(rambling, random thoughts & annoyingly detailed recaps from real time TV watching)
The Walking Dead
In the alleyway, Max tells Eugene that It was just dumb luck she found the radio parts in a dumpster. It would have never been dumped there for security reasons, so someone thought it was trash, but it just needed some love. We see her putting it together, turning it on, then talking to Eugene. She says, they talked about everything and nothing. We flashed back to Eugene saying he thinks it’s a celestially ordained meet and greet, and Max saying her people are uber cautious. She tells Eugene that she never let herself believe it was possible to leave. Then her brother got involved, and he wasn’t happy. We see Mercer finding her radio equipment, and Max tells him, it’s not what he thinks. He says, a massive communications breach from an unauthorized station is being investigated. Someone’s been talking to a community outsider outside the walls, and Lance is all over it. Please tell him it wasn’t her. Please tell him that she’s not about to sneak out to meet a stranger. It’s dangerous for everyone in the Commonwealth, especially the two of them. Pray Lance doesn’t realize it’s her voice. She tells Eugene that she crossed line, and Lance was on the prowl. It was impossible for her to turn up. Then some other girl was calling herself Stephanie, using her words and voice. We flash back to Max getting ice cream at the same time fake Stephanie did. Max passes Eugene, who asks, that wouldn’t happen to be Rocky Road? but Max doesn’t respond, and walks away. She turns to see him eating ice cream with fake Stephanie, and Max says Eugene seemed happy, so she kept her head down. She didn’t know what else to do. We see Max go in to Pamela’s office to give her some files. She asks if she can get Pamela anything else, and Pamela says, a day her son isn’t acting like an a-hole. She asks Max to have the bank cut off Sebastian’s credit line. Maybe that will whip him into shape. (Doubtful.) Max tells Eugene that Lance was bugging out about him and Alexandria, and Eugene asks what Lance is planning. She says she doesn’t know. Lance is ambitious; it could mean anything. Or it could mean nothing, just the rebuild. He says, the guy in orange armor is her brother? and she says, yes. He asks if she’s Stephanie, but she says, no; Max. There is no Stephanie. It was her mother’s name. He says he’s sorry, brushes past her, and goes out the gate.
In a Humvee, Pamela tells Lance that they’re a long way from home. She’s not convinced they should stretch their resources. In growing their empire further than their power can stand, they could lose that power. He tells her, it’s not that dramatic, and she says, there’s enough to do at home without worrying about the small communities. He says, give it a chance. She might be surprised. They go into Alexandria, where Aaron has some of the people quickly doing some housekeeping. Mercer, Daryl, Pamela, and Lance step out of the caravan, and Aaron welcomes them. He asks if Pamela wants the grand tour, and she says she’d expect nothing less. He explains that they’re a self-sustaining agricultural community, and have water and solar power. She asks, who was the engineer? but he says, no one. Maggie, the leader of their allied community Hilltop, gave them the plans. Mercer asks Daryl how safe it’s been here, since they’re isolated, and Daryl says, they’ve fought a lot of fights. Mercer asks if Daryl was the leader here, and Daryl guesses he could say that; they all were. Mercer asks what Daryl did before this, but Daryl says, it doesn’t matter. Not to them anyway.
Pamela looks at a picture of Deanna, and says, Deanna looks like how she remembers her. Daryl says, Pamela knew her? and she says, they used to cross paths in philanthropy circles, but back then, Pamela had no interest in politics. Deanna was born to run things. She asks what Deanna was like as a leader, and Daryl says, she brought them in. He’d never met anyone like that. He admired her very much. She built all this for them; something worth fighting for. Pamela says, but it fell, and he says, they always brought it back. She says, it fell more than once? and Mercer’s radio says they’ve got a breach. Daryl says he’s got it, and sees a zombie toddling around outside. He and Mercer jet. Pamela asks Aaron how they lost Deanna, and he says, she got bitten. She asks if Deanna turned, and he says, they had to put her down. Daryl stabs the zombie in the head, and Pamela says she thinks she’s seen enough.
Ezekiel gets some bloodwork done, while Jerry keeps him company. Tomi tells Ezekiel, no food or solids for 12 hours before they see him in the morning, and Jerry says, they thought it was a routine check-up, but Orderly Theo says, it’s pre-op bloodwork before surgery. Ezekiel looks puzzled, and Tomi says, they’re going to take out the tumor. Ezekiel says, no one told him. He thought he was on the list. Tomi says, now he’s at the top of the list, and Theo says, he’s lucky; some people wait years. Jerry asks about the bill, and Tomi says, it’s paid up. However it happened, Ezekiel should be thrilled. They’re going to take good care of him. He’ll see Ezekiel on Friday at 9. He leaves, and Jerry laughs, saying, it’s so frickin’ awesome. Ezekiel doesn’t look happy, and Jerry says, what? Ezekiel wonders how it happened, and Jerry says, maybe it’s a coincidence, or a clerical error, or divine intervention, but doesn’t Ezekiel think he deserves some luck?
Pamela sits with her feet in the water – I note her perfect French pedicure – and breathes the fresh air at Oceanside. Lance tells her that Rachel is ready for her. She tells Rachel that they’re blessed to have the water at their doorstep. She heard Oceanside battled the Saviors and the Whisperers. That says a lot about the strength of their community. She’s excited to be partners, but Rachel says she talked to Maggie, who isn’t partnering. Lance tells Pamela that Hilltop declined, and Rachel says, Maggie has always been there for them. If Maggie decides to be a partner, they will be, but otherwise, it’s a no.
Aaron and Lance ride together to Hilltop, and Lance asks what the point of bringing Aaron along was when he has no helpful intel? Aaron says, it’s not his fault, and Lance says, Aaron should have known about Rachel and Hilltop. Now it looks like they’re not prepared. Aaron tells Lance to stop acting like Alexandria means more to him than it does to Aaron, and Lance says, they’re all in the same sinking boat. He asks if Maggie is going to make it difficult, but Aaron has no answer. Lance says, it’s all or nothing for Pamela. If Maggie says no, Pamela will walk, and Alexandria will be cut off. Aaron says, then they’ll figure it out, and Lance says, it was going so well before they stepped in. Their caravan stops, and zombies are trickling out of the woods. There’s some zombie dispatchment, and Maggie, Dianne, Lydia, and Elijah are part of the fray. Done with the zombies, Daryl helps Maggie up from where she landed, and Pamela says, she must be Maggie.
Aaron brings Maggie some food, but she says she already ate. She says, it’s good to see them, and asks why they trust these people. Daryl tells her, who says they do? When does he ever? She says, fair enough. It’s good Alexandria is getting cleaned up. At least their word meant something. Aaron says, out of 50 thousand people, at least 49.9 of them are decent folks. It’s not forever. Is she sure she doesn’t want to come? Lance approaches, and says, they brought some extra rifles. Pamela proposed they go hunting, if they’re up for it.
They go through the woods, Pamela wearing safari gear, and Pamela says, they’ll scare the food away if they go as a big group. She’ll go with Maggie, and the rest of them can pair off. She doesn’t need a minder. They split up, and Pamela asks Maggie how things got so bad. Maggie says, how do they ever? She can’t figure out why some of them are lucky enough to fight off the world, while other can’t. Pamela says she doesn’t believe in luck, and Maggie says, luck is about opportunity. She doesn’t know anyone who’s had more opportunity than Pamela. Pamela says, being honest, cards on the table, she didn’t want to come on this tour, but it’s her responsibility. It’s what keeps her up at night; the price of leadership. Everything costs something. For her, it’s sleep. What keeps her awake at 3 am is, who does she trust, and how do they stay safe? She wasn’t sure the risk going out was worth it, but the world belongs to them. What she believes to be the natural order of things has vanished, and has to be restored. It will provide a future for their kids. She’s offering a mutual protection pact, like Maggie has with Oceanside. They’d have her back.
Ezekiel is cooking on a hotplate, when Carol knocks at the door. She says, she wanted to see how he was doing, and he says, Nabila and Jerry left him a buffet. She takes over hotplate duty, and says, Jerry told her that Ezekiel had a check-up today. She asks if anything came up, and he says, funny thing. Tomi said he was having surgery on Friday. Carol says, great, and he says, did she… What did she do? She says she didn’t, and he says his debt was wiped out. She says, Lance owed her a favor, but he says, it’s cheating. Why did she do that? She says she doesn’t want him to die. The lines are a lie. Pamela wouldn’t think twice about doing the same thing for her sh*tty son. He says he’s been inside the hospital, and seen all those people suffering, the same as him, and waiting for treatment, the same as him. She asks if he’s supposed to die because the system is broken. Lesser men have been given more, and done nothing with it. He’s not lesser.
Maggie calls Pamela an autocrat, but Pamela says she’s a leader who makes decisions. Maggie is the same thing. Is she an autocrat? Maggie says, Deanna and George taught them how to divide things up. Pamela drives a nicer car, and has a nicer house than a lot of her people. Pamela says she also has more responsibility. Her people need something to look up to. Doesn’t Maggie want her people to look up to her? Maggie says she wants them to look up to her for what she does and has done, not what she has. She asks if she should get the zombie coming up behind Pamela, and Pamela says she was just thinking of going after the one behind Maggie. Maggie stabs the zombie behind Pamela, and Pamela shoots the other one’s head off. Maggie nods appreciatively.
Eugene sits on a bench by the lake, and Rosita joins him with Coco in a stroller. She asks if he’s okay, and he says he’s great. She tells him that he’s got a great poker face, and he asks, how’s the new job? She says, it’s a lot, and he asks if she regrets coming here. She says, does he? He says he thinks she likes it here, and she says, they all get to be together, and everyone is safe. It works for now. He says, going with the flow, and she says she didn’t think she’d end up being a cop. She’s pretty good at it. He says she’s good at everything she does, and she thanks him. She admits she misses home though. She misses the freedom they used to have, but it’ll come when Alexandria is fixed. People will have choices, and that’s good. He says she’s excited about the future, and she says she guesses she is. What is it? Spill. He says he was thinking about when they first met, and he was lying to her about who he was and Washington DC. She says, it was a long time ago. They found their home, and they’re going with the flow, What is it? Get it out. He’ll feel better. He says, Stephanie… isn’t missing. He saw her. He holds back tears, and says she broke up with him. Rosita hugs him, and he cries. He tells her that Stephanie wasn’t who he thought she was, and she says, he can do better. He’ll find his person. She’s out there.
Maggie brings a couple of game birds back to Hilltop. Dianne tells her that they’ve been working on reinforcing the water tower. Lydia sees Daryl, and they hug. He asks how she’s holding up, and she says she’s doing her best, but it feels like some things can’t be fixed; it seems pointless. She asks how you know when it’s time to walk away, and he asks if that’s what she wants to do. Lance asks Maggie if it’s okay to hand out supplies; they have more than enough food and fuel. Maggie tells him, sure, and thanks him. Mercer tells Daryl, it must be hard to be a kid growing up here, and Daryl says, they’re a different kind of kid. This place used to be special, but they’re going through a hard time. They’ll be up and running again. Mercer says, not all places are as lucky as Alexandria, and Daryl says, not all places are as lucky as the Commonwealth. Mercer asks if Daryl is coming around, but Daryl says he wouldn’t go that far. They’ve done good stuff, he’ll give them that, but they ain’t perfect. Mercer tells Daryl not to get comfortable out of his armor. Lance thought it was good for appearance sake, but Daryl has his role to play, and Mercer has his. I’m liking Mercer.
Jerry and Carol visit Ezekiel in the hospital, and Ezekiel says he wants pizza and ice cream, no pineapple. Pineapple on pizza makes no sense. Theo tells Ezekiel, it’s going to be nothing but Jell-O for a while, hotshot.
Maggie sits on some steps, and Lance approaches, one of his hands kind of moving, Maggie says, nervous twitch? and he says, lucky coin. She says she had a lucky rabbit’s foot when she was a kid. Her dog brought it home with the rabbit still attached. Lance says, when he was a kid, he thought the coin was gold, but it was really gold plated, just a lowly nickel. Has she decided? She asks what he gets out of all this, and he tells her that he’s not going to pretend. She’s in over her head. She says he doesn’t know, but he says he knows she’s smart enough to know a good offer… and he’s smart enough to know he’s pissed her off. Maggie says he didn’t answer her question, and he says, the first time he saw Alexandria, he saw potential, as he did in Hilltop and Oceanside. They can have so much more. Imagine picking Herschel up from a concert at the Commonwealth, or taking him to a doctor’s appointment in Alexandria, or going for a boat ride up the coast from Oceanside. And what’s up the coast? Another protected town, another school or a university. Maggie says they tried to build one, and Lance says, of course. They see things the same way; the world as they want to build it. Picture the power of fifty-thousand Commonwealth workers making it a reality. They hear, swarm incoming, and Lance says, as it is, there’s reality.
The Hilltoppers run out with weapons. There are a ton of zombies in the woods, and Maggie and the Hilltoppers start picking them off. Mercer joins them, looking badass, and flips one over himself before killing it. His troopers line up, and he yells, fire! They shoot, and the zombies are done. The bodies are piled up, and Dianne tells Maggie, imagine not dealing with this. Lydia says, they could keep building; no stops and starts. Dianne says, we need this, and Maggie says, she knows. Mercer calls, formation! Let’s go. He tells Daryl, fall in, and when Daryl gets closer, Mercer quietly tells him, they’re always watching. Got him? Daryl says, yeah, and marches behind the troopers. Maggie watches, and Pamela says, never a dull moment here. Maggie says, we try, and Lydia says, everyone’s okay. No injuries, all limbs intact. It’s a good day. Maggie tells Pamela, Hilltop is passing, and Pamela asks, why? Maggie tells Pamela that she said it herself; everything costs something. Aaron watches, and looks mega worried.
