Calzona Forever

Calzona Review 10x24  "Fear (of the Unknown)"

A masterpiece of a farewell. A masterpiece of a finale. It  was  Cristina Yang’s final episode. And it was epic. A bittersweet departure. But brilliantly presented, nonetheless.

Aside from the tears that this finale managed to extricate from me, it had led me to repeat to myself ten times in a day this very impactful line from a  most memorable scene:  "Where does the good go,"  But that's another story. 

It was a story of parting. A story of new beginnings. Of new surprises. Of new conflict. But best of all, it was a story of new hope. 

"You know when people say 'who knows, I could get hit by a bus, tomorrow.' That seems pretty far fetched. Until you have a friend who got hit by a bus. The point is, you never know what kind of day is coming…"

What made this season finale stand out from recent ones was that although it was too painful to see Cristina Yang leave, we were not dealt more pain by a death, nor a heart-wrenching  conflict that would have made the hiatus too difficult to handle.   

Instead,  the finale did leave us something to be hopeful for  and be positive about.

Because Callie and Arizona, in not so many words, seemed to be onto something  that will make our Calzona hearts sing.

Little Butthole

The first scene lets us in on how Arizona joins a  Jolex discussion on Alex planning to get a fancier new car.

Arizona: What are you here for?

Alex: My first anoplasty

Arizona: Wow, is Lebackes grooming you? You're gonna be Dr Junior Butthole?

Jo: Oh no, that’s what they’ll call you

Alex: I wont hear em' cause I'll be squealin' away in this

Arizona : Congratulations little butthole
Alex: Thanks

Ever the supportive and teasing mentor, Arizona is. We can recall that in the last episode, she straightened Alex out.

It is clear that she is happy  with how Alex's career in private practice is progressing.

The Surrogate Patient

 

Callie, Jackson and Stephanie are wheeling in a hysterical patient who is 31 weeks pregnant

Patient : Am I gonna be alright?

Callie: We have to do surgery on your arm but if the baby goes into any distress, we’ll need to do a C section, okay?

Patient: No it’s too soon she’s too

Stephanie: Your baby’s gonna be just fine

Patient: It’s not my baby

Jackson: Sorry, what?

Patient: It’s someone else’s baby. I’m a surrogate. Can you please try to let them get their turn, It’s their baby

Callie: We will do what we can

Patient: And theyre a super nice couple. They trust me and it’ll kill them and  I really like them

Jackson: Yeah and we’re gonna take care of you now, okay? Don’t worry

Right when the patient said that she was a surrogate, and the camera focused on Callie, my Calzona baby sensors beeped. I could sense, in my brain of brains,  that this was the parallel that was to be granted the Calzona SL for this finale ep. 

"Page Doctor Robbins"

Callie: Transradial amputation, below the elbow, at least. Why would they hit a shopping mall? There’s nothing there

Stephanie: People. Regular people.

Jackson: They wanna scare us . It’s the scariest thing we can think of.

Callie: Is that rash up on  any of our doctors yet?

Jackson: Not yet, which is good,  then it means it  might have been airborne

Stephanie: And you said they might be targeting hospitals now?

Callie: Oh Edwards, shut your mouth, please

Stephanie: Oh, did her water just break?   The baby’s in distress...

Callie: Page Dr. Robbins! Tell her we might be delivering a preemie in here

I cannot help but say that hearing Callie say "Page Dr. Robbins, " was just plain music to my Calzona ears. It gave me a kind of unexplainable glow in my heart. Tee hee.  Trying to rationalize it,  it makes me smile  seeing Callie have that professional respect for her wife. That is all I can say about that.

A heart that matched: Arizona and Cristina's last scene

Then in the hospital halls, Arizona catches up with Yang, to lead her to her goal of "finishing" her business at the hospital.

Arizona: Hey listen Yang, I just  got a call from UNOS. They’ve been trying to reach you

Cristina: Oh my phone is dead.

Arizona: A heart’s become available that’s a match for Linc Mc Neill

Cristina: Now?

Arizona: We’ll tell them to do it at Seattle pres, right, cause there’s

Cristina: No no no , send it here

I could not help but think that it was their last scene together. Arizona and Cristina had formed a bond, after the crash, and it was only in one episode this season, that we really got to see clearly that there was such a friendship that was formed.

