| “ | Question - when was the last time a complete stranger took off her clothes in front of you, pointed to a big purple splotch on her back, and asked, "what the hell is this thing?" If you're a normal person, the answer is hopefully, never. If you're a doctor the answer is probably about five minutes ago. People expect doctors to have all of the answers. The truth is, we love to think that we have all of the answers, too. Basically, doctors are know-it-alls until something comes along that reminds us we're not. We're all looking for answers in medicine, in life, in everything. Sometimes the answers we're looking for have been hiding just below the surface. Other times, we find answers when we didn't even realize we were asking the question. Sometimes the answers can catch us completely by surprise. And sometimes, even when we find the answer we've been looking for, we're still left with a whole hell of a lot of questions. | ” |
That's Me Trying is the seventh episode of the seventh season and the 133rd overall episode of Grey's Anatomy.
Short Summary[]
The residents are pushed to their limits when Owen puts them through a rigorous trauma certification drill. Meanwhile, Cristina is also tested when left alone to monitor a very ill lung transplant patient.
Full Summary[]
Callie and Arizona are packing in their apartment while Mark's drinking coffee. Arizona tries to get him to take a kitchen utensil she doesn't really know, but he passes. He will take the waffle iron, though. Callie wonders why, as she's never seen him eating a waffle. Arizona says they won't take a waffle iron to Malawi and it won't do any good sitting in storage for 3 years. She gives him the waffle iron and a French press. Callie tells Arizona to stop giving her things away and disappears into her bedroom, slamming the door behind her. Mark then decides to pass on the French press.
Meredith and Derek arrive at the hospital, talking about getting a grant for an Alzheimer's trial. She did her homework and suggests she put her on his trial. Cristina passes by and Derek wonders why things are frosty between her and Meredith. Meredith denies they're frosty. She says she can show him solidarity if she can skip Owen's trauma certification lab. He tells her to go get certified and kisses her goodbye.
Owen asks Cristina to help her set things up and to keep things running smoothly so that she can get certified without doing too much work. Cristina says it's a skills lab, so it's already an easy day. Teddy comes over and requests Cristina on her service today. There are lungs available for Roy Henley, who ended up on the transplant list because of Cristina, so it's her patient. Teddy needs Cristina to monitor Roy while she's off to get the lungs. Her fellow will be available in case Cristina needs him. Also, Roy's daughter will come by today. Owen assures Cristina she'll be fine.
Meredith joins the others in the skills lab. They whine about having to do a skills lab until Owen comes in and tells them a plane hit a bus while doing an emergency landing. They grab gowns and rush out.
While they run down the hall, Owen informs them there are about 30 victims.
They arrive out in the trauma bay, and see there are about 30 bloodied dummies laying on the ground. As Owen stands there smiling, Meredith says this is gonna suck.
Owen welcomes everyone as he opens up an ambulance loaded with supplies. He says they'll work in groups of 4, each responsible for 9 victims. They can only use the supplies in the ambulance. While Steve uses color-coded tape to divide the residents into groups, Owen says the evac helicopter is on its way. Whoever gets their patient on it, will be certified. He tells them to get to work.
Mark and Lexie walk into an exam room to meet with Christy Cornell, who's in for a gluteoplasty. Christy wants butt implants because she finds her butt way too flat now. Mark shows her a computer model of what it'll look like. She asks him to kick it up a couple of points. She asks him to keep going and ultimately finds what she wants. Lexie is shocked at how big she wants it.
Cristina is examining Roy, who's looking for some form of distraction. He doesn't know if he's more nervous about getting new lungs or getting to see his daughter. His daughter Corinne appears in the doorway. He asks her how she's doing. She replies with a snarky comment and apologizes for that. He doesn't mind as she gets that from him. Suddenly, Roy goes into respiratory arrest and the nurses rush in with a crash cart. Cristina stands there, frozen, as Corinne asks her to do something.
