“ | Infections are like sleeping monsters. You can't see them. You can't feel them, but you must do everything in your power to contain them. Because when the monsters wake up, they are out of control. All that time you spent convincing yourself the sleeping monster wasn't real, it was gathering strength. The infection was spreading. The monster's awake now and there's nothing you can do about it. | ” |
Sleeping Monster is the twenty-first episode of the ninth season and the 193rd overall episode of Grey's Anatomy.
Short Summary[]
Bailey finds herself at the center of a CDC investigation surrounding the death of several of her patients, as Jackson and the rest of the board members argue over how to address the crisis with the public. Meanwhile, Cristina teases Alex about his unspoken feelings for Jo, and Owen continues to take special care of Ethan as the condition of his parents remains uncertain.
Full Summary[]
In the bathroom of the hospital, Bailey is washing her hands. Several people of the CDC enter the hospital. Their boss shakes hands with Jackson. Some of them are investigating the OR and the supplies. A couple of others are investigating Joyce Basche's body. Another one is investigating Dr. Bailey.
Bailey approaches Dr. Webber. She wants to know how Seth Lepik is doing, but she's blocked out of the system. Bailey has some theories about how the infection could have spread, but Richard isn't really listening and tells her just to cooperate with the investigators.
The board members discuss Bailey. Jackson asks the others to keep their distance from Bailey. He also wants to distribute a press release. All the others vote not to.
Alex and Jo are talking about the way Alex treats Jason Myers when Jo tells him she's moving in with him. Alex says she's an idiot to move in with a guy she's known for "2 minutes" and walks away. He shouts at Jo that he'll be nice to Jason.
Owen brings Ethan to his grandmother, who finally arrived at the hospital. Derek informs the grandmother on Rachel's status. Ethan proposes to his grandmother to go and see his father. Rachel says she'd also like to see him.
Bailey is waiting outside of a conference room when Leah Murphy leaves the room. Bailey starts talking to her, but Leah walks away, saying she can't talk to her. Vincent Blake, the CDC team leader, asks Bailey to come in.
In the ER, Jackson says to April that all board members are against him. Callie comes over to inform April about her patient with a broken femur, and tells Jackson to alert the press. Jackson rests his case. April is mad at him because Matthew broke up with her, because Jackson took her virginity. Jackson hears cars outside. Several members of one family have lost their fingers. One of them has brought a cooler with the fingers in it.
Vincent asks Bailey to go through each operation. Bailey tries to convince him that the grafts spread the infection, but Vincent says he needs to know about her interaction with the patients.
While being physically investigated by CDC people, Meredith asks Cristina to be in the room when she delivers her baby. Cristina refuses because Meredith will poop on the table while delivering the baby boy. Alex comes in for the investigation and he agrees with Cristina.
In the ER, April thinks the fingers can be reattached. Jackson comes over with all the fingers and they start to identify which finger belongs to which family member. Callie is treating one of the family members whose hand is pretty injured. They are all blaming each other for what happened (they played tug o' war with a clothesline). The family uncle walks in with French fries for his family members. One of the family members starts screaming at them.
Ethan and Rachel are talking to Paul Dawson. They are optimistic about Paul's recovery, but Paul's mother starts crying, thinking she'll lose her son. Ethan and Rachel decide to leave to give her some alone time.
Alex, Cristina, and Jason tell a mother they need to deliver her baby because he has a heart defect. He'll be fine as long as he stays in her uterus, but as soon as he'll come out, the defect will be fatal. Alex tells the mother they have 60 minutes to bring the baby to the cath lab to perform the surgery after the baby is delivered in the OR. The mother is worried that they won't have enough time. Cristina proposes to deliver the baby in the cath lab to have some more time. Jason and Alex are against the idea at first, but Cristina manages to convince Jason by boosting his ego. Alex then agrees as well.
Callie's patient is talking to her about being a journalist and that she has to write an article. She fears her career is ruined because her hand is injured so badly. Callie assures her that everything will be okay. The patient asks for her phone and suddenly sees the CDC investigators. She asks why they are at the hospital, but Callie pushes her down to have a body scan and refuses to answer.
Bailey is going through the surgical procedure she performed on Joyce Basche. Vincent asks her about how she scrubbed. While Bailey is telling the story of the surgery, the story is shown in flashbacks. Vincent asks to move on to Seth Lepik's procedure.
