What I Watched Today

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

General Hospital

Brook comes out of the hospital elevator, and literally runs into Austin. She says, her bad, and he asks what she’s doing here. He hopes she’s not terminally ill. She says she’s meeting Chase and Bailey; Chase brought Bailey in for her check-up. He’s such a devoted daddy. Austin says, probably just trying to make up for lost time. Not that it was his fault. Have a beautiful day. He walks away, but she follows him, saying, wait. She knows they got off on the wrong foot, and a lot of that was on her hands… He says, all of it was on her hands. Sorry, he interrupted. What was she going to say? She says, a lot has happened since they saw each other last. She was hoping they could hit rewind, and start over. He walks away.

Alexis meets Sam at Charlie’s, and Sam says, it’s good to see her. Molly sends her regrets; she got hit by some work thing. Alexis says she remembers working in the DA’s office and getting hit by that thing. Sam says they wanted Alexis to know how proud her daughters are that she’s the new editorial voice of The Invader. Alexis says it was her daughters who inspired her. Make sure Kristina knows that too. They’ve always held her to a higher standard. Sam says, don’t do that. Alexis deserved this; she worked really hard. She just hopes Tracy pays for what she did.

Tracy looks out from behind bars, and says, this is persecution. She’s being pilloried by the proletariat, all because she carries the Quartermaine name. Do they know what a burden that is? Dante says, she might want to drop the poor little rich girl routine. It’s not going to get her any traction with the jury. Ned says, good morning, mother. He just posted her bail. She’s welcome. She says, he wants her to thank him? Look how long it took him. He says, actually, the one she should thank is her lawyer. He’d like her to meet Martin Grey. Martin says, no thanks necessary. He took the case as a favor to his sister, Mayor Laura Collins. She says, the long lost brothers. The Kentucky fried lawyer, and the ponytailed gangster. He says, that’s them. So what does she say they get her out of here? Get this over with. Sit down and cut her a plea deal.

Olivia is at MetroCourt hostess stand, when Robert asks if the place still takes walk-ins. She says she thinks they can fit him in, and hugs him. She asks if there’s any news about her erstwhile mother-in-law, and he says, now, now. She says she knows. He can’t discuss the details of the case. The last thing she wants to do is put him in a compromising position… She means… He says he knows what she means.

Valentin goes to Nina’s office, and says, she summoned him? She says, he seems surprised, and he says, it doesn’t happen very often. The only time in recent memory is when Peter forced her, but she doesn’t seem to be in any danger. She says, yes, well… and he asks if she thinks he can’t refuse her. She’d be right. She says she’s happy to hear him say that.

Sonny looks at the message about renewing his prescription, when Avery and Donna run into the kitchen. He says, his two favorite girls, and hugs them. He says he packed up their lunches, and knows they already ate breakfast, but before Frankie takes them, they have to take their gummi vitamins. Avery says they’ll take theirs if he takes his, and he says, of course (🍷). He gives them their vitamins and their lunches, and Carly walks in. Avery says, daddy made them lunches, and Carly says, wow, daddy thinks of everything. She hugs them, and tells them, have a great day in school. She loves them. She thanks Frankie, and he leads them outside. She tells Sonny, she thought they agreed he wasn’t staying last night, and he says he guesses she thought wrong.

Alexis tells Sam, she’s not saying she’s forgiven Tracy for framing her for that DUI, and of all the reasons; Tracy was trying to hide what happened between Alexis and Ned. Sam says she’s sounding merciful, but Alexis says she’s just thinking that maybe losing Luke is punishment enough for Tracy. Sam says, what happened to Luke was an accident. What Tracy did to Alexis was deliberate. You can’t set out to destroy someone, and expect to get a pass when… nothing happens. Alexis turns around, and sees Harmony has come in.

Tracy says she wants Martin to get the charges dropped, dismissed, expunged. Make them go away. Martin says, the DA has enough evidence to send her for a not insubstantial stay at Pentenville, but Tracy says she has the influence of the Quartermaine name. Martin says, just because she’s a member of a prominent family doesn’t make her immune to consequences, and she says, really? She thought they were in Port Charles. Ned says, this makes no sense. There’s no reason for Tracy to stay here. She asks Martin his name, and he says, Martin Grey; they’ve met. She tells him that he’s fired.

Brook follows Austin into his office, and closes the door. He says, no. he’s not going to press stop and rewind, or whatever she said. She tried to get him fired. She almost destroyed his professional reputation. She says, look at little Leo. Thanks to Austin’s diagnosis, Leo is finally getting the help that he needs, and it brought her dad and Olivia back together. And the cherry on top is, look at him and her dear friend Maxie. They’ve become great friends, so what does he say? Can’t they just let bygones be bygones?

