Besides being known as the longest-running American medical drama, Grey’s Anatomy is also characterized by the carousel of characters that have come and gone. It’s not a surprise at all, considering the large ensemble cast and the series has been on the air for more than 20 years now. A common narrative device – courtesy of creator Shonda Rhimesand crew – to manage actors’ behind-the-scenes drama and contract expirations has proven to be controversial but effective: killing them off. One death that still hurts and should’ve been handled differently at the time was that of Chyler Leigh’s Lexie Grey.
Introduced in the Season 3 finale, Lexie was Meredith’s (Ellen Pompeo) half-sister. Yes, family twists are also one of Grey’s Anatomy’s staples, and Lexie was one of the earliest ones. For five seasons, we got to know who she was, with her eventually becoming a fan favorite. When Leigh’s contract expired, she opted out of the show, looking to spend more time with her family. There was no foul play involved, as both she and Rhimes came up with what ultimately became her tragic end. Still, in retrospect, Leigh’s exit should’ve been executed in a way that would’ve allowed her to reprise her role as Lexie in future seasons.
Lexie’s Death in the ‘Grey’s Anatomy’ Season 8 Finale Was Brutal and Tragic
While Season 8 is considered one of the best of Grey’s Anatomy, its finale proves to be a bit more divisive. In “Flight,” half the doctors of Seattle Grace, who were headed to Boise to assist in a surgery, are left stranded in the woods after their plane crashes. A Lost-like sequence reveals how injured everyone is, but the one in the worst shape turns out to be Lexie, whose lower body is crushed by plane debris. Mark (Eric Dane), who by this point is totally devoted to Lexie, stays by her side through every moment. The most heartbreaking goodbye takes place as they visualize the life they could’ve (and should’ve) had together.
Besides being unexpected, Lexie’s death was brutal. Seeing her as the crash’s first victim turned the episode into a tragic experience. An inconsolable Meredith shows her pain throughout the whole episode, and not even Cristina (Sandra Oh) can soothe it. The devastation is only heightened when Mark succumbs to his internal injuries and dies in the Season 9 premiere. Making matters abysmally worse, Cristina shares gruesome details when going through a PTSD episode: The wolves in the woods didn’t eat her and the other survivors because they were busy eating Lexie instead.
Lexie Grey Deserved More on ‘Grey’s Anatomy’
While first seeming like a mere roadblock in Meredith’s way to emotional stability, Lexie became so much more important – and still had more to give on Grey’s Anatomy. Her healthy upbringing clashed with Meredith’s darker nature, but they eventually made peace and their relationship evolved into a real sisterhood. Lexie’s dazzling essence also affected Mark in such a way that he decided to leave his womanizing era behind and own up to his actions. By Season 8, their on-again-off-again relationship had reached common ground, and they could finally plan a stable future together.
Although she humanized Mark and Meredith, Lexie wasn’t only a plot device. She became her own character by growing personally and professionally. Going through a shooting (in one of the show’s best episodes), the consequential PTSD, and her father’s death, ended up building her up instead of bringing her down. She matured with the blows life dealt her, but remained the most goodhearted and brightest soul the hospital had seen. Her skills, like her photographic memory, proved extremely useful and earned her a promotion as a surgical resident. Those were just the early steps to seeing her grow and thrive as a surgeon. Had Lexie survived, it would’ve been totally understandable to have her leave Seattle Grace following Mark’s death – and the door would still be open for future appearances.
Lexie’s Death Ruined Future Opportunities To Have the Character Return
Okay, yes, Lexie returned during Season 17, while Meredith was in her COVID-induced limbo between life and death. Lexie gives her sister one of the strongest pieces of advice when she reminds her that – even with a global pandemic raging on – life is worth celebrating. This is one of the greatest encores we get to see at Meredith’s beach, but it is still only a ghostly apparition fueled by Meredith’s sickly state of mind. Had Lexie been alive, her returning to Seattle to look after Meredith would’ve had a greater impact.