In his room, a CDC member is investigating Seth. His parents are really worried and they want to transfer their son to another hospital. Richard tries to convince them to let Seth stay in the hospital, but they refuse. Richard then asks Leah Murphy to see what she can do to arrange a transfer.
Alex and Cristina talk about Alex's feelings towards Jo. Cristina tries to convince him to fight for her.
Callie and Arizona are informing Callie's patient about the surgery they'll perform on her hand. Her father is worried. The patient suddenly starts asking questions about the CDC and Dr. Bailey. Arizona gets uncomfortable and walks away.
Derek is worried Meredith is in danger taking care of Bailey's patients. She tells him she asked Cristina to be in the delivery room.
Owen asks Cristina to have sex in an on-call room, but Cristina can't because of the baby heart surgery. Cristina asks Owen about Ethan and tells him she has a good feeling about Paul waking up. When she tells him about Meredith's question, Owen says she has to do it.
Bailey is talking about Seth's procedure. It's shown in flashbacks again. Bailey starts to confuse some details. Bailey almost starts crying because the investigator is doubting everything she says. Bailey asks for a pause and walks out.
In the cafeteria, Meredith talks to Bailey, who has been avoided by everyone at the hospital. Bailey says she wants to know how Seth Lepik is doing. Meredith gets her tablet to show her his chart, but Jackson asks her to come over. Meredith starts to defend Bailey. The family uncle comes over to Jackson to ask for an update on his family members. Suddenly, something's wrong with Rachel Dawson. Dr. Bailey runs over to help, but Jackson urges her to step back.
In the cath lab, Jason Myers gets ready to deliver the baby through a C-section. The mother starts to panic, but Cristina manages to calm her down. Jason starts cutting.
In the OR, Callie's patients tries to get Callie and Arizona to answer her questions on Dr. Bailey and the infection. The patients thinks writing an article about the hospital infection is her only change to defeat the strong competition. The patient gets sedated.
Jason takes the baby out and Alex and Cristina start to perform the surgery. Meanwhile, Derek takes Rachel into an elevator to take her to an OR. Owen gets a nurse to stay with Ethan. Owen runs up the stairs. Seth Lepik can't breathe. Richard puts in a chest tube. Cristina successfully performs the surgery. When Owen reaches the OR floor, Derek comes out of the elevator. Rachel has died.
Owen tells Ethan his mother has died. Derek has told Paul's mother, who is crying in his arms. Ethan goes to console his grandmother.
Jackson gives the family updates on the patients whose fingers got reattached. Everyone is doing good, but Callie is still operating on her patient. Jackson tells the patient's father his daughter will need physical therapy to regain full use. The father blames the uncle, but he doesn't take it seriously. The father then punches him in the face.
Bailey overhears Dr. Webber talking to Seth's parents. Richard tells them he needs surgery. They refuse to let him operate because they blame the hospital for the infection. However, in order to let him operate, Richard says there's only one doctor who spread the infection and that's been isolated. He tells them the OR's are clean. The parents allow him to operate. Bailey feels betrayed by Richard and leaves. Leah asks if Dr. Bailey really did something wrong, but Dr. Webber says he only said that to convince the parents to let him operate, and threatens to fire Leah if she reveals anything to the parents.
Alex is checking on the baby when Jason comes over to him. Jason says he thinks they got off on the wrong foot because of the thing with Jo. Alex tells him he and Jo are friends because they share a messed up childhood. Jason didn't know about Jo's past.
Jackson is treating the family uncle's nose. He says the rest of the family finds him annoying for organizing family reunions, but Jackson gives him the advice to keep trying.
Bailey returns to the conference room asking about the results of the staph strain test. Vincent asks her to talk him through Seth's procedure again. So does Bailey. Meanwhile, Richard and Leah are operating on Seth and Bailey keeps asking about the test results. Bailey finds out she has the strain of staph. She starts blaming herself.
Cristina tells Meredith that she'll be in the delivery room, despite of Meredith pooping on the table. Cristina bumps into Owen and asks if he's angry with her. He says he's just angry at the situation Ethan's in. Owen says he's not sure he can leave the hospital.
Jo is angry at Alex because he told Jason about her past. She wanted him to keep it secret and demands that he never talks to or about her again.
