Grey's Anatomy is well-known for tackling some intense subjects over the last 14 years and it never shies away from the tough parts of them. Its March 28 episode proved no different and might even be the series' most powerful episode yet.
Named after Tori Amos's song, "Silent All These Years," the hour-long standalone episode addressed consent, domestic violence, and sexual assault by solely focusing on two situations: Jo (Camilla Luddington) meeting her mother Vicki (played by Michelle Forbes) for the first time, and Jo treating a patient who comes to the hospital after being attacked. After learning that she is a product of her mother's rape, Jo meets Abby (stellar guest star Khalilah Joi), a woman still reeling from being sexually assaulted outside a bar. As Jo and Teddy Altman (Kim Raver) administer a rape kit, the former strikes a strong bond with Abby by revealing her own experience with assault at the hand of her abusive husband.
Many praise the episode for its extensive depiction of how a rape kit is administered, one of the most in-depth looks ever shown in TV history. Showrunner Krista Vernoff and writer Elisabeth Finch told The Hollywood Reporter that the scene was inspired by Christine Blasey Ford's testimony against Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh and Finch's trip to UCLA's Rape Treatment Center. The extended scene was initially met with pushback from ABC's Standards and Practices department, but creator Shonda Rhimes "declined" the network's note and the department reversed its stance. As always, the team behind Grey's knows exactly what they're doing as the scene, and the episode in general, struck viewers as especially poignant and significant. Keep reading to see some of the heartfelt and impassioned reactions to "Silent All These Years" ahead.
