What I Watched Today

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

General Hospital

Dante walks into the hospital while his face is in his phone, so it’s no surprise when he literally runs into Finn, who is looking at paperwork. Finn imagines Dante is concentrating on the Peter August investigation, and Dante says, yeah. He’s going over it with forensics again, how Peter left a trail of blood in the subbasement, and where he went. Finn says he won’t keep Dante, but Dante says, there may be something about Peter’s disappearance Finn could shed some light on.

Shawn and Sam return to Naomie’s room. Shawn calls to her, and knocks, but there’s no answer. Sam asks if he thinks she left, but Shawn says he’s pretty sure her car was in the lot. Sam tries the door, and it’s open. She says she’ll apologize if Naomie is in there, and they go in. They see Naomie, lying on the floor, eyes open.

At the pool (🍷), Spencer puts his shirt back on over the KICK ME on his back. Trina says she has a confession to make. He knows Cam and Joss are her friends, and they told him all that stuff about him. She guesses she was trying to defend them. He was there, and he was kind of passed out… Nikolas approaches, and Spencer says Nikolas startled him. Nikolas says, nervous? but Spencer says he doesn’t like being snuck up on. Nikolas says he’d hardly call it sneaking, and Spencer says he knows Trina, right? Nikolas says, of course (🍷). How is she? She says, good, and asks how he is, calling him Mr. Cassadine. He asks her to call him Nikolas, and she says she has to make a phone call. She thanks Spencer for the advice, and he says, anytime. She leaves, and Spencer asks what Nikolas has in his hand. Nikolas sits down and says, you tell me. Or doesn’t Spencer recognize the letter Ryan Chamberlain sent him?

On the phone, Ned tells someone that they left them incredibly exposed. He hopes they realize that… Yes, he’ll let them know. Olivia comes downstairs, and says, that doesn’t sound very good. What’s going on? He says, they have trouble, with a capital T, and she knows who that stands for. She asks what Tracy did now.

Michael says, when Brook was forced to perpetrate a situation she knew wasn’t cool, he’s guessing it wasn’t easy. And it cost her something to keep it going. She says he’d be correct, and he says he’s also guessing she did the best she could at the time. She says, pretty much, and he says, then she knows what he and Willow are going through.

Monica asks how Willow’s first day of shadowing is, calling her Nurse Chase. I suddenly get confused, and then wonder why both Finn and Chase are called by their last names, and why their last names aren’t the same. Note to self: check on that. Willow says she’s far from being a nurse, she has so much to learn, and it’s Student Nurse Tate. Monica apologizes, saying, since Willow took Michael’s last name, she thought Willow would take Chase’s too, since he’s her husband.

Chase tells Austin, as soon as he’s done there, he’s telling Willow it’s over. He’ll be out of the picture, and Michael and Willow can finally live happily ever after. Austin says, that’s definitely one way to go, and Chase asks if he has another option. Austin says he does. Why settle for a graceful exit when you can make one that has lasting impact?

Austin says he thinks it’s Chase’s inclination, his nature, to be kind to both Michael and Willow. They treated him like dirt. His wife and his best friend are screwing each other. Chase says, it’s a complicated situation. He’s sure Willow felt obligated to marry him. Everybody thought he was going to die. She thought she was doing the right thing. Austin says, maybe. It makes sense with what’s happened in the past, but doesn’t jive with what’s happening now. Michael and Willow are clearly still attracted to each other; they can’t keep their hands off each other. Chase says, don’t remind him, but Austin thinks he needs to. Clearly, Chase’s health crisis is over. He’s been released from the hospital, and they’ve had every opportunity to be honest with him, and yet, they’ve kept him in the dark. Doesn’t that piss him off? Doesn’t he think he deserves better?

Willow tells Monica, she enrolled in nursing school as Willow Tate, so it seemed simpler not to change it. Elizabeth says she’s in the process of showing Willow the ropes. This semester, Willow is going to get some hands-on training at the hospital. Monica is sure she’ll be up to the challenge, and Willow says she’s looking forward to interacting with patients and getting some practical experience. Elizabeth is sure they’ll find plenty for her to do, and Willow says she’s trying not to be nervous. Monica takes out her phone, and says, oh no. Willow asks if there’s something wrong, and Monica says she just got a text from Ned. We see her phone, and it says, SOS.

Brook tells Michael, Willow seems awesome, but she’s not family, so Brook doesn’t get to judge her. He, on the other hand, is not only family, but probably the most principled Quartermaine since Lila, so she holds him to a higher standard. Since he admitted to her that there is in fact a him and Willow, she wonders where that leaves Chase. Ned walks in, followed by Olivia, and says, family meeting. They could be looking at a major crisis.

