So Wait, Did Owen Survive The Grey's Winter Finale?

Warning: Major spoilers for Grey’s Anatomy Season 18, Episode 8 follow. I never thought I’d say this, but, I need Owen to be OK. The complicated trauma surgeon isn’t always the most popular character on the show, but his character arc has gotten a major glow-up in recent episodes, and regardless, his current predicament is hardly one fans would wish upon him. So, let’s just get right to it: Do we think Owen is dead after that Grey’s Anatomy mid-season finale?

The Dec. 16 episode focused largely on Owen’s storyline. After hearing there was a donor heart available for his nephew Farouk, who has been in the hospital with constrictive pericarditis, Owen, Teddy, and Hayes went on a road trip to retrieve it. However, on the way back to Grey Sloan, their driver had a major stroke, and their car went careening into a tree, which just so happened to be at the edge of a cliff. Knowing one false move would send them over the edge, the doctors decided to send Teddy to get help and bring the heart (which only had about three more hours before it was no longer usable) back to the hospital for Farouk’s transplant.

After Teddy left, Owen persuaded Hayes to go after her, even though he knew the car’s balance would be thrown off and he’d tumble down 100 feet, likely to his own demise. Hayes was hesitant at first, but after Owen’s pleading, he got out of the car — and as soon as he did, the vehicle slid off the edge, with Owen still in it.

This really looks like it could be curtains for Owen. I mean, Grey’s has never shied away from offing its doctors — and vehicular incidents are a common culprit (RIP, Mark and Lexie). Plus, Owen has been in a pretty good place lately, having finally married Teddy and also with a mission of helping veterans like himself. In Grey’s logic, a thriving character is good as dead.

The promo for Grey’s Episode 9 — which will serve as the show’s mid-season premiere on Feb. 24 — backs up the theory that Owen is a goner. When the Station 19 firefighters go out to rescue him (because of course this will be another crossover episode), it’s revealed there is a civilian down with no pulse. However! When Owen went down, he wasn’t alone in the car. There was still the driver who had the stroke, who was silent in the driver’s seat, either unconscious or already dead. Is it possible Owen somehow survived the car’s plummet, and the civilian in question is the nameless driver?

But even if Owen is alive after the big fall, that doesn’t mean he won’t have any serious — possibly fatal — injuries to address back at Grey Sloan. Basically, fans are just going to have to wait this one out to get any answers.

Grey’s Anatomy Season 18 returns on Feb. 24, 2022.