Elevator Superheroes

Calzona Review 11x23 “Time Stops”

Time stops and so did many things come to a full stop at the hospital when a  tragedy struck Seattle. 

Ambulances with 13 DOA’s, a wedding postponed, the chief of surgery decided to quit and  do something else; and interestingly, in an elevator, a woman was saved from paralysis and her baby  delivered by a certain beloved estranged couple…

For our GSMH doctors, all emotions and personal concerns were put on hold. Because it was a time to save lives.

“Time stops when you’re in the OR. You step up to the table, you evaluate the patient. You pick up a scalpel, and then you go into a bubble. It’s just you and your surgery and nothing else matters. Not time, not pain, not exhaustion. It happens in real life too. When something big happens, something tragic, you freeze. You retreat into your happy bubble, for what seems like a second, until you look up and suddenly you realize, it’s a whole new year.”

Welcome Chicks and Ducks

It was “welcome the new interns day” and Callie and Arizona were one with the other surgeons, excited to be amused by the entry of  newbies at GSMH.

Callie in her anticipation, was gorgeously blunt,   “I can’t wait to see the beads of sweat in their freaked out little faces”

And Arizona was her  lovely perky self  with their perky label for the newcomers, “It’s happening! The baby chicks and ducks are here!”

Uber amusing to watch was when everyone in the gallery who watched the chicks and ducks' being briefed by Webber,  memorized Webber's orientation speech. Even Callie and Arizona were reciting the words to themselves.  Yes, at one point, even if we did not get to see it, they were interns, too.

It was a regular day, the doctors not expecting the chaos soon to erupt.  And Arizona was on Owen’s case of getting back as Chief… “ How much longer is Richard gonna be interim chief? Because I want to expand my department and he has kind of a different approach to the budget.  So when are you coming back?”

But Owen had other things to do and was done with being chief.

Tragedy

When tragedy struck, where a tunnel collapsed and buried 20 vehicles in the rubble, it was all hands on deck at Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital with Callie expressing her worry, “No we don’t even know what happened, but it is big. I guess we’re probably not making it out of here in time for the wedding.”

They had not known  what kind of accident happened at first, but the doctors  were ready for the ambulances. When these arrived though, they had no patients because they were all  DOA’s.

It was a  rare situation. They were all ready to help out, but there was no one to help. The ambulances were all bringing in dead bodies which the doctors weren’t even given the chance to save.

Common patient for Calzona

When at last, live patients were brought in, it was wonderful to see  Callie and Arizona share a common patient.

Their  patient was  Joan, who fractured  her neck and was due to have a baby. Callie was going to work on the fracture after they deliver the baby, and yes, Arizona was the one to oversee delivery of the baby.

Joan, together with her fiancé had been crushed in their car and Keith was still at the scene of the accident because he was badly pinned and severely injured, that a team of fine doctors were sent on site to save him. He couldn’t be  extricated from the car.

Joan had said she made her fiancé Keith take the tunnel when Keith  wanted to take the bridge. She was guiltily confessing that she  constantly told Keith what to do. They met each other nine months and 3 days ago. They were going to get married the next week.

Joan’s case was tricky because any slight movement in her neck would cause her paralysis

Meanwhile, Keith wanted so much to get out of that crushed car. Because Joan was  having their baby, and I took note of his loving statement while pinned by a crushed car:  “I really love the little things, it’s like I’m home. She’s like my home. I should really tell her that.”

Two minutes for the sliders

A welcome breather from all the tension in the hospital   was when Arizona was in the midst of all the wedding food from Catherine and Richard's postponed wedding, and when Bailey chanced upon her, she needed gastronomic advice, “Oh hey, I heard Catherine Avery had all the food from the wedding sent here, you know, for the staff , and I have two minutes. How many sliders do you think I can eat in two minutes?”

And she also needed advice about picking out the new chief of surgery,  “Do you think that Catherine’s gonna help pick out the new chief?  I mean why wouldn’t Hunt just do it? God it would save us so much trouble. The 12-page resumes and the phone calls and the polite vetting and who would want to be chief, would you? I should just do it right? Oh. Those crab cakes look really good.”

Teamwork by Dr Torres and Dr Robbins

Patient Joan was left with the interns and she overheard from their chatter that Keith was left under the crushed car and that “he was too far gone,”  which led her to have difficulty breathing. So when  a reckless panicky intern moved her collar, it proved wrong for her fracture and dislocated it which left the interns and Stephanie in a helpless situation and they needed super ortho surgeon Dr Torres in a jiffy. And of course ace fetal surgeon Dr  Robbins rushed to the scene too! Well, well, well!

Callie was aghast,  “What the hell happened in here?”  How the hell did she dislocate?

To add to the delicate situation, Arizona needed to get the baby out of her and needed to bring her to the OR fast.

When they were on the elevator on the way to the O.R, Joan was fine until she felt the pain of the contractions but she had to keep very still,  and that was the most tricky situation for Callie and Arizona. 

Forgive me for feeling that what’s best in this kind of situation was that they were together at a very intense moment. Oh yes, Steph was there too, but it was time for Calzona to shine.

Arizona was making her push and told her she was doing okay. Joan’s words brought tears to mine eyes…

Joan: I can’t. He’s supposed to be here with me, with us and he’s gone

Callie: Joan we know it hurts but we need you to keep going okay?

