Nobody’s perfect. Everybody makes mistakes. As viewers of global television shows, especially those reaching ten years of tenure, we have seen our fair share of mistakes both on the screen and behind the cameras. If you’re not old enough to remember Bobby Ewing emerging from the shower you’ll most likely have heard about it. Patrick Duffy’s return to Dallas in 1986 wiped out an entire season’s worth of storyline. How’s that for an epic mistake rectified – by the actor and by the show creators? It takes a lot for a producer to quite obviously make good on an error. It’s a very public expression of fallibility. It’s possibly more difficult for a show runner to fess up to errors than it is a politician. After all, is there a more passionate bunch of people worldwide than the shows ‘shippers?
One of the strongest themes running through Grey's Anatomy episode 10.09 told us plainly that everyone makes mistakes, whether they are surgical gods, loyal dads or even your loving spouse. But after all the hype of ‘Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word’ the most telling part of the episode was the determined effort of the show’s producers to rectify their own mistake. The irony was not lost on me that in dissecting poor Callie’s descent into courtroom hell for her own mistakes the viewers were treated to a recovery effort by the Grey’s writers to rectify theirs. Not all the show’s writers would be trusted with such a job. Recovering a storyline takes talent and creativity and in this case the writer called forward to take on this monumental task was the seasoned Grey’s writer Stacy McKee.
Max has written a fantastic episode review earlier in the week (you should read it if you haven’t already) so I’ve gone back into the archives of Grey’s to discover why McKee was given 10.09 to write, and discuss whether she came close to sorting out this very dramatic and polarizing Callie and Arizona storyline.
Did the writers make a mistake that needed correcting in the first place?
To answer this we need to go back to Season Eight. Callie and Arizona were ostensibly very happy, the ‘Mark’ drama had been put to bed at the end of season seven and season eight was to be the rekindling of their passion as they make a married life for themselves. Then came Nick, 8.23, and his failed attempt to cheat death. It was a brief glimpse into Arizona’s past but we are shown that he was her ‘Mark’, her best friend from childhood, in a similar way as Mark was to Derek perhaps. This very short storyline, which, presumably had an off screen ending of death sparked the foreshadowing we saw in 10.01.
Arizona: “Don't ever leave.”
Callie: “What?”
A: “Don’t. Ever. Leave. Promise me that right now.”
C: “I'm not going anywhere I promise”
A: “After my brother I thought - I can't do this ever again. I won't do this again. And now, here I am”
C: “Okay, whatever you can't do I will. I'm here and that's how this works. Okay?”
This scene lays the groundwork for broken promises, certainly on Callie’s side but more pointedly it’s the last time, until end of 10.08, we actually heard Arizona tell us (or rather Callie) how she really feels, besides anger, which is her mask, or fear of Callie leaving which is repeated during season nine. Resolution for her grief and their reconciliation was implied in their return to sexual intimacy and those viewers who have experienced the depths of grief in losing a limb or a best friend or even losing yourself saw the superficial filter on the storyline. Others felt Arizona’s cheating came entirely out of the blue, uncharacteristic and the character has been castigated and demonized over the summer and all the way through season 10 so far.
The writing error is NOT that so much of Arizona’s storyline has been off screen (it has but that’s normal in Grey’s unfortunately), or that she cheated. Nothing in Arizona’s backstory tells us that cheating is out of character. We have no relationship back-story so no benchmark. The real problem is that too much of Arizona’s story has relied on viewers reading between the lines of her character leading to a perception of Callie as the flawless victim. This, in the world of Grey’s Anatomy is an imbalance between two central characters and the mistake is that it has been left uncorrected for too long, like a continuity error. In almost every storyline with every couple when there is conflict the writers constantly seek to restore balance – a great example is the retcon cheating storyline for Owen. Cristina aborting the baby with Owen’s permission pushed the balance of sympathy right over to Owen, disproportionately so. The writers had to restore the balance, hence the cheating. Now they are both flawed. This balancing occurs constantly with Meredith and Derek and all the couples. Left uncorrected we get gaping holes.
