The Grey's Anatomy finale for season 19 took place last night and fans were shocked when one of their favorite surgeons collapsed just before operating on a patient.
Teddy Altman has been a character on Grey's Anatomy since season six when she first was welcomed to Seattle Grace Mercy West hospital to mentor Cristina Yang, who was dating her old friend (now husband) Owen. Teddy left in season 8 but then came back in season 14 and has appeared in the last five seasons since then.
Teddy's relationship with Owen has been one of the highlights for fans over the past seasons and we have all loved watching them grow with their little family together and Teddy achieving her goal of becoming Chief of Surgery.
This growth and character development is perhaps why fans were so shocked to see Teddy's toothache in the season finale suddenly leading to her collapse on the operating room floor. So what exactly happened? Is Teddy dead? Is she coming back in season 20? What on earth is going on?
In the finale Teddy was complaining about a toothache, which didn't seem like much of a big deal and she herself refused to go and see a dentist.
Teddy was suddenly called to perform an emergency surgery on Sam Sutton, but as she prepared to operate she suddenly collapsed on the theatre floor. She didn't just faint from her tooth pain, she had no pulse and her husband Owen had to use a defibrillator to try and jolt her heart into action.
All the while, Sam is on the table and going into cardiac arrest and Lucas decides to perform the surgery without an attending, and Simone jumps in to help him.
But what about Teddy? Is Teddy going to die?
As she had no pulse, technically Teddy died on the Operating Room floor, but as she is surrounded by doctors who were trying to help her gain a pulse it's likely that she will survive this. In addition, Deadline confirmed that Kim Raver (the actress who plays Teddy) is confirmed to return for season 20, adding weight to the theory that Teddy will survive this ordeal.
However, the show makers haven't confirmed what Teddy's story line will look like in season 20, and it could be possible that could have permanent injuries from this incident.
Adding weight to the argument that Teddy might not survive this ordeal is also the fact that Grey's Anatomy is known to be cut-throat and have no problem killing off beloved characters. This could mean they could keep up on tenterhooks for the whole of the season gap, just to kill Teddy off anyway!
Fans were left devastated after the episode ended with Teddy's fate in the balance and many took to social media to complain and beg (and threaten) the creators to save Teddy.
"As a day 1 Teddy Altman truther and defender I am literally about to storm the greys abc headquarters like that’s my girl? don’t play with my girl??" said one fan. "TEDDY BETTER NOT BE DEAD I DID NOT JUST STAY UP FOR THE GREY’S FINALE FOR HER TO DIE NONONOOOO," said another hysterical viewer.
Other fans were certain Teddy would survive. "It may end up being NOTHING that serious knowing Grey’s and their shock value but, they want to keep us in suspense until the new season," one viewer said.
