There's no denying that Jo comes from a complicated past. She was left by her mother at a fire station and grew up in foster homes, even briefly living in her car. Then she had to change her whole identity to escape her abusive husband. But now Jo is ready to confront her past, and the first step was locating her family. Jo knows who her mother is on Grey's Anatomy now, but what happens next? Will Jo try to track her down?
Things moved pretty quickly for Jo, who started out the episode just by testing her DNA. She wanted to know what her family medical history was in case she and Alex had children. The test revealed she had no major disease risks, but it also revealed that she had a cousin named Martha Tomlinson. Casey Parker overheard Jo talking about it with Maggie and offered to try to find Martha online. From there, Jo wondered if it would be possible to find her mother. She told Casey she didn't want to know yet, and she went back and forth all episode about whether she was ready for that kind of a step.
Finally she decided that she did want to know, and, as luck would have it, Casey had already tracked down the info. Her mother is Vicki Rudin and she lives in Pittsburgh. After so many years of not knowing anything about her parents, Jo is on the precipice of knowing everything.
It looks like the issue will be put on the back burner for the next Grey's Anatomy episode airing March 21. According to the ABC press site, nothing in the synopsis mentions Jo, and there are no press photos of her in the episode. But the following week could see Jo attempting to speak to her mother. The March 28 episode is called "Silent All These Years," which seems directly connected to the fact that Jo and her mother have never spoken. The episode synopsis also says, "When a trauma patient arrives at Grey Sloan, it forces Jo to confront her past."
Plus, there are photos of Jo out of her scrubs and in regular clothes looking apprehensive about something. Is she about to knock on her mother's door?
As Women.com pointed out, Camilla Luddington, who plays Jo, previously teased to TV Line that her parents could be coming to the show soon. "I have heard that there is a strong possibility that [Jo's parents will appear] this season, which is really exciting," Luddington said. "I don't know the context of how they'll end up running into each other, but that's a huge deal for her."
We still haven't heard mention of her dad yet, but we've seen her mom Vicki's face thanks to Casey's internet stalking. And Twitter user @CamillaLNews wisely noted that it looks like actor Michelle Forbes (best known from True Blood) is playing Vicki.
TV Line already confirmed that Forbes was set to guest on Grey's Anatomy this season, just no one knew who she would be playing. This is a pretty bombshell character for Forbes to get to tackle on the show. And Luddington can't wait for fans to see what happens next. "Mama... is that you???" she tweeted after the big reveal, adding, "You guys... so much to come..."
Fans will have to wait a couple of episodes to see if Jo really is knocking on her mom's door and what happens if Vicki opens it (or doesn't!). But this is shaping up to be a thrilling storyline that will hopefully give Jo the answers she's long been looking for.
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.