Cristina is doing an ultrasound on Roy's heart and she explains to Corinne that Roy has developed cor pulmonale, which means his heart is overloading. The damage seems pretty severe, so it's possible Roy will also need a new heart. Cristina says she'll call Dr. Altman to inform her.
Mark approaches Bailey as she's on her way to an autopsy. He tells her they're throwing Callie and Arizona a bon voyage party later today. Teddy was supposed to pick up cupcakes, but she had to go and pick up lungs instead. Bailey almost threatens him not to ask her to go to the bakery. He claims he was just invites. She walks off as Lexie comes over to talk about Christy.
Arizona finds Callie packing supplies in a closet and shows her the crafts the kids in peds made her. Callie acts a little snarky and Arizona asks her if there's something she'd like to talk about. Callie says no. On their way out, they bump into Richard. Arizona says they had some loose ends to tie up. Richard says he was surprised to learn that he'd have to replace two attendings. That's his problem, but it's a shame, because he had such big plans for Callie. He walks off.
Cristina walks into the OR where Dr. McQueen, Teddy's fellow, is operating. She brings up Roy Henley. He knows what's going on. Roy needs an intra-aortic balloon pump, which Cristina already knew. McQueen says he'll be there as soon as possible, but it doesn't sound like Cristina can't handle it by herself.
Bailey is ready for Mary's autopsy. Dr. Jennifer Stanley, Head of Pathology, comes in and reads Mary's chart. They're going to try and find out why Mary didn't wake up after her surgery. Jennifer starts to chew a piece of gum as Bailey says she has a list of possible causes she'd like to check. Jennifer says they have a specific work order, so they'll see what they see when they see it.
April reads the card next to her dummy. He has a lot of injuries and April doesn't know where to start. Meredith points out he's probably just dead already. April moves on to the next dummy. Owen is overseeing things and then sees Cristina standing by the side. She needed some fresh air. She tells Owen about Roy's complications, but she's handling it. She gets paged about Roy and goes back inside after Owen assures her she can handle it. Owen pulls Meredith from the lab and tells her she's certified, then asks her to go give Cristina a hand. She goes inside.
Meredith joins Cristina as she's inserting the balloon pump. Cristina doesn't need a babysitter, and she sends Meredith out to go update Roy's daughter.
April, who's in the blue team along with Jackson and Alex, updates Owen on their patients. He says one of their patients just died following a femoral bleed because they were just standing around waiting for the helicopter. April says that's not fair as it wasn't on the card. Owen tells her patients die if you don't stay alert. It starts to rain as Owen moves on to the red team.
While checking Mary's thoracic cavity, Jennifer is on the phone about a mistake in her dinner reservations. Bailey points out the blood clots could indicate a pulmonary embolism, but Jennifer says those are postmortem clots, which are perfectly normal. She proceeds to talk to the manager of the restaurant.
Callie is talking to Mark about how she doesn't care about Richard's big plans for her as she's got big, African plans. She'll make the best out of the situation.
Out in the rain, Alex has made rain gear out of the plastic that's supposed to keep the "patients" dry. Alex says he's a real person and the dummy is not. April says his breaking the rules while cost them their certification. He says her uptight behavior is why she has no friend. Jackson objects. Alex says only one friend, then. April rips the plastic off of him and uses it to cover her patient. Owen announces all patients of the green team are dead, so they're out. However, he doesn't allow them to go inside and instructs them go watch and learn.
Corinne asks Meredith if Roy won't get the lungs if they can't find him a new heart. Meredith doesn't really know the case so she'll have to go and check. She also doesn't know where they are on the heart and when Corinne can see him. Corinne says she hadn't seen her father in 20 years and she does blame him for that, but he tried to be there for her in the beginning. She couldn't forgive him for leaving her mother and he stopped trying. She doesn't even know if he knows she has twins. She called her dad Roy and she can't have that be the last thing she told him.
Meredith tells Cristina she needs to go talk to Corinne, but Cristina is too busy. Roy's leg has turned blue, meaning there's another complication.
