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Agree!! Christina may have encouraged him to do so, but he was the attending, had more power and experience, and should’ve had the courage to put his foot down and do what was right.
It is wild after watching the show how little interns were supposed to do. Teddy was right when she grilled Cristina and said "I don't think you were ever made to do the basics."
How the fuck did he still have a job after that???????? Like if you do that in the real world, NOT ONLY will you get shitcanned harder than Shaq slamming a dunk, but you'll get your ass sued off by patients you had your gf/intern work on.
The hospital had a lot of hush-hush policies in general. Hell, if even half the stuff at this hospital got out to the public, there would be a serious federal investigation lmao
The entire hospital would have been gone within the first like 5 seasons let’s be honest here. They’d of all been either in jail or in the unemployment line.
It’s kinda crazy how much crazy bad happens on an episode by episode basis that doesn’t even make the top 10.
They definitely had to be covering shit up. If the Denny situation alone got out they’d never be allowed to work with transplants and half of them would probably end up in prison and losing their licences for being involved or not stopping it.
Consistently using his power over Cristina to pressure her into relationship steps she didn’t want/wasn’t ready for. Cristina very obviously never wanted to get married and it wasn’t until they were at the altar that he decided to notice/care.
This was so smooth in the show it's almost hard to notice until you do rewatches. He never listened to her or anything she asked. He constantly just dangled surgery in front of her until she gave in to what he wanted.
Sandra Oh completely took my breath away in the later scene when she says: “Burke took something from me….little pieces over time, so small I didn’t even notice”
Made even more brutal by the fact that she said it to Owen Fucking Hunt, who proceeded to propose to her when she was in the depths of a PTSD crisis knowing she was vulnerable.
I hate Owen, but I think it gets overlooked that he was likely in a PTSD crisis himself. Getting shot while trying to protect her and all.
He wasn’t in the same dire straits as Cristina for sure, but I imagine he wasn’t entirely level headed.
Owen was a shitty partner through the entire relationship. And sure you have a point, but I also think his own knowledge of PTSD and how it can fuck up your ability to think clearly almost makes it worse that he did what he did. I’m sure he was affected but she was actively triggered (literally huddling on the couch under a blanket having a meltdown because he arrived home late) and his response was to propose. She absolutely pushed aside her own trauma (ie: the choking incident) to help him with his, whereas he just took advantage of hers.
I’d have more sympathy if he didn’t have a pattern of treating women badly.
I'd gently argue that maybe Owen thought she needed to know that he'd always come home and he wasn't leaving her so he made a grand gesture? I could see someone doing that.
I could do it if weren’t for the context of things gone by. She literally dumped him not long before the shooting which feels like his seizing that opportunity was super manipulative. Like, she has this whole convo with him about how Burke made her lose parts of herself and he was doing the same (nevermind the whole loving/not loving Teddy thing) then .3 seconds post shooting when she’s traumatised af that’s the course of action he takes. It’s kinda gross.
They were two different things - she did have that convo in the context of her not missing opportunities for her career but then subsequently also broke up with him because of the Teddy thing. When she and Meredith are going to Derek’s office before he gets shot (before they know there’s a shooter) it’s for Meredith to tell Derek she’s pregnant and Yang gets Meredith go agree to let her go because she’s just broken up with Owen. She yeah, it literally just happened and his reaction to her trauma was ‘here’s a ring, I’ll never leave you’.
He wasn’t level headed the minute he showed up at that hospital. It’s insane that he even made it through the day and didn’t have a severe ptsd episode in front of a patient.
This pissed me off so much! People always say Owen was a toxic relationship for her but to me Burke was WAY worse because she let him push her way farther and faster than she wanted. Burke was controlling enough that she would have caved to him on having the baby if she hadn’t miscarried.
It's true. I always find it really powerful how Cristina was such a strong woman, yet so vulnerable to abuse at the same time. It really dispells a lot of myths around who becomes a victim of abuse and coercion
She also went into that relationship KNOWING full well Owen wanted kids and a family. She led him on and took him deeper and deeper down just as much as Owen did to her. You can't always hold it against the men! She was no shrinking violet. She even went over to bang him when he was happy with Charlotte or whatever her name was. So Christina is just as guilty
Not putting all the blame on him but he was completely unfair to her, he also fully knew she didn’t want kids as well. His desire to have kids was a bone of contention in his marriage with Amelia too.
Yeah, but Amelia wanted kids or at least she said she did. Then yeah they got married and she changed her mind. But both Christina and Amelia told him what he wanted to hear at first and then he of course felt blind sided after they take their vows and change their mind. Both are wrong but Owen was always straight up about wanting kids so of course he feels contempt when they change their mind.
She told him she didn't want kids full stop. Before he told her, he wanted them. She thought he was joking when he suggested she may change her mind. but she was straight up the whole time. Cristina was always adamant that she didn't want them.
She was never clear about it until after they were married tho. Actually they never had that conversation fully untill after they were married. Amelia tho did say she wanted kids before they were married. Plus Christina knew having kids was something Owen definitely wanted.. and she married him anyway. That's just as bad
No she was clear about it before they got married. There was an episode where a kid patient was involved or something like that and Christina said something along the lines of why would anyone want a kid. Owen was right there and he heard it loud and clear. But he decided to dismiss it because he thought she would change her mind later. He thought he knew her better than she does herself. That was so patronising of him
Yes, this. It also feeds into him hiding the tremor in his hands by making Cristina do all of his procedures. She wasn't ready for it but he knew she'd jump at it because she loved surgery. He risked her entire future to protect his reputation. Everything about his and Cristina's relationship was SO selfish.
Tbf, it was in 3rd season(?) that it becomes forcing, not encouraging
In a sense, Christina made him force her. He was nothing but respectful before her miscarriage. It made him encourage her into stuff which she really needed. But it also turned into a slippery slope
Gently said, if you think he was nothing but respectful in the earlier seasons, you should unpack that with a therapist. Their relationship was never a respectful, healthy relationship. That’s not what love or respect looks like.
I see a lot of people commenting about the hand tremor and while I don't disagree, this is the worst for me. He literally admits to second guessing himself right away after her surgery, but not only brushes it off, but completely ignores his instinct for literally YEARS. How many health problems and complications did that woman suffer from before they found it? And the only reason he came clean was because Meredith made a mistake in the same vein and was about to be punished for admitting to it instead of hiding/denying as Burke had done.
Lots of good ones here, one of mine is when he gave Cristina the silent treatment for days and kept her away from surgeries (the denny duquette heart's retrieval) just because she FELL ASLEEP during sex with him. Like, she's an overworked intern busting her ass off, it's not surprising she'd fall asleep when finally relaxing he should be concerned about her if anything or idk take it as a compliment that she can only relax when being intimate with him, instead he let it hurt his ego and made it a whole thing as if she had committed some grand and horrible crime against him and it was very very weird how serious of a thing he made it and I'm not even sure it was because it bruised his ego because when he talked to her about it she said she had came twice and he said that he didn't in an angry tone. And he punished her for it??? like I get being a bit disappointed or having it bruise your ego on the moment why not, feelings happen, but he used it to have power over her afterwards and enjoyed punishing her when her so called "crime" was ridiculous and the most simple human thing in the world.
It’s honestly so gross, entitled that he was so upset. If I had fallen asleep my husband would just finish himself off, go to bed and laugh about how tired I must’ve to have fallen asleep during suck ruckus the next day!
Yeah this is actually the worst thing. Okay the hand tremor was bad and I get his career was on the line and he was in denial but come the fuck on with him giving her the silent treatment because she FELL ASLEEP, and it just snowballed from there.
