Stares, Drunkenness and Everything Else

Calzona Review 10x04 “Puttin’ on the Ritz”

The episode review in four words?    I.Love.Them.Drunk.

I’m sure I was not the only one who immensely enjoyed this Ep.  Not only because of the grand setup of the fundraiser gala, the celebratory mood, and the fancy dresses the cast got to wear, but also because of the pervading atmosphere of fun.

The funny moments really made this momentous 200^th episode a delight to watch. Naturally present was the portion of drama, which is a staple in any Grey’s ep,  but the  humorous moments, albeit dark, cushioned the blow for our fragile unhealed Calzona hearts.

Initially, Calzona was presented with contrasting emotional portraits of Callie and Arizona. 

We have to remember, the last time we saw them was at the therapist’s waiting room. And Callie left Arizona to heal on her own.

Obviously, they have not been talking,  and in an earlier scene, we hear Callie mention to Mer and Cristina that she cannot be in the same room as Arizona, that she’d rather leave if at all possible.

Callie though had to stay for the competition.

I think there was only one scene where I saw both Callie and Arizona in a single frame. Showing how both are coping with the new situation, in an awkward setting where they have to be all dressed up and fancy, even if they each had turmoil going on inside of them.

The longing loving look

First Calzona scene, at the gala, they caught each other’s gaze from across the room, but Callie hurriedly looks away and reverts to the potential donor whom she was talking to, who was incidentally star struck about her, and Arizona  longingly, lovingly held her gaze, but eventually gave up. 

Seemed she wanted to see how Callie was, but of course, seeing that Callie avoided her stare, it was obviously not the right time to even approach Callie. They were just a few meters away from each other, so near to one another, yet so far.

It  felt nice to see Callie revert her gaze to Arizona when Arizona walked away, that for a moment, she wasn’t  able to focus on the man she was talking to.

If you are a true blue shipper, you’d know Callie well enough to see that those eyes don’t lie. There was still that big love for Arizona, but of course, not actionable in the present situation. 

Surprise of surprises though, when the donor asked her mistakenly about her wife who passed away in the  plane crash, she confirmed that her wife is indeed dead. Spur of the moment decision.  

Oops. Stop right there. We did not expect that. It um, hurt. But  before we completely freaked out, we were interested to see where this was going.

Thinking about it, she may have done it because she still had pain and anger, mixed with the strong desire to solicit a donation from this man. Though she said later on that she was cornered by the widow and had to resort to those lies. To Callie’s mind, hey, milk the story for what it’s worth. She’ll deal with the consequences later. And so she did.

Contrasting Portraits

Since Callie’s story that she lost her wife stretched on as she talked to more people, this is where the humor came in. The much hyped “dark humor” that was to be expected in this episode.

“It was a beautiful service. But after, little Sofia just kept asking, ‘why is mommy not coming home with us?’” 

Two observations. One, Callie is the queen of hilarious. Two, I didn’t know Sofia could already talk. I thought she was just capable of blah-ing. I know that seeing her already grown, I should be less stupid to think that she cannot talk yet , but since they never really showed her talking, I assumed she couldn't talk yet. So much for my being an ignoramus, let’s get on with the analysis.

We just adored Callie's  humorous exchanges with several people that night of the gala. That  widow, who had slept on the couch with her cat, to which Callie agreed but quickly retracted,  "Exactly. Wait, what?"   HAHA, DOUBLE HAHA.

Callie Torres was FUNNIEST when the lady donor widow  pushed the conversation  more than what Callie could afford to take further, “...you ever feel like that? Like she's still with you?".

 Callie had to cut her off (taking the opportunity as Jackson was getting on stage),  “SPEECH! SPEECH! HUSH UP!” and had the entire Greys  fandom in stitches. 

Sara Ramirez is a GENIUS at comic scenes. She did it effortlessly. Just shows how seasoned a performer  she really is. A true thespian gem.

Callie did have a serious scene though, with Owen to whom she shares her sentiment, of having changes in their respective romantic  relationships,  and  also said she can't even think of dating.

It’s good too that she agreed to Owen that she cant keep telling everyone that Az is dead. So I hope that Callie says sorry to Az about this. Even in the guise of dark humor, it was disconcerting. Calzona fans are uneasy about this. It was funny at first, but not after you really think about it.

In the closet

Meanwhile, April stumbles upon a crying Arizona in a closet. Hiding her tears and pretending she was looking for IV kits for peds.

And there the April-Arizona friendship started. She sensed Arizona crying and cared enough, was kind enough to listen to Arizona’s laments.  

So two bottles of champagne and  two transparent plastic disposable cups on the table, sealed the beginning of the unexpected Apzona friendship. And hey, got us the most surprising funniest moments because yes they did! They got drunk!!!

