Grey's Anatomy Universe Wiki
Register
Advertisement

Everyone figures doctors are the most responsible people they know. They hold lives in their hands. They're not flakes. They don't lose track of important details or make stunningly bad judgment calls. 'Cause that would be bad, right? We are responsible with our patients. The problem is we blow it all out at work. In our own lives, we can't think things through. We don't make the sound choice. We did that all day at the hospital. When it comes to ourselves, we've got nothing left. And is it worth it—being responsible? 'Cause if take your vitamins and pay your taxes and never cut the line, the universe still gives you people to love and then lets them slip through your fingers like water. And then what have you got? Vitamins... and nothing.

Not Responsible is the sixteenth episode of the seventh season and the 142nd overall episode of Grey's Anatomy.

Short Summary[]

Meredith must choose between her fertility treatments and her eyesight when she begins having trouble seeing, Mark makes it clear to Callie and Arizona that he takes his role as father-to-be very seriously, and April discovers there's more to Dr. Stark than first appears.

Full Summary[]

Derek is trying to go over the plans for their future bathroom with Meredith, but all she really cares about is having a tub deep enough to cover her knees and boobs at the same time. He leaves for work. Alex says the dude's building her a dream house and she doesn't give a crap. Meredith says the fertility drugs make her eyes dry and she needs to squint to see. Alex suggests she talks to the hot OB. Meredith says he's always drumming up reasons to talk to the hot OB.

Lucy is giving Callie an ultrasound and everything's looking good. She asks if they planned an amnio yet. Mark thinks they don't need one. Arizona disagrees. Mark gets paged away, but he tells Callie not to let Lucy shove a giant needle into her belly before they have discussed it. Lucy says it's only 9 inches.

Meredith apologizes for all the paperwork that's part of the trial. She asks Allison if there have been any changes to her memories in the last week. She doesn't think so. They went to see the doctor who diagnosed her with Alzheimer's because she wanted to apologize. She got really mad when he diagnosed her. Meredith asks if there have been changes to her schedule. Not really, since she doesn't work or do many errands. Meredith asks about her sleeping and eating. Allison doesn't know about after breakfast and her husband doesn't either because he doesn't get home until pretty late. Their son Kyle says they share a sandwich when he gets home from school. Allison also doesn't know about possible side effects from her meds. Kyle says the pink ones make her thirsty. Kyle confirms water helps with that.

Teddy, Jackson, and Lexie walk into Ricky's room. The big day is here. Teddy is happy to finally meet Ricky's girlfriend Julia. Julia says if there's ever a day to take off work, it's when your boyfriend gets new lungs. Jackson says the lungs are on their way from Portland. Ricky confirms he hasn't eaten, drunk, or taken his CF meds. Teddy asks Julia to give her number to Lexie so they can call her if they have news.

Owen has interrupted Richard while he was filing out the very long application to the FDA. The application counts 357 pages and it's easy to lose one, which is reason enough for the FDA to kill the study. Richard doesn't understand why Owen came to get him for a VIP patient. They arrive in the ER and Owen reveals the patient is his wife.

Meredith comes into Allison's room and announces they need to draw some more blood. She says Derek will come in to check later and if her labs are clean, they'll move her up to the OR floor. Allison's husband tells Kyle to cross their fingers that his mother will get the drug. Meredith then notices a bump on Kyle's neck. Howard says they've been meaning to get it checked. Allison says she's a full-time job. Meredith says she'll have someone come up and take a look.

Adele says she tripped over a display at the supermarket. She doesn't want to be a bother, and she especially doesn't want to take up Mark's time. Richard asks if she tripped over her feet and fell into the display, or actually tripped over the display. She says she was more focused on the fact that she was covered in jam and glass. Richard says it's the second time she fell. Adele says it's her shoes, she's gonna throw them out. Mark asks Adele to lay still so he can stick a needle in her face.

Jackson and Lexie are checking up on Ricky. Julia starts coughing. She says she has asthma. Ricky says respiratory disorders bring people together. Julia starts looking through her purse for her inhaler, but she drops it. Lexie goes to pick it up and finds dornase with Julia's name on it. Lexie asks Julia if she has cystic fibrosis and stops her from leaving. Jackson says it's very dangerous for CF patients to date each other. They could infect each other. They know. They have heard the warnings. Lexie gets that it's a drag. Julia says she doesn't. Only CF patients understand each other because it makes other people cringe. After 8 years of small talk from opposite corners of the doctor's waiting room, they decided to take the risk. Living with risk is better than not living at all. They deserve to be together.

April is on peds today, so Meredith asks her to take a look at Kyle and warn Arizona if it should be necessary.

