‘Grey’s Anatomy’: The Episode That Ruined 2 Fan-Favorite Romances Forever
For a show to be on the air as long as Grey’s Anatomy has, there’s going to be some hits and misses along the way. The show has never shied away from big moments that either sent characters to the great hereafter or changed the course of their lives going forward.
At its best, these moments help ease the show into a casting change while giving others closure. At its worst, however, it makes people yearn for more while feeling that it’s a lost opportunity. One particular moment has fans wishing that they could go back and change everything.
Big ‘Grey’s Anatomy’ moments
Shonda Rhimes’ star-making show has been on the air for three different presidents and a massive change in the television world. While other shows struggled to keep with the times, however, Grey’s Anatomy always seemed to roll with the punches and keep itself modern while staying true to itself. The medical drama isn’t afraid to ruffle feathers, however.
Whether it is relationship drama between Derek and Meredith in the early seasons or the show’s means of sending off characters who left the show in unfortunate true-life situations, Grey’s Anatomy blurs the line between soap opera, docudrama, and thriller.
At any given time, someone can be trying to save someone’s life while an outside force is making it impossible.
As far as the fates of characters go, the show has gone across the board. From violent deaths that seem more like something from the hit show Lost to silent farewells toward ill-begotten spin-off series, Rhimes and company had to work with what they had and make sure that every change felt right within the show’s established universe. It must have worked, as the show is still popular 15 years after its debut.
However, the end of season eight remains a frustrating reminder of how certain parts of the show went wrong in many fans’ eyes.
‘Grey’s Anatomy’: The plane crash
Leading into the eighth season finale, Grey’s turned into a survivor thriller before the eyes of its devoted fans. When a plane carrying much of the show’s central cast crash lands in the wilderness, several of the biggest characters’ fates remained unknown.
As the doctors fought not only to stay alive but keep others alive in the process, it became clear that something wrong was about to happen.
While Meredith Grey, Derek Shepherd, Christina Yang, Mark Sloan, and Arizona Robbins eventually made it out alive, Lexie is left pinned beneath the plane.
Rather than go out with agonizing screams, however, she goes out with a smile on her face and ready to die after Yang and Sloan try everything in their power to save her. It was a huge decision in a show that’s filled with huge choices.
For some, however, it veered into the realm of jumping the shark.
Why did Lexie’s death upset so many fans?
As much as Grey’s is about the doctors and all the drama they go through, it’s also about the relationships that form. The series was groundbreaking in many ways because of this.
However, when that plane crashed, and Lexie went to the great hereafter, many believe that the show lost something that it hasn’t gotten back years later.
Reddit user GlobalDesi17 explained why the episode was hard to recover on in a forum about the show’s low points.
“I’ll say the plane crash ruined everything, before this scene delivered the final blow. It killed Mark and Lexie and virtually ruined Calzona, two of the best romances on GA by anyone’s standards.”
Whether it’s the change in the cast or the fact that the show has to keep up with a moving television landscape, the episode was not so much a flight as it was a plummet to many loyal fans of the series. It must not keep them away, however.
The show exhibits no signs of slowing down any time soon. As long as it’s on the air, more significant events will divide fans on their merits.
