JaprilOTP

I think what she meant is, April has always said, even to Matthew that Jackson will always be an important staple in her life, whereas Jackson has reduced them to "some guy you banged in a bathroom", not even suggested to Stephanie that they were doing more than hooking up, which is why I think the wedding interruption is more of a shock to Stephanie than to Matthew, and why when Jackson first says they're not going to the wedding, Stephanie is like "Why?"

moonorchid84

Pretty much, thank you!

Yeah I've been feeling all half season that Jackson was really putting a lot of effort into moving on and seemingly moving on from their friendship...April was too to a point but like JaprilOTP said, April even told Matthew how important Jackson was in her life and she would always have feelings for him where as we don't know what Jackson told Stephanie about April but I imagine he left it as "she's an ex girlfriend". Going further into it and I should take it to the JA thread but this is the gist.

So when you think about it, while Jackson had every right to move on in whatever capacity he saw fit for himself (even if it was a form of unconscious denial)
April was more mature and forthright in her efforts cause she accepted how she felt and how Jackson told her he felt and went from there.

This is also why I KNEW it had to be Jackson to so something cause April had truly moved on. If this makes any sense, lol.

Laughing

I agree. I think April had really decided to move on. This is where her tendency to wear her heart on her sleeve (which is so different than self-contained Jackson) actually allows her to work through things in a healthier way. You could see April struggling with her feelings all throughout season 9 and it came to a head in 10x1 and 10x2. Because she acknowledged those conflicted feelings she was able to deal with them head on and then make a conscious choice to move forward. Jackson, on the other hand, was never open about his conflicted feelings. So those feelings continued to swirl around inside of him until he could no longer contain them in 10x12. He never consciously chose to move on the way April did because he was really trying to ignore his conflicted feelings in hopes they'd go away.

greysromance

Thanks so much, moonorchid84 and JaprilOTP! Sometimes it is so hard to talk about April without going into the romantic situations too, but I'll try I interpreted Jackson's actions as denial as well as being very upset with April, and trying to create distance with her, especially in 10x3 when he made a point of saying "it's all you" and the high-five. I think Shonda said somewhere that Jackson felt jerked around by April, which makes sense given that she was engaged, wanted Jackson, then got re-engaged to Matthew. But I agree with you all, she moved on in a healthy way and committed, which is what I like about her so much--she does wear her heart on her sleeve. Plus, her moving on when she thinks that her ex isn't on the same page isn't so different than what Slexie, Derek, even Crowen have done at various times, so I don't think there is any reason to be upset with her decision to move on and commit to someone else.

Very good point about what was said about Jackson diminishing April's role in his life (because of anger or denial or whatever else), especially with the "guy you banged in the bathroom" comment. What I like about April in this situation is that she has acknowledged that Jackson will always have a piece of her heart (both to herself and Matthew), but she made her choice with Matthew...the problem is that while April may have committed (and I don't think she saw Matthew as the safe or second choice, I think she genuinely loved him and was looking forward to their life together), he was never the ONLY person for her, whereas I think if she was with Jackson, he would be the only choice in her heart, but she had resigned herself to the fact that she would be with someone else but Jackson would always have that little corner of her heart at least. So Jackson really was the only one who could make the declaration haha

I also think that April's insecurity caused her to take what Jackson said at face-value rather than fight for him--with her insecurity about people liking her and being "duckie," I think she thought that ok, he doesn't want me and he says it's over, so I have to move on with my life even though I have feelings for him...not, hey I'm worthy of love and let's talk about this, or even let me call you out on some of the hurtful things you are saying. That's why seeing April's growth and belief in herself has been so wonderful this season--I'm really appreciating it more and more!

pink_duchess

YES! I want this too for April. She works really hard to be a good surgeon. Was it 9x23 when she failed the boards and all her options where pulled out while everybody are getting awesome offers?! That was so sad. Now that she passed the oral boards already, I want her to get awesome offers, then consider moving to get away from the wedding backlash.

...Then we'll see jackson flip about this and let's see if he'd want to "follow her anywhere"

JaprilOTP

She failed in 8x22, and then passed in 10x03, so I don't know if they will have her getting offers now, months later. She probably received them already, and decided to stay.

Michele22

Yeah, back in the summer I thought maybe if they didn't go the wedding route, they would have April get an offer and move and that would spark something for Jackson. But once it was released that they were going the wedding route, I knew they would not have her get any offers. Matthew is based in Seattle. They wouldn't have her planning a wedding and moving away to a new city. Moving alone and having a long distance relationship wouldn't work so I am glad they passed over on her getting offers. It doesn't seem likely now, too much time has passed.

pink_duchess

yeah your right... they could've done that by 10x04... oh well...
i think this whole wedding aftermath storyline would get 2 or so eps only and then they'd go on with the yang's exit story arc which would be huge since she's one of the originals... (ootp but excited with this as well... what would happen omg)

gah this long hiatus is insane...

Michele22

I agree, she would have received offers by 10x04. I can however see her "going away" after the wedding for a breather during the potential time jump and when she returns she deals with the wedding aftermath.

greysromance

Like during the time she probably had off for her honeymoon? Eeek, awkward!!! But can't wait to see!!!

Michele22

Yeah that's what I meant. Just an idea that I have. I feel like she's not going to give jackson an answer right away, especially not at the wedding. April has grown and progressed but i can still she her very traumatized and embarrassed after this thus needed the time off to gather herself once again. Things had stabalized in her life in the past few months and now things will seem like they are crashing down on her again. So she should take some time off and then give Jackson her answer when she's had time to clear her head.

greysromance

I totally agree with this idea and like it because 1) she will actually be taking time to think about this decision and make the right one 2) it will not be an impulse reaction or seem like she is flightly, going back and forth between men 3) I think this would be the most mature, least hurtful or childish reaction in this situation; to reconcile at the wedding seems almost cruel, definitely callous to the man she loved and was going to marry, and I think it would show regression in how much her character has grown and found herself this season.

I want to see her progress as a character, not regress!

SD said she liked this episode, so it will be interesting to see how much she is in it, given how many other storylines are bound to be happening (Derek call, Shane disaster, Alex's dad, Bailey and Calzona marital problems, to name a few!)

pink_duchess

Yeah as what they said in after buzz, too many story arcs happening. I personally was expecting a cristina centric season mertina, Crowen and the originals alex, Bailey and webber. I thought the others would just be you know on the side minor stories... But it seems a lot had been going on.

And yet contracts renewals are not abuzz yet, it's unnerving all these uncertainty...

pervy minion

April is the only one who never was in a serious danger, right? (Interns don't count because it's just their second season). She could've been shot but wasn't even injured and she wasn't a patient in Seattle Grace. She never had that kind of storyline. Do you think we're gonna see that? I don't want her to be in any kind of danger, but I think it's inevitable. What they could even come up with?

Michele22

I think it is inevitable as well. I'm thinking nearer to the end of the season or even season 10 finale. Not sure where they would go with that, but I think we can rule out natural disasters, plane crashes, buses exploding, and shooters. I can picture some type of a health scare though, an outbreak of a deadly virus or something to that effect.