Richard asks Bailey to give Yang all her patients today so Bailey can do a thorough work-up on Adele. He thinks it may be an inner ear thing. Bailey hates that she has to miss her embolectomy. Richard says everyone's unhappy today.

Meredith paged Alex to a room with eye equipment. She needs him to check her eyes. He says her cornea looks fine and it's not glaucoma. He asks her to read the chart, line 8, without squinting. She gets it all wrong. He wonders if she can see enough to operate. She says she can if she squints and gets out.

Mark, Callie, and Arizona are discussing the amnio. Mark wants this kid no matter what as he already missed out on two babies, but Arizona wants to know if their baby's sick. Also, Mark says amnio comes with risks. Lexie adds it ends in miscarriage in 1 out of 300 patients. Arizona and Mark both want a private minute with Callie, but Callie decides nobody gets a minute. She goes to talk to her patient. Jackson watches Lexie looking at Mark.

Alex finds Lucy in the lab and tells her that his friend is worried her fertility drugs are damaging her eyesight. Lucy doesn't really buy it. She thinks Alex is just looking for reasons to talk to her because she turned him down when they last spoke. Now, he's taking her temperature to see if she was just busy back then or actually not interested. If his friend really needed her, she'd call Lucy herself. Alex asks if he should just ask Lucy out again. She says it'd be simpler. He asks if she's free for dinner, but she says she's busy.

April tells Arizona that Kyle's bump is a cystic hygroma. It's starting to close off the trachea. Arizona says they need to remove it now, but she'll need April or Stark to take her diverticulectomy. Stark comes in and he sees the scans. He wonders why she's waited so long to remove the hygroma. Arizona says the patient was seen for the first time today. He doesn't understand why his parents didn't get him to a doctor earlier. Meredith explains the family situation to him. He wants her to call protective services. Meredith doesn't think they need to take Kyle away from his parents. Stark says the state made a whole department for situations like this. He refuses to discuss it further.

Meredith needs Arizona to call off Stark. She suggests they just call a social worker, but Meredith thinks it's not a good idea. The parents will then be registered as people who neglect their kid. Arizona says Stark is her boss, so she can't call him off. Meredith refuses to let Allison's last years be filled with a fight to keep Kyle in their house. It's enough of a nightmare already. April says she'll go talk to Stark as it can't hurt to try.

April and Arizona approach Stark. He assumes it's about the diverticulectomy and tells them to take it up with his assistant. April blurts out it's a bad idea to call protective services. Arizona says pulling the family apart is not a good idea given that the mother only has a few lucid years left. Stark says families only get torn apart when the child's in danger. April says they can have knee-jerk reactions to certain circumstances. Stark says social workers are bleeding hearts, so they don't wreck homes just for the fun of it. He wonders if Arizona is completely sure that the kid is not harmed. He tells her to make the call.

Bailey's with Adele, writing about her ears. There's nothing wrong with them. Adele thinks they're wasting everyone's time. She tripped at the pharmacy due to her faulty shoes. Bailey says she means the supermarket. Adele says whatever. Adele says she needed cough syrup. Bailey brings out a breathalyzer. Adele knows what that is. Bailey says the tripping and inconsistencies of stories are consistent with substance abuse, so she's gonna run a tox screen.

Over lunch, Arizona and Mark are still discussing the amnio. Callie wants to eat in peace. She will decide because she has the biggest vote. Mark says they are co-parenting. It's not some cute agreement. This is his child and they're doing this together so she does not get a bigger vote.

Meredith and Cristina are discussing sinks as they sit down with Alex, who will miss having a cheap place to live.

Teddy is scolding Julia and Ricky. It's a miracle they haven't gotten sick yet, but after the transplant, Ricky will be on immunosuppressives, thus making it ten times more likely for Julia to infect him. Lexie says this is suicide. Julia says they deserve some happiness. Teddy knows it's not easy, but people need these lungs and can use them for years. If Ricky and Julia stay together, these lungs will be destroyed in months. They are a gift and they can't squander it. Ricky says what he and Julia have is a gift. Teddy tells them to end the relationship or he doesn't get the lungs.

April and Meredith tell Kyle's parents that the bump is a cyst and that they'll remove it. Also, there might be a social worker coming by. Howard declines because he knows it's not part of the trial. Allison says Kyle is fine. Howard wonders what will happen if they refuse. Kyle confirms he's fine. Allison doesn't want to stay here. She gets up and starts yelling that she's leaving and that no one can touch her son. Kyle stays calm and starts singing "I Walk the Line". It calms down his mother, who hugs him. Howard explains it always calms her down.

