Spoils of War

Calzona Review  Grey's Anatomy 12x23 "At Last"

Boom.

Two things happened in this episode. Penny and Callie broke up, and Callie and Arizona reach temper limits in their custody arrangement.

And these happened during Callie and Arizona's combined close to six minutes screen time.

Meaty.

Let's recall what happened exactly...and allow me (via my intrusive analysis), to make six minutes of Calzona screen time feel like it was a whole episode of Calzona.

Prelude to the break up

Penny dropped in on Callie in the scan room doing techie things with bone graphics.

 

Penny:  I called the landlord and he agreed to swap out our two-bedroom lease for something smaller. Since, I mean i figured that I could save on rent ... so I could afford to fly back on weekends to Seattle to you know, visit you and Sofia.

Callie: Okay.

Penny: Okay?

Callie: Yeah sounds good.

Penny : I don't want to leave when we're like this.  We've barely talked.

Callie: I really don't know what to say.

Penny: Neither do I but I am trying to say words and be here and help.

Callie: You've helped enough.

Penny: Okay...okay.

Callie did not look at Penny for most of that time. Something was not okay. And Penny, though anxious, decided to give Callie space.
 

Nice and Gracious

 

Arizona had that sly Cheshire Cat smile when she and BFF April spotted Callie walking toward them.

 

Arizona: ooh (sarcasm mixed with a hint of irrational delight)

April strictly reminded her ..

April: Be nice.

Arizona: I know. But God, she put me through hell.

April: I know. And you won. You can afford to be magnanimous.

Callie : Hey guys!
 

Arizona had that plastered smile on her face.   

 Callie was very humble.

Callie: Well, I was wondering if uhm...I have had a surgery come up late this week and so  i wanted to ask if i could please have Sofia Tuesday night instead of Thursday


Arizona:  so if I allow you ... to have Sofia on Tuesday then in exchange I will have her Friday?

Callie : Yeah sure if that's  what you want.

Arizona: Great. Okay then I will make that work.

Callie: Thank you

And Callie leaves looking grateful.
 

April: She's gone.

Arizona:Huh?

 

April: If I were you I'd lose that crazed smile before you start cramping

April had been chugging her juice nervously during the encounter because it was awkward to witness the conversation between the un-couple.

One was having a fun time lording it over the custody game while the other was so respectful and humble and so un-Callie Torres i was choking from amusement. Goodness,  these two can make chemistry appear in even the most awkward of scenes.

The BreakUp

Beyonce's "Pray You Catch Me" pipes in and Callie seemed irritated when Penny peeked and stalled at the door checking if she could talk to Callie who was doing her ortho screwing thing.

Callie: Either come in or stay out. Don't do whatever it is you're doing

Penny: Okay. I was thinking maybe i can postpone leaving. For just a little while just until  things are better. Until you and I are better.

 

And here we see Callie's reason for being quiet and indifferent that day:

Callie: What's  the point? What? Two days a week? We both know how this ends.

 

Penny: No, I dont. But apparently you do. So why don't...

Callie: We'll drag this out sure. You can wait here and then things will get superficially better and then you'll leave. And then we'll let things taper off the way things taper off over long distance and then we'll be sorry and make promises that are just a lie. It's all a lie because I'm not leaving without Sofia and you would never forgive me if you give up your grant so I'm stuck here Penny, I'm stuck and there's no good solution.

Penny: Callie, why won't  you look at me? Are you breaking up with me? Is that it?

Callie: Maybe instead of dragging this out, maybe we should just call it now. Yeah we should. You should go.

Sara's acting in this breakup scene, where she only faces the camera,  her expression of the gradual progression of pain was ultimately amazeballs.
 

 
Arizona and Callie at the NICU
 

Callie approaches Arizona at the NICU while Arizona was checking on baby patients.

 

Callie : Hi. Is there any way that I could also have Sofia tonight? I know you've already  moved things around, thank you again so much by the way,  it's just that i really need to. Could I have her tonight? Please i just ... it's been a tough day.

Arizona : You're right. We already did move things around or rather i already moved things around for you.

