Grey's Anatomy Cristina Yang Had It Coming From Dr. Hahn All Along

Summary:

• Grey's Anatomy is a medical procedural drama created by Shonda Rhimes for ABC. The show has now run for 19 seasons and has been renewed for a 20th season in early 2023.
• Initially, the show focused on five interns, often referred to as MAGIC (Meredith, Alex, George, Izzie, and Cristina). Later, the focus shifted to other characters as well.
• Cristina Yang was the most brilliant of the original five but had many problems with her social skills. She was known as a very direct, borderline rude person.

There are many things that can be said about Grey's Anatomy, and pretty much all of them would be true. The show gained a lot of fans in its early years but also lost a lot of them during its run. When the show is this close to the 20-year mark, you know it must be good.

But you also know that it needs to be more like a soap opera than a more realistic nighttime drama. Many viewers of Grey's Anatomy feel the same way about their favorite show.

In addition to sharing the medical subject matter and the filming studio, both of ABC's iconic series, Grey's Anatomy and General Hospital, share a love for a good villain. Although this wasn't the case with Grey's Anatomy from the very beginning, later on the writers started to introduce some characters whose sole purpose was to ruin other people's lives.

Erica Hahn, portrayed by Brooke Smith, was one of those characters. Although she was a flawed character in many ways, the main reason the fandom hated her was because of her relationship with Cristina Yang. But what if we told you that Cristina deserved such treatment, at least as a learning point?

Was Erica Hahn Actually That Bad?

Well, of course, she was not. While she was very hard on Cristina, she wasn't really that bad to any of the other interns, or to any of the other characters in the show. In fact, she may have helped Cristina grow.

Throughout the show, it's clear that Cristina works best in a highly stressful or competitive environment. These emotions help her stay focused and perform where others might succumb to the stress. By constantly keeping Cristina on her toes, Dr. Hahn was able to push her to be the best.

Also, we know the reason behind her attitude towards Cristina, and while it may not be a direct excuse for almost bullying someone you work with, it explains the situation pretty well. As Hahn admitted to Addison, she was being hard on Cristina because she reminded her of herself as an intern.

And if you could imagine the interaction between two Cristina-like characters any other way, that's up to you and your imagination. Too bad, Erica Hahn’s lessons clearly didn’t affect Cristina enough for her to not get horrible to her own interns later on.

Cristina Yang’s Power Hunger

Like any other Shonda Rhimes character, Cristina Yang was far from one-dimensional. In fact, she was one of the most popular characters on the show, despite her terrible manners and inability to speak kindly and politely to any of her patients. In reality, you would ask for another doctor the first time you met her.

On-screen, however, all viewers were able to see how deep and interesting she was. Despite being a bit unlikable at first, Cristina was always admired for her hard work, dedication, and sheer talent in surgery. It was hard to get through her thick skin, but those who did were rewarded with a very loyal friend.

Cristina was never interested in family in the traditional sense of the word. She was always very outspoken about being a childless person and showed all the signs of commitment issues. Instead, she had work. And working toward a goal made her both extremely competitive and absolutely unbearable.

As soon as Cristina started to taste a little bit of power when she was assigned interns of her own, it all went downhill. She wasn't the mentor you'd want to have, but rather the one that stays with you in your nightmares.

As unfortunate as it is, she was harsh and unfair, and she let her early successes get to her head, putting herself on a pedestal.

If you feel like the whole Dr. Hahn and Cristina Yang feud storyline went over your head and the moments are a little blurry in your memory, don't worry. You can always stream Grey's Anatomy on Hulu or Netflix.

And if you don't want to miss any news about the season 20 premiere, stay tuned for all the behind-the-scenes news and updates on Grey's Anatomy.