Teddy comes back into Ricky's room. She needs an answer now. Ricky says it's over. Teddy demands they say goodbye now. Julia and Ricky start crying and she walks out after a kiss.

Bailey approaches Meredith and asks about Adele a few weeks ago. She asks for an impression of the patient, because right now, it seems like she's a substance abuser but both the tox screen and breathalyzer confirm that she's not. Meredith says Adele couldn't get her story straight and she suggested some indication of early dementia, but the Chief got really angry at her. Bailey is concerned, too.

Owen finds Cristina. She tells him she's really grateful he's not trying to knock her up. The whole thing is a nightmare, as she's seeing it happen with the three musketeers and Meredith. She's so happy they'll never have to deal with babies. "Yeah, yeah, yeah," he says before walking off.

Callie says she wants the amnio. She wants the info, but that doesn't mean she's gonna act on it. Mark says okay and thanks her. He just wanted Callie to think about it and they all did. As long as his 33% is considered, that's all he can ask for.

Derek and Meredith are in the OR with Allison. Meredith opens the envelope and she's delighted to see that Allison will receive the active agent. Derek lets her celebrate by allowing her to do the burr holes. However, right before doing it, she confesses she can't see it.

In the scrub room, Teddy tells Jackson and Lexie that Ricky and Julia are probably lying. They'll get back together in a couple of weeks. It's too late to stop the transplant now because the lungs are on their way. Lexie says maybe it's not a waste. Maybe they are soulmates and that is rare. Jackson thinks she's thinking about Sloan again. Lexie says Mark's a good man. He would be happy to raise a special needs child. Lexie didn't think about it all when she walked away, she just did. Jackson says she thinks about everything. Lexie thinks she may have been wrong.

Cristina finds Owen and asks him what that "yeah, yeah, yeah" meant. Owen says she's a resident so it's normal she doesn't want kids, but he figures they can revisit this conversation down the line. She might come around in a couple of years. Owen says it's a young people's notion to think career is everything. He thought that after everything that happened, she'd have a more nuanced vision. He also thought that she might find a little room for his vision of life. Cristina says she's grown up as much as she's planned to, and she does not come around.

Teddy takes out Ricky's lungs. Lexie brings over the new lungs, which look great. Teddy will kill Ricky if he wastes them.

Derek is checking on Meredith's eyesight. He doesn't understand how she went into the OR with him. Meredith says it started out as fuzziness this morning, but the black spot didn't appear until she was looking at Allison's skull. Lucy tells them Dr. Metzger will come to check on her after his surgery, but that can be a while. Also, Meredith needs to stop taking her fertility drugs. Meredith says she can't, but Lucy says the scary side effects are happening to her, so she has to stop now to prevent permanent damage.

Lexie finds Julia on a bench outside the hospital. Lexie tells her Ricky's doing good. Julia asks her if she's gonna tell Dr. Altman. Lexie won't, because she's pretty sure Julia is gonna leave. Lexie tells Julia she's killing Ricky. There's nothing romantic about a joint suicide. It's cruel to the two of them and their families, and the family who just buried someone. It always feels like there's only one person to love in this world and then you find someone else and it seems crazy you were worried in the first place. Julia wants Ricky to really try to find someone because she doesn't want him to be alone. She starts crying and Lexie comforts her.

April finds Stark and tells him that Allison is in Derek's trial, meaning she has to come back to the hospital regularly. April says they'll make Kyle come and April will examine him herself. Kyle is cherished and she'd like Stark to consider putting a pin in making the call. She didn't do it yet. He says okay. He then tells her to run away before he reconsiders.

Lexie finds Jackson outside of Ricky's room. She tells him Julia is gone for real, but she doesn't know how to tell Ricky. Jackson says that if he had to hear something like that, he'd want to hear it from her. Lexie puts on a mask and enters Ricky's room. She delivers the news.

Richard finds Bailey in the scrub room. She tells him everything's clear, but there's clearly something wrong. Richard says things fall apart when you get older. Bailey says that if it were her, she wouldn't ask the general surgeon. She'd ask the very good neurosurgeon who happens to be studying neurological disorders like Alzheimer's, who happens to be a close friend.

Lexie finds Jackson waiting for her in the parking lot. He wanted to make sure she was okay. She says she told Julia she'd find someone else, but she's not sure she believes that herself. Jackson can't believe she actually believes in soulmates. Nobody has just one soulmate. Ricky and Julia deserve better than someone who makes them sick. Lexie deserves better, too, and there'd be a line at the door for her as soon as word got out. She jokingly asks if he'd be in the line. He tells her he is in the line.

