Grey's Anatomy: Bend & Break (11x05)

You know you're in for a bad one when the very first words of the episode are "uncontrollable bleeding." I could feel the tears coming on already. Last week, I said that Grey's Anatomy offers its best material when it focuses on one primary story line instead of the whole ensemble. They did it last week with Maggie, Meredith, Richard and Ellis, and they do it this week with Callie and Arizona.

The two of them decide to go to marriage counseling. They don't seem to be making any progress, so the counselor suggests something rather extreme: a "break" from their relationship. Callie is resistant, but Arizona thinks it's a great idea. They have to go 30 days without talking except for emergencies, and without sex. Because of Sophia, they will continue living in the same house.

During the separation, Arizona tries to focus on her fellowship. However, she's finding it difficult to let go of her pediatric patients, which pisses Alex off. Finally, after a baby develops a complication, Alex angrily tells Arizona to butt out and let him handle it his own way. Arizona finds herself unprepared for a procedure in her fellowship, and Dr. Herman tells her that if she makes one more mistake, she's out of the fellowship.

Things have been going slightly better for Callie. She figures out a way to give a man mobility again, after severe damage to his hip. With the help of Derek, she's able to help save a girl from chronic pain, which it turns out had something to do with nerve endings from an incident which injured her arm. It's not all smooth sailing, though. She's finding it more difficult to stay away from Arizona. She and Meredith bond, because both of their marriages aren't working out. The night before the 30 day separation is up, Callie and Arizona finally crack, and have sex.

The next day at the therapist's Arizona says that she's so glad their break is over, because she's lost without Callie. Callie begins to cry. She says that she's been happier this last month than she's been in a long time, and that she needs to focus on loving herself and discovering herself again. She wants so much more for herself, and for Arizona, than this relationship that's stifling both of them. It looks like it's over.

I honestly don't have any real complaints, except for this: for all that this episode was very dramatic and well-acted, there were a few moments when the cheese level got a bit too high for my taste. In particular, Callie's final speech about how she needed to "love herself" and about how she had "learned so much" was just too... on the nose. Grey's Anatomy is usually so intensely real about its dialogue. These moments felt a bit too melodramatic. Which I know is a funny thing to say, about a show like this, but I call it like I see it.

Other than that, though, this episode was PERFECT! Let's start with the best thing about it, bar none.

CALLIE CALLS HERSELF BISEXUAL! Now, some of you might not think that's such a big deal, because, well, duh, Callie has expressed interest in men and women throughout the history of this show, so obviously she's bi, right? Well, sure, but the thing is, nobody ever says the word "bisexual" on television for some reason. Even in shows with a character who clearly is bi, they never say the word. It's more like "I like who I like," or "my sexuality doesn't fit in a box" or something like that. And obviously that's totally fine if people and/or characters talk that way about their own sexuality, but it has the unfortunate consequence of making bisexuality this mystical, strange, unspeakable thing that nobody wants to talk about for some reason. It's just so refreshing to have this confident bisexual woman talk about her sexuality in this way.

Even more refreshing: to have a bi woman and a lesbian woman in a relationship like this, where the lesbian woman has some prejudice against bisexuality. This is really common, unfortunately. Arizona has always had problems with the fact that Callie is attracted to men, and here, we see that play out in a very realistic way: "I'm bisexual," says Callie. "And it freaks her out."

Of course, Meredith and Callie cracked me up. I loved it when Meredith asks if maybe Cristina was her one true love, and Callie points out that it's unlikely, since Meredith doesn't get excited by her vagina. They then proceed to sing a song about vaginas, which had be laughing out loud. I like the idea of the two of them bonding. Callie and Meredith didn't have the best relationship to start, if you remember, but they have such a shared history now, and they'd do anything for one another, even if they don't hang out a lot.

Speaking of that shared history - there were a lot of references to past events in this episode. Specifically, we got repeated flashes of Callie and Arizona's pasts, including the loss of Arizona's leg, Arizona's affair, the trip to Africa, Callie sleeping with Mark, etc. etc. We also got some mentions of George, which are always bittersweet.

The juxtaposition between Callie and Arizona's careers during their separation is really telling. Callie, who was initially very anti-separation, begins to flourish. She has some setbacks, but she triumphs. For Arizona, it's the reverse. She's very pro-separation, and at first she seems to be doing well with the fellowship, but as time goes by, she ultimately messes up. When Callie eventually tells Arizona that she's done with their relationship, it feels both shocking and inevitable, which is exactly the sort of conclusion that writers everywhere should be looking for.

Alex didn't have a lot to do here, but I do like the way he asserts himself and is successful. Too many bad things have happened to this kid lately, so I think it was nice to see him help someone. For that matter, all of the patients in this episode survive. That's pretty cool! For all that these doctors are going through their own personal hell, they are able to save people's lives in interesting and innovative ways.

Hopefully we can start to work on Meredith and Derek in the coming weeks. They need to sort through some stuff! Although I'm sad about the demise of Arizona and Callie's relationship, I really loved watching this episode. It had great acting, a great script and story, and it really pulled at the heartstrings!

8.5/10