WhatI Watched Today

(rambling, random thoughts & annoyingly detailed recaps from real time TV watching)

General Hospital

Valentin shows Bailey/Louise the stars, and explains their names. He tells her that Polaris is also called the NorthStar. In olden times when sailors were lost, they’d use it to chart a course home. He says he’ll always be her NorthStar. If she loses her way, find him. He’ll get her home.

Elizabeth is in the chapel, when Anna comes in. Anna asks, what’s wrong? Is it Chase?

Chase says he thought Finn was going to tell him that he was cured, and Finn says he wishes he could. It didn’t work. Chase says, Finn was so certain, and Finn says, by combining Jackie’s DNA with his, Chase’s body should have accepted the cure, and for a second, it worked. Chase says he did feel better, and Finn says, all the signs said it was right, and it should have worked, but he’d be lying if he didn’t say it was their best shot.

Maxie flashes back giving Louise to Brook, and telling Louise she’ll be close by, making sure Louise is okay, and she loves her very much. There’s a knock at her room door. Spinelli announces, it’s him, the father of her oldest child, and she says, for second, she thought it was Peter. He says he’s so sorry about Louise. He should have been there in Maxie’s hour of need. She tells him, that there’s nothing for him to feel guilty about. He’s there now. He says, no one will rest until her child is found.

Valentin sees Brook, and asks how long she’s been standing there. She says, not long Mr. NorthStar. He says he meant every word. It’s a beautiful night for stargazing. She should stay out, and pick a star for her and their daughter. Just not the NorthStar. That one is his. He tells her that he’s going to put Bailey down, and goes inside, speaking French to the baby. He sees Nina.

Willow steps away from Michael, and says she’s sorry. If someone saw them… He says, they’d see the truth; them comforting each other. What happened to Chase isn’t fair. While he’s suffering they can’t tell him they’re together. All they can do is just be kind to him and each other. She says he has an amazing way of putting things in perspective. It’s one of the 2001 reasons why she loves him. He says, 2001? Why not a million? She says Wiley asked her to could to a million the other day, but when she got to 38, he got bored and told her to stop. He says, that’s their son. He has the attention span of… a three-year-old. A three-year-old who’s about to see his other grandma. She says she hates that Jax did that to him… to them, but she doesn’t hate Nina seeing Wiley. He says, neither does he. Jax trashed a large part of his childhood to make it happen. He’s angry, and sad, but he can’t say anything because his hands are tied, just like Jax wanted.

Jax’s doorbell rings, and he opens the door to Carly. She asks what he did to make Michael change his mind about Nina.

Willow asks when Nina said she was coming, but Michael says, she didn’t give an ETA. He got the feeling she had to take care of some things before she left the town where she’s staying. She says, it will give them time to prepare Wiley. She just hopes Nina is ready for this, and that she’ll see Wiley for the sweet, intelligent, curious little boy he is, and not project her grief over Nelle on him. Michael thinks Nina learned her lesson. He’s more worried about his mom. He couldn’t think of one reasonable explanation as to why he suddenly allowed Nina access to Wiley. If his mom finds out Jax is blackmailing him, all hell will break loose.

Jax asks if he can get Carly anything, but she just wants him to answer her question. He says he had a reasonable conversation with Michael about allowing Nina back into Wiley’s life. She says, so reasonable, that after months of Michael keeping Nina at a distance, he suddenly changed his mind? He asks why she’s so upset. He gave her a heads up about his intentions. Does she still want to punish Nina for telling Wiley that Nelle was his birth mother? She asks if he really thinks Nina isn’t going to make the same mistake again. She’s sure Nina promised him and Michael that she wouldn’t make the same mistake, but she wanted to save Nelle. She believes Nelle could have been a different person, and wants Wiley to believe that. She wants to tell Wiley a fairy tale, that’s only going to hurt him worse when he grows up and finds out the truth. Jax guesses he has more faith in Nina that Carly does, and Carly says, that’s because he still wants to win Nina back.

Valentin says, you’re back, and Nina says she’s looking for Michael. A man with an Eastern European accent told her to wait there. Valentin says, that’s Yuri, Brook’s bodyguard. She says, and Brook needs a bodyguard because… He says, because he insisted, and she says, Brook’s safety is a priority to him because… Brook comes in, and says Bailey’s not a star; she’s an entire constellation. She tells Nina hi and asks when she came back. Valentin says, Nina is confused. He and Charlotte live there now. He introduces Bailey Lois, and says she’s his daughter with Brook.

