Jessica Capshaw Opens Up About Torrid Grey’s Anatomy Twist and Finale’s ‘Raw’ Repercussions

Baby did a bad, bad thing — but does that make Grey‘s Anatomy doc Arizona Robbins a bad person?

Visiting TVLine’s Times Square offices, Jessica Capshaw spoke candidly about Arizona’s on-call room romp with perky, pretty Lauren (played by Hilarie Burton) and the fallout scenes to come in tonight’s superstorm-tossed Season 9 finale (ABC, 9/8c).

Describing the storyline as “incredibly risky and edgy,” Capshaw admits, “It totally upset the apple cart for me,” and yet it creates “fertile ground for what we want from our TV sets” — that is, juicy drama.

Recovering from the previous season finale’s plane crash and adjusting to the loss of a leg “took a lot of ‘holding on’” by Arizona, she says. So the ardent overtures by Lauren served as a “trigger” that made Callie’s wife decide, “‘I’m gonna lose control.’”

Also in this video Q&A: Capshaw previews the awkward aftermath for Arizona and Lauren, asserts how “brave” it is to tell this story, teases the “devastating” and “raw” scenes ahead for “Calzona” and reflects on the finale moment that, to this moment, still gives her goosebumps.

 

Grey’s Anatomy 9×24 Promo Perfect Storm (HD) Season Finale

Grey’s Anatomy Relationship Drama: Who May Be Doomed?

As Grey’s Anatomy heads towards its ninth season finale, it seems the impending super storm won’t be the only trouble for the Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital docs!

We already know Meredith (Ellen Pompeo) will face some problems on the baby front, but it’s the relationship front that has everyone worried. Arizona (Jessica Capshaw) may cheat on Callie (Sara Ramirez), Cristina (Sandra Oh) may have to break up with Owen (Kevin McKidd) again because of the baby issue and Alex (Justin Chambers) may finally find his person in Jo (Camilla Luddington). With so many futures up in the air, TVGuide.com turned to executive producer Shonda Rhimes to get the scoop:

Arizona and Callie:
Arizona is skating on thin ice after striking up a flirtation with Lauren Boswell (Hilarie Burton), a doctor from another hospital who is assisting with a GSM case and has it bad for Dr. Robbins, who happens to be married to Callie, lest anyone has forgotten. Remember, outraged fans: Happy people don’t make for good storytelling!

“From a storytelling perspective, they could be happy and hold hands and skip around, I guess, and that would be fine, but they would get two seconds of screen time. Or we could really present them with some really complex challenges and allow them to deal with them and to see some interesting things,” Rhimes says and adds that she’s been reading up on how people deal with grief and PTSD, something both Callie and Arizona have struggled with since the plane crash.

Unfortunately, Arizona cheating is a very real possibility, with Rhimes insisting this the situation won’t just amount to unrequited glances and promo trickery. “Have you ever known me to do that?”

“I don’t know where they’re going to end up out of this, I really don’t,” she continues. “But I do know that both Jessica and Sara and myself, we’re all really excited about it. It’s a very thrilling story for these characters and really complex. It allows for a lot of interesting growth, movement and change. It’s a journey and we’ll see where it goes. Where we’re heading this season is the culmination of the journey that we’ve been on all season long.”

Cristina and Owen:
With the introduction of Ethan, the son of two patients — one of which has died and the other of which is in a coma — Owen’s desire for children has bubbled up to the surface, something that caused him and Cristina to re-evaluate their marriage the first time around. But Rhimes stands by her decision to make Cristina uncompromising when it comes to children. So could they even find a compromise? “I don’t know,” Rhimes admits. “I don’t know what compromise you make when one person wants kids and one doesn’t.”

“I feel like we have a character who is a genius,” Rhimes continues. “She’s a surgical genius and she feels a hum when she’s performing surgery, and it makes her feel whole and she does not feel a need to have children. She feels very complete without it, and Owen does not feel the same way. I feel like that is a fundamental problem in their relationship, and they’ve been avoiding it for a million reasons, one of which was that she was in a plane crash and she was trying to pull herself together.”

Both Cristina and Owen will have a big decision to make in regards to their relationship, and Rhimes notes there’s a million different directions this could go. “Cristina could make the horrible mistake of deciding she’s going to have a kid for him,” she says. “Cristina could make the horrible mistake that she’s just going to walk away from him. He could make the horrible mistake of saying that he’s going to walk away from her or have a kid on his own. They’re going to have to face that and figure out what that means for them. This journey is going to be interesting because I do think no matter what that they truly love each other.”

Alex and Jo:
Last week’s episode left Alex in a very difficult and interesting position: After Jo told him to stay away, she showed up at his house bruised and beaten, presumably by Chest Peckwell (Charles Michael Davis), who she just moved in with. “We’re going to see some real interesting growth from Alex in the next episode,” Rhimes says. “Maybe it’s sideways growth and maybe it’s backwards growth, but it’s going to be a new side of Alex. He’s going to discover some stuff about himself and we’re going to discover some stuff about Jo.”

