What I Watched Today

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

General Hospital

Dex shoves Felty down some steps in a stairwell, and Sonny comes out. He says, Felty. He’s heard a lot about Felty. Felty says, it’s all a big misunderstanding, and Sonny says, we are way beyond that. He comes down the stairs, as Dex shoves Felty up against the emergency door. Sonny says, Felty’s been exploiting Sasha Gilmore, pushing drugs on her, but Felty says, she asked for them, because apparently, he’s an idiot. Sonny punches him in the stomach, and Felty doubles over. Sonny tells Dex that he didn’t want to do that, and tells Felty, listen to me. He doesn’t want Felty to talk; Sonny just wants him to listen. Felty offends him, and people who offend him, they tend to disappear. Understand?

Valentin pours champagne at a table near the pool, when Anna walks in. He says, if memory serves, she likes roses, and hands her one. She thanks him, taking it, and says she also like champagne. He says, then he’s two for two, and asks her to sit, pulling out a chair. She does, and he picks up his glass, saying, to her, the most beautiful sight he’s ever seen, and they clink glasses. She says she can’t do this. She’s sorry. She doesn’t want to put up with this anymore. She picks up her bag, and he says, put up with what? She says, the dishonesty.

In the MetroCourt lobby, Ava says she’s going to need Nikolas’s help. He says, anything, and she says, martini first, yes? He agrees, and she says she has every intention of ordering a second, but under no circumstances should she be ordering a third, so don’t let her, no matter how much she insists she needs it. He asks why she’d need a third martini, and she says, to numb the pain of how badly Trina’s trial went today. He asks, what happened? when Spencer comes in. He greets them, and asks if they’d mind if he joins them. It’s important.

Oz seems like he’s having a hard time breathing, and pulls off his jacket. Esme says he’s not looking too well, and he asks what she did to him. He passes out on her shoulder, just as Curtis knocks at the door. Esme jumps up, and Curtis bangs harder, saying, Oz, open up. He tries the door, then kicks it open, seeing Oz passed out on the couch, but no Esme.

At the hospital, Molly brings TJ a smoothie, loaded with greens and antioxidants for immune support. He thanks her, and asks what she’s doing here. He thought she’d be tied up at the DA’s office until way late. She says she needed a mental health break. Trina’s trial has just become a glaring example of how broken their legal system is.

Carly lets Drew in, and thanks him for coming. He says, she told him she had a major announcement, and he wasn’t going to miss that. What’s she got? A plan to get her hotel back? She says, it’s way more important than the MetroCourt, and he says he guesses it is pretty major. She points him to the living room where Michael and Willow are waiting, and he asks if they’re here for the big announcement too. Michael says, actually, they are the announcement, and Willow says she’s pregnant. Drew says, get out of here, and Michael says, true story. Drew says, well, it’s about damn time this family had some good news, and congratulates Willow, hugging her.

Dex is about to toss Felty down another flight, when Felty says he’ll do anything. Sonny says he’s already done too much, and nods to Dex, who throws Felty to the floor instead. Dex kicks Felty, and Sonny says, they’re going to bury his body so deep, no one’s ever going to be able to find him. He nods to Dex again, and Dex beats Felty with a Billy club. Felty passes out, and Sonny puts his hand on Dex’s shoulder. He says, you bastard, a bullet would be letting you off too easy. Josslyn appears at the top of the stairs, and says, Sonny is so busted. She just recorded the whole thing, and he’s going down. Obviously, there’s some irony here, but really? She had to pick the good thing he was doing?

Curtis tells Oz to find the energy to wake up. He has some questions to ask Oz about a phone he sold a young lady. Someone’s future depends on it. He comes closer and says, Oz? He pulls Oz to a seated position, and says, you’re not hammered. What did you take? We see Esme hiding in another room, and Oz comes to a little. Curtis asks what he’s on. He’s just here to help Oz. What did Oz take? Oz says he doesn’t know; she gave him something. Curtis says, she who? What’s her name? Esme looks panicked, and Curtis says, stay with me, but Oz passes out again. Curtis takes his phone out, and calls for an ambulance.

Ava asks Spencer if Esme will be joining them as well, and Nikolas flashes back to That-Which-Must-Not-Be-Named. Spencer says, she doesn’t even know he’s here, and Ava says, in that case, have a seat. Although be warned, it’s been a very long and terrible day, so if a sparring match is what he’s after… Spencer says, it’s not, and asks, what about Nikolas? Is Nikolas okay that he’s here? Nikolas says, of course (🍷), and asks, what’s going on? Spencer says he was actually looking for Ava. What happened at Trina’s trial?

