Get Ready To Meet Alex's Mom On 'Grey's Anatomy'

This week's episode of Grey's Anatomy looks to be an emotional one. For the first time in years Alex will come face to face with his mother, and it'll be the first time fans of the series ever meet her, at least in the present day. Earlier in the season, fans got a glimpse at Alex and his mom's relationship with a flashback to his teen years when he was taking care of her. Naturally, there's a different actress tackling the role this time around. So who plays Alex's mom on Grey's Anatomy? Emmy-award winner Lindsay Wagner secured the part.

Wagner is most well-known for playing Jaime Sommer, who first appeared on the 1970s TV series The Six Million Dollar Man. Wagner's character then got her own spin-off, The Bionic Woman, in which she played the titular character. It was her role in the series that earned her an Emmy along with two Golden Globe nominations. Though the series only went on for three seasons, it spawned three TV movies in the '80s and '90s. Wagner reprised her iconic role in all three.

Following The Bionic Woman, Wagner continued to have a number of major roles in TV movies and major motion films, including Nighthawks, High Risk, Callie & Son, and Memories Never Die. She then nabbed a starring role in the TV movie Jessie, which became a TV series of the same name. Unfortunately, the show only lasted one season.

After that, Wagner stuck to TV movies and films for years. You may recognize her from Young Again, From the Dead of Night, Shattered Dreams, Ricochet, Fire in the Dark, Against All Odds, To Be the Best, or Fighting for My Daughter. It wasn't until the late '80s when the actress decided to give a TV show another try. She ended up starring in the short-lived series A Peaceable Kingdom, in which she played Rebecca Cafferty. Wagner didn't have another small screen role again until 2010 when she picked up a recurring role on Warehouse 13 as Dr. Vanessa Calder.

Since then Wagner hasn't done too much acting, though you may have seen her in the film Samson, which came out this year. Besides that though, her role on Grey's Anatomy will be her first major role on TV in a while.

If you don't recall, Alex's mother is schizophrenic and when Alex was younger he had her committed, which led to him making his way through various foster homes. In the most recent episode, Alex realized his mother hadn't been cashing the checks he'd been sending, so he and Jo are about to head to Iowa to check in on her.

Although things don't look too good in the preview, since Wagner has been cast for the part it seems fair to assume that Alex's mom is alive, though it's hard to say if she'll be doing well. There has to be a reason why she stopped cashing Alex's checks, but hopefully whatever it is won't be too dire. Perhaps she just forgot to or for some reason she moved from where Alex thought she was still staying.

Whatever the case may be, I think we can all agree that Alex has been through a lot and it would be devastating if he and Jo traveled so far only to discover that she died. Here's hoping that somehow there's actually a happy ending waiting for Alex in Iowa.

You can meet Alex's mom when Grey's Anatomy airs on Thursday, May 3 at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.

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