What I Watched Today
(rambling, random thoughts & annoyingly detailed recaps from real time TV watching)
General Hospital
Carly is resting, and Sonny asks, what’s up with Josslyn? She doesn’t look good, and said Nelle stole something from her. Carly says she’ll talk to Josslyn, and gets up. Sonny says, this is probably it. Nelle came back to get it. Carly sees what I’m guessing is a bloody kidney in his hands. She screams. And wakes up. She wonders why this is happening.
Chase tells Willow, she, Michael, and Wiley make a wonderful family. He’s glad she’s happy. She thanks him, and he says it’s all he ever wanted for her. He hopes Michael does better by her than he did. He starts to walk away, and she asks him to wait. She wants to tell him something about her and Michael, but he says whatever it is, it’s better if she doesn’t.
Jax asks if he can talk to Michael, and Michael says, if it’s something about Aurora, he doesn’t have much to contribute yet. Jax says they can talk about whatever he wants, but keep him distracted. He looks over at Nina talking to Valentin. Nina tells Valentin, it wasn’t easy to shut him out and start over, but he left her no choice. He says if she means that, she wouldn’t care who he sleeps with, but she obviously does. Maybe she’s not as over him as she thinks. She says if by over him he means indifferent, she never claimed to be, but she’s determined to move on. He says, then let him do the same. Or did she expect him to wait around indefinitely?
Carly finds Jason in the kitchen, and asks him to pour her a cup of coffee. She could use the caffeine. He asks, what happened? and she says she hasn’t been sleeping well, so she took a nap. Big mistake. She dreamed about Nelle – again. She can’t keep going like this.
Nikolas walks in, and Ava says, good; he’s home. She has something important to discuss. He closes the door, and says he does too. Something he should have told her a long time ago. She says she’s sure it can wait a little longer, but he tells her, for once in her life, lower her guard enough to listen. She asks what makes him think she’s interested in anything that comes out of his mouth. He thought she liked his mouth, and she says she’d like to slap it. So unless he’s about to confess… He says that’s exactly what he’s doing. He hasn’t been honest with her. About him, and about them.
Ava says, speak, and he says he’s been thinking for a while about how things are going. Not just with them; there’s the whole family to consider. She tells him, spit it out, and he says she’s not making it easy. She says clearly he hasn’t thought out what he needs to say, and he suggests she let him say it, instead of being smug, cynical, and ready with a cutting remark. She says he knew how she was when he married her, and he says, a conniving, treacherous opportunist. She says she can never live down her bad choices. She’s selfish and ruthless; never mind his history. He says he knows who he is, but he’s just starting to get to know the real Ava, the woman behind the façade. He’s realized that in their marriage of convenience, he has inconvenient feelings.
Nina says she doesn’t want Valentin to wait for her. There’s no chance for them. He says he doesn’t believe that. Jax is a rebound, and she’s his plus one; his companion, a trophy. She says Valentin knows nothing, and he says he knows she and Jax like each other. He knows they have certain things in common, and knows it’s a safe relationship, because both of their hearts are otherwise engaged. Jax loves Carly, and she loves… She says, no. She’s not threatened by Jax’s connection to Carly.
Jax tells Michael that Valentin wants Nina back. He can’t say he blames him; she’s an incredible woman. Michael says she seems happy with Jax, and Jax says he’s happy with her. But when you’ve been married to someone, you develop an understanding of each other that doesn’t go away just because the marriage ends. Michael hopes he’s right.
Chase tells Willow, he set all of this in motion. He did what he did, and she ended up with Wiley and Michael, and he’s truly happy for her, but he’s no longer a part of her life. Not the way he used to be. So whatever she was going to say… She flashes back to Michael saying there’s nothing selfish about being in love; it’s what he wants for her, but he considers their marriage a success. She tells him, she does too. She tells Chase, it’s not what he thinks, but he says, it doesn’t matter. Whatever she was going to say, it’s best she holds onto it. Michael walks up to them.