Valentin asks Anna to sit down, but she says, what’s the point? He says, please don’t end this before it starts – please. She sits again, and he thanks her. He says he hasn’t lied to her, and she starts to get up again, but he says, wait. By omission? Sure, he’s held things back; things he wishes he could tell her, but he can’t. She says, things like where he was when he was supposed to be at the clinic? He says, supposed to be? and she says she contacted them, which she can do, and knows he left the clinic weeks before he came back here. Where was he?

Molly says, when she was first assigned Trina’s case, she was conflicted, and TJ says he remembers. She says, could she do her job without being biased, or should she recuse herself? She made a choice to trust the system; the way the system is supposed to work. The prosecutor makes the strongest case they can, based on the evidence, and the defense makes the strongest case they can for innocence or extenuating circumstances, and the jury, given proper instructions from the judge, makes the call. He says, clearly, she put a lot of thought into this, and she says, the joke’s on her, because it turns out her role as prosecutor was never up to her. He asks what she means, and she says, ADA Arden pulled some strings, and now she’s loaded down with all these other assignments. Arden has effectively moved her off the case. He says, so instead of her asking Molly to recuse herself, Arden did it for her? and she says she loathes all these behind-the-scenes politics. That’s why she busted her butt for a law degree? No. She did it to pursue justice. He says, that must be insanely frustrating. He’s so sorry. She thanks him, and he asks if he can say something selfish. She says, sure, and he says he’s glad she’s not the one arguing to put Trina away. She says, they had many conversations, sometimes arguments when she joined the DA’s office, whether it was really possible to change the system from the inside. She’s starting think he was right. She’s fighting a losing battle.

Sonny asks what Josslyn is doing here, and she says, she had a very hellacious day in court today, so she decided to go for a run to let off some steam. She saw Sonny get out of his car, and thought, A, it was weird for him to be alone, and B, he was going down some sketchy alleyway. So she decided to follow him, and as a precaution, she pulled out her phone, and good thing, because she saw him and Mr. No Neck here beating the pulp out of some guy, and threatening to kill him and bury him where nobody will ever find him. She’s pretty sure that’s assault and premeditation, which will send him to prison for the rest of his life. So her hellacious day just got a whole lot better.

Drew congratulates Willow and Michael, saying, he’s so happy for them both. Carly passes out champagne, and Drew gives Willow some sparkling cider. He says, there’s a lucky kid in there. You just can’t be born into a family more loving. Carly says, if he’s referring to Michael, Willow, and Wiley, absolutely, but some of the other distant relations can be a bit prickly. Drew says, if she’s referring to the Quartermaines, he thinks prickly is too kind. More like backstabbing, blackmailing, and a lot worse than that. Carly says, Ned and Tracy maybe, but that doesn’t apply to them, and they’ve already established Drew is following Lila’s tradition. They’re the good Q’s. Drew says he knows what his mistake cost Carly, but Michael says, their mistake, which wasn’t attempting to merge the companies; that was a sound business strategy. Their mistake was trusting Ned. Carly says, amen, and Michael says, setbacks aren’t final. Carly says, amen again, and he says he means it. They won’t stop until they reclaim what she lost.  

Valentin says, Anna checked up on him, and she says she’s not proud of it. She really wrestled with how to proceed, but in the end, she trusted, but verified. He says, that’s how she knows about his time in the clinic, but she doesn’t know the whole story. Everything he’s done, he did for Charlotte. She asks what Charlotte has to do with him leaving the clinic, and he says he left for the same reason he put Charlotte in boarding school. He developed a severe staph infection that spread to his spine. As she can imagine, it’s particularly sensitive after all the corrective surgery he’s had. The first clinic wasn’t equipped to handle such a severe infection, so he was moved to a second clinic, where he underwent 30 days of intravenous antibiotics, and extensive physical therapy. It was one long winding road, but he made it.

Ava says, things went very badly for Trina in court today. Spencer might be happy to know that. Spencer asks why it would make him happy, and she says, because he’s seemingly loyal to Esme, and Esme framed Trina. Nikolas says he thinks it’s clear by now Spencer doesn’t wish Trina ill, and Spencer says, exactly the opposite. Nikolas says, at the same time, Spencer simply can’t write off Esme. His son is caught in a difficult situation.

Curtis asks where they’re taking Oz, and an EMT says, General Hospital. Curtis says he’ll meet them there, and an officer tells Curtis that they’ll take it from here. Curtis says he wants to check the apartment, as Esme looks for a way to escape, but the officer says, it’s officially a crime scene

Carly says, enough shoptalk. They’re here to celebrate their growing family. She just wants to say that when Nelle told them she was pregnant, it was difficult to find the joy, but she gave them Wiley, so they’ll forever be thankful. She takes Willow’s hand, and says she wants Willow to know, she’s kind, loving, generous, and Carly is so grateful Willow and Michael found each other. And she’s so excited for this family they’re creating… Enough. She doesn’t want to cry. Cheers. They clink glasses, and Drew says, to family.