Sam checks Naomie’s neck, and says, there’s no pulse. Her body’s cold, but Sam doesn’t see any blood or wounds. Shawn says, no obvious signs of a struggle, and Sam says they have to call this in. He says he’ll let her make the call, but he’ll wait for the cops; she can head out. She says she’s not leaving him there to deal with it, but he says she’s on parole, remember? She says she didn’t kill Naomie, and he says she doesn’t know who they’ll send. Some by-the-book cop who could site her with a parole violation or more. She says, all right. She won’t call 9-1-1. She’ll call someone she trusts.

Finn says he doesn’t know how much help he can be, and Dante says he was trying to figure out how Finn and Anna ended up in the subbasement in the first place. Before Finn can answer, Dante’s phone rings. Dante says he has to take it, and Finn says, of course (🍷). Dante steps away and asks Sam, what’s up? She says she and Shawn are at the Woodbridge Motel. They found Hayden Barnes’s mother. Dante says, and? and Sam says, she’s dead. Dante looks at Finn.

Spencer says, Nikolas is saying that’s a letter to him from Ryan Chamberlain, and Nikolas tells Spencer not to insult his intelligence and deny it. Spencer says, all right. He knew about the letter. Where did Nikolas find it? Nikolas says he was visiting Alexis at the minimum security facility when he discovered Ryan is also an inmate, and he found the letter among his possessions. Spencer says, don’t tell him that they let Nikolas go through Ryan’s things, and Nikolas tells him, stop deflecting. Tell him why he was corresponding with this maniac. Spencer says he wasn’t. He got one letter from the guy, thought it was probably trouble, and didn’t even bother to open it. He sent it back, marked return to sender, but apparently Nikolas thought to read it. So what’s it say? Nikolas says, it was complementary toward Spencer, and Spencer laughs, saying, a serial killer is complementing him? How random and creepy is that? Nikolas says, it looked to him like Ryan was trying to get on Spencer’s good side, and hopefully recruit him as an ally. Spencer says he’s glad he didn’t open it, and Nikolas says, Ryan is obsessed with his wife and Spencer’s stepmother. Spencer says, he figured this had something to do with Ryan’s warped connection to Ava, and Nikolas says he’s missing the point. The man that killed Ava’s daughter reached out to him, and he said nothing. Nikolas wants to know why not. It’s unconscionable that Spencer didn’t warn him warn him, whether he opened the letter or not. Spencer says Nikolas is blowing this out of proportion, and Nikolas says Spencer knew Ava was being stalked, and it wasn’t just Ava; Avery was being threatened too. Meanwhile, Spencer gets a letter from a serial killer, and doesn’t think it’s worth mentioning? Spencer says, not really, and Nikolas asks, why the hell not? Spencer says because he knows damn well Ryan isn’t the one who’s been threatening Ava all this time.

Dante gets to the hotel room with a couple of officers, and knocks. Sam tells him, the door’s open, and he goes in. He says she’s really pushing the limits on her last few months of parole, and Shawn says he told Sam that he could handle it on his own, but Sam says, a woman is dead; she’s not just going to walk away. Dante tells the officers to sweep the place and dust for prints, and checks Naomie’s neck for a pulse. He asks, what happened? and Shawn says, they came to the door, and there was no response. The door was unlocked, they came in, and found Naomie lying on the floor. Sam says she checked Naomie’s pulse, but her body was cold. Finn comes in, and Dante says he told Finn to wait in the car. Finn says he thought he could help, but Shawn says there’s nothing he could do. She’s been dead for a while.  

Monica walks in, and says, about this SOS. How big, how embarrassing, and how much is it going to cost to get us out of it? Ned says Monica should have a seat, and she says, that bad? Brook asks, what happened? and Olivia says, in a word, Tracy. Ned says he talked to her earlier to keep her in the loop now that Austin is in the picture. Michael says he doesn’t understand. He thought Tracy never wanted to hear the letters ELQ again. Olivia says, that doesn’t mean she wants someone else to get their hands on the family company, and Brook says she doubts granny was shocked by the arrival of another Q interloper. Ned says, she was expecting this, and that could prove to be a real problem for the rest of them.