Cristina tells Owen that you do not bring a child into the world if one of the parties, like the mother, doesn't want it. There's nothing left to discuss. Owen can't believe he has zero say in this because he thinks having a family is a huge part of what it means to be alive. Cristina says he married the wrong person, then. Maybe they did. Maybe they didn't think this all through. Owen says they married each other because they love each other and want to live their lives together. She does not get to threaten to walk out just because he dared to express his opinion. She has an obligation to at least pretend to care about what he wants.

Stark approaches April and asks her to join him for dinner some night. Like, a date. April asks if he only agreed not to call protective services because he wanted to go out with her. He says no. He wanted to go out with her because she convinced him not to call them. No one has changed his mind in 10 years. April asks if he'll stop giving her surgeries if she says no. Stark says sexual harassment is not his style. It's fine if she says no. He'll avoid eye contact for a while, but they can still work together. He asks her to think about it and walks off.

Callie tells Arizona she was impressed by Mark today. He was an actual adult about this. He will be a great dad. Arizona is not too impressed. She finds it normal that he handled it like an adult because he is one. Callie thought she was supposed to be the cranky one. Arizona says she just doesn't get delighted about Mark. She loves Callie and she'll love this baby, but she somehow ended up with Mark in her life. She never picked him and she didn't want a life with him, but somehow, that is what she got. Callie says she can't throw him out; it's his kid. Arizona says she'll never forget that. She says this is a bi dream come true. Callie gets the woman she loves, her best friend who's also a great lay, and a baby. Callie gets it all, and this is not what Arizona's dream looks like.

An enthusiastic April rushes into the bathroom to tell Lexie that Stark just asked her out. It's so weird. The Grinch just asked her out to dinner and she said yes. There is a nice man under there. Lexie thinks it's a little weird, but she wants to talk about it later since she's in the shower. She orders April to go pee downstairs. Once April is gone, Lexie takes her hand off Jackson's mouth. He was hiding for April. He gets back up and kisses Lexie.

Cristina joins Meredith in the room with eye equipment. She mentions that Owen said she destroyed his future. Meredith wonders what'll happen if she can't ever operate again. Cristina tells her to become a bartender then. She had a great time, and there are free drinks. Meredith points out she actually stole the drinks. Richard comes in and tells Meredith that she doesn't set foot into an OR until Metzger clears her. She can't even observe.

Owen, Derek, and Mark are hitting golf balls on the roof. Derek tells them about Meredith. He doesn't know if he's more mad at her as her attending or her husband. Owen says he was extraneous to the process, like him. Cristina didn't talk to him about whether they were going to have kids. He doesn't get a say. They want to hold all the cards. Mark asks them to imagine what it's like to negotiate with two women. He only gets 33%. Owen says he only gets 10% with Cristina. Derek says Meredith won't even put anything down on the table, she just omits the information. Richard arrives on the roof and asks to borrow Derek for a minute.

Privately, Richard tells Derek that Adele was in the ER today. It wasn't serious, but it's the second time recently. Nothing comes up in the work-up, but she's foggy. He asks Derek to take a look. Derek understands where he's going and says he will.

Cast[]

Main Cast[]

Guest Stars[]

Co-Starring[]

Medical Notes[]

Meredith Grey[]

  • Diagnosis:
    • Blurred vision
  • Doctors:
  • Treatment:

Meredith experienced blurred vision as a side effect of her fertility drugs. It later developed into a large black spot when she tried to operate. Lucy said that Dr. Metzger could come in to check on her after he got out of surgery and that she needed to stop the fertility drugs.

Callie Torres[]

  • Diagnosis:
    • Pregnancy
  • Treatment:
    • Pre-natal care
    • Scheduling an amniocentesis

Callie had an ultrasound and scheduled an amniocentesis.

Allison Baker[]

  • Diagnosis:
    • Alzheimer's disease
  • Treatment:
    • NGF Surgical trial
    • Medications

Allison was a patient in Derek's clinical trial. She got dry mouth from one of her medications. She received the active agent.

Ricky[]

  • Diagnosis:
    • Cystic fibrosis
  • Treatment:
    • Oral medications
    • Lung transplant

Ricky was in the hospital for a lung transplant to treat his cystic fibrosis. When Altman found out that he was dating another person with cystic fibrosis, she said she wouldn't do the transplant unless they ended the relationship, so they agreed to break it off.

Julia[]

  • Diagnosis:
    • Cystic fibrosis
  • Doctors:
  • Treatment:
    • Dornase
    • Inhaled medication

Julia had cystic fibrosis like her boyfriend Ricky. When Altman found that out, she said she wouldn't give Ricky his new lungs unless they agreed to break up.