Eugene knocks at Max’s apartment, and says, please don’t shut the door. He found raspberry goodness of the Inside Scoop variety. She lets him in, and he sees the radio in pieces. He says he’s so sorry for his ungentlemanlike behavior. He wasn’t listening to her because he was bruised and confused. Max says, he was rude, and he says he let Lance get in his head. It was an infiltration of epic Proportions. Lance is like a snake. Max says, he’s like a worm, and Eugene says he let fake Stephanie into his life. He let her read his manuscript. He’s writing a novel. She asks if a sepulcher is involved, and if it takes place in the Carpathian Mountains. They talk some nerd talk, and she asks how he could let fake Stephanie read it. He says he thought she was Max, but Max says, after all that time, how could he not know it wasn’t her? He says he doesn’t know. He’s not like most folks; he’s used to rejection. Sometimes he didn’t even realize he was being rejected. Let it suffice to say he had his fair amount, and part of him wondered if the connection they had was in his head. When got here, and fake Stephanie didn’t push him away, he wanted so badly for it to be real. The subtle clues escaped him. He never meant to hurt her, but the intent doesn’t excuse the impact. How can he make it up to her? She says she doesn’t know, and asks if she can read his novel. He says, as ill fortune would have it, she came up on him when he was burning the only copy. But he’s committed the text to memory. She asks what the concept is, and he says it’s about a gumshoe going on a rollicking caper to stop a nuclear threat. He also gave the detective an unsavory twin brother, and Max says, an evil twin, nice touch. If Eugene makes the evil twin a scientist, it will ramp up stakes of the nuclear threat. Eugene says, that’s exactly what he did, and she says, it’s like old times.
Daryl gives Maggie a mason jar, saying, it’s something from Judith in case she makes Herschel eat horse meat, She hugs him, and he says she knows where to find him. She says, same for her, and Daryl joins the troopers. Dianne tells Maggie that she’s leaving. Some others are coming, and Maggie should too. Maggie says, be careful who she trusts. Dianne knows that better than anybody. Dianne says, she also knows when to ask for help. It’s become harder, but it doesn’t have to be. Dianne respects the hell out of Maggie, but she can’t do this anymore. She’s sorry. She, Elijah, and another guy leave.
Lance goes to Pamela’s tent, and she says, it was a worthy effort. He says, it’s not over. They still have Alexandria. He just needs time to get the other two. She says, it’s a bold move getting three communities on board. She can see why it would be attractive. He says, it’s ultimately her decision, and she says, he pretends he’s doing it for the good of the Commonwealth, and not for himself. He says he’s doing it for her, and she says, they’ve both had ambitions their whole lives, and ambition is notoriously hard to reel in. So if he wants to try and make it work, fine, but if his job at home suffers, there will be consequences. The Commonwealth always comes first. He leaves.
Lance takes a stroll in the woods, and shoots his gun in the air. A zombie comes toward him from all four directions, and he shoots three of them, one by one. Aaron shows up, and asks if he’s okay. Lance says, A plus, and Aaron asks, what about Alexandria? Are they good? Lance says, everything’s fine. Pamela is on board, and they’re bringing even more in. Get ready. They’re going to remake the world. He blows the last zombie’s head off.
Next time, Aaron talks to Gabriel, Lance needs a solution, and Maggie discovers some dead troopers.
See you tomorrow for soap and Sailing. Until then, stay safe, stay using your time wisely, because there’s only so much of it, and stay knowing that everything costs something.
(rambling, random thoughts & annoyingly detailed recaps from real time TV watching)
General Hospital
Willow asks Michael, on a scale of one to ten, how much does he think Wiley loves Annabelle II? He says, it’s an eleven for sure, and she says she wishes their schedules weren’t so hectic; they could get a dog of their own. (Let me just note here, they’re having this conversation in the nook of the main house, so I guess someone from there can’t look after a dog?) He says, someday, and she asks, when will that be exactly? It’s not as if things will slow down when she becomes a nurse. He says, you know what he can’t wait to do? Sleep in when they’re in Paris. She asks if he’s out of his mind. She’s never been, and there’s so much to see; the Louvre alone. He says he guesses he’ll have to find other ways to get her to stay in bed, and she says, he can be very convincing. They kiss, when Brook walks in. She says, it’s good to see some things haven’t changed. At least the two of them are still together.
Chase goes to Finn’s office, and Finn asks what Chase is up to. Chase says, very little. Does Finn want to know how many hours are left for his suspension? Finn says, Chase has two more months to go, and Chase says he does, but he can still tell Finn the answer to that question. Finn says he knows Chase may be bummed, but Violet is loving having her Uncle Chase at her tea parties. Chase says, that is one up side to unemployment. When is Finn’s next date night, so he can babysit? Finn says Chase is welcome to visit Violet any time he likes, but his date nights with Elizabeth are over.
Elizabeth asks how Cameron wants his eggs, but he says he’s not too hungry right now. She says, who is he and what has he done with her son? Is he not feeling well? He says he went to bed late, so he’s half asleep; he’s fine. Jake comes in, and asks, what’s for breakfast? Cameron says he thought Jake didn’t have school today, and Jake says he doesn’t. Cameron asks why he’s up so early then, but Elizabeth says, this is so nice, all of them eating together. Jake says, Finn too? and she says, no, but she’s glad he brought Finn up. They need to talk about him.
At the MetroCourt, Ava and Nikolas look at her phone, and she asks Nikolas if it isn’t a little ornate. He says, it is, but isn’t that the point, to make a show of their vow renewal? Draw Uncle Victor in under the guise of family togetherness? Assuming Spencer shows for the ceremony and the family is actually together. She says, that is the plan, but the ceremony isn’t only about Victor, or Spencer for that matter. It’s still very much about them, isn’t it? She loves him, and can’t wait to exchange vows with him and actually mean the words. He says he can’t wait for that either, and they kiss.
In the elevator, Esme looks at her wrist, and pulls her sleeve down. She walks out into the MetroCourt, sees Nikolas and Ava kissing, and tells herself, it’s show time.
Josslyn walks into the kitchen, and Carly tells her, good morning. Josslyn says she hopes it’s okay that she slept here, and Carly says, is she kidding? Best surprise ever. Josslyn says she would have given Carly a heads up, but it was late, and Josslyn didn’t want to wake her. Carly says, no heads up needed; this is her home. Is everything okay? Josslyn says, yeah. She just didn’t feel like sleeping at the dorms last night. Carly says, any particular reason why? and Josslyn starts to cry and says, she can’t go back to school. Never. She throws herself into Carly’s arms.
Ava says, the flowers must be spectacular of course (🍷), and a fabulous bouquet for when she walks down the aisle. Esme says, wedding planning? and Ava says, for their vow renewal, yes. Esme sits down, and says, Laura told her that they were having a private ceremony, just the two of them, which is super romantic, but Avery would make an adorable flower girl. Nikolas says, actually, they’ve changed their mind about that, and decided they want their family there. Esme says, really? Spence didn’t mention anything; does he know? Nikolas says, not yet, and Ava says, they just decided last night. Nikolas says he’s going to visit Spencer, and invite him in person. Esme says, she hates to say it – Ava says, but she will –she wouldn’t bother inviting Spence at all.
Michael asks how the visit with Brook’s mom went, and Brook says, good. Her mom said and did all the right things, she got to see her cousins, and they went to all their favorite spots. Michael says, Giuseppe’s? and Brook says, of course (🍷). Willow asks, what’s that? and Brook says, only the best pizza in Brooklyn. Michael says, it’s off the charts, and Willow says, sounds like Brook kept busy. Brook says, it was great to back in the old neighborhood; she needed to get away. Michael says, now she’s back, and Brook says she guesses the first order of business is getting her stuff out of the beach house. Michael says, that’s done. Everything had to be out last week, so he and Chase moved her stuff. Brook says, what? Sorry. Thank you. He says, no problem, and she says she guesses it’s time to get back to real life. Willow asks what that looks like for her, and Brook says, she has absolutely no idea.
Elizabeth says they won’t be seeing Finn for a while, and Cameron asks if they broke up. She says, more like taking time apart. She just wants to be able to spend time with their family right now. Jake asks if it’s because of the weird stuff that’s been happening, but Elizabeth says, it’s more than that. She does have to figure out what’s going on, but she wants to make sure her boys are safe and happy. They are her number one priority. Cameron says they know that, and Elizabeth asks if Jake does. He says, yes, and she says, good, but things haven’t really felt safe and happy lately, right? Which is why she made Jake an appointment to see Dr. Massey today. Jake says, a shrink? and she says, a psychiatrist. She thinks it might be good for him to talk about his feelings. Jake says, that’s just great. She thinks he’s a psycho. He walks out of the kitchen.
Chase asks, what’s going on with Finn and Elizabeth? and Finn says, she’s concerned about the whole portrait thing. Chase says he gets that, and Finn says, he does too. Chase says he spoke with Dante, and he has a patrol going by every hour, and Finn says, that’s a big relief. Chase says, but? and Finn says, Elizabeth thinks it might be something closer to home; in the home, to be exact. She thinks Jake might be acting out. Chase sits down, and says he thought Jake and Aiden denied doing it. Finn says, they did, but now that Betsy Frank has been crossed off the list, Jake is the mostly likely suspect unfortunately. Chase says, so Elizabeth breaks up with Finn because she’s having issues with Jake? Isn’t that an overreaction? Finn says, not when you consider everything the kid’s been through.
Carly tells Josslyn, talk to her. Let her help. Josslyn says she can’t. It’s too horrible. She can’t even think about it, let alone say it out loud. Carly says, Josslyn can tell her anything. Tell her what’s going on, and they’ll fix it. Josslyn cries and says, it can’t be fixed, but Carly says, try her. Josslyn says, the weekend they spent at Sonny’s cabin, she and Cameron had sex, and it was their first time. She never thought something like this could even happen. She feels so stupid. Carly asks if Cameron got her pregnant.
Nikolas says, Esme really believes Spencer won’t come to the ceremony? Last time he saw Spencer, it felt like they were making progress. Esme says she thinks things are getting better with Nikolas and Spence too. It’s just… Ava says, Spencer will never accept her as part of the family, and Esme says she’s sorry, but he won’t. Nikolas says he hopes she’s wrong, because Ava’s not going anywhere. Ava’s phone rings, and she steps away to take the call. Esme peers at Nikolas, and he says, what is it? She says he’s not the man she thought he was. She had a picture in her head from everything Spence told her about his father. He says he can guess what Spencer said about him, but she says she doesn’t think he can.
Michael says he guesses it’s hard to get back to normal life without Bailey, and Brook says she still has Deception. She gets up, and says she’s going to be fine. This was always the plan. Actually more than the plan; this was the goal. For Bailey to go back home to Maxie where she belongs. Willow says, of course (🍷) that was always the plan, but that doesn’t mean Brook didn’t fall in love with that little girl, and it’s not hard on her. Michael gets up, and says, it’s okay to admit that. She wasn’t in Port Charles at the time, but he’s sure his family filled her in, when he found out Sonny was responsible for AJ’s death. Brook says, the father that raised him killed his biological father; that must have been brutal. He says he retaliated. He took from Sonny what he loved the most – Avery. He was able to find legal grounds to prove Sonny was unfit, an was appointed Avery’s custodial guardian. For months he was her only parent. He knows it’s not a perfect parallel, and she says, close enough. He says, Avery was his child, she was his sister. He knew the whole time deep down that the situation was only temporary, but all those months, he saw her and was with her every single day. He was the one to read her stories, to feed her, to change her. He brought her to work, and played blocks with her… Willow joins them, and he says, then when his mother convinced him to give Avery back, Avery left a huge gaping hole in his life and in his heart. And even though he knew it was the right thing to do, that didn’t make it any easier. Brook says, okay. Giving up Bailey is excruciating, but she’s going to get over it. And when she does, she’s going to go back to her single, carefree life; the life she always wanted before all this. Michael asks if she thinks she’s the same person, and Willow says she doesn’t. Michael says, Brook did an amazing thing protecting Bailey from her father, and Brook says, it didn’t start out that way. Michael says, it doesn’t matter how it started, and Willow says, Maxie was in trouble and Brook came through for her friend. Brook says, they didn’t expect that from her, did they? and Michael says, no, but he should have. He’s always known she had a big heart. Brook says she didn’t do it alone. When she needed help, Chase was right there.
Chase says, wow, he didn’t know Jake went through all that, and Finn says, pretty grim stuff for anyone, but a kid that age? Chase says, no wonder he’s having a hard time, but that was years ago, right?Wasn’t he doing better? Finn says, he was, after some serious counselling. He was doing really good, but think about it. First, he loses Franco, then Jason, Finn enters the picture, and all of a sudden, these strange things start happening. Elizabeth’s wedding ring, her dress, the portrait… Chase says, all unsettling, but not overtly dangerous, and Finn says, exactly. What if it’s Jake crying out for help?