Maxie tells Spinelli, one of the last things Peter said to her was that he’d find Louise. If he does, he’ll disappear with her. Spinelli says, it’s true Peter has the resources to stay at large a very long time. He’s sure Peter’s father taught him well. She says he’s not making her feel better, and he says, of course (🍷); apologies. He says she told him that she had a plan to keep Louise safe; what went wrong? How did a deranged nurse steal her? She says her plan blew apart before she left the apartment. Most of it did anyway. He asks what she means.

Anna says she was going to say some prayers for Chase herself, and when she saw Elizabeth there, she thought the worst happened, but Elizabeth says, not yet. Finn found a cure, and they were so confident it was the right formula. Anna says, it didn’t work? and Elizabeth says, now he seems so lost, like he’s out of options. Anna says, they do have options. Peter. Anna leaves, and Elizabeth says, forgive me. Please forgive me and Finn.

Finn says he gave Chase some epinephrine as a pick-me-up, and Chase says, but it’s temporary, since Finn has given up on finding a cure. Finn asks, who said he was giving up? He’s going to keep going until he finds a cure. Chase says, and if Finn can’t do it, how long does he have left?

Finn says he never encountered Chase’s condition before. He’s checked with every specialist he knows, and they’ve never seen it either, so they’re flying a little blind. Chase says, so what does he have? Months? Weeks? Days? Finn says he wishes he had the answer, but he doesn’t know. Chase says, in his line of work, he stared down death, a lot, but he always knew he could defend himself. He had weapons, crisis intervention training, and back-up. This time, he has nothing. Finn says, that’s not true; Chase has him, for what it’s worth (🍷). Chase says, it’s worth a lot. Finn should probably tell mom and dad. Finn asks if Chase is sure that’s what he wants, and Chase says, they have to know. Finn goes out, and talks to them, as Chase watches through the window from his bed. They seem understandably upset.

Willow says she came close to telling Chase that she and Michael are in love. Now that he’s had another setback, she’s glad she didn’t. Michael says he guesses what happens next depends on Nina. If she’s good with Wiley, follows the guidelines, and there’s no mention of Nelle, she can be allowed to continue to see him. Jax gets his way, but if he feels Nina is detrimental in any way… Willow says, then of course (🍷) they can’t allow it. If Jax goes running to Chase to retaliate, she can’t even begin to imagine how it will devastate Chase. Michael puts his hand over hers.

Jax says Carly knows what it’s like to grow up under difficult circumstances; to feel unloved, and like you have no control over your life. Instead of focusing on the differences between her and Nina, why doesn’t she acknowledge the similarities? She asks if this is about her and Nina, or him and Nina. He used her grandson to lure Nina back to Port Charles, when Nina made it clear she didn’t want to come back. He says, that doesn’t mean he stopped caring about Nina or doesn’t want to see her happy.  Why can’t she be a part of her grandson’s life? Carly says, because it’s unhealthy for Wiley, but he says, Michael doesn’t seem to think so. Not anymore. She says, emphasis on not anymore? Something changed for Michael. Someone or something pushed him to change his mind, and she’s going to find out what it is.

Spinelli says Maxie suffered the tortures of the damned. Drugged by an imposter nurse who took her to a hidden place to steal her child, but yet she says part of her plan worked. How? She says, it’s not important. He went through hell too. He was Cyrus’s hostage; Cyrus could have killed him. He says he should have left, but he lingered, and Cyrus scooped him up, and threatened to… let’s just say dire harm, in order to force Carly into a hostage situation. Had Jason not come out of hiding to save him, he might not be sitting there talking to her. Georgie would be fatherless. Maxie says, but she’s not. He’s alive and well. Jason’s a good friend. He says he should have been a good friend to Maxie. He should have worked harder to get her to divulge her plan to keep Louise safe from Peter. Had he helped, maybe there would have been a different outcome. She says, if he’d gotten involved, he could have been hurt, or worse. Can they just call it even, and move forward. She wants to see Georgie and James. He says they’re eagerly awaiting her return, and she asks what he’s said to them about their little sister. Has he told them she’s not coming home?

