Sexiest Interracial Couples on TV: Why Jackson and April deserved to be endgame in 'Grey's Anatomy'
As far as perfect couples in ABC's 'Grey's Anatomy' go, there are quite a few that come to our minds: Meredith Grey (Ellen Pompeo) and Derek Shepherd (Patrick Dempsey), Alex Karev (Justin Chambers) and Izzie Stevens (Katherine Heigl), and Lexie Grey (Chyler Leigh) and Mark Sloan (Eric Dane). However, one couple that deserves to be on that list — though them being the endgame is no longer a possibility — is Jackson Avery (Jesse Williams) and April Kepner (Sarah Drew). Are those groans we hear? Well, hear us out.
Each week, MEA WorldWide (MEAWW) looks at the sexiest interracial couples on television and the impact that it has. Last week, we covered 'Choni' from Riverdale. This week, we take a look at "Japril" and why they probably deserved to end up together. Certainly, after April left, Jackson hasn't been the same. When Sarah Drew joined the cast as April Kepner in Season 6, many viewers did not like the character. We found her annoying, much like the other characters did. However, April continued to grow on us and by the time she left, she was one of our favorite characters.
When Jackson and April first got together on the eve of their board interviews. What had developed into a strong friendship over their time together quickly became a sexual relationship as April lost her virginity to Jackson in the stress of it all. However, they quickly split apart in the aftermath of a pregnancy scare. Jackson began to date Stephanie Edwards (Jerrika Hinton), while April dates and gets engaged to paramedic Matthew Taylor (Justin Bruening).
And who can forget the epic wedding episode that followed? Jackson realized that he still had feelings for April and though he hesitated a couple of times, he interrupted April's and Matthew's wedding and ran off with her. Then, April and Jackson get pregnant unexpectedly. While they are initially overjoyed, their joy is short-lived when they learn their baby has Osteogenesis Imperfecta type 2. They induce labor at 24 weeks, and Samuel Norbert Avery is born. He lived only a few hours, leading to one of the most heartbreaking scenes on 'Grey's Anatomy', which we still find are hard to watch.
That loss was too big for Japril to endure. While April went away to grieve on her own while serving as a medic in the war zone, Jackson was left to pick up the pieces back home. This seemed to create an irreconcilable break in their relationship and friendship, leading them to get divorced. Only, even during the many months of divorce discussions, there were moments when Jackson and April could not keep their hands off of each other, which meant when the divorce was finalized, April was pregnant — a secret she hid from Jackson.
While this caused a lot of resentment from Jackson — and a lot of fights in between — the two finally found their way back together as friends when their second baby started kicking in the womb, something Samuel could never do. Jackson ended up accompanying April while she gave birth to Harriet Kepner-Avery. While many of us hoped that co-parenting Harriet would lead to Jackson and Avery to get back together, that never happened. Two seasons later, Sarah Drew announced she was leaving the show, and to give the character a perfect exit, the writers had her get back together with Matthew, while still remaining friends with Jackson. That permanently broke our hearts, but Japril shippers still know that Jackson and April deserved to end up together. Even Justin Bruening, who plays sweet-natured paramedic Matthew admitted recently to Entertainment Weekly that Jackson's and April's is "the love story."
For the most part, Jackson and April were not people you would think would pair up well, but that is precisely why they go well together. The two characters have overcome so many adversities together, that it is hard not to root for them. Also, let's be honest -- after April left, Jackson has been a mess, as if the writers did not know what to do with the character without April to complement him. He tried dating Maggie Pierce (Kelly McCreary). When that did not work out, he started dating Victoria Hughes (Barrett Doss) from 'Station 19'. However, Jackson seems quite reduced to the sidelines, with any interesting traits in his personality muted.
Since it seems like 'Grey's Anatomy' can go on forever, perhaps Sarah Drew can answer our wishes and come back to give Japril a happy ending!
