The final seconds of last week's Grey's Anatomy took a turn that no one was expecting. Paul, Jo's estranged and abusive husband, had shown up at Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital to solidify their divorce, freeing him up to marry his new fiancée. Jo, being the amazing "no-woman-left-behind" badass that she is, tried to warn his fiancée, Jenny, and offered to help her escape, but unfortunately, that backfired. Jenny ended up revealing that Jo had talked to her, and Paul was not happy. The last time Jo saw him, Paul had her phone number in hand, and was threatening to check in on her from time to time. And then he was hit by a car. This might seem like karma coming in to take him down, but somebody had to be in control of that vehicle, and there are already plenty of theories about which Grey's Anatomy character hit Paul.
An obvious first guess is Alex. He's over-the-moon in love with Jo, and would likely do anything to keep her safe. We've seen this protective nature, and Alex's history of violence itself, in action several times over the course of the show. Most notably and most recently, there was the fiasco in which he beat DeLuca to within an inch of his life because he found him on top of Jo in what was just a severe misunderstanding. That almost landed him in jail for a very long time, and a second outburst of this magnitude would definitely put him away for years. While some fans are acknowledging this possibility, though, many seem to think it would really walk back some of Alex's character development in recent months.
"Of all the people [who might have] have hit him, I would be most shocked if it were Alex," wrote Reddit user sealthedeal666. "They’ve really exhausted the ‘Alex has anger problems he’s trying to control’ plot and on top of that really have been developing him to not react this way. I mean what was the point of the episode where he has the scenarios of talking to Paul earlier [in the season] if not to prove he wasn’t gonna kill the guy?"
Some are also hinting that the possibility of Alex going to jail would become a little stale as far as the show's narrative goes if they were to continue it. "Oh dear god, I’m really hoping it wasn’t [Alex and Jo]," wrote Reddit user takaiishi. "I don’t want to have to sit through another whole storyline about Alex and felonies."
Another possibility is that Jo herself took matters into her own hands, especially after Paul left her on yet another threatening note. It'd make sense for her to go to any length possible to be free of his possible return, and she did say earlier in the episode that she wished he was dead. Another Reddit user, beyoncheyyyy, guessed during the episode that Jo might kill him. It's certainly not out of the realm of what Grey's has pulled in the past, but Jo had mostly been talking about getting a restraining order, not vengefully killing him. She seems to want to move past this as quickly and efficiently as possible — not wrap herself up in yet another messy battle, putting her future in danger just as she managed to seize it back.
A third theory is circulating among fans, and right now, it seems to be the most popular. Many speculate that Jenny turned the tables on Paul. Some say that her mannerisms during the episode suggested that she, too, was being abused by Paul, and Jo certainly seemed to think that was the case as well. "I absolutely think she's being abused. Her crying and saying 'you shouldn't be here when he gets back' is a huge indicator that she believes Jo and has as least started seeing signs and knows," user dragonflytype theorized. "But, she's still deep in it, and still in denial, and still doesn't trust herself (same gaslighting that Jo got), so she rolled over and tattled on Jo."
Jenny wasn't present in the shot we saw of Paul after the hit-and-run, which could mean she was so rattled by what Jo said that she did the deed herself. "I think Jo and Alex will have the alibi that they were at the police station getting the restraining order," another user, bergskey, wrote. "The drama will come from the [fiancée] admitting to them she did it, and they are protecting her and lying for her.
Of course, this could be a classic Shonda Rhimes situation in which she leads us down a path of possibilities only to pull a fast one on us in the end. It really could be anyone, and I wouldn't put it past Grey's showrunners to hit us with something out of nowhere. "Everyone is accusing Alex, Jo, and the fiance, meanwhile Arizona is halfway to Mexico by now!" wrote user AnkaBananka6. Another fan joked that it could be a familiar foe. "[It was] the bus driver that killed George," suggested Jeshef.
First of all, how dare you? This certainly isn't the heartbreaking vehicle hit this hospital is used to seeing (we'll never forget you, George), and even though some may be cheering Paul's demise, it could still definitely could still throw a wrench in the peaceful plans of our characters. Answers will hopefully be delivered as the Jan. 25 episode picks up, and no matter who it was behind the wheel, things are about to get even dicier.
If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic abuse, call 911 or the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1(800) 799-SAFE (7233) or visit thehotline.org.
