yarens

I completely agree with you there. Can the writers tone it a little down with Alex's friendships please? It's been two seasons and it's almost all they've showed of him. It's damaging the popularity of his romantic relationship, reduces him to the friend character and it's really not fair at all because everyone else seems to be getting focus on their love lives except for him. It's one of the reasons Jolex gets so much hate these days. And I really don't wanna do this for another season, I hope something will change.

jokarev

I hope that the writers will realize that two seasons focusing on Alex's friendships so much will be enough. I've really had enough of this and if I want to enjoy Jolex again the writers need to make it clear that that relationship is just as important as Alex's friendships. Look at how Jackson became a dad and Owen got remarried in the season finale when one has been on the show half as long as Alex and one a little more than that. Owen married Cristina after Alex got divorced and now he got remarried before Alex did. And why? Because the writers allow them to have their own lives while Alex just gets used for other characters and that needs to stop.

ryanforever

dont think they are officially break up...

I'msolost

I also hope they'll tone it down with the Mer/Alex friendship. I don't hate all their scenes but at times it really was too much. Although I think I had a bigger problem with them in s11 than in s12.

To give the writers some credit, I think they did tone it down in the later s12 episodes. There was definitely a gap in their interactions between 12x17 & 12x22 (5 episodes WOW ) And their interactions in the last 2 episodes of the seasons weren't that bad. I didn't love them, but at least Meredith acknowledged that Alex had a life outside of their friendship for once. And any scene where there's some back and forth going on and Alex's life is brought up too is an improvement in my book.

You've moved on from that topic already but I wanted to say, that I actually don't even mind man-whore Alex that much. I know he's slept around a lot and I don't want him to go there again, but it was never something I had huge issues with. To me it just made a ton of sense, considering his upbringing. I always thought that he probably never experienced a lot of emotional love as a kid and that's why he resorted to bodily love as he grew up. And on the show his man-whore periods almost always occurred when he was feeling miserable. He gets scared of his feelings for Izzie? He sleeps with Olivia. Ava goes crazy on him? He starts sleeping around. Izzie leaves? He almost hooks up with Reed and actually hooks up with Lexie. Arizona tells him he is and has nothing going for himself? He starts sleeping around with Interns. It's almost like a coping mechanism, isn't it? IDK but the sleeping around thing is just one more reason which makes Alex such an interesting and complex character to me.

ERussia

Let's hope their friendship will end forever... I'm sick of Flopedith.

Spirit of the Radio

I agree that Maggie is going to be tied up with Meredith and Nathan and Alex and Jo are going to have their own drama to deal with. Nothing can ever be ruled out on Grey's but I think it would be overkill at this point unless someone has a drunken hookup and then realizes what a huge mistake it was. This story is going to be about bringing Jo and Alex closer together and I wouldn't be surprised if they end up married next season.

I have a bit of optimism about the story because it is such a serious issue and because Camilla seems very focused on doing her best to tell it right, for whatever that's worth. In addition to that EP has come out in support of Camilla and Justin finally getting a storyline and Caterina S. was asked about the domestic violence issue in her post-season interview as well. So its definitely out there and won't be as easy to dismiss. They just need to focus more on that aspect of it and not so much the hidden husband/new identity aspect of it because that is soapy as hell and its easier to dismiss a storyline if it turns out to be nothing but a soapy plot disguised as a real issue.

My guess is that they clear up the "cheating" misunderstanding right away, but that Jo doesn't tell Alex her secret until later. Alex hitting DeLuca is a perfect example of why Jo was hesitant to tell him in the first place, so I can see her thinking that she made the right decision, and DeLuca may agree with her as well at this point Unfortunately, I think that is going to be the first half of this storyline, Alex and Jo not together and trying to move on/figure things out. Then maybe in the mid-season finale, or a little sooner, she tells him and the second part of the storyline will be them trying to get her divorced or at least deciding that they don't need to be officially married (though that seems like a cop-out and I hope that they don't go that way.) I don't know where DeLuca will fit into all of this or if he even will, but I am okay with he and Jo getting closer as friends and for him to sort of involved with both Jo and Alex. I like his character.

Yeah, I think that a lot of things changed after episode 8. They pretty much slapped an ending onto the Mer/Jo issue and the Meredith issues was literally never addressed again between Alex and Jo. It is almost like it never happened. Maybe the writers could see that it wasn't doing any of the characters any favors, or maybe they were beginning to map out the Jolex storyline for next season and didn't want this to be lingering around. The writing was horrible on that whole thing from beginning to end. But, I agree that in the last few episodes of the season, the Alex/Mer friendship has gotten kind of back to normal for me. Alex is sarcastic with Meredith and he actually has a point of view in their conversation and scenes. That's all I really want. I don't like it when a couple is completely isolated from other characters and have no friends, so I don't want that for Jo and Alex. The only problem is that with so many characters, its hard to do justice to the friends and the relationships and the medical aspects of it all. So if Jo and Alex are broken up, maybe they can concentrate on some other aspects of their lives (especially career-wise for Jo, and frankly for Alex too at this point), at least for a few episodes and still give us real quick hints as to how they are feeling being apart.

