Mark and Lexie remain a fan-favorite Grey’s Anatomy couple over a decade after the two characters died in the medical drama. The hit ABC series premiered in 2005, and over the two decades since its debut, the drama introduced several great romantic relationships, from Meredith Grey and Derek Shepherd to Izzie Stevens and Alex Karev. However, an often underrated relationship that never got to live up to its full potential was Lexie Grey and Mark Sloan. The couple can be defined as each other’s true love and soulmates.
Mark and Lexie met their untimely demises at the end of season 8 and the beginning of season 9, respectively, but their romance was unforgettable. It seemed that the two were meant to be and always found their way back to one another despite the odds working against them. Even though the couple died on Grey’s Anatomy in 2012, they still had some fantastic stories detailing their on-again, off-again relationship, and they featured in some of the best episodes of the show’s run.
Here Comes The Flood
Season 5, Episode 3
Mark and Lexie don’t start dating for another seven episodes after this one, but “Here Comes The Flood” is a great Lexie episode that shows how much faith Mark already has in her. Lexie is seen as an inexperienced intern for much of season 5 by those in Mark and Meredith’s generation, but that doesn’t mean she isn’t smart. This is where her photographic memory comes into play as this skill helps her diagnose what is wrong with a patient.
Stairway To Heaven
Season 5, Episode13
In one of the funniest storylines in the history of Grey’s, Lexie and Mark are secretly hooking up in an on-call room, something only Callie knows about. In a hookup gone terribly wrong, while the interns Steve, Ryan, and Dani are listening outside the room, Lexie accidentally injures Mark, causing him to scream in pain. She thinks she might have broken his “bone,” and she rushes to get help from Callie.
Once he undergoes surgery to fix the problem, Lexie comforts him, but he is still too embarrassed to face her. She climbs into his hospital bed and strokes his hair, something she loves having done to her when she’s hurt (and something he later does to her as she dies). The callback in season 8 is heartbreaking but it also shows how much they loved each other. This is also the episode where more people learn about their relationship.
An Honest Mistake
Season 5, Episode16
This is the episode in which Derek finds out that Lexie and Mark have been dating behind his back after he asked Mark to stay away from her. “An Honest Mistake” is more about Mark than Lexie, but it is an important one concerning their growing relationship and how others reacted to it. Derek told Mark not to mess with Lexie, and when Mark told him they were dating, things did not go well.
Honestly, this wasn’t the best place for Mark to say anything. Derek had lost another patient, and the woman’s husband called Derek a murderer. He was stressed out, and his relationship with Meredith wasn’t going well either. This mentality causes him to punch Mark when he learns about Lexie, and the two have a huge fight in the hospital, which doesn’t end well for either doctor.
I Will Follow You Into The Dark
Season 5, Episode 17
This is an even bigger Lexie episode of Grey’s Anatomy than for Mark. Lexie gets to step out of her big sister’s shadow in this episode as she takes responsibility for “breaking” Mark, and she solves the mystery behind Patient X (who turns out to be Izzie Stevens). Here, Lexie solves the diagnosis and tells Izzie it is only a 5% survival rate. When Izzie explains, “screw the odds,” Lexie takes it to heart with her relationship with Mark.
At this point in Grey’s Anatomy, Lexie and Mark have been hooking up in secret instead of being in a serious relationship. Their relationship being forced out into the open makes both Mark and Lexie look at it and see that they’re really good together. Mark even credits Lexie with putting him back together instead of breaking him.
Stand By Me
Season 5, Episode18
Lexie’s intern peers have caught her and Mark Sloan flirting, and are already starting rumors about their relationship. Some believe she’s sleeping with him to get ahead, others believe he’s using her, and good girl Lexie is over being the topic of office gossip. This leads to the couple finally making their relationship official to everyone in the hospital.
She confirms the allegations by kissing him in front of her intern group and telling Mark that, “They think we’re ugly, but I know that we’re beautiful.” It’s one of the best episodes that shows the strength of Lexie and Mark’s feelings for one another as they’re both willing to put their relationship out in the open, no matter what the consequences may be. This is also where the two agree to be open and stop hiding things, adapting to judgmental people around them.