Nina says, Valentin has been through a lot since he came to her rescue in Nixon Falls. For what it’s worth (🍷), she’s very sorry about what happened with Bailey. He thanks her, and says, Charlotte’s taking it surprisingly well. Her attitude seems to be, I loved Bailey when Bailey was my sister, why should that stop just because she isn’t? Nina says, that sounds like Charlotte, and he says, Charlotte feels the same way about her, if she ever wants to stop by. She says she’d love that, and he tells her, say the word. Charlotte is almost a teenager. She says, God help him, but of course (🍷) he has Anna, and she’s sure Anna is full of wisdom about those things. He says, indeed, but she didn’t call him just for a catch-up. What can he do for her? She says, she was hoping they could join forces, and he says, they’re not talking about Crimson and Deception. She says, no. She’s talking about a personal threat. He asks, what kind of personal threat? and she says, she’s made a new enemy, and it turns out her enemy is also his enemy.

Carly says, she thought she told Sonny last night, if he was here this morning, she was going to leave. He says, he knows what she said, and she says, but here he is. This is how he respects her feelings? He says he respects their marriage enough to not leave it hanging, and she says, but not enough to tell her that he and Nina did everything except tumble into bed together. He says, he remembered who Carly was. He remembered her face, her hair, the way she walked and talked. That’s why it didn’t go any further with Nina, because he remembered who Carly was and how much he loved her. And how much he still loves her. Isn’t that enough? Yeah, well, we all know that’s not entirely true.

Harmony starts to leave, but Alexis asks her to join them. Harmony says she knows how hard these mother/daughter moments are to come by, so some other time, and Sam says she’s sure Harmony has something else to do. Alexis says, please. For her sake, could they come to some kind of a truce? She was alone in that prison for a long time, and then Harmony was her only friend. Not only that, on New Year’s Eve, she was sitting right there, staring at a bunch of champagne flutes that she was really thinking about downing, and Harmony stayed there and talked to her until she came to her senses. So things would have gone a lot differently if it weren’t for Harmony. She has Harmony to thank for that.

Ned asks Martin not to quit, and Martin says, he didn’t. Leona Helmsley here gave him the boot. Ned says he hired Martin; Martin is working for him. Tracy says, Ned is fired too, and Ned says, for the last time, she can’t fire her children. They’re not like husbands. Dante says, this is super fun and everything, but he’s giving them five minutes to sort this out, and he’s going to escort Tracy from the building so she can wait for her court case to start. He tells Tracy, it’s a blast as usual. He’ll probably see her back in here sometime soon, and Tracy says, et tu, Dante? She can’t believe he’s kept her as a villain. It was Alexis who went nuts and stabbed him. He says, yeah, that sucked, but she did her time, and went to jail, but got out early. Maybe the same thing will happen with Tracy. Ned says, listen to reason. Let Martin sit down with Robert on her behalf, and negotiate a deal. If Luke was here, isn’t that what he’d want her to do?   

Robert and Olivia sit at a table, and he says he’s been meaning to contract her. He wanted to thank her for telling him about Luke. He was touched she thought of him. She says, of course (🍷) she thought of him; he was the first person she thought of. Also, it gave her an excuse to call him. He says, she doesn’t need an excuse, but she says, really? Lately it seems like he’s been making himself scarce. He says, he thought he was doing her a favor be keeping his distance, and she says, because of Ned? He says he doesn’t want to get in the way of whatever is going on between them, but she says it wasn’t about Robert; it never was. He says he doesn’t know whether he should be glad or sad.

Austin says Brook really is a piece of work. She did everything she could to destroy him; then forced him to relinquish his rights to his own family’s legacy. Now she wants him to just let bygones be bygones? No. He can’t do that. He’s just not wired that way. She says, the rest of the Quartermaines are. She knows this may be new to him, but believe her, he came out of this pretty unscathed. He says, no, he didn’t, but at least she wasn’t as destructive with him as she was with Valentin.  

Valentin asks Nina to narrow it down. Right now, he’s focused on Brook. She says she hopes he’s not too hard on Brook, and he asks, why not? She says, because, Brook’s family made her feel like an outcast; he knows what that’s like. And she felt the only way back into the family’s good graces was to reclaim her voting shares of ELQ. He says, it would be one thing if he was the only one hurt, but Charlotte lost her sister. He’s not going to forgive Brook for that. Is that it? Is it something against the Quartermaines? She says, just one. Michael Corinthos.