This scene is what does it for me. As someone who’s dealt with emotional abuse for YEARS (and has gone through the subsequent amount of therapy for it) this scene really highlighted that Burke was a true narcissist. I know that word is sooo overused especially here on Reddit but for Burke it is so true. They don’t try to hide it. Burke was a brilliant surgeon but still an abuser through and through.
Absolutely agree. Most ppl who are deemed narcissists on the internet are merely just unhealthy tantrumy partners that are shit at expressing their feelings or putting their ego aside in arguments so are very shitty partners or ppl as a result, but with Burke it's different he fits the criteria for narcissist a 100%. He doesn't just manipulate and calculate his moves because he doesn't know how else to communicate his feelings, like most unhealthy partners do, he does everything meticulously on purpose, with a preciseness that is so cold and dark It's almost hard to watch at times.
I'm gonna go with everything involved with the hand tremor. Lying about it and having Cristina be part of that lie was wrong. Yes, Cristina did not have to go along with it but Burke knew the power he had on multiple levels.
If we are going to say Cristina's worst moment was covering for Burke then Burke gets the blame for it too.
I have a very hard time putting blame on Cristina when she was so clearly victimized by Burke. At literally every turn, he is taking advantage of the power imbalance or berating her.
Even if it was technically Cristina’s idea, Burke was her superior and it was his job to put a stop to it. Instead, he took advantage of what she was willing to do for him and blamed her for his participation in the cover-up. He punishes her for doing the ethical thing by reporting him and as soon as she starts talking to him again, he proposes without acknowledging any of the fucked shit he said or did to her.
I always saw it as Yang not wanting to be with someone who did not have his prestige as a surgeon. Like if he did not cut, he was beneath her, and she could not have that.
I somewhat agree with your latter point, only that even with Cristina being in 10 seasons and Burke in 3, she still didn’t demonstrate as much egregiously awful behavior as him. There was simply less to choose from when the topic was her.
Definitely the hand tremor. It was deceptive for patients, and had something gone wrong, would have ruined not just his career, but Cristina's career as well. It also caused Burke to alienate other interns or residents from being able to scrub in.
Yes leaving her at the altar. It's one thing to call off the wedding WITH the person your supposed to marry. It's another to leave them without a word and move away, have your mother do it for you, and get published and not mention the very person who sacrificed everything to be your literal HANDS when you couldn't operate and then shun them for saying what you couldn't. Burke was trash.
I wanted to type up this one, but _combined_ with the “No, _you_ want ‘Preston Burke’ [as in: the surgeon, the man, the legend, the ego feed]” to Cristina, during tremorgate if I’m not mistaken. I always hated this. If you’re hurt or mad that someone according to you isn’t in love with who you actually ‘are’, then don’t sell yourself with your status, and actually verbally with this “I ☝🏽 [exclamation] am Preston [mf’ing] Burke”
the hand tremor. feel sick to my stomach when i imagine me/a family member going into surgery not knowing that the lead surgeon has a hand tremor and it’s actually the intern operating. hiding it straight in front of george’s face aswell.
literally!! as he claimed George as “his guy” yet was willing to put his father at such a risk? majorly fucked up. especially also given the fact that George had been coming to Burke the ENTIRE time his father was in the hospital, expressing his worries and his doubts, and Burke still went to try and do this? like ARE YOU SERIOUS?
Broke HIPPA, specifically did what his patient didn't want just to be spiteful and get off OB. He's a doctor, his first obligation is to his patient but he couldn't see past himself to give her what she needed and in doing so, opened Addison up to a lawsuit. Imagine putting your trust and your body in the hands of someone whose supposed to help you and they do this.
To that point, though, I’d argue that directly working against a woman’s decision to get her tubes tied by continuously telling the patient it’s wrong and then siding with her husband is up there with misogynistic behavior on top of violating HIPPA. I guess if anything it just supplements how poorly he treats women in general
That actually makes it worse for me, meddling in something that he has no right to meddle in and in the worst way possible. Honestly after that episode I still have a hard time even trying to like him, I haven’t finished the show yet but there’s no way he can be redeemed 🤢
Yes, your point is that breaking HIPAA is worse because it’s illegal, and mine is that both situations are illegal.
Addison likely would have made it out of that situation unscathed after speaking with that couple and getting some advice from a lawyer. but a young doctor who has her private photos exposed to all of her male colleagues is something that has the potential to be far more damaging and affect the rest of her life
You know that the photos that Alex posted were the readily available model shots that Izzie was paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to pose for, right? Alex didn't go around posting revenge porn or private photos Izzie had shared with only him, just the ones in magazines and national advertisements that could be purchased at the local corner store for the cost of a $5 magazine....The ones she was well aware everyone knew about and had no shame in having people see them. She was angry that no one could see her as anything more than a model, not that they saw her half naked.
It really doesn’t matter what Alex’s intent was?? They’re still half naked photos that she was clearly hiding. Nobody has a right to blow them up all over your workplace to humiliate you for their own entertainment. Jesus
Nobody is saying it isn't sexual harassment. We're saying it's less worse than fucking over your patient's will and getting Addison sued for doing the right thing. At the end of the day, Izzie's pictures were available to everybody in the world. It isn't revenge porn. She's not ashamed of them. It's wrong, but it's a different world of wrong.
I’d say Alex snitching to that woman’s husband is much much worse because he could’ve likely put her in legitimate physical danger just to be spiteful. If a woman doesn’t feel safe enough to tell her husband something as simple as “I don’t want any more kids, my body and mind can’t handle it” even after they had SEVEN then that means that he’s unreasonable and possibly abusive and Alex didn’t even consider that at all and immediately sided with the dude.
In reality, the decision to contact a lawyer would have been suggested to the father at some point even if Alex hadn't said anything. While what he did was shitty, it was actually probably the best case scenario for that situation. The lie would have come out eventually. Would it have been better to happen in a long drawn out trial, with Addison's medical license in jeopardy or in the hospital, where the woman was safe and surrounded by a staff literally there to protect her from harm should her husband turn violent or angry?
while it’s up in the air what exactly is the worst for alex i am okay with this answer because I think it encapsulates all of alex’s worst traits especially from his evil spawn era. He disregarded his direct supervisor, ignored patient requests, violated HIPAA, and (in my opinion) it really shows the misogyny that alex held and weaponized. To me, he tells the husband that because once she was a wife and mother it was no longer her body (if it ever was) and the husband “had” to know. It reflects back to the pictures of Izzy from the beginning and how he would use her body against her to hurt her personally and within her career.
Alex is still one of my favorite characters (despite what the ending did) and even with the Deluca thing, I can still see why that happened even if it was bad and horrible. alex telling that guy to get a lawyer was malicious. there was nothing personal about it and he still chose to interfere in his patients life for ….nothing?
regardless if Cristina pushed even a bit to cover his tremor he was an attending surgeon and someone who is supposed to be at the top of his field. what he did was far more egregious than what Cristina did imo
yeah I don't even get how it's not made clearer when it happens, like it's not debatable imo she did see it as an opportunity to learn so much about her passion but the massive toll it took on her to do this and hide it and all the schemes and the mental load, and the fact that she felt like she had no other choice because he had power over her both emotionally and in status she wasn't enjoying it, she didn't even feel like bragging about the procedures she got to do because the fear/need to protect him outweighed the opportunities to learn, it wasn't right, and of course she offered to do this when dude made his whole "without my hands I'm not PRESTON BURKE" ego speech, what he should have done was say no right here and there as the attending the fact that he didn't, makes the responsability fall on him entirely
I wish this was irl because I’d say what he said to TR Knight, but as the character, knowing Cristina did not want children and always put her career first, yet trying to marry her and change her and force her into submission to follow his ways anyway.
