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Your kids. Your keys. Your family photo album. It's the list you repeat in your head before you fall asleep. It's the short list of things you'd grab in case of disaster. The list makes you feel in control. Your kids. Your keys. Your family photo album. When the fire starts, when the tsunami hits, when the earth literally quakes, do you remember your list? Or do you just duck and cover? That list of things you'd grab in a disaster, Your kids. Your keys. Your family photo album. That list goes out the window when the disaster starts with you wondering if this must be the woman who's been screwing your husband. That's a whole 'nother earthquake.

I Feel the Earth Move is the fifteenth episode of the eleventh season and the 235th overall episode of Grey's Anatomy.

Short Summary[]

An earthquake shakes the ground at Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital, trapping Maggie in an elevator and threatening Meredith's long streak of successful surgeries. Meanwhile, Owen gives medical advice to a child over the phone and Ben confides in Jackson.

Full Summary[]

As Meredith's voiceover talks about being prepared for a disaster, Meredith operates on a patient. Alex comes in and says he went to prep a patient for a biopsy, but found out that she did it herself at 5 AM. He thought she was going to DC, which she was until her patient got septic. She asks him why Jo is stalking her. He leaves the OR.

Up in the gallery, Stephanie tells Jo that Meredith is starting pre-rounds in the middle of the night now. Jo shushes her and shows her the list of Meredith's surgeries. She's had only good outcomes since November. She's on a streak. Alex comes to get them for rounds and Stephanie tells him about the streak. Then an earthquake hits.

Meredith covers her patient's open incision and braces herself. Once the earthquake shocks, she asks everyone if they're okay.

Maggie is in an elevator with Ethan Boyd when it stops. He tells her it's a safety feature. It happened the last time he was in an earthquake, too. She wasn't prepared to experience earthquakes in Seattle. He says they don't happen often. He says he could start taking the stairs. He knows who she is, but she has to be reminded that his name is Ethan. She guesses oncology, but he's actually a radiologist. The elevator goes to its destination and opens.

Ben helps Bailey up. She doesn't like that he jumped on top of her. He says he was trying to be a human shield. She says that she should call and check on Tuck and that his sister probably felt the quake, too, and Ben should call her. He says he'll call when he's ready. She asks if he's going to the trans family support group she found. He asks why it's any of her business.

Jackson approaches Ben about possibly joining, "The Plastics Posse." He says the name grows on you and tells Ben to come with him.

April announces the two incoming and has Meredith and Alex paged. Richard comes up and is glad to see her back at work. She gives him the patient in bed eight and says she'll take five and six. The phone rings, so she answers it. She sends Callie, who comes up, to bed seven.

Callie enters the room where Jean Dominy waits with Maggie. She had previous had an angioplasty. She had shortness of breath after a fall and had injured her hip. She'd had a hip replacement 15 years prior. She was having sex when the earthquake hit. She has a book with all the positions and they were trying 28. Callie examines her hip and Jean asks if she can fix it. Callie says she'll get films and go from there.

Paramedics bring in Micah and Brian, who fell off a ski lift. Brian's daughter, Danielle is upset that their trip was ruined because Micah can't sit in a chair. They run trauma labs on Micah and Brian. Meredith sends Danielle and Karen to the waiting room.

Owen tells a nurse to stock the supply cart in trauma two. Arizona comes up to him and says bed two can be discharged. Amelia says the patient in bed one has hypochondria and not a giant tumor. Owen asks Arizona if she's heard anything from Herman. Arizona pulls out her phone and reads a text that says, "Enjoying blind institute. Learning how to not bump into things. Not typing this obvi. Don't kill any babies." The phone is ringing and both Arizona and Amelia leave Owen to answer it.

Owen picks up the phone and a girl on the other end asks if it's a hospital because she has an emergency. He tells her to call 911, but she says it was busy. Her mom fell off a chair and isn't moving. She asks him what to do. Owen tells April to have the police trace the call. The girl says her name is Ruby and she's 11 years old. Owen tells her he can help her and he will.