Teddy's on the phone with Meredith. She tells Meredith to put Roy on ECMO, which should keep him alive until she's returned with the lungs; Cristina's already on it. There's a chance his heart will get better once the new lungs are in his body. Teddy asks Meredith how she's doing. Meredith says she's doing great.
Jennifer says the intestines look great with no sign of necrosis, inflammation or infection. Jennifer thinks it's time to go to lunch. Bailey says there are still more things to check while the organs might start to decompose. Jennifer says they'll keep in the 45 minutes they'll be gone. Bailey objects, but Jennifer is leaving anyway.
Mark is upset because Lexie just got cupcakes from the supermarket down the street. He thinks Callie and Arizona deserve the best, but Lexie points out she's not an errand girl. She's a doctor whose patient is about to make a big mistake. She thinks Christy is only doing this to impress a man. She rambles about how things moved all too fast for her with Mark.
Bailey finds Derek in a conference room and wonders where she has to go now to sulk. He says there's plenty of room and asks what's wrong. She tells him about how Stanley doesn't seem to care about finding out why Mary died. Derek is trying to write a grant proposal, but he gets depressed the more he reads about it, especially the early-onset type, which is the type Ellis had.
Mark tells Christy that Lexie is concerned that she might be doing this for the wrong reasons. Christy hopes Lexie won't take this the wrong way, but she can tell Lexie has an amazing ass. She probably knows what it's like to find a perfect pair of jeans, but Christy doesn't. Gaining weight doesn't work, because the fat doesn't go to her ass, so the surgery is the only way she can get a juicy ass. She can't wait to go through with it.
Owen announces that only the blue team remains. He walks up to the blue team and tells Jackson his incision is too wide, so his patient died. April says she hears the helicopter. Alex says it's imaginary. Owen is just trying to break them to teach them some lesson about how trauma isn't fair. Jackson stops performing CPR on his patient and goes inside, simply refusing to stay. April takes over CPR on his dummy.
Jennifer has put Mary's brain in formalin. Bailey wants her to take a sample now, but Jennifer says it's best to wait two weeks until it's had the chance to firm up because there's a chance it'll slide apart if they cut right now. Jennifer's frustrated that Bailey has been trying to tell her how to do her job. This is what Jennifer does all day, every day. Pathologists are not failed surgeons. The autopsy was inconclusive and Jennifer hates that as much as Bailey does.
Meredith joins Cristina in Roy's room. Cristina informs her Roy is critical but stable-ish. Meredith offers to take over so Cristina can go talk to Corinne, but Cristina refuses. She can't see how afraid Corinne is, because she's scared enough as it as already. She's scared all the time. Meredith offers to help, but Cristina says she can't help her. A nurse comes in to inform them they need to move Roy to the OR.
Arizona and Callie arrive in a lounge, where Richard, Lexie, and Mark are waiting for their bon voyage party. Callie is disappointed there aren't any more people while she's been here since residency. Lexie says things are busy. Richard says things will be busy even more now that they'll be missing two attendings. Callie appreciates he's here despite his Chief problems, and asks about his great plans. He declines letting her in on his big ideas for her and walks out. Arizona leaves to go pack some more. Callie sighs and says she doesn't want to go home yet. Mark offers her to come watch his surgery.
April is still performing CPR and asks Owen where the helicopter is. Owen says it probably got caught in the bad weather. Steve wants to lay down a card, but April already knows it says there's a tamponade, which can't happen because she already performed a pericardiocentesis. She and Alex pick up their two dummies and put them in the ambulance. April says she can make things up, too, and she decides the ambulance is now working and part of the situation. April gets behind the wheel and after threatening to run down Owen if he doesn't move, she drives to the ER entrance. April refuses to back down so Owen calls it: blue team wins. April is delighted and hugs Alex.
Bailey joins Derek in the conference room. Derek still hasn't come up with a decent proposal. Bailey asks Derek to go over Stanley's head, but he can't do that because she's right. Derek knows it's personal for Bailey, but he tells her to let it go. Bailey won't accept that she has to tell Bill they have no idea why Mary did. Also, while they're on personal, she tells him to stop thinking about his fear that Meredith will get Alzheimer's so he can write the damn essay.