Elizabeth says, first of all, she doesn’t like the term psycho, and Jake says, fine. Nuts? Crazy? Loco? Take your pick. She says she doesn’t think he’s any of those things, and Cameron says, look. Seeing a therapist doesn’t mean you’re crazy. Elizabeth says, they all need to talk to someone once in a while, and Jake says, they think he put the painting there, even though he swore he didn’t. They don’t believe him. Cameron tells him, that’s not what mom’s saying; Jake’s just been through a lot lately. Jake’s phone dings, and he says, Conner sent him a video, asking if it’s really Cameron. What did he post? Cameron says, nothing, and as Jake is about to open it, Cameron says, don’t!
Josslyn says she’s not pregnant, and Carly says, thank God. Josslyn says, they used protection; that’s not the problem. Carly asks, what’s going on? and Josslyn says, that night was perfect. At least that part was. It was everything a first time should be. But then, in sociology class, everyone’s phones started blowing up, and all eyes were on her and Cam, and they had no idea why. She begins crying again, and says, someone sent this video to Professor Kahn’s computer. And the whole thing played in front of the whole class on this giant screen. Carly says she doesn’t understand. What was on the video? Josslyn says, Cameron and her, having sex. Someone filmed them and sent it to the entire school.
Esme tells Nikolas, that’s not what she meant at all; Spence loves him. It borders on worship actually. He said Nikolas was the best father in the universe. It made her jealous of how close they were when Spence was growing up. Spence made it seem like it was the two of them against the world. He says, she told him that he wasn’t the man she expected him to be, yet Spencer painted him in a positive light. She says, glowing light, and he asks if that means he’s worse than she expected.
Carly asks how someone could do that to Josslyn, and Josslyn says, she guesses it’s not the worst thing in the world. Everyone has sex tapes or naked photos… Carly says, it’s not funny; this is not a joke, and Josslyn says she doesn’t know what else to do. Carly says, this is a complete violation. Someone took a private moment between Josslyn and her boyfriend, and made it public without her consent. She’ll get Spinelli to take it off the web. How did this happen, does she know? Josslyn says she doesn’t know. She didn’t even know there was a camera (ha-ha! I typed Cameron) in the bedroom; neither did Cam. Sonny wouldn’t have… Carly says, God no, and Josslyn says she didn’t think so. The only people in the cabin that night were her, Trina, and Cameron. Carly asks, what about Esme and Spencer? and Josslyn says she told Carly, they left. Esme had the nerve to accuse Trina yesterday. Carly asks if she’s serious. Did Esme really think they’d fall for that? Josslyn doesn’t say anything, and Carly says, Joss? Josslyn says she doesn’t know. Trina got pretty drunk at the cabin, to the point she didn’t remember what happened. Carly says, that doesn’t sound like Trina, and Josslyn says, and she didn’t drink that much. It just seemed to affect her like that. She also told them she felt left out when Josslyn and Cam got together. Carly asks if Josslyn really thinks Trina could have sent that video.
Cameron grabs Jake’s phone, and Elizabeth says, what is going on? Cameron says, it’s just a stupid video of him, and he doesn’t want Jake to see him making a fool of himself. He deletes it, and Jake takes his phone back, saying, he can still find it or just have Conner send him the link. Cameron says, leave it alone, please, and Elizabeth tells Jake to get dressed; his appointment’s in 45 minutes. Jake says, what about breakfast? and she says he can eat after he’s dressed. He says, fine, but he knows she’s just trying to get rid of him. He goes upstairs, and Elizabeth tells Cameron, he’s going to watch that video. Cameron says he knows, and she says he may as well just tell her. He asks if he can just die instead, but she says, not an option. Did he do something stupid or dangerous? He says, nothing like that, and she says, then what? He says he can’t tell her while she’s looking at him, and she keeps her back to him, pouring herself some coffee. He says, there’s a video of him going around, and she says, that much she gathered. A video of what? He says, him and Joss having sex.
Chase says, knowing that about Jake, he can see where Elizabeth is coming from, but it’s still a bummer. Finn says, the hardest part for him, is thinking about Elizabeth dealing with this on her own. He’d like to be there for her, but if he does, he’s not respecting her wishes. Chase says, Finn’s between a rock and a hard place, and Finn says, pretty much. If she feels the only way he can help is to keep his distance, so be it. Chase says, how long? and Finn says, how long what? Chase says, how long is this… pause going to be? Finn says, it’s hard to tell. It’s all very depressing. Tell him something good. How’s Brook? Chase says, as far as he knows, she’s still out of town, and Finn says, as far as he knows? Chase says he hasn’t heard from Brook since she left.
Brook says, it blows her mind that Chase just stepped up. He said he was Bailey’s father without her even asking him. Willow says, that’s a good friend, and Michael says, they regret giving Chase a hard time. Willow looks at the clock, and says she has to go; she’s observing rounds at GH. Michael tells her, show those doctors up, Nurse Tate, but she says she’s not a nurse yet. He says, soon enough, and she leaves. Brook tells Michael that he and Willow are nauseatingly cute, and he says, things are going well. What about her? It’s nice to have Willow by his side, someone to do life with. She says, so? Coupledom isn’t for everyone. Some people value their space. He asks if she’s saying she’s one of those people, and she says, isn’t it obvious? He says, not the way she was talking about Chase.
Finn tells Chase, that surprises him. Brook is dodging his calls? Chase says he hasn’t called her, and Finn says, yet people say Chase is the people person. Chase asks what that means, and Finn says, Chase is the one who said he wanted to at least be friends with Brook, and he hasn’t reached out to her? Chase says, he texted her, and Finn asks what he said… wrote… whatever. Chase tells him, he said, how are u? He just put the u; he didn’t spell it out, Finn says, pure poetry, and Chase says, Brook replied, but all she put was a thumbs up, nothing else. So obviously she doesn’t want to talk to him. Finn says, Chase should definitely give up then.
Brook asks if Michael is forgetting the part where she and Chase were pretending to be partners in crime, not romance, he says, she told him Chase was there for her. She says, he was, because he’s a good guy and they’re friends. He says, that’s it? and she says, that’s a lot. It might be a shock to him, but she doesn’t have a long list of close friends; she can’t afford to lose one. Besides, even if she felt something for Chase, it was probably a result of the situation; heightened emotions from taking care of Bailey together. He says, it looked like more, and she says he needs to get his eyes checked. They sit on the window seat, and he says he went over to Chase’s to apologize. She asks how it went, and he says, pretty good, actually. He thinks in time, if he plays his cards right, he and Chase might be friends again someday. But the point of him telling her that is, he could tell Chase was lost without her and Bailey. Just like she is. She says, he could tell how? Did Chase say he was interested in her?
Josslyn tells Carly, there’s no way. Trina would never humiliate her like that, or Cam. Carly says, it sounds more like something Esme would do, and Josslyn says, my God. Everyone saw her having sex. Carly puts her arms around Josslyn and says she’s sorry, and Josslyn says, a lot of people think she did this on purpose; not only film it, but make it public. How sick is that? Carly says, no one who knows her and Cameron would ever think that, and Josslyn says, people who don’t would think that. She’s just a freshman; she’s new on campus. She had so many messages, she had to turn her phone off. Carly says, from random people? and Josslyn says, mostly, but some of the girls on the volleyball team texted her, wanting to know what’s going on. How will she face them? How will she face anyone again? She sits on the floor, and Carly holds her.
Elizabeth says she can’t believe someone sent that video to Cameron’s whole class, and he says he thinks to the whole school. She asks if he can find out who it was, but he shakes his head, and says, it’s pretty easy to stay anonymous when you send stuff out like that. Plus, once it’s out there, it’s out there.Even Jake’s friends are seeing it. She says she’s sorry he’s going through this, and he says, it’s way worse for Josslyn. There’s still a double standard about sex. While he’s getting virtual high-fives, she’s being called a slut. It’s not right. She says, it’s not, and asks how Josslyn is holding up. He says, she turned off her phone last night, and Elizabeth says, smart move. He says he hasn’t heard from her, and he’s a little worried. Elizabeth says she’s worried about him. Double standard or not, this is happening to him too. Does he wasn’t to tell her how he’s feeling about it? He says, he never wants to talk about it ever again, and she says, he can tell her anything. He says, just not this, okay? but she says he should talk to someone. He says, a friend? and she says, if he wants to. He says he doesn’t. He wishes Franco was here. She says, her too, and he says, Franco would know what to say. Or at least find a way to get him to laugh about all this. She says, he’ll get through this, but he asks, how?
Nikolas says, letting Spencer believe he was dead, he’ll always regret that decision, but Esme says, he misunderstood what she meant. Spence described him as a man with singular focus. For example, when Spence was young, that focus was on him. Now. according to Spence, he’s all about Ava, but she can see that’s not true. There’s room in his heart for more than one person. He says, of course (🍷) there is, and wonders why Spencer can’t see that. Ava is no threat to him or Nikolas’s love for him. Esme says she’s so sorry she helped Spence hurt him and Ava. They were wrong, and she’d like to make almonds amends. She’s been talking to Spence on his behalf, urging him to reconcile with Nikolas. Nikolas says he appreciates that, and she says, maybe she should talk to him about the vow renewal; soften him up before Nikolas speaks to him. Ava comes back, and says she’s sorry she took so long. Nikolas says, important call? and she says, it was about Ryan.
Elizabeth says if Jake wants breakfast, he should come downstairs. He comes down in the same clothes, and she says she told him to get dressed, but he says he’s not going. He doesn’t need to see a shrink. She can’t make him go. She says, actually, she can. It’s not punishment. She thinks talking to Dr. Massey can help him. He says, he knows he messed up after Cassadine Island, but he was a kid then. He’s fine now. Why doesn’t she believe him? She says she doesn’t think any of them are fine, not after losing Franco the way they did. Now Jake’s lost his dad. She knows he misses him; she misses him too. He says, it’s not the same, and she says he’s right. She hasn’t been with his dad in a while, but she’ll always love him because they made Jake. She can see him in Jake. Jake says, she can? and she says, he’s so strong, just like his dad was, and when Jake gets upset, he gets quiet like his dad. He says, dad didn’t talk a lot, and she says, he didn’t, but he always listened to Jake, didn’t he? Jake has so many people who love him, but sometimes it’s easier talking to a stranger. It helped when he talked to Dr. Maddox, didn’t it? He says, yeah, and she says she’s sorry he isn’t around anymore, but Dr. Massey is great. Will he at least give it a try? Cameron listens from the kitchen.
Carly says, Josslyn has nothing to be ashamed of. The video was made without her knowledge or permission, and she didn’t decide to make it public. Josslyn says, people don’t know that, and Carly says, the people who matter do. As far as the rest of them, screw ‘em. You can’t control what people think. Josslyn says she can’t believe this is happening. She’s never been so embarrassed in her life. The whole world saw her naked. Carly says, that’s not true. She doesn’t want to minimize what Josslyn is going through or how she’s feeling, but she wants Josslyn to keep it in perspective. She knows Josslyn feels like everyone is judging her, but they’re not. Josslyn says, but the people she sees every day, what about them? Carly says she knows this seems insurmountable, like she’ll never be over it and never live it down, but life goes on. People forget, and the next scandal is going to replace this one. Trust her, she’s weathered her own and she’s still standing. Josslyn says Carly is stronger than she is, but Carly says, no. Josslyn is stronger.
Michael says, Chase didn’t come out and say he was interested in Brook, but they’re not exactly buddy-buddy right now, so why would Chase confide in him about something like that? Brook says, here’s the deal. If she told Chase that she wanted to be with him, and he wasn’t into it, there aren’t enough words in the English language to describe how awkward that would be. They wouldn’t be able to look at one another, let alone be friends. Why would she risk losing Chase altogether, when she doesn’t even know how she feels about it? He says, she’s looking at it all wrong. Instead of focusing on what she might lose, how about focusing on what she might gain?
Chase sees Willow at the hospital, and she says she’s sorry. She has to run. She doesn’t want to miss rounds. He says, the life of a nurse? and she says, nurse in training. She got so caught up talking to Brook, she didn’t realize the time. He says, she spoke to Brook on the phone? but Willow says, in person. She’s at the house right now. Willow keeps walking, but Chase stops, stunned.
Nikolas asks who’s calling Ava about Ryan, and she says, Doc. He’s been monitoring Ryan from a distance to keep tabs on him at Spring Ridge, but he went to see him face-to-face, and there’s no change. Ryan is still locked inside his body. He wouldn’t even communicate with Doc; no blinkity-blink like he does. Under the table, Esme digs her nails into her palm, and Nikolas says, Ryan shouldn’t be communicating with anyone after what he did to Ava. They should toss him in a cell and lose the key. Ava asks Esme if there’s something wrong, but Esme says, no. It’s just terrible what Ryan did to her. Ava says, yes, but it’s over, and so is he. She’s just relieved they can plan their ceremony without worrying about that monster. There’s absolutely nothing Ryan can do to them from Spring Ridge. Ava’s phone chirps, and she says she has to get back to the gallery. Nikolas says he’ll go too, but Esme says she was hoping they could talk a little more about Spence. Ava tells him to stay, and he says he’ll walk her out. He wants all the time with her that he can get. Esme says, aww, that’s so sweet, and Ava says, they don’t call him a prince for nothin’. Esme tells Nikolas to take his time, and looks at her palm.
