In season seven of Station 19, we’re watching as Carina and Maya finally begin to build the family they’ve been dreaming of — but as any fan of the show knows, it’s been a long and winding road to get to this moment. At least there was a lot of lasagna along the way, right? From severed noses to epic proposals, from gut punches of arguments to giggly hookups on the couch, Carina and Maya have been through it all, but somehow this beloved couple always seem to come out stronger. If any pair deserve a trip down memory lane, it’s these two. Below, relive all the highs and lows your #Marina-shipping heart can take.
Carina and Maya meet
Season 3, Episode 5: “Into the Woods”
It all starts with a nose. A nose severed from a man’s face during a bear attack, but still — not all romance begins with the sexy stuff, okay? While technically the first time Dr. Carina DeLuca spots Captain Maya Bishop is over on Grey’s Anatomy as she is delivering a man’s nose to Grey Sloan in a Ziploc bag after Maya and Station 19 come across the bear-attack victims while on a retreat in the woods, their first interaction on Station 19 is at Joe’s. Carina spots the hot nose lady and sidles up to her at the bar to get the full story. Maya initially brushes her off, insisting she wants to drink alone, but seconds later she realizes what a terrible mistake that would be. And thus, #Marina is born. Have you ever been so happy about a bear attack? I mean, don’t be that happy — a man does die — but you know what I’m saying!
Carina and Maya hook up
Season 3, Episode 7: “Satellite of Love,” and Season 3, Episode 8: “Born to Run”
Well, it was only a matter of time with all the heavy flirting via video chat and comfort lasagna before Carina and Maya took their situation to the sheets. It does end with Maya breaking down in tears over the abysmal job she’s doing as 19’s new captain, but honestly, that feels right and true for these two, who do find themselves in crisis a whole lot.
Carina and Maya break up (for the first but not last time!)
Season 3, Episode 15: “Bad Guy”
In all fairness, Maya is going through a lot here. She has a run-in with her mother, who informs her that she has moved out of the house because Maya’s dad is abusive. Maya refuses to believe it even though almost everyone in her life is like, “Oh, no, your dad is a monster.” Carina has to explain that not all abuse is physical — and she would know; she’s dealt with a dad who has let his bipolar diagnosis go untreated. Maya lashes out, and when Carina refuses to leave, telling her girlfriend that this isn’t how you solve a fight and that she wants to be there for Maya, it’s Maya who runs off. Unfortunately, all her anger leads her to some major self-sabotaging, and she ends up having sex with her ex Jack Gibson. And just to pile on, Maya gets home and finds Carina, true to her word, still there waiting for her, wanting to support her however she can, and immediately informs her that she just cheated on her.
Carina and Maya say those three little (but very big) words
Season 3, Episode 16: “Louder Than a Bomb”
Don’t be too forlorn about it, friends: After she sees her dad for who he truly is, Maya realizes how wrong she’s been about so many things. That girl chops her hair off and goes on a major apology tour. When she finds Carina outside the hospital, she begs her for forgiveness. Even if Carina can’t trust her right now, Maya will spend every day proving to her why she can. “I love you,” she tearfully tells Carina. And she’s never said that to anyone before. Even Teddy Altman, standing nearby, urges Carina to forgive her. “If you love her, forgive her,” Teddy tells her friend. Now, Teddy Altman should not be allowed to give anyone relationship advice, but we will make an exception here. Of course, Carina loves Maya, so, yes, she will forgive her. Marina is back on, baby!
Carina and Maya move in together
Season 4, Episode 2: “Wild World”
These two meet over a severed nose and move in together during a global pandemic — it all tracks. “What the hell is the point of finding your person if you can’t weather the storm together?” Ben Warren asks a distraught Carina. That man makes a lot of sense — and so that’s what Carina and Maya decide to do.
Carina and Maya face a major crisis
Season 4, Episode 7: “Learn to Fly”
Things can’t be too good for too long for these two, and before you know it, Carina is facing one of the most trying times of her life: Her younger brother Andrew is murdered after getting mixed up in this whole sex-trafficking situation (it’s a Grey’s thing; don’t worry about it). Not surprisingly, Carina is bereft. Beyond bereft, really. She can barely pick herself up off the shower floor. Maya tries to be there for her girlfriend in any way she can think of, and in the end that means bringing her to Station 19 and turning on the truck sirens to give her space to finally scream it all out — all the pain, all the guilt, all the grief. Only time will really help Carina, but this is a nice cathartic gesture too.
Carina and Maya ask some hard questions (and also one romantic one)
Season 4, Episode 14: “Comfortably Numb”
When Carina’s visa is about to expire and it looks like she’ll have no choice but to return to Italy for an indefinite amount of time, it forces the two of them to have some big truth-telling conversations about their relationship. Carina doesn’t want to get married but does want kids; Maya doesn’t understand why they can’t get married if they really love each other, and also she doesn’t want kids. Those are two very differing points of view! Maya swings from suggesting they get married so Carina doesn’t have to leave to suggesting they might be completely wrong for each other as Carina leaves for the airport. But Carina doesn’t want to live a life without Maya. She tracks Maya down at the hospital where Ben was having a surgery, and Carina proposes to her. She is her home, after all.
