This week we have two reviews. Let's start off with a review by Guest Blogger Ashleigh from Texas, USA Twitter: @ashleighdiane86
Episode Review 11x03 – Got to Be Real
Alright, so there was much more screen time between our
girls in this episode, though not all of it was very positive. We’ve known they
were up for some rough times since before the season even started (thanks,
Shonda), so none of what we’ve seen has come as a surprise to me as of yet.
Before I delve into my non-professional analysis, I have a
non-related side note that I feel is worth pointing out. They have had
“Cristina”, or “Yang”, or “Cristina Yang” mentioned by someone in every episode
thus far. Granted, we’re only three episodes deep, but I’m curious if Shonda
has written her name into every single episode in season 11 – or plans to. I
just think that’d be really cool.
So – we start out with Callie and Owen going to visit the
veterans rehab center where we clearly see a distraught Callie. She’s mentioned
how she is “stretched out far too thin”, which opens the door for their
issue(s) this episode. By the way, can we talk about Callie’s everything in
this scene – in this whole freaking season so far? So beautiful, and her acting
is impeccably on point.
We then see the first of Arizona – adorable fellow Arizona,
all student-like – with the amazing Geena Davis as Dr. Herman, schooling her on
how she needs to vet herself up to speed and get a notepad! Ha! Poor Arizona.
She’s in much better spirits this season, though, which is what we’d been told.
Going back to season 5 Arizona – YAY!! In the next scene, we see HER also
bringing up her and Callie’s time management issues and seemingly unending
responsibilities. Ugh.
Another non-related side note – Bailey with her photo op…
bahaha.
Cue the girls walking together, venting out their individual
frustrations, which is all good and fine, until Callie starts with her
assumptions that Arizona’s saying she’s bailing on the surrogacy appointment.
Stop it, Callie, those words did not come out of her mouth… you poor, scared
woman. But she WAS very sweet with her supportive words and cheek cuppage. Yes,
I said cuppage. That scene was very reminiscent of “You. Are. Great.” and I
loved it. At this point, we’ll take any moments of sweet hopefulness, right?
Next unrelated side note – Drunk Meredith <3 “I am the
sun, and he can go suck it!” Agreed, Mer, agreed.
We’re back to the soldier with the leg – Owen really needs
to keep his mouth shut. As a doctor, he needs to realize his emotional
connection to this project is obscuring the fact of the matter with this guy.
But good for Callie for sticking up to him and calling him out. It was harshly
necessary. Of course, though, we see later on where his “no, you don’t get his
hopes up and then crush them” statement is really coming from. Damn it,
Cristina…
Avery – I go back and forth between laughing at him and
wanting him to get off of his high horse. Because this scene was really funny
with his “butt implants” and the whole Maggie and Richard off-base observation
(“because she is 12” LOL), and I also really enjoyed his white knight syndrome
and saving Callie’s day. The jury is still out. Ask again next week.
Arizona and her cuteness again <3 But seriously, I adored
this scene. Dr. Herman’s back on her case, and Arizona’s dimply smile and
adamant defense of her ways with moms had me laughing. And then she smacked Jo
and I was rolling. Here ends any cute laughter of the episode, though.
On to Callie and Owen in the scrub room where we get to
witness the genius that is Shonda Rhimes with that monologue. Oh, but first –
Callie when she’s sassy is just SO HOT! “Were you going to give me one, or is
this just a head’s up?” HA! But yeah – the light bulb clicks for Callie and for
the rest of us – it’s all about Cristina. Heart broken. And I’m pretty certain
Callie can relate, hence being so adamant about them getting this baby.
Everything is always paralleled with Shonda.
Ugh, Derek. He’s not even worth mentioning in a side note …
oh, wait. So, the real side note, JIM! Bah! I feel so bad for Richard; he was
most definitely robbed. I am very excited to see how all of that pans out,
especially since at the end we see Maggie NOT accepting Richard’s words and
explanation so well.
Ok, the last scene between our girls. Callie is naturally
excited about work, but AGAIN is making comments about being spread so thin –
of course Arizona is going to question you! Ugh. Like, you are the one that said
those things – repeatedly – so please don’t make Arizona the villain. And yes,
please stop jumping to conclusions. But OH, Arizona! Speak up faster and tell
her how crazy she is instead of sitting there like a fish out of water! Sigh.
I’m curious about what episode 4 will bring since we know that 5 will be the
“Bend or Break” between the two.