A bond that was deep. That only people who have shared a similar experience can understand. I am happy that at least for one last time, I saw them have a scene together. To help  Cristina   finish what she has to. 

The Delivery

Meanwhile, at the O.R. where Callie, Jackson and Stephanie were attending to the surrogate patient, Arizona arrives to the rescue

Arizona: Im ready, where’s the OB?

Callie: Um, no show, but I prepped her for it

We need to get that baby under now.

Arizona : Where the hell’s the O.B?
Steph: Baby’s down to 60 beats per minute

Arizona: Avery you gotta help me

Stephanie: 50 beats and sustained

Arizona: Ten-blade?  Okay, hang on sweetie, let’s get you out

It was a tense moment, you could feel the tension in the O.R. And even the background music was adding to the already crucial scene.

Arizona: Now reach in here and pull away from me. You gotta pull it. You gotta pull harder. Hug it, Avery,  okay...

And the camera pans to Callie, staring at the baby. 

Centre of focus for the audience were Callie and Jackson.  The just delivered  baby had relevance to both of them. Callie, having just discovered she cannot carry a baby, and Jackson, whose wife April was on the way.

Jackson cut the umbilical cord, as instructed by take-charge Arizona.

It was Arizona’s show, in the absence of the OB.

Jackson: Okay

Arizona: Alright you got it

And we see Callie staring at the baby and at Arizona. Observing..thinking..

And Jackson carried the baby, he got the baby..and we needn’t worry..

Seeing Arizona deliver the baby with Jackson, i could not help but cheer her on. I proudly watched her in her take-charge role, in the absence of an OB. I was in admiration of  her surgical proficiency. I had always been so focused on her relationship with Callie, I always tended to gloss over her excellence in her profession. 

And here was Dr. Arizona Robbins doing what she was meant to do best. She is, after all, an excellent pediatric surgeon.

Callie and Arizona were in one same O.R., with Arizona delivering the baby. It was too relevant. One could not help but be sentimental because the issue of not being able to carry a baby was too fresh, and here they were, seeing firsthand, together, new life being brought into the world, by a surrogate mother.

A mother who bore the child for another couple. It was indeed extra special. 

Here they were, helping out a selfless mother, bearing a child whom she will not call her own, but will willingly give it to a couple whom she had worried  about disappointing.

The patient's situation was too close to home. Our Calzona instincts keep bugging us : so Callie and Arizona may consider surrogacy!

Seeing Callie staring at the baby, longing, then at Arizona her love, delivering it, was too moving a scene, I could not help but hold my heart.

Callie longs for a little one, and the sadness in her eyes produces a certain heaviness in my heart. 

This baby delivery scene will be too hard to forget, especially when my sad emotions are still fresh from knowing that they shelved the idea of having a baby in the last episode.

Amazing Calzona

Next scene Callie is joined by Arizona in their  patient Leanne's room. And again, hearing Arizona call Callie "Dr Torres" again made me break into a smile. A smile not only from my lips, but a smile from my soul.  

If memory serves me right, this is only  the second episode ever where they BOTH called each other by their doctor names.

Arizona: Dr. Torres, um, the baby’s parents are here and they're wondering if Leanne was

Patient: Yes, yes please
Arizona: Yeah, come on

Patient: Is she okay? You guys love her, is she all right?

Parents: She’s beautiful. She’s perfect

And the surrogate mother’s smile just touched my already mangled heart.

Wife: Thank you

Husband: We’re so glad you're okay

Callie and Arizona watched this scene intently. If only we could only read what was going on in their minds...

Callie noticed Arizona was affected, emotional about the just witnessed scene

Callie: You okay?

Arizona: Yeah It’s just, it’s really sweet

Callie: Ha, really amazing. 

I wonder why they needed a surrogate. 

I wonder if, I wonder if she couldn't really help them.

Arizona: She really likes them

Callie: It’s really amazing, right?

And they looked at each other,

that loving sweet look, and almost a knowing look from both, 

and they leaned in closer for that sweet kiss…

and  I remember it 

second for second

And everything else was left to our conclusions and our own guesses on what next step they were to take. But yes, the looks they exchanged were a giveaway, as if saying to each other that they can do this surrogacy setup too. 

