Teddy Montgomery
Teddy Montgomery | |
---|---|
Tennis player | |
Parents | Spence Montgomery (father) Unnamed mother (mother; deceased) |
Siblings | Savanna Montgomery (younger sister) |
Spouse | Shane (husband;invalid) |
Theodore "Teddy" Montgomery is a fictional character on
The character was introduced during the second season of the show. In season two, Teddy was known as a "player" who had commitment problems with many women, including with
Storylines
Season 2
At the beginning of the season, Teddy comes to town as
Later on, Dixon reveals to Teddy what he did and an angry Teddy punches Dixon. The trust problems are still the case when Silver finally decides to give Teddy a chance. While dating, Silver becomes suspicious of Teddy, and asks for advice from another of her closest friends, Naomi. Silver hires someone to spy on Teddy and finds out Teddy is telling other people how much he cares about Silver and that it's serious. Silver then regrets not trusting Teddy, and reveals to him that she had someone spy on him. Teddy is glad that Silver can trust him, but isn't sure if he can trust her. They later end up growing closer and rekindle their trust for each other. The two have fallen completely in love at this point, but Teddy's father, Spence, is reluctant about Teddy having a relationship, saying it will distract him from his tennis. Spence goes as far as to bribe Silver with money to break up with Teddy. Silver declines but breaks up with Teddy anyway, saying she cares about him too much and doesn't want him to stop doing something he loves because of her. In the season finale, Silver allows Teddy to make the decision on whether or not they should stay together. The two later get back together.
Season 3
Trevor Donovan became a regular in season 3, and Teddy's storyline became a larger focus of the series.
During the season premiere, an
During detention, the principal informs Teddy and Ian that the school is short on janitors. So she offers them manual labor which will shorten their detention. The two then agree. While cleaning the gutters, Ian tells Teddy it'll be easier if they work from the roof. They then walk up to the roof and begin to clean. While on the roof, part of the edge breaks off, which causes Ian to almost fall off only to be saved by Teddy. The two reconcile and Teddy apologizes to Ian for everything. Ian forgives Teddy due to him knowing what he's going through. Ian tells Teddy he will be there for him if he ever needs to talk, but Teddy informs Ian there is nothing to talk about. Teddy soon realizes he could be gay when he is about to
Now that Teddy and Ian are an official couple, Teddy tells Ian he doesn't want anyone to know and that their relationship must remain a secret. Ian tells Teddy that he won't go through this again so he breaks up with him. Later at Adrianna's party, Teddy reveals to Ian that he has learned to accept the fact that he is gay, but that he just isn't ready to come out yet. Teddy confesses his feelings to Ian, and they share a passionate kiss on the staircase, though they are unaware that Dixon had seen them. After Christmas break, Teddy comes back to school only to find a note in his locker demanding $50,000 or they will reveal his secret, as well as pictures of him and Ian kissing. After coming out to Silver and gaining support, Teddy finally gains enough of courage to come out to the rest of his friends. Although some are slightly uncomfortable by the news, they still accept him. Going back to Teddy's house, Ian tells Teddy how proud of him he is after all the struggles including the blackmail. Teddy quickly notices he never told Ian anything about the note in his locker, and realizes it was Ian all along. Teddy then breaks up with Ian and tells him to never speak to him again, saying he isn't the person he thought he was. Now that Ian's gone, Teddy is faced to go through the coming out process by himself. He faces some measures of hostility, but has support from Silver. Silver then takes Teddy up to the roof to hit some tennis balls to distract him from his troubles, just how Teddy used to do with Silver while dealing with her mother's cancer. Though, Teddy ends up hitting someone when he hears a scream from the ground. Teddy goes down to apologize and meets a guy named
Teddy and Marco soon start dating and Teddy even takes Marco to Ivy and Raj's wedding. However, their relationship soon ends later that summer.
