Spoilers ahead for last night’s episode of Grey’s Anatomy.
Last night ABC aired the Season 12 finale of Grey’s Anatomy. In a typical Grey’s fashion, the episode contained both a risky emergency surgery on a series regular, as well as a wedding for two more of the main characters. Throughout all of the episode’s chaos Sara Ramirez’s Callie Torres was noticeably missing, especially since it was her last episode as a series regular. After Callie got her (presumably) happy ending, Ramirez took to twitter to say goodbye to the Grey’s Anatomy fans. She had the following to say:
I’m deeply grateful to have spent the last 10 years with my family at Grey’s Anatomy & ABC but for now I’m taking some welcome time off. Shonda’s been so incredible to work for, and we will definitely continue our conversations! I send my love to Ellen, the rest of the cast & crew, and I look forward to always being a part of the Shondaland family!
And with one quick twitter post, Calliope Torres has officially left the building.
Sara Ramirez’s departure from Grey’s Anatomy is the latest in a long line of series regulars who chose not to renew their contracts. In the past few seasons we’ve seen Sandra Oh and Patrick Dempsey leave Grey’s after starring in the show for over a decade. With the medical drama showing no signs of slowing down, there are only a few characters who have been around since the good old days: Meredith, Alex, Bailey, and Webber. Everyone else has been written off, more than likely by being killed.
While Sara Ramirez’s decision to discontinue her role on Grey’s Anatomy isn’t a huge surprise (she’s been on since Season 2), the way the show handled Callie’s departure was pretty bizarre. Callie basically wasn’t in the finale at all. She was referenced as being sad, and then she appeared in the last moments of the episode when Arizona apparently handed off their child and told her to have fun in New York. Callie flashed her gorgeous smile and that was basically the end of it.
Callie wasn’t the primary or even supporting plot line for her finale episode. She had gone full circle and turned into the tertiary character she was back in Season 2.
Instead of getting an episode that was about Callie’s conflicting feelings with going to New York with Perfect Penny, we were given Amelia’s wedding and April’s emergency C-section on top of Meredith’s kitchen table. This is all finale-worthy action, but how did they neglect Callie so much?
I mean, they could have at least given us a montage backed by an acoustic cover of Brandi Carlile's “The Story”.
Of course, Callie’s move to New York doesn’t mean she’s completely out of the world of Grey’s Anatomy. She probably won’t be seen anytime soon, but I’m sure Sara Ramirez would be happy to do a guest spot here and there.
What did you think of last night’s finale? Should there have been more Callie, or was there enough drama to go around? Sound off in the comments below.