Arizona is seen as out of character or cold or a bitch to Callie. Actually Grey’s writers never write their characters like this and Arizona is no exception. All of them, even Burke, are portrayed as good, yet flawed people. And those flaws are always explained sympathetically. In the case of Arizona it’s like she’s in a circular error on an Excel spreadsheet – or the dog chasing it’s own tail. What the writers have intended to tell us is that Arizona is as sensitive and exposed as the next person, perhaps with respect to her lost leg, desperately vulnerable, but Arizona’s character DOES NOT DO vulnerable. It forces her shutters up and her mask goes on and she doesn’t talk about it. So the writers have shown Arizona not talking about it, which is entirely within character as a defence, but it hasn’t translated well enough on screen. If a character is not talking then we rely on behavior clues which in themselves are masks for real feelings.
If I was a betting person I’d put money that the reason for the delay in telling Arizona’s story is because at some stage early season Shonda Rhimes realized that this character has lost a lot of public sympathy because of her character’s ‘silence’. More so than any other cheating storyline – and there have been a lot (as I explain here). As a response she upped the episode budget and told McKee to fix it.
The principle of retcon (retroactive continuity) was invented for the purpose of ‘making good’ mistakes. Okay, it wasn’t invented just for that but as a device it allows writers to refresh old shows, add characters and new story arcs, change history to move existing stories forward, bring characters/actors back from the dead or make amends for continuity errors. In retcon past stories are changed to help the viewers make sense of current stories. Given the length of time that Grey’s has been on air we haven’t seen too much retcon and this is a credit to strong writing and character development. It has also helped that there is a core group of writers (and actors) who have been on the show regularly from the start or at least early production days, which has led to character and story consistency. One such writer is Stacy McKee, brought into the Grey’s family at the start of Season Two, she has been writing between 2-4 episodes every season ever since.
Why did Shonda choose Stacy? Three reasons: a proven track record of writing difficult episodes, she’s the specialist at ‘specials’ and she’s the writer who knows both Callie and Arizona the best. It was a no brainer.
What’s her history?
Writing her third episode Stacy McKee introduced us to Callie with Sara Ramirez’ charismatic entrance onto the show during 2.19. The Callie we were presented with then is still the same passionate electric one we see now:
“Hurts less if you don’t see it coming”
Come episode 3.06 Stacy has put Callie and George back together again with words I can hear loudly even in season ten:
“I was rude to you before, I’m sorry. I understand what you were trying to say...you’re the pig, you’re committed. Only, we broke up, and I’ve been wanting to hear this from you for so long and you wait until now to say this to me, after we’ve broken up. I‘m out of my element here, I break bones for a living, I live in the basement, most days I wear last night’s eyeliner to work I don’t give a crap what other people think of me because I’m a happily independent successful woman and I like it that way. But when you say stuff like this it’s just...it makes things to hard, so please don’t chase me anymore. Unless you’re ready to catch me.” (notice how much we learn about Callie in just this one speech).
Through the angst of suspecting George’s cheating in 3.20 it is by season four, specifically 4.06 where we know that McKee has this character nailed.
Callie, to the girl trying to win the wedding dress:
“Don’t you get it? You shouldn’t have to fight this hard for a wedding. You fight for a marriage and sometimes even that is a lost cause, sometimes you have to let go so just let go already alright, just frickin’ let go.”
And to George:
“I’m letting go. I have to. Let go”
Stacy’s first real ‘special’ sees the return of Addison (former cheater) and not only is she tasked with re-introducing this much-loved character but Addison’s secondary job in this episode is to unpick Callie. Throughout this entire episode Addison is the fixer – perceptive and compassionate she deals with
Bailey:
“You seem sad”
Meredith:
“I walk on the beach now, I buy aromatherapy candles, I’m very zen but I wanna kick your arse so badly right now. It is killing me. ....I’m talking about Derek. Derek Christopher Shepherd. Are you letting him get away? Because I swear to God Meredith if you let him ride off into the sunset with that doe eyed little thing...”
And then she opens Callie’s eyes:
“Callie....are you speaking the...vagina monologues now?”
On to season five and McKee is given the episode just after Hahn leaves Callie in the car park which arguably is a natural follow on for her after 4.06. Callie goes through a transition to understanding herself better.