Sonny bounds up the stairs, and says he doesn’t think Josslyn understands what she walked in on. She says, that’s fair. She’ll leave it up to the cops. He says she doesn’t want to do that, but she says she can’t wait. He says he knows she’s angry, and he doesn’t like how it ended with her mom; he regrets that. She says, now he regrets it, and he says, the pain the family is going through… but she says, no. The pain he put them through. He says, if she has him arrested, it’s not going to hurt just him; it’s going to hurt everybody else. Donna and Avery need their father. She says, they needed their father all the months he was gone, but he didn’t remember them, or couldn’t care to. He says he didn’t know who he was, and she says, Michael told her when Sonny was on the stand at Nina’s ridiculous visitation hearing, he stopped asking where he came from. He says, right, and she says, because he didn’t want to know? He was having too much fun with Nina to care about those little girls. They got by fine without him then, and they’ll get by fine now.

TJ gives Oz oxygen, and says a bunch of medical stuff to the orderly. Curtis comes into the hospital, and Molly asks if everything is okay. He says he’s checking on a guy the paramedics brought in, Oz Haggarty. She asks if he’s a friend, and Curtis says, no, but he could be a criminal witness to prove Trina was framed.

Spencer says, whatever else Ava thinks of him, he really does care what happens to Trina. Please just fill him in on the trial. Esme is about to walk in, sees them, and steps back. Ava says, maybe talking about it will help. For starters, Scott Baldwin had some kind of family emergency, so Trina is being represented by Diane Miller. Spencer says, that almost sounds like good news; Diane is badass. Ava says, she definitely can be, and Nikolas’s phone dings. Ava says, the ADA went on the offensive by calling Cameron and Josslyn as witnesses for the prosecution. Nikolas sees a text from Esme that says: Here outside the MetroCourt. Can you meet? Or do you want me to come to you? Spencer says, but Joss and Cam have been saying Trina’s innocent from the start.

Valentin tells Anna, he was in no condition to take care of Charlotte, so he trusted Victor to take her to boarding school. Anna asks, why not Laura or Nina? but he says, at the time, Nina was preoccupied with the Sonny Corinthos situation, and Laura had extensive mayoral and personal responsibilities. She says, they sound like valid reasons, if they were talking about anyone other than his daughter. She knows he’d do anything for her. He says he would. Not too many people know that. It makes her a target. So as much as he despises Victor – and he does – he felt Victor was best equipped to protect her. She says, from who? and he says, enemies from his past, on both sides of the law, of which there are many. He was flat on his back in a hospital bed, fearing for his daughter’s safety. She asks why he didn’t tell her what was going on.

Carly says goodbye to Michael and Willow, and Drew says he guesses he should go too. She says, if he has to, but he says he doesn’t have to do anything.

Sonny tells Josslyn, she can say what she wants and think what she wants, but if she sends him to prison, does she think Kristina is going to thank her? Dante? Donna and Avery? She says she notices he left Michael off that list, and he says, what about when Donna and Avery are old enough to understand what happened? They’re going to see their father in prison, and Josslyn did that? She says she loves how he’s making this her fault. Like she forced him to beat up some guy in an alleyway. That was all him. Just like sleeping with Nina and trashing their family was all him. He says he’s not going to sit here and try to tell her that there’s two sides to every story, but punishing him and punishing her siblings are two different things, and he thinks she can tell the difference. He goes up the stairs, and Josslyn starts to leave, but Dex says, wait. None of this was his idea; he had no choice. She says, explain then, but keep his distance, and just so he knows, she has pepper spray.

Anna tells Valentin, she understands what it’s like to be scared for your child’s safety; to know that at any point they may be made to pay the price for stupid decisions you made in the past. She went through that with Robin, and could have helped him if he’d told her what was going on. He says he knows, and she asks, why didn’t he? He says he was helpless. He was flat on his back in a hospital bed, and then he was hobbling around on a walker. He didn’t like her seeing him like that because it takes him back to when they first met, and all she felt for him was pity.

Nikolas says, there’s a situation at Cassadine Industries; he needs to make a call. He leaves, and Spencer says he doesn’t get what could have gone wrong at the trial. Josslyn would never say anything against Trina. Ava says, she didn’t mean to. It’s just, the more Joss tried to defend Trina, the more damage she did.

Nikolas asks Esme, what’s this about? and she says she was hoping he’d be able to restore her internship at Spring Ridge, but while she was waiting for him… He says, what? and she says, she realized this secret their keeping is weighing on her. She can’t keep going like this; she wants to come clean. He says, she doesn’t mean that, but she says she does. She’s sick of the cover ups, the lies of omission. She wants to tell Ava and Spence that they slept together.