Nina says, so Brook and Valentin are parents together. How? Valentin says, the usual way, and Nina says, so they’re in a relationship, but Brook says, God no. It was one night. A great night, no regrets whatsoever. They actually saw her at the MetroCourt the next morning. Remember? Nina says, actually, she does, and Valentin says, Brook left town abruptly without telling him about the ensuing development, and Bailey Lois came to him as a complete surprise, as she is to Nina. Nina says she’s sure he’ll be an amazing father to Bailey. Congratulations. Brook says Valentin has moved in – temporarily – so if she’s come to say, all is forgiven, he’s free and available. Valentin says Nina is there to see Michael. Nina says, he agreed to let her visit with Wiley. Brook offers to look for Michael, and leaves. Valentin says, Brook is a lot of things, but subtle isn’t one of them. He’s glad Michael is willing to let her back into Wiley’s life. She says she’s happy for him, and he says he wishes she could have been theirs.

Elizabeth asks if Finn wants some company, and sits next to him. She says she knows how it feels when your children are suffering, and he asks if this is the Finn you have to be strong speech. She says she wants him to know that he’s not alone, but she thinks he knows that. He asks, then why is it so damn hard?

Jackie asks if Chase needs another blanket, but he says he’s good. Finn gave him a shot of something. She doesn’t have to worry about him. She says, great. Now she’ll have time for her Sunday crossword. He says, so funny, he forgot to laugh (which makes me laugh), and Gregory tells him that he used to say that when he was little, every time Gregory would make a history joke. Chase says, that James Buchanan one was real funny. He almost expected them to take it as a joke when he said he wanted to be a cop, but they didn’t. They pretended not to be disappointed that he didn’t want to go to law school; they supported him. Gregory says they weren’t disappointed, and Jackie says they were proud of his decision. Gregory tells Chase, don’t ever think for one second that they wanted him to be anything other than who he is today, and Jackie says, every time he would call and tell them that he’d put another bad guy away, she and Gregory would high-five each other. Chase laughs, then coughs, and says he wishes he could have seen that. He says, too bad this particular bad guy is putting him away. Jackie hugs him, and Gregory makes it a three-way hug.

Michael tells Willow, Brook texted that Nina’s already at the house. He guesses she couldn’t wait. He should go, so they can go over the ground rules before Nina sees Wiley. He’s sorry they can’t be there together. She says, he’ll do fine, and thanks him for understanding why she needs to stay there. He tells her, if there’s any change, let him know, and she says, of course (🍷). Good luck with Nina. He says, her too. He loves her. She says, I love you too, and he leaves.

Jax tells Carly that Michael said he and Willow talked, and they decided to allow Nina to see Wiley. She says, maybe, but she knows her son. When he told her that he’d reached out to Nina about letting her see Wiley, she could tell he wasn’t telling her the whole story. She asks what he said to Michael, and he says he was simply being honest. She says, about what? and he says, the importance of Nina being in Wiley’s life. Why shouldn’t she be a grandmother to him? She says, those are very careful words, and she’s sure they’re true. She’s also sure they’re not the whole truth. What isn’t he telling her?

Valentin tells Nina that he’s sorry. That was… She looks great. Getting away really agreed with her. She says, it did, and asks how Charlotte is doing. How’s she doing with her new baby sister? He says, she’s been slow to warm up to Bailey Lois, but he thinks it has more to do with the current living situation. Nina says she can’t say she’s surprised. It must be… awkward living there. She’s sure Charlotte will warm up to her baby sister. She has this big, beautiful heart. Valentin hopes so, and Nina says she’d like to see Charlotte while she’s back. He says, she’s not staying? and she says she doesn’t know. She wants to see Wiley and spend time with him, but she’s not sure she can leave behind what she left in Nixon Falls. He asks, what is that exactly? and she says, someone she never expected to find. Well, that’s an understatement. He asks if there’s any chance for a reconciliation with Jax, and she says, no. Brook comes back, and says she texted Michael. He’ll be there soon. He wants to meet Nina outside the gatehouse, so Brook will take her. Valentin asks if he’ll see Nina again, and she suggests they just arrange a time for her to see Charlotte. She leaves with Brook, and Valentin tells Bailey Lois/Louise that he just made a fool of himself. Nina’s moved on. She’s found something in that little town that helped her to heal. He should be happy for her, and he is. Bailey helped him to heal, her and her sister both. He wasn’t much of a man before he was a father. He doesn’t know what he was, but he was broken, and she helped him heal. She’s a gift from the universe that he didn’t deserve. He’s a lucky man. Too lucky to ask for more. He’ll let her in on a little secret. He looks toward the door, and says, he does want more. Anna comes in, and says the guard told her that he was in there. Is that guy from Belarus? He says, that’s Yuri, and she has good ears. She says she does, and she knows who this beautiful creature is. She walks to the crib, and says she was so involved with finding Maxie’s daughter, she forgot his had put in an appearance. He says he can hardly believe Bailey Lois is his.

