Burke is leaving Grey's

fuck.

Okay, for a second there I was really upset, because how upset is Christina going to be when Burke just does not return at all ever? She really loves him. She'll be devastated.

But now I'm thinking it's a good thing.

Because first of all, Isaiah Washington sounds like a homophobic asshole, so I don't feel very sorry for him. But more importantly, I think Christina needed this. With the possible exception of Bailey, she is the most awesome character on the show and the one I root for the most. Her relationship with Burke has been souring for a really long time. Things were fucked up right when Burke got shot and Christina couldn't make a decision for him, maybe even before then (I don't remember). Their relationship kept coming back from the brink of collapse to be closer but unhealthier than ever.

I'm not going to go into all the ways Christina did penance, but the show has been pounding into our heads that Christina is giving up own identity. I got the message when asshole Stanford prof overheard her faking ignorance about some surgery to prop up Burke's ego. He literally said something like "You're not the Christina Yang I knew." If you didn't get the point then, in the season finale, Mama Burke made her wear a freaking choke collar (okay, it was a necklace, but the symbolism was there) to show that she belonged to (was owned by?) the Burke family. The eyebrows thing was just icing.

At this point, I think if Burke came back, the cycle of almost collapse --> increased dysfunction would just get worse. That would be terrible. Now she'll be devastated, but at least she'll have a chance of becoming strong and independent again.