Carly says she doesn’t doubt Sonny loves her: not any more than he should doubt she loves him. He says, then what are they doing sleeping in separate bedrooms, drawing lines in the sand? They have what most people would die to have; a marriage that’s stood the test of time. Whatever people have thrown at them, they’re still here. She says, she needs more than words and the memories they’ve shared. She needs time to deal with what he told her. Time to deal with the fact he doesn’t think what Nina did was criminal, and time to deal with what he didn’t tell her, and she found out on a witness stand; that he has feelings for Nina. That’s why she said if he wouldn’t give her the time and space she needed, she was going to leave. He tells her, people say all kinds of things in the moment, then the next morning, it’s a different ballgame. She says he’s doing it again. He’s acting like they can go back to the way things were before Nina. He says, forget Nina; that’s in the past. She says, then why was he with Nina on New Year’s Eve? And why the hell did she have to hear about it from Nina?

Alexis says, thanks to Sam, Tracy has been arrested, and Harmony says, the woman who framed Alexis? Alexis says, tried to. As it turns out she’s the only one who can send herself to the slammer. Harmony says she’s glad Tracy is paying for what she did to Alexis, and Sam says, she started to. Harmony asks what she missed, and Alexis says, she was protecting her family. Sam says, that’s no excuse for what Tracy did to Alexis, and no reason to ease up on her, and Alexis says, Sam’s not wrong. She asks what Harmony thinks, and Harmony says she thinks Tracy took away Alexis’s agency when she framed her, but Alexis is in control of what happens next. Alexis says, she’s right. She’s in control of what happens next. She asks them to excuse her; she needs to make a phone call. She leaves, and Sam tells Harmony, before she gets back, they need to get things straight about Harmony and her mother.

Olivia tells Robert, Ned was the one who crossed the line. He jeopardized their marriage when he cheated with Alexis. Robert says, so he really was just her plaything, and she says, stop it. It was more than that, and he knows it. He says, she found out she did love that bugger, and she says, guilty as charged. Robert’s phone rings, and he says he has to take it. Olivia says she has to go, and leaves. Robert asks, what’s up? and Alexis says she needs a favor.

Tracy tells Ned, Luke would expect her to fight, not cave to Johnny Law. Ned says, Luke seems to have rubbed off on her, and she thanks him, but he says he didn’t mean it in a good way. She says she knows. She won’t accept a so-called plea deal that involves jail time, probation, community service, or even the most tacit admission of guilt. Martin asks Dante for a word, and they step away. In the hallway, Martin says, Tracy is obviously impervious to logic. Dante has some kind of relationship with her; can’t he intercede with the DA on her behalf? Please.

Ned tells Tracy, no offense, but is she out of her mind? She says she’s never been more sure or sane in her life. Luke’s affairs need to be settled, and in order to do that, she has to get on a plane to Amsterdam asap. She can’t do that if these charges are hanging over her while she’s out on bail. He asks why she didn’t say that before, and she says, because it’s nobody’s business. And by the way, she’s not leaving this jail cell or the country until they’ve had a conversation about Ned’s daughter. He says, fine. Tracy hunted him down at the MetroCourt to tell him something about Brook. What is it? She says, it could be nothing; it could be something; it could be everything. He says, just tell him. Why is she being so mysterious? She says, it has to do with his granddaughter, and he says, Bailey? What about her?

Brook tells Austin, she’s genuinely sorry she hurt Valentin, and especially his daughter Charlotte. Austin says he doesn’t believe her. She had to have known what was going to happen. She had to have known people were going to get hurt, and she did it anyway. She asks if he’s really that different. Wasn’t he prepared to do anything for his father, to keep his promise to get him a seat at the family table Austin believed was rightfully his? Austin says, it was rightfully his, and she says she understands his sense of loyalty; she even admires it. So she’ll talk to the rest of the clan. They can’t give him a seat at the table, or ELQ shares, but she’s sure there’s something they can do. He says, sure. There has to be something she can do to buy him off.