Callie: I know and i thought that's why you'd be  okay.

Arizona : To bend the rules for your convenience? Rules that only exist because you put us and all of our friends through hell?

Callie: No I'm sorry, i just...

 

Callie was about to walk away but Arizona blew her top:

Arizona: You know, you chose this. And you ruined everything. And yet you still expect me to leap to fulfill your needs , i did that. I did that this morning.

Callie: Okay Arizona i get it. You're angry.

Arizona: I wasn't angry. I was gracious. I was nice and i was accommodating and i tried to help you and yet here you are again asking for even more. I do not have anymore to give you. You have used up all of my grace.

 

Callie took  all of Arizona's wrath without saying anything  anymore and walked away with a blank expression.
 

Penny leaves

Blake, after the breakup, had  gathered her things and decided to leave for New York for the fellowship. While sobbing, she had one last convo with Meredith, which was really sad but made light by Meredith who seemed to not be a hugger. To Penny at least.

Just needed to post this convo here to note the true love Penny had for Callie but it was not meant to be and this is the formal confirmation of their breakup:

Penny:  I came here for her, i stayed for her i thought we were gonna be together. It doesn't really matter what i thought. We're over. We don't work anymore.

Penny hugged Mer and it was not a dramatic hug but a type of funny hug that makes you to want to wait for the punchline and laugh so that you won't feel so bad. And Mer in her awkwardness, had words of consolation for her protege whom she shared a unique history with:

Mer: It'll be okay Blake. You will be okay. You will pick yourself up and you will kick yourself some fellowship ass.

In the final Arizona scene, Arizona and Webber were at the reception area

 

Arizona: And she's standing there with these sad eyes like she's  the victim. She's not the victim, Callie caused all this, she set it all in motion and now here we are and there is not one part of it that doesn't suck.

Notes:

The Break Up

Honestly, it has been  difficult trying to decipher Callie's thoughts about Penny after the results of the custody battle.

Remember when she brushed off Penny's comforting hand while at Mer's house? Well she is still consistent with that attitude in this episode. For a while there, you would think Callie had lost love for Penny but maybe not.
 
I admire Penny for ignoring Callie's rejection of her offer of comfort and still tried to push the relationship forward despite Callie's  major setback of losing physical custody of Sofia.

She tried to do everything from her end, to adjust to the results of the custody battle. She changed her New York two bedroom lease to a smaller unit and had even planned to shuttle back to Seattle twice a week just to see Callie and Sofia.

These are efforts of someone who is still in love. Penny was not one to easily just give it up despite Callie's lackadaisical interest to talk with her about arrangements. We could clearly see she was trying to adjust everything, even offering to postpone going to New York for a while, just to make it work.

Unfortunately, (or in this blog's case, "fortunately") , Callie has become a different person to Penny after the trial. Trying hard to examine her psyche, i assume :

1. She was shaken up, traumatized about the thought of losing Sofia, that she gained a perspective of what was most important to her. This situation may have transformed Callie a bit from being an "all for love" girl,  to a more practical one. To her, it's clear now that Sofia comes first, all other passions were relegated to second place.

Or

2. As I said in last episode's review, she may have come to equate her relationship with Penny with losing custody of her child. So being with Penny serves as a painful reminder

Or

3. She just feels the situation sucks and she is letting it be. Her non-belief in long distance relationships weighs more than her love for Penny. She has had enough  experience so she has realistic foresight that the long distance arrangement will not work.

So rather than drag it out, when she knows in the end, they'll have the same broken ending, she broke up with Penny.

It takes guts to be decisive about ending a relationship when you still love a person. Badass Callie was brave and practical enough to call it quits.

One thing though, Callie was clearly in pain when she told Penny about wanting to break up. We could feel the deep pain she felt by her expressions which Sara Ramirez dished out ever so intensely. Sara expertly showed us the emotions of a woman struggling with the feeling of hurting inside and hurting a person who loved her much.

She obviously did not want to hurt Penny, who loved her and stuck by her through it all, but Callie's practical side took over. It may deeply hurt at this time but this will be better rather than prolonging the agony of a relationship that is not to be.

