‘Grey’s Anatomy’ season 9 debate: Should Cristina return to Seattle soon?

Given that Thursday night’s new “Grey’s Anatomy” season 9 episode “Beautiful Doom” is going to really revolve all around Meredith and Cristina’s friendship, it only makes sense that we would spend a few minutes talking about not just what we know is going to happen this coming week, but also how it could impact Sandra Oh’s character in the long-term.

After all, this is a woman with a different journey at the moment to take from anyone else. She is still separated from Owen, and while we know that she will at least have another conversation with him in the weeks ahead (but not necessarily in Thursday’s episode), there are no current plans for the two to get back together. She is trying to adjust to living in a new state and working at a new hospital, but there are complications with it. She’s slept with a guy who is kind of a jerk, and the one doctor she gets along with the most knows that the writing is on the wall about people wanting to force him out.

So could we see Cristina coming back to Seattle again soon? The answer is here “definitely,” and really for more than just the obvious reason that it is easier from a writing perspective to have everyone in one place.

1. Meredith needs her – For the first time all season, we are really going to see Meredith deal Thursday night with the fact that not only is her sister Lexie dead, but her best friend is no longer around. While she will surely lean on Derek, it’s always important to have more than one person in your life that you can go to in times of need.

2. She needs Meredith – Cristina’s also been avoiding the pain that both Owen and the crash caused her, and she tried to retreat as a way to get away from it all. This is a quick fix rather than some sort of permanent solution.

3. The hospital needs her – Let’s face it: Seattle Grace is hardly running on all cylinders. April’s just getting started again, Arizona is dealing with an amputation, and Derek’s lost some of his abilities to do surgery. If you add in here two lovestruck characters in Jackson and Alex who are busy dealing with their female counterparts, then you have all sorts of distractions.

Do you think that Cristina should return to Seattle Grace soon?