Ask Matt Q's from the past: Owen Hunt

Question: Welcome back! I'm curious to see what your thoughts are on Owen Hunt and his development on Grey's Anatomy so far? I personally am very impressed with Kevin McKidd and Sandra Oh's work. Their acting styles complement each other and I find the material concerning Owen and Cristina well written, even though it may not amount to much screen time. I was concerned at first with how the PSTD story line would play out, but I find that it has just the right balance and I am more interested in Owen and Cristina in every episode. The episode where Owen is in Cristina's shower recounting his past surgery still haunts me, as well as his recent panic attack. The fact that he has become completely dependent on Cristina for support is also a testament to how Cristina has evolved as a character. Owen on the surface is a tough, badass surgeon, but at the end of the day he's a lost little boy that just needs to be taken care of. Kevin McKidd is impeccable at honing into the raw emotions of his characters. We see that in Owen's emotionally charged scenes, but also in scenes like the recent episode with Faye Dunaway (which was amazing) where he has a very observant/mature quality to his personality. As his PSTD becomes more prominent, which seems to be in the next new episodes, it will be interesting to see how this takes a toll on Owen and Cristina's relationship, but they seem to have a level of maturity that is rare on Grey's. Your thoughts?—Maya

Matt Roush: I think you nailed it, that on a show where even characters like the Chief act like mewling cry-babies too often, there’s a maturity and gravity—and drama that transcends soap opera—in the Owen-Cristina relationship. They’re playing the hell out of it. And hasn’t the show gotten better since the ghost of Denny dropped out of the picture? (I’m liking the show enough again that I didn’t even mind being called a “douche” by association in last week’s hilarious South Park episode, associating Grey’s in a demonic plot by Disney involving the Jonas Brothers and their purity pledge as a front to sell sex to minors.)