Spinelli tells Maxie, they haven’t told Georgie and James anything. They weren’t sure what Maxie wanted them to say. She says she’s not sure either. She’s glad he and Ellie didn’t say anything. It’s her job to explain; to make it okay for them. He says, if she’s ready, he’ll take her home.

Carly says she was hoping she was overreacting, but the longer this conversation goes on, where he dances around giving her a straight answer, the more she’s convinced that he twisted Michael’s arm, and forced him to let Nina see Wiley. He asks if she really thinks so little of Michael, that she thinks he’d have to be forced to do the right thing, and she says he’s evading. There’s something he doesn’t want her to know, and there’s something Michael doesn’t want her to know. Why is that? The only thing she can think of, is that Michael is staying true to form. He’s always been the fixer. He’s always been the one who wanted to preserve the family, and Jax has known Michael since he was a little boy, so he knows this. Michael would never want to fight, and he’d never want to put Josslyn in the middle, and not only does Jax know this, he’s counting on it.

At the gatehouse, Nina asks Brook how Maxie is. Did she have her baby? Brook says, she did, and Nina says she can’t wait to see them. Michael arrives and apologizes for keeping her waiting. They didn’t know she was arriving in Port Charles so soon. She says a friend in Nixon Falls insisted she come tonight. He knew how much she wanted to see Wiley. Brook says she has to get back to Bailey; enjoy her stay. Brook leaves, and Michael says they need to go over some ground rules. She says, of course (🍷). She understands, and promises not to mention Nelle. He thanks her, and says he and Willow managed to straighten things out with Wiley, and Wiley knows Willow is his mother, but he can’t have Willow hurt like that again. She says she completely understands, and she’s grateful for him giving her a second chance with Wiley. She promises she’s not going to mess it up this time. So can she go in to see her grandson?

Valentin asks Anna if they’ve gotten any closer to finding Maxie’s baby, and she says, unfortunately, no. There’s an APB out on the nurse who took her. They’re trying to establish her real ID. They’re also looking for Peter, who teleported himself out of the hospital, without a trace. He asks, what about Chase? and she says, Finn thought he had a breakthrough in finding a cure, but it didn’t work out. Chase’s condition is really deteriorating. He says, so if she doesn’t find Peter and this antidote… She says she doesn’t think Chase is going to last much longer. Unfortunately. He says he should have killed Peter, and she says, hindsight is 20/20. Let’s look at the facts. Peter was last seen at GH, but there’s no record of him leaving. But there are so many people who come in and out on the hospital on a daily basis, he could have disguised himself. He asks, what about Peter’s car? and she says, his car is still there in the hospital parking garage. He says, the garage is a labyrinth. Peter could be hiding somewhere.

Willow goes to Chase’s room, and says, sorry; she’s interrupting. Chase says she could never interrupt, and she asks how he is, and he says he’s always happy to see her. He needs to speak with her, and Jackie says she and Gregory will be right outside. They leave, and Chase tells Willow, Finn has no idea why the cure didn’t work, or what there is left to try. She asks what that means. What’s going to happen to him? He says, what happens to him depends on her. The toxin has narrowed his world and his focus. Seeing her there, every day, every night; she didn’t run, as so many others would have. She stuck by his side. She showed him love in all the ways that count. He hopes she knows how much he loves her. Will she marry him?

Maxie tells Georgie, who’s practically a teenager now, that James is down for the count. She played with her little brother so much, he’s exhausted. Georgie says she made something for Maxie, and they sit on the couch. Maxie unrolls a drawing of a family that says, Welcome To Our Family, Louise! She says, it’s beautiful, and Georgie asks if she can see her baby sister, but Maxie says, not yet. When Louise was born, a friend of hers was with them, and she instantly fell in love with Louise. She doesn’t have any children of her own, and she’s usually very sad and lonely, but being around Louise made her happy, and Maxie knew it would make her very, very happy if she could just take care of Louise for a little bit. Georgie asks if Louise will ever come home, and Maxie says, of course (🍷) she will. They’ll have a party with balloons and cake. Georgie says, but when?

