‘Grey’s Anatomy’ Fans In Tears Over Mark and Lexie’s Return: “I Can’t Believe It’s Real”

Grey’s Anatomy took another trip to the beach last night. The long-running medical drama, now in its 17th season, has said goodbye to countless characters over the years, but saw the return of two fan-favorites on yesterday’s episode, with both Mark Sloan (Eric Dane) and Lexie Grey (Chyler Leigh) coming to Meredith (Ellen Pompeo) in her dreams, Yahoo reports.

Meredith, who’s been battling Covid, slipped into her beach vision once again, where she was joined by Mark — who was last seen on the show in 2012, when his character died after being put on life support — and Lexie — who also died in a plane crash and last appeared in 2012. Together, the two late doctors helped convince Meredith to keep fighting for her life. When Meredith tells Mark and Lexie she misses them, Lexie replies, “That’s kind of a waste of time… because we never left you,” while Mark insists, “Sometimes we’re right next to you, yelling in your ear.”

And to the delight of fans, it looks like “Slexie” is going strong. When Meredith asks Mark and Lexie if they’re still together, he replies, “On your beach, we are.” With the emotional return after eight years, fans had plenty to say on social media. “HOW WILL I EVER RECOVER FROM THIS #GreysAnatomy,” one wrote. Another added, “Yeah I’ll be crying over this for a long time.”

Mark and Lexie aren’t the only characters to make an emotional return to Meredith’s beach. Season 17 kicked off with a nostalgic visit from Meredith’s late husband Derek, or Dr. McDreamy (Patrick Dempsey), who was last seen on the series in the Season 11 finale, when he died after a car crash. Grey’s Anatomy showrunner Krista Vernoff issued a statement after the season premiere, explaining, “The most important task we had this season was to honor the reality of this global pandemic and the impact it’s having — particularly on healthcare workers,” she said. “Along with that we had to come up with creative ways to allow our show to still be fun and romantic and provide some escapism. Enter Patrick Dempsey.”

Following McDreamy’s appearance, another deceased doctor, Dr. Andrew DeLuca (Giacomo Gianniotti), also visited Meredith before his character died … which didn’t go over too well with fans. Who will Grey’s bring back next? We’ll just have to keep watching to find out.

New episodes of Grey’s Anatomy air Thursdays at 9/8c on ABC.

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