Alex Karev is a free man, but how exactly did the hot-tempered doc dodge that multi-year stint in the pokey? This Thursday’s Grey’s Anatomy (ABC, 8/7c) wastes no time answering that burning question, according to portrayer Justin Chambers.

“It happens really quickly — within the first 10 minutes,” he tells TVLine, before confirming that the reveal comes courtesy of a flashback that may or may not involve his victim (i.e. Andrew). And even though he may not be headed to prison, Alex is not walking away from the experience unscathed. “He feels really bad about” pummeling Andrew, Chambers says. “He apologizes. We’ll see if he’s receptive to it.” Cancelled or Not? 13 Shows on the Bubble

What the episode won’t provide, per Chambers, is a resolution to how Alex’s newfound freedom will impact his fractured relationship with Jo. “We’re steering clear of each other,” he shares. “But I think he has a lot of empathy for her, coming from an abusive relationship [with her MIA husband]. We all know that Alex grew up in a home like that. That opens his eyes to the possibility of forgiving her for not telling him the truth about who she is for so many years. She’s not the person he thought she was.”

And just because Alex and Jo are on the outs, don’t look for him to start kicking the tires of a possible romance with BFF Meredith. Although Chambers says “anything is possible,” he prefers to think of them “as siblings that care very much for each other.

“But that happens in life, where people who are friends become lovers,” he continues. “Personally, I don’t see that [happening] right now. I think it would be kind of strange.”

Last April, Ellen Pompeo similarly told TVLine that Alex and Meredith make better siblings than sweethearts. “I think they’re too close… too much like brother and sister,” she said at the time. “I have super-close friends who I’m not romantically attracted to at all. So I think just because you’re so in love with someone in one way doesn’t mean it’s a romantic love. But they certainly do understand each other a lot.”