The way he treated Bailey when he had the hand tremor, and when she confronted him about it he was like oh I just couldn’t use you. After everything she did for him, being his sounding board even as his student and he was so cold to her.
That or allowing Christina to treat everyone like shit on his behalf.
This. Burke constantly denied her surgeries, kicked her out of the OR, etc when he was mad about something she did ( or didn't do ) in the relationship. Using the power dynamic of being her boss to punish her.
Hiding his tremors, he could’ve killed someone. Yes, Cristina was pushy about getting him back into surgery, but he was older, he was an attending and he was her teacher who essentially had the future of her career in his hands. It can be easy to believe Cristina was just pushy so she could have more opportunities to learn, but the man she was in love with and looked up to go shot and was no longer that man she first met and likely sought out to be her mentor. She chose the then Seattle Grace for a reason! And I really think Burke couldn’t handle not being perfect in her eyes. Makes it much harder to control someone else if they don’t view you as perfect.
With that being said, how controlling Burke was of Cristina. He saw himself as above her and yes he was on a professional level, but he treated Cristina like a fixer upper project. He talked down to her like she was a child. He spoke to her like a child and not as a partner both at home and the hospital. He would punish her at the hospital for things that happened at home and vice versa. That’s just not cool. If you can’t keep your work and home life separate, then don’t date your coworkers, liiiiike…
Leaving Cristina at the alter…
> Burke couldn’t handle not being perfect in her eyes. Makes it much harder to control someone else if they don’t view you as perfect.
You nailed it on that one!! like, so so so true
Pressuring Cristina into a relationship and then abandoning her at the alter once he FINALLY realized she didn’t want to get married, and then leaving without even a goodbye
I know almost everyone is going to say the hand tremor but the emotional abuse he put Christina through will always be the worst to me. It’s one thing to be lazy at your job (even if it’s saving lives) but for him to harm the woman he supposedly loved so much will never sit right with me.
He used his position and Christina’s love for him against her to force her to make moves in life she wasn’t ready for just because he was ready. He got with a younger woman knowing full well she wasn’t in the same phase of life as him and then had the gall to get mad at her for not wanting what he did.
Honestly, Burke is just as bad as Owen but because he’s more subtle he doesn’t get the hate he very well deserves.
It does. If Derek has zero haters I’m dead. The only one I really give any sort of pass is Mark and that’s because neither lexi or him gave really any sort of clarification for what they wanted in the relationship and then acted insanely immature when both of them left the relationship. I see both of them as failures in the relationship aspect.
Hand tremor combined with being published with no mention of Cristina (who literally was his hands for a long time) that was messed up.
Side note just learned the other day what went on behind the scenes with him & t.r. 😠
Oooh, I forgot this. He made Bailey doubt herself after assuring her everything was fine. It happened during Tremorgate. She had wrote herself in on a surgery and Cristina took her off, and he backed Cristina saying to Bailey “I don’t need you.”
He knew she was insecure about being “mommy-tracked”, knew how important it was for her to be in that surgery, and he failed her. Bailey was still a resident at this time and he was her attending as well. He was her teacher too.
The tremor, which he shouldn’t have hidden, then blamed Derek for giving it to him in the first place, even though it’s a known complication of that type of surgery/injury, and then using Cristina to cover for him and getting mad at her as she got more paranoid about it as time went on. That, accompanied by the fact that he essentially ignored Cristina’s wishes about their wedding, and then left her because she was overwhelmed and angry that she’d even been put in that position in the first place.
Hiding the tremor. A wonderful man. A gentleman. A genius.
Hiding this (and then blaming Christina first and Derek second
for his choice) was a defining failure and a black mark on his character.
Everything he did to Cristina. He was so controlling and manipulative at every step! He should have just left her alone. Calling her emotionally stunted because she knew what she wanted! He was awful all the way through his time on Grey’s
The tremor was the worst. I think it should be noted that yes leaving Christina at the alter was what was best for them both, leaving without saying anything, an explanation or apology or even a good bye was wrong. She was someone he loved and she deserves more than being completely ghosted… plus he let his “mama” shave her eyebrows off lol.
What’s good for the goose is good for the gander. If Cristina’s worst thing she did was covering for Burke when his hand had a tremor then the worst thing Burke did had to be still doing surgeries while hiding that his hand had a tremor.
Y’all if you see his relationship with Cristina, there is little to no communication aside from surgery.
They started off with sex.
She didn’t tell him she was pregnant.
They didn’t have anything to talk about on their date till someone choked or had a heart episode.
She didn’t tell him about her apartment.
She didn’t participate in the wedding planning.
She couldn’t ask him about his hand after the second surgery Derek did.
Derek and Meredith came over for dinner and she was sitting away from the table as some punishment.
It was ridiculous the whole thing. The only thing she did communicate to him was that she didn’t want George in the apartment.
I’ve sympathised with Burke because no matter what you say Cristina was emotionally limited and it took a lot of effort on her part to show her feelings. People aren’t like that in conventional relationships. Everything is not sex or surgery.
It took her so much time to tell Owen she wanted him to stay when he wanted a divorce and her reaction to traumatic situations was to always shut down. The shooting?? The plane crash?? She became numb. Obviously it has something to do with how her dad died for sure and I get it. But how that impacts a relationship is what is shown in her behaviour with Burke and Owen as well. Not that those two were any prizes either.
But I understand Burke’s behaviour during the tremors. She was on his side, standing by him solid for the first time in their relationship, like a team. It could have been that high that made him think things would be fine. People and situations aren’t black and white, we can’t react in black and white all the time.
When he was constantly telling Cristina that he couldn’t be the only one to make compromises while he bullied her into giving in without ever changing himself
Burke was alright, I like the fact that he pulled Meredith out of a sticky situation when she noticed a baby had a heart murmur, but everything he did with Cristina was what made me hate him
I missed the Alex day but I genuinely think that was a horrible thing. Nothing was done wrong, the woman was paying for it, it was doctor patient confidentiality, he should have kept his mouth shut and maybe at worst report to the Chief for potential insurance fraud.
Sadly it's true, burke was one of my favorite characters, I liked his relationship with Cristina before his mom came into the picture, liked his scenes with Izzie and his 'friendship' with George (who would have thought isaiah was a total asshole behind scenes)
the "i'll find another bride" ... maybe i'm remembering it wrong but i believe he says this when cristina's trying to study for her exams and he keeps bitching at her to try cakes... like i realize there was a lot of other shit at play also but it's Cristina Yang, who's intern exam is coming up, vs wedding cake. That was shitty to essentially threaten to leave her if she didn't change her personality and give a shit about a wedding she never would've gave a shit about regardless of the other stuff.
I just can’t with him. Every time I see him, I confuse him with the guy from Terminator 2. I know they’re not even remotely close to the same person. But that’s just what my brain does.
So I’m gonna go with, worst thing is dropping the deadman switch on that whole squad of policemen 🤣
(I’m probably going to hell for this one) \\
He would use his relationship with Cristina to decide whether or not he’d teach her. Like that time she fell asleep during sex after she finished and he wouldn’t teach her or let her do anything in the OR because of that. It’s a teaching hospital and what happens in your personal life should not affect how you are teaching.