Elizabeth walks into the hospital, and sees Finn. Jake walks in behind her, and she tells Jake that she’s proud of him for agreeing to see Dr. Massey. He tells her, let’s just get it over with, and keeps walking. She exchanges looks with Finn and follows.
Brook flashes back down Chase Memory Lane, from her seeing him again for the first time after pretending to be pregnant, and ending with their kiss in the hospital. There’s a song part, and she looks at his number in her phone. She wonders what she’d even say, when Chase walks in, and says, hi. You’re back.
In the MetroCourt elevator, Carly tells Josslyn that Spinelli was able to wipe the video from all the public websites. That’s good, right? Josslyn says, yeah, but who knows how many people have it saved in their private files? Carly is sure not as many as Josslyn thinks. It’s a start. Josslyn agrees, and Carly asks how she’s feeling. Josslyn says, exposed? She guesses a little better after making through the lobby without any whispers or stares. All she can say is, these better be the best blueberry pancakes she’s ever had. Carly says, they will be. She’ll make sure of it. Everything is going to be okay. Spinelli’s on his way to the cabin; he’s searching for a camera. They’re going to find out who did this, and they’re going to make them pay. They get out, and see Esme on her phone. Carly takes Josslyn’s hand and marches her over to the table. Using her best concerned voice, Esme asks how Josslyn is doing. Josslyn asks how should she be doing after someone purposely humiliated her and Cam with that video? Esme says, it’s so awful. Josslyn is so brave to be out in public with this. She doesn’t know if she could do it. If they’ll excuse her… She gets up, but Carly blocks her path, saying, I don’t think so. Sit down.
On Monday, Curtis asks Selina, what’s in it for him besides the money; Josslyn tells Carly that she needs to fight her own battles; Cameron says Spencer can’t drag him down; Carly asks whose life Esme is going to ruin now; and Britt asks, how much trouble could they get into? I’m guessing a lot.
You keep coming back like a bad smell. – Tom Brooks referring to Jesse Meester, Darcy and Stacy: Tell All
Judge a man by the reputation of his enemies, and the character of his friends. – K@SH
Survive and tell me what’s harder, zombies or senior year? – member of the archery team, All Of Us Are Dead
Everyone you meet is fighting a battle you don’t know about. Be kind. Always. – Robin Williams
I was pretty well grounded. I was being teased and whatever and I didn’t have anger skills, so I would go to the parents and say your children are brats and tell them they were bad parents. – Michael Berryman
Your visions will become clear only when you can look into your own heart. Who looks outside, dreams; who looks inside, awakes. – Carl Gustav Jung
People get addicted to feeling offended all the time because it gives them a high; being self-righteous and morally superior feels good. – Mark Manson
I don’t know if I have the strength to keep going back and forth with this lady. – Cynthia Bailey referring to Ramona Singer, Real Housewives: Ultimate Girls Trip
Whether you think you can or you can’t, you’re right. – Henry Ford
🎆 Rocking Off To the Casbah…
See you next time the Dead Walk. Until then, stay safe, stay remembering to turn your clock back, and stay knowing you can’t control what people think. So if they don’t matter, screw ‘em.
(rambling, random thoughts & annoyingly detailed recaps from real time TV watching)
General Hospital
At The Savoy, Michael tells Willow that her exams are behind her and it’s time to celebrate. He’s barely seen her, and Wiley missed her goodnight story and kiss last night. He told Wiley that she was learning to save people’s lives like a real life superhero. She looks unhappy, and he tells her not to be upset; she’s definitely the cool parent. She says she’s not a superhero or even a cool parent. She messed up.
Sonny lets Nina into the penthouse, and she thanks him for seeing her. He says she told him it was important, and she asks how he’s feeling. He says, it’s the anniversary of his sister’s death. Don’t worry about it. He didn’t go on any benders. Is that why she’s here? Is she checking up on him? She says, they have to talk, and he says he’s not a fan of those four words. (I don’t think any man is.) She says, it’s about their grandson.
At The Savoy, Diane says, judging from her exterior only, she’s guessing all is right again in Alexis’s world. Alexis says, let’s not get excited. Everything’s fine. Surprisingly, she’s enjoying her job. Diane says, Alexis Davis, editor-in-chief, suits her, and Alexis says, better than her last career as a drunk with intent to murder. She’s gotten by with a lot of help from her friends, Diane and Harmony, who she invited to join them. Be nice.
Maxie comes into the hospital carrying the box of Peter’s belongings, and Austin says, she made it. She says she told him she’d be there, and he says she did, but he thought now that Bailey was back, Maxie would want to spend as much time with her as possible. Maxie says, lesson number one, she means what she says, and he says, good to know. Are there other lessons? She says he’ll find out, and he says he can’t wait. It’s nice to see her. She says, him too, and they almost kiss, but Mac clears his throat. Maxie turns around, and Mac is there with Felicia.
At the MetroCourt, Robert tells Anna, Mac just texted; he and Felicia are on their way. It gives them a chance to catch up. He hasn’t seen too much of her lately. She says she’s been busy, and he asks if that’s code for I’m trying to avoid you. Or is she simply getting used to living with Peter’s ghost.
On the phone, and pressing the elevator button repeatedly, Gladys says she knows Brando is getting married. Don’t do anything without talking to her first. The elevator opens, and Carly comes out. Gladys says, thank God, and Carly asks, what’s going on? Gladys says, Brando’s about to make the biggest mistake of his life, and Carly is going to help her stop it.
At Bliss Street Auto Repair, Brando tells Sasha, he’s been back there for a while. He doesn’t think the guy knows what he’s doing. She tells Brando, go check on him. He doesn’t have to babysit her. He says he’s not babysitting her; he’s keeping her company. She says, then let the man do his job. He says he will. All he’s saying is that the man should have fixed the car by now. She says, the chapel will still be there when they say the car is ready, and he says, then they get to say I do. He can’t wait. She says, neither can she, and they hug.
Gladys says, please tell her Carly got the jet in the divorce, and Carly asks, what’s going on with Brando? Is he okay? Gladys says, Brando’s the farthest thing from okay. He and Sasha are getting married. Carly says, that’s it? and Gladys says, what does she mean, that’s it? They’re eloping tonight. Carly says, Brando and Sasha went through something no parent should have to go through, and it’s not like they’re doing something dangerous. Gladys says, marriage is dangerous. Carly of all people should know that. If she won’t help, Gladys bets Sonny will. She turns and nearly runs over the hostess, and Carly says Gladys has been drinking. Gladys says she’s fine. She had one or two, maybe three. Carly says she’s not letting Gladys go anywhere like this. She’ll drive Gladys to Sonny’s herself. Let’s go. Gladys says, that’s cool, but she’s going to have to floor it. They get in the elevator.
Sonny says, what about Michael and Wiley? Everything all right? Nina says, Wiley is fine. She just thought Sonny deserved a heads up. She’s suing for visitation. He asks, why? and she says, she and Willow had a little chat, and Willow says she doesn’t see a path for her to have any access to Wiley, so she told Willow that she’s going to exercise her legal rights as Wiley’s grandmother. Michael hasn’t told Sonny that? Sonny says he hasn’t talked to Michael, and she says, which means Willow hasn’t told him yet, but Sonny says, Michael’s still not talking to him. She says she’s sorry to put him in this position, and he says he doesn’t blame her for doing what she feels she needs to for her family, but she can’t do that.
Diane says, yay, Harmony’s coming. When did that happen? Alexis says, Harmony just texted her. She’s having a hard time, so Alexis texted her back, and asked her to join them. Temp Harmony (see below) walks in, and thanks them for including her on their girls night out. She tells Alexis that she looks great, and Alexis asks if she had a tough day at Spring Ridge. Harmony says, tougher than usual, and Diane says they all have those, right? What is she drinking? The first round’s on her. Alexis tells Harmony to relax. She’s in a much better place than she was on New Year’s Eve. Harmony says, in that case, she’ll have one of those cocktails The Savoy is famous for. Diane says, two outrageous cocktails and one sparkling water coming right up. She goes to the bar, and Harmony says, there must be ice skating in hell. Alexis asks what that means, and Harmony says, that was one of the most positive interactions she’s had with any of Alexis’s friends. Alexis says, Diane is drama free. She looks at Michael and Willow, and says, speaking of drama free… Harmony supposes she should go say hi, and gets up.
Michael brings Willow a drink, and tells her, take a breath, take a sip of her drink, and tell him how she thinks she messed up. She says she knows she messed up, when Harmony approaches the table, and says what a nice surprise. She’s here with Diane and Alexis, and thought she’d say hi. Willow says she’s been meaning to call, and thanks Harmony again for dropping off her birth certificate. Harmony says, her pleasure. Now the two of them can enjoy that trip to Paris. Michael says, Willow definitely deserves a celebration and a break. She took exams yesterday. Harmony is sure Willow sailed through it.
Maxie asks how Mac’s check-up was, and Felicia says, couldn’t have gone better. Mac’s gunshot wound is healing perfectly, but Maxie isn’t getting off the hook that easily. She and Austin are an item now? Maxie says, it’s new, and Mac says, they look forward to getting to know him better. Felicia says, as much as they’d like to stay and chat, they have a prior engagement. Call her later. She hugs Maxie, and Maxie says, only if Felicia promises to behave herself, but Felicia says, no promises. She says it was a pleasure seeing Austin again, and Mac gruffly says he’s sure they’ll be seeing more of him. They leave, and Maxie laughs, saying, she’s so sorry about that. He says, no, it’s great. He guesses Maxie Jones lesson number two is that she’s really close to her family, and that might take some getting used to. She says, something like that, and he says, no problem. What’s in the box? She says, something she was hoping he could help her with. She needs to get rid of Peter.
In the elevator, Mac asks what they really think about that, and Felicia says, personally, she thinks it’s too soon for Maxie to be in a relationship with someone new. But she’s a grown woman, living her own life. Mac says, they’ll keep an eye on her, and him. If Dr. Gatlin-Holt gets out of line, he’ll smush him like a bug.
The mechanic comes out, and tells Brando, the car needs a new fuel pump, but he can’t get the pump in until tomorrow morning. Sasha says, so they’re stuck here all night, but Brando says, not necessarily. A busted fuel pump can be jerry-rigged; he’s done it a bunch of times in emergencies. The mechanic says he’s welcome to take a look, and Brando goes in the back with him. Sasha takes the pills out of her purse. She sees she doesn’t have much left, and gets out her phone, but there’s no service. She flashes back to Brando telling her that they’re on a back road that runs alongside the river, and if you listen hard, you can hear wedding bells. He says, those bells are ringing for another couple, and she says, soon, they’ll be ringing for them… and for Liam. His brief life will have meaning because he will know, and the whole world will know, he was born out of love. She takes another pill, and Brando says, Sasha?
Robert tells Anna, August bonded everyone by leaving no one unscathed. If she finds herself waking up at night with guilt problems, reach out. She has plenty of support system out there. Don’t ever forget, Peter and Peter alone did all the damage. She takes his hand and thanks him, and says, there’s someone else to blame other than Peter. The man who helped him escape; the man who may have murdered Luke. He says, Victor Cassadine, and she says, one nightmare ends, and another one begins.
Maxie tells Austin, Peter named Britt executor, and his personal effects were given to her, and Britt didn’t want them, so she offered to dispose of them. Does he think he can help her with that? He says, no problem, and she thanks him. He leans in for a kiss again, but Obrecht yanks him back, saying, how dare he come near her dear Maxie after everything he’s put her through? She puts her arm around Maxie, and says, don’t worry, liebchen. She promised Dr. Gatlin-Holt that he’d answer to her for betraying Maxie, and she always keeps her promises.
At the bar, Diane watches the room, and Harmony asks if Willow was able to get her passport. Willow says, not yet. She has an appointment. They just want to see her birth certificate, and have her fill out an application. After that, they’ll expedite her passport. (It’s not quite like that, but okay.) Michael says he’s sure it will be fine. He and Willow aren’t anticipating any problems.
Diane sits back down, and Alexis says, let’s have a good time. She’s in the mood for some fun. Diane says, she’s in luck, because a very attractive man at the bar cannot take his eyes off her. Alexis says, what? No. The man approaches their table, and says he knows he’s being incredibly bold, but he could help noticing Alexis. He’d like to buy her a drink. Diane says, he may, but Alexis says she already has a drink. He says, maybe some other time, and Diane face palms. She says she just wants to shake Alexis. Alexis said she wanted some fun, now go get it.
Nina tells Sonny, she’s sorry, but the only way she’ll have access to Wiley is if she goes to court. He says, let him lower the temperature with Michael before she resorts to anything drastic. She says she really appreciates the offer, but she’s not sure how much luck he’s going to have. Even if he convinces Michael that she can see Wiley, there’s Carly. He says, Michael’s his own man and makes his own decisions, and she says, that may be true, but Carly’s influence carries a lot of weight. And once Carly finds out Sonny is helping her with Wiley, she’ll be on the warpath. He says, he and Carly are done. It was her choice. She cannot get mad at him for wanting to help his grandson. Nina asks if they’re talking about the same woman, because honestly, Nina is surprised Carly hasn’t come after her already. There’s a knock at the door, and Sonny opens it to Carly and Gladys. Carly sees Nina, and smiles.
