 McKidd has referred to his character and the character of Cristina Yang as " soulmates . " Speaking of Owen 's PTSD storyline , McKidd stated : " What 's exciting about telling this story with this character is that it 's quite brave of ABC and Shonda [ Rhimes ] , on a prime @-@ time network TV show , to address a tough subject , and one that people don 't necessarily want to hear about . But so far the writing room is handling it beautifully . They 're not banging people over the head with it but exploring it in a sensitive and interesting way . " Owen and Cristina have struggled with their fictional relationship in season eight , leading to Owen having a sexual affair . Directly before the episode involving the affair aired , McKidd said to Entertainment Weekly : " The thing about Owen is that he tries to do things perfectly , and obviously , he messes up as the chief because you have to make these odd black @-@ and @-@ white decisions and sometimes you make the wrong decision . There ’ s a lot of stress in his life at the moment , so he ’ s trying not to let that affect his efficiency as chief . " Although the characters ' marriage is tested , McKidd reported to The Hollywood Reporter : " I think they 're meant for each other . I hold out faith in Cristina and Owen , even though they go to the darkest places out of all the couples on the show . It 's going to get worse but it 's going to get better soon . " 