By now Rhimes trusts McKee with the biggest storylines and there are very few bigger (for MerDer) than the Elevator Love Letter of 519 (adorable proposal cuteness), an episode which although opens with Callie and Arizona dancing it’s where she gives closure to Callie and George.
So by now we know that McKee knows Callie, having written pivotal moments in that character’s history. The show introduced Jessica Capshaw as a series regular at the start of season 6 and McKee is given the task of opening out the character of Arizona. During episode 6.08, Invest in Love, another special, she tells the story from the voice of Arizona and it is this episode under the wing of McKee that her character really takes form. By now McKee knows this couple.
At this stage it’s worth bringing up 6.13 - Mark’s daughter has entered his life and Lexie’s done a runner. A short piece of dialogue between Mark and Callie gives a clue to us for season 10 that perhaps Callie is capable of forgiveness in cheating:
M: “She dumped me and jumped into bed with Karev, she doesn’t get to make good points.”
C: “Mark don’t you think you’ve being a bit...”
M: “What? Mad offended disgusted?”
C: “Hypocritical, sexist, immature”
M: “She dumped me. Not the other way around. She dumped me, and for wanting to step up and be responsible with my own daughter.....”
Over to season 7 and all three episodes written by McKee are ‘specials’, and out of the normal Grey’s format. The first, 7.06 is the documentary episode. While this particular story did nothing for me it allowed us to see a very objective view of Callie and Arizona’s not entirely open relationship and new nuances to both characters. Past the superbly written Meredith special, Golden Hour, McKee is then tasked with her biggest test – White Wedding. This was an almost impossible task of bringing together two of the most important weddings in the history of Grey’s, introduce two sets of in-laws (well almost), create the monster that is Callie’s mom, allow Derek to fall in love with an adorable Zola, navigate and lead an enormous cast across a multitude of new sets and significant multi-arc content. Too much was expected of this episode but as huge as it was it showed us some pivotal plot points, including an exceptional speech from Bailey summing up the fight that Callie had for a wedding (remember 4.06 “you shouldn’t have to fight for a wedding”). So by the end of season 7 McKee has already written Callie fighting for her marriage with George and her wedding with Arizona. And of course, speaking of Arizona, McKee shines another light on her life by telling us about her relationship with her brother.
Passing over the forgettable stereotype of 8.04 (What is it about Men) we should not pass over 8.10 where McKee can be found mopping up after Callie’s (or really Jackson’s) mistake in surgery -
Owen to Callie: “I believe it was your mistake who put everyone in this position in the first place. You’re really not one to point fingers right now.”
So McKee has written both of Callie’s ‘failures.
By season 9 McKee has become not only the ‘go to’ writer but also the Shonda substitute. While Rhimes is busying herself over on the Scandal set McKee is given episodes that Shonda might normally assign herself, beginning with the start of season 9, writing the very best character exit (Mark), with Callie and Derek central to this (and Jackson) which was executed so much more sensitively than George or Izzie, or even Lexie and managing to turn Calzona upside down with one single scene right at the end. She completely finishes them off with some haunting dialogue in 9.24 as McKee ends the season having ripped apart this troubled couple.
It’s taken ten episodes this season for Shonda to pull out the McKee trump card and for good reason. McKee built much of the foundation for Callie and Arizona, she knows those two characters more than any other writer, including Shonda, she understands Callie’s heart and fight, she feels Arizona’s barriers, she knows how these two characters interlock, she can more than handle difficult storylines, large supporting casts and unfamiliar locations and she’s a phenomenal writer. And that’s before I’ve even started on the fact she is one of the best writers of Alex...
4.13: Bailey: "Karev, right now you're feeling all your feelings right out in the open. Do me a favour and stuff them back in"
5.19 where he has to deposit in a cup and 6.13 Arizona to Karev "you don't get to berate terrified parents"
and April, truly bringing out the exceptional talent that is Sarah Drew...
7.20: she gets through to Stark, 9.08 with the interns and it’s Stacy McKee that brought April back into the show both times.
and Teddy. 8.10 is heartbreaking and Kim Raver is fantastic.
Perhaps the fact that McKee did not write any further Calzona story between 9.01 and 9.24 is indicative of the trouble ahead so faced with a gaping hole in the storyline for Arizona and Callie, Shonda did the best thing she could do and gave the gauntlet to McKee.
