Unaccompanied Minor

"I always said I'd be happier alone. I'd have my work, my friends, but someone in your life all the time? More trouble than it's worth. Apparently, I got over it. There's a reason I said I'd be happy alone. It wasn't cause I thought I'd be happy alone. It was because I thought if I loved someone and then it fell apart, I might not make it. It's easier to be alone. Because what if you learn that you need love and then you don't have it? What if you like it, and lean on it? What if you shape your life around it and then, it falls apart. Can you even survive that kind of pain? Losing love is like organ damage. It's like dying. The only difference is, death ends. This, it could go on forever."

- Meredith Grey

 is the twenty-second and final episode of the seventh season and the 148th overall episode of Grey's Anatomy.

Short Summary
News of Meredith's dishonesty in the clinical trial comes to light, leading to unanticipated consequences for both her and others. Cristina finds herself in a compromising situation, which forces her to decide between her career and her relationship. Meanwhile, Owen posts his decision for chief resident and Teddy makes a surprising choice regarding her love life -- and her future.

Full Summary
Episode in detail.

Main Cast

 * Ellen Pompeo as Dr. Meredith Grey
 * Sandra Oh as Dr. Cristina Yang
 * Justin Chambers as Dr. Alex Karev
 * Chandra Wilson as Dr. Miranda Bailey
 * James Pickens, Jr. as Dr. Richard Webber
 * Sara Ramírez as Dr. Callie Torres
 * Eric Dane as Dr. Mark Sloan
 * Chyler Leigh as Dr. Lexie Grey
 * Kevin McKidd as Dr. Owen Hunt
 * Jessica Capshaw as Dr. Arizona Robbins
 * Kim Raver as Dr. Teddy Altman
 * Sarah Drew as Dr. April Kepner
 * Jesse Williams as Dr. Jackson Avery
 * Patrick Dempsey as Dr. Derek Shepherd

Guest Stars

 * Rachael Taylor as Dr. Lucy Fields
 * James Tupper as Dr. Andrew Perkins
 * Daniel Sunjata as Nurse Eli
 * Beverly Todd as Gilda Ruiz
 * Sprague Grayden as Mrs. Gordon
 * Dale Raoul as NICU Nurse
 * Katie Lowes as Blood Donor
 * Scott Foley as Henry Burton

Co-Starring

 * Lou Beatty Jr. as Miguel Ruiz
 * Jodi Harris as Audrey Hobart
 * Peter Reath Gregory as Jonathan
 * Elayn J. Taylor as Loretta
 * Arianna Ortiz as Jessica Schoman
 * Fred Kronenberg as Roland Hobart
 * Janora McDuffie as Social Worker Janet
 * Greg Bond as Broken Leg Guy
 * Marcus Choi as Young Man
 * Kiran Deol as Young Woman
 * Natalie Dye as Vicky Hobart
 * Jet Jurgensmeyer as Jack Hobart
 * Jacqueline Larsen as Sarah Gordon

Uncredited

 * Mark Sinacori as Hospital Staff

Notes and Trivia
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 * This episode's title originated from the song Unaccompanied Minor, originally sung by Their Only Dreams.
 * This episode scored 9.89 million viewers.
 * Sofia Robbin Sloan Torres doesn't appear in the aired version of this episode. However, she does appear in a deleted scene.
 * A storyline of this episode incolves a plane crash. Throughout Season 7, plane crashes are referenced a few times off-hand, including in the episode prior to this one. It is unknown if these references are meant to foreshadow the events of the Season 8 finale or if they're merely coincidental.

Quotes

 * Meredith: Okay, we're gonna be okay. You and I, we're a team, right? We're tough. We have that in common. I am very glad you're here. I didn't think your first day would be quite like this, but I'm gonna get it together, and we're gonna figure this out.


 * Lexie: You have to stop. You gotta stop talking to me and checking on me and talking to my boyfriend. I love you, and I'm always gonna love you, but I don't want to love you. I want to be happy, and Jackson makes me happy. And if you keep pulling at me, I'll come back to you.
 * Mark: You're right, I'm sorry.
 * Lexie: You got what you wanted you wanted a family so please just let me have what I wanted.
 * Mark: I said you're right. I told Avery I was letting you go. Did he tell you that part?
 * Lexie: Yes, it's paternalistic and weird.
 * Mark: I'm letting you go, Lexie. That means you've got to walk away.


 * Teddy: You're my husband, and I think I'm falling in love with you.


 * Owen: I want them, and maybe you could, too. I believe your life could be bigger than you think it is. I know you can contain more than you think you can. I'm not saying we do this, I'm just saying we think. Let's see what kind of life we can imagine. Cristina Yang, I imagine such a huge life for us.


 * Derek: You wanted to be treated like a colleague? I'm gonna treat you like a colleague. Alex Karev informed Dr. Hunt that Dr. Grey tampered with my clinical trial. She switched around placebos and the drugs, probably invaildating... my trial.
 * Richard: Is this true?
 * Meredith: Nothing I did has any effect...
 * Richard: Tell me exactly what happened.
 * Meredith: I can't do that.
 * Derek: Do you have any idea what you've done? Do you think that the FDA will get anywhere near this hospital, ever again?
 * Richard: Meredith, look at me. If this is wrong, if there's something going on, if Karev is exaggerating, this is the part where you have to tell me. This is the part where you have to deny the charges.
 * Meredith: Kick me off the study. There's nothing wrong with the study. Nothing I did changes anything.
 * Richard: I'm gonna have to investigate what's going on here. But it looks to me like you just lost your job.