TJ says, the paramedics said a bystander called 9-1-1; was it Curtis? Curtis says he wasn’t exactly a bystander; he went looking for the guy. Oz Haggarty is a bartender at The Highsider, and he also sells black market phones like the one that was planted in Trina’s bag. Molly says, Trina has maintained from day one that the phone was planted, and Josslyn has been just as adamant that Spencer’s girlfriend Esme Prince is responsible for the revenge porn and framing Trina. Could this Oz ID Esme as being the one who bought the phone? Curtis says, that’s the hope, but when he found Oz, he was too out of it to answer questions. The orderly pops out of Oz’s room, and tells TJ that Oz is coding. TJ runs in.

Dex says, if Josslyn gives that footage to the cops, it won’t just be Sonny who gets arrested; he will be too. She says, maybe he should have thought of that before going to work for a gangster, and Dex flashes back to Michael telling him, coming to the Quartermaine estate was out of line. His family is off limits. Dex says, it’s ironic, considering Michael hired him to take down his father. Dex tells Josslyn, his work situation is complicated, and she says, he helped attack a man. Dex clubbed him unconscious and planned to kill him, but Dex says, no. They weren’t going to kill him. At least he didn’t think they were. As far as he knew, they were just supposed to scare him.

Carly asks if Drew would like more champagne, and he says, who is he to say no to that? She pours them both a glass, and I can hear the bubbles hiss. Um… I don’t think champagne is that loud. He says, to the new baby, and she says, can he believe it? He says he can, and she guesses she can too. They clink glasses and he asks how she’s doing. She says, great, but he says he means it. How is she doing really? She says, okay. She bounces from fury to frustration all day, and he says, sounds like fun. Fury and frustration over Nina? and she says, yeah, and the fact Nina now owns her hotel. He says, half her hotel, and she says, but you know what? She’s so grateful for everything she still has. He says, it sounds like she’s all over the place, and she says she is, but Michael’s right; it’s just a setback. And as someone who’s been down this road, she would know. She asks why he’s not throwing her out a window, and he says, what? She says she’s had some bad things happen to her, but nothing compared to him, and he says she’s right. That was outrageously insensitive of her. He gets up, and says, come on. She asks what he’s doing, and he says, getting ready to throw her out a window. He tells her to look at him, and says, no comparisons. The past is behind him, and sometimes he lets himself think about it, but only to realize how good he has it now. She says, she agrees, and he says, of course (🍷) it could always get better. He smooths her hair, and she says, any idea how? He says, one or two, and they’re about to kiss, when Sonny barges in. He says, Carly’s got to get her daughter under control.

Nikolas tells Esme to think about it,  but she says, she has. It’s all she can think about. He says, telling Ava and Spencer about their encounter, it’s only going to cause unnecessary pain. It’s not like they have any feelings for each other. It was a one-time lonely vulnerability. It’s better to put this behind them. She says she just wishes she knew there her life was going. She had an internship at Spring Ridge, and was going to be studying psyche at PCU; now it’s all up in the air, and she feels like the only way she can get a fresh start is if she gets the truth out. He says he gets that. If the internship at Spring Ridge makes her feel grounded, he’ll get her reinstated. She says, what if it’s already too late? She might have missed her window to use it to get into the psyche program. He asks her to give him until tomorrow. He promises she’ll get everything she wanted. She says she knew he’d come through, and hugs him.

Ava tells Spencer that Josslyn said in her testimony, Trina would never buy a black market phone. Then the ADA called Officer Cabrera to the stand, and he said Trina tried to do just that. Spencer says, he said that about Trina? Why? She says, apparently, Joss and Trina went to find the man they believe sold Esme the phone, and tried to buy one themselves in the process. (Wait, what? No one ever said that.) Spencer face palms, and she says, ironic, isn’t it? Trina tried to prove her innocence, and only made herself look more guilty.

Anna says, she and Valentin aren’t the same people they were when they met. She’s not an angry young woman anymore, and he’s not… He says, a scarred hunchback, and she tells him, don’t do that. That was part of his transformation… She doesn’t have any illusions about him. She knows he’s done regrettable things; so has she. But she’s seen him work to be better; to grow and be more honest, to try to make amends. He wonders if she knows how bad he wishes he could make amends, and she says, it’s always going to be like this. They’re never going to walk a straight line, are they? This whole process is just going to be a series of stops and start. He says, it feels like two steps forward, two steps back sometimes, and she says, are they ever going to trust each other? Did she just break that trust by checking up on him? He asks why she did, and she says, ever since he got back, he’s been different, and she wanted to figure out why.

At the stables, Michael says he hopes Willow is okay with his mom’s little announcement get-together thing. She asks if he thinks she wouldn’t be, and he says, she just kind of threw it on them, but Willow says, no, she loved it. Could Drew’s reaction have been any sweeter? She’s so happy they’re working together, and he says, it’s nice having someone in the trenches that he trusts. They’ll get Aurora back in the black. She says she knows they will, and his mom seems good. She’s moving on from the divorce, and the loss of the hotel. She seems freer. He says, she’s the strongest they’ve seen her in a long time, and Willow asks if that changes anything. Does seeing his mom happy and moving forward give a little more room for grace for Sonny?