I am a Calzona shipper but to be objective, seeing any relationship end is sad, especially when you see the other person doing everything to make it work while the other has made the choice to give up.

Ouch.

But yeah this was necessary because we truly know who are mint to be...
All thanks and kudos to Penny, a very fine woman whom i never found anything to criticize with because she was a really decent person who had given much love to our dear Calliope.

She enriched Callie's life, made her feel loved, but in the end, she was to be a lesson and a blessing to Callie.

Most of all, Penny was a necessary presence to move the Calzona relationship sideways for now, but eventually, forward. Wink.

Penny's grant was the reason they even had a custody battle. Now I am stoked to see how it will impact the Calzona story even further.

Custody Battle Aftermath Starring Callie and Arizona

Many comments have been thrown back and forth on social media, both defensive, sorrowful and some downright vile. Of course, a situation like this will always breed contempt from any of the sides, and as per usual, disagreements ensue on who is the better character and this is good because it encourages each one to express her own unique opinion. Expression of self is great, as long as it involves healthy and respectful discourse among everyone.

Before analyzing each side, let's study the current situation after the heart-wrenching court face-off :

As we remember from the bench scene in 12.22, Callie was conciliatory. Arizona was pissed with Callie.

In the end part of that episode, Arizona was reflective when she finally got Sofia, while Callie was devastated. I actually thought Arizona would still be angry but will be nice to Callie in this episode and maybe show some kind of "pity" for Callie, but no.

Greys showed us something realistic, amusing and actually interesting.

I liked the way this episode made light of the situation in that April-Arizona scene. April was warning Arizona in jest to "be nice" and even to Arizona's counter reply "i know. But God, she put me through hell.

April did her BFF duties and tried to keep her friend's actions in check,  "you won. You can afford to be magnanimous."

I could just imagine how Arizona during her in-between-surgeries chats with April related how pissed off she was about the whole court battle that transpired and maybe a bit gloating about her victory.

So April knows Arizona's state of mind, that explains her reminder to her bff to be nice. The scene was even made more fun as April chugged her juice nervously when the Calzona un-couple discussed Sofia sharing details.
Arizona was actually nice and accommodating.

Callie seemed to have swallowed a huge chunk of humble pie after the court loss. Seemed as if she had been extra respectful to Arizona when asking for changes to their Sofia sharing schedule. Of course many will feel this as shattering considering she is Sofia's birth mother and now she is reduced to asking permission to have time for her child.

(I would rather skip explaining how this situation is justified.  I have always found that custody battle crappy as crap, but it happened. So this is all justified. This was the court's decision and this was settled with no discrimination between birth mother and adoptive mother. All that has been tackled in last week's 24-page review.)

I appreciated how Greys made this first scene fun.  And not taking sides, it was not meant to be taken so seriously and in effect, offend the viewer. Even the playful background music said it was not a dramatic scene so CHILL.

It was cute to see them in this kind of scene where Arizona was sort of basking in the glory of her victory and therefore had the "power" to dictate Sofia's schedule. She was gloating on the inside sure, even April knew this, but really, give Arizona a minute to enjoy that.

Rather than us being judgmental about her rubbing it in that she had sole physical custody, let's give her that for a minute.

After all, Callie's rash decision indeed created huge problems for both of them. As she said, it put her through hell, so back off and give Arizona a little time to enjoy the glory of her triumph. After all, she was not even being selfish to Callie. She actually gave in to Callie's request and moved things around. Let her enjoy seeing Callie asking permission from her and saying yes to what she wanted for one minute.

Callie, with her extra humble demeanor around Arizona is a sign that she knew her place losing the custody battle and was extra nice so as not to ruffle any feathers further that may even mean she might get reduced time with Sofia if she displeases Arizona in any way.

To be honest, It was actually a delight to watch this scene because i saw sparks between these two in that scene. Tee hee. If anything, for me it felt uhm... Charming.