No Good At Saying Sorry (One More Chance)
Season 5, Episode 21
After Mark and Derek’s fight about Mark pursuing Lexie, they establish that this isn’t just a meaningless fling and they really care about one another. In this episode, Lexie invites Mark to have dinner with her and her father, which is something that is important to her. Mark is nervous because he isn’t always good with dads, and he’s worried that Thatcher will be displeased with their age gap. Lexie doesn’t care, though.
Mark shows up to dinner with Lexie and her father, much to Lexie’s delight, and takes her hand, signifying that they are very much in a relationship. This is also a very nice moment as Mark is taking this seriously, and Lexie has taken the step of integrating him into her family. This also, ironically, comes at the same time that Derek and Meredith are planning their wedding to happen before Izzie’s cancer gets worse.
11Here’s To Future Days
Season 5, Episode 23
The entire back half of Grey’s Anatomyseason 5 Mark and Lexie, as they have the most wholesome encounters amid tragedy striking the hospital (Izzie having cancer, George’s death, etc.). This episode has the fallout from Derek and Meredith not getting married because he wants to cure Izzie first, while Izzie and Alex did get married, causing Mark to think about Lexie even more seriously.
In this episode, Mark starts thinking about what he wants out of his future, and he wants it to include Lexie. Lexie has a different 10-year plan and isn’t yet ready to move in and start a life with her older boyfriend. He makes a comment about other residents being married, and she squirms at the thought of them getting married so soon. Mark realizes his mistake, and the two decide not to make any sudden plans for the future.
10Tainted Obligation
Season 6, Episode 4
This episode goes a little further in the complications that come from Mark and Lexie’s age difference. Lexie brings her dad, Thatcher, into the ER, and is concerned something is wrong with him. While Meredith doesn’t seem to care at all, even mocking him for his alcoholism, Lexie stays by his side until she learns he has end-stage cirrhosis and needs a transplant or he will die.
Lexie agrees to be the donor, much to her sister’s chagrin. However, Mark is also not sure about this idea and wants to talk about it, but Lexie refuses to allow him to be part of this decision since it is her dad’s life. She isn’t a match, but Meredith is and agrees to the transplant to help her sister, to which Mark remains by Lexie’s side until the surgery concludes, showing his care for her.
9Blink
Season 6, Episode 11
Not all of the important Mark and Lexie episodes are happy. This specific episode continues to expose the age gap between the two, which leads to their eventual breakup. That is because Mark has a daughter named Sloan, and she is pregnant. He flies Addison in to help with a difficult procedure for his daughter and is there to help save her life and that of her child. However, this entire situation slams the age gap home Lexie.
I Like You So Much Better When You’re Naked
Season 6, Episode 12
While Lexie broke up with Mark in the previous episode, their relationship finally severed completely in this one. That is because Lexie quickly slept with Alex after she broke up with Mark. Meanwhile, Mark went and slept with Addison after she operated on Sloan. This messed up things in a variety of areas, not the least of which was that Izzie came back and caught Alex and Lexie together.
However, what really made things worse was when Mark and Lexie admitted to each other who they slept with. While Lexie said that made them even, Mark wouldn’t consider it. As far as he was concerned, she broke up with him and then slept with Alex, so he was finished with her for good. This really played out later when it ended up being Mark who regretted the entire situation.
7Shiny Happy People
Season 6, Episode 22
Sanctuary/Death and All His Friends
Season 6, Episodes 23 And 24
Mark misses Lexie, and Lexie just wants Mark to leave her alone since she is happy with Alex. In the season 6 finale, Gary Clark is up to no good and shows up at the hospital looking for revenge for his recently deceased wife. When he opens fire, Mark shows his growth and love for Lexie when he protects her in a life-and-death situation, even though she wants nothing to do with him. However, they find Alex shot and bleeding in the elevator.