Season 4
In the season premiere, Teddy reveals he had split up with his boyfriend; Marco Salazar over the summer for unknown reasons. He decides to spend his final days of summer with Silver, Naomi, Annie, Navid and Dixon. As college begins for most of the group, Teddy decides to take his
Season 5
In the season premiere, Teddy agrees to be a sperm donor for Silver in the wake of Dixon's horrible car accident, which he and his friends are also dealing with. In a later episode, Teddy's boyfriend, Shane, finds out the agreement Teddy made with Silver and is extremely upset that Teddy didn't talk it out with him. In the mid-season finale, Silver meets Teddy for lunch with the intentions of getting his signature that will ultimately take away all of his parental rights to the child. Teddy, hoping to pleasantly surprise Silver, refuses to sign the papers and reveals that he and Shane would like to help her parent the child. Silver is incredibly unhappy with this gesture because it was not the original plan. Later on, Silver tries to talk things out with Teddy but he still wants to help parent the child with Shane. After that, Shane reveals to Silver that he and Teddy will be taking legal action if she does not let Teddy co-parent the baby.
Development
The character of Teddy was first introduced in the second season of the show. He was originally supposed to stay as a recurring love interest for Silver, but was later upgraded to series regular for the upcoming third season. Upon first arriving to the show, Donovan revealed "Teddy is a new kid at West Beverly High. He’s been on the East coast at a private school and whatnot. He’s the quintessential all American golden boy. He’s the son of a two-time-Oscar-winning actor. Obviously, he comes from a very rich family but isn’t pretentious at all. He doesn’t have that potential rich kid attitude. He’s very nice, very welcoming. He’s more mature beyond his years because he grew up in an adult environment, grew up around the entertainment industry with his father being an actor and all of that. So he comes into school and there’s a little tension and a little drama created by his presence on the scene. So we’ll see." in an interview. Donovan also revealed he was intimidated by the rest of the cast after they've been working on the show together for over a year, but later said everyone was welcoming."[5]
For the third season, Teddy had been upgraded to a series regular. Where he would have a brand new storyline that would involve Teddy coming out as gay. Donovan exclaimed that he didn't want this story "to be this in-your-face moment for a quick ratings boost." As the 31-year-old actor began to talk to the writers, he began to understand the arc of his character Teddy. "It's true to real life, it's happening at a pace I think it would actually happen and it's going to unfold very realistically, [and be] very heartfelt," he says. Donovan tells TVGuide.com that he expects more outbursts as the tennis jock struggles with understanding who he is. "Everything is so internal. He's battling with himself," Donovan says. "He's creating his own problems and ... there's going to be a lot of external struggles from other people mostly caused by his frustration, his anger, his denial and confusion."[6]
With Teddy's storyline coinciding with the recent focus on bullying and teen suicide, Donovan joined other celebrities in Dan Savage's "It Gets Better" project with his PSA. "It's not like teen suicide or bullying is a new problem, but it has come to the forefront and it's been nationally publicized and ... it's been an amazing opportunity to educate people," he says. "There's more layers [this season]," he says."On a show that can tend to be superficial we really dug down into more substance and more crucial issues."[7]
Donovan also revealed that he was honored and flattered that the writers thought he could take such a story and handle it in the way it was written.[8]
Reception
In the beginning, when Teddy was first introduced, his character met with negative reviews from both critics and fans. They felt as if Teddy had no personality and that there really was no reason for him to be on the show. However, this changed dramatically once the third season had begun airing. As people began to see the sensitive and caring side of Teddy as the character grew extremely popular and was well liked by both critics and fans. Many fans praised the writers for choosing Teddy as the character to come out as gay.
References
- ^ Upgraded[permanent dead link] Retrieved: 2011-04-23.
- ^ "'90210' star Trevor Donovan returning for season five". Digital Spy. 3 July 2012. Retrieved 4 July 2012.
- ^ Gay Male Character Revealed! Retrieved: 2011-04-23.
- ^ Prime Time Shake-Up Retrieved: 2011-04-23.
- ^ Donovan on "Teddy Montogomery Retrieved: 2011-04-23.
- ^ Donovan Interview Retrieved: 2011-04-23.
- ^ Interview with Trevor Donovan[permanent dead link] Retrieved: 2011-04-23.
- ^ MAN exclusive interview with Trevor Donovan Retrieved: 2011-04-23.