If you ask any Grey’s Anatomy fan what character they would love to see back, the majority of them would say Cristina Yang (Sandra Oh). From seasons 1 to 10, fans watched as Cristina studied to become a cardiothoracic surgeon. Although she was often sarcastic and cold, Cristina also proved to have a softer side it came to her patients and friends.
She may not have been a social person, but time proved that Cristina was a friend you would love to have in your corner. From her feud with Meredith (Ellen Pompeo) to her saving Izzie’s (Katherine Heigl) life, here are the five times Cristina proved to be a good friend and five times she proved to be the worst.
WORST: Almost Killing Alex
When Alex (Justin Chambers) revealed that Meredith (Ellen Pompeo) had tampered with the Alzheimer’s trial, he was ostracized by many of the residents. Cristina attacked him when she found out that Meredith had been fired. Alex did try his best to make amends with the Chief but has no such luck.
His and Cristina’s friendship is improved when she accidentally stabs with epinephrine. Whilst he is recovering, she barges into the room and orders him to get up out of bed. Alex tells Cristina that she has to forgive him because they are all he has. When he makes a mistake, she’s meant to also have his back. They reach a truce when they try to stop Meredith get done for kidnapping.
BEST: Supporting Izzie
A surprising friendship grew between Izzie and Cristina when she confided in the cardiothoracic surgeon about her illness. Cristina was an absolute trooper through it all, arranging meetings with oncologists and creating treatment plans for the baker.
When Izzie was hesitant to start treatment, Cristina was the one to convince her to fight the disease. She was also actively involved in Izzie’s case, checking on her whenever she had a spare minute and advising the other physicians on the best course of treatment. Izzie appreciated her support that she named her Maid of Honor at her wedding.
WORST: Willing to throw Izzie under the bus
In the aftermath of Izzie cutting Denny’s (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) LVAD wire, M.A.G.I.C. were all under investigation. Richard (James Pickens Jr.) suspends them all from surgery until the real culprit confessed. The five interns had agreed to stick to their story, which led to Webber targeting each one of them individually.
When it came to Cristina’s turn, Richard targets her desire for surgery. What he didn’t expect was for Cristina to question him about how he keeps his edge and how does she get it back. She makes a deal that if he tells her how to not be affected by patients or the other surgeons, she would tell him who cut the LVAD wire. Imagine how betrayed they all would have felt if she confessed.
BEST: Bringing Lexie to Meredith’s house
When Lexie (Chyler Leigh) was first introduced to the show, Cristina and Meredith (Ellen Pompeo) didn’t treat her very well. They would act coldly and belittle her every chance they got. However, it was Cristina who first extended an olive branch when she invited Lexie to hang out with her and Meredith.
In the second part of “Crash into Me”, Lexie tries her best to save patient Nick Hanscom (Seth Green), whose carotid artery had ruptured. Unfortunately, Lexie was devastated when Nick died, resulting from a significant amount of blood loss. Cristina comes back to console Lexie, saying she did a good job. Yang also invites her back to Meredith’s, where they all dance it out.
WORST: Feud with Meredith
In season 10, Meredith and Cristina had a small feud after the cardiothoracic doctor called her friend a lesser surgeon. This led to the twisted sisters freezing each other out, both becoming too invested in their own research to repair their friendship. While Cristina did raise some good points, she let herself down by ruining Meredith’s work.
At times, Cristina allowed Shane (Gaius Charles) to dictate her work. He continued to push Cristina to use the 3-D printer and proved to be insubordinate when he shouted at Meredith for reprimanding them. Although Cristina saw he had good intentions, she should have reprimanded him for shouting at a board member. Since she didn’t, tensions between friends escalated.
BEST: Aftermath of Henry’s death
Cristina was left in a difficult situation after she was forced to operate on Henry (Scott Foley). She was further upset to find that she would have to lie to Teddy (Kim Raver) about her husband’s condition. Once the surgery was over, Cristina told her mentor that Henry had unfortunately passed away.
In the following episode, the surgeons all discuss how Teddy is instructing Cristina to retell the surgery. April (Sarah Drew) says its particularly mean to watch, but Cristina tells her that she can handle it. Although she finds out that Teddy keeps requesting so she can memorize it herself, not once does Cristina yell or complain.
WORST: Jealousy over Sadie
To be fair to Cristina, everyone was shocked when Sadie (Melissa George) made an appearance. Over the five seasons, Meredith and Cristina had been joint at the hip. So when Sadie turned up at Meredith’s house and kicked Cristina out of bed, Yang felt excluded. She then decided to join Derek in the kitchen to complain.
Cristina was seen to be jealous of Sadie, taking every opportunity to express her distaste of the new intern. She appeared patronizing of Sadie’s choice to take a job in the morgue, scolding her for asking stupid questions and tries to exclude her on consultations. Even Meredith confronts her for mistreating Sadie on her first day.
BEST: Saving Derek’s life
One of the best moments for Cristina came when she saved Derek’s life. After Gary Clark (Michael O’Neill) shot Derek (Patrick Dempsey) in the season 6 finale, Cristina, Meredith, and April rushed him to an OR. When they can’t find Teddy or Owen (Kevin McKidd), Cristina agrees to operate on Derek on the condition that Meredith doesn’t enter the room.
Fans were shocked to see that Gary had found his way into the OR and was holding Cristina at gunpoint. Even though he demands she stop working, Cristina refuses. Jackson (Jesse Williams) manages to alleviate the tension by disconnecting the monitor, which tricks Clark into believing Derek is dead. Once he leaves, Jackson and Cristina resume their work.
WORST: Getting in the way of Owen’s happiness
Cristina and Owen called time on their marriage at the end of season 9, with both realizing they wanted different things. They concluded that it might be better for them to see other people, which led to Owen dating Emma Marling (Marguerite Moreau).
Cristina seemed to struggle with Owen’s budding romance but was nevertheless content that he found someone else. However, she ended up ruining this relationship when she and Owen had a one-night stand. She knew that her marriage was over so why would she jeopardize a relationship where he could be genuinely happy?
BEST: Pillar in the plane crash
Between her involvement in the shooting, Cristina’s other heroic moment came in season 8 finale. With Lexie dead, and Mark (Eric Dane) and Arizona (Jessica Capshaw) severely injured, Cristina was quite lucky to come out of the crash uninjured. She was seen to be a pillar for all the surgeons when as they waited for rescue.
In the episode “Remember The Time”, Cristina tells Owen what went down in the woods. She tells him how she had picked the bugs out of Arizona’s leg, keep resuscitating Mark and fend off wild animals who went after Lexie. Throughout it all, she stayed awake for four days. One of the most honorable things to ever happened on the show.
