<P> Lexie's death devastates Meredith, who is still desperately trying to find her husband . Eventually, she and Shepherd reunite and they fix his hand as best as they can . Meanwhile, back at Seattle Grace Mercy West Hospital, no one is aware of what has happened to the other doctors . Dr. Richard Webber (James Pickens, Jr .) prepares the annual dinner for the departing residents, which Dr. Alex Karev (Justin Chambers), Dr. Jackson Avery (Jesse Williams), and Dr. April Kepner (Sarah Drew) are dreading . Avery makes the choice to take a job offer at Tulane Medical Center, and he and Kepner share a moment . Dr. Ben Warren (Jason George) and Dr. Miranda Bailey (Chandra Wilson) decide to get married, even though Warren is going to start his surgical internship in Los Angeles . After realizing Dr. Teddy Altman (Kim Raver) was offered a chief position at United States Army Medical Command (MEDCOM) and is refusing to leave Seattle out of loyalty, Dr. Owen Hunt (Kevin McKidd), the chief of surgery, fires her to free her from the hospital where her husband died . As the episode ends, Hunt picks up his messages to discover the surgical team never made it to Boise . The residents, finally excited to celebrate at Webber's dinner, are left waiting for their stranded friends . The remaining crash survivors are left struggling to stay awake as their last match goes out . In the closing monologue, Meredith repeats the opening to the speech that Webber gave in the pilot episode of the series . </P> <P> The episode was written by Shonda Rhimes, and directed by Rob Corn . Featured music included The Paper Kites' "Featherstone" and Feist's' Graveyard ". Filming took place in Big Bear Lake, California, a location previously used in the seventh season for Yang and Shepherd's fishing trip . Commenting on the filming conditions, Leigh said: "It would rain and be sunny and hot . I never died before (on camera). That sounds funny saying that . I think everyone has an emotional wellspring and that happened to be a moment where I was sprung . Everybody was very accommodating--the crew, cast . And I opted to stay underneath (the wreckage) for the most part over two days rather than trying to get in and out ." </P> <P> In regard to the episode, Rhimes commented before it originally aired that it was difficult to write, largely because of the death of a main character . She compared it to writing the season six finale, by explaining that the former was "more painful" to write . After the episode aired, Rhimes repeated in a tweet that it was hard for her to write the finale, adding: "I did not enjoy it . It made me sick and it made me sad ." Rhimes also explained the departure of Leigh, whose character died after the plane crash, by saying that the two came to an agreement on the decision to kill Lexie, after extensive discussion . Speaking of Raver's departure whose character left Seattle Grace for MEDCOM, Rhimes elaborated that Raver was offered a contract renewal, but declined . </P> <P> The episode received mixed 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 . In terms of 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 . </P>

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