Austin says, Chase’s wife, who he’s clearly head over heels in love with, is having an affair with his best buddy. He has every right to his outrage. Chase says he’s mad at the situation. Willow has the biggest heart of anyone he’s ever known. If he had any clue she didn’t want to marry him, he wouldn’t have boxed her into this. Austin says, Willow is a grown woman. She could have chosen to tell him the truth at any point since he left the hospital. Chase says he put her in a horrible situation, and she doesn’t deserve the anger he’s feeling. Austin says, all right. Then let’s just talk about Michael, the man Chase considers to be his best friend. He didn’t box Michael in with a proposal. When Chase left the hospital, Michael invited him to stay at the Quartermaine mansion, the big house. Seemingly, a generous offer, but is it really? If Michael knows Chase is there, he can still sneak into the gatehouse and screw Chase’s wife, and Chase can’t do anything about it because he can’t get down there on his own… Chase says, that is enough, and Austin says, Michael betrayed Chase. Isn’t it time for some payback? Chase asks why any of this matters to Austin.

Elizabeth says, Monica took off in a hurry; she hopes everything is okay. Willow says, the text was from Ned. She’s pretty sure it’s ELQ related. Elizabeth asks if she ever gets tired of hearing those initials. Willow says, yes and no. The company is really important to the Quartermaines, including Michael. It’s Wiley’s legacy, but aside from that, it doesn’t concern her, so she’s trying to stay focused on her studies there. Felix appears, and says, she better. People are expecting great things from her. Elizabeth says, but no pressure, and Felix says, of course (🍷) there’s pressure. That’s the job. Elizabeth isn’t doing Willow any favors by pretending otherwise. Elizabeth asks if he’s channeling Epiphany, and he says, Epiphany is on a well-earned vacation in Cabo. Someone has to keep up her standards. He’s curious to see what the GH nursing school has been teaching Willow. If a patient wants to check out early against doctor’s orders, what’s the role of the nurse? Willow says, to acknowledge the patient’s concerns, and give them definitive markers to focus on. Felix says, such as? and she says, if the patient’s oxygen level is too low, you can tell them once their oxygen level has maintained itself at 95% for four hours, then they could be a candidate to be released from the hospital. Felix says, so far, so good, but if she thinks he’s tough, just wait until Epiphany gets back. He still has nightmares about the way she used to grill him, but in retrospect, it was for his own good, and made him a better nurse. Willow promises to keep learning, and while she can’t promise to impress Epiphany, she can promise to do everything in her power to be an asset to the hospital. Felix says, good to know. Let’s start with something basic. Call up the chart on the patient in room 1015. Willow goes to the computer, and Felix says, they’ll walk her through how to sync up any prescription updates the MPs might have made. Willow says she’s on it, and Felix tells Elizabeth, she’s so green. Elizabeth says she knows, but so eager to learn. She was like that. Felix says, so was he.

The cops put a sheet over Naomie’s body, and Dante asks Shawn and Sam to tell him what happened from the beginning. Sam says Shawn asked her to help him investigate Hayden’s shooting from years ago. Finn asks if Shawn didn’t admit to shooting Hayden, and Shawn says, it was a mistake. Hayden herself told him someone else was responsible, but wouldn’t tell him who was. Sam says she found out Hayden’s mother was in town, and thought she could put them in touch with Hayden. Dante asks if she did, and Sam says, no, but she did go on this tirade about how Hayden was a horrible mother and didn’t want to have any sort of relationship with Violet. Finn says, that doesn’t sound right. Hayden was heartbroken when she had to say goodbye to Violet. Shawn says, it seemed strange to them too, so they decided to come back and talk to her some more, but when they did, they found her like this. An officer hands Dante an evidence bag, and says, they found this in the bathroom. Dante says, it’s a recent prescription; they could be looking at a suicide. Finn says, no way. They made plans earlier today for Naomie to spend some more time with her granddaughter. If she was thinking about ending her life, there’s no way she’d promise she’d see Violet again. Someone did this to her.

Nikolas asks Spencer how he can be so sure who has or hasn’t been stalking his wife and their family? Spencer says, Ryan has been locked inside his own body for a year now. So when he heard about the cockroach, it didn’t cross his mind to connect Ryan to it, because he’s been completely incapacitated. He sent the letter back without thinking twice. He’s never made a secret of his feelings toward Ava. She could have testified against Valentin when he shot Nikolas, but she opted to have her face repaired. She sold out. All he ever did was suggest Nikolas could do better, and suddenly that translates to him being in league with Ryan Chamberlain? Trina comes back, and says she just forgot her… Is this a bad time? Nikolas tells her, please don’t leave. He and Spencer were just having a misunderstanding. He’s sorry he jumped to conclusions. Spencer says, apology accepted. He knows the stalker has Nikolas on edge. Nikolas says, it’s no excuse. He tells them to have fun, and says he’ll see Spencer at home. He leaves, and Trina says, what was that about?