Nina tells Valentin, Michael is furious, and there’s very little he won’t do to keep her out of Wiley’s life. She’s already lost a daughter, she’ll be damned if she’s going to lose her grandson, especially when New York state guarantees her rights. He says, rights are one thing, but if she’s going to take on Michael, she’s not just taking on the Quartermaines. She’s taking on the Corinthos family, and that means Sonny. He can’t imagine Sonny was too thrilled to find out she’d been keeping him from his family. She says, she and Sonny have made peace about her… decisions, but Valentin wonders how long that peace is going to last when Sonny finds out she’s going after his grandson. She says, he’s her grandson too. Mike understands that. He asks, who’s Mike? and she says, that’s the name Sonny used in Nixon Falls. He says, maybe Mike understands, but he doesn’t think Sonny ever will.

Carly says, Sonny spent New Year’s Eve with a woman he claims is in the past he left in Nixon Falls. He says, first of all, he didn’t spend the night with her. He was shaken with everything that went down at the hearing. After he left Carly, he went to Charlie’s. He had too much to drink, and it so happens Nina was there, and drove him to his penthouse. She says, and? and he says, then she left, and he woke up with a hangover. Does that make her happy? She says, none of this makes her happy. Does he think she enjoys thinking the worst about him, or suspecting him? Or wondering when’s the next time Nina just so happens? She hates it. She hates feeling like their marriage is built on quicksand. She wants to trust him without thinking about it, like she used to, but now… He says, he’s trying to be honest here, but since… Does she want to call it quits? Is that what she’s saying?

Tracy says she can’t tell Ned, and he says, why not? She was so fired up to tell him this little secret, she came out in the open, and got herself arrested. She says, it gave her time to think, and she needs more information before she gets him involved. He says, are they talking a crime or just a conspiracy? and she says, that’s what she has to find out. Go talk to Harlan Sanders, Attorney at Law, and she’ll find out exactly what Brook is hiding. He says, no. She can’t imply Brook is involved with something, then just drop it. Dante comes back with Martin and Robert, and says, good news, everyone. Robert says, the DA’s office revisited the case, and Martin says, they don’t have one. The guard opens the cell, and Ned says, excellent. It’s what Tracy wanted; let’s go. Tracy says, wait a minute. This is too good to be true. What changed? Alexis walks in, and says, she supposes she did.

Brook says, first of all, there’s no reason for her to buy Austin off. He already relinquished his claim; there’s nothing to buy. Austin says, agreed. Don’t even bother then. She says, there’s the family, and there’s the family business. The problem with a lot of people in the family, including herself, is they don’t separate the two. They literally don’t know how. He says he noticed that, and she says, if there was a document, a codicil to her great-grandfather’s will that said he’d recognized Austin’s dad, then that would be that, but there’s nothing. So for her to even suggest… He asks why she’s doing this. She’s just trying to ease her own conscience by purchasing his. She says, Mister Man of Principle. If he didn’t care about money, he never would have come knocking on her family’s door. Now that there isn’t any, he can say it was never his intention. He says, it’s just not about that. It’s about her family recognizing his father, and realizing he deserves to be remembered, and deserves to be respected. She’s so blinded by her privilege, she assumes everyone else in the world is as greedy and self-serving as she is. She used Leo, tiny little Leo, as a pawn in her game, when all he did was react as any doctor worth a damn would react. She asks if he’s finished, and he says he’s finished with that point, but he’s just getting started. He walks out of the office, and she follows him.

Nina tells Valentin, forget it. She got caught up in all the drama with Michael and the family, and got carried away. He says, when he learned she’d been keeping Sonny’s identity from him, he just assumed it was retribution for Carly keeping Nelle’s identity from her. She says, it was at first, and he asks if she had feelings for Sonny. Did they have feelings for one another? She says, they were both very lost in different ways, and he says he’s not judging. He thinks it’s better if he doesn’t keep track of the details of Nina’s life; he’s getting pretty good at that. She says, he’s moved on, and he says, it seems they both have. She says, which means they can help each other without complications? but he says he doesn’t know if going toe to toe with Sonny is without complications. She asks if he’s saying he’s not going to help her with Michael, and he says, it’s not just Michael, is it? She’s talking about fighting a war on two fronts, with a child in between. He can’t help her in that, but please don’t go against Michael. He’s not going to make life easier with Sonny. It’s good to see her. She says, he really has changed. Is he really telling her to turn the other cheek? He gives her a slight nod, and leaves.

