'Grey's Anatomy' Season 7, Episode 17 Recap

['Grey's Anatomy' - 'This is How We Do It']

Last night's episode of 'Grey's Anatomy' had me at the opening bars of Adele's 'Rumor Has It.' As Meredith explained in her opening monologue, being a doctor is all about following protocol: "Because if we don't follow protocol, then our patients die. And then, we're no longer bad ass. We're just bad."

Derek and Meredith continued to work on their trial study with a woman named Sonya. Her son left London and broke up with his boyfriend to make sure she could participate. It was his way of repaying her for being so accepting when he came out.

Meanwhile, Chief Webber spent his time trying to convince Derek to break protocol and allow his wife, Adele, to join the Alzheimer's study. But the trial and the waiting list were already full. However, Derek's patient, Sonya, later found out what her son was giving up for her, and she immediately dropped out of the trial, thereby opening up a spot for Adele.



So, Derek and Meredith administered the test, despite her protests, to see if Adele could score the needed 26 points or less to join the trial. She scored a 27. In a heartbreaking meltdown, we saw Adele go from straight-out denial to fear that she wouldn't be able to grow old with her husband. And while it's clear she does have Alzheimer's, it hasn't progressed enough to get her into the study. As Meredith pointed out, if they let her in, they run the risk of ruining the trial "for everyone we're trying to save."

When he wasn't with his wife, Webber was busy with his own trial study. He got the funding he needed for his diabetes research, and was hoping the FDA would approve an early waiver to operate on his diabetic patient, Clara, who would die without surgery. So, breaking protocol -- and maybe trying to teach Derek a lesson at the same time -- the Chief went ahead with the surgery even without the FDA waiver. Fortunately, Clara survived and the waiver came through post-op, thus keeping the Chief out of any major trouble.

In baby news, the tri-parents were busy planning Callie's baby shower. Naturally, the party was focal point of this week's Mark and Arizona argument. Will these two ever learn to love, or at least tolerate, each other? Mark seemed to know exactly what Callie wanted, while Arizona was only annoyed by her obsession with all things traditional, like onesie decorating, scrap-booking station, and baby games. As a peace offering, Callie planned a special trip to a Bed & Breakfast for her and Arizona.

With Chief Webber busy dealing with his trial and his wife, Dr. Bailey convinced him it was too much to handle. He needed to delegate the task of choosing the new Chief Resident to someone else. ("What I mean is, delegate to someone else who is not me," Bailey said very matter-of-factly.) So, he gave the task to Owen. Cristina was thrilled until she realized that, thanks to protocol, it probably means she's no longer in the running for the job. He can't just pick his wife without it looking bad.

The episode came full circle as it closed with a much more somber Adele number, 'Someone Like You.' "Do you play it safe and call it protocol? Or take a risk and invent a new one?" asked Meredith in her voiceover. There can be reward in risk, and there can also be fallout. Enter this week's cliffhanger ending: As Callie and Arizona drove to their B&B getaway, their argument led to a proposal. "Marry me," Arizona said. But before Callie could respond, they got into a car crash.

Other important notes:

-- The jogger who came to the hospital unresponsive happened to be Teddy's "business agreement" husband, Henry. While there, he admitted he had feelings for her. And, despite acting like a "scared wife" while he was in the operating room, she didn't reciprocate.

-- After a tense moment in front of the Chief's diabetic patient, Dr. Bailey is still going strong with Nurse Eli.

-- Lexie has moved on from Mark by having lots and lots of sex/make-out sessions with Avery.

-- Alex and Lucy, the hot OB, continued their flirtation which culminated in a kiss(!) in the hospital parking lot.

-- Kepner and Dr. Stark have continued to date, or whatever they're calling it. But after Karev accused her of sleeping her way to the top, Kepner backed down from the relationship and told Stark she wanted to be just friends.

-- The onesie decorating scene was one of my favorites. Meredith's blue blob/tumbleweed/hurricane was hilarious.

-- Part of the Alzheimer's trial test is to start at 100 and countdown in increments of seven. I definitely don't have Alzheimer's, but I was stumped after 93. That's a hard question!

The aftermath of the crash is where next week's musical episode of 'Grey's' will pick up. What did you think of last night's episode?

'Grey's Anatomy' airs Thursdays, 9PM ET on ABC.