Dex asks if Josslyn knows Brando, and she says, he’s extended family. Dex says, this guy she thinks is innocent has been pushing drugs on Brando’s wife. Sonny was pissed, and just wanted to make sure they scared him bad enough to leave Sasha alone. She says, even if he’s telling the truth – he says he is – there’s a chance that Sonny wasn’t telling him the truth. Sonny could have killed this man if she hadn’t shown up. Would Dex have stopped him? Dex says he doesn’t know, but he’s glad he wasn’t faced with that choice.

Sonny tells Carly, this guy was pushing drugs on Sasha, so he put the fear of God in this lowlife, and there’s Josslyn. She’s filming the whole thing, and threatened to take the footage to the cops. Carly says, okay. What does Sonny want her to do about it?

TJ tells the orderly that Oz will have to be monitored closely, and goes back out. Curtis asks how Oz is doing, and TJ says he had to put him in a medically induced coma. His brain is swollen, and needs a chance to heal. Curtis asks when TJ thinks he’ll wake up, and TJ says he’s requested a neuro consult. Once Oz has been evaluated, they’ll know more. He also ordered a blood panel, so they can see what drugs are in his system. Curtis says, before he passed out, Oz told him that a woman gave him something. His guess is, Oz was drugged on purpose to shut him up, by none other than Esme Prince. Molly asks if Curtis has ever seen them together, and Curtis says, no, but he followed Oz to Spoon Island. What the hell would Oz be doing at Spoon Island, if he weren’t meeting Esme? Molly says, it all fits, but Curtis says, there’s no way to prove it until Oz regains consciousness, and Trina’s almost out of time.

Esme calls the hospital, and Deanna answers. Esme says she was notified that her father, Oz Haggarty, was brought into the ER. Is he going to be all right? Deanna says she’ll take down Esme’s information, and have the attending call her, but Esme says, she’s in Oregon, and can’t be there for hours. Can she just talk to him? Deanna says she’s sorry, but her father’s been unconscious since he arrived. He is stable though, and he’s been admitted to the ICU. Esme asks when he’ll wake up, but Deanna says she really needs to speak to the neurologist. Esme says, neurologist? Is he in a coma? Deanna says she’ll take down Esme’s information whenever she’s ready, but Esme hangs up and smiles.

Nikolas says, sorry, and Ava says she hopes his emergency wasn’t too dire. He says, it’s a problem that requires immediate action, but it’s solvable. Spencer gets up, and says, he hopes things go better for Trina tomorrow. Ava says, she does too, but unless some miraculous witness drops from the sky to exonerate her, Trina may well lose everything.

Anna says, there’s a darkness in Valentin’s eyes ever since he came back; like something is really bothering him. He hides it well, but it’s there. He says he loves that she can read him like this, and she asks, what’s going on? He says, she’s right; something’s troubling him. It’s no big mystery, but he doesn’t think they should be thread pulling. He likes her, and the closer they get, the more he knows it’s going to hurt when he loses her. She asks why he’d lose her, and he says, a thousand reasons, but when she looks at him like she is now, he doesn’t want to think about them. She says, let’s not think about anything, and kisses his hand. He gets up, and kisses her forehead, then they make out like bandits.  

Willow says she’s not advocating for Michael to reconcile with Sonny, but drop this vendetta against him. All this anger and hate isn’t good for him, and can lead him to do something he’ll regret. He asks if she wants him to let it go, and she says, for his own sake, especially since it’s clear Carly is doing fine. He says, this isn’t about revenge, and she says, isn’t it? He says, it’s about doing what right, and for him and his family, it’s not having Sonny in his life anymore. She says, that will make him happy? and he says, she makes him happy. Thinking about their future makes him happy. Thinking about them, Wiley and the baby, that makes four. Maybe someday five or six. She tells him, slow down, and he says, the point is, they have a lifetime of love ahead of them. She flashes back to TJ telling her that she has an elevated white blood cell count, and he doesn’t think it’s related to her pregnancy. Michael asks how she could think of anything else, and she says she can’t.

Dex says, if Josslyn turns that video over to the cops, Sonny’s lawyer can maybe get him out of it, but not him. He’ll 100% be convicted. And not for nothing, it doesn’t feel like she took that video to uphold the law or prevent a crime. It feels like she did it to get back at her stepfather. Maybe Sonny deserves it, but she doesn’t know Dex, and he’s never done anything to her. This could ruin his whole life… please. She takes out her phone, and looks at the video. She says, Sonny’s ruined enough lives. She doesn’t see the point in adding his name to the list. She deletes the video, and tells him, it’s gone. He thanks her, and she says she still thinks he’s an idiot to work for Sonny. He says, noted, and she leaves. He looks at Felty at the bottom of the stairs, and says, he guesses they both got lucky tonight.