Jason asks if Carly wants to talk about it, and she says she keeps having nightmares. The details are different, but they’re horrible and all about Nelle. Even though she’s dead, she’s not. He says Carly just had to sit through a police interrogation about Nelle; it makes sense that she’d be dreaming about her. She says the interrogation was frustrating because the detective accused her of pushing Nelle. Jason says, but she didn’t, so there’s no case. She tells him, that’s what Diane said, and he says he can see why she’s still worried. She says she is, but not because of the cops. It’s because Nina is giving Nelle a proper burial this afternoon at Woodlawn Cemetery. She says she’s doing it for Wiley, so he can visit his mother’s grave, but that’s BS. She’s doing it for herself.
Carly says, Nina had a breakdown a few years back. She kidnapped Avery, and wound up in Shadybrook, but she was able to get the help she needed, and turned her life around. But Nelle didn’t, and Nina can’t let it go. He asks if she thinks Nina feels guilty because she got saved and Nelle didn’t, but Carly doesn’t know. She doesn’t care about Nina’s motives. She cares that Nelle is going to be buried in the same cemetery as Morgan and Mike. She cares that Nelle is going to have a headstone in Port Charles, where she caused so much misery. If Nina wants to do something, pay to have her buried in Florida. I get distracted momentarily by the bowl of moss, and Jason says, who cares about Nina? Why does Nelle bother Carly so much? She says it doesn’t make any sense, but he says, tell him anyway. She says she knows Nelle’s dead, but it seems like Nelle isn’t done with her.
Nina tells Valentin that she admires the way Jax and Carly co-parent, and she’d like to think they could do that with Charlotte. Show her the best of them without the fallout from the relationship they both messed up. He admits he’s responsible for the lion’s share of the damage. He wants to be there for Charlotte, and wants Nina to stay in her life. She says it would make things easier if he’d stop needling her about Jax. He agrees, but wants her to extend the same courtesy to him. She says she doesn’t needle him, and he says she did when he walked in with Brook. She says, that wasn’t needling; she’s appalled. She’s not jealous, and he should know that. Brook isn’t in the right frame of mind to decide if she wants to sleep with him. She’s recovering from a brutal attack. He says he didn’t take advantage of Brook, and she says, Brook is traumatized. Jax asks if everything is okay, and Valentin calls him Jasper, saying, they were just talking about Nelle. Jax says he despises Nelle, but Nina wants to give her a proper burial. Valentin says, she what?
Michael apologizes for barging into the conversation, but Chase says, no big deal. It’s not like when Brook walked in with Valentin. His jaw was on the floor. Michael says, Brook was with Valentin? and Chase says he’s not gossiping. They were pretty open about it. Brook spent the night with Valentin. Michael wonders what she was thinking, and says, Ned isn’t going to like this. Good thing she isn’t living at the house. It’s going to be World War III. Chase asks if he should be looking forward to Brook sleeping on his couch for the foreseeable future. Michael asks if Brook would accept money from him, but Chase says, she’d rather walk on glass. Willow says its good Brook has Chase to help her. He says she means it’s good he’s a sucker, but she says he’s not, and Brook wouldn’t take advantage if he was. She’s not a user like… Chase says, like Janelle.
Ava asks Nikolas what that means exactly, inconvenient feelings? He says it’s not supposed to happen in a relationship like theirs, and she asks him to be more vague. He says he wishes he had done it differently. He wishes he’d returned to his family as soon as he got back. He wishes he’d contacted her without the subterfuge, and that they hadn’t started out at each other’s throats. Being with her is more good than bad. She says, Ava Jerome, more good than bad; that’s a phrase fit for an epitaph. He says he’s falling for her. No, it’s already happened. He’s fallen for her.
Carly tells Jason, maybe it’s PTSD. Nelle has been after her for so long, she can’t let her guard down. He asks why she’s doubting herself. If she thinks something is off, it probably is. She has great instincts. She says, not with Nelle. When Nelle first came to town, she fell for Nelle, hook, line, and sinker. She played right into Nelle’s hands. Jason says she was grateful about Josslyn, and she says, too grateful to see what was in front of her. She didn’t recognize the girl from Frank’s apartment. She couldn’t go back and fix Nelle’s life, which is what Nelle wanted. When she caught up to Nelle in the clearing, Nelle blamed her for everything; every choice, every horrible thing that happened to her. She begged Nelle to turn herself in for Wiley’s sake, but she refused. She was fighting to hold on, and Nelle was fighting for her life. Nelle came at her, scratching and clawing. She feels like there’s something she’s supposed to remember. Like how you can’t remember a name, but it’s on the tip of your tongue. He tells her, don’t push it. It will come to her. She says, or she could confront it.
