From the writers of Grey's on last night's episode:
I mean, these doctors have life-and–death stakes every day. So we were interested in what extra pressures we could put on these doctors, but even more interested in what happens when all the pressure is taken off.
Like when you…say… quit your job.
So, yes, let’s talk about Cristina first…. She left the hospital, under what might have been the worst possible circumstances: not in a panic or a fit of anger – these are conditions you can get over -- but with a clear-headed decision that surgery is just not what she wants to do. Which is more frightening, because it means she might never come back. What’s even scarier for Cristina is the question of what she will do now. Now that the thing she’s been working toward, preparing for, eating, sleeping and breathing for all of her adult life is suddenly off the table. Here, she’s clearly avoiding the question, as she grasps at any and every notion that crosses her path -- from haircuts to housewares. Anything to keep from looking at the real question: “What do I do now?”
Cristina’s departure is putting pressure on other people too: Meredith heard last week that she’s at least partially responsible for Cristina’s troubles; Derek feels a debt to her that he doesn’t begin to know how to repay; Owen wants the girl he met back, for her own sake as much as his; and Teddy (thanks in part to Derek’s misdirected frustration) worries that she could have done more.
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