Lexie Grey Originally Had a Way Worse Death on ‘Grey’s Anatomy’

The big picture

• Lexie Gray was originally supposed to die by hitting her head in the hospital, not in the tragic plane crash at the end of Season 8 of
  Grey's Anatomy
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• Show creator Shonda Rhimes had to find a way to remove Lexie when her actress decided she was leaving the show.
• Mark Sloan's death was inevitable in order to maintain the integrity of his character, as he could not abandon his son and never leaves Lexie.

Despite being an overwhelmingly fan-favorite character, Lexie Gray (Chyler Leigh) was one of many Grey's Anatomy characters to fall victim to the showrunner Shonda Rhimes' pen. He met his death at the end of season 8 after being on the ill-fated plane that was supposed to take doctors to Boise to help them in conjoint surgery on twins. The accident had an effect on all the members involved. It cost Arizona (Jessica Capshaw) his leg, almost destroyed Derek's (Patrick Dempsey) hand and any chance of having surgery again. But most of all, it cost Lexie and Mark (Eric Dane) their lives. However, that wasn't always the case, according to Shonda Rhimes. Lexie was going to die, she knew, but her original idea for Lexie's death was much worse. Which is surprising considering how devastating and brutal her death is to begin with, but Shonda's original plan would have caused an even bigger uproar, even for her.

Lexie's death is one of the most devastating moments on Grey's Anatomy

On the show, Lexie is one of six Seattle Grace doctors chosen to attend conjoined twins surgery in Boise. Next to him was his sister Meredith (Ellen Pompeo), Derek, Cristina, Mark and Arizona, who herself had taken the place originally intended for Alex Karev (Justin Chambers). When the plane crashes, Lexie is trapped under a piece of the plane, and even though the doctors try to move it and free her, she knows it's no use, she's dying either way. Mark repeatedly tries to get the plane off of her out of sheer denial, and insists that Cristina go get fluids to try to stabilize her, but he knows it won't help. Still, she goes, leaving Lexie and Mark alone while he continually denies that he is dying. Finally he has no choice but to accept his fate, and simply lies down on the ground and takes her hand. He tells her that he loves her and that she needs to stay alive because they are going to get married and have kids and that they are meant to be together. Lexie echoes her 'Meant to be' statement and dies holding Mark's hand and imagining their life together. It's chilling to watch, especially when you add Mark's reaction to the mix. But in Shonda's original plans, Lexie wasn't even meant to be on the plane, and she was supposed to die in the hospital.

Lexie wasn't supposed to be on the plane

In an interview with TV Line, Shonda Rhimes talked about killing off Lexie Grey. “I adored this character and couldn't imagine the show without her,” Shonda said. “It was important to me that his departure had the maximum impact. The plane was going to crash no matter what. I honestly wasn't sure, because of the contract negotiations, who was going to die in that accident.” When she learned that Chyler Leigh would be leaving the show, Shonda was tasked with finding a way to overrule her. And because that is Grey's Anatomy We're talking, Lexie couldn't walk out of the hospital alive and never come back. There were too many things I would leave behind. So Shonda decided she would have to kill off the character to tie up the loose ends. But his original plan didn't involve Lexie being on the plane.

“In my initial final plans, once I found out Chyler was leaving the show, Lexie wasn't even on the plane. She was going to die in the hospital by something as simple as slipping and hitting her no I had died in Seattle Grace while other people died in the woods, which was not my preferred plan she wanted them together when she left us.

Lexie's death in the hospital wouldn't have been a big deal, if it hadn't been for the plane crash happening at the same time. As Shonda pointed out, Lexie would have been dying in Seattle, and there would have been no way to contact Meredith or Mark or anyone. She would have died without saying goodbye to her sister, without seeing Mark for the last time. Of course, Lexie dying because she fell and hit her head isn't exactly far-fetched. Since we met her, we've come to know and love Lexie because of how adorably clumsy she is, so it wouldn't have been a completely out of character way for her to die, but it certainly wouldn't have done her character justice. It is likely that his death was felt more like a joke by the public. Especially compared to the other deaths we've seen previously for major characters like bus crashes, shootings, etc… So as devastating as the plane crash was, it gave fans a better chance to close the beloved character.

Mark Sloan's death was inevitable without Lexie

Entering Season 9, Shonda Rhimes was tasked with writing Eric Dane's character, Mark Sloan also, when he was leaving the series. Shonda threw around a lot of ideas, but nothing felt right for the character. “I had many options for how Mark could leave the show. But any option that didn't involve death required him to a) grieve for Lexie indefinitely and b) willingly walk away from his daughter.” Rhimes explained. “We fought about it incessantly in the Writers' Room. I didn't want Mark to die, but, as the writers rightly argued, Mark couldn't leave Sofia (Eva Ariel Binder) and certainly couldn't abandon Callie (Sarah Ramirez) once Arizona's leg was amputated.” She also revealed that she was toying with the idea of ​​sending Mark to Los Angeles to be with Addison (Kate Walsh).

“I loved that idea, but it still required Mark to give up his son.” She explained. “Also, that would somehow suggest that everything he said to Lexie when she was dying was easily forgotten. So…I struggled and debated and tossed it around, but the In the end I had to do what was right for the character's integrity would not willingly leave Sofia and would never leave Callie, so he and Lexie stay together.

Obviously, there was never going to be an easy way to say goodbye to Lexie or Mark, and we'll never really get over either of their deaths, but Shonda Rhimes' reasoning for both of them makes sense and shows respect for not only characters, but also the fans. It's not great closure, we'd certainly like to have seen them survive and live a happy life together, but at least they can be together for eternity, and that's very romantic.

Grey's Anatomy is available to stream on Hulu in the US

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