Alex, in particular, has had a rough time going through relationships during his tenure at GSM (formerly known as Seattle Grace). Mostly, he’s had a lot of crazy in his life — Rebecca (Elizabeth Reaser) and Izzie (Katherine Heigl). But there could be a real chance that Jo turns into Alex’s person. “Whether or not he’s going to have the courage to step up and feel his feelings is going to be really interesting,” she continues. “Maybe she’s his person, maybe not. That remains to be seen.”

Do you think Jo is Alex’s person? Should Cristina and Owen break up? How mad will you be if Arizona cheats on Callie?! Hit the comments!

Grey’s Anatomy 9×23 Sneak Peek #2 | “Readiness Is All” [HD].

Grey’s Anatomy 9×23 Sneak Peek #1 | “Readiness Is All” [HD].

Grey’s Anatomy 9×23 Canadian Promo | “Readiness Is All” | [HD]

Grey’s Anatomy 9×23 Promo | “Readiness Is All” [HD].

Grey’s Anatomy 9×22 Sneak Peek #2 | “Do You Believe in Magic” [HD].

Grey’s Anatomy 9×22 Sneak Peek #1 | “Do You Believe in Magic” [HD].

Grey’s Anatomy 9×22 Promo | “Do You Believe in Magic” [HD].

Grey’s Anatomy 9×22 Canadian Promo | “Do You Believe in Magic” [HD] .

Grey’s Anatomy 9×21 Promo “Sleeping Monster” (HD)

Grey’s Anatomy 9×20 Sneak Peek #4 “She’s Killing Me”

Grey’s Anatomy 9×20 Sneak Peek #3 “She’s Killing Me”

Grey’s Anatomy 9×20 Sneak Peek #2 “She’s Killing Me”

Grey’s Anatomy 9×20 Sneak Peek “She’s Killing Me”

Grey’s Anatomy Casting News: White Collar’s Hilarie Burton Lands ‘Special’ Sweeps Role

Hilarie Burton is scrubbing into Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital.

The White Collar actress has landed a recurring role on ABC’s Grey Anatomy, E! Online reports.

Burton will make her debut in early May as a craniofacial specialist who visits the hospital to work on a case.

In addition to USA Network’s White Collar — where her character, Sara, appeared to be saying her goodbyes in the Season 4 finale — Burton starred on One Tree Hill. She recently booked a lead in the Fox drama pilot The List.

Grey’s Anatomy 9×20 Promo “She’s Killing Me” (HD)

What to Watch Thursday: Idol Has McPheever, Grey’s Gets Real, Hope’s Big Finish and More

On TV this Thursday: A Smash-ing guest returns to the American Idol stage, Grey’s Anatomy takes a page from real life, Raising Hope‘s mother of a finale and a Scandal-monger becomes a scandal victim.

8 pm The Vampire Diaries (The CW) | Elena and Rebekah take off in search of Katherine and wind up in Pennsylvania, where Elena has a surprising encounter with an old acquaintance.

8 pm American Idol (Fox) | Smash star (and Idol alum) Katharine McPhee performing with One Republic, and judge Keith Urban provide the entertainment/padding for tonight’s results show.

8 pm Fall to Grace (HBO) | This new documentary follows former New Jersey Gov. and “gay American” Jim McGreevey, who resigned amid scandal in 2004, on his path to become a spiritual advisor to incarcerated women.

8:30 pm 1600 Penn (NBC) | Double-episode season finale: New Girl‘s Hannah Simone guest-stars as Princess Abigail of Andorra, a royal beauty who visits the White House and requests Skip (?) as her escort to a gala. Then, at 9:30, the President and First Lady’s marriage is put in the spotlight, and Becca and D.B. get surprising news. (Not yet renewed

9 pm Grey’s Anatomy (ABC) | Sarah Chalke — whose How to Live With Your Parents (for the Rest of Your Life) debuts on ABC next week — guest-stars as a frantic mother whose child suffers from a mysterious illness. Elsewhere, when a gas tanker explodes on the highway, the casualties include paramedic Matthew.

9 pm Raising Hope (Fox) | Double-episode Season 3 finale: Burt’s parents (Partridge mom Shirley Jones and Bionic Man Lee Majors) return with the news that their boy is Jewish — cue belated bar mitzvah bash! Then, the Chances learn that Maw Maw’s own mama is in fact alive (and played by… Cloris Leachman). (Yep, renewed.)

9 pm Beauty and the Beast (The CW) | To protect Vincent and salvage her relationship with Tess, Cat is forced to cough up some secrets she’s been keeping.

9 pm Project Runway (Lifetime) | A visit to the Guggenheim provides inspiration for the contestants to create their own textiles. Designer Tracy Reese guest-judges.

10 pm Scandal (ABC) | When Hollis Doyle’s daughter is kidnapped and held for ransom, OPA finds itself working for the (figurative?) devil; Melinda McGraw (Mad Men) guest-stars as Hollis’ wife. Meanwhile, a still-in-danger David is forced to seek shelter among the gladiators.

10 pm Archer (FX) | Archer must foil a Pope-assassination plot using Woodhouse as a decoy.

Grey’s Anatomy 9×19 Sneak Peek #4 “Can’t Fight This Feeling”