And what about the actual episode?
Episode 10.09 was an excellent episode. Without a doubt the best of the season so far, it was a complicated story beautifully written, well directed and edited. It progressed stories (yes, plural – it quietly progressed Cristina’s story), was full of drama, incorporated subtly and appropriately the entire cast, especially the principles, and was a joy to watch. The icing on the cake was the very superb Sara Ramirez showing that she deserves star billing on this show and probably by now, a show of her own. All of this was a direct result of excellent story telling by McKee.
Episode 10.09 was an excellent episode. Without a doubt the best of the season so far, it was a complicated story beautifully written, well directed and edited. It progressed stories (yes, plural – it quietly progressed Cristina’s story), was full of drama, incorporated subtly and appropriately the entire cast, especially the principles, and was a joy to watch. The icing on the cake was the very superb Sara Ramirez showing that she deserves star billing on this show and probably by now, a show of her own. All of this was a direct result of excellent story telling by McKee.
Yes. All of this.
I can’t ignore the ENORMOUS elephant in the room though. Or gorilla or whatever large animal works in your version of the metaphor. COLOSSAL. So big in fact that the episode pulsates as much from the drama and superstar performances as it does from the palpable audience manipulation. Because while the ‘miscarriage’ story itself was well told within the context of the episode, it’s such a huge leap of faith for the viewer to take this story, process it and eventually by the end of 42 minutes, appreciate the full enormity of what Arizona lost. Nothing justifies cheating but we know, to quote the words of Bailey, affairs don’t happen in a vacuum. And the vacuum that sucked the remaining air out of their marriage was the loss of a baby.
If you look hard enough there was enough story to show us the real trauma behind Arizona’s actions already in season 9. Retcon flashbacks could’ve elaborated much more realistically on the sheer terror of being in the woods, unable to move for five days, in excruciating pain, sitting in your own faeces, drinking urine, maggots eating your leg and animals eating your colleague; or how much the pain of phantom limb and the desperate need for independence left Arizona too exhausted to do anything; or finally being able to grieve for the loss of Nick, not being with him when he died; or not being able to pick up Sofia or play with her in the park, week after week, month after month. All of these could have taken us on a journey much closer to the reality we saw in season nine. These were strong enough to provide character sympathy, but perhaps the writers saw that the hole was bigger, the fan reaction so much stronger that only the most personal loss, that of an unborn child, to a woman who had already lost a leg, would do.
Addison and Richard never had to go through that much in order to ‘explain’ their behaviour to fans. In my opinion this elephant wasn’t needed and it now appears a rather cheap way of building sympathy for Arizona.
What about Callie?
McKee used the “mistake” device for Callie to recover from the show’s failure to get Arizona’s point of view across sympathetically – a reminder - that is 32 episodes lacking an expression of feeling. But these points that McKee illustrated so well through this story were needed and were necessary because (going back to the vacuum analogy) the writers in Grey’s Anatomy will not allow for characters to be faultless and in 10.09 we see the deconstruction of Callie personally and professionally. On one day she failed her wife and her patient at the same time. She failed to understand the enormity of loss her wife had suffered and learned that lesson through her patient – as per all the good Grey’s stories. This part of the story worked really well. If you try to interpret the timeline (not easy, in fact I wouldn’t bother if I were you) Callie is falling down during the latter episodes of season nine, culminating in Arizona being attracted to a doctor who presented as exactly the woman that Arizona fell in love with in Callie – a goddess doctor, strong, sexy, in control, as Callie was when she emerged after Hahn (“walk tall Torres, walk tall”). You can interpret that Dr Boswell is either Arizona looking in the mirror or Arizona looking for the Callie she knew in someone else in a moment of madness sadness. Probably both. Knowing Callie’s character so well McKee very easily weaved a powerful story building on eight and a half seasons of clues. Somehow although the intent was to provide some sympathy to Arizona I did come away with sympathy for both of these women whose lives have been slapped with one trauma after another and who clearly still love each other. The very best and most telling line McKee provided will be an echo that will haunt us through the rest of the season:
“She lost her leg last year...and it’s changed us. It’s cost us in ways I can’t even begin to understand.”
