Classic Romantic Moment: Emily Owen’s Emily and Micah

THE SHOW: Emily Owens, M.D.

THE PAIRING: Emily Owens (Mamie Gummer) and Micah Barnes (Michael Rady)

THE EPISODE: Emily and The…. Perfect Storm; Season 1, episode 12. Aired January 29^th 2013

The Lead In

Though most romantic moments fondly remembered originate from classic literature or stories with something more to say, sometimes we find one that’s simply put, “cute.” That’s what I found with this short-lived CW series. It’s about a young, clumsy doctor named Emily Owens whose life grows expediently more complicated when the guy she loves begins dating her high school nemesis (both facts he is aware of) and her new boss develops feelings for Emily. To ensure she’d stay close to Will (her best friend and the guy she’s loved throughout Med School) and as an added bonus train under a prominent surgeon, Emily accepts an internship at a Denver hospital. But much to her surprise, it turns out the high school mean girl is also spending her internship at the same hospital. Cassandra sets her sights on Will, which makes Emily’s genuine confession of love awkward for both Will and Emily. Then just when things begin to go south with Will and Cassandra (and Emily decides Will is no longer worth pining for), Dr. Micah Barnes decides he’s kept silent long enough…

The Romantic Moment

The moment begins when Micah walks into their local “hang out” bar, sees Emily laughing with her friends and takes that first step. “Hey, can I ask you something?”

Glad to see Micah, she responds, “Yeah. But you should know there’s a moratorium for talking about hospitals or medicine.”

This is when some of the cutest TV flirting ever ensues (Only Emily Owens can pull this off). The lighthearted banter begins with Micah’s quick comeback, “Why would I talk about that? I work at the bank down on Iverson.”

A quizzical look upon her face, Emily plays along with Micah’s lead. “Yeah… I think I’ve seen you there. I make my deposits there. My name is…” Momentarily stumped, she finishes with, “Tammy. I work at the travel agency.”

Micah feigns recalling just who “Tammy” is, stumbling through his memory of meeting her. “Tammy… the travel… yeah.” Introducing himself as “Bob the banker,” the pair exchange greetings keeping up with their play acting and shake hands. At this point, the two of them are distracted by other things. Emily with showing her friends a photo of a dog she and her co-workers saved; Micah by his friend in a suspicious conversation with his boss. When Micah is ready to return to Emily, she is talking with a friend and again Micah finds himself delayed in his confession. His look of incredulity and disappointment says it all.

(During this time, in true let’s-make-things-more-complicated TV writing, Emily’s friend invites herself to Emily’s place as a temporary roommate. Then Will and Cassandra break up.)

Later that night, Emily finds her way outside for a breath of fresh air. This is where Micah again catches up with her. He easily falls back into their banter from inside, “Tammy. Is that you?”

“Hey, Bob. How you doin’?”

“Oh… whatcha doin’ out here?”

“Just having a small existential crisis.”

“Oh. One of those.”

“Yeah.”

“Why?”

“Chaos. It’s just all chaos. Can’t organize it ’cause you’re just constantly, constantly blindsided.”

Finally done expressing her pent up confusions (with Will, mainly), she turns around to face him. With one question, Emily finally gets to the heart of what Micah wanted to tell her. “What did you want to ask me?”

Nervousness flits across Micah’s face as he seems to realize this is the moment. He has a nanosecond to decide if he wants to risk their friendship and tell Emily the truth: he’s in love with her. Forging ahead, he stumbles a bit, “Um…” with a non-committal reply before slowly taking a small step forward. Instead of saying anything, he looks into her eyes and taking a second step forward, takes the risk. It seems as if understanding crosses Emily’s face right before he leans forward and sweetly kisses her.

When they pull apart, Emily smiles and utters only a breathless “thank you” in response. This earns a smile from Micah. Before either one can respond, Will interrupts by announcing his breakup with Cassandra, and the spell is broken. A fate that unfortunately seems to be their luck. The moment is further ended when the rest of their friends spill out of the bar and Emily is whisked away in the crowd… but not before she turns and steals another glance at Micah. (Or is it Will?) It’s clear, even from Emily’s dazed reaction, this kiss had significance and meant something.

This first kiss was everything fans wanted, in spite of the show being unceremoniously cut short. What about you, did you watch the short-lived Emily Owens, M.D.? Did you like it? Where do you see Emily now? Were you “Team Will” or “Team Micah”? Share any thoughts you have down below.

Photos: CW

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