A Fresh Start

Calzona Review 10x13   “Take it Back”

Current mood of the Calzona fandom:  We are smiling so hard our face hurts.

After being on edge for seventy-plus days of hiatus, this episode made that long wait ALL SO  worthwhile.

Yes, this episode was a cause for celebration for Callie and Arizona fans, and of course, a cause for expecting  more twists to come. This is Shondaland, after all.

In a nutshell, in this ep: 1) Callie and Arizona handled the return of the wedding gifts.  2) They got it out in the open that “it’s not working.” 3) And Surprise of surprises (or not, because of the BTS  pic), they bought a house! 

Rewind to our reaction after 10x12, we were all clamoring for that much-awaited talk. That was the one thing they needed, and one thing WE  needed for them to do.

That previous episode gave hope, when we saw Arizona pouring out her feelings to April. She was not keeping things bottled up inside anymore. She was becoming transparent and open about her emotions. That Callie was trying so hard to fix her but she did not need to be fixed.

Meredith's voice over goes:

 “Everyday, a surgeon makes decisions that could go any of two ways. Either good, or very, very, very bad. The problem is, the epically great decisions and the epically bad ones look exactly the  same making them."

Them and the Wedding Gifts

In this mid season opener, the wait is over, Arizona had begun to spill  out her feelings , though clumsily and sometimes whiningly, finally to Callie.

As we have seen in the sneak peek, we see our beloved Calzona having a serious conversation amidst a  mountain of  wedding gifts at the back of a car, waiting to be returned. 

The conversation  wasn’t looking good. It actually was worrisome for a first Calzona scene of 10B. We were soooo worried.

Callie: Can we just take a breath for a second?

Arizona: don’t even have a card. How can April manage to return the gifts when we cant even manage to get the gifts with the cards?

Callie: Okay, we’ll find the cards. Arizona! Stop! We will fix it.

Arizona: No! We wont. That’s the problem. You’ve been trying to fix it! Our marriage. You’ve been trying to fix me and you’re so good, you’re killing yourself just to fix me!

Arizona said all these, shouting at Callie. Any viewer would be tense.

Callie: You don’t have to apologize.

Arizona : I’m not! That’s the point. I'm not the same person that I was before, and I don’t wanna apologize! And I don’t wanna be fixed!

Callie: Whoa wait, I wasn’t the same person I was before either

As we saw Arizona in 10x12, crying about how Callie has been trying to fix things and telling April, we see her talking to Callie. Voicing out her feelings, and she is crying.

Callie is  sympathetic and obviously wants to pacify her wife who seems all wounded

Then Arizona shouts at Callie, which was not pleasant to see at all:

Arizona: It’s not working and you know it! You knew before I did.

Callie: Can we just go home and sit down and talk about this?

Callie was so patient, understanding, trying desperately to keep Arizona calm. She  was obviously trying to keep things peaceful and trying to control the situation.

She was the more rational one of the two, she knew her wife was breaking down. Thus the screaming, the stressed out emotion

Then the scene ended with Arizona’s line:

“ Its not my home anymore!”  in a tearful, resigned tone, which grabbed Callie’s sympathetic compassionate heart.

 Callie let it all sink in. Here she was, trying to make things work, crestfallen, that all her efforts are for naught. She slowly realized, her efforts were futile. Her wife was not okay. She seemed to be lost.

A helpless expression was etched on Callie's  face. 

And we were all left dumbfounded. We had  hopes that things would get better at the start of 10B, but this didn’t look promising at all. I wanted to cry.

New House, Baby

Then suddenly, we are transported to a new scene with the  prominent title:  THREE WEEKS LATER. And oh yes, we can see  that  familiar house we saw in one BTS pic.
  .

Yes, Virginia, it’s a time jump.

We see Arizona strolling toward house Number 830, with a realtor.  