Callie still doesn’t understand it. But in those words lies a lot of hope – an admission that she doesn’t know and after a pep talk with her dad, a willingness to try.
With Arizona we felt the pain of miscarriage as the straw that broke the camel’s back but I still feel there is a lot going on in her head that we are not privy to. Somehow I get the feeling she's going to lose even more before she picks herself up.
Perhaps McKee has saved Calzona, time will tell. It does seem that while other ‘cheating’ characters can be redeemed fairly easily on Grey’s the writers have to fight the hardest to balance out the relationship between Callie and Arizona for the fan majority. For me, I am philosophical - in Grey’s Anatomy balance holds this show together and cheaters are always rebalanced. Like it or not, that is the formula. Stacy McKee wrote a superb episode and showed us that we all make mistakes, and in this case especially Callie. The disappointment came in the sheer size of the retcon device used when it wasn’t needed, Arizona wanting to carry a baby (especially with her history of not wanting them at all), choosing the sperm donor, showing very happy times, miscarrying - all told in about 10 minutes of screen time.
It leaves me thinking that in the end it’s not Callie that was cheated on, but the viewer. Shonda is right to keep Stacy for the biggies. I only hope she learns from her mistake as much as Callie did.
As usual, just my opinion, always open to being shouted down :)
As usual, just my opinion, always open to being shouted down :)
Written by Maxine (Brouhaha) aka @pipmaxine
Follow me on Twitter
Great review and analysis! Thank you!
ReplyDeleteI am in agreement with you that Stacy McKee was sent into save not only the character of Arizona but S10. She made us remember what good story telling is all about in GA. SaRa knocked McKee's story out of the park - an amazing actress that deserves the accolades and ABC needs to pay her good attention on how they handle her contract negotiations.
In S9, we saw the character of Arizona go from the quirky, perky doctor, to a wounded warrior that was experiencing physical and emotional loss, pain, changes in her life, loss of self, trust in her partner, etc. Because the storyline arc took us to see a marriage that was coming back to love and support (ep 18: AZ initiates sex, and supports Callie for her TED speech, and Callie reiterates about putting things back together when things have fallen apart), the audience assumes we are back to Calzona S8.
Quicker then the snap of a circus whip, we get the cheating episode. No build up, no showing of unhappiness in a marriage or a developing psychological meltdown. Just the cheating behavior. It was as if Shonda said..."Ok, let's break them up now...ratings people, ratings!!" Cheap trick and cheap writing.
What Shonda and team didn't expect was the tsunami of vitriol and anger towards the Arizona character over the summer and S10. Forums and social media are screaming bloody hell over it! So, yes, you are right...McKee came into rescue Arizona and gain sympathy for both characters.
In typical fashion, just as 9x01, Mckee tears Calzona up with that one scene of Arizona's amputated leg, she punches anxiety into the Calzona reconciliation with the final scene of 10x09 with Leah and Arizona. Brilliantly done, Mckee!
I don't see Leah as a deal breaker for Calzona. What I hope is that the GA writers will use this opportunity to open us into Arizona's head and heart about loss. I think they are trying to create a "new" Calzona but please do it with Arizona being healed. Otherwise, it will be the cycle of Arizona bailing every time, it gets too hard for her. There can be a richness to dealing with loss and making a person with flaws show their true heart. (I can't remember the episode where Arizona shows off her metal leg to a young girl that refuses to get up after a hip surgery. That Arizona showed that being human, means helping someone else by being authentic about oneself).
In my little fanfiction mind, I'd like to see Arizona go to therapy...and then run a marathon. What an achievement for a wounded warrior to achieve...and of course, Callie and Sophia and friends at the finish line for kisses and cheering.
In 2014, Stacy McKee will be promoted to head writer at GA. Well deserved! I look forward to her leadership and where she takes GA onwards. That said...I am a Calzona fan...so my heart was happy to be manipulated by McKee for 10x09. Journey on...
Great review.
ReplyDeleteI would love to see inside Arizona's counselling sessions. We need to see and feel her pain as we did in 10x09. I have no doubt her pain goes all the way back to her brother and not
dealing with that loss properly.
I believe in Callie and Arizona,
and their love for one another.