Carly asks if Sonny is saying he wants to call it quits, but he says, he’s here, isn’t he? Even after she told him to leave last night, he slept in the guestroom. She asks if that’s because of his pride, but he says, it’s because he loves her; he doesn’t care if they sleep in the same bed. She says, it was her love for him that made her sleep apart from him, and he says, that doesn’t make sense. She says, it’s the only thing that does make sense, because if this marriage is going to work, they can’t force it. They need time to figure out what went wrong, and what they can do to make it right. He says, she’s over-complicating it. Here’s what happened. He fell off a bridge, and into the river. He went on shore, and woke up; he didn’t know who he was or where he came from. She says, and along came Nina, but he says, Nina can’t come between them if they don’t let her. She says, Nina is here. She’s in this room, she’s in their marriage, and unless or until Sonny can forget her… He asks if Carly is going to forget Nina. Or is she using Nina as an excuse not to get back with him because a part of her is already gone? And it went with Jason.

Sam says she knows Harmony has changed; she’s seen it, and believe her, she didn’t want to. Harmony thanks her, but Sam says, don’t thank her yet. She can’t imagine how hard it was to testify against Shiloh, but after what Harmony did to all of those women, and Sam’s sister… Harmony asks if Sam thinks it doesn’t make her sick, thinking she was helping those women when she was drugging them, including her own daughter. When she looks back on that time, it’s a hell of a nightmare to wake up from. She has to live with it every second of every day, and she’s doing everything she can to atone for that. So if there’s more she can do for Sam, or her mom, and especially Kristina… Sam says she’s glad Harmony asked, because actually, there is. Harmony says, name it, and Sam says, her mom is trying her hardest to turn her life around, and she’s doing a really good job, but she’s in a fragile state. One little slip, and she destroys everything. So Sam is asking Harmony to be straight with Alexis, as her friend. Harmony says, of course (🍷), and Sam says she doesn’t mean just being honest. if Harmony says she’s going to do something, do it. Harmony says, for what it’s worth (🍷), she truly believes that she and Alexis can help each other. Sam says, because Harmony is Alexis’s friend? and Harmony says, and because Alexis is hers, and that’s what friends do. Unless Sam thinks her mother would be better off alone.

Tracy assumes Alexis is there to gloat, and Alexis says, what about? She just informed Robert that she’s decided not to cooperate with The People versus Tracy Quartermaine. Ned asks what that means, and Robert says, without Alexis’s testimony, they won’t pursue the case. Dante says, not that they couldn’t. They still have Sam’s testimony, and his mother’s. Alexis says, but if she doesn’t cooperate, there is no victim, and Martin says, and in the absence of a victim, there’s no crime to prosecute. Robert says, as such, the DA’s office is going to pass on this one, and Tracy asks if she’s free. Dante says, unless Alexis changes her mind, and Ned says, they’ll take that as a yes. Tracy jets, and Martin says, not so much as a thank you. Ned says, he’d apologize for his mother, but… Alexis says she thinks that’s as good as it’s going to get from her, and Ned says, knowing her, she has another fire to put out. Dante says, she’s probably going to start one.

Austin says he’s glad he ran into Brook today. He’d almost forgotten the kind of people they come from, so thanks for the reminder. She says, he’s welcome. The Quartermaines are full of righteous indignation. He says, he noticed, and she says, but they never storm out of a room without figuring a way back in, but he did, which proves he’s not really one of them. He says, but he is; his father was. He was Edward’s son. She says, so what? and he says, that’s her argument? She says, bringing Jimmy Lee back into the fold was completely up to Edward. He didn’t do it, and now he’s gone, and the more Austin insists on having some claim on her family, the more reason they have to shut the door in his face. He asks if she thinks that’s going to stop him, when Valentin comes along. He asks Austin if something is wrong.

Carly says, she and Jason told Sonny everything. How their friendship turned into something more when Sonny was presumed dead, while Nina kept him from his family. So if he wants to compare that with what he kept from her since he’s been back, and not just what happened in Nixon Falls, but how he still feels about Nina… Is he kidding her? He says, it’s not just how he feels about Nina. She has to admit, there are more than three people in this marriage; there’s four. She says she’s not going to apologize for mourning Jason, and he says, of course (🍷). In time, Jason is going to be a memory; an unforgettable memory, but part of her past. As long as Nina is alive, there’s no chance for their marriage. He asks if that’s a threat, and she says, does he think she’d risk losing her kids to end Nina? That’s up to him. Sonny needs to kill Nina off, not physically, but in his heart. Until he does, there’s no chance for them, and they can’t both live here. She’s going to be the one to go, because Avery and Donna are so happy he’s home. She’s not going to traumatize them again by making daddy go away. She’ll be back in the morning to start their day, and come again at night to put them to bed. She walks out, and Sonny sighs and rubs his forehead.