Ruby explains how she fell as April talks to someone about getting the call traced. Ruby says that they were making s'mores and her mom was getting hot chocolate from the cabinet. She was getting from the chair and everything started shaking. A woman at the desk is complaining about her visit to the hospital. Owen tells her to be quiet. She starts complaining again and April screams to shut her up. Owen needs to move to another phone so he can hear better. He nervously says that he always screws that up. He puts her on hold and transfers the call. Then he looks at the phone he transferred it to and waits. It rings and he races to answer it. Amelia picks it up just before he gets there and hands it to him. He puts her on speaker phone and asks questions about Ruby's mom. He and Amelia listen to her mom's breathing over the phone. Her airway is obstructed. Stephanie comes up and needs a trauma room, but they tell her this one's not free. April then tells them that Ruby needs to call EMS from a landline so they can trace the call. Owen asks what kind of phone she's using. She says it's her mom's cell phone. The cabin phone was dead. April leaves again. Ruby tells them her mom's lips are blue and asks why they're blue. Owen tells her that her mom's not getting enough air.

Brian's injuries are pretty superficial. Danielle is still upset about their trip being over. Brian tells her that it's not Micah's fault, but she still thinks it is. Brian tells Meredith he and Karen got engaged after three years of dating. It would have happened sooner except their kids hate each other. He thought the trip would help, but he thinks he made it worse. Meredith says adversity can sometimes make a family stronger. He says it can also tear it apart.

Jo wants to be switched so she can be working with Meredith. He reminds her not to tell Meredith about the streak. Alex feels that Micah's abdomen is tender, so he sends Jo to rush his labs and schedule a CT. She goes to do that.

Ellie looks at the computer simulation of what her breasts could look like. She asks them to go back one to make them bigger. Then she looks to her boyfriend, who nods. She wants to know when she can have the surgery. Jackson says they'll wait six weeks to schedule it. He thanks them for coming in.

Ben is confused, but Jackson explains that Ellie was looking to the boyfriend for approval, which means she's doing it for him and not for herself. Six weeks is how long it'll take for her to understand that it's not what she wants. He says breasts she doesn't want are just a bra full of regret. He gives Ben a granola bar and they move on.

Owen and Amelia still talking to Ruby about her mom. He gets her to try to clear her airway. When there's nothing in her throat, they tell her to push on her belly to try to dislodge something. When nothing comes out, Owen wants her to tilt her mother's head back, but Amelia stops her because it might paralyze her mom.

Maggie tells Jean her heart's good, but she wants to know about her hip. Her femur is cracked in two places. Callie lays out her surgical plan which involves replacing all the hardware. Jean is excited that it would leave her ready to go. Maggie's not so sure about it. Jean asks if she's been married or seeing someone. Jean says she was married for 44 years. They had a whole life together. He's the only man she'll ever love, but he won't be the only man to razz her berries. She has time left and things she wants to do. She wants the surgery.

Outside Jean's room, Maggie is still worried about Jean's surgery. Callie insists that she can do it. Maggie's still not convinced. Callie says if she ends up immobilized, it would mean a death of its own, but she agrees to look for another option.

Richard finds Owen and Amelia and offers to help. Owen says he'd rather the mom be paralyzed and alive than dead. Amelia takes the girl off hold and tells her to go again and tilt her head back. They listen to the mom's breathing over the phone again. The airway's open, but she could still be in distress. They have Ruby listen to both sides of her chest. She has breath sounds only on one side. She has a tension pneumothorax. They need Ruby to release the trapped air. Owen says he'll talk her through it, but she asks them to make it fast because she thinks the phone is running out of battery.

Alex is getting Micah's scans. Meredith comes in and says she couldn't listen to the family fight anymore. Micah has a splenic laceration and starts crashing. They get him on the floor and start CPR. Meredith hits him hard on the chest and restores normal rhythm. She sends Jo and Stephanie to prep the OR.