Later, Mark helps Lexie operate on Alex’s gunshot wound. It pains him to see she has moved on, but he can’t leave either of them. Mark ends up doing everything he can to save Alex and then leaves, allowing Alex and Lexie to be together when the emergency ends. It’s a great episode depicting the unconditional love Mark and Lexie have for one another, even when they’re broken up.
5Adrift And At Peace
Season 7, Episode10
After a season apart, Mark is continuously pining after Lexie, who wants to move on. Mark has been sleeping with Callie, as she has broken up with Arizona after they disagreed on having children. However, Mark tells Callie that he still misses Lexie, and she tells him to do something about it. Lexie eventually asks him for help with Nurse Eli, who’s got it out for her, and he agrees under the condition that she meet him for a drink.
Initially, Lexie is hesitant and even shows up to Joe’s Bar with the intention of leaving early, but their connection is undeniable and they kiss. Mark and Lexie finally (and very briefly) get back together in “Adrift and at Peace.” If fans want the happiest of the couple’s episodes, this is the last of those, but there is still more story to be told.
4Put Me In Coach
Season 8, Episode 7
It’s not exactly a great story point to pit women against other women, but jealousy is also a natural emotion when someone isn’t over a past relationship. Lexie and Mark are not dating anymore, but this time, it is Lexie who is struggling, breaking up with Jackson when she realizes she wants to be with Mark. However, in “Put Me In Coach,” Lexie sees Mark with a new woman. A chunk of the episode is focused on a friendly game of baseball between two different Seattle hospitals.
Of course, Lexie is on one team, and Mark’s new girlfriend, Kinney, an ophthalmologist from Seattle Pres, is on the other, which means that as much as Lexie might think she’s over Mark, being face-to-face with his new girlfriend makes it clear she isn’t. She even throws a baseball right at the other woman. It’s a change for the season since much of season 8 makes it clear that Mark isn’t over Lexie, and until this episode, Lexie’s feelings aren’t as clear.
Let The Bad Times Roll
Season 8, Episode 22
Two episodes before her tragic death, Lexie came to the realization that she had to confess her feelings to Mark. Hoping to prevent his relationship with Julia from growing more serious than it already had, she confronts him in the hospital, spilling her guts to the man she loves once and for all. Julia had already let Mark know she was willing to start a family with him, something that Lexie had rejected when he asked her about it.
This episode contains Lexie’s epic, “It’s like I’m infected by Mark Sloan,” speech and the crushing moment when Julia emerges from the elevator before Mark can say anything back. Of course, fans now know what happens in the season 8 finale, so this Mark and Lexie episode is a great one to watch to end on a more optimistic note. There seemed to be hope for their future.
Flight
Season 8, Episode 24
This is one episode that fans of Mark and Lexie might not want to revisit, but it is one of the most important ones from Grey’s Anatomy. This is the episode where Lexie dies. The previous episode ended with Meredith, Arizona, Cristina, Lexie, Mark, and Derek in a plane crash. Mark finds Lexie in the back, crushed under a large part of the plane.
Lexie’s death is one of the show’s saddest moments. She realizes she is dying, so Mark holds her hand and then starts to stroke her face with his hand, remembering that she said it always calmed her down. The two repeat they were “meant to be,” and then she passes away while holding his hand. Sadly, in the premiere of the next season, Mark also dies from injuries sustained in the accident, and the love story ends in tragedy.
Breathe
Season 17, Episode 10
For the first time in nine years, Mark and Lexie returned to TV screens, and not in flashback form. In Meredith’s COVID state, she has conjured up a dream world that takes place on a peaceful beach, filled with the people she loved the most, but tragically lost. On Meredith’s beach, Lexie and Mark are together and happy in the afterlife.
The two dance by the water, trade meaningful glances, and give Meredith some much-needed advice about fighting for her life. While Chyler Leigh and Eric Dane’s appearances didn’t undo the horrific deaths their characters suffered following the season 8 plane crash, it did bring smiles (and tears) to fans’ faces to know that Mark and Lexie really were meant to be. While it may seem odd that one of the best Mark and Lexie Grey’s Anatomy episodes takes place after their deaths, it’s a beautiful ending to one of the show’s most beloved couples.