It is a lot better to watch them in a scene like this because it shows expressive  interaction with each other, rather than having a casual boring scene with Callie telling her about her new girl or something in an impersonal way.

This scene is about the two of them having interesting direct interaction about each other. Arizona is making Callie go through a bit of hell and Callie is the ever so respectful yes-girl ex-wife.  Cuteness, really.

Let's not wreck the fun moment when these people are just going through the motions after that unpleasant court trial. It put Arizona through hell, so she's just giving Callie a little taste of it. This first scene was done in a FUN mood.  It was not meant to be too serious.

I'm thinking this episode was  just showing Callie repenting for her mistake of recklessly assuming to take Sofia with her without consideration for Arizona. So let's give that just this minute. It will only last for their  six minute screentime. It is highly doubtful it will be the same theme next episode.

When Callie Used Up all of Arizona's Grace

This second Calzona  scene revealed the two different mindsets of Callie and Arizona at the aftermath of the custody battle and this difference caused them to not be in sync with each other and made matters serious.

The breakup with Penny tore Callie's heart apart.  Yes, she initiated it but she was evidently hurting. In that breakup scene, where she could not even face Penny, because she did not want to see Penny in pain nor did she want to show Penny how hurt she was.   

It was obvious she still did have love for Penny and it pained her to break Penny's heart. She knows Penny still loves her a lot, but she had to do it mainly because she was a strong non-believer of long distance relationships so she did not want to linger in a doomed relationship.

That's Calliope Torres for you. Practical, with sound foresight and is badass in doing what has to be done,  even if it hurts so bad.

So as she dealt with her pain, she felt she needed her beloved daughter to stay by her side. Sofia was the only one who could give her comfort at a very sad time like this.

Maybe Arizona who had been so gracious to her today, could understand and let her have Sofia tonight.

But Arizona , having been gracious that day, did not have the same mindset as Callie.

She was in that state where she felt she had already been too gracious and giving. Maybe she felt she had been giving enough. In the first place, she never even wanted nor campaigned for sole physical custody  if it were not for her fear of Callie moving away with Sofia. She DID NOT want this at all. If Callie did not rashly make that decision to move across the country with the child,  there would NOT have been a custody battle nor a court ruling in the first place, that put both of them and their friends through that ugly mess.

So we may be offended with Arizona being a sort of bully  now, but we also have to understand that  the court ruled in her favor and she is asserting her right. Let us not overlook that she had been gracious enough to move the schedules around but she did not know that Callie was going through something really bad. Callie may have mentioned that it was a bad day and she needed Sofia to be with her but Arizona was not ready to hear any reasons at this time.

Arizona was in a stage where she felt she was being manipulated into bending the rules according to Callie's wants. She is still in that mindset that it was Callie who brought this upon them and that Callie should accept the consequences this came with.

Arizona seemed to not want to look like a pushover, adhering to all that Callie wanted, when the court clearly decided she won sole physical custody.

With all that happened that led to the court battle, Arizona may have felt spent. She went through the fear, the agony of dreading that she might lose her daughter who might be taken away to another state and which will therefore lessen her time with Sofia. Imagine her stress, her sleepless nights, her stressful discussions with her lawyer, the embarrassment she went through in that courtroom when she was somehow slut-shamed. Cut her some slack. She has unwillingly participated in this court trial because she had to defend her right and she could not bear to see less of Sofia.

Now that she holds sole custody, Arizona is just sticking by the rules and besides, we cannot blame her that she is still pissed off at Callie.

So if she feels that her kindness is being abused or she has already been giving too much, let her be.

She deserves to feel what she wants to feel especially at this time that she is recovering from the stress and trauma that the crisis put her through. She was not even as bitchy as she could have been, so fine, people may say she's cruel or mean, but she is not downright evil. Understand her too, she is just a person reeling from fresh trauma. We know Callie has put her through a lot just because of this Sofia issue and hey, i say it's all fair.

Besides, Callie has been a meek angel in all this and submissively accepts the situation sorrowfully. She knows where she went wrong and she is accepting the consequences. When she said "okay Arizona, I get it,  you're angry," I take this to mean that she accepts Arizona's anger and it feels like she is sorry, so let her be, too.  If Callie is willing to let Arizona process this anger , then we should too. This for sure, shall simmer down. Just wait what happens next episode. Double wink.

