page_title: Flight (Grey's Anatomy)
section_title: Reception
hierarchical_section_title: Flight (Grey's Anatomy) / Reception
caption_attribution_description: English: Photo of actress Chyler Leigh at public appearance in Los Angeles by Phoginator in early 2006.
context_page_description: "Flight" is the twenty-fourth episode and the season finale of the eighth season of the American television medical drama Grey's Anatomy, and the show's 172nd episode overall. It was written by series creator Shonda Rhimes, and directed by Rob Corn. The episode was originally broadcast on the American Broadcasting Company in the United States on May 17, 2012. In the episode, six doctors from Seattle Grace Mercy West Hospital who are victims of an aviation accident fight to stay alive, but Dr. Lexie Grey ultimately dies. Other storylines occur in Seattle where Dr. Richard Webber plans his annual dinner for the departing residents, Dr. Owen Hunt fires Dr. Teddy Altman, and Dr. Miranda Bailey gets engaged to Dr. Ben Warren.
  The episode marked Leigh's final appearance in the series and Raver's final until late in the fourteenth season. Exterior filming of the accident took place at Big Bear Lake, California. Jason George reprised his role as a guest star, whereas James LeGros made his first appearance.
context_section_description: The episode received mixed to positive reviews among television critics, and it outperformed the previous episode in terms of both viewership and ratings. "Flight" was originally broadcast on May 17, 2012 in the United States on the American Broadcasting Company (ABC). The episode was watched in the United States by a total of 11.44 million people, a 16.5% (1.62 million) increase from the previous episode "Migration", which garnered 9.82 million viewers. In terms of viewership, "Flight" ranked fourth for the night, behind the season finales of Fox's American Idol, and CBS's Person of Interest and The Mentalist. As compared to Grey's Anatomy's other season finales, the episode was the show's second least-viewed finale, just behind the seventh season's, which garnered 9.89 million viewers. The episode did not rank in the top three for viewership, but its 4.1/11 Nielsen rating ranked first in its 9:00 Eastern time-slot and second for the night, registering the show as Thursday's No. 1 drama, for both the rating and share percentages of the key 18–49 demographic. Its rating lost to American Idol, but beat out CBS's The Big Bang Theory, Person of Interest, and The Mentalist. In addition to its rating being in the top rankings for the night, it was an increase from the previous episode, which netted a 3.5/10 rating/share in the 18–49 demographic. The episode also showed an increase in ratings in comparison to the previous year's finale, which attained a 3.6/9 rating/share in the 18–49 demographic.
  Poptimal's Tanya Lane wrote, "Wow…just wow. Grey's Anatomy has once again managed to shock with its season finale." While she appreciated the "realism and authenticity that Grey's is known for", she found the episode was "almost too much" as it was "extremely gory and difficult to watch, initially because of the grisly wounds" but later because of the "heavy and emotional things that transpired". She thought Pompeo gave one of her best performances when her character learned that her sister was dead. Digital Spy's Ben Lee found Leigh's and Dane's performances "phenomenal" and added that he had probably never seen a better performance from Dane. He described the moment the two actors shared as "truly poignant". To him, Lexie's death felt like a finale, which was thus too early. As for what was happening in Seattle Grace, he thought it was "a bit pointless" and "uninteresting" except Altman's departure, which he deemed "the most significant moment at the hospital". Entertainment Weekly's Tanner Stransky commented of Lexie's death: "It was an intense death. I mean, how awful was it to watch one of Grey’s longest-running characters pass away so quickly -- and rather unceremoniously? I get that Ms. Rhimes had to do what she had to do -- and every show needs to be shaken up once in a while -- but I don't love that Lexie was the one to die. Could it have been someone less important somehow? I guess it would have been too obvious to do Kepner. And you probably just don't kill off a hottie like Mark Sloan, right?" Stransky also complained about Robbins' screams at the beginning of the episode, but enjoyed Bailey's story.
  In an Entertainment Weekly poll that judged all the television season finales of the year, Lexie's death was voted the "Top Tissue Moment", while Robbins' injured leg and Shepherd's mangled hand were voted the "Most Disturbing Image". The ending of the episode was also considered as the "Best Ending to an Otherwise So-So Season". Lexie's death was also nominated under the "Best (Presumed) Death" category, while the plane crash's aftermath was nominated as the "Best Non-Romantic Cliffhanger", and the episode in entirety was nominated for the special award for "Biggest Regret That I Didn't See It, I Just Heard or Read About It". Entertainment Weekly later named the scene where Meredith is crying one of the best crying scenes of 2012. In TVLine's review of 2012, Lexie's death was runner-up for "Biggest Tearjerker". The episode is nominated at the NAACP Image Awards under the Outstanding Writing in a Dramatic Series category for 
caption: Chyler Leigh's performance was deemed "phenomenal".
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