Also continuing to do surgery with the tremors. He let an intern (albeit his girlfriend) strong arm him into doing it, once again basically allowing personal life interfere with professional
The way he withheld surgeries from her until she moved in with him was a big one for me. He constantly used their power imbalance to get what he wanted from her.
Agreeing with everyone that hiding his tremor was the worst. But I think this only happened because he got involved with his subordinate/student when he shouldn't have.
Beyond potentially ruining his and Cristina's careers, the tremor was completely irresponsible and unethical behaviour towards his patients. Having an intern/resident perform intricate surgeries, regardless of how competent he deemed her, without the patient's informed consent was irredeemable.
On my first watch I held Cristina more responsible than I should have because of how it seemed she pushed him into/introduced the ploy. But, of course the eager intern/resident would be keen on showcasing their skill and learning more. The primary responsibility should lie with the attending. And had he maintained a professional relationship with her, I feel/hope he wouldn't have had his feelings clouded and would have done the responsible thing on disclosing his tremor.
Also, as mentioned by other comments, throughout their relationship he gave Cristina more opportunities to learn cardio than any other resident, which disadvantaged her peers. But on the downside, he robbed her of an opportunity of being able to learn from other specialties by hoarding her, resulting in her not being as well rounded of a surgeon. An issue that was thankfully rectified by Teddy.
-- On the plus side, Burke's character, was one of the few I racked my mind on to find fault with. He was such a close to perfect man (compared to the other characters and their antics) - handsome, smart, sensitive, kind and funny - pity the actor ruined it all.
That same power he has as both boyfriend and attending to give her surgeries, was also used against her. Many times when Cristina wouldn't give him a clear answer about this or that, or after she turned him in for the tremor, he shut her out and/or kicked her out of surgeries because he has a power dynamic over her.
Wouldn't define the relationship, no surgeries for you. Didn't want to answer about moving in together? Yup, no surgeries again.
For being so close to a "perfect man" he was definitely petty af in those moments.
Is it bad to say everything as my answer? 😂😂😂 tremor was probably the worst ethically but really breaking down piece by piece Christina over the 3 seasons is the worst as a viewer to watch happen
Off subject, but didn’t Izzie pay her medical bills?
Lol, why am I getting downvoted for asking that? I thought she didn’t for the longest time and and a lot of people on here said she did so now I’m confused again
Leaving Christina at the altar when we had plenty chances to call off the wedding before. Yes, he's done other things too, but leaving her at the altar was the most dehumanising, insulting thing he could do to her - and she didn't even want to get married.
i’d say the same thing as i’d say for owen which is dating and proposing to their student (would i say that for derek? no, but meredith actually likes him and cristina + these dudes and their babycrazy wedding dreams just do not make sense)
His manipulation of Cristina. His speech when he left her at the altar was the only time he ever respected her.
“But you don't wanna do this. I'm up there waiting for you to come down the aisle and I know you don't wanna come.
I know you don't wanna come but you'll come anyway because you love me. And if I loved you, If I loved YOU, not the woman that I'm trying to make you be, not the woman that I hopeyou'll become, but you. If I did, I wouldn't be up there waiting
for you. I would be letting you go.”
Not coming clean when he had rhe tremor, letting Cristina cover for him knowing very well he had an intern doing his work .he was thinking with his other brain.
I'd say to continue to operate while he had a tremor. Iirc, he's the only one who operates despite knowing he's hurt. Bailey stepped back with the staph infection thing, Mer stepped back when she couldn't see, and when she hurt her hand and Derek did too when his hand went numb.
This thread is literally making me want to restart Greys and I’m on season 18🥲 Burke got what he deserved , Christina leaving him at the altar and not having his baby
Burke had power over Christina and constantly abused it to move forward in their relationship despite Christina not being ready/not wanting to move at that fast pace/not wanting to do something. I stand strong by the opinion that relationships should move forward with both parties feeling comfortable at the pace and not because of pressure from each other.
Also, the whole hand tremor thing. His ego was too big for him to understand that if it weren't for Christina helping him in every possible surgery, he'd been thrown out on his ass until he was 100%. I feel like that's something very selfish to do, to her and to patients who are completely clueless about it.
Been waiting for this.
There is no team. There is no team! There is only me, once again, making allowances for your emotional shortcomings.
Man foook Burke.
His treatment of Cristina, including allowing his mother to abuse her and take her eyebrows, pressuring her into moving in and marriage long before she was ready, arranging the wedding for the day after a big exam and harassing her over cake choices while she’s trying to study, taking sole credit for their joint work.
Best thing he did was leave her.
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Continuing to work on people when he had the hand tremor and not telling anyone about it. He was the attending, he should have known better.
Agree!! Christina may have encouraged him to do so, but he was the attending, had more power and experience, and should’ve had the courage to put his foot down and do what was right.
I hated he blamed her , saying she pushed him into it. Like he had no say in what happened.
Hiding the hand tremor and allowing an INTERN to do his procedures
It is wild after watching the show how little interns were supposed to do. Teddy was right when she grilled Cristina and said "I don't think you were ever made to do the basics."
I really loved how Teddy took her back to basics. She said something like “I know you know what to do, but do you know why” if I’m not mistaken.
And it was completely unnecessary too, Derek would have fixed it.
How the fuck did he still have a job after that???????? Like if you do that in the real world, NOT ONLY will you get shitcanned harder than Shaq slamming a dunk, but you'll get your ass sued off by patients you had your gf/intern work on.
The hospital had a lot of hush-hush policies in general. Hell, if even half the stuff at this hospital got out to the public, there would be a serious federal investigation lmao
The entire hospital would have been gone within the first like 5 seasons let’s be honest here. They’d of all been either in jail or in the unemployment line. It’s kinda crazy how much crazy bad happens on an episode by episode basis that doesn’t even make the top 10.
They definitely had to be covering shit up. If the Denny situation alone got out they’d never be allowed to work with transplants and half of them would probably end up in prison and losing their licences for being involved or not stopping it.
The research trial being compromised would have screwed them all the way over.
Consistently using his power over Cristina to pressure her into relationship steps she didn’t want/wasn’t ready for. Cristina very obviously never wanted to get married and it wasn’t until they were at the altar that he decided to notice/care.
This was so smooth in the show it's almost hard to notice until you do rewatches. He never listened to her or anything she asked. He constantly just dangled surgery in front of her until she gave in to what he wanted.
Sandra Oh completely took my breath away in the later scene when she says: “Burke took something from me….little pieces over time, so small I didn’t even notice”
Made even more brutal by the fact that she said it to Owen Fucking Hunt, who proceeded to propose to her when she was in the depths of a PTSD crisis knowing she was vulnerable.
Men just take what they want from women. Sad but realistic
I hate Owen, but I think it gets overlooked that he was likely in a PTSD crisis himself. Getting shot while trying to protect her and all. He wasn’t in the same dire straits as Cristina for sure, but I imagine he wasn’t entirely level headed.
Owen was a shitty partner through the entire relationship. And sure you have a point, but I also think his own knowledge of PTSD and how it can fuck up your ability to think clearly almost makes it worse that he did what he did. I’m sure he was affected but she was actively triggered (literally huddling on the couch under a blanket having a meltdown because he arrived home late) and his response was to propose. She absolutely pushed aside her own trauma (ie: the choking incident) to help him with his, whereas he just took advantage of hers. I’d have more sympathy if he didn’t have a pattern of treating women badly.
I'd gently argue that maybe Owen thought she needed to know that he'd always come home and he wasn't leaving her so he made a grand gesture? I could see someone doing that.