Meredith and Cristina are waiting for Teddy on the helipad. Roy is prepped and ready in the OR. Meredith wants to talk to Cristina. Cristina doesn't get how Meredith is just fine, while she is ruined. Meredith was there, too, with her sad eyes, screaming at Cristina to save her husband while not caring about herself or her pregnancy. Cristina had no choice but to save Derek because of Meredith. If it had been anyone else, she would have walked away and then she wouldn't be here. The helicopter arrives and Teddy asks Cristina to tell her everything.
Mark wonders who he'll have to talk to about women. Callie says they can always e-mail. She notices he has something to say. Mark says he gives a lot of boobjobs, but he also reverses a lot of them. Today, Mark gave someone a really big ass but he's not worried about it because it wasn't about anyone else. As Callie's friend, Mark has to tell her she's sounding a lot like someone who's getting double D's because her girlfriend likes a big rack. Callie says she loves Arizona. He knows that, but she needs to figure out how to love Africa, too. They hug.
Owen catches up with Jackson and tells him he doesn't get to walk away when he's teaching. Jackson says two of his friends died, so he already knows how unfair trauma is. Owen pushes him into an empty room and says he lost dozens of friends in the field, but he has never used them as an excuse to walk away. The lesson Jackson needs to learn is that he doesn't get to quit. He demands that Jackson goes outside with him now and finishes the lab now.
Teddy's operating on Roy. Everything's looking fine and the heart starts beating properly. Teddy tells Cristina she did great work today, and it paid off.
At the airport, Callie is talking about how there's nothing in Africa, which is good so it'll be just the two of them focusing on the medicine. Arizona tells Callie it's rare to win the Carter Madison grant. This is the biggest opportunity of her career, because she gets to go to Africa with almost unlimited financial resources and help tiny humans who otherwise would never get to see a pediatric surgeon. She gets to change lives and that's the dream. She's over the moon about it, but Callie is ruining it for her, first with her whining and now her fake, smiley and passive-agressive enthusiasm. Callie admits she doesn't want to go, but she wants to be with Arizona, so she's really trying here. Arizona says she doesn't want to do this. She doesn't want to go with Callie. Arizona starts to walk to her gate after telling Callie to take care of herself. Callie says they can figure this out. Arizona tells her to stay here and be happy, and she'll go and be happy in Africa. Callie says that if Arizona gets on that plane, they are over. Arizona bounces back that they're screaming at each other in the middle of an airport. They're already over. She then walks off.
Outside Roy's room, Richard tells Cristina she heard about Cristina's work today. He knows it's been a tough few months, but she did well today. Cristina asks if he has a minute.
At Joe's, Alex tells April he's looking forward to the next skills lab with April. Lexie catches Mark staring at her ass and walks up to his table. He says it won't be the last time he's checking out her ass. She tells him no, but smiles as she walks off, knowing Mark's looking after her.
Derek finds Meredith in their bedroom and tells her he couldn't work on the grant proposal. He could only think about her. He knows she wants to be part of the trial, but he can't have her anywhere near it. Meredith says Cristina blames her and hates her. Derek hugs her.
Jackson is working on a dummy in the ambulance bay with Owen looking on. Cristina comes out of the hospital. Owen tells her the lab went great, and that there's a trauma surgeon in April. He asks her how her day was. She says she quit. She knows now that he was right. She can still be a surgeon, but she just doesn't want to anymore. Owen is speechless and just tells Jackson it's enough.
