Dr. Jo Wilson: Princess

[OtterMommy]

33 minutes ago, Chas411 said:

Oh completely I agree but I blame this solely on the writers and Shonda for ignoring her for years. The fact that I like the character and actress allows me to overlook the fact that she got the short end of the stick but I do get why fans that were already impartial or even disliked her would just give up on her character. 

I actually don't dislike Jo--I have no strong feelings for her either way.  I just find her to be unbelievable at times.

But I agree that this all is not a fault of the actress, but of the writers and show runners.  They have no excuse--this show is popular enough and has been around long enough that they really, really should know better.

[shantown]

I like Jo. I want her to have more storylines. But this whole "secret husband used to beat me" reveal is something that should be part of the character within the first one (or two) seasons that you have the character. Not after five years. It just feels like desperate writing to bring it up after so long. Jo should be more established as a character by now.

[OtterMommy]

2 hours ago, shantown said:

I like Jo. I want her to have more storylines. But this whole "secret husband used to beat me" reveal is something that should be part of the character within the first one (or two) seasons that you have the character. Not after five years. It just feels like desperate writing to bring it up after so long. Jo should be more established as a character by now.

I have no strong feelings either way about Jo--but I do have strong feelings about how she has been written.  She just has *too much* of a past to be believable.

That being said, I agree...she should have more story lines.  I just wish that those story lines were about her career and where she is now, and not her past.

[Rose-1]

16 hours ago, OtterMommy said:

 

That being said, I agree...she should have more story lines.  I just wish that those story lines were about her career and where she is now, and not her past.

I think this is something everyone would agree on, whether they're fans or not. I am one, and one of the biggest frustrations for me (and the frustrations are endless) is that they had set her up so nicely in seasons 9/10 to have a really rich character background, they planted so many seeds.. all they needed to do was follow through and build on them and she couldve  been as loved as someone like Lexie. I know a lot of people liked her back in season 9, she was fresh and brought life and energy to the show, she made me invested again, especially her developing relationship with Alex in season 9.

 

The biggest let down for me other than what they've done to Jolex, is the complete abandonment of her career. The episodes where she was getting recruited by Callie into ortho are among my favourites for her and I loved them together as a team. In s9 and 10 she was shown to have JUST as much drive as Stephanie, and they were in constant competition just like the originals. I hate hate hate that just because she had Alex, they took away her career focus, and gave it  only to Stephanie, because they had no idea what else to do with her. It made Jo less liked/respected as a character and it only got worse from that point on, as they added 'shocks' to her background (only ever as cliffhangers) without explaining them, and completely took away her perspective. It's beyond shit what they've done to her because she WAS being written well and had so much potential!! she's still my favourite but now she's a mess and it's all due to the writing, and now we're at the point where she has a DV storyline, yet somehow she isn't even in it. Wtf

Edited May 14, 2017 by Rose-1

[Deanie87]

I completely agree that Jo's backstory is just too much (although the fact that a person lost in the foster care system would end up homeless with a criminal record and drawn to violent men is certainly not beyond belief sadly).  At this point it is what it is, however.  The writers chose to give this storyline to Jo, so now my problem isn't with the overload of tragedy, its what they are doing with it (or worse, not doing with it).  As I mentioned in the episode thread, I was surprised by how many posts I saw on social media and elsewhere calling Jo a liar (not to mention those cheering Jo's potential murder).  To be fair, the writers have yet to actually SHOW us anything of Jo's perspective other than what she says, so I guess I understand why people might think that.  But this is a terrible, terrible message to send.

I know that Grey's is a ridiculous nighttime soap and not a documentary or a prestige drama, but I also know that a lot of young girls watch it. Thousands of women every year get beaten by a spouse or significant other.  Oftentimes if they can gather the courage to report it, nothing happens or they aren't believed. Many of these women die because they were thought to be drama queens or liars.  So far the storyline has been abysmal for many reasons, including consistency, creatively and from a domestic violence perspective.  I know that the story will never be done in a way that truly does it justice because Grey's just isn't that kind of show, but I also feel that since Shondaco has decided to tell this kind of story, then they have a responsibility to at least not make it completely offensive.  They have no problem patting themselves on the back about tackling difficult subjects and Ellen, Shonda, Debbie, etc., often go on and on about how women have thanked them for telling their story, blah blah, but their attempts with this subject have been a big fail, and if they have no interest in doing it right, then they shouldn't have started doing it at all.  I realize that the story isn't over and will likely continue into next season, but if they somehow make Alex the further victim, or god forbid, make Jo the villain, then I hope that they get dragged over the coals the way so many other showrunners have been recently for taking on difficult subjects and then botching them.  

[skermac]

I love Camilla and glad she is on the show, I like the character on her first day