Austin tells Chase, full disclosure. He’s in the middle of a financial dispute with the Quartermaine family. Chase asks if Austin is saying he was cut off from the family fortune, and now he’s throwing a tantrum as a result. Austin says, that’s one interpretation of the situation, and not a very charitable one. He’s surprised. He would have thought Chase, of all people, would know where he was coming from. Chase asks, why him of all people? and Austin says because Michael and Willow were cheating on Chase, and the whole family is trying to cheat Austin out of his rightful inheritance. Chase says, so Austin and Scotty are going to take them to court over a will that’s already been probated? Good luck good with that. Austin says he has it on good authority that there’s something in the Quartermaine mansion, that if found, will change the outcome to his favor.

Monica asks Ned to just tell them what Tracy did now, and Ned says, just as a reminder, during grandfather’s final months, he gave up medicine he needed to live so that Emma Drake could have it. It indeed saved her life. The experience must have softened Edward’s perspective, because he began corresponding with Jimmy Lee Holt again. Michael says, grandfather was on speaking terms with Jimmy Lee before he died? and Ned says, yes, and he apparently expressed real regret for cutting Jimmy Lee out of his will. Brook asks how granny would know, and Olivia says, she’ll give Brook three guesses, and the first two don’t count. Ned says, Jimmy Lee didn’t know Edward’s health had taken a turn for the worse because his mother started intercepting the letters. She wasn’t happy to learn he and grandfather might be reconciling. Monica says, it was all for nothing, since Tracy got cut out of the will, and Michael asks if Ned is saying that Tracy might have prevented Edward from changing his will to include Jimmy Lee. Ned says, there’s nothing specific in the letters, but if grandfather left a record somewhere intending to change the will in Jimmy Lee’s favor, it might give Austin’s case a leg to stand on.

Chase says, so Jimmy Lee and Edward were in the process of patching things up, and Austin says, yes, and as soon as Edward mentioned he was reconsidering disinheriting Austin’s father, the letters stopped. His father’s theory was that the Quartermaines swooped in when Edward got sick. Chase asks why Jimmy Lee didn’t take on the family, but Austin doesn’t know. He was a very proud man, but now that he’s passed, Austin thinks it’s his duty to try and settle the score. Chase says, it’s good in theory, but it’s still just conjecture. He’s testified in enough cases to know you need evidence to make a case stick. How is Austin going to prove any of this? Austin says, Edward’s papers are still in his study. The family left the room exactly the way Edward left it. Chase asks how Austin knows, and Austin says when he was at a party there, he looked around. He got as far as getting the door open, but the housekeeper found him, and escorted him back downstairs. Chase says, if Austin had made it in, what did he expect to find? Austin says, if Edward was reconsidering his will, he’d have contacted a lawyer, and there would be a record of it, or at least some handwritten notes. Chase asks what this has to do with him, and Austin says Chase lives there. He can go to the study whenever he wants. Chase says, Austin wants him to do his dirty work? but Austin says, no. He wants Chase to uncover the truth. He wants Chase to use his close proximity to the family to help him claim what’s rightfully his.

Ned says, the current distribution of ELQ shares could be contested should this come to light, and Monica says, Austin obviously knows about this, or he never would have filed a lawsuit. Brook asks, what’s the plan? Does Ned want them to prepare for a fight? Ned says he’s not sure what the right thing is, and Brook says, excuse me? He says, putting the company aside for a moment, his mother may have interfered with grandfather’s final wishes. If that’s the case, Austin’s father Jimmy Lee might have been denied what was rightfully his. Brook says, maybe granny felt Edward wasn’t mentally all there in the end, but Ned says, or maybe she anticipated a big inheritance that wasn’t there in the end. If they deny Austin his rightful share, aren’t they just as bad as Tracy?   

Austin says, if Chase wants to bow out of his marriage, go right ahead, but maybe don’t go gently into that good night without at least settling the score. Chase says he knows Austin is trying to get in his head to mess with him, but Austin says, Michael and Willow are the ones who have been messing with Chase’s head, but call it like he sees it. Chase says he is, and he thinks Austin is trying to take advantage of his anger to get what he wants. Austin says he’s not in the habit of using anyone; he’s just being direct. He thinks their situations are crisscrossing in a way they can help one another. Chase says him betraying the Quartermaines helps Austin, but does nothing for his marriage; one thing isn’t related to the other. Austin says Chase is wrong about that. He thinks their situations are exactly similar. Michael and Willow are cheating on Chase, and he’s being cheated out of his inheritance. That’s what the Quartermaines do. They stab people in the back. They take and they take from little guys like them, because they can’t even imagine a reality where the Quartermaines don’t get everything.