Valentin asks why Nina is paying for Nelle’s burial. She says, not that it’s any of his business, but Nelle left a son behind. He might want to visit her grave. Valentin asks why he’d want to do that. If Michael is honest with him about the pain Nelle inflicted, why would he want anything to do with her? He’s glad he didn’t know Helena was his mother while she was alive. Nina says he can’t compare Nelle to Helena, and he says, how about the pain Madeline inflicted? Nina isn’t going to romanticize her mother; why romanticize Nelle? She says, it’s none of his business. She doesn’t want to be late for the graveside service that she paid for. She flounces out, and Valentin asks if Jax isn’t going with her.
Chase tells Michael, Janelle is being buried today, and Michael says Nina called and asked if they wanted to attend. When Wiley is an adult, and he wants to visit, that’s up to him, but he has no reason to. Willow says she feels the same way. Nelle was incredibly damaged, but she caused a lot of hurt, and she hurt Willow. All Willow wants to do is leave the past behind and focus on Wiley. Chase said he felt like that at first, but now he thinks he needs to face Janelle one last time.
Ava walks up to Nikolas, and says, so he’s fallen for her. He says, without meaning to. Against his will, and against good advice from people he respects. She says, so this isn’t the first time he’s spoken of these inconvenient feelings. He says he needed a sounding board. Someone to talk to about it, while he tried to talk himself out of it. She says, yet here he is. He says, here we are. They’ve come a long way since she burned his grandmother’s portrait and threatened to shoot him. She says he has no idea how close she came to pulling the trigger, and he says, why shoot him when she could blackmail him into marriage? She says, her sentiments exactly, and drains her martini. He says, it’s different for him, so he has to believe it’s different for her too. Is she in it with him? Yes or no? It’s not just him, is it? She feels it too? She flashes back to when she found the piece of check with his signature on it, and says she feels annoyed and insulted that he expects her to fall for his declaration. He says, it’s the truth, and she says his relationship with the truth is somewhat casual. He asks why he’d leave himself open to being vulnerable if it wasn’t true, and she says, to get her to lower her guard. He says telling her his feelings doesn’t get him closer to his inheritance; it gets him closer to her. She says he’s been working on her for months, trying to wear down her resistance. He asks if that’s what happened at the cabin. She says, yes, and makes a beeline for the door. He gets in front of her, and says, tell him that she didn’t want him as much as he wanted her that night. Tell him it wasn’t real for both of them. She asks if it’s as real as it is when he’s with Elizabeth.
Jax sits down and tells Valentin, it pains him to say this, but he agrees. It would be better for Wiley if Nelle was in an unmarked grave. Valentin assumes he pitched that argument to Nina and it fell on deaf ears. It’s all wrapped up in her head with the loss of her child. Speaking of which, he’s aware what Jax is doing, encouraging her to keep up the search. If he’s doing that, he’d better be damn sure there’s a child out there to find.
Michael asks if Willow is okay, then says, forget that. It wasn’t a question as much as a demand for reassurance. He wants her to tell him she’s okay, and obviously she’s not. She says she doesn’t know what she is. She hates Nelle and always will, and it’s beyond ironic that everything good in her life comes from something Nelle did. He says Willow had every reason to use her pain as an excuse to hurt others, but she didn’t. She says, maybe because at her darkest moments, she had people to support her, and Nelle didn’t. He asks if one of them was Chase, and she says, Chase was there for her, until he wasn’t.
A pastor says a prayer at Nelle’s gravesite. Fastest. Headstone. Placement. Ever. Chase arrives, as Nina says, amen.
Jax says he’s not like Valentin. He’s not hiring someone to pose as Nina’s child. He’s going to help her as much or as little as he wants. Valentin says, and when the search hits a dead end, and Nina is devastated, what then? Jax says, what’s the alternative? Is he supposed to shield her from disappointment? He’s not in charge of her life. Valentin says, aren’t we enlightened? Someone’s done a lot of work on themselves. He wonders if Jax would be so objective if it was Carly about to break her own heart.