Oh my, Callie crying. You guys… waaahhh. Enough said. They seriously need to hash their crap out, because I can’t handle any more of Callie crying.
Calzona Review 11x03 “Got to Be Real”
Hands down, I’d say this is
one of the best episodes of Grey’s in many months. A sizable amount of issues
happening all at once, it came to a point I got confused on what problem to focus
on. All interesting. All equal in
intensity. Power packed drama all throughout.
I can’t be grateful enough
that Shonda had written monologues in the episode, and with all respect to all
the other writers of Greys, Shonda just writes like a dream.
When the episode was over, I
only had high praise for this brilliant
brilliant episode. And I rest in the happy fact
that the ‘Shonda touch’ will be
present in most of the coming
episodes in 11. Yes she tweeted that, so Hooray.
It was a vital episode for
Calzona. As we have anticipated, they are well on their way to what we predict
as a major pivotal point in their relationship.
And this episode has lent
enough oomph for us to believe that in their journey in their
relationship, things are lacking, things
are not all okay. Let’s examine what happened to them, in the truly
well-written Calzona scenes in this
episode.
“Skin is not a very tough armor. It’s soft,
easily broken.”
Wounded Warriors
In the first scene, we see a firm Callie stressing she already said no to
this project that Owen wanted to introduce her to. She was just going to give a speech. Said she was busy. Obviously stressed.
Callie: I got to pull back, I
have a kid. Arizona is starting fellowship. We’re trying for another kid, I am
stretched out far too thin.
Worthy to note that they are ‘trying
for another kid’ so this means even if Callie gave way to
Arizona for her fellowship, the baby is still
a go.
Owen: I completely understand
Callie: I said no already
Owen : I know that. Just want
you to meet a couple of guys
Turned out they were wounded
warriors from the most badass specialized ops forces in the US military.
Owen: But, you’re too busy to help our nation’s heroes (guilt trip, Owen?)
Callie: I do not like you
Callie in all her
kind-heartedness, could not seem to resist this kind of case.
And Owen knew this.
As she looked at them, she
couldn’t hide that gleam in her eye. There was a sense of
responsibility there. There was no way she would not help. Callie Torres, the
girl with a golden heart.
Get a Notepad, Arizona
Arizona looks like a gofer to
Geena Davis’ Dr Herman.
Lugging a bunch of files and
tagging along with Herman, Arizona is a student once again and is adjusting as Dr. Herman told her to speed up her work… and
that during the fellowship, they were not peers.
Dr Herman: Why are you not
taking notes?
Arizona: Oh, sorry, I thought
we were just talking (chuckling)
Dr Herman: And I thought you
were my fellow
It is an understatement to
say that Arizona was enthusiastic to be Dr Herman’s protégé.
Arizona: I am, completely.
No, I'm so excited to be your fellow. I just need a little time to get up to
speed for three weeks cause I have a lot of cases
Dr Herman: Dr Robbins, for
the purposes of this fellowship, we are NOT
peers. And four weeks is just ten
percent of the average gestational age. And that amount of time, a fetus’ lungs
becomes a fully functioning organ. Everything in Utero happens at
hyperspeed. And the sooner you get up to
that speed, the better.
Arizona looked at her like a faltering student.
Dr Herman: Get a notepad.
Oh boy, Arizona has got her
hands full and this fellowship wasn’t going to be easy as pie.
Schedules Schmedules
In the next scene, despite Derek and Arizona’s efforts to request for a
meeting reschedule for the new board
member, Jackson stood firm that a reschedule will not be possible as this was an urgent matter.
Arizona was just literally drowning
in her schedules.
Slyly and not subtly, the
episode was telling us in not so many scenes, well actually all the scenes, that
Callie and Arizona are very busy and are swamped with work , board duties and
their own individual activities.
The leg that costs a little more than six million dollars
Then we see Callie and Owen speaking to a soldier who
was incredulous about getting a free of charge 6 million dollar robotic leg. A
robotic leg like The Terminator. But it actually cost a little more than that.
Owen had his heart in this , having been in the military and
having had a stint in war-torn Iraq. He was overenthusiastic and all-praise for Dr
Torres as he relayed how this leg is fully funded, all expenses paid, and
painless
The man had had three
prosthetic legs and each one hurt more than the last.
Patient: This pain free
robotic leg . Sounds made up
Owen: It was made up. By Dr Torres.