Austin says he doesn’t know how many times he has to apologize to Obrecht, but he’s sorry, he’s sorry, he’s sorry, he’s sorry. He should never have trusted Victor. Obrecht says, he was so obsessed with targeting Brook that he blabbed to that fiend in a tailored suit. Of course (🍷) he took the information straight to Peter, letting that schwein know Bailey was really his daughter Louise. He says he made his amends. She put the bug on Victor, and he had to listen to that guy talking for hours and hours and hours, trying to pinpoint where Peter had taken Maxie. Obrecht says, he was scrambling to correct his egregious mistake talking to Victor. He hurt Maxie and her baby, and for her, that’s personal. That requires a different kind of penance. Maxie says she really does appreciate Obrecht looking out for her… Obrecht says she’d do anything for Maxie, and Maxie takes Austin’s arm and says, then she wants Obrecht to forgive him.
Alexis tells Diane, her idea of fun does not include that man, nor does it include any man for that matter. Diane says, it’s been far too long since Alexis had any romance in her life. He seemed nice. Alexis says, so did Neil. So did Julian. One died in her bed, and the other one almost chopped her head off. Diane says, Julian never seemed nice. One of these days, Alexis will have to open herself up to love. The right guy is going to come along, and she’s never going to know it. Alexis says she’s not interested in a relationship, when Harmony comes back. She asks what she missed.
Willow says, after all her lectures about co-existing and keeping the peace… Michael says, so this is about Nina, and she says she ran into Nina at the hospital. He says he’s sure that was a laugh a minute, and she says, Nina asked if she could spend time with Wiley. He says, after his mother just caught her in bed with his father, and Willow says, that was pretty much her reaction. He asks how she thinks she messed up, and she says, Nina caught her off guard, especially since not five minutes before, they were talking about how Nina withholds information. Carly and Sonny are in the middle of a divorce, and Nina’s timing was terrible. She snapped. He says, to be honest, he would have loved to see her go off on Nina; it would have made his day, his week. She says, she pushed Nina too far. Nina told her that she’s going to exercise her legal right to visitation with Wiley. He tells her, don’t worry. They’ll shut her down. That woman isn’t getting anywhere near their son.
Gladys says she’s sorry for crashing their date, and Nina says, it’s not a date. Gladys says she needs Sonny’s help; Brando and Sasha are eloping. They’re on the Canada side of Niagara Falls. Please call his people and have them fire up the jet. They may already be too late. He says he knows she wants to be at her son’s wedding, but if Brando and Sasha are eloping, they probably want to do it alone. She says she doesn’t want to be at their wedding; she wants to stop the wedding. They’re in no state to make a decision like this. She needs to talk to Brando before he ruins his life. Carly says, it’s not her choice to make, and Gladys asks if none of them is worried the least little bit. Brando and Sasha are still grieving their baby. How do they figure they’re capable of entering into marriage? Nina says, Gladys has a point. They owe it to Brando and Sasha to make sure they’re getting married for the right reasons.
Sasha asks, what’s the verdict? and Brando tells her, it’s like Vern said; the pump is shot. She says she was thinking they could get a Ride Share and still make it to the chapel before it closes, but she has no cell service. Brando says, neither does he, and Vern says, the service can be spotty out here. They’re welcome to use the garage phone to call a cab. He’ll place the order for a new fuel pump. Brando tells Sasha, as much as they wanted to get married today, maybe it’s best if they do it in Port Charles, with all of their family and friends… She says, no, and he asks, what’s going on? Is there something she needs to tell him about? She says, it’s just that she has this feeling, if they don’t get married tonight, they never will, and she’ll lose him. He says she’ll never lose him, but she says, he can’t promise that. He says he can and will. He’ll marry her tomorrow in a courthouse or a treehouse, a swamp. Wherever there’s an ordained minister and a witness, that’s where he’ll say his I dos. Vern says, excuse him. He couldn’t help overhearing. He’s actually ordained. Brando says, he can marry them? and Sasha says, today? Vern says he’ll call his wife Lorna and she can be their witness. As long as they don’t mind getting married in a garage. Sasha and Brando look at each other, and say, it’s perfect.
Robert says, if Victor killed Luke, that can only mean one thing. Luke figured out what Victor was up to. Felica says, whatever that is, and Mac says, if the Cassadines and the Ice Princess are involved, that spells trouble for the rest of them. Anna says, somehow, Drew Cain is the key.Drew, Sam, and Dante are trying to trap Victor into exposing whatever it is he’s up to. Robert asks, what if they’re unsuccessful? and Felicia says she and Anna have a plan of their own.
Harmony suggests she go, so Diane and Alexis can work out whatever tension is between them, when Michael comes by and asks if he and Willow can talk to Diane for a minute. Diane says, absolutely, and goes back to his table with him. Harmony says, none of her business, but if Alexis need an ear, she’s happy to lend one. Alexis says, a very nice man offered to buy her a drink, and she said she wasn’t interested, and then Diane goes off and starts talking about her love life, or lack thereof. She does it all the time. Harmony says, let her guess. Alexis overreacted. Alexis makes a gesture meaning a little bit, and Harmony says she spent her life following people who thought they had the answers. The truth is, no one does. Alexis is the only one who knows what’s right for her. She’s sure Alexis has asked herself these questions about romance a hundred times, and came up with the answer based on her experience. She doesn’t want to date? Then that’s the answer, and it’s perfectly okay.
Carly says, Sasha is fragile since she lost the baby. She puts on a tough front, but she’s still struggling. Sonny says, Brando’s still raw, but even though he and Sasha are acting impulsively, they’re good for each other; they’re strong for each other. Carly agrees, and Gladys says she can’t believe she’s hearing this. Nina is close to Sasha. Tell her that she agrees they have to stop the wedding. Nina says, she’s sorry, but after listening to Sonny and Carly, she agrees with them. Carly rolls her eyes, and I want to smack her. Nina says, Sasha and Brando are adults; they make their own choices. And they have a strong relationship. They’re bonded by shared loss. Carly says, Brando and Sasha are grieving together, so they have to trust getting married was the right decision for them. Gladys says, if Sonny isn’t going to lend her the jet, she’ll just rent a helicopter, and Sonny says, wait. He knows her first instinct is to protect her son. Nina says, Gladys can’t make those choices for him, and Carly says, as parents, they have to sit back and let their kids live their lives. Gladys says, so that’s what they all would do in her shoes? and Carly says, yep, and Nina says, afraid so. Sonny says, it’s the hardest thing about being a parent, but it’s got to be done. Gladys says she guesses she’s just not like them. Doing nothing is not in her vocabulary. Nina says, she’s not doing nothing, and Carly says, Brando is always going to need her love and support. She can give him that by letting him do what he needs to do. Sonny says, you just got to be there for him, and whatever comes next.
Outside Bliss Street Auto Repair, Brando says, ready? and Sasha says, ready. Lorna puts on the Wedding March, and Sasha walks out in a super pretty white dress with red flowers on it, carrying a bouquet. Where she got it, who knows? Vern says, they’re gathered here today to join Brando and Sasha in holy matrimony. As they embark on their journey as partners through life, the vows they exchange are their sacred pledge to each other; a contract bound by love. Brando says, they actually didn’t have time to write their vows, and Sasha says, they just jumped in the car, and headed for the nearest chapel. Vern asks if they’d prefer the traditional vows, or would they like to speak from the heart? Sasha says, they’d like to… and Brando says, speak from the heart.
Robert says, don’t keep them in suspense; what’s the plan? Anna says, Victor can’t achieve his objective if he’s in prison, and Felicia says, which means they need to prove Victor murdered Luke. Anna says she’s going to Austria to get proof, and Mac asks where Felicia fits in. Felicia says, they have to make sure Victor doesn’t catch on. If Anna goes to Austria alone, he’ll be suspicious. Anna says, Felicia is coming as her cover, and Mac says, absolutely not. Felicia says, hey! He doesn’t get to tell her what she can and cannot do. He says he’s grateful she rescued Maxie, but he still has nightmares about Peter running her car off the road. She can’t take that risk again. Felicia says, Mac can’t go with Anna. His recovery is coming along nicely, but he’s not fully healed. Robert says, they know what Victor is capable of. Maxie brought home her daughter, and needs Felicia. Felicia’s granddaughter needs her. Felicia says she knows, and she loves being with them, but she and Anna decided that going together would draw the least amount of suspicion. Anna says, they’ll say they’re going to be debriefed about the circumstances surrounding Maxie’s escape, and Peter’s subsequent death. Felicia says, and to draw the least amount of suspicion, they’ll rent a car and drive to Innsbruck. Anna says, she’ll start the investigation into the tram accident, and Felicia says, Anna is doing the investigation? She knows she’s Anna’s cover, but she can’t be expected to sit around in the hotel room while Anna does all the work. Mac says, he’s in awe of how Anna took down Peter, but Felicia isn’t trained as a field agent. Victor is ruthless. Anna says, they’re going to an office to look at transportation records. If anything even remotely suspicious happens, she’ll get them out of there ASAP. Robert says, they all know what Victor is capable of, but they owe it to Luke, his family, friends and community, to stop him.
Brando says, Sasha has the most kind and generous heart of anyone he’s ever known, all wrapped up into one fierce shell. He’s seen how she fights for those she loves, and he’s honored that she’s chosen to spend the rest of her life with him. He promises to spend the rest of his life loving her and being her partner, whatever may come. He loves her. She says she admits, at first she didn’t know what to think of him, but something undeniable drew her to him, and she learned how brave and selfless he is. He saved her life in so many ways. She was used to being on her own, and looking out for herself, but in him, she’s found the perfect complement to her life. He’s truly her partner, and she’s so thankful she found him.
Maxie says, Austin is in her life now, and it would be easier for all of them if Obrecht would just accept that. Obrecht says, for Maxie, she will agree to co-exist with Dr. Gatlin-Holt. If he makes another mistake, he won’t live to regret it. He says he thinks she means to say, he will live to regret it, but she says, no, she didn’t.
Brando puts Sasha’s ring on her finger, and says, with this ring, I thee wed, and Sasha does the same with him. Vern says, by the power vested in him, he pronounces them husband and wife. Brando may kiss his bride. And he does. A lot.
Michael says, Nina insists under New York state law, she has the right to see Wiley, but Diane says, Nina is mistaken. The statute Nina is referring to stipulates that if one of the biological parents is dead – in this case, Nelle – the biological grandparent has standing to file for visitation. So Nina has the right to bring her petition in front of a judge, but all that guarantees her is a hearing. She still has to convince the judge to give her access to Wiley. Michael says, but they can argue against it, and Diane says, correct. He says, if she files, he wants Diane to shut her down. Diane says, nothing would give her more pleasure, and Willow says, she was in favor of compromise, but it’s not possible with Nina. She’s repeatedly asked to see Wiley under what amounts to false pretenses. They can’t trust her. Diane says, which is why they need to keep this out of court. The downside is simply too risky. Michael’s a strategist, so think strategically. He’ll have more options if he keeps this out of court. He says, if Nina does file, they should be prepared, and Diane says she’ll delve into case law. In the meantime, her best advice is, do not engage. She’ll call them tomorrow, but for tonight, here’s some unsolicited advice. Push Nina from their thoughts, and enjoy the rest of their evening. She leaves, and Willow says she’s sorry she started this, but Michael says, no, Nina started this, but they’re going to be the ones to finish it.
Sasha says, they did it, and Brando says, it’s real now. She says, speaking of reality, he should call his mother and give her the good news. Vern says they can use the landline inside, and they go in. Brando makes the call.
Sonny asks what Gladys says. Does she want to give her son a chance at his own life? Her phone rings, and it’s Brando. He says he’s in Canada. He and Sasha decided to elope. Gladys fights back tears, and asks him to put her on speaker. He does, and she says, Brando and Sasha, you have all my blessings for a happy life. They thank her, and she says, come home soon, so she can congratulate them in person. He says they will, and he loves her. She says she loves him too. Sonny tells her that she did right the thing, she touches his shoulder, and leaves. Carly thanks him for helping her with Gladys, and follows her.
Felicia asks if Mac is on board about her going to Austria with Anna, and he heaves a sigh. He says, she’s the one who found Maxie and took down Peter. He’d be crazy to think she couldn’t handle herself. Robert says, he and Mac will hold down the fort here, and hopefully keep Victor’s attention off the two of them. Felicia says she loves Mac, and gives him a kiss, telling him, don’t do anything to jeopardize his recovery. He says, aye-aye, captain. Be careful. Find out what Victor is up to, and put a stop to it. Anna asks if she’s ready to go to Austria, and Felicia says, you bet. She wants to see Victor in prison for helping Peter.
Austin says, they got the whole meet-my-family thing out of the way, and Maxie says, she’ll come around. He asks if she has any idea when, and she says, it’ll take a while, but don’t worry. Maxie’s opinion is the only one that matters. Now their real problem is, how do they get rid of Peter’s box? He says, well, this is a hospital, and hospitals are really good at disposing of toxic and hazardous waste. She says she knew he would have the answer, and he says, he does. Come on. It’s time she saw the morgue.
Diane sits back down, and Alexis says she’s sorry she snapped at her. She’ll buy the next round. Diane says, no need. She’s sorry she pushed. Alexis says, she meant well, and Diane says that Alexis is being so nice, and asks what Harmony said to her. Harmony says, she just supported Alexis’s decision, that’s all, and Alexis says, after Neil, she can’t, okay? Diane says she gets it. Alexis gave up her law license for him. Alexis says she thought he was more important than her law license, and he thought drugs were more important than her. Harmony says, that will leave a mark on you, and Alexis says, they all have marks. Let’s just lighten up. Debbie Downer has left the building. Harmony says, there may have been darkness in Alexis’s past, but now the light has returned, and she’s been given a new beginning. That’s something to celebrate. Alexis says, to the light, and Diane laughs. Alexis says she doesn’t know about them, but she’s going to dance.