I could do it if weren’t for the context of things gone by. She literally dumped him not long before the shooting which feels like his seizing that opportunity was super manipulative. Like, she has this whole convo with him about how Burke made her lose parts of herself and he was doing the same (nevermind the whole loving/not loving Teddy thing) then .3 seconds post shooting when she’s traumatised af that’s the course of action he takes. It’s kinda gross.
Wait they broke up??? I thought that scene was her telling him that she wouldn't miss an opportunity to better herself/career for him again.
They were two different things - she did have that convo in the context of her not missing opportunities for her career but then subsequently also broke up with him because of the Teddy thing. When she and Meredith are going to Derek’s office before he gets shot (before they know there’s a shooter) it’s for Meredith to tell Derek she’s pregnant and Yang gets Meredith go agree to let her go because she’s just broken up with Owen. She yeah, it literally just happened and his reaction to her trauma was ‘here’s a ring, I’ll never leave you’.
He wasn’t level headed the minute he showed up at that hospital. It’s insane that he even made it through the day and didn’t have a severe ptsd episode in front of a patient.
Ehhh. He saw far worse as a soldier.
🥺🥺🥺
This is one of the most powerful scenes in the entire show
It's so real. It happens all the time. I never forgot that line. Really stuck with me
When my friend was going through a break up no one understood she used this line to convey what had happened and it really got to the heart of it
This pissed me off so much! People always say Owen was a toxic relationship for her but to me Burke was WAY worse because she let him push her way farther and faster than she wanted. Burke was controlling enough that she would have caved to him on having the baby if she hadn’t miscarried.
And she went right into another relationship with another man who wanted to force her into something she didn’t want
It's true. I always find it really powerful how Cristina was such a strong woman, yet so vulnerable to abuse at the same time. It really dispells a lot of myths around who becomes a victim of abuse and coercion
She also went into that relationship KNOWING full well Owen wanted kids and a family. She led him on and took him deeper and deeper down just as much as Owen did to her. You can't always hold it against the men! She was no shrinking violet. She even went over to bang him when he was happy with Charlotte or whatever her name was. So Christina is just as guilty
Not putting all the blame on him but he was completely unfair to her, he also fully knew she didn’t want kids as well. His desire to have kids was a bone of contention in his marriage with Amelia too.
Yeah, but Amelia wanted kids or at least she said she did. Then yeah they got married and she changed her mind. But both Christina and Amelia told him what he wanted to hear at first and then he of course felt blind sided after they take their vows and change their mind. Both are wrong but Owen was always straight up about wanting kids so of course he feels contempt when they change their mind.
She told him she didn't want kids full stop. Before he told her, he wanted them. She thought he was joking when he suggested she may change her mind. but she was straight up the whole time. Cristina was always adamant that she didn't want them.
Christina never told him she wanted kids though. She wasn’t a great person either, so I’m not saying that he is the only one at fault.
He knew she didn’t want kids…..
She was never clear about it until after they were married tho. Actually they never had that conversation fully untill after they were married. Amelia tho did say she wanted kids before they were married. Plus Christina knew having kids was something Owen definitely wanted.. and she married him anyway. That's just as bad
No she was clear about it before they got married. There was an episode where a kid patient was involved or something like that and Christina said something along the lines of why would anyone want a kid. Owen was right there and he heard it loud and clear. But he decided to dismiss it because he thought she would change her mind later. He thought he knew her better than she does herself. That was so patronising of him
And he never did the adult thing and directly asked where she should. It’s directly on him it was his dream not hers. He should have been 100% sure.
He was so toxic and egotistical 🤦🏽♀️
This 100% for me.
Yes. This is it for me too. I hated the way he treated Cristina and how small she became in response.
Yes, this. It also feeds into him hiding the tremor in his hands by making Cristina do all of his procedures. She wasn't ready for it but he knew she'd jump at it because she loved surgery. He risked her entire future to protect his reputation. Everything about his and Cristina's relationship was SO selfish.
Yes this.
this this this
1000% agree
Tbf, it was in 3rd season(?) that it becomes forcing, not encouraging In a sense, Christina made him force her. He was nothing but respectful before her miscarriage. It made him encourage her into stuff which she really needed. But it also turned into a slippery slope
Gently said, if you think he was nothing but respectful in the earlier seasons, you should unpack that with a therapist. Their relationship was never a respectful, healthy relationship. That’s not what love or respect looks like.
Leaving that towel in that woman’s chest & getting a attitude when confronted about it
I see a lot of people commenting about the hand tremor and while I don't disagree, this is the worst for me. He literally admits to second guessing himself right away after her surgery, but not only brushes it off, but completely ignores his instinct for literally YEARS. How many health problems and complications did that woman suffer from before they found it? And the only reason he came clean was because Meredith made a mistake in the same vein and was about to be punished for admitting to it instead of hiding/denying as Burke had done.
That was so insane!!!!!
lmao that towel was the size of a new born baby how did he miss it??
forced christina to "care" about the wedding....the way he said "Care or ill find another bride" or something eugh
AND HE STILL LEFT HER AT THE ALTER
honestly that was the kindest thing he ever did.... 'If i loved *YOU*...."
I wouldn’t consider it a kindness because he wasn’t a good enough person to see it that way. But it was the best thing he could have done for her
Yes. Every most other instances I could see his side as well as Cristina’s: the whole “care or I’ll find another bride” was just terrible.
Not to mention setting the wedding to be at the same time as her intern exams? Or whatever exams.... So fucked up!
Lots of good ones here, one of mine is when he gave Cristina the silent treatment for days and kept her away from surgeries (the denny duquette heart's retrieval) just because she FELL ASLEEP during sex with him. Like, she's an overworked intern busting her ass off, it's not surprising she'd fall asleep when finally relaxing he should be concerned about her if anything or idk take it as a compliment that she can only relax when being intimate with him, instead he let it hurt his ego and made it a whole thing as if she had committed some grand and horrible crime against him and it was very very weird how serious of a thing he made it and I'm not even sure it was because it bruised his ego because when he talked to her about it she said she had came twice and he said that he didn't in an angry tone. And he punished her for it??? like I get being a bit disappointed or having it bruise your ego on the moment why not, feelings happen, but he used it to have power over her afterwards and enjoyed punishing her when her so called "crime" was ridiculous and the most simple human thing in the world.
I think my least favorite thing is a version of this, and also just that he would constantly abuse his power over Cristina. 😓
It’s honestly so gross, entitled that he was so upset. If I had fallen asleep my husband would just finish himself off, go to bed and laugh about how tired I must’ve to have fallen asleep during suck ruckus the next day!
Yeah this is actually the worst thing. Okay the hand tremor was bad and I get his career was on the line and he was in denial but come the fuck on with him giving her the silent treatment because she FELL ASLEEP, and it just snowballed from there.
yea that was just dumb of him
This scene is what does it for me. As someone who’s dealt with emotional abuse for YEARS (and has gone through the subsequent amount of therapy for it) this scene really highlighted that Burke was a true narcissist. I know that word is sooo overused especially here on Reddit but for Burke it is so true. They don’t try to hide it. Burke was a brilliant surgeon but still an abuser through and through.
Absolutely agree. Most ppl who are deemed narcissists on the internet are merely just unhealthy tantrumy partners that are shit at expressing their feelings or putting their ego aside in arguments so are very shitty partners or ppl as a result, but with Burke it's different he fits the criteria for narcissist a 100%. He doesn't just manipulate and calculate his moves because he doesn't know how else to communicate his feelings, like most unhealthy partners do, he does everything meticulously on purpose, with a preciseness that is so cold and dark It's almost hard to watch at times.
