Arizona Robbins

"I was raised to be a good man in a storm. Raised to love my country. Love my family. Protect the things I love."

- Arizona Robbins

Arizona Robbins is currently an Attending Pediatric surgeon at Seattle Grace Hospital and wife of Callie Torres. She is the mother of Sofia Robbin Sloan Torres.

Childhood
Arizona was named for the battleship, the U.S.S. Arizona, on which her grandfather served. She came from a military family, her father being a Colonel in the United States Marine Corps. Her brother later joined the army and died.

The way she described her upbringing is that she was "..raised to be a good man in a storm. Raised to love my country. Love my family. Protect the things I love." It led her to be patriotic, loyal and dedicated in her adult life, especially to her family.

She learned to act tough when she had to, due to her name, and never had to "come out" to her parents because it wasn't a shock to them. She had a poster of Cindy Crawford in her room and she wasn't looking at her beauty mark. She never brought any boys home and when she finally brought home a girl, Joanne, her mother wasn't surprised. She had expected her father to react by saying "How fast can you get the hell out of my house?" but instead he asked her "Are you still who I raised you to be?".

Notable Relationships
Arizona initially got off on the wrong foot with Dr. Bailey and Karev. Alex couldn't understand how she could be so perky after harvesting organs from a young child. When Dr. Kenley died Dr. Bailey took offence in Arizona changing Jackson Prescots course of treatment and proceeded to complain to the Chief and call her an "infant". However, Bailey soon realised that Arizona was a competent doctor and grew closer with her after applying for a peds fellowship.

After becoming Callie's girlfriend, Arizona also became good enough friends with Mark and Cristina.

Callie Torres
Arizona married Callie Torres in season 7, episode 20.

Miranda Bailey
When Robbins changes Jackson's treatment plan, Bailey is furious as she supported Kenley's decision and believed it was the right choice, however, Robbins disagreed, stating that more senior peds surgeons believe that course of treatment is the right choice. Bailey went to the Chief, clearly expressing her dissatisfaction with this choice, both medical and personnel. The Chief tells Bailey that Robbins was top of her class and chief resident and that

After more clear and vocal disagreements over Jackson's treatment from Bailey (relating to placing him on the transplant list), Bailey wanted a second opinion and Robbins obliged, revealing in the process that she knows the head of Pediatric surgery at John's Hopkins including being on first name terms with him (telling Bailey to say that "Arizona" sent her), all the while berating Bailey for second guessing her judgement ever since she arrived.

Arizona eventually begins to develop a rapport with Bailey, allowing her to remove the clamp in Jackson's transplant.

Dr. Robbins reassures Bailey that she is a peds surgeon, claiming she is "uniquely qualified", and supporting her in her application, reminding her about the competition and her letters of recommendation, but remains super excited for her to move onto her service, in her own words described as "Yay!".

Alex Karev
Alex Karev and Arizona Robbins first started out with a rocky relationship when they first met. But as the seasons went on, Karev realized that Arizona was one of the few people who actually believed in him. Arizona Robbins saw Karev as a promising peds surgeon who was dedicated despite his temper and personal issues and continues to maintain a good mentor-student relationship with him until season 9. Where in Karev's stubbron-ness led her to taking his place on a plane that ends up crashing. In the season 9 episode 2 episode, she mentions that she is still very much "pissed off" and states that she feels as though Karev should have been in the crash rather than herself. Thus ending (for now) perky-happy-smiley Arizona Wheelies stage.

Romantic life
Arizona is a lesbian and is currently married to Callie Torres.

At the Emerald City Bar she saw that Callie was upset and came to comfort her in the bathroom and she kissed her. Callie soon decided to ask her out but Arizona declined the offer after finding out Erica was Callie's first girlfriend, her reasons being metaphorical: she deals mostly with newborns at work, she does not want to deal with them in her personal life, but she claimed "[she is] super flattered. Super" at the offer. Annoyed, Callie confronted her but the situation was made more awkward after she discovered that Arizona was on a date with a woman named Julie.

