry had died until after her surgery on another patient. Feeling that he put the hospital before her, she breaks off her friendship with him, causing problems with them being able to work together that are later made worse by Cristina's own relationship troubles with Owen. After a particularly bad case, Dr. Bailey sternly tells Teddy that what happened with Henry was not Owen's fault and that Teddy knows this and needs to get over it, which pushes Teddy to behave more civilly towards Owen, but she finally lets go of her anger after she desperately begs Owen to convince Cristina to not transfer away from Seattle and is left shocked and silent when Owen furiously tells her he will not do that because he and Teddy are only co-workers and, as she made very clear, not friends and therefore she has no right to ask him for any help or favors. She and Owen eventually make up in the season finale. Owen finds out she was offered a job at the United States Army Medical Command, but turned it down because she wanted to be there for Owen, if he and Cristina were to separate. He ultimately fires her and she does take the military job, and tells her that he'll be okay as they part having restored their friendship. Teddy and Owen make up and hug each other goodbye as he wants her to take the job offer, which would be good for her.
Teddy was later mentioned in season thirteen episode "True Colors." Army officers knocked at Owen's door stating that his sister Megan is believed to have been found alive ten years after her disappearance. At first, Owen is not sure what to believe, but his wife Amelia Shepherd mentioned to Owen that Teddy saw Megan and recognized her. This seemed to be the first time Teddy was mentioned after her departure. Until Amelia tells Owen in season 14 that he was in love with Teddy. He flew to Germany to be with her. Teddy and Owen sleep together but, Teddy told Owen he was scared to be alone and sent him on his way, it was revealed in the season 14 finale that she is pregnant. In the Season 15 finale, Teddy gives birth to her and Owen's daughter, whom they both have named Allison, in honor of Teddy's best friend who died during 9/11.
Development
Casting and creation
In October 2009, it was reported that actress Kim Raver would play the character and have a recurring role on the show's sixth season. In January 2010, Raver was promoted to a series regular.On May 18, 2012, the day after the season eight finale, Grey's Anatomy creator, Shonda Rhimes, announced that it was Raver's decision to leave the show, "I know this season’s finale had some surprises for viewers and the exit of Kim Raver was one of the big ones. But Kim’s series option was up and she was ready to give Teddy Altman a much-needed vacation. It’s been a pleasure working with someone as talented and funny and kind as Kim; everyone is going to miss her terribly. I like to imagine that Teddy is still out there in the Grey’s Anatomy universe, running Army Medical Command and building a new life." When the news of the character's departure was released, Raver wrote on her Twitter, "I've had one of the best times of my creative career working on Grey's with Shonda, Betsy and the best cast on Television," she wrote, adding: "I feel fortunate and grateful to have worked with such an amazing team at GA . am going to miss everyone!! And to the GA fans, you guys rock! I am sure S9 will be great!" On June 20, 2017, it was announced that Raver would be reprising her role as Teddy Altman for a guest arc during the show's 14th season. After recurring in Season 14, it was announced that Raver would once again be a series regular in Season 15.