Trina and Spencer sit with their feet in the pool (🍷), and Trina asks if things are still awkward with Spencer’s dad. Spencer says, yeah. He was pretty vocal about his feelings toward Ava back in the day. Even though he’s sympathetic to their current situation, there’s still a lot of tension, which is why his father can never know he was there before he announced his return to him. Given all that’s going on, it’s one more thing he does not need to know about.

Nikolas tells the bartender to keep his tab open for his son and his friend. He looks at the postmark on the letter, and sees that it was postmarked February 2^nd, and returned on February 13^th. He says, Spencer received this letter before Ava got the cockroach. He flashes back two minutes ago, when Spencer said that when Ava got the cockroach, it didn’t even cross his mind to connect it with Ryan, since he’d been incapacitated. So when he got the letter, he sent it back without thinking twice.   

Dante asks Finn not to jump to conclusions. They can’t rule out the possibility of an accidental overdose. They have to wait on the toxicology report. Finn says Dante isn’t suggesting Naomie accidentally took a whole bottle of pills? and Dante says he’s suggesting they don’t know how many pills were in the bottle, three or thirty. Finn says he has to find a way to explain this to Violet, and Dante says, go; they’ll get Naomie back to GH. Finn thanks him, and leaves. Shawn says he thinks Finn was right on the money. He thinks Naomie was murdered.

Dante says, if Naomie was murdered, how do they get there? Sam asks where he wants them to start, and he says, they left, and then came back to talk to Naomie about something else. What was it? Sam says, the name Abigail, and Dante asks, who’s Abigail? Shawn says, when Naomie tried to convince them that Hayden had no interest in being Violet’s mother, she referred to Hayden’s middle name as Abigail. Sam says, Elizabeth confirmed that’s not Hayden’s middle name. Seriously, they’re all parents, and you don’t get your kid’s middle name wrong. Even in the heat of the moment, would Dante ever mistake Rocco’s middle name? Dante says, no; she’s right. She says, the middle name was definitely the oddest part, but the way Hayden’s mother spoke about her not wanting a relationship with Violet just didn’t track with what they’d heard. Shawn says when they talked it over, it felt like Naomie was giving them clues, trying to get them to circle back. Sam says, the only way that makes sense is if… Dante says, someone was watching her.

Felix tells Elizabeth, when he sees how hard Willow is working, it makes him think of his nursing school days. She says, her too. She remembers it like it was yesterday. He says, isn’t it funny that over the years, they learned more from their mistakes than their successes? She says a control freak like her doesn’t like to make mistakes, and he says, which is why they don’t make the same mistake twice. Sometimes he actually can’t believe they made it this far. She says, now they’re in a position to help newcomers like Willow, and he says, she’s going to make one helluva good nurse. Elizabeth says, she is, when Finn comes out of the elevator. She says he doesn’t look so great. What’s wrong? He says, Naomie. She’s dead.

Trina tells Spencer that he doesn’t have to throw a party for her, and he says he chooses to extend himself to make a social event that might be worthy of her. She says, oh, please, and he says, the more she doubts him, the more it inspires him to make it an unforgettable evening. Nikolas comes back, and says he and Spencer need to talk. Spencer asks if everything is okay, and Nikolas says he just got off the phone with the board of Cassadine Industries, and negotiations have stalled in Dubai. It’s going to significantly impact their bottom line. Normally, he’d teleconference in, but he thinks he should be there in person. Spencer says, he’s going to be leaving the country? and Nikolas says, only for a few days. He was thinking of calling his mother, and seeing if Spencer could stay with her and Doc. Spencer says he just toured Europe on his own; he doesn’t need a babysitter. Nikolas says, okay. With the exception of the staff, Spencer will have Windymere all to himself.

Austin says, Chase is a police officer. In his work, he puts aside his personal emotions, and examines the evidence. So consider this; these are the facts. His best friend in the whole world slept with his lawfully wedded wife. Shouldn’t there be consequences? Does Michael get away with it? Does he play by different rules because he’s a Corinthos and a Quartermaine? Don’t let him do that. Don’t let him get away with the company and the woman Chase loves. Chase says he should go, and Austin walks to the door. He says he’s counting on Chase. Is he in? He opens the door, and Chase wheels on out.