Callie started to avoid her but she was eventually cornered in the elevator. Arizona then decided to explain that sometimes she doesn't always make the right choice under pressure and that she was wrong. Callie accepted it and Arizona asked her out again and after pretending not to be interested for a few seconds, Callie accepted.

Their relationship continued but when Callie's father came to visit and discovered that she was dating a girl, he cut Callie off. Mark and Cristina both suggested that she lie and say she broke up with Arizona but after Arizona approached her and told her that she loved how Callie cared so much about things and wouldn't care if Callie lied, Callie decided not to lie because her family should accept her.

However, Callie began to withdraw slightly and began to avoid Arizona. Arizona then asked if their relationship was just a fling and it had run its course and Callie told her that it probably was. Arizona later approached Callie and Callie told her the real reason was because she didn't have lots of money for four-star restaurants anymore but Arizona told her that they can eat pizza at home naked.

The relationship was threatened again when Callie got annoyed at Arizona for believing that George joining the army was awesome but after hearing that Arizona's brother died in the war, she apologized.

In season 6, Arizona tells Callie she loves her, and Callie reciprocates her feelings. Callie is dismayed to learn that Arizona doesn't want children. She assumes that Arizona's reluctance is related to her brother's death, but Arizona tells her she simply likes her life the way it is. They come to the conclusion that they cannot continue their relationship, as they both want different things. However after a shooter enters Seattle Grace with a vendetta for Derek, Lexie, and Richard, they are in lockdown together, and eventually decide to get back together and have kids. They passionately kiss in happiness.

Six months after the shooting, Arizona receives word that she has been given the Carter Maddison Grant, and is allowed to go to Malawi and become a doctor there. She had applied for this grant two years ago, when she hadn't met Callie yet. After some hesitation, Arizona decides to accept the grant. In the end, Callie is shown to have accepted this as well and has decided to leave with Arizona. However, a fight at the airport results in Arizona leaving for Africa without Callie. After some time passes, Arizona comes back and tells Callie she misses her but Callie closes the door in her face.

Callie continues to reject Arizona's constant pleading and apologies. Eventually, Callie reveals that she is pregnant with Mark's baby. After asking for time to process, Arizona accepts the situation, and she and Callie restart their relationship. Callie and Arizona later reconcile and they move back in together. After seeing the baby's heartbeat for the first time, Arizona refers to the baby as "theirs."

However, tensions continue with Mark in the picture as an active and interested father. Callie gifts Arizona with a weekend getaway, but continues communicating with Mark as she and Arizona drive. Arizona's jealousy comes to the fore, and the two argue, with Callie concluding "Tell me what more you want." After a pause, Arizona says, "Marry me." The episode ends with the shocked faces of the two women just before a white flash. The next episode, The Musical Event, reveals a car crash, with Arizona battered but Callie (who'd taken off her seatbelt) shot through the windshield. A series of surgeries follows (including the delivery of her very premature baby) along with emotional breakdowns by both Mark and Arizona. Callie eventually awakens and turns to Arizona, who is sitting at her bedside, and whispers, "Yes. I'll marry you." They finally marry in the episode "White Wedding", officiated by Miranda Bailey.

Career


Following the death of Dr. Jordan Kenley, Dr. Robbins was appointed as head of Pediatric surgery at Seattle Grace Hospital. She was top of her class and she was the resident chosen to be chief resident in her fifth year. When Bailey and Robbins first worked together, Richard said to Bailey that "She's the best that anyone's seen in a long time, just like you are". She is also on a first name basis with Head of Pediatric surgery at John Hopkins.

She is very much aware of the nature of her job, Robbins has seen things in pediatrics to the extent she has nightmares about the tiny coffins that her patients will be buried in, and so she will remain optimistic in the face of the tragedy involved in her job.

Her optimism and child-friendly abilities can be seen frequently and are also shown as she has cute animals on her lab coat; what appears to be a monkey or a lion above the Seattle Grace logo on the right hand side of her lab coat and a cat above her name and title on the left hand side; and she even wears Heelys at work, heeling around the hospital. When Cristina Yang was put on her service she made Cristina attach a small toy bear, Mr. Bear, to her lab coat and made sure she knew that pediatrics was not general surgery in miniature and that Cristina had to like children.