Cristina Yang was a fan favorite for the entire time that she was around in Grey’s Anatomy. Not only was she played brilliantly by actress Sandra Oh, but her character fast became a symbol of women empowerment on popular television—one of those rare instances when the heroine’s best friend was almost as beloved and powerful as the heroine herself.
It’s been six years since Oh left the show, but the legacy that she left behind in this hit ABC medical drama will be one for the ages. Let us look back at those little details about Yang that might have escaped notice.
Cristina’s Dad Died In An Accident
Cristina’s dad passed away when she was nine. Little Cristina witnessed his death and even tried to help him, but he bled out in front of her.
This was probably the primary reason why Cristina wanted to be a doctor in the first place and maybe why she had that rather mechanical demeanor about her. The latter could have been her defense mechanism against getting deeply hurt all over again and perhaps even reliving her childhood trauma.
Cristina Grew Up Privileged
Cristina deserved every bit of appreciation she received and more, but the environment she grew up in was very different from some of her peers.
Cristina grew up in one of the poshest and most upscale places in California—Beverly Hills. Cristina’s stepfather was an oral surgeon and had clearly given her a very privileged upbringing.
Cristina Was Brought Up Jewish
Cristina’s step-dad was Jewish and she was brought up in the Jewish faith.
Given her nature, one wouldn’t realize it off the top of their heads but she was actually quite conversant in the Jewish tradition. When Denny Duquette died, and Izzie locked herself up to mourn his death, the rest of the gang wondered how to help her. At this time, Cristina appeared very well informed about Jewish customs.
Cristina Has A Doctorate
Cristina had a remarkable academic record. Not only was she top of her class at Stanford University, from where she obtained her MD, but she also held a PhD from Berkeley.
Competitiveness was one of the primary qualities of this very driven character and it seems that it not only brought her recognition as a brilliant cardiothoracic surgeon but had also served her well during her formative years.
‘McDreamy’ Was Cristina’s Creation
McDreamy—the term got widely popularized, not just within the context of the show but also outside, given how the actor who played the very dreamy and good-looking Derek Shepherd is referred to as McDreamy far and wide.
Within the show, it was actually Cristina who first came up with the term. There is no doubt that the term was extremely apt, and it was thanks to Cristina that fans all over the world got their Dr. McDreamy.
Cristina Was Extremely Disorganized
This is something that the writers seem to have forgotten during the course of the years, but when the audience was first getting to know Cristina, she was shown to be extremely disorganized. The place she rented during the earlier years of the season used to be an absolute mess, with clothes and stuff strewn all over the floor and on the furniture.
In fact, this was one of the things that might have irked Dr. Preston Burke whom Cristina dated from seasons 1-3. Burke himself was extraordinarily neat for a man, and perhaps found Cristina’s lack of organization at home to be both annoying and endearing.
Cristina Was Never Meant To Be With Burke
Speaking of Burke, this brilliant cardiothoracic surgeon was never meant to get together in the first place. Not many people know this but Dr. Burke was initially supposed to be with Meredith herself.
Apparently, Shonda Rhimes had originally intended Burke and Meredith to be a couple, but actress Ellen Pompeo who plays Meredith Grey is in an interracial marriage in real life and was seemingly not comfortable living her reality on screen as well. Thus, Dr. Burke got paired in another interracial relationship with Cristina Yang and Meredith and Derek made history together.
Cristina Used Derek’s Famous One-liner
In the thrilling season 6 finale, ‘Death and All His Friends’, Derek, the then Chief of Surgery, was shot by a dead patient’s grieving husband who blamed the Chief for deciding to take his wife off life support.
It was Cristina who had to operate on Derek at gunpoint and save his life. During those heart-stopping moments, it made sense that she would look for something that could motivate her and possibly make her a little less petrified than she already felt. At this time, Cristina started her surgery with the same lovely one-liner that Derek himself had made famous—”It’s a beautiful day to save lives.”
Cristina Was Izzie’s Confidant
One of the main plot points during the early years of the series was Izzie Stevens fighting to stay alive with cancer.
When Izzie first got the terrible news, she chose Cristina to confide in, among all her friends. Izzie assumed that Cristina’s ability to remain emotionally unattached with her patients would help her treat Izzie with a neutral mind, and turned out, she was right.
Cristina Was Supposed To Have Attended Derek’s Funeral
For those who didn’t notice, Cristina actually made an appearance during Derek’s funeral.
The actress Sandra Oh did not appear though; there was a brief shot—that too from behind—of a stand-in actress standing beside Meredith, holding her hand during the funeral. It was also mentioned afterwards that Cristina had attended the funeral. After all, she would always be Meredith’s ‘person’ and it would have been shocking had she not showed up during one of the most tragic moments in Meredith’s life.