This cutting edge technology. Dr Torres is a genius. You’ll be amazed…
Callie cut him off
Callie: Let’s just slow down
for a minute. We still have to run a number of tests to make sure you’re
even a candidate for the study.
Callie was defensive about
it. Whoa.
Owen’s eagerness was
ineffable, and the patent had pointed it out
Patient: He’s been going on
and on about you
And Callie, subtly sarcastic
“hmmmm I bet…”
They Talked But Did they Listen?
Then we see the first Calzona
scene of the ep. Walk and talk time. And may I just gush at just how attractive
my Callie and Arizona are… *double heart eyes emoji* ….oh my…oh …
You know that kind of
conversation when you and a friend are
much too involved with your own concerns that you talk to each other but
aren’t really listening? Yeah that’s how they did this.
Callie was speaking to
Arizona, while Arizona was speaking to Callie, and both were talking about how their day went, listening to the other. Each had their own
topic, and although they let each other finish what they were saying, they just
went on with their own topic without replying to each other
Callie: I told him how busy I
am. He knows. He knows …he just doesn’t care
Arizona: I am an attending!
With an entire service of my own. How am I gonna share dozens of patients
before
Callie: Oh and now he’s
bringing this guy to my lab, right, like Im gonna say no to a guy who gave up
his leg for our country
Arizona: She has me reviewing
journals and doing skills lab, I have a case report that’s due by four, I’m
sorry excuse me I have a neuroblastoma to remove at 4
Callie was chuckling but
realized something about what Arizona said
Callie: Is this your way of
telling me that you can’t attend our
meeting at the surrogacy agency tonight?
Arizona: What?? No! No! I
will figure that out.
If ever Arizona forgot all
about it, or if she didn’t, her defensive reaction was commendable. She was trying to please
Callie. And despite her tons of tasks, she was determined to work out her mess
of a schedule.
It was noticeable that Callie
seemed to have a preconceived notion of Arizona being undecided about it,
or can easily change her mind.
Arizona: I just…say something to help
me
(This reminds me of that day
when Arizona told Callie “Tell me I’m
great”)
And Callie dutifully and
lovingly says
"You own a hospital, you are raising
a beautiful girl, you save babies, you’re gonna save more, right? You can do
this too. Anyone can. and you can."
Then Arizona's phone rang
Arizona: Ok listen I will
meet you at the agency with a smile on my face
Callie: And we will get
ourselves a new baby
Arizona and Callie were a
sketch of pure unadulterated delight,
then Callie lovingly touched her wife’s face, and then held her arm sweetly. Well,
may we just label this as Exhibit A: The sweetest scene of the episode.
This whole scene was actually
cute. Light. They were in high spirits despite their own pressures. They were
gung ho about prospects about their plans about having a baby.
Hell hath no fury than a Calliope scorned
They show the guy a prototype
of the titanium bodied leg. It had 13 sensors. His muscles and nerves must
interface with the sensors. So they had
to test it using an electromyogram.
Unfortunately, something was wrong with the reading. Callie
was alarmed
Owen sensed it “what”
Callie : I should be seeing readings.
Patient: What’s going on?
Owen : We’re just having
trouble with the EMG
Callie: No No It’s not the
EMG. Jeff…
Owen: Dr Torres , can I talk
to you for a moment?
Callie: Excuse us Jeff
Callie was willing to be
upfront with Jeff who wasn’t eligible for the robotic leg, but Owen cut off
Callie from telling the truth so enter… badass furious Callie scene.
Callie: That was
inappropriate
Owen: Inappropriate? You were
about to reject him from the study
Callie: Yes. You saw those
readings. The way his amputation was performed,
there’s no way this will work. Okay it’s a crappy amputation
Owen: Probably cause it was
done in less than ideal circumstances. He’s a soldier for God sakes.
Callie: I know that. I feel
bad about that, all right? I care about that I really do. You know who doesn’t
care? You know who doesn’t give a damn
about his service? The robot leg. All the robot leg cares about is that the
nerves on his leg are not communicating with his muscles which means they can't
communicate with the sensors prosthesis which means the robot leg won’t work!
Owen: You could find a way to
help him, just, just figure it out
Callie: I’m sorry , are you
not listening to me Owen? Are you deliberately being obtuse, I just told you
his nerve
Owen: Just fix it, just..
Callie: I just told you , I
cant!
Owen: Just fix it, that is an
order!
Callie: An order, who are
you? General Patton?
