What do you think Joeyās reservations about Carson were? That Greta liked her too much and couldnāt keep her cool and it was too dangerous?
It seemed like at first Jo was like āffs here we go again šā and was (jealous and) covering for them like āTHEREāS NO CANOODLING WEāRE BEING SILLY OVER HEREā but eventually was like ābut you LOVE her and sheās good for you. Let yourself enjoy itā
So one thing the show does with not just this situation but with a few different instances is make it look like its falling into cliches and then recontextualizing those interactions later on when you eventually have more information about characters and what not, and completely pivoting away from the cliche.
On an initial viewing, it absolutely looks like Jo is jealous when Greta is flirting with Carson. That's never actually what's going on though. There was never an instance of Jo being jealous. Not in the sense where she secretly has romantic feelinds for Greta, or in the sense where she's just jealous at having to share Greta's attention in some way. Every annoyed look she ever gave Carson and Greta was always about Greta not being careful.
Because if Jo was noticing it, then someone else could too.
Like, the first time we really get a clear indication that it isn't jealousy Jo has, is when she's basically trying to get Greta to be more careful. Because Greta was up until this point technically following all of the rules. She was doing what she is supposed to do to keep everyone safe and acting like that was enough, but not being careful outside of that.
I don't there were any reservations about Carson herself specifically, at least not past the point where Greta proved that farm girl was fruity, but just sort of the concern about what Greta getting too close to Carson could mean for Greta. Like, let us not forget that Greta literally calls Jo her "wingwoman" and in the first episode, Jo does in fact help Greta get Carson alone for that overly sexual haircut. Like Jo is not against them hooking up as like, a concept. She literally helped Greta get there.
Ok anyway I have more thoughts on this.
So in episode 5, when Jo seems to change her mind about Greta and Carson, its not just about them. She again brings up Dana and says that after Dana, Greta had to be careful. "We both did." They're talking about Greta's issues, so yeah that makes sense. Jo eventually tells Greta this:
Which is actually kinda sad if you read into it because she's saying that Greta is different because she's happy, but that's beside the point.
Immediately after she tells Greta that Greta is different she says this:
Jo is saying that she is gonna forget the rules too. Because she figures that things are changing. The fact that they're where they are now is proof of that. But really its not just that Greta is happy or that they are getting more opportunities or that they might be safer. Its really that Jo has changed. Seeing Greta happy and going after what she wants probably has something to do with it, but look at what she tells Greta when she's leaving in episode 7.
She is refusing to go with Greta because she is a star of the league and isn't gonna run away from it. She says that Greta is someone who runs away at the first sign of danger and drags Jo along with her. She says that she used to be like that too, but she isn't anymore. She actually went through one of the worst things that could happen to her and she decided that wasn't enough to make her run scared. She still wanted to be a star.
So like yeah very long way of saying that Jo was never jealous of Greta and Carson, nor disliking of them. She was just nervous for Greta, but eventually realized that happiness is worth some danger and uncertainty, which is both why she "changed her mind" about Greta and Carson and also why she refused to runaway with Greta again.