Nina says, that could have been so much worse, and Sonny says, when someone’s right, Carly’s not afraid to admit it. She asks if Carly and Michael will admit that Wiley deserves to see his other grandmother, and he says, all he can do is try. She says she knows he can be very persuasive when he sets his mind on something, so she’ll put her legal action on hold if he thinks he can convince Michael to let her see Wiley. He thanks her, and says he thinks that works best for everybody. She says, what about Carly? Obviously she doesn’t know Nina threatened to go to court to see Wiley, but she will find out. He tells her to just lay low. He’ll see what he can do about Michael, and they’ll worry about everything else later. She says, he’s right. She’ll focus on the newlyweds.
Outside, Carly says, Gladys did good, and Gladys says, Carly should be nominated for sainthood. If she saw her ex with that woman, she’d rip her hair out and set it on fire. Carly says she’s not a saint. She’s just a woman movin’ on.
Sasha says, surprised? and Brando says, relieved. He asks if there’s a cab company he can call, and Vern says they’re pretty out of the way. It’ll take a while for a cab to pick them up. Lorna suggests Brando and Sasha stay with them tonight. They don’t have a spare room, but one of them can take the sofa, and the other a sleeping bag. (Ideal for a honeymoon!) Vern says, and he’ll be able to get the pump replaced early tomorrow. Sasha thanks them for their very generous offer, and says they accept. Vern asks Lorna to help him clean up, and give these honeymooners some privacy. They leave, and Sasha says, the first night of their honeymoon. She’ll flip him for the sofa. He says he’s truly sorry it didn’t turn out how they imagined, and she says, please don’t tell her that he already regrets marrying her. He says, no, never, but she deserves the world. He knows this wasn’t her fantasy elopement, but she says, it is her fantasy elopement. At the end of the day, he’s her husband. He says, and she’s his wife. She says, for the rest of their lives, and they kiss.
Tomorrow, Brook asks Michael if Chase said he’s interested in her: Carly asks Josslyn to tell her what’s going on, and they’ll fix it; Esme says, show time; and Cameron tells Jake, don’t! as he’s about to do something on his phone.
👯 Interim BFF…
She was good, but I hope the original comes back soon.
Hit me up tomorrow for some soap, tea galore, meaningful words and as always, a random track. Until then, stay safe, stay on your mettle, and stay knowing that ultimately, only you know what’s right for you.
(rambling, random thoughts & annoyingly detailed recaps from real time TV watching)
General Hospital
In the car, Sasha tells Brando, she can’t believe their actually eloping to Niagara Falls. They’re on their way to get married right now. Brando says he has to keep pinching himself to remind himself that he’s not dreaming. She says, it’s not a dream. At the end of the road is a wedding chapel, and the start of their life together as husband and wife.
On the phone at the MetroCourt bar, Gladys leaves a message for Brando, saying, it’s his mother… again. Why isn’t he answering her calls? She knows he’s on a getaway with Sasha alone, but she’s worried about him… and Sasha. Could he at least send a text? Let her know they’re okay? Maybe send a picture of where they’re staying. Especially, let her know when they’re coming back. She loves him. Lucy sits down, asking if she may offer a word of advice. Gladys says, no; she’s off the clock. Lucy says, it’s not about work. She knows Gladys is worried, but Brando and Sasha deserve all the time they need to heal. And when they come home, they’re gong to be rested and relaxed, and a whole lot richer. Gladys says, well, money isn’t everything.
Victor lifts his cup, and says, to new beginnings for the entire Cassadine clan. Ava and Nikolas just look at him, and he says he’s sorry. He thought they were on the same page. Now he has to wonder if this invitation to their vow renewal is a real olive branch, or just a way of using his genuine love of family for their own purposes.
An orderly pushes Ryan to his room, and says, for a guy who can’t walk or talk, he sure gets under people’s skin. He opens the door, and says, especially that hot new intern. He’d sure like to be the one to rile her up. His phone dings, and while the orderly’s back is turned, Esme approaches the room, and looks at Ryan.
Brando says he doubts the back road is going to be a shortcut to the wedding chapel, and Sasha says, in other words, they’re lost. He says, yeah, and she tells him to put his pride aside, and put on the GPS. He says he hates to admit this, but the GPS went out, and he didn’t want to take the time to fix it. She says, so much for marrying a mechanic and having no car problems. He says, for the record, the GPS is more of a computer issue than a mechanical issue. She tries her phone, but can’t get a signal, and says, there’s a downside of being in the middle of nowhere. He tells her, don’t worry. He’s not one of those guys who won’t stop and ask a local for directions. She says, they haven’t passed a gas station or even another car for miles. What if they’re really lost? He says, they’ll get help, and she says, will they? Are they lost, or has he changed his mind about getting married?
Lucy asks if she heard Gladys right. Money isn’t everything doesn’t sound like her. Is she all right? Does she have a temperature? Lucy tries to feel her forehead, and Gladys says, she’s kidding of course (🍷). She knows Maxie’s back, and they’re full steam ahead to take Deception public. What does that actually mean for Sasha? Lucy says, Gladys knows Sasha is a partner, and thanks to Michael Corinthos’s ninja negotiating skills… talk about having the right boyfriend at the right time. Lucy just wanted a face of Deception, but he wanted an equity stake for Sasha in the company, which Lucy doesn’t regret at all; Sasha has been an incredible asset to the company. Anyway, the point is, when they do take Deception public, that girl is going to get a large share of stock, and her net worth is going to skyrocket. Gladys says, Brando knows how to pick them. She always knew that Gilmore girl had potential. Lucy says, really? That’s not exactly how she remembers it. Since when is Gladys Team Sasha? Gladys says, come on. Any mother would have doubts about Sasha’s history. She was a supermodel. She was leading a supermodel lifestyle; hanging out with gangsters, snorting illegal substances… Lucy says, wow, so very subtle, and Gladys says, but then she saw how brave Sasha was when she and Brando lost little Liam. Lucy says, Gladys is right. She doesn’t doubt Sasha’s bravery; she was very courageous. But Lucy is kind of worried Sasha is rushing her recovery by coming back to work so soon. Gladys says that’s her feeling exactly, but every time she mentioned it, Sasha shut her down. Politely – her manners are impeccable, of course (🍷) – but a wall is still a wall, no matter how pretty it’s painted. Lucy says, maybe it’s not right for them not to respect Sasha’s privacy, and Gladys asks if there’s something wrong with Sasha. Something Brando’s mother should know.
Dante asks how Drew knew it was Britt, and he says he saw the dynamic when they were on Cassadine Island together. Peter used Britt as leverage to control Jason, but Britt never backed down. She let him have it about the hell he put Maxie through, about supposedly hating Faison, but essentially following in his footsteps. Dante says he bets Peter didn’t like hearing that, and Drew says, he did not, but he thinks on some level, Peter envied his sister. Even though she was the prisoner, she had more agency than Peter did, so it makes sense Peter would mess with her any way he could, making her the executor just so she’d have to acknowledge his existence and not forget about him. Dante says, he probably got a kick out of forcing her to deal with whatever he left behind, and Drew says, so they go to Britt, and have her plant the bait. He holds up a tarot card, and says, then they let it get back to Victor what Peter left behind. Sam says, there might be a problem with his plan. Does Britt strike them as the kind of person who’s going to safeguard Peter’s personal effects?
Maxie asks what Anna said, and Britt tells her, the WSB x-rayed and vetted the contents; there’s nothing dangerous inside. No toxic substances or anything potentially lethal. Maxie says, so if it’s harmless, what is Britt going to do with it? Britt tells her, she never said it was harmless; it came from Peter, remember? He knows she hated him. Who knows what he left her to mess with her head? Fortunately, there’s a dumpster in the alley behind the hotel. Maxie says, so? and Britt says, so this is going in the garbage where it belongs. She gets up, and Maxie says, no, don’t do that.
Nikolas says he thanked Victor for interceding for him with Spencer; that was very sincere. He meant what he said. Ava says, she confesses she advised Nikolas to be careful of Victor at first, but that was before she could see for herself that his heart is clearly in the right place this time. Victor says, Laura has been doing her best to turn his family against him, and Nikolas says, his mother can be overprotective at times, but given Victor’s past and recent association with Peter, can he blame her? Victor says, for the last time, his dealings with Peter were extremely limited, and yes, a regrettable lapse in judgement, but he’s not the only one. Peter deceived a great many people, including the formidable Anna Devane, but the man is thankfully dead, and may the discord he caused die with him. As for Laura, for the well-being of his family, he agreed to give her a pass; something, for the record, she would not do for him. Ava says, that’s big of him, and Victor says, consider it a wedding present. Ava says, the real gift would be bringing them all together when she and Nikolas renew their vows. Of course (🍷) they can’t be certain Spencer will accept their invitation. Victor says he has a good feeling about it. After all, Spencer’s significant other supports a father/son reconciliation, and Esme seems to hold great sway with Spencer.
Esme hides around the corner as the orderly leaves, and takes a keycard out of her pocket. She quickly slips into Ryan’s room, and closes the door. She says she knows he terrifies most people, but she’s not most people. What was he thinking out in the day room, speaking out loud? Does he realize someone could have heard him when he opened his mouth to snap at her? After all his planning, all his months of silence, he could have blown the whole thing just to scold her. He says, actually, he was thinking about her, and how she failed him.
Brando says he wants to marry Sasha more than ever. What makes her think he changed his mind? She flashes back to taking a pill, and says she’s sorry for taking this out on him, but if the GPS isn’t working and they’re lost, what do they do? He says, they’re not completely lost. Roll down her window. She does, and he asks if she can hear it. She says, they’re by the river, and he says, they’re on a back road that runs alongside the river. If you listen hard, you can hear wedding bells. Bells ring in the distance, and he says, the bells are ringing from the chapel. She says, soon those bells will be ringing for them, and for Liam. His brief life will have meaning because they’ll know, and the whole world will know, he was born out of love.
Lucy tells Gladys, she admits she and Maxie are a bit worried about Sasha coming back to work too soon after the trauma of losing Liam. She’s speaking from firsthand experience. Those kind of wounds take a long time to heal, if they ever heal at all. Gladys says she tried to get through to Sasha, but Sasha shut her out. It seemed like with Brando’s help she was getting better, and she still believes Sasha will heal, especially when she gets back from that getaway and realizes what this IPO is going to do for the future of their family. But what if this getaway is just an escape from reality?
Britt says, there’s no way Maxie is feeling sentimental about Peter, and Maxie says she is not feeling sentimental, but Bailey is Peter’s only child. Maybe he left something for her. Britt says, like he wrote her a letter? but Maxie says she’s hoping he left her something of financial value. Britt says she takes her role as Aunt Britt very seriously, and she doesn’t want her niece growing up with anything of Peter’s to drag her down. Maxie totally agrees with her, and says, if there’s nothing in that box worth keeping, she’ll help Britt. Britt says, fine, and suggests they open it on the terrace, just in case there’s something in it that makes them howl with rage and disgust.
Anna calls Dante, and he steps away to take the call. Sam asks if Drew is okay. Is he sure there’s no way that card can affect him? Drew says, it’s not the right card, but Victor’s not going to know that, and when he tries to activate Drew, they’ll know what he’s up to. Sam says, Drew knows that card is the hook, and he’s the bait, and if Victor does realize something is going on, Drew is going to be at risk. Is he willing to do this? She’s not going to judge him if he backs out. He says he’s doing it. He wants to take Victor down as much as she does. Dante comes back, and says, Britt’s at the MetroCourt, and she’s already got Peter’s belongings, and Sam says, it’s too late then. There’s no way Britt is going to hold on to Peter’s belongings. Drew says, they’ve got to try. They’ve got to move.
Victor says he believes, where Esme goes, Spencer will follow, and Nikolas agrees they should include Spencer in the vow renewal once he’s finished his time at Spring Ridge. But as for inviting Esme, does he have to remind Victor that she torched Ava’s car? Victor asks if he has to remind Nikolas that Spencer dislikes Ava as much as Nikolas dislikes Esme. If he wants his son to put aside his pride and celebrate their vows, how can he exclude the young woman who has so much influence in young Spencer’s life? Ava tells him, she wouldn’t say Esme’s influence is exactly positive, and Victor says, if they’re going to start throwing stones, none of them are going to walk away without being bruised. Nikolas says, unfortunately, he thinks his uncle is right; either it’s an inclusive family celebration or it isn’t. He thanks Victor for reminding him; he owes Victor. Victor says he’ll leave the two of them to get along with their guest list. He pats Nikolas on the shoulder, and says Nikolas won’t regret this. He leaves, and Nikolas asks, what the hell happened to their intimate, romantic celebration for two? She tells him, they said it would be a night to remember, and with their new guest list, that’s bound to be true.