Arizona: Head’s out!

Arizona: Joan you did great

Joan: Keith was supposed to cut the cord. He was supposed to hear the first cry

Arizona: Hold your baby everything is fine. Mom, say hello to your son

Joan: This isn’t how it’s supposed to be. It’s not part of the plan. Keith should be here. Keith should be here. Keith should be here.

And Arizona,  together with Callie , witnessed the successful almost miraculous delivery of Joan's baby, while being held still, lest she be paralyzed. It was marvelous silent teamwork from our heroines. 

The closing voice over poses a challenge.. 

“How do you step back into the world? It’s scary. Time stood still. And now it’s speeding by. You are looking for a lifeboat. Something to give you hope. But are you really ready to leave your happy little bubble and step back into the big, blinding, bloody terrible world? Are you ready to achieve the impossible?”

Notes:

Working together

Seeing Callie and Arizona working together on Joan the patient was an absolute thrill. A warm blooded normal Calzona fan would  definitely be staring at their every move and glance and stare.

Hey, this has been rare this season, and seeing them together in one frame has already become a treat. However, Callie and Arizona were all-business. One could notice that they were “too professional” for us  people who were wishing to see  any kind of  communication between them. Even a meaningful glance would have been great. But nope.

No pleasantries, no looking, no conversations, no consulting with each other. They were just focused on  Joan and their treatment approach.

Elevator scene

So as some people had been  saying, we had been hoping for an elevator scene and they gave it to us, but not in the way we liked. And guess what, that is all right for now.  

However, Callie and Arizona were too focused on the patient to even talk to each other or consult. Both very serious about their doctoring, for it was such a  tense moment.

It was surreal to see Arizona and Callie cooperate  to make Joan deliver a baby and save her from paralysis. There was no one else they could rely on but themselves. 

We were treated to an intense elevator scene and we were just awed  watching them. Like their best talents merged. Our very own elevator superheroes.

As a diehard Calzona fan, of course I was hoping that somehow they’d talk, but because of the gravity of the situation, I quickly forgot about my own personal wishes and focused on Joan.

What I liked though was that both of them  knew each other’s skills so well. They trusted each other’s capability, that they worked in sync on Joan, without any difficulty. 

No conversation was even needed. I could feel in their silence, was that respect for each other's talent and skill.

What’s more, they were successful in being elevator superheroes for Joan because that’s how talented they are.

Promo pics reveal they communicate with each other in the finale and I’m intrigued to see that.

Funny we get so excited with them just talking or staring at each other. 

I guess we  learned  to not ask for much nowadays. Just a simple conversation would already make us happy.

Words of love by Joan and Keith

I had been closely attentive to Keith and Joan’s words for each other. They love each other a lot and were about to get married. But as with plans, they don’t always push through as people want.  They  had a baby but Keith was now in a situation where their beautiful dreams turned into worst nightmares.

 I was seriously trying to find how this loving relationship, literally “crushed” by a real life catastrophe was going to survive. I was looking for a  similarity between their relationship and Calzona’s. And yes, it did sound similar.

But I think it will be more fitting to think about it in a sense that they will see this as a wake-up call. And it was destiny that such a rare condition for a patient due to  deliver a baby and at the same time need careful crucial monitoring on her spine or else be paralyzed.

And so,  here I go with my  “meant to be” monologue:

It was fate.

Callie and Arizona were meant to work on that patient together.

They were meant to be together in that  elevator.

They were meant to both share that rare  moment in their work life, where  one was saving a life and one was  part of the miracle of giving life.

Of all the cases in the hospital, both were meant to be there and meant to hear about a patient’s love and concern for her  fiancé,  of plans they made but were stunted.

It was as if the whole situation was sending  them both a message.

Joan and Keith had love for each other. Keith gave in to Joan’s wishes most of the time. They both had dreams and both had full appreciation about each other.

Joan and Keith were having realizations of how much they loved each other, now that they were in very delicate , life threatening predicaments.

Now having just delivered a baby, they were supposed to share this very happy moment which they both looked forward to, but these plans were derailed by a sudden painful twist of  fate.

It would be a happy thing to think about if only Arizona and Callie will realize that if ever they still do have that kind of love and care for one another, that maybe they should not waste time and linger in their own independent moments and realize that what they have is still lasting love for one another and that they should not take for granted that they were still both there. Still present. Alive. Healthy enough to again paint dreams together.

As with everyone else who is batting for the Calzona relationship, I am  really hoping for a positive Calzona cliffhanger. It looks inevitable but we never really know where  Shondaland will bring these storylines.

Curious about how this patient situation will affect them.

And I do have high hopes that this can bring them to have much needed  realizations about their own halted relationship.

I hope they realize this : should they be waiting for something bad to happen for them to voice out their love just as Joan and Keith did?

Maybe, just maybe, something good between them will happen in 11x24, and finally make us happy after a painful eighteen episodes of them being apart.

With lots of hope, here’s wishing for the best for them in this finale.

I hope something starts in the finale. Something good.

So that when Season 12 begins, it will be the start of a new journey--a smoother, more hopeful journey of two people who have always had love for each other and have always been meant to be.

Here’s to hope that everything will finally lead to Callie and Arizona to love each other forever.

Happy Finale to you.


Keeping the faith till the end.

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@GAFan8