NEVER noticed how Stacy McKee wrote pivotal Callie episodes. 8x04 not being one of them (What Is It About Men) and 7x18 being written by Shonda (Song Beneath The Song). I was just looking over the episode list on Wikipedia and saw some other patterns. Krista Vernoff usually wrote George episodes and Tony&Joan usually write Burke/Cristina/Owen heavy episodes... There could be more of this but it's 4:30am and I need to go to bed and stop obsessing over Greys. #cantstop #wontstop
ReplyDeletealso probably why Tony&Joan are leaving after this season, is because Cristina (Sandra Oh) is...
ReplyDeleteI didn't know they were leaving too. Hmmm...
ReplyDeleteI think the reason McKee wrote 8.04 is because she does the specials and that was a special - in my view not very special at all but.... Song beneath the song was always a Shonda baby but Mckee wrote all the other specials in season 7. There are definite patterns for the writers and I'm guessing their role in the writers room is to act as a character rep when someone else is writing. Tony Phelan hasn't written much in the last few seasons. He's done more directing so I'm not worried about him leaving. I would worry if William Harper or McKee were to leave.
ReplyDeleteI deliberately didn't mention Leah. Leah is just a prop for this story and though her 'relationship' with Arizona will be an issue at some point for Callie I honestly don't think they will make much of it from CA point of view. I can't help thinking they've learned their lessons and Arizona telling her to leave was a message to fans as much as to Leah. It might be Leah's main story though - would be good to see her going all SWF and up the drama.
ReplyDeleteGreat review. I like it doesn't seem to be written solely out of Callie's prespective. The thing I especially agree with is this line:
ReplyDelete'The writing error is NOT that so much of Arizona’s storyline has been off screen (it has but that’s normal in Grey’s unfortunately), or that she cheated. Nothing in Arizona’s backstory tells us that cheating is out of character. We have no relationship back-story so no benchmark. The real problem is that too much of Arizona’s story has relied on viewers reading between the lines of her character leading to a perception of Callie as the flawless victim'
Arizona is my favourite character and this has always bothered me in the writing. The inequality between them. They usually only show it from Callie's POV which has people thinking Callie didn't make any mistakes. Which is far from the truth imo. I think in a way the show has also indulged that type of behaviour for example when Arizona came back from Africa Callie behaved like Arizona was solely to blame for their break up without recognizing her own part in it.
Than with losing the leg it was more of the same. Arizona goes through this traumatic experience and loses something important for her. But we see nothing of that experience. We just see her being angry and Callie saying things like 'just get over it already'. Again Arizona is made the bad guy and Callie the victim. While in a situation like that a lot of people would react like that. I don't htink a lot of people would get over losing a leg easily. It takes time and I was bothered that their seemed to be so little understanding about it. I think the show kind of missed an opportunity to kind of raise awareness for that issu by having callie say get over it, without having her realisethat it is not something you just get over. It is not just a leg.
I think in that way I also think they kind of missed an opportunity. They replaced the amputation by the miscarriage. Maybe because they thought more people could relate to it. But I think if done right people could definately learn to understand how such traumatic event could change a person. I think it is the one thing that kind of dissapointed me this episode, but for the rest I thought it was good written. And I understand Arizona and her cheating better now. This episode showed me one of Callie's biggest flaws in GA and sometihng that always bothered me during the callie/Arizona relationship. Callie not listening to what Arizona has to say. It was very obvious in the one scene were Callie got defensive and Arizona said she just wanted to tell her how she feels. Arizona doesn't open up easily and when she wanted to Callie made it about Callie and not about t Arizona. She got defensive and said she's sad to. But she didn't get Arizona's point at all. And in that way I can place the cheating a bit better. Arizona had hell of a year and it got to much. Callie didn't listen when she wanted to open and was all up in others people's business instead ( pressuming this was around the time Bailey was acting out). Lauren shows up and offers an escape of her reality...