As an aside, it is funny how people are talking about Arizona flirting with the realtor, but that’s just all it’s going to be. Fun talk. We all have to accept that Arizona has one and only true love and that’s Callie.

Realtor: They’ll fix the gutters, the water damage in the bedroom…you know, I rarely see a deal go through this fast. You were really ready to move.

Arizona: Yeah sometimes you just need a fresh start

Realtor: Congratulations

I was in jubilation for what I've heard.  What could be more thrilling, they were  buying this piece of real estate!!!  And we  see that super magic Arizona smile which for the first time, graced our screens after seventeen episodes (last time was 9x19)!

Callie then enters the scene, apparently just having inspected the house. She seemed to be hesitant.

Callie: :I'm not sure we should be popping the champagne just yet, there’s a man-sized blood stain in the bedroom

Arizona: It’s rust

And after the realtor walked off , they continued:

Arizona: It’s beautiful, and its gonna be ours! 

Arizona was so delighted, excited, and obviously rushing. She was bent on influencing Callie’s sentiments on this house.

The background music was serious, it was a dramatic moment

Callie: It’s a murder house  (there was something sinister about the tone) 

But Arizona was determined to get her way..

Arizona: Callie, try.

And it did not take much for Callie to be convinced, what with Arizona flashing that cute smile, bending a little to look more adorable… And Callie broke into an instant smile..

Callie: It’s …kinda beautiful

Omg. Right there, my mental notes were flashing. Whatever made Arizona happy, Callie was willing to submit. She was bent on making her wife happy when clearly, she had her reservations about buying the new house.

Saying it was a murder house succinctly expressed her objection.

But loving as she is, you could see that if it meant a lot to her wife, she was willing to go with it.

Now what is love, tell me please.

I'm a sucker for love, I don’t really care if It was a bad decision, if they're gonna go all American Horror Story or whatever. All I really care about right now, is how this person, well my Callie right now, is showing immense love for her wife.

She knows her wife is going through a process, and Callie had been adjusting, bending to her wife’s wishes. Anything to  make Arizona happy and comfortable while going though  her stages.

And boom. Yes, we see Arizona lean forward to kiss  Callie who was quick to receive and kiss back. Not just one kiss but two!!! 

One after the other. I watched it about 28 times. The love in Callie’s eyes, the happiness in Arizona’s, yes, It  was overwhelming.

Let us  pause for a moment to honor this first kiss of 10B.  Pause. 

After 74 days of nothing, Shonda rewards us with this, who  could ask for anything more?  I wish  to deal with the intricacies on the storyline later. WE CALZONA FANS BADLY NEEDED THIS. 

And Momma Shondy really knew how to answer the call of our lovestruck souls.

It was so automatic. Totally an oh em gee moment. Jessica and Sara, again exhibiting marvelous chemistry-- they seemed  so realistic with that kiss. It was like breathing to them. That’s why Calzona remains to have  a very strong fan following. These two actors give such explosive chemistry to both Callie and Arizona. 

The man with the whisker piercings

We then  see  an urgent atmosphere in the hospital, as multiple trauma victim cases come in and our fave docs are in a frenzy,  with Chief Hunt calling the shots.

“Cars took out a bunch of pedestrians too”

Arizona was about to  head to trauma  room 4 to attend to a kid who cracked her head open.

Then we see being wheeled in was our famed Catman, who had a possible fracture to the right arm and  became  Callie’s patient.

He was walking through the sidewalk, when a car beat a red light and ended up in a six-car smash up.

Callie was assisted by newly heartbroken Stephanie, who was curious about the Catman’s contact lens,    veneer teeth and  whisker piercings.

At the patient’s room, we see Callie treating the Catman.

Callie was  obviously in a good mood. Even amused  with the patient and happy with herself. When the Catman  voiced out concern for the kid who cracked her head open, Callie even replied, with her dependable wit: “Hey you know what, let’s just worry getting you out of here with all of your nine lives okay?”

Then she laughs that lovely infectious laugh. Callie’s laugh. And Sara’s laugh too.

