Grey's Anatomy Brought Back Lexie and Mark to Help Meredith Embrace Life Again

[Warning: The following contains spoilers for Thursday's episode of Grey's Anatomy. Read at your own risk!]

It was a Grey family reunion on Meredith's (Ellen Pompeo) limbo beach on this week's Grey's Anatomy, with the highly anticipated return of Lexie Grey (Chyler Leigh). However, when Grey's returned to the beach, it was Lexie and Mark Sloan (Eric Dane), aka McSteamy, waiting for Meredith. Meredith's younger half-sister died in the Season 8 finale plane crash, which also led to Mark dying of a broken heart. The loss of both characters was so intense that the hospital formerly known as Seattle Grace was renamed Grey-Sloan Memorial in honor of them. 

McSteamy told Meredith that he still hangs around his family who are still amongst the living and tries to reach out to them and warn them when bad things are coming. Sometimes it goes through, but he was happy to actually get to talk to Meredith again. Lexie pushed Meredith to remember why she enjoys life, even if she was surrounded by death on the COVID floor back at the hospital. Meredith countered with how much grief she had suffered throughout her life, reminding us why the beach was such a peaceful respite for her, but Lexie and Mark reminded her that they have never left her and they are often right beside her, screaming into her ear and telling her what to do. 

At the end of the episode, Meredith was taken off her ventilator, and the promo for next week's crossover event with Station 19 confirmed that she'll finally wake up. So despite all the misery of this season, fans got to know that Lexie and Mark are together in the afterlife and doing pretty well. And Meredith will finally be back where she belongs, with her friends and family, saving lives. We're not sure if this means the definite end of Meredith's time on the limbo beach, but we do know that more familiar faces are still slated to return, including Sarah Drew, who will reprise her role as April Kepner in upcoming episodes this spring. 

And Meredith wasn't the only one to get good news! Maggie (Kelly McCreary) got engaged after figuring out a way to double the hospital's amount of ventilators, and Owen (Kevin McKidd) is starting to warm up to Teddy (Kim Raver). So, as Derek Shepherd (Patrick Dempsey) would say, it's a beautiful day to save lives. 

Grey's Anatomy airs Thursdays at 9/8c on ABC.