Adele Webber[]

  • Diagnosis:
    • Facial laceration
  • Treatment:
    • Stitches

Adele, whose wrist was still cast, fell again and hit her head. She had a cut on her forehead, which Mark stitched up for her. Webber then had Bailey test her for reasons why she might have fallen. Webber then asked Derek to check up on Adele.

Kyle Baker[]

  • Diagnosis:
    • Cystic hygroma
  • Treatment:
    • Surgery

Kyle, 10, had a cystic hygroma that was starting to close the trachea. Arizona operated to remove the growth.

Bailey's Patient[]

  • Diagnosis:
  • Treatment:
    • S.M.A. Embolectomy

Bailey was set to perform an embolectomy, but Webber took over so that she could check on Webber's wife.

Arizona's Patient[]

  • Diagnosis:
    • Diverticulitis
  • Treatment:
    • Diverticulectomy

Arizona was set to perform a diverticulectomy, but Stark took it over so that she could operate on Kyle Baker.

Music[]

Song Performer Scene
"Julian Darling" Elizabeth & The Catapult
  • Meredith squints at the dream house blueprints. She and Alex discuss her side effects of the "baby drugs" and the "hot O.B."
"Come With Me" CEO
  • Lunch: Arizona, Mark, and Callie argue about the amnio; Meredith and Cristina discuss having two sinks while Alex steals Meredith's fries.
"I Walk the Line"

Sage Ryan

(originally by Johnny Cash)

  • Kyle sings this song to calm down his mother, as Johnny Cash always calm her down.
"Riverside" Agnes Obel
  • Lexie tells her patient that his girlfriend walked away, with Jackson watching from outside the room.
  • Bailey tells Richard all tests were negative, but she's convinced something is off.
  • She suggests he ask the very fancy neurosurgeon, who happens to be studying Alzheimer's, to check out Adele.
"Forget It All Again" Rich McCulley
  • Owen and Cristina argue about her unilateral decision to not have children.
  • Dr. Stark asks April out, she is unsure.
"Plans" The Submarines
  • Jackson and Lexie kiss in the shower.
  • Meredith and Cristina hang out in the eye doctor's room, Richard bans Mer from the O.R. until her eyesight is cleared.
  • Mark, Derek, and Owen golf off the helipad.

Notes and Trivia[]

Grey's_Anatomy_7x16_promo

Grey's Anatomy 7x16 promo

  • This episode's title originated from the song Not Responsible, originally sung by Deep Purple.
  • This episode scored 9.13 million viewers.[1]
  • This episode starts the relationship between Lexie and Jackson.

Gallery[]

Episode Stills[]

Quotes[]

Callie: The fate of my vagina is in her hands.

Lexie: It always feels like there is just one person in this world to love. And then you find somebody else, and it just seems crazy you ever worried in the first place.

Mark: I've lost too many babies in my time. Addison terminated. Sloan disappeared. I'm not letting it happen again. I don't care what kind of baby it is.

Arizona: We have a relationship, Mark. Part of that doesn't include you.

Alex: You’re blind.
Meredith: Shut up!
Alex: Can you even see me?
Meredith: Yeah, and you look like a real moron. I need a real eye doctor.

Callie: Ok, you know what, I'm trying to eat, which is more important than it's ever been now because I'm an incubator.

Mark: We're co-parenting us, all of us. This isn't a joke. It's not some cute arrangement where you humor me and use me for babysitting when you want to see a movie. This is my child. We're doing this together. You don't get a bigger vote. I'm a parent!

Alex: I've got a friend who can't see, and, uh, she thinks that maybe her, uh, fertility meds
Lucy: Your friend?
Alex: You think I'm making it up?
Lucy: You're looking for reasons to talk to me because the last time we spoke, you asked me out, and I said no. So now you're taking my temperature to see if I was actually busy or just not interested. You can't ask me out again, not after what you perceived to be a rejection, because even though your whole rap is about confidence, you're about as self-assured as a chihuahua. Your friend, uh, she doesn't need my help. If she did, she'd call me.
Alex: So I should just ask you out again?
Lucy: It's a lot simpler, don't you think?
Alex: Are you free for dinner?
Lucy: Nope. Busy.

Arizona: Okay, can we just be honest about the fact that this is some kind of bi dream come true? I mean, you get the woman that you love and the guy best friend who's also a great lay, and then you get a baby. I mean, you get it all. And me? This is not my dream. My dream doesn't look like this.

See Also[]

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

The Grey Matter blog post on this episode can be found here.

References[]

Advertisement