Grey's Anatomy: 17 of Callie Torres' best moments

Grey's Anatomy fans first met Dr. Callie Torres on Feb. 26, 2006, when the season 2 episode "What Have I Done to Deserve This?" hit the airwaves. Played by Sara Ramirez, the orthopedic surgeon was introduced for her medical expertise, but she quickly became a favorite thanks to her candor, fun personality, and memorable one-liners. Over the course of 11 seasons, Callie evolved, taking on new responsibilities as a wife, mother, surgeon, and friend. See some of her best moments from her tenure on Grey's, ahead.

Callie managed to live in the hospital for an extended period of time without anyone noticing, as revealed in season 3, episode 2: "I Am a Tree." When her secret finally did get out, it was in grand Callie fashion: Chief Webber (James Pickens Jr.) strolled by the basement room where Callie was shacked up, just as she was gyrating in sunglasses and underwear to Bitter:Sweet's "The Mating Game."

Season 3 took a Shonda Rhimes-worthy twist in episode 14, "Wishin' and Hopin.'" Callie and George O'Malley (T.R. Knight) returned to the hospital after a quick trip to Las Vegas and announced to their friends and co-workers that they eloped in Sin City, making Dr. Torres, officially, Callie O'Malley.

After the introduction of Dr. Erica Hahn (Brooke Smith) at the end of season 2, Callie's sexuality came into question. Sparks flew between the two doctors, and, with a little help from Mark Sloane (Eric Dane), Callie began to explore the idea that she may be attracted to women, culminating in a kiss in the season 4 finale, "Freedom."

Grey's had one of its most poignant, touching moments in the show's fifth season. During the sixth episode, "Life During Wartime," Callie and Erica finally had amazing sex, but it meant something entirely different to Dr. Hahn. Erica compared their blossoming romance to her needing glasses as a kid, which led to her whole world opening up. "The big green blobs that I'd been staring at my whole life, they weren't big green blobs, they were leaves...on trees," Erica told Callie as she began to cry. "I could see the leaves. And I didn't even know I was missing the leaves—I didn't even know that leaves existed! And then, leaves! You are glasses."

Callie realized that she didn't reciprocate Erica's strong feelings and faced her own personal turmoil over the relationship. She excused herself from the room and later slept with Mark to test her feelings, learning that she enjoys sex with both men and women.

In a hospital where secrets abound and are always uncovered, one slipped through—a flashback in the season 6 episode "The Time Warp" revealed that, years prior, Callie slept with Alex Karev (Justin Chambers). Working together on a patient with polio, they chose to celebrate the success of the surgery by spending time in bed together.

It took a tragedy for Callie and Arizona Robbins (Jessica Capshaw) to put aside their issues and recognize their true feelings for one another. After squabbling over their differing views on parenthood, the pair were faced with a shooter at the hospital. They made it out unscathed and ended the whole ordeal in each other's arms, committing to their relationship once more.

"Song Beneath the Song," a.k.a. the season 7 musical episode, was undoubtedly a polarizing one, but it gained points for the abundance of Callie-Arizona moments. The singing began after Arizona and a pregnant Callie got into a car accident. Carrying Mark's baby, she flew through the windshield of Arizona's car and was in danger of losing the child. The team stood by the couple, alongside Mark and the soon-to-be-born baby, Sofia, singing all the while.

The delivery was dramatic and scary, but thanks to some excellent medical care by short-lived OB/GYN Lucy Fields (Rachael Taylor) and some next-level worrying from the three-person team of parents, Sofia grew to be happy and healthy, earning the name Sofia Robbin Sloan Torres. She was finally able to leave the hospital a few months after the accident in the season 7 episode "It's a Long Way Back."

After making it through trauma, relationship turmoil, and the birth of their first child, Callie and Arizona finally tied the knot in the season 7 episode "White Wedding." Accompanied by a healthy dose of family drama, emotional breakdowns, and abandoned plans, the two women successfully made it down the aisle and exchanged vows with Dr. Miranda Bailey (Chandra Wilson) presiding over the ceremony.

The alternate universe that could have been was explored in the eighth season of Grey's Anatomy. In the appropriately-titled episode "If/Then," Callie was shown to be (un)happily married to Dr. Owen Hunt (Kevin McKidd), and toting three children around the hospital as a part of her harried life. Reporting to Dr. Ellis Grey (Kate Burton) in this universe, she was a cardio surgeon and often butted heads with Arizona over procedures.

While the moment would soon be overshadowed by the tragedy of the plane crash, Callie pulled off a particularly sweet Valentine's Day surprise for Arizona in the "All You Need is Love" episode from season 8. The responsibilities of child care and their jobs almost got in the way, but Callie successfully won the day when she brought Arizona out to McDreamy's trailer in the woods, which was done up in lights, candles, and romantic decorations.

The two women were in for the ultimate challenge following the plane crash. Arizona lost her leg in the accident and put the blame on Callie for both the amputation and the aftermath. As she tried and repeatedly failed to process her anger, Callie was left to cope with her own trauma alone.

Callie and Arizona's tumultuous relationship took a turn for the worse in the ninth season. Following the plane crash and her miscarriage, Arizona developed a relationship with Lauren Boswell (Hilarie Burton), a surgeon who was in the hospital for a consultation. After witnessing an interaction between Arizona and Lauren—and noticing Arizona's wedding ring pinned to Lauren's scrub top—Callie realized what happened between the two and had to face her wife's infidelity.

While their split was ultimately a months-long process, it began for real in season 11. After trying to get things back on track in therapy, Calzona took a break from one another and reconvened after 30 days. Arizona told Callie that she loved and needed her, but Callie shared a different sentiment. She explained to Arizona that she was freer on her own and she couldn't keep trying to fix it.

Callie teamed up with Derek (Patrick Dempsey) in the 10th season to work on technology that would allow amputees to walk again. Months later, at the end of the 11th season, she finally saw success, just as she was losing Derek. The two doctors pooled their considerable experience and intelligence to work on robotic limbs, and Callie was able to use pure innovation on a patient in desperate need. She was unable to celebrate the win with Derek, however, as his fatal car crash took place in the next episode.

After her painful split from Arizona, Callie found romantic hope once more with the arrival of Penny Blake (Samantha Sloyan) in the show's 12th season. She quickly fell for the doctor, who was preparing to transfer to Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital, but was in for a surprise when she learned that Penny had already met Meredith. Dr. Grey revealed that Penny was working on Dr. Shepherd's case and was partly to blame for his death.

After Penny won a grant that would bring her to New York, Callie made the impulsive decision to tag along with her daughter Sofia. This led to Arizona fighting her in court in order to keep their child in Seattle. All of their emotional baggage was used as ammunition in the season 12 episode "Mama Tried," and in the midst of the draining exercise, Callie smiled at her lawyer in such a way that made many fans side with her ex-wife. In the end, Callie was forced to watch as Arizona won custody of their child.