Owen asks Ruby to find a straw or a pen. April comes up and says they're trying to triangulate with the cell towers. She asks how the mom is doing and Amelia shakes her head. April leaves just as Ruby remembers that they had milkshakes on the way and she gets a straw from that. Owen asks her to get a knife, but remembers that they were making s'mores and tells her to get a skewer. She figures out that they want her to push it into her mom. Richard explains to her how to find exactly where she needs to put it and she does it. Ruby says there's a lot of blood, but Owen tells her to push the straw over the hole she just made. Once the straw is in, Ruby's mom starts breathing a lot for a minute before stopping again. Amelia gets Ruby to check for a pulse. There isn't one. Owen says he's going to teach Ruby how to do CPR.

Jean's scans are up. Callie has Ethan zoom in. Callie says that she needs surgery, but she comes up with a less invasive option. Callie goes to tell Jean. Ethan tells Maggie he's been taking the stairs just in case. She says she was kidding and he admits that he was also. Then he asks her out on a date. She says he seems ... tall and nice, but she doesn't. He says he understands. They stand there awkwardly for a minute before he says that this is his office, so she should be the one to leave, which she does.

Meredith and Alex approach Brian and ask where Karen is. She went to get snacks and they can't tell him anything about Micah because he's not a legal parent. Karen comes up with a sandwich for Danielle, but it's the wrong kind, so she rejects it. They tell Karen that Micah needs surgery to remove his spleen. Karen questions why they even went on the ski trip. Meredith says they'll update her once he's out of surgery and they walk away as Karen and Brian continue to fight. Meredith says that that couple might be the biggest casualty of the earthquake.

Ruby tells Owen the battery's at five percent and she's getting tired. Amelia tells her just to keep pushing, like the beat of a song. Owen asks if she's knows "Stayin' Alive." She doesn't, so they sing it for her. They get her to start singing along as she does compressions. April comes up and says they found the region. They're sending a helicopter because the roads are blocked. They're not sure how long it'll take. Owen tells Ruby just to keep going until help gets there and then use their phone to call him back. Her voice starts to break up and the line goes dead.

Owen says they'll find her and she'll call. Richard says she could be on her way in already. April comes up and asks if there's news. They sit and wait.

Alex and Meredith are operating on Micah. Alex thinks the parents are doomed. Meredith says she doesn't miss fighting like that. She and Alex are both in stable, adult relationships for once. Alex says it sounds like she and Derek are in a rut, but she says they aren't. She resents him saying that. He's no expert on long-term relationships. She says his marriage to Izzie lasted five minutes and Ava peed on her couch. She's forgetting one, but then she remembers the nurse who had syphilis, which Jo is shocked to hear about. She says she's not in a rut. She has a whole world of her own to manage. It doesn't revolve around him. This is just how their lives work. He concedes that she has a happy marriage ... with no husband in it.

Callie works on Jean as Maggie monitors her heart. Callie asks her about Ethan. She says he's not her type. Callie thinks she thinks she's above him. Maggie defends herself, but Callie continues to tease.

Jackson and Ben are operating on Mrs. Thurman. Jackson says she's getting a whole new look because then she'll be happy with what she sees in the mirror. Ben asks what if it's not her nose that makes her unhappy. What if it's more like Ellie? He asks how he knows it's the right choice. Jackson says he can't talk to Ben about his sister's case. Ben says he's asking about Mrs. Thurman. Jackson says he talked to her at length and listened and he's gotten good at knowing, so he knows this is the right thing for her.

The doctors continue to wait for Ruby to call them back. The phone rings and Owen jumps for it.

On the roof, a chopper lands and they unload Ruby's mom. Amelia takes her inside and Owen waits for Ruby, who sees him and gives him a hug. She tells him the phone died, but she did just what he said. He tells her she did great.

Owen comes into the OR and asks how Ruby's mom is doing. She has a subdural hematoma, but Amelia's working on it. There's nothing to tell Ruby yet. Ruby's mom develops a clot, so Amelia tells Owen just to let her work. That's how he can help.