I don't know, I am once again cautiously optimistic. There are so many ways that this storyline could go horribly and I'm prepared for some of it, but I would rather have that than nothing. Because I wouldn't be turning in for another season of them getting no storyline.

jokarev

I don't know if I was misunderstood. I wasn't really criticizing the friendship itself, but just that it's still being written like it overshadows Jolex. And I'm aware that they didn't share many scenes towards the end but neither did Jolex, so I felt like again there was no huge difference. What even were the writers doing with Alex and Jo this season again? It felt like they wasted another season with nothing for them.

I didn't have an issue with manwhore Alex that much but it was because I wasn't actively shipping him with anyone. I think now that I love him with Jo so much I would hate to see him sleep around again. I think he can regress as much as he wants to, punching people and such, anything that makes for good drama and emotional scenes, but the sleeping around is something that would bother me now as an avid Jolex shipper.

xsweetgirlx91

I have to be honest, I've never been a fan of Alex sleeping around. I totally get why he did it and think too that it fit his background but I never liked it. I prefered when he was in a relationship and that's probably one of the reasons I was hoping Jo would stick around even from the start when I had no opinion on her. Which makes it even more upsetting for me now that their relationship got so little focus in s11 and 12. I think Alex Karev in a longterm relationship is what should've been most interesting to see since his longest relationship only lasted a year, and yet the writers again only focused on his friendships. I really hope they will keep toning it down next season although the fact that he'll be living back at the frat house will probably do the opposite. Ugh how are the chances of us seeing a carpool scene every episode with Maggie and Alex bitching at each other about being late? Talk about things I don't look forward to.

But I hope you're right and the writers will spend a lot of focus on building Jolex up again. When I think about it, our ship has had its forth season in s12 and we still got nothing. No marriage, no babies, not even a real storyline or just some focus. A lot of fans want at least one out of those to happen and feel discouraged and disappointed all the time seeing other couples get those things. I hope our patience will be rewarded in the end.

Spirit of the Radio

Obviously, I haven't liked the fact that Jo and Alex didn't get a storyline for the last two seasons, but I am pretty ok with the progression of their relationship. Other couples got marriages and babies, but you know what comes with that? Cheating, divorce, death and custody battles. Seriously, every single marriage on this show has ended with divorce and/or death and/or cheating. Even Richard and Bailey are on their second marriages (and the Chief's involved both cheating and death). With babies comes speculation about neglectful parenting (Meredith, Bailey, Calzona) or custody issues (Calzona, Japril) and then you never get to see the kids once they get here (which is fine with me.) Any cute nursery scenes or overprotective pregnancy scenes, etc. are overshadowed by death, birth defects, giving birth under ridiculous circumstances, etc. I don't think its worth it, personally.

So if Jo and Alex had gotten married back in season 11 they would be divorced by now I"m sure of it. The time jump has screwed with their relationship even more than other couples even, but they made a step forward in owning a home together and now they are hopefully about to get a storyline that makes sense for who they are as characters, rather than just some generic marriage/baby/cheating plot. Jo's past is going to be explored and Alex's reaction to that and how they deal with it together and apart should reflect who both of them are as characters. Other than the religious differences stuff for Japril, I am not sure that many of the recent plot lines have been so specific to a character, and the religious issues were much more about April than Jackson anyway.

So yes, these past two seasons sucked, and maybe there is a good reason for it and maybe there isn't, but it is what it is. I'm sure that next season will be disappointing in a lot of ways because that's kind of what Grey's is now, but I am happier that Jo and Alex are in the position they are in right now than if they had gotten married in the finale or god forbid, if Jo had some unexpected pregnancy plotline. Which is not to say that divorce, death, cheating, etc. isn't going to get to them eventually, but it doesn't seem like that will be their MAIN storyline going forward. There is other stuff to be dealt with first.

xsweetgirlx91

I knew someone would say that and I feel similiar, but maybe it's just a few of us Jolex fans who feel that way. I'm talking about the wide crowd among the fans, they want these things and whenever the show teases Jolex fans with these generic things like marriage or babies there is no real result or progress in that direction so those people feel disappointed over and over again and some are even annoyed (which I totally get btw because I remember all those times I got my hopes up only for the writers to never do anything with it like with "I'm gonna marry that girl", "do you want to have kids?" or even the proposal that just got ignored for the rest of the season). I understand them a lot because by making the couples get married etct. the writers also show that they belong together and that they want to stick with them even if they throw unnecessary drama at them that leads to a divorce. I'm seeing a lot of insecure Jolex fans who think that maybe the writers changed their minds and won't let them get married because they want Alex's second marriage to be with Meredith or Maggie or someone else.

They're more superficial fans than maybe us and don't recognize certain storylines as Shonda's MO. They think that with every fight that leads to a break up that Jolex are over for good. I'm seeing a lot of people who are not sure if they should ship them or not because the writers show Alex with other women so often. And I'm sure a lot of casual viewers feel the same which is why a lot of people think it's ok to hate on Jolex because they won't be endgame anyway.