Owen: I'm the Chief of
Surgery.
Callie: On the surgical floor
you are my Chief. In my lab, funded by money that I procured, I am in charge,
are we clear??
Owen: No. You don’t get this
guy’s hopes up and then leave him with nothing
Callie: No no no, I didn’t do
that Owen, you did that. Youre the one there running your mouth at the rehab
center about free, pain-free six million dollar man robot legs. I'm about to go
in there and crush his dreams because of you!
And Callie storms off.
I have never seen Callie this
furious. I think that based on my trusty Callie memory, this is the loudest
that she has shouted at anyone. It was a terribly tense moment and even as we
saw this already from the sneak peek, I could not help but still be crushed because
it was not a pleasurable sight to see Callie
extremely angry.
But as an aside, Furious Callie is super
attractive Callie.
It wasn’t as if she was not
compassionate about the patient. It was actually an anger caused by having to
be the one who would have to break the news
to Jeff, when this man’s hopes
were falsely kept up due to Owen’s
overenthusiasm. She just felt it was not right, and worse, she was to be the harbinger
of bad news.
Count the emotions that Sara
has displayed in this ep. There was anger, there was sadness, tears, there was
happiness. All performed with intensity. When has Sara ever failed us? Her
acting is always topnotch.
The Ortho Goddess and Mister Hall Monitor
Next scene we see Callie
confronted by Jackson about the noise
that she and Owen created in the hospital hallway.
Jackson: So I heard you and Hunt had a
little episode in the hallway
Callie: He told on me (with a look
of exasperation)
You could write me up all you
want for insubordination but I stand by the fact that I do not take orders
regarding my own lab and Hunt..
Jackson gently interrupted
Callie’s rambling and gave her a gentle, charming piece of his mind
"…..I'm not
asking you to take orders in your own lab.., what I'm asking is maybe that you
not have a screaming match in the middle of the hallways of the hospital because
when members of the board cause a scene, I have to stop practicing medicine,
which I love doing, and become a hall monitor which I don't really love doing.
So I come down here lecture you about responsibility,
honor and crap, I don’t really want to be lecturing you about….
Grey calls in sick, your wife
tries to give up peds surgery on me and ….so you and Hunt running around screaming
at each other, I don’t get to be a surgeon. I’m a hall monitor.”
Callie was cooperative. She stood
up for her principles but she knew where she went wrong
Callie: I will stop screaming
in the hallways
Jackson: All right, what’s
wrong
Callie: Hunt’s got this bug
up his butt about a candidate for my robotic
limb project and as much as you
want it to happen, those nerves are not communicating with those muscles and
there’s nothing I can do about it
Jackson : I can . Targeted
muscle renovation. Create an alternate traffic route for the nerve signals,
that’s like if there’s construction on a highway, you pick a side street right?
I can dissect a nerve, secure a location and then rewire it whenever u need a connection
established.
Eureka! Callie was amazed.
Callie: You are a waste as a
hall monitor
Jackson: I know!
Jackson seemed revitalized. He has had a surgery drought and this was one project that seemed to awaken his
surgery savvy once again. And yes,
Jackson did save the day!
Owen's apology
Then while scrubbing in, Owen
approaches Callie. And we thought we were
in for a light scene because of how fun it started, with Callie’s no
nonsense directness..
Owen: I owe you an apology
Owen’s pregnant pause allowed Callie to give a candid
reply
Callie: What, are you going to
give me one or is it just a heads up?
Owen: I'm sorry okay? We’re
okay?
Callie: No! Come back here.
Come back and say a bunch of crap to make me understand why you were yelling at
me and giving me orders and generally being a big old ass. No we’re not okay.
So Owen goes on with his
iconic speech, which was incidentally brilliantly witten by Shonda. And I was
actually so floored by this.
“I need something to be good. I need something
to feel right. I’m not depressed. My heart is not broken. I’m not grieving. She’s
not dead. She’s out there. She’s living out her dream. I know, I know she’s
happy and that makes me feel proud for her.
But there is this other feeling
that doesn’t completely feel fair or right or good. She goes on, day in, day
out. Happy without me. Every morning I wake up and there’s this pit there’s
this feeling here that maybe my dreams are over. Maybe I had my dreams, and
they’re over now. Maybe I’m single now, No wife, no kids, no family. She was my
family.