Michael tells Willow, there was a moment where Chase was the same Chase he’d always been. She says she felt it too. Before Michael came over, Chase said he was glad she was going to adopt Wiley. She knows he was sincere and he really wants her to be happy. It’s like there are two Chases. The one who loves her, and the one who threw her away. Michael says he can see how much Chase regrets it, and how much he still loves her and wants her back.
Sonny comes home, and apologizes for keeping Jason waiting. His got held up. His dad had Diane draw up a will after he was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. He didn’t have a lot, just some personal stuff, and this. He hands Jason a picture and says, a race horse. One quarter share of a thoroughbred, and now it’s his. They laugh, and Jason says, Mike never told him? Sonny says, Mike might have been concerned he’d think Mike was gambling again. Maybe he forgot. Another thing Alzheimer’s took from him. Jason says, Mike loved horses, and Sonny says, he doesn’t know if the horse ever won a race, or if Mike even cared. He didn’t buy it for an investment; he bought it for part of a dream.
Michael says he was being intrusive, but Willow says she’s not offended by what he said. She doesn’t think it matters if Chase wants her back or not.
Valentin asks Jax how far he would go to protect Carly. What boundaries would he cross, or rather what boundaries wouldn’t he cross? Jax asks how many times Valentin has had this conversation with Nina. That is the angle, isn’t it? Playing up his relationship with Carly, so Nina feels more insecure? Valentin says he’s not the only one who sees Jax’s relationship with Carly for what it really is.
Nina thanks the pastor, and tells Chase that she’s glad he changed his mind. He says, if he hadn’t met Janelle, he’d probably still be a cop in coastal Maine. He’s not grateful, and she never did him any good, but in the end, he benefitted. He’s there to acknowledge that, and put her behind him once and for all. Nina says, Nelle had so many gifts, she could have accomplished a lot if just one person was looking out for her. He says, if Nina really believes she could have been the one to save Janelle, then she fooled Nina in death like she fooled him in life. Nina asks if he doesn’t think Nelle’s life would have been different if someone had intervened, but he says, Janelle had plenty of chances to turn her life around. She had plenty of people willing to help. Carly, for one, and Michael. If she’d just put down her vendetta, and tried to become the person she pretended to be, they wouldn’t be standing there right now. But Janelle was broken. She couldn’t accept kindness or support, much less love. Nina says she can’t help but think about it differently. She has a history of making horrible, disastrous choices, and turned herself around, but she had the privilege of having friends and family who cared about her. Nelle didn’t have anyone. Not one person. Maybe he’s right. Nina thought she could save her, but in the end, all she could do is give her a decent burial, and hope that she rests in peace.
Jax says he and Carly have a child together, and Valentin says, it must be difficult to watch him build a life with another woman. Jax says, not as difficult as it is for Valentin to see him building a life with Nina. Valentin says, he’d be more comfortable with Nina’s choice if he believed Jax cared about her half as much as he does. It’s obvious Jax isn’t entirely over Carly, and Valentin doesn’t think he ever will be.
Willow tells Michael, it’s hard for her to imagine getting back together with Chase, and not seeing the betrayal every time she looks at him. She can imagine getting excited over a special dinner, but it wouldn’t be real; she’d just be playing a part. Pretending he never cheated. And pretending would hurt more than accepting they’re over.
Sonny tells Jason, he’s having Diane locate the other shareholders. He wants to buy them out. If the horse still wants to race, he’ll let him, but if not, he’ll find him a pretty pasture. Jason says, Mike would like that. Sonny says he thinks Mike would, but more than that, he keeps doing it over and over, wondering what Mike would want him to do. He’s gone. Sonny loves him and grieves, but has people there who need him. He has to let his dad go, and focus on the present.
Nikolas says, Elizabeth has nothing to do with this, and Ava says she’s seen how Nikolas looks at her; how he watches her. How he grovels for her attention, her approval, and God knows what else. Elizabeth has always been his ideal, hasn’t she? It was Elizabeth who he was hoping was waiting for him when he got back. He says, Elizabeth is his oldest friend. The romance they had was over years ago. She says, look her in the eye and tell her that he hasn’t dreamed of leaving her for Elizabeth.
