‘Grey’s Anatomy’ Tackles Domestic Violence With Jo Wilson’s Abusive Husband Storyline

Who's counting down the days until Grey's Anatomy returns?! Last year, fans were left with a major cliffhanger after Jo Wilson (played by Camilla Luddington) ran into her abusive estranged husband, Paul Stadler (played by Glee's Matthew Morrison). Fans, of course, now know that Jo's real name is Brooke Stadler and that she's hiding from her husband who used to physically assault her.

This week's episode looks like it's picking up right where we left off — and will let fans know what will happen next in the suspenseful storyline. Grey's is also breaking a pretty strong tradition with the title of its newest episode. The Jan. 18 ep was originally titled “Four Seasons in One Day,” but was recently changed to “1-800-799-7233” (the number for the National Domestic Violence Hotline). Not only is this the first episode to not be named after a song, but it also lets viewers know that the story will focus heavily on Jo's storyline (thank goodness).

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We were definitely not prepared to watch the emotional toll seeing her estranged husband had on Jo. This episode is bound to be one of the most dramatic ones yet (and that's saying something). What's almost even more troubling than Jo running into Paul is the fact that he seems to be chummy with Arizona Robbins (played by Jessica Capshaw). It makes sense that he uses charm to win people over while hiding his abusive nature.

Thankfully, it looks like Meredith Grey (played by Ellen Pompeo) and Alex Karev (played by Justin Chambers) will be at Jo's side keeping her safe. Mer even said, ""She is not going to be alone with him."

We're happy to see Grey's tackling such an important storyline. Executive producer Krista Vernoff recently spoke about what the plot will mean for the characters. "I've talked a lot about how this season [we're refocusing the show on] fun and joy and laughter, and my commitment has been to make sure there's laughter in every episode — even the ones where the stories that we're telling are quite painful and quite dark," she explained to TVLine. "And my hope is that women will come out of this story feeling empowered. I'm really proud of this story. I'm really proud of the work that we're doing."

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