Olivia tells Ned that it was sweet of him to consider his grandfather’s wishes. Very un-Quartermaine; no offense. Monica says, the way Tracy described it, is that Edward only regretted cutting Jimmy Lee out of the will. Did she ever say he was going to revise the will, and include Jimmy Lee? Ned says, not that she knew about, and Michael says, then they know nothing for sure. Monica says, if Jimmy Lee had pressured Edward, Edward would have told him to pound sand. Edward spent decades disowning that man, and had absolutely no use for his mother. Brook says they can’t presume Edward’s wishes would have been. They can only go by the last will. Michael agrees. He’s sympathetic to a point, but it’s a big step for Austin to assume he would have inherited anything, let alone ELQ voting stock. Ned says, so they’re in agreement to maintain the current game plan? Brook says, which is what? and Ned says, to strike a deal and buy out Austin with a lump sum. Michael says it works for him, and Brook says, her too. If they don’t accept Austin into the family fold, maybe he’ll quit GH and be a country doctor again far away from Port Charles. Ned says he’ll get the ball rolling, and they file out of the room. Brook tells Michael, hang on a second. He never answered her question. He says, this is clearly not a good time. Can she let this go? She says, has he met her? Of course (🍷) she’s not going to let this go. Tell her the truth. Is there a him and Willow, and if so, where does that leave Chase?

Willow runs into Chase at the hospital, and says she didn’t realize he’d still be there. Is everything okay? He says, actually, no, it’s not. Austin watches.

Willow asks, what’s wrong? and Chase flashes back to finding Michael’s shirt, and going upstairs in the gatehouse. She says he looks like he’s a million miles away. What’s going on? He says he was just thinking about physical therapy. He was hoping to take some steps today, but he couldn’t. He doesn’t know how much longer he’ll be stuck in this chair. She tells him, keep at it; she has faith in him. She has to report back to Felix, but she’ll see him at home, okay? He says, sure will. She leaves, and Chase looks at Austin, then wheels off.

Brook tells Michael, she knows it’s none of her business, but Chase is her friend. He says all he can tell her is that he and Willow are trying to do the best they can by Chase. Bailey starts crying, and Brook says she should go.  

In the foyer, Ned tells Olivia, sorry about interruption, but he had to get this email out. Olivia looks at him, and he says, what? She says, he was willing to put the family legacy in jeopardy to do the right thing. Was he just putting on a show for her benefit, or was it genuine? Ned says, after all this time, she still reminds him that he’s not just Edward’s grandson, but also Lila’s. He knows he has more work to do before he becomes a man worthy to be her husband again, but he’s going to keep trying. Olivia says, good; she’s glad.

Nikolas says, on second thought, why doesn’t Spencer come with him? Spencer tells him, he just said the staff will be there. It’s not like he’ll be alone, and he’s not afraid of whoever’s targeting Ava; they’re not after him. Nikolas says he’ll see Spencer in a few days, and Trina tells him to have a good trip. He leaves and Spencer asks if Trina just heard him. He’s going to be out of the country for a few days. It’s the perfect time to throw that party. Nikolas watches, and makes a call. He tells someone to book a room for him in Port Charles, and says, let’s make sure Spencer’s party teaches him a lesson he’ll never forget.

Finn tells Elizabeth, they found Naomie in her hotel room, and it looks like foul play was involved. She says, oh my God, and Felix says he’s so sorry. Why doesn’t she take a few minutes to process? He’ll have Willow shadow him. He leaves, and she says she doesn’t understand. Sam called wanting to know Hayden’s middle name, and he says, it must be connected. She says, they need to tell Hayden… not that anybody knows where she is. He says, right now, he needs to focus on telling Violet. She was excited about spending time with her grandmother. He doesn’t know how to break it to her. She says, they’ll figure it out together.

Naomie is zipped up in a body bag, and taken away. Dante closes the door, and says, so, Naomie was being watched, and she tried to get a message to them. What could she have known that could possibly get her killed? Sam says, maybe where to find her daughter, and Shawn says, somebody doesn’t want them to know what happened to Hayden. And they’re willing to kill to make sure they don’t.

Tomorrow, Portia asks Curtis how long she’s supposed to let this go on for, Stella needs to know the truth from Jordan, Laura asks what Nikolas suspects Spencer of, and Jason tells Carly that they’re a united front.

