It’s no secret that Grey’s Anatomy relies heavily on music to add even more to its already emotional storylines, and one song detail makes Preston Burke and Cristina Yang’s turbulent story a lot better. The genre of medical drama has seen some of the most popular titles in TV history, and one of its biggest and most recent successes is Grey’s Anatomy, created by Shonda Rhimes. Grey’s Anatomy has been going strong for over a decade, and while its quality has decreased in recent years, it still has a solid fanbase that continues following all the drama inside and outside Grey’s Sloan Memorial Hospital.
Grey’s Anatomy follows the lives of surgical interns, residents, and attendings as they do their best to balance their personal and professional lives, which always end up overlapping and making way for a lot of drama. Since its first episode, Grey’s Anatomy has been led by Meredith Grey (Ellen Pompeo), who started as an intern at Seattle Grace Hospital and has now become head of general surgery at the same hospital (now named Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital). Meredith started her journey alongside other fan-favorite characters, most notably Cristina Yang (Sandra Oh), who became Meredith’s “person” and best friend.
Cristina Yang is a cardiothoracic surgeon best known for being incredibly focused and driven, though she’s also highly competitive and cold, often struggling to convey her feelings and empathize with most of her patients. Cristina’s personal life was full of ups and downs, beginning with her relationship with Preston Burke (Isaiah Washington), the former head of cardiothoracic surgery at Seattle Grace. Burke infamously left Cristina at the altar and left Seattle as well, but one song gave their story a much-needed twist: Madonna’s “Like a Virgin”.
What Happened Between Burke & Cristina In Grey’s Anatomy?
Preston Burke and Cristina Yang’s relationship was far from healthy, and after breaking up a couple of times and showing how different their views and beliefs were, Burke proposed to her, and she accepted after eight days of hesitation. On their wedding day, Cristina panicked before walking down the aisle and Burke decided to leave her because he wasn’t sure she was ready to commit. Burke left Seattle immediately after, but that wasn’t the end of his presence in Grey’s Anatomy. In season 4, Burke became the recipient of the 2008 Harper Avery Award, but he didn’t mention Cristina in his article, even though she helped him recover from his hand injury and thus was key in him winning that award. Later on, Cristina was seen working in the morgue with Lexie Grey (Chyler Leigh), who brought up the topic of Burke, and so Cristina dodged the topic by singing “Like a Virgin”.
Burke returned in Grey’s Anatomy season 10 to offer Cristina his spot at the Klausman Institute for Medical Research in Switzerland so he could move to Milan with his family. Cristina traveled to Zurich to turn down the offer, but as the conversation heated up, Burke explained to her he didn’t want her to work for him but to take his job as the institute’s chief medical officer, and at that moment, a slower and softer version of “Like a Virgin” began to play in the background. The use of “Like a Virgin” in these two key moments in the story of Burke and Cristina changes it for the better, as Burke went from completely ignoring her and what she did for him when he won the Harper Avery Award, to fully recognizing her and her talents, and the song was present to bring this to a full circle. Cristina Yang ended up accepting the job and moved to Zurich, though it’s implied she keeps in touch with Meredith, while Preston Burke moved to Italy with his family and hasn't returned to Grey's Anatomy.