I also think her behaviour this season has been perfectly in character. She is someone that puts on a mask and doesn't really like to show her emotions. She doesnt' like to deal with things. She lives in her bubble.. I never really thought it makes her cold. Maybe because I can relate to that characterization. I do know that she'll probably have to deal with her emotions at some point. And honestly with Arizona's baggage I don't even know how she is going to do it. But I am very curious where they are going to take her.
they really do need to do a Arizona POV/inner-dialogue episode. It was such a wasted opportunity in season 9 to not do so and told more from Callie's POV. I understand there were other things going on in the hospital but all we got was Arizona moping, a phantom leg story, buying the hospital and then Lauren. I'm sorry but she LOST A FREAKING LEG! Roller skate girl LOST HER LEG! Can we not see how it affected her mentality? sure she expressed feelings of lost but I would assume there it would be more of an identity crisis than a miscarriage.
ReplyDeleteArizona has dealt with a lot these past few seasons since we first met her; loss of a childhood friend, loss of a limb, loss of Mark, loss of a baby. Lets get inside her head! Lets go to therapy with her!
http://www.wetpaint.com/greys-anatomy/articles/2013-07-25-season-10-showrunners-exiting
ReplyDeleteBrilliant analysis as always! I really appreciate and value your reviews because you take care in going back in previous seasons and your attention to the details where others may not.
ReplyDeleteIf Shonda intends on having Calzona and more importantly Arizona, potentially, have more prominence in S11, should others leave, it's important that she gives the insight necessary to counter the backlash from casual viewers. I have been very invested in Calzona and take care to see both sides of the coin where others may not.
Please keep these incredible reviews coming as they help considerably in understanding Calzona. I have never wavered in my belief that they're MFEO and seeing Callie and Arizona so obviously over the moon in this episode about the potential to add to their family is worth fighting for.
I hope that Shonda takes care of McKee, she really did a hell of job as always.
Also Brouhaha that was an EXCELLENT review! Thank you so much for this GREAT insight to one of my fav TV couples!
ReplyDeleteWe definitely NEED an episode or 2 from Arizona's POV, it has ALWAYS come from Callie perspective. You make some great points Arizona lost had been to hell and back for 2 seasons on this show and they have never showed her dealing with any of her pain...really!
ReplyDeleteI have been a fan of her character from day one and I think they have really done it a disservice! Arizona deserves better than the writers have given her.
Thank you so much!
ReplyDeleteHi Anna, thanks for your comments. I do appreciate them. This review was a mountain to write so I'm glad you enjoyed it. Your point about the comment Callie made "you know what I really want..." is really valid and something we should take note of for later in the season. I can see an episode later where that phrase comes back. I am also hoping McKee stays.
ReplyDeleteThanks Michelle. Great analysis also from yourself. Characters who give little away as part of their personality would by definition be difficult to write so getting Arizona's view point across would be a challenge for all the writers I think. I don;t think Arizona is cold but she can be emotionally detached. It makes her a great children's doctor because it helps her separate personal and professional but can come across as cold.
ReplyDeleteLet's go to therapy with her? Bit too scary for me! :)
ReplyDeletethank you Victoria.
ReplyDeleteCallie/Sara Ramirez has always been a favourite of Shonda's which may explain why we see her pov come across as stronger but also she externalises her feelings so easier for us to see.
ReplyDeleteI can see that and appreciate it because I love Callie too. But Arizona is more than just a "prop" for Callie, we should see things from her POV too. Especially during last season, she lost a leg! That would be a big deal for anyone to have to deal with. Most of everything about Arizona's lost was about how it impacted Callie. Geez... throw the girl a bone at least one time Shonda! We would LOVE to know what Arizona is thinking.
ReplyDeleteYou are so right about Callie not listening to Arizona sometimes or NOT really hearing her. We saw it last week in the flashback after she lost the baby, Arizona finally told her "I'm trying to tell you HOW I FEEL" and she shut her down. Callie is so reactive and she wants answers right away from Arizona. The end of the episode last week when Callie asked Arizona to "Come Home" (YEAH!!!) was the first time she has every told her to "that she does not need an answer NOW, to take time to think about it"!!!! I heard this on a podcast and I said...DAMN that is so true.
Hopefully that is a GOOD sign that she is really gonna try to work on their marriage! I hope they go to counseling and as a couple and individually! They have got to learn to communicate better!