Vincent is informing Owen and the board members about the infection when Bailey enters the room. Jackson asks her to leave, but the others vote to let her stay. He says that Dr. Bailey is the source of the infection and that she carries MRSA USA600. He has one thing to add: the gloves are the reason that the infection was spread among Bailey's patients. They have microscopic tears in them. The hospital switched to those gloves when Pegasus would have normally bought the hospital. Vincent says that it's not Bailey's fault, as the infection wouldn't have spread if the gloves were okay. He recommends Bailey to treat the infection. The board members are all happy. Bailey leaves the room without a word.
Callie enters her patient's room with a press release about the infection, giving her some time to write the article before they put it out in the morning.
Jackson informs April about the infection in the ER. He also tells that he is sorry that Matthew broke up with her but that he isn't sorry for sleeping with her. Suddenly, Matthew shows up, asking April for a second chance, which she gives him.
Outside the ER, Bailey is sitting on a bench. Richard approaches her, telling it could've happened to any doctor. He tells her Seth died. Bailey is angry at him because of what she overheard him saying to Seth's parents. She says she has made up excuses for him when Adele was complaining about him not being home and that she has supported him even when he was drunk and operating. She says she expected the same from him, but she is disappointed because he didn't. She says he is not who she thought he was before leaving him alone on the bench.
Meredith and Derek are talking about the delivery of their baby. Derek agrees with Cristina being in the delivery room.
Alex says Cristina was right when she said that he needed to fight for Jo. He sits down on her bed next to her and talks about losing Jo to Jason. Cristina says she thinks she'll lose Owen soon.
Cast[]
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
- Kevin McKidd as Dr. Owen Hunt
- Jessica Capshaw as Dr. Arizona Robbins
- Sarah Drew as Dr. April Kepner
- Jesse Williams as Dr. Jackson Avery
- Patrick Dempsey as Dr. Derek Shepherd
Guest Stars[]
- Thom Barry as Vincent Blake
- Mike Hagerty as Al Keller
- Camilla Luddington as Dr. Jo Wilson
- Tessa Ferrer as Dr. Leah Murphy
- Justin Bruening as Paramedic Matthew
- Enid Graham as Rachel Dawson
- Charles Michael Davis as Dr. Jason Myers
- Michael Buie as Paul Dawson
- Jennifer Bassey as Nancy Dawson
- Abbie Cobb as Frances Keller
- Andrew Manning as Tony Keller
- Steven M. Gagnon as Miles Lepik
Co-Starring[]
- Idara Victor as Amelie Ward
- Anthony Montgomery as Chris Ward
- Elisabeth Noone as Bess Lepik
- Katy Kurtzman as Deedee Keller
- Robin DeMarco as Jane Keller
- Sam L. Fuller as Cash Keller
- Anton Narinskiy as Gunnar
- Kyle Red Silverstein as Ethan Dawson
- Tom Costello as Seth Lepik
- Sarah Lilly as Joyce Basche
Medical Notes[]
Seth Lepik[]
- Diagnosis:
- Post-op MRSA USA600 infection
- Abscess
- Doctors:
- Richard Webber (general surgeon)
- Miranda Bailey (general surgeon)
- Leah Murphy (surgical intern)
- Treatment:
- Antibiotics
- Surgery
Bailey had to recount Seth's surgery for the CDC investigator and it was shown in flashback. When he became unstable, Richard had to put in a chest tube and told his parents that he needed surgery. Webber told them that he wasn't stable enough to move and they agreed to the surgery. In surgery, Seth died.
Rachel Dawson[]
- Diagnosis:
- Seizure
- Brain hemorrhage
- Doctors:
- Derek Shepherd (neurosurgeon)
- Jackson Avery (plastic surgeon)
- Treatment:
- CPR
Derek told Rachel that she had no residual effects from her surgery, but he'd like to keep her for a few more days. She was up and moving around the hospital in a wheelchair with her son Ethan. While eating in the cafeteria, Rachel had a seizure due to a brain hemorrhage. While on the way to an OR, Rachel died.
Paul Dawson[]
- Diagnosis:
- Doctors:
- Cristina Yang (cardiothoracic surgeon)
- Treatment:
Paul was still not awake following his therapeutic hypothermia. Cristina continued to do neuro checks.
Callie's Patient[]
- Diagnosis:
- Femur fracture
- Doctors:
- Callie Torres (orthopedic surgeon)
- April Kepner (trauma surgeon)
- Treatment:
Callie told April that she was sending a patient with a femur fracture to angio.