Ugh completely forgot about this. He really was just a despicable partner in every way.
I'm gonna go with everything involved with the hand tremor. Lying about it and having Cristina be part of that lie was wrong. Yes, Cristina did not have to go along with it but Burke knew the power he had on multiple levels. If we are going to say Cristina's worst moment was covering for Burke then Burke gets the blame for it too.
I have a very hard time putting blame on Cristina when she was so clearly victimized by Burke. At literally every turn, he is taking advantage of the power imbalance or berating her. Even if it was technically Cristina’s idea, Burke was her superior and it was his job to put a stop to it. Instead, he took advantage of what she was willing to do for him and blamed her for his participation in the cover-up. He punishes her for doing the ethical thing by reporting him and as soon as she starts talking to him again, he proposes without acknowledging any of the fucked shit he said or did to her.
He was peak emotional abuse
I always saw it as Yang not wanting to be with someone who did not have his prestige as a surgeon. Like if he did not cut, he was beneath her, and she could not have that.
I somewhat agree with your latter point, only that even with Cristina being in 10 seasons and Burke in 3, she still didn’t demonstrate as much egregiously awful behavior as him. There was simply less to choose from when the topic was her.
Definitely the hand tremor. It was deceptive for patients, and had something gone wrong, would have ruined not just his career, but Cristina's career as well. It also caused Burke to alienate other interns or residents from being able to scrub in.
Yes leaving her at the altar. It's one thing to call off the wedding WITH the person your supposed to marry. It's another to leave them without a word and move away, have your mother do it for you, and get published and not mention the very person who sacrificed everything to be your literal HANDS when you couldn't operate and then shun them for saying what you couldn't. Burke was trash.
Honestly, I’d say leaving her - despite the shitty way he did it - was the *best* thing Burke ever did because he was the absolute worst partner
The “I AM PRESTON BURKE AND YOU ARE A SLOB” monologue
I wanted to type up this one, but _combined_ with the “No, _you_ want ‘Preston Burke’ [as in: the surgeon, the man, the legend, the ego feed]” to Cristina, during tremorgate if I’m not mistaken. I always hated this. If you’re hurt or mad that someone according to you isn’t in love with who you actually ‘are’, then don’t sell yourself with your status, and actually verbally with this “I ☝🏽 [exclamation] am Preston [mf’ing] Burke”
yeah it was so manipulative of him he was so smooth in how he fucked with her mind honestly, one of the worst men on that show imo
Tbh, the worst thing about Burke was Isaiah Washington’s behavior behind the scenes. Cast a shadow on the character for me personally.
And what he said to T.R...
Yea. Made me not like him at all. Glad they got rid of him. Sad they brought him in for a couple episodes later.
Came here to say this….
Tremorgate
the hand tremor. feel sick to my stomach when i imagine me/a family member going into surgery not knowing that the lead surgeon has a hand tremor and it’s actually the intern operating. hiding it straight in front of george’s face aswell.
literally!! as he claimed George as “his guy” yet was willing to put his father at such a risk? majorly fucked up. especially also given the fact that George had been coming to Burke the ENTIRE time his father was in the hospital, expressing his worries and his doubts, and Burke still went to try and do this? like ARE YOU SERIOUS?
I’m sorry but how is Alex telling that dude to get a lawyer worse than him almost killing Deluca?! Tf
or worse than hanging up naked pics of his coworker?????
Broke HIPPA, specifically did what his patient didn't want just to be spiteful and get off OB. He's a doctor, his first obligation is to his patient but he couldn't see past himself to give her what she needed and in doing so, opened Addison up to a lawsuit. Imagine putting your trust and your body in the hands of someone whose supposed to help you and they do this.
Are you a woman? Do you know that sexually harassing your colleague at work is also illegal?
To that point, though, I’d argue that directly working against a woman’s decision to get her tubes tied by continuously telling the patient it’s wrong and then siding with her husband is up there with misogynistic behavior on top of violating HIPPA. I guess if anything it just supplements how poorly he treats women in general
Oh he’s definitely misogynistic. But luckily Addison was in charge of her care, not Alex lol
That actually makes it worse for me, meddling in something that he has no right to meddle in and in the worst way possible. Honestly after that episode I still have a hard time even trying to like him, I haven’t finished the show yet but there’s no way he can be redeemed 🤢
Yes, I am a woman. I don't see what the legality of the situation has to do with this? Breaking HIPAA can also lead to criminal charges.
Yes, your point is that breaking HIPAA is worse because it’s illegal, and mine is that both situations are illegal. Addison likely would have made it out of that situation unscathed after speaking with that couple and getting some advice from a lawyer. but a young doctor who has her private photos exposed to all of her male colleagues is something that has the potential to be far more damaging and affect the rest of her life
You know that the photos that Alex posted were the readily available model shots that Izzie was paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to pose for, right? Alex didn't go around posting revenge porn or private photos Izzie had shared with only him, just the ones in magazines and national advertisements that could be purchased at the local corner store for the cost of a $5 magazine....The ones she was well aware everyone knew about and had no shame in having people see them. She was angry that no one could see her as anything more than a model, not that they saw her half naked.
It really doesn’t matter what Alex’s intent was?? They’re still half naked photos that she was clearly hiding. Nobody has a right to blow them up all over your workplace to humiliate you for their own entertainment. Jesus
I don't know why you're getting downvoted! It's sexual harassment! It doesn't matter if the photos are public
Nobody is saying it isn't sexual harassment. We're saying it's less worse than fucking over your patient's will and getting Addison sued for doing the right thing. At the end of the day, Izzie's pictures were available to everybody in the world. It isn't revenge porn. She's not ashamed of them. It's wrong, but it's a different world of wrong.
I’d say Alex snitching to that woman’s husband is much much worse because he could’ve likely put her in legitimate physical danger just to be spiteful. If a woman doesn’t feel safe enough to tell her husband something as simple as “I don’t want any more kids, my body and mind can’t handle it” even after they had SEVEN then that means that he’s unreasonable and possibly abusive and Alex didn’t even consider that at all and immediately sided with the dude.
In reality, the decision to contact a lawyer would have been suggested to the father at some point even if Alex hadn't said anything. While what he did was shitty, it was actually probably the best case scenario for that situation. The lie would have come out eventually. Would it have been better to happen in a long drawn out trial, with Addison's medical license in jeopardy or in the hospital, where the woman was safe and surrounded by a staff literally there to protect her from harm should her husband turn violent or angry?
while it’s up in the air what exactly is the worst for alex i am okay with this answer because I think it encapsulates all of alex’s worst traits especially from his evil spawn era. He disregarded his direct supervisor, ignored patient requests, violated HIPAA, and (in my opinion) it really shows the misogyny that alex held and weaponized. To me, he tells the husband that because once she was a wife and mother it was no longer her body (if it ever was) and the husband “had” to know. It reflects back to the pictures of Izzy from the beginning and how he would use her body against her to hurt her personally and within her career. Alex is still one of my favorite characters (despite what the ending did) and even with the Deluca thing, I can still see why that happened even if it was bad and horrible. alex telling that guy to get a lawyer was malicious. there was nothing personal about it and he still chose to interfere in his patients life for ….nothing?
The dude could've been abusive to his wife.. It simply wasn't his place, bonus he put his mentor (who was great to him) under the bus.