Valentin says, Peter could be anywhere, using an alias, prepared for any eventuality. Anna is just concerned that he disposed of any antidote before he ran. She says Valentin knows how vindictive he is. He’ll want her to blame herself. He says, the only one to blame for Peter’s actions is Peter. He can’t be saved, he can’t be redeemed, he has to be stopped. It’s the only way they can save those they love. Brook stands in the doorway, and Anna says, little Bailey. Valentin says he’s head over heels in love, and Anna says, it looks good on him. He says he wants to help with the search. They’ll need more than lucky guesses to save Chase’s life. Brook says, save Chase’s life? What’s going on now?

Chase is sorry he can’t get down on one knee. He doesn’t even have a ring. So if she wants to turn down his less than romantic proposal, feel free. This isn’t how he remotely planned it. He started to plan it before he and Sasha hatched that brilliant idea for her and Michael to get custody of Wiley. He was going to ask her to marry him. Instead, he pushed her away. She says, she and Michael did get custody, but he says he still broke her heart. Now he’s being totally unfair, asking her to marry him, but Finn said he doesn’t know how long Chase has. Like they say in the movies, my days are numbered. She tells him not to joke, and he says, but they are. And he wants them to be filled with her as his wife. He knows he sprung a lot on her just now, so if she wants to run from the room, feel free. She says she doesn’t want to run from the room. She’d be honored to be his wife. She hugs him.

Michael brings Wiley to Nina, who says she doesn’t know if he remembers her, but she’s his Grandma Nina. She brings out a box, and says, look. She brought him something. It’s a toy truck, and Michael says his dad used to get him toy trucks when he was Wiley’s age. She says a friend told her that she should get something for Wiley, and the toy truck just called to her. Michael says he’ll be upstairs if she needs him, and she thanks him again for letting her visit with Wiley. She promises not to mention… well, he knows. He thanks her and leaves. Nina tells Wiley she missed him so much.

Jax asks what he could possibly have on Michael? Michael is above reproach. Carly says, just because Michael has a good heart, doesn’t mean he doesn’t have any secrets. She sits next to Jax on the couch, and says, what could he possibly have on her son? He says, when you can’t find anything, maybe, just maybe, that’s your answer. She says, Michael knows that if he lets Nina back into Wiley’s life, that could cause problems for him and Willow, not to mention Wiley. When she finds out what’s going on between him and Michael, if it’s what she thinks, he’s going to regret it. She walks out, and Jax thinks about that.

Nina says Wiley is the sweetest, most precious thing that’s come into her life in a long time. Wiley plays with the truck, and she says she ran into his grandpa, and she really cares about him. And he’s happy… and he’s free. She tried to do the right thing; she tried to tell his grandma Carly, but she was so mean to Nina on the phone. She can be that way sometimes. She even said that she was going to get the judge to keep Nina away from him, but here they are. She’s free to visit him. Her grandson. Like it should be. Wiley looks at her like he actually knows what’s going on, and she says she just doesn’t know what to do. She asks if Wiley thinks she should tell Grandma Carly that Grandpa Sonny is alive.

Maxie tells Georgie, she doesn’t know exactly when, but Louise will come home. She and James will have their little sister to play with. She asks Georgie to hang the drawing in Louise’s room, so it’s the first thing she sees when she comes home. She leaves, and Spinelli tells Maxie that Georgie believes her. She believes Louise is coming home. Maxie says, Louise is coming home. Peter will be caught. Louise will come home. She has to believe that. She can’t give up hope. He says she doesn’t have to. He promises they’ll find a way to bring Louise home.

Brook says, that’s awful, and Valentin says he’s sorry. He knows she and Chase are close. Anna says, excuse her. She promised Maxie that she’d keep searching for Peter. Valentin says, and Louise. Brook goes over to the crib, and Anna says, Maxie doesn’t believe she’s going to be safe until he’s arrested. Brook looks at the baby, and Valentin tells Anna to take care of herself. She tells him to look after his family. Anna leaves, and Brook asks if Valentin and Anna are a thing now. He says they have a long, fraught history; they’re friends. Brook says, friends? Is that what they’re calling it? He asks what she calls the thing between her and Chase. Oh come on. After the surprise obsession of Cyrus’s for Sasha, now Brook and Chase have something between them? I never got that vibe.