When Arizona was blabbering at the hospital reception area talking to Webber about Callie acting like  the victim, it showed she was still angry but she may have been a little guilty too about saying no to Callie. I sensed she was seeking approval from Webber, justifying that she did the right thing.

Webber dismissed this as one of those little things. He had had enough of the petty squabbles between married and unmarried couples at the hospital, he didn't want to engage in them anymore and sauntered off into the loving arms of his Catherine and they rode away in the elevator of love.

I suggest let's be like Webber.  Let them be. They both had justified actions. Arizona wasn't unreasonable with her anger. It's not like she is withholding Sofia from Callie. Not at all.

It is a squabble that is bound to happen between two people who had just gone through a vicious custody battle. They both still have fresh emotions that make them both irrational or even confused,  and both are still adjusting to the new custody arrangement. There are bound to be unfulfilled expectations.

It is hard to look forward to good things about their relationship after this episode. After last week's heartbreaking ep,  we were sure there was nowhere to go but up, but we forgot about it going sideways, with nasty spiked strings attached.

Also not surprising are the passionate emotions from all sides of the Calzona spectrum.

1. Some are furious with why Arizona is acting like a bitch when Callie the birth mother is practically begging to have some time with the daughter she brought into this world in HER womb.

2. Some are defending Arizona saying she has the right because of what she had to put up with in the court battle.

3. Many of us are so very sorry for Callie that we want to hug her like Penny hugged Mer.

4. Some understand the situation, understand both sides and choose to stay neutral and want to hug both forever.

5. And one feels really amused by the episode because the Calzona interaction reminds her of that time in episode 7x12 when Arizona came from Africa and was chasing after Callie and was practically rejected by Callie at every turn because Callie didn't want her back.

Arizona was all humble and asking for forgiveness and did not give up until Callie chose to tell her in the elevator that she was pregnant with Mark's baby and was asked, "how about now?"

This time, it's Callie who is all humble and respectful and Arizona playing the mean card to the hilt. So even if both are different situations, i see the similarity. At least now, I've already seen them both groveling and chasing after the other with the other being a bitch. All is equal now.

And pardon me but i could not cease thinking about how much fun Jessica and Sara had filming these scenes. Sara with the adorable  puppy dog sorry eyes, and Jessica playing the bitchy bully ex-wife. If I remember right, it's the first time Callie had played the sorry character to Arizona's bitch bit. It was  amusing to watch, i rewatched the scenes mutliple  times.

There is one thing to be happy about though in this episode. Much as it saddened me to see Callie and Penny's loving relationship end (because it made Callie happy), I am ecstatic that it finally ended so that it makes way for the truly mint to be couple's story to move forward.

Guarding my heart, I did not want to expect anything beautiful next episode but I still hold on to Kevin McKidd's words from an interview, and of course savior Debbie Allen's tweet with the Capmirez photo caption that says she cannot wait for us to see the finale.

These are exactly Kevin's words in an excerpt of an interview with The Hollywood Reporter:

"In the finale, there's an interesting growth spurt for them. They become enemies in a sense in this episode and they have to in order to protect themselves — and their lawyers are guiding them and they create animosity between opposing sides. But in the finale, there's a spark of something where they go from mortal enemies and the love that was between them resparks in quite an intriguing and surprising way."

And Debbie's tweet that makes me really happy:

So in summary, i don't think it is necessary to panic or be extremely sad because of 12x23. They were mortal enemies in 22 and 23, sure,   but I have reason to believe that the finale will be different. 

Let's see how it will all play out in the last episode of this amazing amazing season.  It is scary to be optimistic but I  look forward to wonderful things for Calzona next episode.

And I truly hope and pray that Sara will stay in Season 13.

One more episode before hiatus. Let's hope it will be great.

May the twenty fourth be in our favor.

Till then.

#CalzonaWillRise

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@GAFan8