I agree it’s bad, but Alex has done Waaay worse
Wrong thread
regardless if Cristina pushed even a bit to cover his tremor he was an attending surgeon and someone who is supposed to be at the top of his field. what he did was far more egregious than what Cristina did imo
yeah I don't even get how it's not made clearer when it happens, like it's not debatable imo she did see it as an opportunity to learn so much about her passion but the massive toll it took on her to do this and hide it and all the schemes and the mental load, and the fact that she felt like she had no other choice because he had power over her both emotionally and in status she wasn't enjoying it, she didn't even feel like bragging about the procedures she got to do because the fear/need to protect him outweighed the opportunities to learn, it wasn't right, and of course she offered to do this when dude made his whole "without my hands I'm not PRESTON BURKE" ego speech, what he should have done was say no right here and there as the attending the fact that he didn't, makes the responsability fall on him entirely
I wish this was irl because I’d say what he said to TR Knight, but as the character, knowing Cristina did not want children and always put her career first, yet trying to marry her and change her and force her into submission to follow his ways anyway.
Letting Christina operate on tons of people while he was hurt and billing those patients with his own name and fees.
The way he treated Bailey when he had the hand tremor, and when she confronted him about it he was like oh I just couldn’t use you. After everything she did for him, being his sounding board even as his student and he was so cold to her. That or allowing Christina to treat everyone like shit on his behalf.
Worst thing Burke ever did? That he existed.
Hid his tremor and continued performing surgery
he was such a pansy mamas boy who let his mom treat cristina like crap.
“Mama took my eyebrows. She took my eyebrows and now I am a Burke.”
When he would use his position to punish Cristina for something she did in their personal life
This. Burke constantly denied her surgeries, kicked her out of the OR, etc when he was mad about something she did ( or didn't do ) in the relationship. Using the power dynamic of being her boss to punish her.
Hiding his tremors, he could’ve killed someone. Yes, Cristina was pushy about getting him back into surgery, but he was older, he was an attending and he was her teacher who essentially had the future of her career in his hands. It can be easy to believe Cristina was just pushy so she could have more opportunities to learn, but the man she was in love with and looked up to go shot and was no longer that man she first met and likely sought out to be her mentor. She chose the then Seattle Grace for a reason! And I really think Burke couldn’t handle not being perfect in her eyes. Makes it much harder to control someone else if they don’t view you as perfect. With that being said, how controlling Burke was of Cristina. He saw himself as above her and yes he was on a professional level, but he treated Cristina like a fixer upper project. He talked down to her like she was a child. He spoke to her like a child and not as a partner both at home and the hospital. He would punish her at the hospital for things that happened at home and vice versa. That’s just not cool. If you can’t keep your work and home life separate, then don’t date your coworkers, liiiiike… Leaving Cristina at the alter…
> Burke couldn’t handle not being perfect in her eyes. Makes it much harder to control someone else if they don’t view you as perfect. You nailed it on that one!! like, so so so true
Pressuring Cristina into a relationship and then abandoning her at the alter once he FINALLY realized she didn’t want to get married, and then leaving without even a goodbye
I know almost everyone is going to say the hand tremor but the emotional abuse he put Christina through will always be the worst to me. It’s one thing to be lazy at your job (even if it’s saving lives) but for him to harm the woman he supposedly loved so much will never sit right with me. He used his position and Christina’s love for him against her to force her to make moves in life she wasn’t ready for just because he was ready. He got with a younger woman knowing full well she wasn’t in the same phase of life as him and then had the gall to get mad at her for not wanting what he did. Honestly, Burke is just as bad as Owen but because he’s more subtle he doesn’t get the hate he very well deserves.
So I guess the same applies to Derek
It does. If Derek has zero haters I’m dead. The only one I really give any sort of pass is Mark and that’s because neither lexi or him gave really any sort of clarification for what they wanted in the relationship and then acted insanely immature when both of them left the relationship. I see both of them as failures in the relationship aspect.
allowing cristina to do his work and giving her NONE of the credit
Hand tremor combined with being published with no mention of Cristina (who literally was his hands for a long time) that was messed up. Side note just learned the other day what went on behind the scenes with him & t.r. 😠
Oooh, I forgot this. He made Bailey doubt herself after assuring her everything was fine. It happened during Tremorgate. She had wrote herself in on a surgery and Cristina took her off, and he backed Cristina saying to Bailey “I don’t need you.” He knew she was insecure about being “mommy-tracked”, knew how important it was for her to be in that surgery, and he failed her. Bailey was still a resident at this time and he was her attending as well. He was her teacher too.
The tremor, which he shouldn’t have hidden, then blamed Derek for giving it to him in the first place, even though it’s a known complication of that type of surgery/injury, and then using Cristina to cover for him and getting mad at her as she got more paranoid about it as time went on. That, accompanied by the fact that he essentially ignored Cristina’s wishes about their wedding, and then left her because she was overwhelmed and angry that she’d even been put in that position in the first place.
Exist
His ENTIRE relationship with Cristina tbh
Hiding the tremor. A wonderful man. A gentleman. A genius. Hiding this (and then blaming Christina first and Derek second  for his choice) was a defining failure and a black mark on his character.
Everything he did to Cristina. He was so controlling and manipulative at every step! He should have just left her alone. Calling her emotionally stunted because she knew what she wanted! He was awful all the way through his time on Grey’s
His mom took her eyebrows
The tremor was the worst. I think it should be noted that yes leaving Christina at the alter was what was best for them both, leaving without saying anything, an explanation or apology or even a good bye was wrong. She was someone he loved and she deserves more than being completely ghosted… plus he let his “mama” shave her eyebrows off lol.
Hiding the tremor and letting Cristina cover for him with the sutures
Hiding the tremor 100%, so careless, reckless, and selfish
When he picked on and yelled at George on his first day, especially during the appendectomy.
Not mentioning Cristina when he won the Harper Avery. She did the research, she WAS his hands, and he didn’t even mention her. Arrogant son of a bitch
What’s good for the goose is good for the gander. If Cristina’s worst thing she did was covering for Burke when his hand had a tremor then the worst thing Burke did had to be still doing surgeries while hiding that his hand had a tremor.
Y’all if you see his relationship with Cristina, there is little to no communication aside from surgery. They started off with sex. She didn’t tell him she was pregnant. They didn’t have anything to talk about on their date till someone choked or had a heart episode. She didn’t tell him about her apartment. She didn’t participate in the wedding planning. She couldn’t ask him about his hand after the second surgery Derek did. Derek and Meredith came over for dinner and she was sitting away from the table as some punishment. It was ridiculous the whole thing. The only thing she did communicate to him was that she didn’t want George in the apartment. I’ve sympathised with Burke because no matter what you say Cristina was emotionally limited and it took a lot of effort on her part to show her feelings. People aren’t like that in conventional relationships. Everything is not sex or surgery. It took her so much time to tell Owen she wanted him to stay when he wanted a divorce and her reaction to traumatic situations was to always shut down. The shooting?? The plane crash?? She became numb. Obviously it has something to do with how her dad died for sure and I get it. But how that impacts a relationship is what is shown in her behaviour with Burke and Owen as well. Not that those two were any prizes either. But I understand Burke’s behaviour during the tremors. She was on his side, standing by him solid for the first time in their relationship, like a team. It could have been that high that made him think things would be fine. People and situations aren’t black and white, we can’t react in black and white all the time.
When he was constantly telling Cristina that he couldn’t be the only one to make compromises while he bullied her into giving in without ever changing himself
Hiding the tremor and manipulating Cristina into a shell of her former self before leaving her at the altar
the tremor and leaving a towel in a patient
Burke was alright, I like the fact that he pulled Meredith out of a sticky situation when she noticed a baby had a heart murmur, but everything he did with Cristina was what made me hate him
I agree with most that it’s letting an intern cover for him with a tremor.
