Fade in on a group of anxious travelers as they snake their way through never ending security lines. One by one, they make their way toward the gate and onto the airplane. After placing their luggage overhead, the squeeze their way into their tiny seat in coach, or their spacious first class recliner. Nervous passengers sip their drink as they peer out the window as the plane takes off and launches into the sky. After a series of bumps and jolts, the captain turns on the fasten seat belt sign. The intercom crackles to life as the pilot assures the passengers that they are experiencing some minor turbulence, but that everything will be fine. Until it isn’t.
The plane crash— it is the ultimate cliffhanger. This past television season has brought us every cliffhanger from sex scandals and unexpected weddings to separated twins and the reappearance of certain characters we presumed to be dead. However, no cliffhanger has been used as well as the devastating plane crash.
Grey’s Anatomy pulled this cliffhanger off all too well in what has been described by viewers as this seasons most heart-wrenching finale. A handful of doctors from Seattle Grace Hospital boarded a plane and headed to Boise, Idaho to operate on conjoined twins. Those on board included new parents Meredith and Derek Shepherd, bubbly pediatric surgeon Arizona Robbins, tenacious cardiovascular surgeon Christina Yang, insanely gorgeous plastic surgeon Mark Sloan and Meredith’s sister and the love of Mark’s life Lexi Grey.
After the plane crashed, we saw our doctors beaten and bruised, scattered throughout the deserted forest. Some, including Mark, Arizona and Lexi, suffered very severe injuries. While Derek, Meredith and Christina were badly hurt, but not in critical condition. In one of the most tear-jerking scenes that Grey’s has brought us to date, Mark confessed his love to Lexi as she lay dying, crushed beneath wreckage from the plane. The episode ended with our favorite doctors still stranded in the woods without the rest of the gang back at Seattle Grace knowing where they were or what had happened.
In interviews following the finale, the show’s creator Shonda Rhimes explained that with this ending, the future of the doctors was still unknown. In an interview with E!’s Kristen Dos Santos, Rhimes stated that, “They’re still out there in the forest, and we don’t know if they are going to be OK…Just because you saw people alive at the end of the finale doesn’t mean they’re going to be alive when the season starts up.” SPOILER ALERT: In the season 9 finale Mark dies after being taken off of life support and Arizona has lost the bulk of her right leg.
Grey’s was not the only show to leave its viewers wondering the fate of its characters after a simple plain ride gone wrong. Freshman series Revenge pulled in high ratings all seasons with its intense twists and turns, so it was no surprise that the show’s creator, Mike Kelly, chose to end the season one finale in a dramatic fashion.
After a season shocking reveals about the Grayson’s involvement in the framing of David Clarke, Victoria Grayson has finally had enough of her ex-husband’s lies when she discovers that he was responsible for the murder of David Clarke. She gathers up enough evidence to tie Conrad Grayson to the terrorist attack that they had framed David Clarke for and heads to Washington after being promised full immunity for her cooperation.
As Victoria boards the plane, the white-haired man (who was responsible for the murder of David Clarke) is seen lurking near the planes wheels. The villainous white-haired man plants a bomb on the plane, and sure enough, viewers are left on the edge of their seats as Victoria’s daughter Charlotte downs a bottle of pills after seeing the report of her mothers death on the nightly news.
SPOILER ALERT: Charlotte did survive her overdose and starts the season in rehab. Naturally, Victoria survived the plane bombing and is in hiding while the FBI builds a strong enough case against Conrad.
This is not the first time that a show has wrapped up a season with a suspenseful plane crash. And, as the success of these two finales shows, it won’t be the last. How will your favorite characters cope with the aftermath of such a catastrophic event? Tune in to find out.