The Real Housewives of New York City

Leah called Eboni about the upcoming Black Shabbat. Leah said she’d been practicing her Hebrew, and the struggle was real. In Leah’s interview, she said, Hebrew was a beautiful language… when it was spoken by someone who knew how to speak it.  She was hanging her mezuzah, and Eboni showed Leah her own mezuzah. (I, too, have a mezuzah.) Leah’s was really cool; pink see-through acrylic. I had no idea they came like that. Eboni said Leah would get to meet her friend Archie, and since they were both tall, gorgeous blonds, they might run away together. In Eboni’s interview, she said she was excited about Black Shabbat, and was glad to be able to share it with Leah, since Leah had been committed and disciplined about her studies. Ramona met broker Michael at an apartment, and in her interview, she said she didn’t have her license yet, but was three quarters of the way through. She wanted to get her feet wet, and show she had what it took. Michael’s client Jordan joined them, and Michael let Ramona show the $17.9 million, 3800 and change square foot, 3 bedroom, 2.5 bath apartment. The views were stunning, and one room had them on three sides. A few times, Michael had to correct Ramona, and in her interview, Ramona said it bothered her being corrected since it meant she wasn’t perfect. I wondered if she thought he was just supposed to leave the client with the wrong info. At the end, Michael said Ramona was assertive and confident. I had other words for what she was, but okay.

Eboni met with genetic investigator Linda, who was going to use Eboni’s DNA to trace her lineage backward to identify her father. In Eboni’s interview, she had a lot of disappointment and heartache. If this didn’t work, it would be a wrap. Linda explained about how she did clustering analysis to narrow it down, and in her interview, Eboni said, part of her was excited, but she also knew it was a shot in the dark.

Sonja met match Brad at a restaurant, and in her interview, she said her first impression was that he was taller and thinner in his picture, but she’d let him work his magic. She was going to be quiet, and hear what he had to say. They decided bacon was healthy, and Sonja said they’d found common ground talking about food. Since Brad lived in Chelsea, Sonja felt that was a strike, as Helen Gurley Brown had said you should live within 10 blocks. Nothing like working off info that’s 40 years old. They talked about their respective businesses; Sonja’s online business had flourished, and his leasing business had tanked because of the pandemic. He told her that he’d bought a house in the south of France, and Sonja’s love meter went up, but then said he’d sold it a month and a half ago, and it went back down. In her interview, Sonja said it was naïve to think there would be love at first sight when looking for Mr. Right. She was on a first date, and headed in the right direction. She was willing to give it a chance.

Sonja’s assistant (#2546) Emma read a description of Shabbat to her. Ramona talked to LuAnn, who called it a Black Sabbath dinner. Ramona hoped they’d have fun, and Eboni wouldn’t get on her soapbox. LuAnn had never been to a seder, which surprised me, since she’s so worldly. She said she didn’t know what to expect. Leah called next, and sadly, had been exposed to covid. She felt fine, but had to quarantine. She was sad about missing Shabbat, and in Eboni’s interview, she said she said Leah had worked hard at her conversion, and she was selfishly sad that Leah woudn’t be there.

The women met on a party bus, and popped some champagne. Eboni explained that although Leah thought she was fine, she didn’t want them to get exposed to anything, so she had to bow out. She would be there in spirit though – i.e. FaceTime. In Sonja’s interview, she said the sad part was losing out on the bonding with Leah. Ramona thought it would be a weird dynamic with Leah on the phone. They arrived at Archie’s house in Summit, New Jersey, where it had snowed, and LuAnn threw a snowball at Sonja. In her interview, Sonja put on a Sopranos accent, and said they’d only been in New Jersey five minutes, and LuAnn was already trying to whack her with a snowball. Ramona hid behind Sonja because she’s a wimp. Eboni’s friends Dionne, Brian, and Linara also joined them, and in Eboni’s interview, she said they’d gone to Israel with her, and shared her commitment to advancing Black excellence. Ramona complained that Archie’s handmade napkins were too big, and in her interview, Sonja said Ramona was picking on the napkins already, and it was only getting worse from there. Ramona moved on to how Archie should be more matchy-matchy with her table settings. Hmm… I don’t think Martha Stewart would agree.  

Sonja said when Eboni had told her Archie would be wearing sequins, she’d thought Archie was a gay guy, and they’d be matching. They moved on to the dinner table where challah bread was discussed, and Eboni brought Leah in on the phone. Archie said she was excited to share this beautiful sacred space, and talked about her group called JewBelong, where she wanted to rebrand Judaism to make it more welcoming and relatable. LuAnn asked if you needed to be Jewish to be in the group, but Archie said no. In Leah’s interview, she said felt like a little character sitting on the table. She didn’t know she’d be lined up with the gefilte fish. Ramona started griping about how Eboni seemed to be checking on Leah every second, and Leah said, why not? Sonja said because Ramona was being a bitch. In her interview, Sonja said she didn’t know why Ramona was being rude. Leah was converting, and they were just learning. Archie started with a Shabbat shot.

