Cristina Yang was one of the most popular and beloved characters on Grey's Anatomy and even years after she left the show, her legacy lives on. Sandra Oh truly gave us a brilliant surgeon and a very well-rounded female character. Not only is she one of the best Grey's characters, she's easily one of the best television characters of all time.
Looking back at her time on the show, we're reflecting on some of Cristina's most iconic moments. There were many during the ten seasons she was on the long-running medical drama, but these are a few of our favorites.
5. Ignoring McSteamy's flirtation
Heads turn when acclaimed plastic surgeon Mark Sloan (Eric Dane) finally shows up at the hospital. He's the McSteamy to Derek Shepherd's McDreamy, both his romantic rival and best friend. Charming and charismatic, women fall all over themselves for a moment of Mark's time, all except Cristina Yang.
Derek sets Mark up to flirt with Cristina and he anticipates that she will immediately be receptive to him, but in reality, Cristina doesn't even notice that Mark is flirting with her. When he finally confronts her about this and her lack of interest, Cristina just bursts into laughter. To be fair, he probably needed the ego hit.
4. Embracing her freedom post-Burke
Cristina is popular for many reasons, but one of the most important ones is because of what she represents to women. Cristina refuses to compromise her ambitions or desires for a man, though she comes close with her near-marriage to Preston Burke. Cristina loved him so much that she found herself beginning to change for him in ways she was internally resistant to, so when Burke finally understands that Cristina is turning into someone else for him, he calls off their wedding.
The moment Cristina realizes she is no longer getting married, she says, "I'm free." Then comes the beautifully acted scene with her and Ellen Pompeo as Meredith Grey, where Meredith helps to cut Cristina out of her wedding dress. Of course Cristina is devastated, but she also feels like a weight has been lifted as she realizes that she can be fully independent once again.
3. He's very dreamy, but he is not the sun
Having witnessed everything that happened with Burke and Cristina makes the final goodbye scene between Meredith and Cristina all the more powerful. When the two women prepare to give each other a sendoff, Cristina gives Meredith a speech and it has become one of the show's most famous and iconic scenes.
She tells Meredith not to let what Derek wants eclipse her needs. "He's very dreamy, but he is not the sun. You are." You can tell that Cristina is, in some ways, speaking from experience, as there was a time she came close to letting Burke "eclipse" her own desires and now she wants to ensure that her best friend doesn't fall into that same pattern.
2. Taking care of everyone post-plane crash
The plane crash was a deeply traumatizing moment in Grey's Anatomy history that ultimately resulted in the deaths of two beloved characters, Mark and Lexie. But what Cristina went through was incredibly harrowing in its own way and she goes into a catatonic state when rescued. We learn that Cristina stayed awake for the entirety of their time before they were found.
She did everything she could to keep everyone else alive, tending to Meredith while she slept, and trying to prevent Mark from dying. She was even forced to watch as wolves went for Lexie's body and did her best to keep them away. The fact that she did so much while suffering the same trauma as the others speaks a lot to her character and persistence.
1. Saving Derek's life while held at gunpoint
Next to the plane crash saga, the one where widower Gary Clark brings a gun to the hospital and shoots several of the doctors, with 11 people dying from their wounds. Gary's main targets include Richard Webber, Derek Shepherd, and then himself.
He ultimately does shoot Derek and Cristina jumps into surgery to save him even while Gary holds a gun to her head and demands that she stop. Thanks to Cristina's persistence and Jackson's help, they do save Derek though they manage to fool Gary into thinking he flatlines on the table. It is one of the tensest scenes in the entire show and Oh's acting is phenomenal.
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