Future Perfect

Calzona Review 10x17   "Do You Know"

Every episode with Calzona in it, no matter how brief the screen time may be, is important. No question about that.

This mostly what-if-scenario-filled  episode,  only had about seven minutes of real situations.

It had a combined total of four minutes for Callie and Arizona, individually and together, but I must say, they clocked in  valuable minutes, even if they were not the characters of focus. 

It was a Crowen–centric episode but Callie and Arizona registered on our TV screens as more precious than ever.

It is an episode by our  favorite Calzona writer Stacy McKee, and even if what was presented mostly were "what if" scenarios, it was great to see how the writer envisioned Callie and Arizona in time jumps of as long as 15 years into the future.

I take so much delight in the fact that  even in "future" scenes, they were shown to be together, wearing their rings. Shown to have  survived the worst and are still the couple that we have always wanted them to be.

Also interesting to see were their personalities, how they could  have progressed career-wise. It’s a glimpse into a very possible future.

This episode started  with this valuable voice over by Cristina:

“Do you know who you are? Do you know what’s happened to you? Do you want to live this way?  All it takes is one person, one patient , one moment, to change your life forever. It can change your perspective. Color of your thinking. One moment that forces you to reevaluate everything you think you know. Do you know who you are?  Do you know what’s happened to you? Do you want to live this way?”

Chemistry in the board meeting

First scene we see Calzona together, with members of the board, deciding on what befalls Jackson’s fate as a surgeon, when his hand is injured and is not cleared by the board to operate.

Callie and Arizona, seated together, umm, was it just me?  Even in a serious, businesslike and even tense  setting as this, I could feel the chemistry between the two!!

If you feel the same way,  your diehard fangirl persona is showing.

The future of medicine

The next scene is one we have been curious about because of the promo pics released, and which will lead to that intriguing Callie and the robot man pic.  And yes, (apologies for any connotation this may have, rest assured it is just stated in good, clean, purely fangirlng fun) the famous ass-centric picture .

Callie and Derek are discussing with Jason, a paraplegic patient, how they intend to implant an array of  wireless sensors into his skull to generate electrical activity.

And Callie chimes in: "But none of our patients ever complained of pain."

It is to help revolutionize treatment for paraplegics like Jason.

Patient Jason’s wife convinced him to go on ahead with the surgery.

Then, outside the room, we see the patient’s wife with Callie and Cristina and Owen. The wife  thanked Cristina for she thought Cristina thought of this treatment for Jason.

Callie was quick to good-naturedly  correct the wrong notion,

“Oh actually it was Chief Hunt’s idea, he told us about Jason “

It was actually noteworthy that in the future, Callie is shown to be as successful and enterprising as ever, with her and Derek's research gaining advances, thus valuable contributors to the future of medicine.

Then comes the scene we waited for, as made famous by the promo pics.

The Robot man

We see Callie with Jason, the wife, Derek and Owen in a room where Jason,   the paraplegic, wearing a robot-like armor,  actually being able to WALK, and  Callie supportively encouraging him. We notice the new scrubs, the cool new shoes and the futuristic wristband. All to signify the time jump.  

Callie: good, good, slowly but surely

Wife: How does it feel Jason, to walk again?

Jason: Pretty good

Derek: I think he needs to concentrate

Owen:Its amazing, in a few years

Wife: Unbelievable

Callie had suddenly noticed unsteady Jason , who then fell to the floor

And there we see badass Calliope Torres MD swiftly come to the rescue.

Yes, this was the ass-centric scene, but the TV shot was not as focused as the promo pic was.

Don’t we just get that sweet thrill when we see Callie.

Not to be missed was this future envisioning of advancement in medicine, where paraplegics may possibly be capable of being mobile again. 

Arizona all-tough

Next scene was another most awaited scene cause we haven’t seen Arizona for most of the episode, we actually felt her promo pic scene might have been cut.

But no, we weren’t left Arizona-less in 10x17.

If Arizona had a total of like one minute screen time more or less, it would be a disservice to myself if I do not mention how strong Jessica Capshaw’s screen presence was in this episode.

She literally lit up the screen!!!! And the Arizona we saw was nothing short of impressive. She was kick ass Arizona. Tough gal.  Arizona fans like me are definitely dee-lighted!