Ryan says he’s so disappointed in Esme. She had one job; to break up Ava and Nikolas. He had to continue this exhausting charade, pretending to be as animated as an eggplant. She has totally lost sight of the prize. She says, that’s not fair. She did everything she could to help Spence terrorize Ava in the hopes she’d leave Nikolas. She thought leaving Ava’s dead daughter’s hospital badge by her burnt car was an inspired idea. It’s not her fault Ava’s love of Spence’s dad is greater than her fear of a stalker. Ryan says, she doesn’t love Nikolas; she only thinks she does. And Esme’s been wasting her time, playing this adolescent game of kiss-and-tell with Spencer and his friends. She says, what she’s doing is trying to make sure her relationship with Spence looks real. If she’s not convincing, someone might get suspicious, but her loyalty, first and last, is always to him. He tells her, so she says, and she crouches down putting her hands on his knees, saying, please. She’ll do anything. Just let her prove it to him… daddy. He likes when she calls him that, doesn’t he? He says she knows he does, but as the saying goes, be careful what you wish for.
Sasha asks if they can’t drive faster, but Brando says, that’s a negative. Her phone rings, and she says, they have cell phones again. He asks who it is. Maxie? Lucy? She says, it’s his mom, and he says he’s been ignoring her calls, but that’s his mom. If one way doesn’t work, she’ll find another. Sasha answers, saying, what a nice surprise, and Gladys nearly does a spit-take, surprised Sasha picked up. She says she knows Sasha and Brando are on a little getaway, and she doesn’t mean to interrupt, but she hasn’t heard from Brando, and naturally as a mother she’s concerned. Sasha looks at Brando, who shakes his head, and Gladys asks if everything is okay. Sasha says she’s sorry, but they have spotty coverage. Gladys is breaking up on her, but she’s sure they’ll have a lot to talk about when they get back. She hangs up, and Gladys says, hello? Lucy says, darn it. Bad connection, huh? Gladys says, Sasha couldn’t wait to get off the phone, although she did blame the bad reception at the Falls. Lucy says, the Falls as in Niagara Falls? Is that where they went? Gladys asks, what’s wrong with Niagara Falls, and Lucy says, nothing. She thinks she got married there… No. She thinks she almost got married there once. Gladys says, if you can’t make it to Vegas, head to Niagara for a quickie wedding… Lucy doesn’t think that’s what they’re doing, does she?
Nikolas says, maybe while he’s making the drinks, Ava can explain her about-face. When did she go from suspecting Victor was up to no good to inviting him to their vow renewal? She says, if he must know, his mother asked her to keep Victor close; they all know he’s up to something. He says, it’s the Cassadine way, and she says his mother is mostly worried about Spencer, knowing he’s susceptible to Victor’s, quote, unquote, generosity. He says, and knowing his mother, she must be concerned that he’s susceptible too. Is that the gist?
On the terrace, Britt tells Maxie that she can still change her mind and drop this off the balcony, and watch Peter’s belongings just shatter on the ground. Maxie says, wait one second. If she destroys that box – toss it, burn it, put it in a vat of battery acid, isn’t she always going to wonder what’s inside of it? Britt says, no, but clearly Maxie is. She suggests they get this over with. She starts to open the box, and I notice it says muzzle this end on one side. I send packages for eBay all the time, and have never once seen a box that says that. It must be a special Peter box. Dante comes out and says, stop. Britt asks if there’s something dangerous in there after all, and Sam says, not dangerous to them, and Maxie says, to who?
Victor walks into the MetroCourt, and asks the hostess for a top-shelf Manhattan. Since it’s such a lovely evening, he thinks he’ll take it on the terrace. He starts to walk toward the terrace door, and Drew intercepts him, saying, Victor’s timing could not be any better.
Esme asks daddy if he has another plan, and Ryan says he has information which is where all good plans begin. For instance, she followed his every instruction to steal the card key, and here she is. And Ava might really believe she found true happiness with Nikolas, but soon enough she’ll find a worm in that apple. Esme says, please tell her; please let her in on things. She can’t help him unless he trusts her. He says, trust is a two-way street. Given how easily distracted she is by petty jealousies and shallow co-ed shenanigans, he’s not sure he count on her anymore. She says, really? Like he said, it’s a two-way street. He doesn’t trust her? Maybe his brother will trust her when she tells him the truth; that he can talk, and he’s been able to for months. She turns to leave, and he grabs her wrist, yanking her down to his level. He says, she’s not going anywhere.
Sasha says she didn’t like lying to Brando’s mom, but what else could she say? He says they just have to break the news to her as gently as possible. By the amount of times she’s called him, it’s clear she hasn’t even gotten used the idea of them taking a few days to themselves. Soon, she’s going to have to get used to seeing a ring on Sasha’s finger, and their names on a license. Finally, she’s going to burst into tears, and claim he robbed her of planning her only son’s wedding, but eventually, after a few years, she’ll get over it. Sasha doesn’t say anything, and he says, if she’s changed her mind and decided she wants a more traditional ceremony, he can turn the car around right now. They can go back to the B&B, and she can look at party planner reviews, but to be honest, they both know she would pick Maxie. Sasha says she doesn’t need a big wedding. She just wants him. She wants to see those rings on their fingers as a reminder they belong to each other, body and soul. He says, speaking of rings, look in the glove compartment. She takes out a box, looks inside, and says, oh my God.
Gladys says she can’t believe her son would elope and not include her, and Lucy says, that’s kind of the definition elopement. The parents stay home. Gladys says she’s not just any parent. She’s a single mother who sacrificed everything for that boy, and it’s not like him to sneak around behind her back, so this was Sasha’s big idea. Lucy tells her, don’t you dare blame Sasha. She deserves every bit of happiness she can get after everything she’s gone through. Gladys says she was thinking of Sasha. She’s afraid Lucy may be right. She rushed back to work, she’s rushing into marriage, all just to avoid the terrible pain of the loss of Liam. It’s a big mistake, and there has to be something she can do to stop them.
Ryan holds Esme’s wrist in a viselike grip, and she says, let her go. He releases her, and says he guesses her time in Port Charles wasn’t wasted after all. Not if she’s developed a backbone that can stand up to him. She says she had an excellent teacher, and he says he appreciates the compliment. He hopes she makes him proud, and she says she will. That’s always been the plan. He tells her, just remember, he calls the shots. Are they clear? She says, yes, sir; you’re the boss. He says, that’s more like it, but she still has to regain his trust. She says she’ll do anything. Just tell her where to start. He says, back to square one, with Ava.
Nikolas says, if he and Ava both agree Victor can’t be trusted, why invite him to share the happiest day of their lives? She says, Laura is already concerned Victor has made inroads with Spencer. And given what Victor knows about Nikolas in regard to Hayden, he thinks he has the upper hand with Nikolas. Nikolas says, they’re even. His debt is paid in full. She says, five minutes ago, Nikolas said he owed Victor, and she knows he’ll find a way to collect. He asks if she thinks he’d let Victor get the better of him, and she says, no, but she thinks he’ll keep trying. And she thinks he’ll use any weapon he can find, including Nikolas’s son. That’s why she invited him to be there when they renew their vows. She wants Victor to believe they trust him, so when he finally does show them his hand, they’ll be ready.
Victor asks what Drew wants with him, and Drew says he’s putting Victor on notice. They may never be able to prove Victor helped Peter escape, but Drew will never forget the part Victor played in stealing two years of his life. Victor says, it sounds like Drew is threatening him, and Drew says, really? He meant it to sound like a promise. Stay clear of him, and of his family, and everybody he cares about, or he’ll find a way to make Victor pay for every single day he was locked away from his life. Drew goes to the elevator, and the hostess comes back with Victor’s drink. He says he’ll take it with him, and exchanges looks with Drew before he goes outside. Maxie, Britt, Sam, and Dante are gathered around Bailey’s stroller, and Victor asks if they mind if he joins them, or is it a private party? Sam tells Maxie that Bailey is such a beautiful baby, and Victor says he does love babies. He’s gratified that Maxie is finally reunited with her daughter. She thanks him, and Dante asks if Victor knows anything about Peter leaving personal effects behind. Victor says, despite what everyone seems to think, he wasn’t on intimate terms with Peter. Why does Dante ask? Sam says, it’s just that the box Britt is holding just came from the WSB; it contains Peter’s personal effects. Britt says she was going to toss them in the garbage, then Maxie encouraged her to open it, just in case there’s anything inside that could help pay Bailey’s college tuition. Maxie says, just give it to her; she’s taking too long. Maxie grabs the end of the box, and Britt says, take it easy. Maxie says she can’t wait any longer, and they struggle over the box. It falls, and everything goes everywhere. Maxie says, sorry about that, and Victor hones in on the tarot card.
Sasha says, they just decided to get married. How did Brando slip out and buy wedding rings without her knowing it? He says, they’re not what she thinks they are. When they decided to get married on the fly, he had to improvise, so those are actually some spare engine parts that he polished up while she was in the shower, but they’ll serve their purpose until he can take her to a proper jewelry store. She looks at him, and he laughs and says, he’s kidding. When he told her that he was going to the gym, he ran out and went to the closest jewelry store. Those are the real thing, just like they are. She says she loves them, and kisses him. Too bad. I thought the spare parts thing was cool and apropos. They hear something, and she asks, what was that? The check engine light is on. He says he’ll pull over and see what the problem is.
Lucy takes Gladys’s phone out of her hand, and asks what exactly she’s trying to do. Brando and Sasha are adults, so even if Gladys finds the chapel they may be eloping at, she’s not going to stop their wedding. She can’t. So please, let them follow their hearts. Gladys says, easy for Lucy to say. She’s just Sasha’s business partner, and Sasha is on the verge of being Gladys’s daughter-in-law. Lucy says she really takes issue with that. First, Sasha is her friend, and secondly, Gladys would be damn lucky to have Sasha as a daughter-in-law. Gladys says she doesn’t disagree, and snatches her phone back. She says, if Sasha and Brando were getting married for the right reasons, she’d be all for it. But a few days ago, there was no mention of marriage. she’s afraid the reason they’re eloping is, they’re trying to hide from the pain of Liam’s death. She can’t let that happen.
Ryan says, his original plan to break up Ava and Nikolas came up short, and Esme says, if anything, it just made them closer. She knows he loves Ava, but she’s never going to care about him the way Esme does. He thanks her for pouring salt in his wound, and she asks, what’s Plan B? Don’t tell her that he doesn’t have one, because he always does. He says, she thinks she knows him, doesn’t she? and she says, just like he knows her. She brings a chair over and sits, and he says, she’s already completed the first step to insinuate herself into the family. He thinks they can use Spencer’s incarceration to their advantage, and she asks, how? He says, by making herself an even larger presence in their lives, and she says, Nikolas doesn’t trust her, and Ava openly dislikes her and doesn’t even try to hide it. He says, it’s easy to control a teenage boy, whose hormones are raging. Ava and Nikolas? She’s going to have to try harder. If they don’t like her, she’s got to make herself more likeable. She says she’s willing to try, but she thinks Nikolas already blames her for turning Spencer’s head. Ryan says he’s confident Nikolas will come around. You know what they say, like father like son.
Nikolas says, Victor is no one’s fool. He has to realize they have a motive for including him in their ceremony. Ava says, that’s why they have to stay one step ahead of him, and he says, just remember, Victor played King of the Mountain with Peter, and Victor is the one who survived. His mother is right; Victor is up to something. She says, let Victor give it his best shot. As long as they stick together, Victor can’t touch them. Don’t forget – she puts her hand on his – she has a long history dealing with people like Victor.
Maxie says she’ll help pick it up, and Victor says, don’t worry; he’s got this. Sam says, normally, she would help, but she doesn’t want to touch anything Peter’s touched. Never. Dante says, he knows the WSB was done with that and passed it on to Britt, but does she think he could take it down to the PCPD? They have some cases they need to wrap up that Peter was involved in. Maybe it could help them out. Britt asks if there’s something the WSB missed, and he says, no, but they’re looking for espionage, and looking forward to tying up Franco’s murder case. Britt says, the WSB released it to her – she takes it from Victor – so he’d have to talk to Anna Devane. He says he understands, but Anna gave it to Britt because she’s done with it, so would it be cool to pass it on to him? He’ll give it right back to her. They go inside, and Victor takes the tarot card out of his sleeve. Ha-ha! I love this guy.
Gladys gets up, and says, she’s got to stop them. She tells Lucy to have the bartender put the drinks on Carly’s tab, but Lucy jumps up, and says, no, no, no, no. Gladys seriously isn’t going to try and stop Sasha and Brando’s wedding? Gladys says she absolutely is, and Lucy says, please don’t. She’s not really sure they’re eloping, and besides, Niagara Falls is a beautiful place, a natural wonder. Hundreds of thousands of folks visit there every year, and they don’t get married. Gladys says, Brando didn’t return her calls. Something is up; a mother knows. Lucy says, please. Do not try stop the wedding. They’ll only end up resenting Gladys. Gladys says, these are two grief stricken parents. They probably shouldn’t commit to buying a car, much less spending their lives together. There has to be something she can do to stop them from doing something they’ll always regret. Gladys walks out, and Lucy makes a frustrated sound.
Brando closes the car hood, and Sasha asks, how bad? He says, they need a tow, and gets back in the car. He tells her that he already called for one, but they’re in the middle of nowhere; it might take a few hours. She says she should have known this plan was not going to happen. Now they’ll never get to the chapel before it closes. Maybe this is a sign. Maybe they were never meant to have a happy ending. He says he has a blanket in the trunk, and coffee in the thermos, and until help arrives, he’s sure they’ll find some way to keep warn. They kiss, and headlights brighten the car. Sasha says, it’s the tow truck. So much for it taking hours. He says, it looks like they’ll get to have their happy ending after all.
