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Grey’s Anatomy introduced Callie Torres in season two of Grey’s Anatomy as a love interest for George O’Malley. She was widely disliked by fans in the beginning but slowly started to win fans over by season four.

A Reddit fan explained, “I love Callie. Passionate about her work, stands up for herself… She isn’t a size 0, which is rare in actresses… one might not see things from her perspective but I think she develops well.”

After the season eight finale, “Flight,” where we witnessed the infamous airplane crash that killed Mark Sloan and Lexie Grey and badly injured Arizona Robbins, fans seemed to turn on Torres again. For many fans, Callie’s character just limped on remaining unlikable until her exit at the end of season 12.

Shonda Rhimes originally wrote Torres to be disliked by fans, but why did fans turn on her after season 12?

Who is Callie Torres on ‘Grey’s Anatomy’?

SARA RAMIREZ as Callie on 'Grey's Anatomy'
SARA RAMIREZ as Callie on ‘Grey’s Anatomy’ | Ron Batzdorff/Walt Disney Television via Getty Images

Torres was the head of orthopedic surgery, and with the arrival of the new director, Atticus Lincoln, many fans are torn between team Link and team Callie as the best surgeon.

In many ways, Callie was defined by her relationships more than her job as a surgeon. First, she married O’Malley, then a series of flings with Sloan, next she had a relationship with Erica Hahn, establishing Callie as an important LGBTQ character. And through many ups and downs, Robbins. After moving to New York with Penny Blake (her newest relationship) and her daughter, she left the show.

According to Vulture, when they ranked all the relationships in Grey’s, two of Callie’s relationship rank low, her relationship with Blake (48th of 50) and O’Malley (35th of 50). And according to Insider, Robbins is Callie’s only good relationship. Perhaps this explains why the fans turned on her so suddenly.

Why did the plane crash affect the fans’ feelings toward Callie?

Callie did suffer from the plane crash, losing the father of her child (Sloan) and badly injuring her love, Robbins, but many fans resent her constant attempts to make the plane crash about her when she was not in the crash.

As a fan on Reddit said, “Her character is ruined for whatever reason after the plane crash. I hate how she acts as if she was on the plane and that she’s in just as much as trauma as those that were…”

Another expressed frustration with her relationship with her daughter “She seemed like she had taken leave of her senses to basically receive a demotion in the form of a new job and choose to only see her daughter half time, to follow a fairly new relationship across the country.”

Will Callie return to ‘Grey’s Anatomy’?

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According to the Hollywood Reporter, Sara Ramirez (the actress who played Callie) and Rhimes both wanted Callie to return to the show one last time for Robbins’s farewell episode, but there were some issues. The actress has taken a job working on Madam Secretary for another network.

The fact that she was on another network did not necessarily need to be a problem as many characters have returned to play old characters on one network while working full time on another, but that was not to be for Callie.

According to TV Insider, CBS blocked Rhime’s attempt to get Ramirez back for the episode. Rhimes said, “Let me tell you something — we tried,” she revealed. “CBS has a hold of her.

Because she’s on [Madam Secretary] And we can’t get her. But we love her. Always. This is her home. Come home Callie!” Will Callie ever return to Grey’s Anatomy? If we have learned anything about the show, it’s never to say never.

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