Ben tells Jackson that Mrs. Thurman's awake. She can't wait to see what she looks like when the swelling goes down. Jackson knows there's more. Ben says she's had that nose for many years and he hopes she doesn't regret the change. Jackson says it's not a new thing. It's not a whim. It's how she had always seen herself. Her best version of herself. For patients like that, change isn't elective. It's a chance. And you can't know that that's what it is without talking and listening.

Jean's surgery is over and she gets wheeled to a room. Maggie explains that she doesn't date. Callie says she was just teasing. Maggie says there's a gap between her and other people. She thought it was because she was younger when she was in school, but the gap kept getting bigger. She was too different. She thinks something with Ethan would end up weird and then they'd be over. She came to Seattle to work and she's a little lonely, but fine. She says there's no point in saying yes. Callie says it's a load of crap. She's a grown-up. There's no gap. There's nothing to lose. She's being scared for no reason. She tells Maggie to let Ethan ras her berries and several other sexual euphemisms as Maggie walks away.

In surgery, Micah is still bleeding. Meredith finds the bleed and fixes it. Jo says the streak's alive. Meredith asks about it. Jo denies it, but ultimately, she confesses about the streak. She hasn't lost a patient since November 14. 89 good outcomes in a row. 22 of them were traumas. She says Meredith is magic. Meredith leaves Jo and Stephanie to close.

In the scrub room, Meredith says she's on a streak and she has been since Derek left. She wonders if that means she's better off without him.

Brian's repeat labs are good, so Meredith prepares to discharge him. He asks about Micah. She can't tell him anything, but Karen's not speaking to him. He thinks maybe their family isn't fixable, so he asks her just to nod or blink twice if Micah's okay. She nods and he thanks her.

Owen tells Ruby she should get some sleep. Ruby asks Owen if he thinks she hurt her mom. He says she did everything right. Amelia comes out and says her mom's going to be fine.

Ben says he called his sister. A bookcase fell, but she's fine. Bailey says okay. Ben apologizes to her. She says she'll accept his apology if he does things for her, starting with dinner. She hasn't thought of the other things yet. He's still on-call, but she can wait. She stops to straighten a picture and walks away.

Jean is awake. Callie tells her to wait eight weeks instead of six, just to be sure. Jean says Herbert won't know what hit him. Or any of the other guys she's into. She tells Callie and Maggie to put their healthy hips to good use.

Maggie jumps on the elevator with Ethan and says she'll have a drink with him if he still wants to. They awkwardly fumble for a minute and decide to do it at the end of the week.

Owen and Amelia watch Ruby talk to her mom. He thanks her and they hug. They go to break apart and then embrace again.

In an on-call room, Owen and Amelia are making out. Owen then carries Amelia to a bed.

Meredith tells Alex he was right. She doesn't need Derek. She's doing great without him. Him going to DC reminded her of who she is outside of her marriage. She's kind of amazing, but she still wants to share her life with him. Alex says he'll handle the post-op note if she wants to take off.

Meredith calls Derek's phone. A woman answers, so she asks if Derek's in the lab. The woman is confused. Meredith says she knows it's Derek Shepherd's phone. She asks the woman who she is. The woman doesn't answer, so Meredith asks twice more. The line then goes dead.

Cast[]

Main Cast[]

Guest Stars[]

Co-Starring[]

Medical Notes[]

Mr. Cordell[]

  • Diagnosis:
    • Gallstones
    • Sepsis
  • Treatment:
    • Surgery

Mr. Cordell became septic in the middle of the night due to his gallstones, so Meredith took him into surgery to remove them. During his surgery, there was an earthquake, so Meredith covered his open abdomen and protected him. Despite this, his surgery was successful.

Lizzie Hagans[]

  • Diagnosis:
  • Treatment:

Meredith did a biopsy on Lizzie Hagans at 5 AM.

Richard's Patient[]

  • Diagnosis:
  • Treatment:

Richard took care of the patient in bed eight.

Beds Five and Six[]

  • Diagnosis:
  • Treatment:

April took care of the patients in beds five and six.