My love for this woman is growing by the meownute, I mean minute.

He Went All In

In this other scene with Callie, Stephanie and the  Catman, the Catman was explaining how he got to be such, and his story  was something that struck a chord in Callie. She saw a likable attitude from the  Catman’s story, and this made her pleased with how she herself had been handling her own situation.

Catman: It took 15 surgeries total and everything that  I had. How many people do you know are unhappy with who they are? Did they do anything to change it? I didn’t like who I was. But I had the balls to become who I wanted to be. I commanded it.

Steph: Some people take a gym membership

Callie: You went all in. I like it.

That last line contains very special words. That Cat of a Man seized both the negative and positives of his life and did something with it and put in 100% for self-fulfillment and being true to himself. This caught Callie’s interest, albeit was inspired by it.

She is undergoing a difficult process of rebuilding her marriage. And these words of the Catman served as inspiration for her to make the best of her life situation, specifically her marriage.

Thank goodness for the ice cream maker

The next scene shows our favorite new friendship of  Arizona and April. April was confiding  in Arizona, about the effects of the aftermath of her non-wedding, catching  the attention of Dr. Bailey, who was within earshot.

April: theyre all just staring at me, judging me, with their little “resident eyes”, like they used to stare at you, “cheater eyes”

Worthy to note was the candidness between April and Arizona. It had become a kind of friendship where each one can be honest with each other and tell things to each other bluntly, without holding back and without offending the other. It had become a  mature friendship and that’s impressive.

Arizona: Yeah cheater eyes are the worst but it’s not like you deserve it. Right? I mean, you and Jackson, its not the same thing. I mean is it?

And soon enough we see  Bailey eavesdropping on the convo going on between the BFFs

April: Well uh

Then Callie  enters the scene

Callie: Renee called, the carpet’s gonna be done by three, then we have an appointment with the notary at five
April: You guys are signing papers on the house today, that’s so great!

Callie was not showing much enthusiasm, she seemed doubtful about this decision:

Callie: oh maybe not, there’s no way I can be out of here before 5

Arizona: Oh it’s fine, he’s a traveling notary, he can come to us.

Arizona had all the solutions to Callie’s evasive reactions about the house

Callie: splendid (feigning amusement)

Then on cue, April adds extra lightness to the banter:

“Oh and I have this ice cream maker I couldn’t figure out how to send back, that could be your house warming gift!”

Arizona:  I told you we should’ve taken care of the cards

Then April leaves and Bailey swoops in, for another dose of humor, trying to dig if they unraveled “dirt on April and Avery”

Then Steph enters, informing Callie about the patient , whom she had to describe as the Catman  and that the “cat got out” before Callie could be spurred into Orthopedic rescue action.

That Callie  only recognized the patient by his monicker was so funny.

Light remarks  and moments surrounding Callie and Arizona, with the humor theme in the background, yes, Grey’s Anatomy  is slowly getting back to light moments. Ergo, light moments for Calzona.

These touches of comedy with the help of light banter with colleagues were making our beloved couple even more adorable. Exuding an air of things being all right with them, as opposed to the past first half of the season where almost all scenes were plagued with either stress, tears, conflict, fights.

It is such a relief. After waiting so long, we needed these light moments

Curiosity Caught the Cat by Surprise

Since the Catman could not be peaceful about the little girl who cracked her head open because of the accident, this curiosity led to the funniest scene of the episode.

He proceeded to the slumbering kid’s room, defying restrictions, and the kid was awakened by his apologetic monologue and let out a shriek, seeing the Catman.

Dr Arizona Robbins, possibly doing the rounds of the Peds floor was jolted at the shrieking patient and saw the man whose back was turned,

“Hey, hey, what’re you doing in here?” Arizona demanded and she was not prepared for when the CatMan faced her,  we saw what will go down in Grey’s history as the funniest reaction  shot ever of Arizona Robbins, MD.

