Grey’s Anatomy Misses a Major Opportunity with Arizona Robbins’ Return

This article contains spoilers for Grey’s Anatomy season 20 episode 4.

Fans were introduced to the character of Dr. Arizona Robbins, portrayed beautifully by Jessica Capshaw, back in season 5 of Grey’s Anatomy. Over the years, many felt seen through the character because, as the actress wrote on her Instagram, Arizona was one of the first members of the LGBTQ+ community to be represented in a series regular role on network television, making her impact on the world “permanent and forever.” So when her character left in the season 14 finale, it left a big hole in the medical drama. 

Thankfully, she wasn’t killed off. Instead, Arizona decided to move to New York for the sake of her daughter, who needs both of her parents. She teams up with Dr. Nicole Herman (Geena Davis) to start the Robbins/Herman Center for Women’s Health, where she will perform fetal surgery, and launch her maternal mortality prevention program. Last we see of her, she’s receiving a text from her ex-wife Callie (Sara Ramirez), who Arizona shares is also currently single and can’t wait to see her. With this information, it certainly seems like a reconciliation is possible and on the horizon. Of course, we don’t actually get to see it, and any reunion is left as a mystery.

So when it was announced that Capshaw would be reprising her role for season 20 episode 4, “Baby Can I Hold You,” fans were hoping that this would be the show’s way of filling in the blanks on the former fan-favorite couple and what happened to Arizona after she left the hospital. Sadly, those updates never come, which doesn’t make sense considering those were big questions tied to the character’s exit that came out of nowhere. It definitely seems like a missed opportunity. 

What we do see is Arizona returning to Grey Sloan for a history-making surgery that will be part of her clinical trial: operating on a baby’s brain before delivery. The patient begins to get cold feet regarding the surgery and backs out, but Arizona is able to change her mind by making a three-dimensional printed model of the baby’s head from an ultrasound, explaining and showing the soon-to-be mother how the procedure would be done. 

The best part of the episode is the speech Arizona gives Miranda (Chandra Wilson) when she finds out interns are banned from the OR, asking what’s happened to her and going through Miranda’s big moments as well as her incredible teaching ability, mentioning how she raised Cristina Yang and Meredith Grey as surgeons. It’s exactly what Miranda needs to hear and a reminder of what a magical character Arizona Robbins is. It is also the reason why the interns are finally let back into the OR. 

Even after a minor scare when the baby moves, Arizona, Amelia (Caterina Scorsone), and Jo (Camilla Luddington) manage to pull the procedure off. There is a lot of monitoring ahead, but the surgery was a success. The only real catch-up friendship moment we get is from Arizona and Miranda, which is mainly focused on the latter, but it’s a sweet way to wrap up her visit.

The update we do get about her life on the East Coast is that she is still working with Herman. While a groundbreaking surgery is always a fun way to stage a return, more character-focused moments would have made the episode even better.

New episodes of Grey’s Anatomy air Thursdays at 9 p.m. ET on ABC, and will be available to watch on demand and on Hulu the following day.