Jean Dominy[]

  • Diagnosis:
    • Below the stem femur fracture
  • Treatment:
    • Blood thinners
    • Hip surgery

Jean, 75, had had an angioplasty and was discharged the previous week. She came back in with shortness of breath after falling on her hip. She'd had a hip replacement fifteen years prior. X-rays revealed that her femur was broken below the hip replacement hardware. Callie planned to replace the hardware and use the stem to cover the break. However, Maggie was concerned that her heart couldn't handle surgery that extensive, so Callie looked for other options. She decided that Jean definitely needed surgery, but opted to place a plate on the side of her hip, a less invasive procedure. The surgery was successful and she was told to wait eight weeks before putting her new hip to work.

Micah[]

  • Diagnosis:
    • Tibia fracture
    • Fibula fracture
    • Grade IV splenic laceration
  • Treatment:
    • Exploratory laparatomy
    • Splenectomy

Micah, 14, came into the ER after falling off a ski lift during the earthquake. He had a broken leg and abdominal injuries. His abdomen was tender, so they took him for a CT, which revealed a grade IV splenic laceration. He coded in the CT room, but they resuscitated him and got him to an OR, where they removed his spleen and repaired his other injuries.

Brian[]

  • Diagnosis:
    • Minor injuries
  • Treatment:

Brian, 44, was brought to the ER after falling off a ski lift during the earthquake. They ran a trauma panel, which determined that his injuries were superficial. After they repeated his labs and they were all still good, they cleared him to be discharged.

Arizona's Patient[]

  • Diagnosis:
  • Treatment:

Arizona told Owen the kid in bed two could be discharged.

Amelia's Patient[]

  • Diagnosis:
    • Hypochondria
  • Treatment:

Amelia said the patient in bed one could be discharged. She had hypochondria and not a brain tumor.

Nicole Herman[]

  • Diagnosis:
  • Doctors:
  • Treatment:

Arizona told Owen that Herman was at the Blind Institute learning how not to bump into things.

Ruby's Mom[]

  • Diagnosis:
    • Tension pneumothorax
    • Subdural hematoma
  • Treatment:
    • Thoracostomy
    • Surgery

Ruby's mom, 44, fell off a chair and hit her head. She wasn't breathing. Ruby, over the phone, listened as they tried to get her breathing restored by clearing a physical obstruction, which didn't work. Then they had Ruby tilt her chin back, which also didn't help. She was then talked through restoring breathing with a thoracostomy to relieve her tension pneumothorax. She started breathing for a minute, but when she went into cardiac arrest, so they talked her through performing CPR on her mother until help arrived. They were air-lifted to the hospital, where Amelia took her into surgery. She had a subdural hematoma, which Amelia fixed. Ruby was told that her mom would be okay.

Ellie[]

  • Diagnosis:
  • Treatment:

Ellie came in for a consult on breast augmentation. Jackson, knowing that she was doing the augmentation for her boyfriend and not for herself, sent her away, saying she could come back in six weeks, convinced she would realize it was for him and not her and not come back.

Mrs. Thurman[]

  • Diagnosis:
  • Treatment:
    • Rhinoplasty

Jackson and Ben did a rhinoplasty on Mrs. Thurman. She woke up after the surgery eager to see what it would look like once the swelling went down.

Music[]

Song Performer Scene
"Stayin' Alive" (originally by The Bee Gees) Caterina Scorsone, James Pickens, Jr., Kevin McKidd, and Millie Bobbie Brown
  • Owen, Amelia, and Richard sing while Ruby does chest compressions to the beat.
  • April tells them that they're sending a helicopter to the cabin.
"Goddess" Banks
  • Maggie tells Callie why she doesn't date.
  • Callie tells her to go for it.
  • Meredith and Alex operate on Micah.
  • Jo tells Meredith about her streak.
"Photograph" Ed Sheeran
  • Amelia tells her her mom will be fine.
  • Ben says he called his sister.
  • Bailey tells him how he can make it up to her.
  • Bailey fixes a tilted picture.
  • Callie tells Jean to wait 8 weeks before breaking in her new hip.
  • Jean tells Maggie and Callie to put their healthy hips to good use.
  • Maggie tells Ethan she'd love to have a drink with him.
  • Owen and Amelia watch Ruby talk to her mom.
  • They hug.
  • In an on-call room, they start making out and Owen carries Amelia to a bed.
  • Meredith tells Alex she doesn't need Derek, but she wants to share her life with him.
  • Alex tells Meredith he can handle Micah's post-op if she wants to leave.
  • Meredith calls Derek and a woman answers.
  • The woman won't tell Meredith who she is.