Her shriek was the best one ever. JCap rocked this scene. Hilarious!!

Cat man's lament 

Callie releases a diagnosis  on his injury, which leads Catman to explain what led to this accident:

Callie: Well looks like the bone’s still  intact, so you didn’t do too much damage.

Catman: I never should’ve done it

Callie: You think?

Caltman : I never should’ve left the house. This whole accident happened, all these people were hurt because of me. Cause of some stupid thing I’ve done to myself…when I started this, my parents said, you think you’re gonna like this in 20 years? Thought I would. I thought I knew who I was. I was 19. So now I work from home, same data entry job for 16 years, I can’t date, the kind of women who find me attractive scare the crap out of me. I don’t have friends. People stare, people laugh, people punch. Time goes by and I realize I haven’t left my house in a year and a half I said to myself Rodney, you gotta try and live again, just go out, just go for a walk. That was this morning.

Callie proposed to finish splinting it up

Catman's lament had become an eyeopener of sorts for both Callie and Stephanie. Eyeopener for regrets, for poor decisions. And trying to do something about those failures.

The Signing and the Signs  

Then we see Callie and Arizona with the notary guy, who asks them to sign,

“Everywhere you see a red tag, sign your name'

Callie, seemingly hesitant about it, holds Arizona’s signing hand,

Callie: I know you’re excited. You’ve been smiling since we left the house

And Arizona was sweetly smiling, almost giggly

“I miss that smile so much”

  

That Callie's expression was so loving, is an understatement.

She continues, “ But three weeks ago, you were convinced that we weren’t gonna last. Im worried that you're thinking about how it feels now and not thinking about the fact that I come with the house.”

Callie was obviously hesitant. Wary that in a short span of time, Arizona was saying  a totally different thing, far different from what she was saying three weeks ago, that it was not working, and that Callie knew this before her.

It was a different tune Arizona was singing, and Callie could not help but ask about it.

Arizona: You know why I smile when I think about that house? I look at that house and I don’t see a hospital bed in our bedroom. And I don’t see a shower that you had to drag me into cause I wouldn’t do it on my own (both references to scenes in the saddest ep  9x03). 

I see a tire swing and a tree house, we may wake up in a year and realize it was a huge mistake, but if it works, oh my God, just thinking about it makes me smile so hard my face hurts.

And the music turns tender, they kiss again.

Then Mr Notary Guy speaks up  “Kissing the bride isn’t enough, you have to actually sign the papers”

Then Callie’s expression transforms to giggly and excited too.

I could not forget how excited she was, that little noise she made in excitement, as she was about to sign. She was enamored by Arizona’s explanation. This was again another installment of their talk, but this time it was calm, it was peaceful, and even joyful.

 In stark contrast to their first scene with the gifts, where Arizona could not rein in her emotions as he was shouting then amidst tears.

This time, we see their cute smiles, their loving looks. Arizona's super magic smile is back. we see her perky again. And Callie seems to have gradually healed.

We see hope. Hope of a new beginning.

They decided to let go of memories of the past, and at last mutually agreed to start anew, as signified by Callie’s agreement to sign the papers for the new house.

So now, we are left to wish that that they create new experiences of love. It was not a murder house. It will be a mirthful house.

Not exactly good news

Then the final  Calzona scene  takes us to Chief Hunt’s  meeting with the board, because one of the surgical residents filed three  complaints with human resources : direct sexual harassment, quid pro quo harassment and hostile work environment.

The guilty look amongst almost all members of the board was unmistakable, except for Callie, at least.

Arizona, along with the others,  did appear bothered in my opinion, but would rather set aside speculation until next episode. As Owen said, none of them are guilt-free. 

I feel I may have to raise though some very important issues in this specific episode. Allow me.

1)I am wary of the “three weeks later” time jump. The contrast between the 1^st Calzona scene and the second one is so pronounced. I kind of want to know what happened during those three weeks. 