Elizabeth finds Finn, and tells him that Jackie and Gregory are going to see Chase. Does he want to join them, or stay there for a while? He says he’s not ready to surrender Chase to this toxin. Elizabeth sits down next to him, and says he’s done everything humanly possible to save Chase. He says he doesn’t want to stop, but he’s all out of options.

Chase says Gregory and Jackie are just in time. Jackie says, for what? and he says he just asked Willow to marry him, and she said yes. Gregory says, that’s wonderful news, and Jackie says, congratulations, hugging Willow.

Michael calls Jax, and says, Nina’s at the gatehouse. She’s with Wiley. Satisfied? Jax says, thank you, but Michael says don’t thank him. Just keep his end of the bargain. Nobody can know about him and Willow.

Nina walks around, holding Wiley, and says, when she had to leave Port Charles, and had to leave him, she was so empty. But now that she has him in her arms, she’s filled with happiness. She loves him so much, and she always will. From now on, Grandma Nina is going to spend lots and lots of time with him. Carly stands in the doorway, and shakes her head.

Shawn says maybe TJ should rethink coming to see him; Alexis says, of course (🍷) she’s trying to stir things up; Chase says he knows what Finn is doing, and he’s asking him to stop; and Michael asks if Carly is going to let Jason run the business.

Million Dollar Listing New York

The show began with production being shut down on March 20, 2020. The brokers did their own filming, and Steve said everything was cool at his place. I thought, for now. He, Louisa, and baby Rose had gotten covid pre-lockdown, and decided to stick around where the best hospitals were, just in case. Ryan was in Dublin, New Hampshire at his parents’ place, which also had a guesthouse that he was using for an office and a gym. Must be nice. KJ was at her grandfather’s home in Massachusetts, and Tyler was in East Hampton. Fredrik was kind of digging being stuck in L.A., since he and Derek had never had time together uninterrupted, and with no nannies. Ryan said the contracts they’d had pre-pandemic were on hold. They were waiting to see what happened, finding the silver lining, and planning the future as best they could.  

KJ said business was not booming, and she was trying to resuscitate deals. I laughed about her having to take care of her own kids, and one of them screeching while she was trying to Zoom. Ryan didn’t know what day it was anymore. Now it was just, day. Ryan filmed with baby Zena in a playpen near him, and he said he put the baby in quarantine every now and then. He was social distancing from her. The Serhant team had a Zoom meeting, and Ryan said they had to plan and prepare for life not going back to normal soon. It didn’t stop him from doing an $11.6 million deal, where he snagged a $368K commission though.

Fredrik said, in L.A., business was slowing down. They were working harder, but in a different way. It was tough for him to see NYC on television, and not be able to be there. By the beginning of the summer, Steve felt that real estate was coming back, and they were navigating a new normal. There had been a migration. Tyler had a daily meeting with his team, and they’d been video marketing properties. He thought it had the potential to make them more efficient. KJ was doing virtual tours as well.

June 21 2020. We saw the headline, Governor Cuomo to NYC: It’s on! Tyler went back to the city, his first stop to look at friend Whitney’s apartment, as she wanted to sell. The building had been designed by one of his favorites, Thomas Juul-Hansen, and Tyler said that when Whitney had described her apartment décor as bold, she meant BOLD. He called it granny chic, and it was busy, but I liked it. At 1500 square feet, it had 3 bedrooms and 3.5 baths. The first chandelier we saw, a colorful piece designed by St. Louis for Hermes, cost $24,400. The interior design as a whole had cost half a million. Can you imagine? I can’t. There was a lot of busy wallpaper, one of my favorites having an old-fashioned hot air balloon pattern. That one was in the powder room. There was also one of my all-time favorite patterns, palm leaves. Tyler pointed out that the same pattern had been used for Blanche’s wallpaper and bedspread in The Golden Girls, so I’m not sure what that says about me. There was a private elevator going right into the apartment, as well as a custom kitchen. Tyler told us that it was a buyer’s market, and people wanted covid discounts. Sellers were taking hits. Whitney had invested a total of $5.4 million in the apartment, and Tyler got what sellers were going through. They had a lot of money tied into apartment values, but they were nowhere near where they’d been. He thought if she wanted to sell it as is, the most likely scenario was that it was someone’s dream apartment. The aesthetic wasn’t for everybody, but a lot of people loved Riverside Drive. He thought her best bet was to ask $4.96 million. He told us that it was an emotional thing to sell, and part of his job was making people feel okay during a difficult process.