Notes and Trivia[]

Grey's_Anatomy_11x15_Promo_"I_Feel_the_Earth_Move"_(HD)

Grey's Anatomy 11x15 Promo "I Feel the Earth Move" (HD)

  • This episode's title originated from the song I Feel the Earth Move, originally sung by Carole King.
  • This episode scored 7.40 million viewers.[1]
  • Filming for this episode was scheduled from January 12 to January 23, 2015.[source?]
  • Sara Ramírez ab-libbed the list of sexual euphemisms.[source?]
  • The phrase "The disaster starts with you wondering if this must be the woman who's been screwing your husband" in Meredith's monologue is reminiscent of the season one finale, with Addison Forbes Montgomery asking to Meredith if she's, "the woman who's been screwing my husband."

Gallery[]

Episode Stills[]

Behind the Scenes[]

Quotes[]

Maggie: There's a gap between me and most people. There just always has been. I used to think it was because I was younger in school, but even after school... The gap... it just got bigger and more impossible. I wasn't too young. I was just too... Different. So I know what it looks like when I say yes to Ethan. It's fun, and we're happy for a while until it's not. Things always get awkward and weird. So I overcorrect, or he misinterprets. And then we're not on the same page anymore because we never were on the same page. We were always miles and miles apart with this gap between us, pretending it wasn't there. I don't want to pretend. I came here to work and just stay focused on that, and I'm fine on my side of the gap. I'm a little lonely, but... Fine. There's just no point to me saying yes.
Callie: Yeah. Okay, that's a load of crap. Uh, when you were younger, fine. Kids are weird. But now? You're a grown-up doing your grown-up job with other grown-ups. There's no gap. And there's... There's nothing to lose. There's just you being scared. And for no reason. So choose not to be. Life's too short to be scared. Screw the gap. Let Ethan... I don't know... Razz your berries.
Maggie: Ew.
Callie: Okay, goose your gander.
Maggie: Okay.
Callie: Tickle your tail feathers. Cup your coconuts.
Maggie: Nope.
Callie: Rock your rump. Poke your hontas. Wallop your wonderland!

Jackson: Today is all about instilling self-confidence and changing lives. So, you play your cards right, you just might get an invite from me to join the plastics posse.
Ben: You think that sounds cool?
Jackson: I did not... At first, but... but it grows on you.

Miranda: Oh, you had to dive on top of me?
Ben: I was being your human shield. I was protecting you.
Miranda: Oh, do I strike you as a woman who needs protecting?
Ben: You're right. All right. Next time, I'm gonna use you as my human shield.

Meredith: I have an entire world to manage, all on my own. My world does not and should not revolve around Derek Shepherd. I wanted to go to D.C. this weekend, but I'm a busy surgeon with two kids at home, and he's at the N.I.H. So right now, we're just going to have to accept that this is the way our lives work. But that doesn't mean we're not happy.
Alex: All right, fine. You have a happy marriage. With no husband in it.

Meredith: I don't need Derek. I don't need him in my house. I obviously don't need him to prove I can have 89 good outcomes in a row. I'm doing great. My kids are happy. My career is soaring. Derek going to D.C. did exactly what it was supposed to do, which is remind me of who I am outside of my marriage, which, by the way, I'm kind of amazing.
Alex: Okay.
Meredith: But that doesn't mean that I don't want to share it with him. I want to tell him that I'm... We're on a streak.

Woman: (answering Derek's phone) Hello?
Meredith: Hi. Is he in the lab?
Woman: What?
Meredith: I know this is Derek Shepherd's phone. Who is this? Who is this? Hello?

See Also[]

A complete overview of this episode's crew can be found here.


References[]

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