Why did Arizona change her mind as Callie asked her, when she almost gave up during the wedding gifts scene? Did they talk more during the three weeks? What else happened?

On the other hand. I may be overthinking. 

As Karin Gleason tweeted, Lesson number one is: Never try to apply logic to a TV show.

So either I just take it as it came, and not question that three-week time jump, or being a very curious cat,  still suspect that something may have transpired in between that led Arizona to have a change of heart and be willing again to try and save the relationship.

Maybe she was just really in need of new surroundings, thinking if they held on to past memories, which the old environment contained day in and day out, they will never be able to move forward.

If there are no surprises in store for us on what happened during the three-week gap, I  just wish they could have shown us some more of what had really happened and not just voila, as if by magic, Arizona is suddenly a changed woman with her attitude about saving the relationship.

2) The first scene with the gifts kind of created questions in my mind. Arizona was shouting, broken down, sounding desperate. And it didn't sound good that she had gone on to another level where she did not feel the need to apologize because she had become a different person. 

I felt sad to hear this part because even if she had become different, I sure did want to hear that she did feel for Callie whom she had hurt, and who had been there to understand her. I still think giving a proper apology would have been good. This is my opinion. 

The saving factor is that Callie's forgiveness is limitless, that she had shown she needed no apologies, by the way she was compassionate with Arizona . And we know that later on, she still stood by Arizona.

3) Was the shouting scene in the beginning “the Talk” that Karin Gleason talked about? And the mini speech Arizona gave during their document signing?  Well in these two scenes, yes, I could say that Arizona did address our wishes for her to finally talk. The first in an angry manner, and next one in a calm, happy manner.

4) It was not a Murder house. I almost got confused. It was rust so no use fretting about the bad connotation that Murder house had. Cause for a while there, I worried that it being a murder house would mean it would have a pervasive bad vibe. I deleted all useless thoughts and am positive they will work for happy memories with Sofia in that house.

5) Was there a foreshadowing of sorts during the house document signing scene of a forthcoming legalization of their marriage? Mr Notary Guy, whom we had even suspected  of being a Calzona fanboy, dished out these very meaningful words which cannot escape our Calzona hearts:  “Kissing the bride isn’t enough, you have to actually sign the papers”

Was that a double meaning or a foreshadowing? Were they actually signing house papers only? Again, I would rather not speculate and just wait and be happy with the sneak peek for Episode 14 where Arizona shows off her new ring.

So that sums up the episode where we saw  sad Calzona, then wacky Calzona, then Happy Calzona, then worried Calzona.

The love is there. The care and concern and the willingness from both sides were  there. They just have to follow through, work hand in hand to complete this rebuilding.

We saw great  potential for them to create brand new dreams and memories together with this new direction that they are taking.

Maybe the house was a good idea in order for them to get  started on their journey to a new and better path. The change of environment, namely the new house, may just  supplement their efforts to quell what plagues Arizona’s psyche, and ergo, be a catalyst for progress in their relationship.

The closing voice-over goes:

"Looking back, it's easy to see a mistake has been made. To regret a choice that seemed like a decent idea at the time. But if we use our best judgment and listen to our hearts, we're more likely to see that we chose wisely and avoided the deepest, most painful regret of them all, the regret of letting something amazing pass you by" 

Callie and Arizona had made mistakes. But it seems they had chosen wisely, to recognize the beauty of the love that they have for each other.And are trying their best to hold on to this love, and work on it, because nothing could be more amazing. 

Hopes for the coming episodes? Pardon me but I just want good, sweet, loving Calzona moments, family moments with Sofia. Then maybe later on,  formalized legalized marriage for them to have more rights and more legal protection as a couple. I really hope for that.

All’s well.  Rejoice! Our ship is back!  Sailing. And on its way to conquer the rough seas of Shondaquarium.

Till then.

#TeamCalzonaForever

Twitter:  @GAFan8