And now she’s someplace else and I let her go and its good that I did,
I mean it’s better for her. But for me.... So I need something to be good. I need
a reason to get up every morning. And then crawl back into that cave that I was
in before I met her. And you know? She saved me. You know, you were there, you
remember how I was, I was, I was dark,
and war may be dark, and that darkness is still in me. She just lit it up.
So I
just thought, maybe to beat back that darkness I would do something good, I'd
just do something good. And go be with those guys who remind me …I just wanna
be good. And that’s why I dragged you into that rehab center. That’s why I wanted you to help. That’s why I
pushed you hard and that’s it. I’m not gonna talk about it anymore so just say
that we’re okay.”
Callie: Okay
Owen: Great
Callie: Owen
Owen: For God sakes, Callie
Callie: I was just going to ask if you wanted to
watch Jeff’s surgery. Jackson is doing a
little muscle renovation, he’s moving the nerves to where they can talk to the robot
sensors.
Callie and Owen with Avery trying to be cool
Then in the O.R. Owen, Callie
and Jackson work on Jeff, as Owen and Jackson discussed the procedure, Callie
suddenly popped the question. Callie had been full of surprises in this
episode…
Callie: Avery, have I
mentioned that Hunt and I are starting a special project with Veterans?
Owen: We are?
Callie: We are. We are taking a chunk of my research money and
focusing it on prosthetics for vets. Free, Pain-free. Right?
Jackson : That sounds great. That
is good for the hospital. Good work, guys.
Callie: You want in? Unless
you’re too busy with butt implants, hall monitoring...
Jackson: Well yeah I guess
you would benefit from 'good plastics guy who knows nerves'
Callie: Eww, so weak. Did you
see him trying hard to pretend he had friends in the playground? Don’t try to
be cool, don’t try to be cool, it’s…hot…
Owen: Don’t try to be cool
Jackson: Shut up
This hilarious banter in the
O.R. was just a welcome comic relief from the tense moments of this episode.
Couch Talk at the Surrogacy Agency
Callie and Arizona meet up at
the agency and discuss cozily and eventually tensely in a couch.
It was a welcome sight not to
see them in their hospital coats.
Callie enthusiastically regaled
Arizona about her new project
Callie: Adding on this
renovation, it revolutionizes the whole thing, I mean the potential for control
these patients can have is incredible, I could have I mean, I could change the
way the world does amputations
Arizona: Sounds like you
really wanna do this
Callie: I do, I do. And we’ll
be stretched so then I really think that..
Arizona: So wait, so are you
saying that maybe we should wait on this baby?
Arizona was sincere with her
question after hearing Callie’s story and seeing her eagerness toward it and
assessing that this might not bode well for their planned baby. Arizona was
questioning, which surprised Callie
Callie: What? No. No. Why
would you say that?
At this point, Callie’s mind
seemed to be racing and wanted to get ahead of what Arizona was going to think
and say. Given all their experiences with the journey in trying to have a baby,
Callie was already becoming jaded, that
there will be something again that will hinder them from having a baby.
Arizona: No because you said
it was going to be too much to juggle
Callie did not seem to be
listening to what Arizona was saying. She had already figured out Arizona’s supposed
reply in her mind. She had a picture of how this conversation was supposed to
go, how the dialogue was supposed to be, and it seemed it didn’t already matter
what Arizona was saying.
Callie: And you’re supposed
to say it’s not a problem, ‘you can do it Callie, we can do it all’
You're supposed to support me
the way that I’ve been supporting you ever since you decided you needed to
start this fellowship
This sentence said a lot. It
allowed us to get a glimpse of what was inside her mind and heart.
She had been giving all the
way. Giving and forgiving. Ever since Arizona lost her leg, since Arizona
cheated, since Arizona had her affair with Leah, since Arizona’s struggle coming
to terms with her disability. Callie was there, was supportive.
But now, we see that Callie
is human after all. And what a relief, really. This seemed to be the start of
her breaking point.
Now, we begin to see Callie
starting to show that she has expectations too. She had been there for Arizona
all the way. She understood her. She supported her. And now that she was
engaged in a new project which will keep
her busy, she expected Arizona to be her cheerleader and help push her on with
both her project and to have a baby?
Arizona: What if we can’t?
What if we can’t do anything and everything?
Callie was stunned by what
her wife said, she was careful to ask the dreaded question
Callie: Are you saying you
don’t want …Are you saying you don’t want a baby? Cause then what are we doing
here, why are we meeting with this lady who’s going to help us find someone who
can help us make a baby if you don’t want a baby.
