Grey’s Anatomy 12×22, “Mama Tried,” had Arizona and Callie facing off in a nasty court case for custody of Sofia.
Callie and Arizona try, and fail, to come up with a compromise to their custody battle. That means they’re off to court and will have their friends showdown as witnesses. Callie drops Sofia off with Maggie before she, Penny, and Meredith head off to court. Arizona is nervous, with good reason, as her witnesses are fewer than Callie’s but hopes that with Weber’s support she’ll be able to come out on top.
Owen is the first one to take the stand and defend Callie, saying that the move have been well-planned already even in the short amount of time. DeLuca says that Arizona’s house is always so happy when Sofia is around and it’s nice to come home when she’s there.
At first Penny stands up well to the cross-examination and proves she’s come to know Sofia well since they met. Then, Penny starts to slip and can’t remember what Sofia was wearing that morning and can’t remember what grade she’s in. This is the first sign that things are about to get really dirty in the court. Penny can’t believe that they made it look like she doesn’t pay attention to Sofia and Callie is ready to fight back.
Bailey takes the stand next and begins to answers questions on Callie and Arizona’s schedules. Though she says that they’re not comparable, on paper it looks like Arizona’s schedule is busier. Bailey, however, calls into question if that would be seen as a negative if she were a man. Of course we know that Bailey is a fan of women having strong careers and isn’t happy at all that Callie has decided to step down from her position at Grey Sloan Memorial in order to take a lower position in New York. I’m definitely glad she pointed out that having a career shouldn’t automatically be seen as a bad thing for women.
That night, Jackson asks April if he can be in the room when the baby is born, and then they start discussing different custody arraignments. Surprisingly, they agree easily on what they should split up. At least one pair of co-parents is currently getting along!
Back at home, Callie feels awful for what happened in court. She can’t help but feel like she’s doing something wrong. Meredith tries to encourage her but also brings alcohol, which might be more useful as this point. Arizona feels just as awful when she drops Sofia off with Amelia the next morning. It’s always fun when a child wakes up too early in the morning and quickly gets cranky.
Meredith backs Callie and Penny on the stand, but then the cross examination points out that as a single parent, Callie will need help. The support system they’ve built is all in Seattle, not New York. Weber says that Arizona is a great role model but Callie’s attorney points out that he and Arizona like to go out playing trivia night at the bars. At this point it looks like Callie might have the upper hand even if she is moving Sofia away from where she’s always lived.
Callie takes the stand next and recalls the day that Sofia was born, after the car accident. She says that the only reason she fought to stay alive was because of Sofia. When Arizona takes the stand, she defends her right as a mother despite not being biologically related to Sofia. Her testimony is cut short, however, when she has to rush to the hospital to save another baby’s life.
Arizona is able to get to the hospital in time to stop the OB standing in for her from performing an unnecessary C-Section and saves the baby’s life.
Back at court the next day, Arizona calls Callie out for letting her lawyer slut shame her. Arizona definitely has a point here. Despite thinking she had to have lost the case, Arizona is granted physical custody of Sofia. Callie, meanwhile, is left crushed.
I can’t actually imagine that Callie will want to leave Seattle now. There’s definitely a chance she could get at least 50/50 custody back if she wasn’t moving away, and at the very least Arizona isn’t the type to keep Sofia away from her mother.
So what will that mean for Penny and Callie? It will probably all come down to how badly Penny wants to do the research grant. Long distance relationships never seem to work out on Grey’s Anatomy.