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Will she ever tell him the truth?
Has the final nail been hammered into the Jolex coffin on Grey's Anatomy?
In last week's Season 13 premiere, Alex (Justin Chambers) and Jo (Camilla Luddington) had a brutal conversation in the halls of Grey Sloan, during which Alex essentially told Jo that she's incapable of loving someone due to her upbringing -- this after he beat up the man he (incorrectly) believed Jo was sleeping with. So, suffice to say, their relationship is at a minimum on hold, at least for the time being.
This week, we'll continue to see Alex grappling with the fact that his career hangs in the balance. But where does Jo go from here?
TVGuide.com chatted with Luddington about how Jo continues to deal with the aftermath of Alex's actions, whether there's any hope for them to get back together and when, if ever, we'll find out Jo's backstory.
Now that Webber's (James Pickens Jr.) convinced Jo to stay at Grey Sloan, what can we expect from her this week?
Luddington:
In [this] week's episode, Jo is kind of dealing with coming out of the aftermath of all of the drama that happened with the fight in the hospital. ... Everyone is talking about it and talking about her and DeLuca (Giacomo Gianniotti), and it's a big topic of conversation, and she feels very isolated. I think she's just looking for anyone to lean on, and she doesn't really have anyone. ... Also, people are choosing sides, and you see that happen. So, I think it's kind of a polarizing time within Grey Sloan.
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What was Jo feeling in that moment? She seems to just freeze up rather than clarifying things with Alex.
Luddington:
I think in that moment she wanted to really clear up what had happened that night, and then maybe get to [telling him about her past] at some point. But I think his reaction to all of this doesn't bode well for her telling him the truth. They know each other so well that he knows exactly how to drive the knife in, and that is the one thing that would be the most hurtful to her, is to make out that her past means that she is not capable of love or commitment. It's hard because I don't even know if Alex really believed that. I think that he was, in that moment, just himself so hurt, confused, angry, that he's going to the lowest low he can think of. But now I think it's shut her down. I'm not sure what it will take for her to open up and ever tell him now.
I think there are two reasons she wanted to go to the hospital in the last episode. ... She tried initially, obviously, to [explain things to] Alex and it didn't work. But I also think she came to the hospital to make sure that DeLuca wasn't the one that delivered any news about her past, and if it ever came out it was going to be on her terms with her telling her boyfriend.
What's your take on why Jo didn't tell Alex the truth about her past in the first place?
Luddington: This storyline's been really interesting to me, because I haven't seen my Twitter erupt in such a way in the four and a bit years I've been on the show than with this particular storyline. Because some people are blaming Jo and some people are blaming Alex, and wondering why she didn't tell him. I think ... she didn't tell him because she thought that he might have a knee-jerk reaction, and that it might make her situation with her past worse, and therefore dangerous for both of them. You guys have been able to see that he didn't just sock DeLuca a couple times. DeLuca almost lost his sight. It was so brutal.
Grey's Anatomy Season 13 will focus on "the originals"
We see that Jo also has a conversation with Meredith (Ellen Pompeo) in Thursday's episode. What can you tell us about that?
Luddington:
I think she's known for a really long time that relationship [between Meredith and Alex] is extremely close. [Laughs] I mean, they've had problems in the past with maybe boundaries being pushed a little bit. So, I don't think that she's surprised that Meredith would be on Alex's side. I think that she expects it. I think the trouble for her is that Alex is a loved attending, and she is a new resident, and it's been hard for her to make relationships really other than Stephanie (Jerrika Hinton). When people are taking sides, and there's rumors, of course, going around the hospital, it's hard for her to feel like really anyone's taking her side. And of course, there's speculation. So, I think that she thinks that Meredith will side with Alex, but she also feels like maybe everyone will. Which is difficult for her.
Grey's Anatomy: Battle lines are drawn at Grey Sloan in Season 13