Arizona: Don’t put words in
my mouth this was my idea
And this is a welcome
revelation. We could see that Arizona made an effort to insist to have a baby,
as Callie gave way to her last episode, to pursue her fellowship. True enough
both gave way to each other.
Callie: Yeah but you don’t
want to carry it and then I couldn’t and you still couldn’t carry it and then
we find this and you find something else to do, okay I got it, it’s so obvious, I
can’t believe it. Say it. Just say it. Just
say the words . You don’t want a baby
Callie was short-fused about
this long drawn out topic. She was already defensive at the mere talk of the baby.
I was staring at Arizona’s
reaction. She was confused and surprised. She didn’t know what to say and was
not able to speak. Because the woman at the agency assigned to speak to them, interrupted their discussion.
“Hello”
So Arizona and Callie stared
at her in suspended silence, and there we were, left hanging..
Until the next scene…
Callie breaks down
In the next scene, Callie was
checking on their sleeping “masterpiece patient” and she was crying, hidden from view of everyone.
Jackson and Owen came by to
tell Callie that it’s time for the board meeting and to check on the patient
too, and Owen, sensing that something
was wrong, approached Callie..
Owen: You okay?
Callie: Yeah, I just uh…I
need something to be good too…
Callie broke down and so did
I. She just could not hold in all the
suppressed sadness and frustration anymore.
She needed to let it out. When Callie Torres cries, we all cry.
And Owen, in a very sweet
gesture, gives her a comforting hug. It
was a touching moment seeing Callie cry and it was such a relief that Owen was
there. Callie had to have someone to break down to. And Owen is a teddy bear, after all.
Callie was there for him when
he opened up about his pain about Cristina and Callie forgave him. And now, he
was there for her. He was a good friend to Callie.
It is a delight to see this good
friendship continuously blooming. Ever since the banana bread
days.
Callie breaks the hug. Wipes
her tears, and turns light.
Callie: Okay, how sobby do I
look? One to ten?
Owen: Hmmm, six
Callie: Oh, okay (Laughing)
The Meeting of the Board
And then at the Grey Sloan
Memorial Conference Room, we catch a glimpse of
Callie and Arizona in the board meeting. We are left to witness through
the quick camera shots of how Callie was disappointed with her wife and they
were not minding each other. A sad way to end the episode really, for Calzona.
In line with the theme, our
characters are human. Even as surgeons and
having been jaded with medical situations that can turn tummies of any ordinary layman, beneath their
tough exterior, they are prone to human frailties.
They have vulnerabilities,
problems that they face. And with them, we are left in the hope that even as
they open up with their weaknesses, that they gain strength to overcome all the
challenges they are to face.
“Surgeons are bred to be invulnerable it’s very
hard to lay ourselves bare, because we know exactly how deep many
injuries can go.
But vulnerability isn’t the opposite of
strength. It’s a necessary part.
We have to force ourselves to open up..to offer
up everything we have and just pray that it’s good enough otherwise we’ll never succeed.”
Notes:
Callie and Owen’s project
I just felt the need to make sense of Calliope's extreme anger in the hallways that we saw in this episode, because Callie isn't prone to this kind of anger. It takes extreme conditions to set her off like that.
When Owen and Callie
explained the robotic leg benefits to Jeff, there was a bit of manipulation on Owen’s part. He knew it would
be irresistible for Callie to take this project on but I guess that’s justified because of his noble objectives toward
his fellow soldiers, and as he explained later on in his apology, he
needed something to be good. But what was not
so right then, was that he kept Jeff's hopes up, to Callie’s objections.
It was reckless on Owen’s
part to have done that and Callie was guarding against it but to no avail.
That’s why when they found
out that the robotic leg wouldn’t be
feasible for Jeff, frustration plagued both Callie and Owen. Owen for not
achieving what he set out to do, and his objective of something good to do. Callie
for not being able to fulfill this objective for which she was called upon, and
and having to take up the cudgels to explain this to Jeff , when she was not
even keen on the idea of keeping his hopes up in the first place.
Owen was too eager, while
Callie was sensible enough not to jump to conclusions until they have gone
through a process.
So here, we see Callie’s
sense of professionalism. She also wanted to be of help to Jeff, but she was in
control enough to not let her emotions get the better of her.
Owen and Callie’s Apology
scene (Owen’s speech)
Let me just note that with
the way Callie handled Owen’s offer of apology, she was communicative enough to
let Owen explain. She said it in her own direct
way and she wanted clarity. She was willing to listen to Owen’s explanation.