Chyler Leigh’s reasons for exiting the show are understandable, but killing off Lexie removed any opportunity of having her back in the mix. Teddy (Kim Raver), Addison (Kate Walsh), and Jackson (Jesse Williams) are just some of the characters who have left the show but have been intertwined with the story in later seasons, with their returns being earned and heartfelt. Raver’s Teddy even became a series regular again after an absence of six seasons (and has perhaps overstayed her welcome). Lexie deserved an encore of this kind. With Pompeo stepping down from starring in the show for a few years, Zola’s (Aniela Gumbs) education was sped up to fit her in as some type of Doogie Howser who could still carry the Grey name. In a what-if situation, having Lexie return would’ve been the best way to sort out the fact that the show is still named Grey’s Anatomy.
To say that fans were devastated by Lexie Grey’s death is an understatement, especially since her death also went hand-in-hand with the death of another fan-favorite doctor, Mark Sloan. While fans respected Leigh’s decision to move on to other projects and branch out as an actress, killing her off felt like an especially cruel way for the series to say goodbye to her. Lexie was always pure of heart and kind to everyone, even those who didn’t deserve it. Showrunner Shonda Rhimes was faced with a hard choice when it came to writing the character out, and ultimately decided to kill her off. Having her move to a different hospital felt too unrealistic, considering she’d be leaving behind Meredith and Mark, and that felt too out of character. Sure, maybe it would have been hard to adjust to at first, but perhaps Rhimes was a little too hasty in her decision to kill Lexie off, because the show could really use her nowadays.
Lexie Could Have Had a Huge Impact on Later ‘Grey’s Anatomy’ Seasons
Lately, there have been a lot of moments that would have benefited from Lexie’s presence. For instance, Meredith really could have used Lexie’s shoulder to cry when Derek (Patrick Dempsey) died. Yes, she had Maggie (Kelly McCreary) and Amelia (Caterina Scorsone), but Maggie was still new in Meredith’s life, and Amelia and Meredith had a very rocky relationship at the time. Lexie, on the other hand, knew Derek well, loved him, and had a mentor in him. She would have been able to resonate with Meredith’s grief, and Meredith would have been far more likely to open up to her. Additionally, the Maggie situation would have gone a heck of a lot smoother had Lexie been around. She was once in Maggie’s place, as the sudden half-sister of Meredith Grey, and forced to cut through her steely exterior. She could have helped Meredith open up to Maggie and warm to her sooner.
With Meredith having taken a major step back from the hospital, Lexie could have made a triumphant return to fill her sister’s shoes. If Chyler Leigh was game for it, and Lexie was still alive, she could add so much to Meredith’s arc in Season 21. Meredith has been tired of Grey Sloan Memorial for a while now, so it would have been nice to see Lexie take the reins from her. Their reunion would also give us back the badass duo of the Grey sisters. Plus, it would be fun to see her go head-to-head with Catherine (Debbie Allen) alongside Meredith. Unfortunately, we’ll never get to see these ideas play out.
And while it’s understandable that, at the time, killing off Lexie seemed like the most plausible option, the show could have gone with a similar route to Cristina Yang’s exit. They let Cristina go to achieve her dreams elsewhere, while still leaving the door open for her return. Killing off Lexie was truly one of Grey’s Anatomy‘s biggest mistakes, and unfortunately, it’s not something that can be rectified. (Though seeing ghost Lexie at peace in Season 17 did help soften the near-decade-long blow.)
More than a show, Grey’s Anatomy is a roller coaster of emotions. Each season finale has turned into a whole event that has the burden of delivering something more powerful and emotional than the previous season, while also making creative choices that fit with its actors’ decisions. Since Lexie had already cemented herself as one of Grey’s Anatomy’s essentials by Season 8, her death made sense as a blow that would devastate the fan base, but would also keep the show in everyone’s minds – and it worked. Here we are, 14 years later, talking about the twist! With Grey’s Anatomy still going strong today, it’s clear that the killing-off-beloved-characters formula is going nowhere. We’ll just have to wait and see who’s next, hoping our hearts won’t be torn apart once more.
