Grey's Anatomy featured a lot of memorable moments with Arizona during Season 12. However, most of those moments revolved around Arizona playing trivia and trying to reel in random women, or else dealing with her contentious custody issue with Callie. All of that seemed settled by the end of the season, and now Shonda Rhimes has revealed that Jessica Capshaw's character, Arizona, is absolutely getting a real love interest sometime in Season 13. However, the big change may not come right away. Here's what the producer had to say:
Jessica was very, very delightfully pregnant at the end of last year, and so she's not in the first two episodes --- which everybody brace yourselves for --- because she's taking a little bit of time off for kids, but then she's back. I'm very excited to introduce a love interest for her, and to get to tell a story with her that lets her be who she is, and to see who she is post the relationships that she's had.
If anyone deserves a love interest on Grey's Anatomy, it's Arizona. The good doctor stuck it out with Callie for far longer than she should have, and then she was pretty unlucky in love---although she did date around---during Season 12. She didn't ask to deal with Callie deciding to move and the ensuing custody battle, either, but that was the script Arizona ended up being handed. Seeing her move on should be great for the viewers who have stuck with the ABC drama over the long haul, and especially for those viewers who have grown tired of all of the Arizona and Callie drama.
Interestingly, Shonda Rhimes also told EW that Arizona was originally supposed to get a real love interest during Season 12, similar to how Callie hit it off with Penny on Grey's Anatomy, for better or worse. Something happened behind the scenes and the show opted not to go through with that storyline. (Maybe Jessica Capshaw's pregnancy? I'm speculating.) Regardless, now we have been promised that Arizona's story is finally moving forward on the drama. We also know the relationship won't be forced and will happen "organically," which makes us wonder if we may already have met Arizona's eventual love interest.
Luckily, we won't have two much longer to wait until Grey's Anatomy hits the schedule. The show will premiere on Thursday, September 22 at 8 p.m. ET. Arizona's character will presumably be back on the show following Capshaw's pregnancy leave a couple of episodes later. You can find out what else we know about Season 13, here.