This just led me to think that she can be this clear. She was willing to
listen. She just needed to ask Owen to speak up.
For me, this is what we can
call crystal clear communication. And I could not for the life of me, figure
out why she and her wife cannot have this kind of openness. If only they had
this kind of candor. This directness.
And to top it all, she was
forgiving.
What was touching was that
kind-hearted Callie easily understood and forgave Owen after that most
memorable heartfelt Shonda-penned
monologue.
Callie was her ever-forgiving self and I was just
marveling at the heart of this wonderful character.
Callie and Arizona’s
communication
From their first scene
together, although it ended sweetly, there was a clear communication problem. Each
one kept talking but neither was listening to the other.
In Callie's scene with Jackson, Jackson mentioned that Arizona was trying to quit peds surgery on him, this was a total surprise to Callie. It seemed that there were some important things that Arizona had failed to tell her wife.
At the surrogacy agency couch
talk, Callie was not listening to what Arizona was saying. She already had
Arizona’s reply in her mind before her wife could even speak. And she was
voicing out her expectations, of how Arizona should be acting at that moment.
It seemed that all the giving
and accommodation, which admittedly largely came from Callie all this time, had
taken its toll on her. Somehow we saw this coming. It comes with being human.
She can’t be all-giving all the time and not somehow expect something in
return. And maybe she had become used to Arizona balking on their plans, that she thinks her wife is backing out again.
And as we see her mindset,
she begins to blurt out things for Arizona, which honestly didn’t look like
Arizona’s thoughts at all.
Seemed Callie had kept it all
inside, and it is all manifesting now. Her inner expectations. Her fear that Arizona
will ditch the baby thing again, even if this visit to the Agency was Arizona’s idea.
Clearly, this kind of
communication is not what makes a harmonious relationship. From this, we can initially
identify that Callie has unmet
expectations. Callie is very eager about the baby.
Callie had not expressed her
true feelings ever since their string of
problems happened.
And now she is bursting at
the seams in frustration.
In contrast to how she and
Owen talked in the apology scene, when she told Owen to articulate what led to him act that way. The relief is that Callie forgave
him, so that is a good sign that the kind-hearted Callie is still there.
The capacity to understand
and forgive is still there. But this particular moment with Arizona tempted a
volcano ready to erupt.
So the Calzona journey took a
turn for the worse.
As to why Callie wants to
have a baby so much that maybe she thinks it can solve all their problems or
that it can keep her from losing Arizona again, we hope to know soon. Because
if this is her line of thinking, then it does need tweaking.
These two have to continue talking
and be open to each other about their feelings because what happened at the
couch talk is a primary example of how feelings long kept inside will soon blow up and will out in an unpleasant manner.
And it was emotion that let
out those words and feelings, not sensibility. Arizona’s innocent question
touched a raw nerve in Callie who was already ultra sensitive about the baby issue, and
pushed her to stress the point of how she had been so generous all this time.
She was emotional when she
put words into Arizona’s mouth.
Arizona was astounded. She
did not know where this had all come from.
I would like to think that
Arizona appeared to be happy to have suggested this visit to the agency and
despite her very busy new schedule, she was willing to go on with it. There was
no hesitation on her part. She was all in with plans to have this baby.
But Callie’s reaction was
surprising. And it seems something will blow up soon..
Moving Forward
Moving Forward
Will Arizona understand Callie's outburst?
Will they still decide to go on with the baby?
Will Arizona continue on with the fellowship which is wreaking havoc in her schedule?
So this makes it a strong
initial build up for the expected ‘bend or break’ point in 11x05.
As expected, episode 3 will
contribute to the build up and so will episode 4.
It is just awesome that
Shonda has rewritten a lot of Season 11, and brilliant monologues/lines have had much
power and thereby resulted in a very good episode.
I am truly hoping that Shonda
will also write even more beautiful dialogues for Calzona in the coming episodes.
And here’s to hope that even
in these troubled times, both Callie and Arizona will learn more about each
other in order to understand each other better.
Lastly, let’s hope Sofia
makes an appearance soon. As we begin to suspect that she has run away from home because of
all this surrogacy talk.
So as always, hope we keep the faith.
Yep, this time, we badly need
to get back to hashtag CalzonaStrong.
#CalzonaForever
Twitter:
@GAFan8
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