Sam tells Harmony that Alexis is hardly alone. She has her daughters, Diane Miller, Shawn Butler; she’s got a great new job, and a really beautiful looking future. So whatever Harmony is selling, she’s not buying it. She puts on her coat, and Harmony gets up, saying, she’s not selling anything. Sam says she wishes she could believe Harmony, but after what Harmony did to her and her sister, she won’t forget. Harmony says, no one is asking her too. When she looks back on that time… She needs to prove herself, if Sam will just let her. Sam says, okay. Harmony can try, but she’ll be watching. She leaves. 

Robert thanks Alexis as she signs off on a document. She’s saved him and the city a lot of time, trouble, and money. She says, anything for Port Charles, and he says he’ll get on this right away, and have the charges dropped. Dante says he has to get back to work, and asks if Alexis is sure about this. She says she is, and he leaves. Ned says he knows his mother was less than appreciative, and Alexis says, surprise, surprise. Good thing she didn’t do it for Tracy. He says, then why? She didn’t do it for him, did she? She says she did it for Luke. A little bit for Ned, but she did it mostly for herself.  

Brook tells Valentin that she and Austin were just setting some things straight. Now if he’ll excuse her, she’s going to be with Chase and their baby. She leaves, and Austin laughs. He asks if Valentin caught that. She just twisted that knife a little bit. Valentin says, apparently, some people think he’s softened; that he’s lost his edge. Austin asks if he has lost his edge, but Valentin says, he doesn’t know; maybe Austin can help him answer the question. Has Austin forgotten how the Quartermaines treated him? Austin says, no, why? Is Valentin interested in making Brook pay for what she did to him?

Tracy runs into Brook at the hospital, and says, she thought she’d find Brook there. Brook says, she thought Tracy was in jail, but Tracy says, they need to talk. She pulls Brook into the elevator, and presses a button. Brook asks if they can’t do it later. She needs to see Chase and her baby. Tracy says, Brook means Maxie’s baby.

Nina sits at her desk, but can’t concentrate on work. She calls Martin, and he says, what a pleasure. Or should he be asking what Valentin has done now? She says, nothing, which is the problem. He says he doesn’t follow, and she says, it’s just a joke she has with herself. Is he free for lunch? She needs legal advice.

Carly sees Olivia at the MetroCourt, and Olivia says she thought Carly was working from home today. Carly says, as of now, the MetroCourt is her home. Olivia says she hopes it doesn’t mean what she thinks it means, and Carly says, it means the house isn’t big enough for her and Sonny, so she’s moving in here while they take a time out. Olivia says she knows it’s none of her business, but she’s going to butt in anyway. Is Carly sure? Carly says, one of them had to go. He couldn’t. She could. So she did.   

Sonny puts the scotch decanter on the kitchen island. He looks at his prescription bottle, throws it across the room, and pours a drink.

Tomorrow, Chase asks Brook how screwed they are, Anna needs Maxie’s help, Drew says he has some things to clear up with Victor, and Peter asks someone if they’re looking for anyone in particular.

The Real Housewives of Orange County

Heather and Max went to an intuitive reading of their auras. In Heather’s interview, she said she loved any kind of reading, and we flashed back to a psychic from several seasons ago. She says, it has two purposes. Mother/daughter moments are incredibly special and necessary. They went to the aura photography area, and had a photo taken of their hand on a sensor. Heather was disappointed in how hers looked, and in her interview, she said, a messy blobby aura is not cute. The reader said Heather needed to nurture herself to find balance. Max’s aura was one of the most social and artistic, and Heather told Max that she was excited to see her fly; it was her moment. In her interview, Heather said that Max suffered from social anxiety and became a shut-in during lockdown. She came out as bisexual during that time, turned it into a podcast, then turned it into a book.

Gina visited Noella, who said she found James. She had access to a credit card he was using, and she discovered he was in Mykonos, an island in Greece. A mid-life crisis made sense, but this wasn’t who she thought he was. In Noella’s interview, she said it was time she moved on. She needed to take off the dirty robe, get out of bed, and stop crying over a man who doesn’t deserve it. She told Gina that she wanted to slap a man. Maybe it’s not a good idea for her to date right now…