Deedee Keller[]
- Diagnosis:
- Finger amputation
- Doctors:
- April Kepner (trauma surgeon)
- Jackson Avery (plastic surgeon)
- Treatment:
- Finger replantation
Deedee suffered finger amputation while playing tug-o-war at a family reunion. The fingers were successfully retrieved and reattached.
Jane Keller[]
- Diagnosis:
- Finger amputation
- Doctors:
- Jackson Avery (plastic surgeon)
- Treatment:
- Finger replantation
Jane suffered finger amputation while playing tug-o-war at a family reunion. The fingers were successfully retrieved and reattached.
Cash Keller[]
- Diagnosis:
- Finger amputation
- Doctors:
- Treatment:
- Finger replantation
Cash suffered finger amputation while playing tug-o-war at a family reunion. He was taken into surgery to have the fingers reattached.
Frances Keller[]
- Diagnosis:
- Broken hand
- Doctors:
- Callie Torres (orthopedic surgeon)
- Arizona Robbins (pediatric surgeon)
- Treatment:
- Surgery
- Fixation
- Physical therapy
Frankie broke her hand while participating in the tug-o-war with her family. It was surgically repaired by Callie Torres and Arizona Robbins. After surgery, she needed physical therapy to regain full use of her hand.
Amelie Ward[]
- Diagnosis:
- Pregnancy
- Doctors:
- Jason Myers (OB/GYN resident)
- Treatment:
- C-section delivery
Amelie was pregnant with a baby who had HLHS and had to be delivered via c-section so he could be taken into immediate surgery.
Baby Ward[]
- Diagnosis:
- Hypoplastic left heart syndrome
- Intact atrial septum
- Doctors:
- Cristina Yang (cardiothoracic surgeon)
- Alex Karev (pediatric surgeon)
- Treatment:
- Atrial septostomy
Baby Ward had been diagnosed in utero with HLHS and had to be delivered via c-section so he could be rushed into surgery. He was delivered and taken into the cath lab where the procedure to save him was successful. He was doing well post-op.
Joyce Basche[]
- Diagnosis:
- Post-op MRSA USA600 infection
- Doctors:
- Miranda Bailey (general surgeon)
- Leah Murphy (surgical intern)
- Treatment:
Bailey had to recount what had happened with Joyce as part of the CDC investigation. The surgery was shown in flashback.
Al Keller[]
- Diagnosis:
- Nosebleed
- Doctors:
- Jackson Avery (plastic surgeon)
- Treatment:
After being punched by Tony, Al's nose started bleeding. Jackson treated him and stopped the bleeding.
Tony Keller[]
- Diagnosis:
- Doctors:
- Treatment:
After punching Al's nose, Tony said he believed he broke his hand.
Miranda Bailey[]
- Diagnosis:
- Carrier for MRSA USA600
- Doctors:
- Treatment:
Bailey was identified as a carrier of the strain of MRSA that killed her patients, but she was cleared of any wrongdoing.
Music[]
Song | Performer | Scene |
---|---|---|
"Avalanche" | Zola Jesus |
|
"Think" | Aretha Franklin |
|
"Broken" | Jake Bugg |
|
"Sea Fog" | Keane |
|
"Say Anything" | Anderson East (feat. Jill Andrews) |
|
Notes and Trivia[]
- This episode's title originated from the song Sleeping Monster, originally sung by Mastodon.
- This episode scored 8.24 million viewers.[1]
- It is the 100th episode in which Jessica Capshaw actually appears as Arizona Robbins.
Gallery[]
Episode Stills[]
Behind the Scenes[]
Quotes[]
- (Bailey is crying because Seth died and because she is the source of the infection. Richard lays his hand on Bailey's shoulder.)
- Richard: Bailey, I...
- Bailey: No! Now you wanna help me? Where were you when my patient was alive? When I could've helped him? You shut me out! You left me!
- Richard: Bailey, I was trying to protect you! It's...
- Bailey: No, no, the hospital. You were trying to protect the hospital. It's all that matters to you. And I don't know why I'm so surprised. Adele complained about that every time I saw her. Now, I protected you! I made excuses to her for you, I stood by you.
- Richard: Bailey...
- Bailey: No, you were a drunk! You were operating on your patients drunk! And I stood by you! I expected the same from you, I deserved it, I earned it, but all you cared about... You... No... You are not who I thought you were.
- (Bailey leaves him sitting alone on the bench in the dark.)
- (Cristina is reading in her bedroom. Someone knocks.)
- Cristina: Yeah!
- (Alex comes in.)
