Fans are currently waiting on the second half of Season 18 of Grey's Anatomy, and since just the beginning of the season, relationships have crumbled, sparks have flown, and things have gotten serious between Meredith and her new beau.
Grey's has been on the air long enough that characters have dated, divorced, re-married, re-coupled, and been on-and-off-again pretty much every other season. Still, there are plenty of potential couplings that the show's writers didn't dream up, and Reddit viewers had a few suggestions for couples that should have been.
Amelia Shepherd & Stephanie Edwards
Reddit user magicwemade pitched their take on a pair whose friendship and solid working relationship could have blossomed into something more. They wrote, "amelia & stephanie. i still hate that they never got an onscreen goodbye & that stephanie wasn’t around when amelia was going through her tumour surgery." The Reddit thread's original poster, Sam11394, even agreed, commenting, "They were amazing in their scenes together..."
Though Stephanie sadly left the show in Season 13, she remains a fan-favorite character. Thankfully, she wasn't sacrificed to the Grey's gods, and instead, left the medical profession to pursue new adventures in her life. The actress who plays Stephanie, Jerrika Hinton, told Entertainment Weekly she'd be open to returning to the drama, so not all hope is lost for this would-be couple.
Jackson Avery & Christina Yang
One fan, thnkmlter, was still interested in a match-up viewers only got a taste of in season 6. They shared, "Jackson and Cristina would’ve been so much more fun to watch than Cristina and Owen." Though these two shared a passionate kiss, Christina's pre-existing relationship with Owen and the residents' intense competition with each other prevented their romance from going further.
The thread's originator once again agreed, "I forgot about that one. That could’ve been really good and entertaining." However, with Jackson's history of running into the woods to think and Christina's global surgical ambitions, this couple likely wouldn't have stayed together for the long haul.
Addison Montgomery & Alex Karev
Redditor Spritti33 added to the thread to throw out a pairing that had palpable sexual chemistry in nearly every scene they shared together. The fan wrote, "I would have loved to see Addison and Alex. They were HOT." Though the characters slept together in an on-call room in season 3, Addison realized her connection with Karev was primarily physical and wouldn't serve her in the long term.
Soon after, Addison realized that Mark wasn't right for her either, prompting her to set off for fertility treatments in Los Angeles and eventually spearhead the Grey's spin-off series, Private Practice. Overall, Addison's decisions on Grey's Anatomy ranged from shameless to sensible, but seeing how Alex ultimately abandoned Jo, Addison may have dodged a bullet.
Arizona Robbins & Amelia Shepherd
Among their couple suggestions, Teachyoselff2 pitched "Arizona and Amelia," pairing the brilliant pediatric surgeon who was previously married to Callie Tores with one of the show's few sexually-fluid characters.
Since the Reddit thread was posted a year ago, viewers have gotten to experience Amelia's blossoming queerness through her relationship with Dr. Kai Bartley. This non-binary neuroscientist swept Amelia off her feet in the wake of her breakup with Link. Still, if Arizona ever returns to Grey Sloan and she and Callie are still only co-parents, Arizona and Amelia could have major chemistry.
Amelia Shepherd & Carina Deluca
Oncer93 clearly remembered what many Grey's fans may have forgotten: Amelia propositioning Carina for a threesome in season 16. Though the ménage à trois never came to be, Amelia effectively came out as bisexual when she expressed sexual interest in Carina DeLuca, a fiery, openly queer character.
Carina, of course, had a beautiful but brief relationship with Arizona, which is still one of Grey's fans' favorite same-sex pairings. But now, she is off the market and happily married to Maya Bishop from the Grey's spin-off, Station 19.
Andrew Deluca & Vic Hughes
The thread's originator commented onTeachyoselff2's list of pairings, "I agree with all of these," adding, "Deluca and Vic would’ve been good, better than her and Jackson.."
Though some of Andrew Deluca's best moments on Grey's happened with Meredith, their relationship crumbled under the stress of their unequal power dynamic. The writers definitely should have given him a fair shake through a relationship with someone at the same stage of life as him. But instead, he was tragically martyred on his quest to expose a human trafficking ring.
Amelia Shepherd & Andrew Deluca
Before his untimely death, Deluca fans shipped him with another high-powered surgeon who wasn't Meredith Grey. Oncer93 came to the conversational thread with several answers prepared for who the resident could have ended up with. They suggested, "Deluca with both Amelia and Stephanie. Amelia and Deluca could have been the gender reversed Merder."
Based on the number of times Deluca's name appeared in pairings on the Reddit thread, it's clear that if he had survived, he would have been one of the male characters with the most romantic potential on Grey's. However, Deluca hooking up with Amelia, a world-class neurosurgeon, might have prompted similar insecurities as those that drove him away from Meredith.
Catherine Fox & Tom Koracick
Reddit user sofaraway00 had an alternative romantic vision for the matriarch of the Fox Foundation than Catherine's rocky marriage to Richard Webber. They suggested "Catherine and Tom" as a couple that should have been together.
The implications of this match would be far-reaching—could it have prevented Teddy from cheating on Owen with Tom on their wedding day? Would it have transformed Tom into the kind, supportive character he was when Tom and Teddy worked as a couple on Grey's Anatomy? Catherine and Richard's relationship was undoubtedly more complicated than hers would have been with Tom, and Catherine's support of Webber as both her husband and head of the hospital's residency program is still a clear conflict of interests. But with Tom in Boston with Jackson, this pairing seems unlikely.
April Kepner & Nathan Riggs
Redditor Tangerinp suggested that April and Riggs should've been a couple since they have shared interests and a solid friendship—they always worked well as a team and first met when they served as military doctors in Jordan. Ultimately, Riggs broke things off with Meredith Grey to pursue a relationship with Megan Hunt, a fellow military veteran.
However, in season 18, when Megan returned to Grey Sloane hospital for her adoptive son's life-saving surgery, it was revealed that she and Riggs had broken up during their Covid quarantine. This certainly isn't one of the worst reasons couples have broken up on Grey's Anatomy, which is a change of pace for Grey's typically brutal splits. This means April and Riggs could still end up together—though fans of Jackson and April's reconciliation might have strong feelings about this.
April Kepner & Owen Hunt
The original poster decided to throw in one more opinion, replying to the April and Riggs match up, "I could see that...How about April and Owen?" This seems like an obvious pairing that writers chose not to explore for whatever reason. Perhaps it was the characters' age gap, their resident and attending relationship, or the fact that they were each in so many other entanglements — Owen with Christina, Amelia, and Teddy, and April with Jackson, Matthew, then Jackson again.
With their shared history as military medics and their specialties in trauma, April and Owen's similarities might have made them work together. Though Teddy and Owen's marriage seems to be on the rocks these days, it doesn't seem like April will come back from Boston to whisk him off his feet.