Sonny says, just call Josslyn, and tell her to delete the footage, but Carly says, Josslyn is an adult. If Josslyn witnesses a crime in progress and chooses to report it, that’s none of her business. He says, so if he gets convicted and sent to prison, does she think Josslyn is going to feel good about that? She’s got to stop Josslyn now. She says, isn’t it perfect how what works for Josslyn also allows him to get off scot-free? and he says, this is on her. She asks how it’s on her, and he says, Carly keeps egging Josslyn on about him, and now she’s out of control. Drew says, Sonny should leave before this deteriorates any more, and Sonny asks if Drew is telling him to leave his own house. Drew says, it’s not his house anymore, and Sonny says, last he checked, it wasn’t Drew’s house either. Unless they’re moving in… Carly says, enough. Sonny doesn’t get to barge in her house and start barking orders. She’ll consider the situation, and guide Josslyn to do what’s best for her. If it lands Sonny’s ass in Pentenville, so be it. He doesn’t have to worry. They allow conjugal visits. He and Nina should be just fine. He says he would pull back if he were her. She already lost her hotel. There’s a lot more to lose. He leaves, and Drew asks if Carly is okay. She says she’s fantastic. She’s got Sonny right where she wants him.

Tomorrow, Jordan asks what Curtis knows that she should know; Spencer tells Esme to figure out how to set Trina free before it’s too late; Rory says he wants to make it up to Trina, if she’ll let him; and Sonny tells Nina that if she can’t deal with it, it’s not going to work.

Below Deck Mediterranean

Julian’s Bay, Malta. In Dave’s interview, he says, when they were on their last boat, he and Tasha got on. There was a flame. In Natasha’s interview, she says, when she joined her last boat, her relationship wasn’t in a good place. Dave paid her compliments and they had fun. Dave says, Tasha would sneak into his room, and that made it more passionate and fun; it was epic. Tasha says, the first time she hooked up with Dave, they were drunk. Her ex had cheated on her, but was it right to cheat back? She’s not proud of it. Dave says, he thought when they joined this boat, it would be secret for a while, but then they’d be a couple. Tasha says, Dave is a ticking time bomb. He wants to release their secret, but she doesn’t want people judging them. At the restaurant, the crew wants to party it up. They do shots, and Kyle takes a picture to send to his boyfriend. They move on to a techno club, and most of them get on the dance floor. Storm says he and Natalya have a vibe. Tasha almost sits with Dave, but Raygan asks her to dance. We see it’s 11.5 hours to charter, and in his interview, Dave says he feels like Tash is going out of her way to push him away. They get in a couple of taxis, and Jason says, Dave and Tasha need to quit the bullsh*t; it’s exhausting. They get back to boat, and Kyle remarks that Raygan is knackered. A few of the crew have something to eat in the super nice crew mess. Dave bugs Jason about flirting with Tasha, and says Jason is going after all the girls. Jason tries to extract himself, but Dave follows him. Natalya tells Dave not to antagonize Jason, but Dave insists he’s not fighting. Storm wisely suggests going to bed, and Jason says he’s going, but Dave tries to stop him. Jason suggests Dave not touch him, and Dave backs off, but tells him to go wash his hair. In Jason’s interview, he says, he’s too old for this. The first time he was knocked out, it was a Taco Bell, and he was a drunk college frat kid. It’s exhausting, and will only make it worse. Dave waits in their cabin for Tasha, and waits… and waits… Finally she comes in, and he says he swore at her boyfriend. She’s like, huh? Kyle asks Jason what happened, and Jason says, it was a power move because Dave is insecure, but that’s just his opinion. Tasha moves to the master cabin, and in her interview, she says, Dave is drunk and angry, and the last thing she wants to do is share a cabin. She needs space. She cries herself to sleep, which is no way to end the first outing with a new crew.

Grand Harbour Marina. Everyone is hung over, and Raygan sums it up best, but opening her eyes, and saying, oi. Tasha tells Dave that she went to the master cabin because he was in a rage. She needs to focus on herself, and she can’t deal with the drama or stress. Dave says he respects that, and he’s sorry. It’s so stupid that they can’t talk about the real reason. In Dave’s interview, he says he obviously f***ed up. He was out of order, and now Tash can’t look at him, and he can’t blame her. He tells her that she didn’t deserve that, and he’s sorry. Kyle tells Captain Sandy about last night, and says, when they start doing somersaults on the dance floor, it’s time round them up. She asks if he was doing somersaults, but he says, no, Raygan was. Natalya does laundry, and the captain looks at charts. Storm tries to radio Raygan, who says, everything is spinning. The deckhands wander around, and Raygan throws up. Tasha gives the stews their tasks, and in Jason’s interview, he says, if you’re hung over or sick, fine, but what’s important is to be there. He used to go to father events for his sisters, because their father was a POS. (I wasn’t totally paying attention, but it sounds like they don’t have the same father.) He says, laziness makes him frustrated. Natalya sings as she does laundry, and Dave apologizes to Jason. They shake hands. Raygan is still sleeping.