Tyler said the pandemic had made finances different, work situations different, and people’s personal lives different. Steve said things would change, but NYC wasn’t going anywhere. Ryan said covid had changed the rules, and now they were getting back to work. It was weird because he hadn’t been there in so long. His driver Yuri had gone on vacation, and he wondered who went on vacation in the middle of a pandemic? Apparently, Yuri. His pool of 80 buyers was gone, but he thought it was time to give team member Holly the listing for an $8 million townhouse. He told her a lot of people thought it was too east (whatever that means, unless it’s a transportation issue), so she had to play up the benefits of the location. Before quarantine, the seller had the townhouse built, but made the decision to sell. He had Holly role play, selling him the townhouse, which was 5100 square feet, and had 20 foot ceilings. It also contained custom kitchen cabinetry, a sub-zero refrigerator, custom closets, and an upstairs patio. Ryan thought Holly clearly knew the house, and was ready to go. She could handle any potential buyer. Her potential commission would be $240K.

KJ’s a friend Stephanie, who lived on 14^th Street, wanted to see, and KJ felt she needed to reduce the price of her apartment to under $2.7 million. KJ said she’d originally told Stephanie the price was too low, but now the market had changed. KJ showed us how she used a visualization technique, imagining what you wanted as if it happened, and putting it out in the universe. She called Stephanie, and said the asking price was too close to $3 million. She knew it wasn’t what Stephanie wanted to hear, but she had to do something drastic if she wanted to sell. Stephanie agreed to $2.625, but said she wasn’t cutting any more than that. KJ told us that short-term price reductions were now a staple. A lot of people had left the city, and there was a ton of inventory. Her potential commission was $78 and change. Her manifesting worked. I still don’t have my millions though, and I’ve been putting that out there for a while.

Steve headed for Cornelia Guest’s farm in upstate New York. She’d always wanted to rescue animals, and fell in love with the property. It was two hours north of NYC, and Steve said upstate was hotter than ever in lockdown. He’d been in business mode, and gotten licensing in other states, reaching out to people who wanted to get out of the city, and have more outdoor space. At present, the asking price was $2.9 million, although it had once been listed at $4.2 million, and sat on the market for a year. Cornelia said no one knew about it, and Steve thought it hadn’t been marketed properly. There hadn’t even been showings. Steve literally ran out of gas just before he got there, but managed to get to a gas station on fumes. The farm had a private drive, and Steve said there was nothing better than a long approach to a house. Yeah, unless you’re a trick-or-treater. He met with property manager Tim, and told Tim that the property was incredible. Tim said it was 456 acres, with 35 rescue animals. Steve began giving some of the pigs the other brokers’ names. They took a buggy around property, and Tim showed Steve the 900 square foot guest cottage, a watering hole, 2 miles of stream. He said it was half the size of Central Park. Here’s a clue; Central Park is big. The main house was 6000 square feet, and had been rebuilt in 1990, although some of the original detail had been retained. It had 7 bedrooms, and 5 baths, and an antique garland stove, which apparently is hard to come by. Steve said, it wouldn’t be fun without a challenge. The bathrooms were meh, the floors weren’t done, and the upstairs was unfinished upstairs. He knew Cornelia had been let down in the past by brokers, and he wanted to perform to her expectations.

Fredrik said he couldn’t go to NYC because he couldn’t be away from his kids for a month because of quarantine. He had no idea when he’d be back, and had to rely on his team. Video chatting with team member Ellis, Fredrik asked Ellis to show him a friend’s 5^th Avenue apartment as if he was a buyer. It was 3500 square feet, with an open floor plan, 3 bedrooms, 2.5 baths, and a private terrace. Ellis was not that great, and Fredrik told him, to show real emotion, and not act like a car salesman. It also had a private outdoor shower. Why? Who knows? Fredrik said he wanted to be part of the showing. They needed the full Fredrik experience.