Heather, Emily, and Jen went to a sauna, and Emily hoped they’d be doing lunch too. Emily asked if Jen had always intended to be breadwinner, and Jen said, after she and Ryne had gotten married, her ex-boyfriend sued her. He said his gifts had been loans, and she and Ryne went through some hard times. In Jen’s interview, she said she’d met her ex after her father died. He was intelligent and wealthy, and said he was divorced. She broke up with him when she found out he was really just separated. Three days after she married Ryne, he sued her. We saw a headline that said, Billionaire Sues Cheating Ex. His purpose was to hurt her and her relationship. She told Heather and Emily that Ryne stayed home and watched the kids, and she was able to build her career. Emily asked about resentment, and she said she’d been there with Shane. In Emily’s interview, she said, there was a point when she didn’t think she and Shane were going to make it, and we flashed back to some of that. Her advice was to put the work in. No one dates a forty-five year old with kids in Orange County. You’d have to move. Emily took a sandwich out of her bag, and Heather reminded her they were detoxing. Emily said it was turkey, and in Heather’s interview, she wondered why Emily had a turkey sub in her purse. Eating a sandwich in the sauna was not a thing. They followed up the sauna with a nail appointment. Champagne was served, and Emily said the strawberries in it were her daily dose of fruit. Heather suggested a girls trip to Cabo, and asked how Jen was feeling about Noella. Jen said she’d texted Noella about going out for drinks, but there was no response. Heather said she’d invited Noella to Max’s book party, because she was sweet to Max, but now she knows that Noella’s been talking about her, calling her a phony bitch. And she’d be a phony bitch if she pretended she didn’t know what Noella had said. In Jen’s interview, she said, Noella was going through some things, but there was never an excuse to be rude and condescending. Heather wanted to say she was hopeful, but said, they’d see.

Shannon and her daughter’s visited Shannon’s mom Pat in Nashville. In Shannon’s interview, she said, with all the girls’ activities, it was easier for her mom visit them. Seeing how happy her mom was, made Shannon feel the need to come more often. They toasted to being together for the first time in a long time, and Pat said the girls had done a good job with the divorce. Shannon said they’d been exposed to an unhealthy marriage, and in her interview, she said her parents divorced when she was 17. She was a living example of repeating a parents’ patterns, and she didn’t want her kids to continue the pattern. She wanted to break the cycle. Sophie said she saw herself marrying boyfriend Reese one day, and Shannon said that broke her heart. In Shannon’s interview, she said she got married at 36, and Sophie was 20. In Sophie’s interview, she said she’d never been in a relationship before, and it was all new. She understood that her mom was nervous because she didn’t want to see her get hurt, but she already lived 1200 miles away, and was on her own as it was. Shannon said, her good part started at 55, and in her interview, she said she knew the girls were still carrying everything that continued to happen with David.

Heather invited Noella over, and Noella arrived while Heather was filming an infomercial with Terry. Heather motioned for Noella to stay quiet and sit down. In Noella’s interview, she said, Heather was the one who scheduled this. She wanted Noella to see it, and feel impressed. She wasn’t there to go toe to toe with Heather, but if Heather brought it, Noella would end it. After Heather was finished, she took Noella to her podcast studio, saying it was the only quiet place. In a fifty room house. In her interview, Noella said she had her suspicions before, but this was concrete evidence that Heather was a narcissist. If she wasn’t so creeped out, she’d be impressed. Heather told Noella that she’d heard some things, and felt weird not suggesting they sit down and talk. Nicole had said Noella called her a phony or fake bitch. We flashed back to that, and Noella said fake bitch. Noella told Heather that she was very emotional, and was really angry with James. Heather’s name was brought up, and she lashed out. Heather said she understood. When she heard all Noella was going through, she let it go, but Gina also said that Noella told her not to trust Heather. We flashed back to the racetrack, and Gina telling Heather that Nicole said she wasn’t to be trusted. Heather asked why Noella felt distrustful of her, and Noella said, she and Nicole had been friends, and Nicole changed based on a phone call with Heather. We saw a clip of Nicole telling Noella that she was a mean girl, and saying they weren’t friends. Heather said if there was a chance of friendship between her and Noella, this was no way to start, and Noella said, they started with her being in the house when Heather was slamming people up against walls and yelling. Heather said she didn’t slam anyone up against a wall, and in her interview, she said she was getting psycho vibes. Was she being punked? Heather said Noella had a lot going on, and she didn’t take it personally. Noella said she didn’t mean it personally, and Heather said she wasn’t sure she was the right friend for Noella. In Heather’s interview, she said she felt bad for Noella, but she wasn’t giving this life. Noella said she didn’t need deep friendships with everyone, and was happy with some social friendships. Heather said Noella should focus on her family and take care of herself.    