Tasha makes Dave some coffee, and Captain Sandy calls Tasha, Dave, and Raygan for a preference sheet meeting. Raygan answers the radio from her bunk, but she is fully dressed. When the captain gets to the mess, she asks where Raygan has been, and Raygan says she was sick. Captain Sandy says, that’s called a hangover, and Raygan tries a Hail Mary Pass, saying, it could be food poisoning, but the captain says, nope. It’s alcohol. Don’t kid herself. In Captain Sandy’s interview, she says, the last thing you want to show her on the second charter is that you’re incapable of your job because of a hangover. It’s okay to have fun, but you need to bring it. The primary is Emily, who’s in her family business of real estate. They expect a fully stocked bar at all times, and want to be in the water from sunup to sundown. They’ve requested a Moroccan inspired sunset dinner, and Dave notes that there’s one who hates seafood. The captain says, Raygan can jump in any time, and Raygan says, all waters toys will be in the water. The captain says, water sports, water sports, water sports. It’s the second charter, and now that Raygan is familiar with the boat, pull out everything first thing, or it will make her mad. On deck, Raygan tells the deckhands to do whatever they feel like doing. Jason tells Mzi that there needs to be a procedure, and Mzi says, 100%. Tasha texts Dave, asking if he wants to chat in their cabin, and he says he’ll be right down. He teleports there, and she says she has to take a shower. He goes in with her, and she says she has five minutes. We have no clue what they’re doing, and only hear running water, but 28 minutes later, Tasha comes out fully dressed.

Provisions come in, and Raygan says, teamwork makes the dream work, but I’m not sure if she’s being sarcastic. Kyle says, Tasha and Dave are a power team; they’re so in love. Tasha says, that’s not funny, but Dave says, no argument from him. Kyle says, if it doesn’t work out, Dave always has him. Raygan drops off the deckhands’ schedule to Captain Sandy, and the captain radios the crew to get in their whites, and be on the dock in five minutes. In Raygan’s interview, she says, the first charter, it was just her and Jason. She didn’t have time to make up a schedule. She had a hangover, and she understands that’s not professional, but now they have a whole team. She thinks they’re going to kick it.

The guests are welcomed with mini margaritas and pineapple upside down cake shots. My stomach turns over, thinking of how sweet those must be. Tasha shows them around the boat, and guest Noah says, the amount of beers he’ll be drinking will be absurd. The luggage is brought onboard, and Captain Sandy checks out what’s going on in the galley, telling Dave that his food is art. In her interview, she says she’s had some chefs who were incredible. We flash back to them, and she says, but Dave is like no other chef on the planet. He’s a true artist, and it’s incredible to witness him at work. They begin to pull out of the marina, and Noah says, this is a legit boat. I’m not sure what he thought he’d be on for the price of a small country. Tasha and Natalya make drinks, the fenders are pulled up, and they’re on their way. Dave blowtorches some apples, and Raygan tells the deckhands to start inflating the inflatables. Jason tells Mzi that Captain Sandy wants it to look like a toy show out there. Mzi realizes the Seabobs aren’t charged, and Jason says, no one made him aware they should be. Raygan manages to make her way to them, and Jason says, he thought they ran on gas. Raygan says, Seabobs are always charged, like he should know, and in Jason’s interview, he says he’s been on the boat for five days, and it’s a clusterf***. He’s getting irritated because no one is leading. It should have been explained.

One of the guests asks if Kyle isn’t married, and Kyle says he’s gay. She says she thought he’d been flirting with her, and I can’t imagine making that mistake. In Natalya’s interview, she says she likes to rearrange and coordinate things. She’s a compulsive organizer, and that’s why she loves being on laundry. She has everything organized her way. Mzi gives Jason some instruction, and in Mzi’s interview, he says, last season, he gained knowledge and confidence, so he’s comfortable taking more authority. With Raygan, there are miles to go. Tasha hugs Dave, telling him that she’s proud of him, and in Kyle’s interview, he says he thinks they’re a cute couple. He loves seeing Tasha dainty and smiling around Dave, and Dave melts like Jell-O around her. Something’s going on here. Raygan radios Mzi to bring out the jet skis, and realizes the banana should have been inflated. Captain Sandy watches her talking to the deckhands, and Jason tells the guests that he needs to get a ladder for them to get in the water. Raygan tells him to do the passerelle (it’s like a gangplank), and Jason says, he needs someone to tell him what to do. The captain comes out, and asks where the inflatables are. She tells Raygan that she’s got to manage this deck, and tells Jason, get everything in the water. She takes Raygan over to the side, and says, Raygan’s got to organize her team; it’s chaos. She told them to get everything out, and Raygan was sitting and watching when she should be working. She needs to manage this; give directives, and do it out of the way of the guests. She doesn’t want to hear complaints. She wants Raygan to do her job. She doesn’t want to be the bosun.

