EXCLUSIVE: Two weeks after the death of Andrew DeLuca, ABC’s Grey’s Anatomy is preparing for the return of another beloved Grey Sloan Memorial doctor who had died tragically, Lexie Grey. Nine years after she left the show, Chyler Leigh is coming back. She will be featured in next week’s episode (April 1), reprising her Lexie Grey character as part of this season’s recurring dream beach motif. The reunion of Lexie and her sister Meredith is being teased in a promo, which will air at the end of tonight’s episode of the ABC medical drama. UPDATE: You can watch the promo above.
The Season 17 beach theme is the brainchild of executive producer/showrunner Krista Vernoff, introduced to bring joy amid the grim realities of the pandemic as reflected on Grey’s. Leigh’s Lexie follows Patrick Dempsey’s Derek Shepherd, who has been recurring in the dream sequences, and T.R. Knight’s George O’Malley, who was featured in a December episode. Separately, another Grey’s alum, Sarah Drew, whose character April Kepner is very much alive, also is coming back for a guest appearance this season.
Leigh’s Lexie Grey is Meredith Grey’s (Ellen Pompeo) younger paternal half-sister. Her character was introduced at the end of Season 3 when Lexie transferred to Seattle Grace Hospital as a new surgical intern after her mother’s sudden death and was named a surgical resident in Season 5. Lexie’s main storyline involved her on-again, off-again relationship with plastics attending Mark Sloan, played by Eric Dane. Both died in a plane crash in the Season 8 finale. Seattle Grace Mercy West was subsequently renamed Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital in their memory.
Nothing has been confirmed but, the way things have been going, Dane’s Mark Sloan may also drop by to complete the lineup of Grey’s longtime fan favorite doctor characters whose lives had been cut short by tragedy that are now reuniting with Meredith on the beach as she fights Covid-19.
“I would say, chances are good you’ll see other people on the beach,” Vernoff told Deadline earlier this month.
Leigh was on Grey’s Anatomy for six seasons, five of them as a series regular.