Nikolas says, it’s true. He thought of starting over with Elizabeth. Ava says, then spare them more of this farce, but he says, it was just a fantasy. Elizabeth is his past. She says, and she’s his future. He says, that depends. Is he hers? Does she return his feelings? Yes or no? She says she refuses to play this game. He says, she doesn’t have to; he got his answer. She says, believe what he likes, and he says he’ll say it as many times as it takes. She tells him, save his breath. Actions speak louder than words. He asks what he can do to prove himself. Name it. She says if he wants to prove his feelings, divorce her.
Jax says he’s been clear on Carly’s place in his life, and Valentin says, he’s holding nothing back? There’s nothing in his history with Carly that Nina can’t know? Jax flashes back to being on the cliff with Carly when Nelle fell, and telling her that she can tell the truth or save herself/ He tells Valentin, if he ever feels the need to settle his conscience, he won’t be talking to Valentin about it. He leaves, and Valentin wonders what he’s hiding.
Michael says he doesn’t want to make Willow uncomfortable, so no is an acceptable answer to what he’s going to say. She says, okay… and he says he doesn’t know a lot about wine. As CEO, he’s going to have a lot of business dinners, and he needs to study up. While they’re still married, would she like to study with him? He could have a broker send over a selection, maybe once a week. Cook could make dinner. They could make it themselves, but Cook would never let them in the kitchen. He doesn’t want to do something too close to what she and Chase enjoyed, but she says she’s not going to give up wine for the rest of her life because she used to drink it with Chase. She’d love to study wine with him. It sounds like fun. They clink glasses, and she says he’s making the annulment more difficult. The more she’s around him, the more she realizes what to expect from a relationship; someone she can trust, solve problems with, and study wine with. She doesn’t want what she had with Chase. She wants this. While thy’re still married, she’s going to honor that for as long as it lasts. He says he is too.
Sonny asks Jason if there’s any word on Brando. Jason says, Brando went to work for Cyrus this morning. He should be safe for a while. Cyrus won’t test him too soon. Sonny says, eventually, Cyrus is going to want Brando to prove his loyalty, and Jason says, then Brando knows what to expect. Sonny says, what if Cyrus orders Brando to kill Jason? and Jason says he thinks the motorcycle sabotaging was a one-off. He doesn’t have to try for a while. At lest not in public. Sonny asks if Jason thinks Cyrus would risk a war with what he’s got going on at the hospital, and Jason says, he got rid of the long time staffers. He cut Elizabeth’s hours, and put Epiphany on administrative duties. Sonny says, so no one would notice Cyrus is moving product through the hospital. Sonny asks what Jason thinks the end game is, and Jason says, if Cyrus controls the mayor’s office, the cops, and the hospital, he gets Sonny isolated. He takes out Sonny, and he owns Port Charles. Sonny asks if Jason thinks it’s that simple, and Jason says, no. You have to control a lot of people, and in an organization like that, you need secrecy and loyalty. Cyrus has neither. Sonny says, the more Cyrus wastes his time, the more Brando moves closer. Jason says, what if Cyrus openly breaks the truce? Sonny says, then they take him out. It could get messy, but they have too much to lose; too many people in the line of fire.
Nina kneels at Nelle’s grave, and says she doesn’t know what to say. Sorry seems inadequate, and anything more than that seems like a lie. The people Nelle hurt didn’t deserve it, but she didn’t deserve the kind of life she had. Nina wishes things could have been different for Nelle. She hears footsteps, and looks up. It’s Carly.
Tomorrow, Curtis asks Jax if it was his call to continue the search, Alexis asks if someone wants to join her, Cyrus says Julian will find his offer impossible to turn down, and Carly says she’s where she’s supposed to be.
