"Grey's Anatomy" season 13 will bring into play domestic violence as the show explores Jo's (Camilla Luddington) story and the reason she rejected a couple of Alex's (Justin Chambers) proposals for marriage.
In the previous season of the long-running medical drama, it was revealed that she is already married — and worse — to a man who threatens her life if she decided to divorce him. Jo is not even her real name.
She has been suffering abuse from her husband and has done her best to put that behind her and keep it a secret for the fear of getting hurt again. In "Grey's Anatomy" season 13, Jo will be forced to confront the very thing that she has been running away from.
Show creator Shonda Rhimes says that Jo's story will be told and intertwined with that of Alex's. Speaking about her approach in relaying the story, she told Entertainment Weekly "I don't think that I ever think about doing things, like, 'Oh, we're doing a domestic violence story as an issue.'"
"It felt like it was time to tell Jo's story, and it felt like it was time to tell Jo's story especially in the context of Alex, who he is and how he grew up. Alex is so defined by who he used to be and who he is trying to become, and so is Jo," she went on to explain.
Rhimes revealed that the story of Jo is something that they came up with a while back and that the team was only waiting for the right time to unravel it. "Grey's Anatomy" season 13 has given them that opportunity.
As for Alex, Chambers said in the same EW interview that he will feel betrayed. His character and Jo's past brought them together, and knowing she has been lying about it all along will not sit well with Alex.
But it is not like Jo will not have something against him. After a misunderstanding in the previous season, Alex beat up DeLuca (Giacomo Gianniotti) so bad that he had to go to the hospital.
Rhimes has assured that DeLuca will survive in "Grey's Anatomy" season 13. What happened to him will pave the way for viewers to get to know him more as the incident has put him in "a spotlight that he was not interested in ever being in."
"Grey's Anatomy" season 13 is scheduled to premiere on Thursday, Sept. 22, at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.