Leah couldn’t hear, so Eboni had to mess around with the phone some more. She read the description of Shabbat, saying, according to tradition, six days you shall toil, but there is rest on the seventh day. You were to stop even thinking about work, Eboni adding that she didn’t know how to do that. The beauty of Friday evening was that it was designed to act as if work is done. Leah was supposed to light the candles, but Ramona held the phone while Eboni took Leah’s place. In Ramona’s interview, she said she’d been engaged to a Jewish man who’d wanted her to convert from Christianity. But since he never said he appreciated her doing it, she ended the engagement, and felt she’d dodged a bullet. No doubt there’s more to that story. Leah did the blessing, singing a prayer, and everyone said it was beautiful. Sonja said Leah’s commitment blew her away, and in Leah’s interview, she said, singing a prayer wasn’t easy, and it was special to her that Sonja had been touched and understood how important it was to her. Archie said there was so much hatred in the world, and anti-Semitism. There were so many people who wouldn’t even come to a Shabbat. She was worried about the relationship between Blacks and Jews. Ramona said the Italians and Jews were all about tradition, which was totally on topic, not at all. Only in Ramona’s mind. In LuAnn’s interview, she said Ramona was trying to interject something into a conversation of which she had no knowledge. Shut up and listen. Eboni explained that it was easy for oppressed people to join in other forms of oppression, and the only person who would win was the white supremacist. Ramona said they all wanted what was right, and Eboni said the difference was, she’d paid the price. Ramona said, they all did in different ways, to which no one knew how to respond. In Eboni’s interview, she said she believed Ramona was well-meaning, but had a hard time sitting with the pain of marginalized America. She had no idea how painful her reaction was. Ramona said that Jewish people had hated her in college, and Leah said it wasn’t about white people right now. In Leah’s interview, she said, not only was it not about white people, it wasn’t about Ramona. She was sure everyone hated Ramona in college. In LuAnn’s interview, she said, now they’d gone from Italian persecution to Ramona’s persecution in college. It just gets worse. Ramona said she was shunned as a Christian, and Archie said she definitely wanted to discuss that with her, but that wasn’t enough for Ramona. When she didn’t get the pity party she wanted, she jetted from the table. No big surprise there.  

In Ramona’s interview, she said at other dinners they were allowed to share their thoughts, but she guessed she was in trouble for doing it there. Archie asked if she should talk to Ramona; she wanted to apologize for how the Jews had treated her. Eboni said Ramona leaving was probably for the best, but Ramona reappeared, whining that she’d been on a bus for 40 whole minutes and hadn’t been able to pee. Leah said she was acting like a psycho, and to sit down. In Leah’s interview, she said she didn’t understand why it was triggering for Ramona to hear about someone else’s history. Ramona apologized for sharing her feelings, totally missing the point. She said she was sorry she’d insulted anyone. Archie said she felt sad that the Jews had left Ramona out, and Sonja’s interview, she said it wasn’t the time or the forum, and not the right audience. Ramona said she wished she’d been born Jewish, and Eboni said they were not making it about her. Brian drained his glass, and quietly said he needed another margarita, no doubt sorry he came. In Eboni’s interview, she said she was horrified. Archie had gone out of her way to create a beautiful night to celebrate culture and compassion, and Ramona acted like an a-hole. Leah asked to talk to Eboni in another room, and Eboni said this was exactly why she needed Leah there. Leah said she was disgusted by Ramona, and Eboni said it was crazy. Ramona continued her insanity, saying she needed to eat, and going to the kitchen to help herself. We saw a clip that said, 2 hours ago, where Ramona was shoving food in her face on the bus. Leah wondered how Ramona got so upset about something so important, and Eboni pointed out that even a white woman was leading the night. Why was Ramona so uncomfortable? Meanwhile, Ramona badgered the caterers in the kitchen, trying to score some protein, then rejecting everything offered to her. In her interview, Leah said it was offensive to Judaism, and the work Eboni was trying to do. Ramona had no idea because she had the IQ of an effing walnut. <snort!> Sonja said Ramona was representative of people who were uncomfortable and defensive, and Eboni said she was regretting doing this.

Next time, Linda thinks one out of three guys she found is Eboni’s dad, Sonja pees in Archie’s driveway, and Ramona feels like Sonja is on a train that’s going to crash.

💰 Million Dollar Listing Los Angeles will be back on September 2^nd.

🌃 Calling It a Night…

Getting better now, but that cough is still lingering. Out, out, damn cough! Until we find out what pisses Erika off next, stay safe, stay expressing yourself in a lucid manner, and stay not denying anyone what’s rightfully theirs.