A patient having a seizure was brought in and Arizona questioned if the kid patient had been screened for allergies, which I assumed was SOP.

Arizona strictly but calmly toughly questioned Owen. This is what I like about JCap. She ably portrays Arizona in an understated brilliant way, without any exaggeration, but with a strength of character that is definitely admirable.

This scene between Arizona and Owen albeit short, literally popped out of the screen. It was explosive.

It was that part of the ep that showed how Owen was getting destroyed career- wise by his difficulties with his personal life. He was affected, and so were his functions as a surgeon, thereby putting his patients at risk.

Arizona: This is your patient?

Owen: Yes

Arizona: Why didn't you screen her for contrast allergies?

Owen: I did

Arizona: There's no order of any tests

Owen: I did

Arizona: You did?

Owen: Yes

Arizona: You did

Arizona’s raised voice was distinct . She was seeing no proof, no documentation of the test and she was confronting Owen in a strong professional manner

Owen: I ordered the damn test! Didn’t I?

In just this short scene, I was gushing at the script material and how JCap ably portrayed tough Arizona. And that’s an understatement.  I was in total awe. JCap killing it in that scene was everything.

We had seen Arizona weepy, cheating, sweet, but rarely do we see her this tough.

I definitely  liked this very much.

Next we see Arizona talking to Derek about Owen’s disappointing performance  

Arizona: This is unacceptable. This  keeps happening and this time there was a kid involved. Im not looking the other way any longer

It was actually a  very sad hypothetical scenario because they were talking about a long time colleague and friend-- Owen, but what I couldn’t help but notice was JCap’s acting.

She was showing us the depths to which she was capable of taking her character.

Arizona: He's unreliable, a danger to his patients, I mean, did you smell his breath?

Derek: Lets just wait for the breathalyzer results

Arizona: No, we need to convene  an emergency board meeting. Right now Derek. Right now.

Don’t we just love her? Can't help but cheer, but that’s my Arizona!!! No-compromise, decisive, principled.  Tough Arizona Forever!!

I do hope she gets to show more of this tough side in the future. Shows strength of mind, of character.

Terminator

Then next scene we see the board, questioning April (who runs the trauma department)

Callie: Do you trust Owen  Hunt to treat patients?

April: He is my mentor  and he trained me

Richard: We value your opinion April, that’s why youre here. Just be honest. Do you trust the man

April: No I don’t

Arizona: I move to terminate him effective immediately

And that’s tough Arizona for you

Short but sweet Calzona in this episode.

Loved it.

Quality minutes. Especially Arizona.

No use complaining about short screen time. For the nth time, it is an ensemble cast. Character focus is divided equally among the cast members.

Actually absurd to even comment , much worse complain about it.

Although we surely would have appreciated seeing Calzona in that outdoor scene at Bailey's 7th birthday party.  It would have been so cute to see them there with an older Sofia.

But due to what I assume to be limited minutes, we didn't see them in that scene. Although the ones with phototelescopic vision spotted our beloved couple, still, officially, they were not shown in this scene.

And it wouldn't have hurt if Calzona had a scene with the famous Mrs. Rodriguez. :)

We need to rest assured Momma Shondy is just fair in giving proper and equal screen time to all regular cast members. 

In layman’s terms, quit complaining and just enjoy each episode. Each character gets his/her turn.

Quite honestly, I loved how JCap displayed such high quality acting in this ep. She was given excellent material to work with, she practically delivered with  flying flashing rainbow colors.

As with tradition, the closing voice over goes:

"If there's one thing I've learned over the years its that it only takes one person one patient, one moment to change  your life forever. To change your perspective , color your thinking, to force you to evaluate everything you think you know. To make you ask yourself the toughest questions."

So much wisdom in this line. Wisdom which we will take to heart in future Calzona situations.

Promo for next episode has led people to label Arizona as “the outbreak monkey” with reference to a virus that has come to plague Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital.

That  has got to be interesting.

Hoping of course for more tender sweet Calzona moments in the next episodes. That’s what I live for. 

Seven more episodes to go, I am pretty sure Momma Shon knows what we want.

Imma be patient.

Take care now.

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