And so it begins. Callie and Arizona are headed to court to duke out their custody battle once and for all. Unfortunately, that means their friends are forced to testify as witnesses, and despite the judge’s instructions that means taking sides.
The first person to take the stand is Dr. Hunt, who has very clearly sided with Callie. He mentions that Callie has already found a good school for Sophia in New York, and that she’s not afraid of a challenge. Then, the stand becomes a rotating chair of familiar faces, including Penny, who proves to the judge that she cares very much about Sophia. Well, at least until she gets flustered by Arizona’s lawyer who badgers her in the courtroom. Yikes.
Unfortunately, things don’t go as well when Bailey takes the stand and Callie’s lawyer turns on her. She’s trying to play the field for both moms, but Callie’s lawyer points out that Arizona has performed 92 emergency surgeries in the past few months while Callie has only performed a third or so of that. The lawyer turns it against Arizona, claiming that her success as a doctor means leaving Sophia behind.
Meanwhile, back at the hospital, Karev is having trouble with the on-call OB-GYN who is treating one of Arizona’s patients. The very pregnant young girl had a slip and fall accident that resulted in some nasty cuts on her stomach, as well as a perforated uterus which allowed the amniotic fluid to start leaking. Karev is obviously unsure about the on-call deciding to patch the uterus instead of taking the baby out early, and it’s only a matter of time before those two go at it.
Karev brings his concerns to April after the surgery, but she tells him to just go along with the on-call and wait it out. Knowing Karev, this won’t happen.
The night before their final day in court, Callie seems to be regretting her decision to take the custody battle this far. Thankfully, she has Meredith to lean on, and ironically it’s Meredith’s testimony that Callie’s lawyer is relying on to “win” the battle.
When Meredith finally takes the stand it seems to be going well, at least until Arizona’s lawyer gets her claws into her. The lawyer brings up Derek’s death, then tries to relate her new “single mom” lifestyle to Arizona’s. It doesn’t take long for the lawyer to trick Meredith into saying it takes “a village” to raise a child, and then reminds Meredith that Sophia’s “village” is here in Seattle.
But then Weber gets on the stand and it all goes back down hill. Callie’s lawyer brings up the amount of nights that Arizona spent out at the bar playing trivia, and reveals evidence that they won trivia at least 25 times in the past six months or so. She adds that to the 92 times Arizona had an emergency surgery, and the 34 times she switched nights with Callie, and seems to be making a point that Arizona isn’t very reliable. Weber is left speechless on the stand, and Arizona’s lawyer calls for a recess.
For some reason, Callie’s lawyer brings up the accident she had when she was pregnant with Sophia. Although it’s hard for Callie to recall, she says something very important while talking about it: “Being a mother is the only reason I’m still alive today.”
Arizona Makes A Difficult Decision
This leads us to Arizona taking the stand, to which Callie’s lawyer brings up the fact that Arizona didn’t originally want to be a mother. Arizona fights the accusation, reminding everyone, including Callie, that she chose to stay and be Sophia’s mother. That it was a decision, not something that “fell into” her lap, and that it was the “best decision” she ever made.
Making matters even worse, Arizona’s phone repeatedly goes off while she’s on the stand. Eventually she tells the judge she has to answer it because she’s a doctor, and they pass her the phone. That’s when she finds out that the on-call has decided to deliver the young girls baby because the patch he did in surgery isn’t working, and she reveals that she has to leave the courtroom. It’s likely going to be the nail in the custody coffin for Arizona, and it’s written all over her face as she leaves the room.
She arrives just in time to stop the surgery, and somehow manages to place the baby back into the uterus safely so that she can keep “cooking.” It’s pretty amazing that Arizona is even able to do her job considering what she went through in court earlier, but it just shows how strong she is.
When both Callie and Arizon return to the court, the judge has made her decision: Arizona gets sole custody of Sophia. It’s a total shock to everyone, especially Callie, who is inside Meredith’s house sobbing when Arizona comes to pick Sophia up.
Tell us, HollywoodLifers — Do YOU think the judge made the right decision? How do you think Callie will survive losing Sophia? Comment below with your thoughts.