Wow, I gotta tell you.. I'm at work, and as I'm waiting for these customers to yell "bingo!", I usually just stare out into the air and wait, wait, wait.. But today, instead, I enjoyed this incredibly brilliant article. It's so well-written, and I can tell how much work and effort you've put into both this and your last article about Arizona and Callie. I agree with everything you've said, and I just want to thank you for writing an article about it. It opened my eyes to a lot of stuff, again, both this one and the last.
ReplyDeletewow! thank you so much. I love writing them when there's a really meeting problem to analyse, though this last one was quite a heavy one. Had to fast forward through many episodes and kept stopping and watching. Glad you enjoyed them.
ReplyDeleteI CERTAINLY did! :)
ReplyDeleteBtw, I'm also a BIG Callie and Arizona shipper. The only thing I just hate about this storyline, is how Arizona has been with Leah. It makes total sense that she cheated on her with Dr. Boswell, but I really wanted her to just show Callie
how much she cares in the time that they're apart. I know that isn't easy for a character like Arizona, and that Callie threw her out, but I would've forgiven her for Dr. Boswell, and I felt like they could've been together despite all that. But then she goes and sleeps with Leah like all hope is gone, like she might as well screw things up even more. Like she doesn't believe in her and Callie's love. Got any insight as to why she's been sleeping with Leah?
your best review so far thank you
ReplyDeleteAhhh thank you. I'm still exhausted from writing it. And I'm also pissed off with myself because I accidentally deleted a bit about 8.18 - see next comment. Because looking at 8.18 just points out how great McKee is.
ReplyDeleteOkay I am enormously pissed off with myself. Because I wrote this feature and while writing I got really excited when I realised that Stacy McKee wrote 8.18, the Lion Sleeps Tonight. I mentioned it in the ‘cheating’ article but hadn’t really paid attention to who wrote the episode.
ReplyDeleteSo I wrote a paragraph about that because:
a. it’s the episode where Callie drills Arizona about her former love life and in the end just says …okay, I’m okay with it, let’s have sex to make up for our fighting.
b. I also created a link between 8.18 and 10.09 “mistake” theme with Bailey’s speech to owen - “affairs don’t happen in a vacuum…you’re human you made a human mistake….you did a terrible thing, doesn’t mean you’re a terrible person.” 8.18 is a HUGE episode forming a writer continuity link to 10.09.
Tonight I re-read what I wrote and I’m thinking - where the hell is the bit about 8.18? It disappeared. I must’ve deleted it by mistake (I was listening to a very exciting England V Australia cricket match on the radio at the time!).
So there you go…even more Stacy McKee genius.
Ps. 8.18 is a great episode to re-watch. For all of the above but also Teddy/Kim Raver is brilliant.
I do, and as it's a long answer I wrote it on my tumblr. In summary I wrote:
ReplyDeleteFrom Arizona’s perspective (and now Callie’s having seen 10.10, another hat tip to 8.18) Leah is just a cigarette, a martini or a dose of prozac.
http://brouhahadreamer.tumblr.com/
That actually makes sense! Thanks for once again spending time to write me a detailed answer :)
ReplyDeleteI had lots to say but got busy with work.. I just want to add regarding the gaps about Robbins' story from the writer's perspective. It hard to develop a character when the writers have to accommodate for the actors absence due to other priorities such as having children and building a family. You can't just say ok now that Capshaw is back lets put her story together.
ReplyDeleteLove your assessment.... "Quicker then the snap of a circus whip, we get the cheating episode. No
ReplyDeletebuild up, no showing of unhappiness in a marriage or a developing
psychological meltdown. Just the cheating behavior. It was as if
Shonda said..."Ok, let's break them up now...ratings people, ratings!!"
Cheap trick and cheap writing."
So true it seemed so, so out of Arizona character to do something like that...out of nowhere it came and then you heard her being so ANGRY after she gets confronted my Callie about it!
Last weeks episode helped shed a lil more light on her mindset, BUT they have a whole lot of work ahead of them to save their marriage. I hope that Shonda/Stacy and the rest of the GA writers can pull it off. They have done a very horrible job of showing them communicating in the past. Their marriage has been broken for a while.
Great acting by Sara and JCap last week!
I really would like to see them work to save their marriage and get back to being one of the most loving and stable couples on GA. They have a great chemistry together.