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
- 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[]
- Melinda Page Hamilton as Dr. Jennifer Stanley
- Ron Perkins as Roy Henley
- Amber Benson as Corrine Henley
- Wynn Everett as Christy Cornell
- Mandy Moore as Mary Portman
Co-Starring[]
- Mark Saul as Resident Steve
- Arlene Santana as Nurse
- Alixandree Antoine as CCU Nurse
- Leith Burke as Dr. McQueen
Medical Notes[]
Roy Henley[]
- Diagnosis:
- End-stage pulmonary hypertension
- Cor pulmonale
- Circulatory collapse
- Cardiogenic shock
- Doctors:
- Teddy Altman (cardiothoracic surgeon)
- Cristina Yang (surgical resident)
- Dr. McQueen (cardiothoracic surgeon)
- Treatment:
- Lung transplant
- Dopamine
- Milrinone
- Nitric oxide
- Intra-aortic balloon pump
- ECMO
Lungs became available for Roy. Cristina was charged with monitoring him while Teddy went to retrieve the lungs. While she was monitoring him, he coded. An echo revealed cor pulmonale. His daughter was warned that it was possible that he'd need a new heart in addition to the lungs. Cristina consulted with the cardio fellow, Dr. McQueen, but he left Roy in her hands with instructions to insert an intra-aortic balloon pump. After that, his leg turned blue. Teddy said that there was a chance that when she transplanted the lungs, his heart damage would reverse. On ECMO, he was stable-ish. Teddy arrived and transplanted the lungs successfully.
Christine Cornell[]
- Diagnosis:
- Doctors:
- Mark Sloan (plastic surgeon)
- Lexie Grey (surgical resident)
- Treatment:
- Gluteoplasty
Cristy, 28, was in the hospital for gluteoplasty. She was unhappy with her butt and was in to have a surgical implant to make her butt larger. Lexie had doubts that she was having the surgery for herself, but she assured Lexie that her new butt was just for her.
Mary Portman[]
- Diagnosis:
- Doctors:
- Jennifer Stanley (pathologist)
- Miranda Bailey (general surgeon)
- Treatment:
- Autopsy
Bailey and Dr. Stanley did an autopsy on Mary Portman in an attempt to discern her cause of death. Bailey was frustrated when the autopsy showed no obvious cause of death.
Music[]
| Song | Performer | Scene |
|---|---|---|
| "Ching Ching Ching" | Nikka Costa |
|
| "Never Gonna Leave Me" | Sia |
|
| "Bang Bang" | K'naan feat. Adam Levine |
|
| "Daydreaming" | Dark Dark Dark |
|
Notes and Trivia[]
Grey's Anatomy 7x07 Promo
- This episode's title originated from the song That's Me Trying, originally sung by William Shatner.
- This episode scored 11.92 million viewers.[1]
- Sarah Drew revealed on her Twitter page that this episode was her favorite season 7 episode to film.[source?]
- Bill Portman doesn't appear in this episode, but he does appear in a deleted scene from this episode included on the DVD boxset.[source?]
- Two of the photos shown in Callie and Arizona's apartment are Jessica Capshaw and her son and Sara Ramirez with their best friend.[source?]
- Andrew DeLuca mentions later that the story of April's trauma certification became legendary at the hospital.
Gallery[]
Episode Stills[]
Quotes[]
- Callie: Okay. Fine. I don't want to go to Africa. But I do wanna be with you. Okay? So, I'm really trying it. We'll miss our plane, let's go. Oh my god! Okay, you wanna fight? The flight is eighteen hours, we can fight on the plane.
- Arizona: You're ruining this for me. And I don't wanna do this.
- Callie: What? What does that mean? What, you suddenly don't wanna go?
- Arizona: I - I don't wanna go to Africa with you.
- Callie: Arizona. No, okay? No.
- Arizona: I'm sorry. I'm sorry.
- Callie: You're sorry, you're sorry? It's three years.
- Arizona: I'm gonna miss my plane. You take care of yourself.
- Callie: No. No! Please. Please I can - we can do this, we can figure this out.
- Arizona: You stay here and be happy. And I'll go there and be happy.
- Callie: If you get on that plane, if you go without me, we are done. Do you hear me? We are over.
- Arizona: We're standing in the middle of an airport, screaming at each other. We are already over.
- Owen: Whoa, whoa. What're you doing? This ambulance is not in play.