This finale gives us hope for the possibility of a new Calzona baby. Hope is not lost. Hallelujah.

Both Callie and Arizona's amazement at  this surrogacy situation, how willing the surrogate was to give the baby to the couple, and how concerned the couple was for her--it was surreal. 

Yes, we hear about surrogacy a lot, but when we actually see it unfolding step by step in front of our eyes, it just is too wonderful to behold.

This was not just your regular charity outreach project. This is a baby, a newly born living being, who was carried by a woman for many months, who will relinquish her rights to being the mother and  will accord it to a couple who can give it a worthy life. 

Callie and Arizona did wonder about how this kind of situation came about, and they were completely amazed as we were.

After 10x23, I honestly thought they were to forego the idea of having another baby. The way their dialogue went then, it seemed there was a finality to it.

But the finale suddenly pulls off a surprise and gave us  hope!

"Whenever we think we know the future, even for a second, it changes. Sometimes the future changes quickly and completely. And we’re left only with the choice of what to do next. We can choose to be afraid of it, to stand there, trembling, not moving, assuming the worst that can happen. 

Reading the ending quote makes one reflect on how life deals us unexpected situations. One minute, we think we have life all figured out.  Only to discover that we are mere beings who have no control over what life brings us, but are equipped with strength to overcome the difficulties as much as we can.

The quote  even  brings us back to what  Calzona went through during this whole season. 

We thought they were the stable couple. We cherished them being in that  happy bubble. 

We never saw it coming that our beloved pair, who symbolized everything strong and loving, was to be torn apart and made to go through a devastation that tore through the heart of every Callie and Arizona fan.

And as much as these brought devastation to the couple, so did it devastate the Calzona fandom. That it even spawned hate, and even division that does not even merit discussion.

Through the 24 episodes, the Calzona couple  faced numerous unexpected events, managing to survive  difficult twists and turns, with the cheating , the miscarriage, the new intern fling, the malpractice suit, the PTSD, the inability to carry a baby.

And hell no, it was not easy for them. It took strength. Forgiveness. Understanding. The courage to stand up again after the many falls.  And the patience of one  to see the other  through to survive her personal struggles. 

Most of all, the deep love that they had for each other was the root of why after everything, they are still standing together, with an even stronger and more solid relationship.

Looking back, after all that happened, we could surmise that even if it had showcased the worst of these characters, it also showed how strong they were for it.

Sometimes, there will be necessary obstacles, that we can only look back to later on  and conclude that have indeed been reasons enough to make the relationship even better than it was before.

These were unexpected necessary pains that broke down their communication   barriers.

We were with them as they slowly but painfully trudged back to being happy again.  

No matter what, they survived. They triumphantly sauntered into a new home. 
They have started to rebuild. 

And even after just having gone through another setback with the inability of Callie to carry a child, we are one with them in their hopes for a new child.

This is what makes me a staunch Calzona supporter through and through. 
They did not lose hope. They remained strong. 
They got up after each fall. 
No matter the pain and struggle. 

And you can bet I will stick like glue to them as they bring us new possibilities for bigger things to come. 

Should there be bigger struggles, I guess we can say along with them: "Bring it on." 

This couple's relationship  is sturdier and happier and even sweeter than ever.

Kudos to the fabulous actors Jessica Capshaw and Sara Ramirez. Their superb acting prowess had made their scenes together  engagingly loving. Even more than in past seasons. 

Rewatch their Season10 tender  moments and you could feel each sweet loving scene piercing through your heart. If that is not thespic talent, then tell me what is.

It surely helps that they have been working together for the past six seasons. 
The chemistry of these two very fine actors had finely translated to the explosive chemistry of the worldwide phenomenal pairing that we have loved and still love.

As Cristina Yang touchingly  narrates,  giving me all the goosebumps I ever had in my entire TV viewing experience,  

"...Or we step forward into the unknown and assume it will be brilliant."

We all step forward with Callie and Arizona into the next Season and will, in our heart of hearts, hope and assume the best for them,  always and all ways.

As a season ender, after 24 gruelling episodes that sent our emotions in the worst roller coaster ride ever,  I proudly wear my Calzona badge and  boldly say, as I always said since 10x01:

CalzonaStrong

Calzona Always

Calzona Forever

And Ever.

Till then.

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@GAFan8