- Cristina: Oh crap, it's you. What's the matter?
- Alex: You were right. About Jo.
- Cristina: Of course I was! What did I say again? Oh, Alex.
- Alex: I'm such an idiot. I love her. What?
- Cristina: Just... (gestures to lie down)
- Alex: You're weird.
- Cristina: Give it a minute.
- Alex: It's just... She just... But I always screw myself out of everything good.
- Cristina: I think I'm losing Owen.
- Alex: What?
- Cristina: Not today, but... soon.
- (talking about delivering a baby in the cath lab)
- Jason Myers: Okay. Okay, I'm in.
- Cristina: Karev, you with Peckwell?
- Jason Myers: Myers. Doctor Jason Myers.
- Cristina: Nobody cares.
- Cristina: Oh, I was expecting a probing. That's really more of a gentle swabbing.
- Meredith: Speaking of probing, I've decided to have the baby naturally, but I know the second I start to scream, Derek is gonna have them pump me full of drugs, so I'm going to need you there in my corner.
- Cristina: Yeah. Uh, I'm not gonna do that. Uh, when babies come out, people poop on the table.
- Meredith: Cristina...
- Cristina: Uh, no.
- Alex (to the CDC staff) Karev. And can you make it fast? (to Cristina) Peckwell's HLHS mom is gonna be admitted. We gotta go walk her through the procedure.
- Cristina: She wants me to watch her give birth.
- Alex You're gonna poop on the table.
- Meredith: I am not.
- Alex You are. Almost everybody does.
- Meredith: Okay, so I poop on the table. It's part of the miracle of life.
- Alex It's nasty.
- Meredith: Did I ask you to watch me give birth? No. Cristina?
- Cristina: We have been friends a long time. You want to know how? By not watching each other poop.
- Alex Holla.
- Alex: Hey, Myers set up for the C-section in the cath lab. We need to run through the steps of the procedure.
- Cristina: Look at you. "Myers." You say it like he isn't nailing your girlfriend.
- Alex: She's not my girlfriend.
- Cristina: Whatever. You love her.
- Alex: She's my friend.
- Cristina: You sound stupid when you say that.
- Alex: She's moving in with the guy. What am I supposed to do?
- Cristina: Beat him up.
- Alex: No. I'm gonna try to be nice to him and get along so I don't lose my friend.
- Cristina: Or you could punch him and take back your girl.
- Callie: What are we gonna do when she wakes up? Roll her up in a rug and stick her in the trunk of a car?
- Cristina: I'll be there in the room when fetus arrives.
- Meredith: You will?
- Cristina: Yeah. You're gonna want me there.
- Meredith: Okay.
- Cristina: You're gonna poop on the table, though. And I'm gonna have to see it, and then I can never unsee it.
- Meredith: You know what's worse than you seeing me poop on the table?
- Cristina: What?
- Meredith: Me knowing you've seen me poop on the table.
- Cristina: So you'll suffer more than me.
- Meredith: Yes!
- Cristina: Oh, okay. That makes me feel better.
- Jackson: I spent my entire day getting treated like the bad guy. I'm not gonna do this with you anymore. You want to feel guilty about what we did? Go ahead. Just leave me out of it. I didn't force you to do anything. I'm sorry that you're hurt. Okay? I'm sorry that Matthew broke up with you. As far as us sleeping together, I'm never gonna be sorry about that.
See Also[]
A complete overview of this episode's crew can be found here. |
Grey's Anatomy Season 9 | ||||||
#01 | "Going, Going, Gone" | #09 | "Run, Baby, Run" | #17 | "Transplant Wasteland" | |
#02 | "Remember the Time" | #10 | "Things We Said Today" | #18 | "Idle Hands" | |
#03 | "Love the One You're With" | #11 | "The End is the Beginning is the End" | #19 | "Can't Fight This Feeling" | |
#04 | "I Saw Her Standing There" | #12 | "Walking on a Dream" | #20 | "She's Killing Me" | |
#05 | "Beautiful Doom" | #13 | "Bad Blood" | #21 | "Sleeping Monster" | |
#06 | "Second Opinion" | #14 | "The Face of Change" | #22 | "Do You Believe in Magic" | |
#07 | "I Was Made for Lovin' You" | #15 | "Hard Bargain" | #23 | "Readiness is All" | |
#08 | "Love Turns You Upside Down" | #16 | "This is Why We Fight" | #24 | "Perfect Storm" | |
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