Entering most Grey`s eps you never know what to expect. So I was very awry entering the Jo centric outing. The emotionally heavy outing was well crafted with emotional baggage that is hard to get through. “Silent All These Years” was written by Elisabeth R. Finch and directed by Debbie Allen.
In probably the best outing Grey`s delivered this season, we finally find out what really happened when Jo searched for her mother and the aftermath of that emotional resolution. Jo`s first encounter with her mother was anything she imagined it to be. Despite Jo`s cold attitude she certainly was unsure what to expect from this encounter. But seeing her mother so well adjusted shock her up majorly. Michelle Forbes was a great partner for Camilla Luddington, she was unapologetic. She compartmentalized, she made a painful cold cut with that part of her past and despite being ruffled and put in an emotionally unstable state by Jo`s arrival she was certain she made the right decision at that moment.
Jo`s change of attitude after seeing how well her Mother adapted was perfect. She was all kind and full of humility, but after seeing how her mother lived it made a change in her mind, Camilla executed it smoothly. Jo was mean and upset by this stable put together person and took some really filthy stabs. But she was allowed to despite her mother`s backstory. The writing for this outing was so good. The story unraveled with a good pace and with each line, it created depth and meaning. Jo now being able to share her backstory with her mother showed how far she has come. She hid her abuse story but after all the events of the previous seasons, she came to peace with it. The abortion story was a bit of a shocker but it fit well in the abuse story and Jo`s decision to finally leave Paul.
Michelle Forbes was powerful though as Vicki. Explaining how and what happened to her and her fear of Jo`s possible gender and the revelation that she did fall in love with her was impeccable. We need more of these two hitting against each other.
And while the past scenes were a bit cold and rough, the present time scenes carried a great amount of hope in those dark hours. Khalilah Joi was everything in her scenes. Abby`s revelation was nicely paced and while I was a bit annoyed by Jo`s badgering, it made sense after what she experienced. As a physician, it is hard to make a clear cut between what you are going through and your work life. So Jo`s push felt understandable but she should`ve approached it differently. On the other hand, it wouldn`t really be Jo if she wouldn`t hit right into the bullseye, no talking around it. Teddy supporting this story was a perfect choice. Teddy has this calm nature to her character and it balanced out the heavy emotional moments.
Abby`s speech to Jo and Teddy about how all these small little things would be used against her and how all her words would be twisted and how she would experience judgment from everyone was powerful. The Rape Kit scene was so sad and painful to watch. I remember the Rape Kit scene from American Crime`s season 2 and it was rough and cold. This scene topped it. So delicate and exploring how painful it is for the victim to go through the whole process.
The thing this episode did the best is that they deeply explored the fact that women aren`t the guilty party in any abuse story but also avoided to generalize men in these stories.
Using little Tucker to explore what consent really means was a bit roughish. Still, the writers succeeded in delivering the story with overdramatic scenes but keep it real and honest.
What are your thoughts on the latest Grey`s outing? Did you expect this take on Jo`s story? What are your thoughts on Abby`s story? Vote in the Poll below and share your comments in the comment section down under.