- April: You're making stuff up, which I can do, too. And I say that it is in play. You can't fit nine patients in an ambulance but two will fit just fine. Seven of my patients may have died today, but these two won't. 'Cause I'm gonna get them on this ambulance and I'm gonna take them to that hospital. Right there!
- Alex: All right!
- Owen: Kepner, this ambulance was involved in the accident and no longer runs!
- April: Well, key's in the ignition, so let's see. (starts it up and laughs) Looks like I got triple-a! Well, apparently they could get here when the helicopter couldn't. Now, move! Or I will run you down!
- Owen: All right Kepner that's enough!
- Alex: Look, will you tell her she won or she's never gonna stop.
- Owen: It's not a contest!
- April: Karev, call the OR and make sure there's a room available!
- Alex: Will do!
- Owen: All right, all right. Fine. Blue team wins!
- April: Blue team wins?!
- Owen: Yeah, yeah. You win. He's gonna live for 40 more years and have 15 grandkids, you happy.
- April: We won! Yay! (jumps into Alex's arms) Yay! YEAAAH!
- Christy: Dr. Grey, please don't take this the wrong way, but even through your lab coat I can tell you have an amazing ass. And with an ass like that I bet you know what it's like to find the perfect pair of jeans, jeans that make you feel like the sexiest person to ever put on a pair of pants. And I envy that, 'cause I never have. Every pair hangs off me, unless I shop in the boy's department. And I have tried gaining weight, Dr. Grey. It turns out I'm a person whose fat goes straight to my upper arms and my boobs. Which makes it really hard for me to wear a sundress. Which is all I can wear, 'cause jeans don't fit. So Dr. Grey, I am getting a big, juicy, easy-to-grab-onto ass, and you better believe I am doing it just for me.
- Lexie: Okay, I am not an errand girl. I am a doctor with a patient who is about to make a giant, butt-shaped mistake.
- Mark: That's not for you to say.
- Lexie: Okay, well someone has to. The only reason a woman does something like this to her body is to impress a guy. Okay sure, it starts with a giant butt and then the next thing you know, she's giving up her friends, she's moving in with him before she's even ready, and if she's not careful she'll find herself the 26-year-old stepmother to the pregnant daughter she didn't even know he had. And then she's single, dyeing her hair a new color, and you know what? It's really hard to manage your roots when you've been committed to the pysch ward.
- Mark: Pysch ward?
- Lexie: It happens, okay?
- Cristina: How are you fine? How are you just completely fine? I'm ruined, okay I'm dead. I am wrecked. And you're just what, walking around babysitting me? As if you didn't go through the same thing too. Why are you okay?
- Meredith: I don't know.
- Cristina: You know what, you were there too. You were there too with your sad eyes screaming at me to save his life. Telling the guy to shoot you and not giving a crap about yourself or your pregnancy. I didn't have a choice. And you did that. If it was anyone else on the table, if it was anyone else standing there I would have walked away.
- Meredith: You could not have walked away.
- Cristina: I could have walked away and then I wouldn't be here!
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. |
| Grey's Anatomy Season 7 | ||||||
| #01 | "With You I'm Born Again" | #09 | "Slow Night, So Long" | #17 | "This is How We Do It" | |
| #02 | "Shock to the System" | #10 | "Adrift and at Peace" | #18 | "Song Beneath the Song" | |
| #03 | "Superfreak" | #11 | "Disarm" | #19 | "It's a Long Way Back" | |
| #04 | "Can't Fight Biology" | #12 | "Start Me Up" | #20 | "White Wedding" | |
| #05 | "Almost Grown" | #13 | "Don't Deceive Me (Please Don't Go)" | #21 | "I Will Survive" | |
| #06 | "These Arms of Mine" | #14 | "P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing)" | #22 | "Unaccompanied Minor" | |
| #07 | "That's Me Trying" | #15 | "Golden Hour" | |||
| #08 | "Something's Gotta Give" | #16 | "Not Responsible" | |||
| << Season 6 | Season 8 >> | |||||