Noella’s driver picked her up for Max’s party, and I wondered how she was still paying for a driver. She talked to him about having to play Matlock with James, which I thought wasn’t the smartest thing, since she wanted to keep it on the DL. In Emily and Shane’s car, Emily talked about falling asleep early all the time, and in her interview, she said, every night, Shane asked what movie she wanted to sleep through. Maybe she needed to stop eating turkey.

Max’s party for her book, I’ll Give It To You Straight, was pretty crowded, and had a booth for chakra readings. In Heather’s interview, she said, despite Noella being off the rails, and telling tales about her, it was Max’s night. Enjoy yourself over there. We’re good. It’s worth noting that Nicole’s purse looked like a sparkly old school portable phone. Her other accessory was boyfriend Vic. Noella noticed there was no hug for her, and told Gina that she’d tried to invite Nicole to lunch, but Nicole hung up on her before she even got there. In her interview, she said, if Nicole can’t go deep at Noella’s deepest, most painful part of her life, the friendship was officially over.

Noella and Jen were friendly now, and in Jen’s interview, she said she was glad Noella was owning the lies she’d told about her, but she was still a little guarded. We saw a clip of Noella apologizing, and Jen said they were building trust. Taking baby steps. She was married to Ryne, and used to baby steps. Jen explains how Ryne changed the spelling of his name from Ryan, and in Emily’s interview, she said, all it did was confuse people and make it difficult to pronounce. Noella relayed the news that Shannon had taken the red-eye back, and woke up with chest pains. In her interview, Emily said that she and Shannon had a history, and still had not worked everything out. We flashed back to Emily confronting Shannon, and Emily said she was going to take any opportunity to take a jab at Shannon because she deserved it.

Travis hung out on the sidelines with Shane, who wondered if they were being rude or smart. Emily got her aura read, and said she thought the red energy in her vagina field might be a stop sign. She was 45, tired, and just wanted to watch Netflix. Heather said she and Terry had met on a blind date, and at the end, he said, let’s never speak again… because it couldn’t get better. Jen said for her, it was love at first sight, and Ryne said he was still coming around. In Heather’s interview, she wondered what he actually meant. Ryne hasn’t decided if he likes her? Of course he hasn’t decided on a name either. Emily mentioned Cabo to Noella, who said she wasn’t invited. In Noella’s interview, she said, the last time she and Heather met, she didn’t kiss Heather’s ass. She was sensing her invitation was going to get lost in the mail.

Heather got everyone’s attention, and thanked them all for coming. She said she was so happy to have them there. She was impressed with Max, at how raw, open, and honest she was; maybe too honest sometimes. What she’d shared was special, and she was proud of Max. Max took the mic, and said she wasn’t one for emotions, but she hoped the book would help readers with their mental health, sexuality, or whatever they needed. In Heather’s interview, she said, that her child could take a time in her life that sucked and use it to help others, what more could she ask for? Everyone partied, and Emily said she was so drunk, she should go home. Noella said she thought Emily and Shane must have the hottest sex of any of them, and Emily said, when she stayed awake. In Noella’s interview, she said, never count the little man out.

After doing a comedy routine using Nicole’s phone purse, Emily asked Jen if her ex had paid for her school, but Jen said he hadn’t. Emily wondered what why she had to pay him back for anything, and Jen said, it was anything and everything he could think of, and she did it to get him to go away. Emily asked if he was hot, and Jen said, no, but he was smart and interesting. Emily didn’t believe Jen was attracted to his personality, and told her to admit she liked the money. She yelled over to Gina, who quickly came over, and said she thought maybe it was time for Emily to go home. In Gina’s interview, she said she’d seen where these conversations tend to lead, and we flashed back to Emily’s confrontations with Kelly and Nicole. Gina didn’t want to end this night with a negative comment, and steered Emily away. Seeing Heather, Emily got excited about Cabo, and realizing she was loud, asked Heather if Noella was invited. Heather said, no, and Emily said, but she was invited, right? Heather said she was, and in Heather’s interview, she said, Noella had been lovely tonight, and brought a gift for Max, but she didn’t want to take a trip with someone who lied about her. They were good. Emily wanted Shane to help her pee, apologized for falling asleep the night before, and promised to put out when they got home. Shane wasn’t sure if that was likely.

Next time, the trip to Cabo, riding horses on the beach, Gina advocates for Noella to Heather, Jen is having a breakdown, and Noella shows up.

📤 Outgoing…

I’m hoping to catch an extra Z tonight. Or maybe even an LMNOP. Join me tomorrow for soap and hair-dos on the Runway. Until then, stay safe, stay living within your means if possible, and stay leaving the righteous indignation to the Quartermaines.