 * Derek: Meredith, tell me exactly what you did.
 * Meredith: I can't tell you.
 * Derek: We can still fix this. But I need to know what you did.
 * Meredith: If I tell you, it'll make it worse.
 * Derek: It's worse already. Meredith.
 * Meredith: Listen, I-I... I love you. And I'm sorry but I can't tell you anything.


 * Cristina: (to Alex) You know, she's the only one who ever gave a rat's ass about you, and now you might have destroyed her career. You should find some skanky intern to love you, because next time you're in a burning building, no one is handing you a glass of water.


 * Richard: This is an extremely serious accusation, Meredith. Can you tell me anything?
 * Meredith: I-I-I can't. I'm- I'm sorry.
 * Richard: How many patients are we talking about here? Did this happen more than once?
 * Meredith: I can't say that either.
 * Derek: She can't say anything.
 * Richard: Look, we're going to unwind this, Meredith. Karev is figuring out what cases he was on when he saw you, he'll narrow down the dates and we'll know which patients...
 * Meredith: Nothing I did changed the trial. Uh, fire me. Do whatever you have to do.
 * Derek: Look, you don't get to choose, okay? (Alex knocks on the door & Richard opens it and takes an envelope from him) You don't get to decide who gets the drug or who gets the placebo. You don't get to decide what information the trial gets.
 * Meredith: Nothing I did affects the trial. If you don't know what I did, the trial stays blind.
 * Derek: The trial is over. You screwed me. You screwed this hospital. And you screwed yourself. This is your disease that we're trying to cure. (Richard is looking through the files Alex gave him) I mean, I could've picked Parkinson's...
 * Richard: (mumbles) It was Adele.
 * Derek: ... or Lou Gehrig's disease, but I did this for you.
 * Richard: Derek, it was Adele.


 * Alex: Dr. Hunt, you gave chief resident to Kepner? It was supposed to be me or Grey. You think anyone's gonna listen to Kepner? It's gonna be complete chaos.
 * Owen: You think anyone's gonna listen to you? You just sold out the one universally liked individual in this hospital. Everyone is gonna hate you. A chief resident is supposed to manage their peers, be a resource and a support. After what you did, do you think anyone is gonna come to you for anything? I was planning on giving it to you, and now?


 * Derek: (to Meredith) Are you leaving?
 * Meredith: No, I didn't get fired. I know that's disappointing to you.
 * Derek: My trial is about to disappear. You really wanna act like I'm the bad guy here?
 * Meredith: No, I don't.
 * Derek: I know the fact that it is Adele changes things for Richard, but it doesn't for me.
 * Meredith: Oh, I understand that.
 * Derek: You couldn't possibly understand that. If you were focused on the millions of people with Alzheimer's whose lives could've been different, or would've been better because of this drug, there's no way in hell you would've pulled this stunt. How is it that you don't know the difference between right and wrong?
 * Meredith: Because I don't think that things are simply right or wrong. Things are more complicated than that. This was more complicated than that. It's complicated that it was Adele and Richard. It's complicated that we have a drug in a box that could help her. There's nothing simple about that. I am very sorry that I messed everything up, but I would do it again.
 * Derek: I don't know how to raise a child with someone who doesn't understand that there's a... right and wrong in the world.
 * Meredith: So, now I'm gonna be a bad mother. That's where we're going with this?
 * Derek: You've been saying it for weeks. Maybe you're right.
 * Meredith: Okay.
 * Derek: I just... I just need some time to think. Some space.


 * Cristina: Mer.
 * Meredith: The adoption lady's paging me, Derek's AWOL, he's not even speaking to me.
 * Cristina: Wait, is it true? What -- What were you thinking?
 * Meredith: I was thinking that the Chief's wife was about to have saline injected into her brain instead of a drug that could stop her from being a gorked-out lump. Derek's head almost exploded.
 * Cristina: Are they gonna fire you?
 * Meredith: I'm suspended. The Chief backed way off when he found out it was Adele. I did what I had to do.
 * Cristina: Meredith...
 * Meredith: And I couldn't live with myself if I'd done anything different. (sees Alex talking to the social worker) What did you say to her?
 * Alex: I didn't say anything.
 * Meredith: Janet, anything he says....
 * Alex: Can you just shut up for one second? This isn't about that.
 * Janet: We're granting you temporary custody of Zola, pending the completion of the petition, assuming that if all goes well, you'll be granted permanent custody. And her doctor here says she's doing great, so you can take her home... today.


 * Owen: (to Cristina) You give in a marriage. You make sacrifices. I've made many and I'm asking you to do something for me. Can you simply consier doing something for me?
 * Cristina: Have a baby? This isn't pizza versus Thai. You don't give a little on a baby.
 * Owen: Cristina, I am asking you...
 * Cristina: I am saying no!
 * Owen: (pauses, turns away) Get out.
 * Cristina: Are you-- Because I'm denying you a baby, you're trying--
 * Owen: Because you denied me part of the decision. Because you denied me a marriage.
 * Cristina: Oh, how dare you...
 * Owen: Get out!


 * Derek: What are you gonna do?
 * Richard: I don't know.
 * Derek: Well, the protocol is fairly clear.
 * Meredith: Are you encouraging him to fire me?
 * Richard: Look, Derek, I basically pressured her to do it. You'd have to fire us both. (Derek walks out) I'm gonna have to suspend you, so it doesn't look so bad. But the study... I need to turn the whole mess over to the FDA, let them figure out what to do with it. ... Meredith, I don't know how to...
 * Meredith: I know.


 * Lucy: Tell me not to go to Africa. Alex?
 * Alex: Go to hell.