Raygan gets the banana out, and tells Jason to pick up the pace. Captain Sandy talks to herself, saying, Raygan is in over her head. Raygan tells them to get everything out and ready, and Jason asks what she thinks he was doing, twiddling his thumbs? Then she starts bitching about the passerelle. Don’t start nitpicking; he’s doing his best. I wonder if the guests can hear them, and Raygan says, just try to pick up the tempo. Kyle says Dave looks super stressed out, and in the laundry, Natalya sings, laundry it’s your friend; it never ends. Tasha goes over the dinner menu with Dave, and in his interview, Dave says he loves to experiment. There are a few people who don’t like seafood, but he doesn’t follow preference sheets. It’s a bit of a gamble, but he does do extreme stuff and gambles. In Storm’s interview, he says he gets his passion from his mother. She had a full 8 to 6 job, and when his sister was born, they needed to drive her around for her to go to sleep. His mother was too tired, so he’d drive, which was totally illegal, but he was on work mode. Tasha asks Kyle for help setting the table, and goes over the service plan with him and Natalya.

The guests are seated, and Kyle asks if they’re ready to get the party started. Guest Tommy wonders what their eating, and Noah says, there’s a menu in front of him, but Tommy says, it’s too much to read. Primary Emily asks if Captain Sandy would like to join them, and the captain says she’d love it. I think, wouldn’t the chef like to know? but it looks like she’s just going to stand there a while and talk to them. Emily tells the captain that her family owns a brokerage, and everyone in her family sells real estate. The first course is served, and Emily says she doesn’t like octopus, but tastes it anyway (good for her!). She says, she wouldn’t order it again, but it’s good. The way it’s prepared is fabulous. Another guest says, it can be chewy, and this isn’t, which makes me want to taste it, but I don’t eat that anymore. Mzi tells Captain Sandy that the Seabobs weren’t charged, and Jason had never used one, so he woudn’t know. It’s the small things that creep up. She tells him that he had someone he worked under who was very experienced, and now he’s under someone who doesn’t have experience. In the captain’s interview, she says she understands the expectations of the crew. It’s the bosun’s job to teach the crew. We flash back to Malia, and Captain Sandy says, a bosun has to lead the team and give direction. Raygan isn’t demonstrating leadership. She just hopes they make it through the charter. Mzi says, if they had direction, it could make a difference.

Dave’s dessert is white chocolate/ginger cheesecake inside a hollow chocolate bomb, and I want to cry, I want one so badly. Kyle congratulates the guests on staying up so long after what they’ve consumed. Natalya fights with a doorknob that keeps coming off in the master cabin. Tommy falls off his chair after what he’s consumed, and Natalya radios Kyle for help. Tasha tells Dave that his food is unreal, and he says, her drinks are unreal. Tommy says, everyone who can be cool is fly. Is he right or wrong? Emily says, they have no clue what he’s saying, when Dave brings the chocolate balls up, and pours hot chocolate sauce over them. Sigh… Dinner breaks up, and most of the guests go to bed, but Tommy and Noah run drunkenly around. Noah bugs Dave in the galley, while he guzzles beer, and Tommy howls for him on deck. They finally call it a night.  

Captain Sandy calls Raygan to the bridge, and says, she wants to see Raygan succeed. She needs to be organized, and that’s when she’ll gain the trust of her deck crew. She should practice; put the toys where she can get to them. Raygan says she’s realizing where she needs to be, the captain says, it’s not where she needs to be; it’s how she needs to lead. The deckhands need clear, concise instructions. She wants to build Raygan up, but she’s also here to do business, and no one is being told what to do. Raygan says she’s figuring the deckhands’ weaknesses; today will be better. Captain Sandy says, Raygan needs to figure out her own weaknesses, and where she’s struggling. It’s complete chaos, and she has no system. She understands Raygan had positions on other boats… and Raygan says, but they weren’t as horrendous and busy. The captain says, superyachts aren’t like what Raygan worked on. They have a system in place, for safety. Raygan needs to show the captain that she can do this job. She needs a bosun she can trust, and who has guest priority.

Next time, the guests do cannonballs; Dave thinks Tasha is different; Dave is starting to freak Tasha out; and Captain Sandy hits a dolphin for the first time ever. A marker, not the mammal.

✈️ Oh Babe, I Hate To Go…

Peek in tomorrow for some soap and a spot of tea. Until then, stay safe, stay bucking the system, and stay remembering setbacks aren’t final.