Carina and Maya tie the knot
Season 4, Episode 16: “Forever and Ever, Amen”
It’s a pandemic wedding, sure, but it’s a pretty lovely pandemic wedding. Both brides look gorgeous, there’s not a dry eye when Ben walks them both down the aisle (at Vic’s family restaurant) as Vic serenades them, and even Maya’s mom shows up, which is huge! Most important: Maya and Carina look like they simply cannot wait to be married to each other. There is so much joy in the ceremony and even more in the rager of a dance party that follows. No, seriously — Mr. and Mrs. Hughes have some moves, okay? But in true #Marina fashion, drama eventually catches up to them: After defying orders from the Seattle Fire Department chief in order to save an 8-year-old boy, and some self-serving input from Sullivan to the chief, Maya is suspended and loses her captaincy.
Carina and Maya catch a fever … baby fever
Season 5, Episode 6: “Little Girl Blue”
During Thanksgiving at the firehouse, Maya and Carina wind up helping to take care of Pru, and Maya finally feels ready to start a family with Maya. Pru is very cute — she will have that effect on people!
Carina and Maya deal with more immigration issues
Season 5, Episode 18: “Crawl Out Through the Fallout”
Carina and Maya, who ask Jack to donate his sperm so they can have a child, are still taking pregnancy test after pregnancy test but are, quite devastatingly, not having any luck. As if they don’t have enough on their plate already, the big interview so that Carina can get her green card has arrived, and the two of them have to prove that they actually got married because they are a real couple and not just so Carina could stay in the country. Thanks to their bickering, they pass with flying colors! But just as one issue is put to bed, Maya decides it’s a good time to blackmail Chief Natasha Ross by threatening to report her sexual relationship with Sullivan unless Ross gives Maya her job as captain back. It is the first sign that some of Maya’s deep-seated mental health issues are rearing their ugly little heads.
Carina and Maya reach a breaking point
Season 6, Episode 7: “We Build Then We Break”
Maya’s obsession with becoming captain again and being the best turns her into someone unrecognizable to everyone who loves her. Not only are things tense between her and Carina, but she is also, no exaggeration, exercising herself to death. Eventually, she falls while on the treadmill at the station, and Jack finds her unconscious on the floor. He brings her to Grey Sloan. When Teddy Altman and Carina get a close look at what Maya is doing to herself, they want her to stay in the hospital longer to recover. When Maya refuses, Carina has to force her to stay by putting her under a psychiatric hold. It is possibly one of the most heart-wrenching moments on Station 19 ever. Maya tells Carina that if she does this, they’re over. Carina has no choice but to try and save her wife’s life, even if it ends their marriage.
Carina and Maya find their way back to each other
Season 6, Episode 17: “All These Things That I’ve Done”
Maya goes through a whole bunch of therapy with Diane and begins to feel like herself again. Since Carina moved out, she decides to try to win her wife back by starting over: First, with a barely edible lasagna, then with a first date. It’s very sweet! But it’s not until Carina learns that when the opportunity to vie for the open captain position at 19 came up, Maya did not ask to be considered — she is putting her marriage before her job for the first time ever. Realizing that Maya really has changed and is working on herself, Carina knows she can trust her again. She moves back into the apartment.
Carina and Maya and Liam
Season 6, Episode 18: “Glamorous Life,” and Season 7, Episode 1: “This Woman’s Work”
With their relationship back on track, Maya and Carina head to the Firefighters Ball to celebrate … well, just how in love they are. They certainly don’t expect to find themselves in the middle of a tragic disaster when the dance floor collapses. It’s the two of them, along with Ben, who deliver a dying waitress’ baby. But out of that tragedy comes something kind of wonderful: Maya and Carina decide that they want to adopt sweet baby Liam. First, they’ll have to go through the fostering process — which they get approved for a few episodes later. They still don’t know if they’ll be able to keep him permanently, but for now, they are adjusting to and then learning to love their new little family in the house they decide to buy.
Carina and Maya and Liam … and maybe someone else at a later date?
Season 7, Episode 5: “My Way”
While Liam arriving in their lives was certainly unexpected, Maya and Carina still want to go through IVF to have another child. Although she desperately wanted to carry a baby, Carina learns that her eggs are no longer viable. She is crushed, but Maya has another idea: What if they use her eggs? Carina would still be able to carry the pregnancy. Carina is moved — it is such a far cry from where Maya was in regard to having children when they first met, but as Maya reminds her wife, she didn’t actually know what a family was or could be until they met.
There are only a few episodes left, but if we know anything about #Marina, it’s that they can fit a whole lot of ups and downs into a wildly short amount of time. We’ll see what Station 19 has in store for one of its most incredible couples as season seven continues.