👒 Tonight, Bravo gave us the gift that keeps on giving. Ashley from Southern Charm made an appearance to watch the season 5 finale, along with Kathryn. Well, not exactly with Kathryn. Since it was remote, we could see both of them, but they couldn’t see or hear each other. Believe me, it was better that way. Starting off, Ashley said she was terrified, and Kathryn said it was going to be funny. Kathryn said she was going to be watching all by herself… sort of, and Ashley said, what do you mean Kathryn will be watching? She seemed more amused than embarrassed, and said once you’re a villain, there’s nothing you can do to redeem self. Apparently, she forgot Kathryn, since that’s pretty much what happened with her. Ashley told us, the opening music got her heart rate up. It was a horrific time for her, and she could feel the anxiety; whereas Kathryn said it was a new beginning for her; she’d come full circle with her relationships.
We found out Kathryn never finished Patricia’s book, The Art of Southern Charm. I have to confess, I haven’t either, but I really just bought it for the pictures of Chauncy. Kathryn also informed us that Craig’s finger was permanently crooked from the butter knife incident. She said she and Craig both had houses that were a wreck, but at least she had the excuse of having children. Yep. I have pets is my excuse. Ashley said Craig was one of her favorites, but she was still waiting for her pillow. I’m guessing she’ll be waiting a long time. She said Shep had been the kindest to her, but made it clear that she loathed Naomie, saying she’d rather watch Kathryn, and hated Austen too. She made fun of the way Austen talked, which was extremely mature of her, made fun of the majority of the cast, called them bitches, and said she hated them. Kathryn’s attitude was just the opposite. She laughed at herself, and gave us various details that weren’t on camera.
The episode featured Patricia’s Christmas party, where Ashley called Kathryn an egg donor. In a completely Twilight Zone moment, Ashley said that Thomas had told her to wear a red dress, and Kathryn said she bet Thomas told Ashley to wear a red dress. ♫ Do-do-do-do do-do-do-do ♫ When Cameron said the party was like the Titanic, Ashley felt compelled to inform us that it sank. No surprise to me, Ashley said JD (bleh) was her favorite. She harped a lot on Naomie being a bitch, and how abusive she was to poor Craig. As Captain Lee would say, Craig wrote Naomie a check his ass couldn’t cash. Neither one of them communicated well, and I like Craig, but she had a reason to be unhappy.
The takeaway point was that Ashley is definitely still bitter, and still proving she’s a nurse, as she showed us her credentials. She also talked to herself in third person, like, run Ashley! She’s still clueless too. When, during the episode, she told Kathryn that she was living the life Kathryn wanted, she confirmed her original assessment, telling us that Kathryn still did. I find that highly doubtful. At the end, she insisted she wanted nothing but the best for Kathryn, even though she talked sh*t about her. On the other hand, Kathryn laughed her way through it, and said she was glad to say goodbye to that chapter. I don’t know what the hell was in her head with that monkey emoji, but sometimes decent people can be thoughtless. I like Kathryn, also want nothing but the best for her, but won’t be talking sh*t.
This was followed by How They Got Here 2020, which basically gave a quick review of seasons past. The new season begins next Thursday, October 29th.
🍹 Returning Charm…
A couple of newbies and the Covid affect.
⚖️ With Friends Like That…
I remember this woman zero. You’d think with a name like Elvira, she would have stayed in my head.
https://pagesix.com/2020/10/17/rhonj-pal-accused-in-lawsuit-of-keeping-boys-bar-mitzvah-money/
🗽 It Was Bound To Happen…
They didn’t exactly seem happy.
https://pagesix.com/2020/10/20/former-rhony-star-jules-wainsteins-divorce-from-michael-finalized/
⚰️ News Of the Dead…
Lennie James directed last Sunday’s episode of Fear the Walking Dead. Which explains why Morgan was only in it for two seconds.
https://www.tvguide.com/news/fear-the-walking-dead-lennie-james-directorial-debut-interview/
What goes on in World Beyond.
https://www.tvguide.com/news/features/the-walking-dead-world-beyond-set-visit/
👗 Award Winning Fashion…
The best looks at the CMT Awards. At least according to Parade.
🦇 Go Batty…
It’s Bat Appreciation Month. Show them you care.
https://www.discovery.com/nature/batty-for-bats-pictures
👼🏽 Say a Little Prayer…
I actually have to get up early tomorrow for an online seminar, and schedule changes aren’t high on my list of fun. So until we meet at GH and Tea, stay safe, stay self-possessed, and stay not expecting a pillow from Craig.
What I Watched - TV With Theresa 