Does Lexie die in Grey's Anatomy? Character's fate explored

A still from the show (Image via youtube/@ greys anatomy scenes)
A still from the show (Image via youtube/@ greys anatomy scenes)

Grey's Anatomy breaks hearts and excels at doing so. Fans walked into the Season 8 finale knowing someone wouldn't make it out alive. The creator had already dropped hints about a major death. An episode titled "Flight" sounded ominous enough. Then a plane crash happened at the end of the previous week's show. Six doctors were on that plane. Meredith Grey, Derek Shepherd, Cristina Yang, Mark Sloan, Arizona Robbins, and Lexie Grey all faced danger.

Some actors had already signed new contracts. Ellen Pompeo, Patrick Dempsey, and Sandra Oh were safe. That narrowed things down to three people. Arizona had been through enough trauma last season with that horrible car accident. So really, it came down to Mark or Lexie or both of them. During the finale, viewers got their answers as they witnessed Lexie getting trapped under part of the plane and her condition coming to a point where survival gets tougher.


What happened during the crash in Grey's Anatomy?

youtube-cover

The Grey's Anatomy finale started with pure chaos as six doctors were supposed to fly to Boise for a surgery. However, the plane never made it as the aircraft fell in the middle of nowhere.

The plane gets surrounded by trees, and there is debris everywhere. Lexie bears the most impact as a huge piece of the plan had her pinned down. Her legs were crushed underneath as Mark tried everything to get her free. He pulled at the metal wreckage and used all his strength, but nothing budged.

The plane was too heavy, and everyone else scrambled around trying to help. Cristina started checking people's injuries. Meredith kept yelling for someone to do something. Derek attempted to come up with some kind of plan, and Arizona wouldn't stop screaming from her own wounds. But there was no saving Lexie, and Mark figured it out first. He stopped trying to move the debris and sat down next to her, holding her hand while she died.


Lexie's last words

Lexie understood what was happening to her body. She told Mark straight up that she was dying. He didn't want to hear it. He kept saying they'd find a solution somehow. But Lexie stayed clear-headed even then. She had things she needed to say before the end. She wanted Mark to tell Meredith something important. She loved her half-sister. Meredith had been good to her. She also started to mention their dad, but ran out of time.

Mark tried painting a picture of their future life together.

"We're gonna have the best life, you and me," he said while crying.

He was responding to her confession from last week's episode. They were supposed to be together forever. They were meant for each other, but none of that mattered anymore. Lexie took her last breath. Mark reached over and closed her eyes one final time. The whole thing happened fast with no miracle occurring. Nobody showed up to rescue her at the last second.


How everyone else reacted in Grey's Anatomy

Each survivor handled Lexie's death their own way by showing Mark basically shutting down. He couldn't wrap his head around losing her, and Meredith completely fell apart. Her sobbing could probably be heard miles away. Cristina turned her grief into determination and decided right then that everyone else was going to live. Her no-nonsense attitude kept people moving forward.

Cristina also said what everyone watching was probably thinking.

"I don't understand how this keeps happening," she practically shouted.

She started listing off all the insane things they'd been through. Bombs. Shootings. Bus crashes. Now a plane is going down. The doctors on Grey's Anatomy had seen too much horror. Her frustration made total sense. It was like she was speaking directly to the audience. How much more could these people possibly take?


The reason behind this choice in Grey's Anatomy

Grey's Anatomy had been on for eight seasons. The show needed something big to happen. Lexie's death accomplished several things at once. It made everything feel more dangerous moving forward. It gave the survivors serious emotional scars to deal with later. Mark especially took it hard since they'd just gotten back together romantically. The decision made sense from a storytelling perspective, even though fans hated it.

Some characters were basically untouchable. Meredith, Derek, and Cristina had all signed on for another year. Arizona had already been through that terrible car wreck storyline not long ago. That left Mark and Lexie as the most likely options. Choosing Lexie hit viewers harder than almost anyone else would have. Her connection to Meredith brought family issues into play. Her relationship with Mark gave them a tragic romance angle.


What came next in Grey's Anatomy?

youtube-cover

The Season 8 finale of Grey's Anatomy didn't tie everything up neatly. The plane crash survivors were still stuck out in the forest. Back in Seattle, Chief Hunt had only just figured out that something had gone wrong. Nobody had sent help yet. Would the others make it out alive? The show left that hanging over the summer break. Lexie's death ended up changing the entire direction of Season 9 and beyond.

Yes, Lexie Grey died in Grey's Anatomy Season 8 finale, trapped and crushed under plane debris in a remote forest.

Edited by Priscillah Mueni