Just like a few other departed actors and characters (including Eric Dane’s Mark, Patrick Dempsey’s Derek, and T.R. Knight’s original surgical intern Dr. George O’Malley), Chyler Leigh ended up returning to “Grey’s Anatomy” in season 17. How? Well, that season tackles the very real COVID-19 pandemic and does so by giving Meredith a particularly severe case of the virus that lands her in a coma. While in said coma, Meredith hallucinates several of her deceased loved ones, all of whom encourage her to fight for her life so that she can see her three children again. According to Leigh, though, the experience was weird precisely because of COVID-19, which set travel restrictions that made it impossible for her to participate in the scene in a traditional way, so to speak.

As Leigh revealed to Entertainment Tonight in 2021, she wasn’t anywhere near Ellen Pompeo or Dane — Lexie and Mark appear together, suggesting that they’re together in some sort of afterlife — during filming. “Well, it was a really interesting experience, just because I did have to film it up here in Canada because you can’t travel back and forth to the States,” Leigh explained. “So all of my stuff was done on basically green screen. And we’re not sitting on the rocks. I was sitting on an apple box, and I was talking to tennis balls. So in that sense, it was interesting.”

Still, Leigh was grateful for the medical drama’s approach to the pandemic, as well as the chance to revisit the character of Lexie Grey. “But understanding there are dynamics between Lexie and Meredith, and then Lexie and Mark. It was really special to be able to be part of it and especially telling such a powerful story,” she added. “The tribute of this season is really towards first responders and their experience during the whole pandemic, so to be part of that was obviously very special.”

Plus, it was a way for Leigh to play Lexie again after a particularly disturbing ending for the character. Early in season 9, a traumatized Cristina tells her then-boyfriend (later husband) Dr. Owen Hunt (Kevin McKidd) that she heard animals in the darkness after the crash and realized they were fighting over Lexie’s body; though she tried to keep them at bay, she couldn’t. “And to be able to close the chapter for Lexie, and to appear in a way where she’s not eaten by wolves,” Leigh said wryly. “Kind of bring a little life back to it … It was a special experience to be able to be part of that.”

You can watch Leigh’s performance as Dr. Lexie Grey on “Grey’s Anatomy,” which is streaming on Hulu and Netflix now.