At this point I don't know if I had prefered a marriage and then divorce over this nothingness that we got in the past two seasons, maybe it would've made me stay more invested. This way I personally am ok with them not being married or with children yet because I think once it will be time for it it will all last, but it's also frustrating to see your OTP get no big things except a home together while others get all the storylines. But I think this will change next season and I'm looking forward to it.

I hope it will be the beginning of the use of potential there is for Jolex. After being ignored for two seasons and the show slowly nearing its end I think it's necessary to tell all the stories with them the writers wanted to tell back in s9 when they paired them up. One of those I always imagined was Jo looking for her birth mother, I wonder if she will ever get the focus to do that on the show. 🤔 I would love to see it since it's never been done before.

Spirit of the Radio

Yeah, I always see people on Twitter say "I want Jolex to get married and have lots of babies" and I"m always like noooooooo....that will doom them LOL! I do want those things for them eventually, but there are other storylines I would like first (Jo to become an attending for one and to learn more about her past). I would be shocked if Grey's went past season 15 so I wouldn't mind if they kind of drug out Jolex's storyline so that they don't have time to get divorced, move on, etc. If they got married sometime next season then had a kid in the last season, I would love that.

I think that people want to see Alex with other people simply because the writing for them and for Jo has been so, so awful. If it improves and we see them working through something together, it may change, at least for some of them.

xsweetgirlx91

Yeah I mean after all most casual viewers were rooting for them till s11 or beginning of s12. I think Derek still being alive played a big role in it too (I really hate what kind of an impact that had on the fans). A lot of people seem to think that the only rightful ending to the show would be to see Meredith end up with Alex, I guess because they've been there from the start and are close friends. I can imagine that some of them were rooting for Jolex before but think of Jo as an obstacle between Meredith and Alex now. And if that's the reason they're hating on them now then it's definitely for the wrong reason since I think Shonda has no plans to ever make Alex and Meredith a thing.

Them overcoming something together has been my main wish for so long now. I realized how even haters accepted Japril when they lost their baby and I want Jolex to work through something like that together too. Which might happen with the husband thing once they get back together, in 13B I guess.

I don't want to sound like a jerk but I really wish Jerrika had left. It would've made the cast a little smaller, albeit not much, and the writers would've been forced to give Jo new friends. Admittedly I thought she'd get an attending friend and not Deluca but he seems like a good guy and I liked what I saw of them so far. The only problem is that he's not a fan favorite and the writers will never achieve for the fandom to care about Jo all that much if they don't let her befriend beloved characters. I mean, seeing Deluca help Jo like that made me like him a lot more, so I guess if Jo befriended for example Arizona that would make her more popular among her fans, just like it was the case with April.

jokarev

I personally am not a fan of the writing for Alex either but almost everyone else is, so maybe I'm missing something. I hated the writing for both of them and hope that it will change next season. I want less of Alex's friendships and more of Jo as a surgeon. Can't believe the writers still neglected that so much.

I want to discuss something though. I saw a prompt on tumblr now for the continuation of the last scene in Jo's POV and the writer made Jo point out there that Alex made her feel so small when talking about how much he has been through and grown up. She pointed out how much she had to go through as well and that she overcame a lot too. There were some other things I didn't like about Alex's speech but I didn't consciously realize that it's true he must've made Jo feel small by not considering that she went through hell too. I think it's what I'msolost meant with him being condescending. What actually bothers me about this now isn't that Alex talked about himself, because that's normal in a fight, but that that scene made Jo look bad. Which happens a lot in these Jolex fight scenes. Alex yells and sometimes comes up with a speech like having roots in Seattle and the audience immediately thinks he's justified in acting like that because he's getting the material to show his POV. I think we certainly need to see Jo's POV more often. Maybe it's one of the reasons she gets so much hate.

xsweetgirlx91

Ok I think you have a good point there. I always feel like the Jolex fights never end up making Jo look good even though I love them. I think the fact that Alex gets frustrated easily and starts yelling (especially considering the fact that the writers have made him very calm in other situations in the past two seasons) makes people think that Jo is being annoying or nagging. And the writers often make him look right for that moment so when the scene of the fight is being uploaded on youtube it's always filled with Jo hate. People apparently don't watch the end of the episode where Alex comes back to Jo apologizing to her for having been an ass or don't take it into consideration but use those fighting scenes to talk about how much Jo sucks and how right Alex is. It's always the same and I'm really tired of it. I think we definitely need to see more of Jo's POV in the relationship though, I've had an issue with that since s9.

And I read the fic you were talking about and I have to admit that I didn't realize how condescending Alex must've sounded to Jo. I wish we could see a conversation like the one that happened in the fic where Jo tells him that. That it hurt to hear him say things like that. We all know that Alex can be an ass but eventually it doesn't excuse him making Jo feel small and I think she must've felt like that. In the fic Jo also pointed out that she doesn't appreciate him making her feel like a drama queen and I guess that's true too. I know Jo was in the wrong because she won't marry him but also won't give him a reason but I would still love it if she told him that she hates it when he talks to her like that. I would love me some feisty Jo.

ERussia

Maggie can easily end up with Alex, though. I mean they are trying to make her relevant so hard...