During the drinking session between the unlikely pair,  is where the best quotes of the episode came out  for us:

Most memorable was when Arizona  told April of her feelings about  the  stares she was getting, now that the news of her being a cheater rapidly spread. 

Even if April tried to convince her that people weren’t staring, she countered, “Please, I grew up gay, I know exactly how it feels like when people are staring, and when you’re missing a leg, and when they know you’re a cheater, and they talk, and they judge and they stare.”

Through this line, not only do we see Arizona open up   (as she rarely does) about her direct experience and sentiments as a gay person in society. Also, later on, it allows us a  first  glimpse of what exactly she felt that led her to cheat.

She was resigned and readily admits that she was a cheater, and she said all this with pure honesty and humility. She was not defending herself a bit. She was plain remorseful. 

Jessica Capshaw was her usual brilliant self during this scene. I actually felt every word she said during that "stare" speech. She was acting  from the heart. From her sighs, to her expression of regret, from her eyes to her mannerisms, her delivery of that scene was absolutely spot-on.

Obviously she was in need of a friend to whom she can let it all out, and it truly is refreshing that April was this friend.

April: Im sorry for calling you a cheater

Az: I am, though

April: I know

The whole talk between the two was at first serious, but as the two were getting more and more drunk, the closet scene became the "wacky closet friendship club" Starring April Kepner and Arizona Robbins.

Then she segues into  how all this staring relates to her own experience. According to writer Austin Guzman, she was trying to explain the cheating, but not justifying it:

Arizona:  She stared at me too, but the way she stared, felt really really good, you know?

April: Actually, I do.

Many got a little confused on who Arizona was referring to in this line. I personally thought at first that it was Callie. But after a lot of help from our twitter friends and upon confirmation from Austin, it was Lauren she was talking about.

At first, I was surprised why out of the blue, she would even talk about Lauren.

I was too centered on her and Callie’s issue, that we never really got to hear her say anything about  what caused the attraction and why that on-call room action happened.

All she said from the beginning was about the leg,  that Callie wasn’t there and Callie didn’t lose anything and all that, but we are so happy to note that finally, this marks the time when she is able to talk about why she did it.

We`have all been aghast. We have always wanted an explanation. We never understood why she had to cheat. We loved her anyway, but we knew the time would come, when she would have to heal and the first step would be to 1)Admit her deed   2) Assess and Admit WHY she did it.

I would assume she did not go to the therapist during that red dress  day. Otherwise, they would have shown it to us, because that will be the crucial first piece in the puzzle of this mess that is Calzona.

The writers found this pre-drunken dialogue between  Apzona, as the catalyst in bringing to us Arizona' first step of healing.  The dialogue progressed into mutual appreciation of friendship, or confidence as they both got more drunk, April giving good counsel, and eventually  spilling the beans on  how Callie had been telling everyone she was dead.

Arizona: “You think Callie will forgive me?

April: Probably not. She’s telling everyone at the gala that you're dead.

It was all so funny, seeing drunken Arizona and April. When they ran low on drinks, Arizona even paged Leah the intern, to bring them more champagne (AND SNACKS!) to  the Closet Friendship Club, to Leah’s dismay.

 ,

They had fun, as Arizona drunkenly enthused “ this was really fun, and I needed fun" 

Guess what, Arizona, we did too! After all our heartache from the 1^st three eps, We needed this too! Such a welcome breather.

Jessica was so fun as drunk Arizona. We never saw Arizona get drunk, nor laugh that hard. This is the first time we see the Arizona who has a shiny personality with good values, to being intoxicated with liquor. Jessica as drunk Arizona deserves all praise. She aced this acting challenge superbly. I really hope we see more of this in future episodes. 

Then it seemed like the funny moments woudn't end. They had to get a cab, with Leah’s help, as they were too drunk to walk or drive home, April being undecided on whether she’d get carsick in the back or front seat of the cab.

Then comes Leah’s scene with Arizona, where Leah was giving a piece of her mind to the tipsy Arizona  that she does not need to babysit, etc. And the drunk sweet Arizona responded with a “boop” as Austin calls it, and says “You’re adorable”  leaving  Leah with a weird look on her face, staring at the cab that just left, then staring at an oncoming ambulance.

Stop right there (again). Umm, what was that all about?

We’d all like to think Leah was just happy about the oncoming trauma vehicle. We all erase from our minds if ever she will even feel flattered from that “boop”. If she knows what’s good for her, she better not read anything more from that. Arizona was drunk, she wont even remember anything that happened that night, not especially  that adorable boop.

Sorry I am veering away from objectivity because I seriously object to Leah becoming  a potential love interest for Arizona or her develop an interest in Arizona. Is she even into girls!?

 I hope they don’t put this into play. 

Besides, Arizona is on the "hoping for forgiveness remorse phase". She doesn’t have time for new flings. Her true love is Callie, and  Only Callie. 


Twitter:@GAFan8