Definitely hiding the tremor
I missed the Alex day but I genuinely think that was a horrible thing. Nothing was done wrong, the woman was paying for it, it was doctor patient confidentiality, he should have kept his mouth shut and maybe at worst report to the Chief for potential insurance fraud.
Hiding his tremor
Leaving Cristina at the alter and performing surgeries with a tremor.
Definitely the hiding the tremor.
His entire relationship with Christina
Be played by Isaiah Washington
Sadly it's true, burke was one of my favorite characters, I liked his relationship with Cristina before his mom came into the picture, liked his scenes with Izzie and his 'friendship' with George (who would have thought isaiah was a total asshole behind scenes)
Not to mention Isaiah's politics. It's hard to look at Burke without thinking of the Trumper he is
His relationship with Cristina
Not telling anyone about his tremor and letting cristina do the procedures (as an intern?!) When he left cristina at the altar
the "i'll find another bride" ... maybe i'm remembering it wrong but i believe he says this when cristina's trying to study for her exams and he keeps bitching at her to try cakes... like i realize there was a lot of other shit at play also but it's Cristina Yang, who's intern exam is coming up, vs wedding cake. That was shitty to essentially threaten to leave her if she didn't change her personality and give a shit about a wedding she never would've gave a shit about regardless of the other stuff.
I just can’t with him. Every time I see him, I confuse him with the guy from Terminator 2. I know they’re not even remotely close to the same person. But that’s just what my brain does. So I’m gonna go with, worst thing is dropping the deadman switch on that whole squad of policemen 🤣 (I’m probably going to hell for this one) \\ 
Probably the tremor ordeal to begin with, but also his entire dynamic with Cristina.
He would use his relationship with Cristina to decide whether or not he’d teach her. Like that time she fell asleep during sex after she finished and he wouldn’t teach her or let her do anything in the OR because of that. It’s a teaching hospital and what happens in your personal life should not affect how you are teaching. Also continuing to do surgery with the tremors. He let an intern (albeit his girlfriend) strong arm him into doing it, once again basically allowing personal life interfere with professional
The way he withheld surgeries from her until she moved in with him was a big one for me. He constantly used their power imbalance to get what he wanted from her.
Made Cristina lie and perform surgery for him, risking patients' lives, his life and Cristina's career.
Agreeing with everyone that hiding his tremor was the worst. But I think this only happened because he got involved with his subordinate/student when he shouldn't have. Beyond potentially ruining his and Cristina's careers, the tremor was completely irresponsible and unethical behaviour towards his patients. Having an intern/resident perform intricate surgeries, regardless of how competent he deemed her, without the patient's informed consent was irredeemable. On my first watch I held Cristina more responsible than I should have because of how it seemed she pushed him into/introduced the ploy. But, of course the eager intern/resident would be keen on showcasing their skill and learning more. The primary responsibility should lie with the attending. And had he maintained a professional relationship with her, I feel/hope he wouldn't have had his feelings clouded and would have done the responsible thing on disclosing his tremor. Also, as mentioned by other comments, throughout their relationship he gave Cristina more opportunities to learn cardio than any other resident, which disadvantaged her peers. But on the downside, he robbed her of an opportunity of being able to learn from other specialties by hoarding her, resulting in her not being as well rounded of a surgeon. An issue that was thankfully rectified by Teddy. -- On the plus side, Burke's character, was one of the few I racked my mind on to find fault with. He was such a close to perfect man (compared to the other characters and their antics) - handsome, smart, sensitive, kind and funny - pity the actor ruined it all.
That same power he has as both boyfriend and attending to give her surgeries, was also used against her. Many times when Cristina wouldn't give him a clear answer about this or that, or after she turned him in for the tremor, he shut her out and/or kicked her out of surgeries because he has a power dynamic over her. Wouldn't define the relationship, no surgeries for you. Didn't want to answer about moving in together? Yup, no surgeries again. For being so close to a "perfect man" he was definitely petty af in those moments.
Hand tremor aside...he and Derek did the same thing. They fucked interns and, gave said interns/residents special treatment
I am appalled every time he opens his mouth.
Yh he hid the tremor but I didn’t hate him for it
Forgetting about a rag during surgery, and leaving it inside a patient for years.
i love this thread so i’m here to say if you watch the 100 you’ll hate him even more.
Is it bad to say everything as my answer? 😂😂😂 tremor was probably the worst ethically but really breaking down piece by piece Christina over the 3 seasons is the worst as a viewer to watch happen
Exist
Calling George the F word TWICE
*Preston* didn’t say that to *George*,*Isaiah* said that to *TR*.
The way he manipulated and gaslit Cristina. Specifically, blaming her for HIS choice to continue during his tremors.
Exist and use his position to abuse Cristina
Existing
Off subject, but didn’t Izzie pay her medical bills? Lol, why am I getting downvoted for asking that? I thought she didn’t for the longest time and and a lot of people on here said she did so now I’m confused again
Hiding the tremor
Hand tremor
Leaving Christina at the altar when we had plenty chances to call off the wedding before. Yes, he's done other things too, but leaving her at the altar was the most dehumanising, insulting thing he could do to her - and she didn't even want to get married.
toxicity towards cristina
Hand tremor
i’d say the same thing as i’d say for owen which is dating and proposing to their student (would i say that for derek? no, but meredith actually likes him and cristina + these dudes and their babycrazy wedding dreams just do not make sense)
His manipulation of Cristina. His speech when he left her at the altar was the only time he ever respected her. “But you don't wanna do this. I'm up there waiting for you to come down the aisle and I know you don't wanna come. I know you don't wanna come but you'll come anyway because you love me. And if I loved you, If I loved YOU, not the woman that I'm trying to make you be, not the woman that I hopeyou'll become, but you. If I did, I wouldn't be up there waiting for you. I would be letting you go.”
Not coming clean when he had rhe tremor, letting Cristina cover for him knowing very well he had an intern doing his work .he was thinking with his other brain.
Calling O’Malley the F word
Hid his tremor & had Christina cover him
I'd say to continue to operate while he had a tremor. Iirc, he's the only one who operates despite knowing he's hurt. Bailey stepped back with the staph infection thing, Mer stepped back when she couldn't see, and when she hurt her hand and Derek did too when his hand went numb.
Manipulating Cristina into covering up for him operating with his tremor.
Btw I’m warming up for tomorrow’s pick. 
I mean.. it's obviously going to be the tremor.
Working on people with a hand tremor
Everything.
This thread is literally making me want to restart Greys and I’m on season 18🥲 Burke got what he deserved , Christina leaving him at the altar and not having his baby
Burke had power over Christina and constantly abused it to move forward in their relationship despite Christina not being ready/not wanting to move at that fast pace/not wanting to do something. I stand strong by the opinion that relationships should move forward with both parties feeling comfortable at the pace and not because of pressure from each other. Also, the whole hand tremor thing. His ego was too big for him to understand that if it weren't for Christina helping him in every possible surgery, he'd been thrown out on his ass until he was 100%. I feel like that's something very selfish to do, to her and to patients who are completely clueless about it.
for me it’s still leaving Cristina
Been waiting for this. There is no team. There is no team! There is only me, once again, making allowances for your emotional shortcomings. Man foook Burke.
His treatment of Cristina, including allowing his mother to abuse her and take her eyebrows, pressuring her into moving in and marriage long before she was ready, arranging the wedding for the day after a big exam and harassing her over cake choices while she’s trying to study, taking sole credit for their joint work. Best thing he did was leave her.
He existed.