Ryan told Zena it was busy time, and to give him his phone. He was getting calls from everybody taking their fingers off the pause button. We went down Memory Lane with the fabulous West 17^th Street townhouse; the pool party open house, and the canceled private showings. A buyer made an offer at $15 million, and Ryan said the sellers did the smart thing, and agreed. The house was worth more than that, but who knew what the future market would bring? Ryan was proud that he’s sold it completely virtually in middle of pandemic. He called Jeff, who owned the adjoining apartments, and we revisited Ryan’s self-proclaimed epic The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe open house, and the balloon clad empty apartment next door. He said when lockdown hit, everyone went away. He told Jeff that a buyer had fallen in love with the empty apartment, and was offering $5.525. Another couple wanted to rent the first apartment for $15k a month, and Ryan suggested renting it to them for a couple of years, and then selling it to them when the market was better. Jeff said he’d agree to an $18K a month minimum. Ryan said he’d get back to Jeff, and wondered why Zena always said goodbye after the person had hung up.   

Ryan said life was pretty great, but every year he had to do more. So he was going to start his own brokerage.

Next time, a Fredrik robot and a llama, KJ virtually meets Fredrik, Whitney decides she wants to sell her apartment without showing it, and Ryan’s biggest risk in his career

Ryan’s Renovation

August 2020. Ryan talked about lockdown, and going to his parents’ house in the middle of Nowhere, New Hampshire. In May, they came back to NYC, but Emelia went to Greece with her family for the summer. They were allowed to travel there since they were citizens. It was one month to completion, after they’d restarted construction as soon as it was safe in June. They’d made a lot of progress; the elevator was in, and the plumbing and electric had been installed. Ryan had spent $80k during quarantine just to keep things current and not loose workers, so he thought saving a cool $220K on postponed roof terrace and landscaping work was the best bet. Hopefully, Emelia would be fine with it because he was doing it anyway. He called Emelia in Greece, and said, not only had they spent a bundle, the timeline had been extended to December. They also needed to extend a staircase to make it stroller friendly, but Emelia’s dad Leonidas took a virtual look, and said he’d do it gratis. Yes, that’s his line of work. He’s not a fisherman or something.

Ryan got a call from fellow broker Brad, saying he had a client who was interested in buying Ryan’s townhouse. He thought Ryan could get $15 million, and they’d bought it at $7.6 million, (I think) also putting in about $2 million in renovation. Ryan said the husband side of him knew Emelia would be pissed, but the broker side was tempted. Ryan was nervous to agree to a showing, but did it anyway. He said maybe the buyer would hate the house, and they could pretend the whole thing never happened. Leonidas, or as Ryan called him, King Leonidas, was at the townhouse when Ryan got back. Ryan said his opinion meant a lot, and the first thing he said was, the living room was too small. In their interview, Ryan told Emelia that her father was scary, and she told him, don’t mess with the Greeks.

Ryan got a call from Brad, saying the buyer thought the townhouse felt like home, and was offering $15 million. Ryan asked when they wanted to close, and then wondered why he said that. Emelia got back with Zena, and everyone gathered to see the olive tree Ryan had planted in lieu of landscaping. Ryan didn’t know what to do about the offer, but decided they’d literally planted roots, so let’s keep renovating.

Next time, a house blessing, painting, and another delay.

🗿 Quotes of the Week

Maybe this world is another planet’s hell. – Aldous Huxley

When one tugs at a single thing in nature, he finds it attached to the rest of the world. – John Muir

Intelligence plus character-that is the goal of true education. – Martin Luther King Jr.

The most effective way to destroy people is to deny and obliterate their own understanding of their history. – George Orwell

A mathematical formula for happiness: Reality divided by Expectations. There were two ways to be happy: improve your reality or lower your expectations. – Jodi Picoult (I vote for lowering expectations.)

The border to eternity is never ahead of us. It runs parallel to life and can be crossed over at any moment by old and young. – Reinhard Bonnke

No winter lasts forever; no spring skips its turn. – Hal Borland

We can’t have our delivery drivers or people out there in the community attacking people, punching people in the face. – Sheriff Ray Kelly, Castro Valley, CA

You’re an only child and still not his favorite. – Rita (Lana Parilla), Why Women Kill

😵 Ending a Stellar Week…

Sorry, no tea tonight, but I promise you a potful next time we meet. My dog finally got a vet appointment for Sunday. It’s been hell getting appointments since the pandemic started. I fell behind, and then AOL did… something, and my email is a pita. No matter. When next we meet, I’ll have recharged. I hope anyway. Until then, stay safe, stay enjoying whatever your view is, and stay not being just a star, but an entire constellation.