Maxie wheels Bailey’s stroller through the lounge area, and tells Britt, she’s settling down. So much excitement. Better get used to it, Baby Lu, because you mom is a magnet for trouble. Britt says, so is her Auntie Britt. She’s still not sure what happened on the terrace, but if it makes Victor pay for aiding and abetting Peter, it was worth it. Maxie says, well worth it.
Looking at the tarot card, Victor thanks Peter, and says, while Peter is rotting in hell, he’ll make good use of this. He puts it in his pocket.
Nikolas tells Ava, the best way to stay one step ahead of Victor, is by keeping him where they can see him. She says, and Spencer? and he says, when he comes home from Spring Ridge, absolutely, and that goes for Esme as well. But he can promise her one thing. No one will ever come between them. They kiss.
Esme tells Ryan that she needs to go. The orderly will be back any minute. She puts the chair back, and says, but there’s still something she doesn’t understand. Even if Ava leaves Nikolas, what then? Ryan is still a prisoner facing a life sentence. Where is all this leading? He says, leave that to him. Just do as he says and she’ll have her heart’s desire. Not just Spencer and his fortune, but the family she’s always longed for. She says, Ava isn’t her family, and he says, no, but she’s family to him. He gets up, and walks closer to Esme. He says, and what’s mine is yours – he strokes her hair – my beautiful, gifted daughter.
Tomorrow, Sasha says, if they don’t get married now, they never will; Diane tells Alexis to go out and get some fun; Anna tells Robert, one nightmare ends, and another one begins; and Nina tells Sonny that she’s suing for visitation.
The Real Housewives of Orange County
Jen and Emily worked out on the beach, and started with squats. My workout nemesis continues to haunt me. Gina told herself not to miss the plane, as she drug her suitcase through the house, picking up a throw rug with it along the way. Noella’s mother Nancy was visiting, and Noella said she’d seen a charge for someplace James was at. She was tempted to go there with their son and ask if he remembered her. I’m your wife. Um… I’m guessing not for much longer.
Heather brought Max and Nick along on the trip, and they were stopping in Syracuse first to visit Heather’s alma mater. In Gina’s interview, she said, what was cool about flying private was that you didn’t have to follow the rules. You waited in a private lobby, and she didn’t know WTF happened to her luggage; they just handled it. Clearly, Heather knew how to travel in style.
When Jen and Emily finished their workout, they sat on the beach and talked. They were going to Shannon’s for a cooking class, and in Jen’s interview, she said she never cooked for the family, and thought Ryne would like it. She told Emily that she’d tried to make dinosaur chicken nuggets, and burned them. Emily asked if things were going better, but Jen wasn’t sure. She wanted it to work, but didn’t know how. She wondered if she should do what he wanted, which was to be an equal partner. Emily asked what she meant; finances, kids, or both. Jen said, owning things together. She’d bought the Hawaii house before they were married. She wondered if it would solve the problem. In Emily’s interview, she said, as an attorney, it sounded like Ryne was ready to leave, but would like some money on his way out. Which is exactly what it sounds like to me. It will solve his problem, and she’ll be left holding the bag. Jen thought they should live separately for a while, but go to counseling twice week as they’d been doing, and have a date night once a week. Emily said she was all about fixing it. After you got a divorce, you just traded one set of problems for another, dating d-bags with toupees who drive Lamborghinis.
Heather said she hadn’t been to Syracuse since she graduated, and it was weird being there with her children. She told Gina to get settled, and they’d go out; the kids were ordering room service. When they reconvened, they toasted to a college hangover. Heather said, back in the day, you could only get into Pagans (the bar they were going to) if you had a good fake ID, or you were dating the bartender or bouncer. In Heather’s interview, she said she hadn’t been there in 31 years, and was being flooded with memories of shopping, eating, and getting fake IDs that were rejected; fun, silly, stupid sh*t. In Gina’s interview, she said she went to Hofstra in Long Island, but she didn’t do as well. She was a shot girl, but she did go to class. Heather told Gina that they were taking the kids on a tour of her college and sorority house. Then they’d change for her live podcast, and leave directly for Manhattan from the show. Gina told Heather that her brother had gone the educational route, and she went for family life. In her interview, she said she envisioned the same thing as every other woman at the time; go to college, marry her college boyfriend, and have children. Her life was very different from what she’d envisioned.
A student guide gave Max and Nick a campus tour, with Heather and Gina tagging along. In Heather’s interview, she said it was insane that her babies were about to go to college. She wasn’t sentimental about them following in her footsteps. She wanted them to create their own paths. When she was younger, she thought she’d be a Broadway star, and had studied musical theater, but no. She did an episode of Divorce Court (back when they did reenactments) and they flew her out to L.A. She was a working actress, but then met Terry, and the rest was history.
Shannon’s friend Lisa helped Shannon prepare for her cooking party. Noella, Jen, and Emily were coming, and in her interview, Shannon said she was surprised they didn’t know how to cook. When she prepared a dish for guests, she felt it came from the heart. And it made her feel good when people said it was good. We flashed back to some of Shannon’s cooking successes. When her guests arrived, she passed out chef coats and hairnets. In Emily’s interview, she said Shannon was having a party to teach them to cook, and made them look as ugly as possible. Shannon let them ditch the nets, and Lisa ditched the party. Shannon explained that she was going to teach them how to make a crockpot meal that was healthy and super easy. Then they’d make a real meal of grilled shrimp with tomato/fennel sauce. Ugh, fennel. She asked them to help with the crockpot white chili, and in her interview, Emily said she thought Shannon was going to cook, and she was going to eat. In Shannon’s interview, she said, class meant interaction. In Noella’s interview, she said, cooking was like a BJ. She could do it, but she just didn’t want to.
Heather was introduced as a 1990 alumni, and did her podcast. She told the students that in high school, she had been a big fish in a little pond, and when she got there, everyone seemed secure. She folded in on herself, and gained a Freshman 30. Then she entered the Miss Syracuse pageant, and it was more than a tiara. It helped her think on her feet, and honed her interview skills. In her interview, Heather said she remembered she loved performing, and was a whole person again. In Gina’s interview, she said it was the first time she was seeing Heather in her element, and she was killing it. After the podcast, they got back on the plane, and headed to Manhattan.
Shannon asked if anyone had talked to Heather and Gina before they left, but no one had. Noella spit a shrimp into her napkin, saying it was raw. Everyone else said all theirs were cooked, and in Jen’s interview, she said she found it odd that Noella got the one shrimp that was raw, and Jen was the one who had cooked it. Liar. Shannon called Heather, and got voicemail. She told the women that she was declined, and Noella said, more like blocked.
Heather and Gina finally called on FaceTime, and Gina said it was a great trip. Heather said, love you, miss you, bye, and that was about it. Shannon brought up Emily saying she was jealous of Gina’s friendship with Heather, and said, nothing could be further from the truth. For what reason? The thought never crossed her mind. Gina needed to put pin in her inflated ego. Emily said, Gina deserved to be successful after she’d been through hell and back. In Shannon’s interview, she said she’d been there for Gina when she was going through that tough time, and we flashed back to that. Shannon was offended by the insinuation that she wasn’t capable of being a friend. This was bulsh*t. Emily perused Shannon’s playlist, and Jen told Shannon that she was leaving. She said she and Ryne had been talking about him moving out for a month, but Shannon said she didn’t think that was a good idea. Noella and Emily wondered what they were talking about, and Shannon said Jen was going through stuff. Emily said they were all going through stuff, and Shannon said it was moving out stuff. In Noella’s interview, she said they all had challenges in their marriages. It was supposed to be a sisterhood, but that wasn’t computing with Jen. In Jen’s interview, she said, grown women didn’t act this way, whispering in people’s ears, and putting people down. She was done with this sh*t. She left, and Emily and Noella shed most of their clothes, and jumped in the pool.
In Gina’s interview, she said Heather was eating so many carbs, dancing around in the streets like a wild woman, and heavily buzzed on champagne. Heather asked if Gina would rather be cooking at Shannon’s or here, and Gina said she had to ask? Really?
Shannon joined Emily and Noella in the pool, taking off her pants, but leaving on her chef coat and hat, and announcing she was Chef Shannon. Archie saw his ball in the pool, and jumped in. In Shannon’s interview, she said, who knew her cooking class would end up with people mostly naked in her pool with the dog?
The next morning, Shannon came downstairs to a pretty big mess. Noella called, and Shannon said her place was a crime scene. And three whole weed candies were gone. She wondered if she’d eaten one, but we saw some clips where it looked like Noella was the culprit. Noella said, it was crazy, and she needed the hair of the dog; there was no way she could function. Shannon told her, havea good hair of the dog day, then wondered, where to start?
Jen met with couples counselor Tina, who came to her house. Tina said it had been a challenging year, like Jen didn’t know. In Jen’s interview, she said she and Ryne had known Tina for a few years; they’d gone to her relationship boot camp. Jen said she’d do anything to make the marriage work except giving up the spotlight, and Tina said, even if Ryne wasn’t there, they could about what Jen could change to make life better for herself, her children, and she and Ryne as a couple. You couldn’t heal or change what you weren’t willing to reveal, and Jen had wounds she’d been carrying from when she was a child that hadn’t been resolved. She was rejected as an adolescent, and brought it to the relationship. She asked if Jen felt rejected by Ryne, and Jen said she did. Tina said, it was a pattern, and Jen wondered if she was putting out kindness, but it was being received as something else. She said she was hardest on herself, and Tina wondered if others didn’t pick up on that energy. Jen said Ryne thought she was criticizing him, but that wasn’t what she was doing. Tina said Jen had to take responsibility for knowing what triggered Ryne. Even if she didn’t mean to criticize, Ryne wasn’t being acknowledged when he wasn’t being respected by his standards, but hers. If she did that, Tina thought he’d see it was coming from a heartfelt place. Jen said she hoped so, and in her interview, she said she’d had a lot of loss and heartbreak. Losing Ryne would feel like losing her dad again, and she didn’t want to lose him.
Heather’s mom Carole, Aunt Barb and Uncle Tony joined them for dinner, as well as Gina’s parents Susan and Gene. They’d barely sat down, when Carole told the server, she didn’t want to be rude, but this was how you set a table, moving around the place setting. In Heather’s interview, she said her mother was very proper, and liked things a certain way. She was similar in decorum, but in other ways, they were vastly different. In Gina’s interview, she said, this explained a lot. Where Heather came from, and why she was the way she was. It was funny to see the difference between her parents and Heather’s mom. Her parents were, no substitutes? We’ll have whatever’s on the menu. We’d like a nice cab, but if you bring merlot, we’ll drink it anyway. Heather made a toast to family, and Barb said she was proud of Gina; she looked happy. Carole said Gina had been raised properly, with ethics and morals. Gina said she was a little rough around the edges, but Carole said, people didn’t have ethics today. Heather said, growing up, they had a schedule. If they were going out to dinner at a certain time, if no one was hungry, you were still going to dinner. She was the same way in that she liked to have a plan, but if someone didn’t want to go, they didn’t have to. Carole said, if someone threw up they didn’t go, and in her interview, Heather said she loved her mom very much. She’d done the best she could to be the best parent, but sometimes an emotionally sensitive person needed more. It was a lot to unpack. She’d need 12 hours of therapy… or 12 years. Heather said, if you locked your kids in a box, they’d explode once they got out. She’d had unrealistic curfews. Gina said she never had that.
Gina and Heather went for a drink in their hotel bar afterward, and Heather said it was tough for her mom since her dad died three years ago. Gina said it was still fresh, and Emily called, first showing a video of the pool escapade. Gina said, Shannon had no pants on, and Emily said she was having dinner with Shane. She was surprised she’d recovered from last night. Gina said again that Shannon had no pants on, and Emily said, tequila made you take your pants off. Gina said, when they’d called, it didn’t look like Emily was having the best time, and Emily said she might have been annoyed. Shannon brought up not being jealous of Gina and Heather’s friendship. Gina said when someone went over the top to prove they weren’t jealous, they probably were. Heather said, she doth protest too much, and Emily told Gina that Shannon said she needed to put a pin in it, like she had a big, inflated head. It was sad that Shannon couldn’t be happy for a friend, and thought Gina was arrogant when she was confident. In Gina’s interview, she said, sorry, she felt good about herself. Was Shannon the only one allowed to feel that way? If she was doing well and truly happy, she wouldn’t act like this. Emily told them that Shannon kept saying it was a competition, and wanted them to have more fun than Heather and Gina. Heather said Shannon had done that in Mexico, when she, Tamra, and Vicki said they were going to have more fun than the rest of them. We flashed back to the three of them getting wasted and jumping in the pool. In her interview, Heather said, if falling in the pool with your pants off makes you happy, she’s here for it. But what she didn’t like was the weird, competitive, having-more-fun-than-you thing. She didn’t know what to do with that.
Next time, Gina asks if Jen ever pictures herself with someone else; Jen has a party, and says Ryne doesn’t have to come if there will be drama; Jeana comes to Jen’s party, and wonders if Kelly is there; and Shannon comes for Gina, calling her an a-hole.
Hope to see you tomorrow for a spot of tea and a bar of soap. Until then, stay safe, stay more focused on the inside than the outside, and stay knowing, you can’t heal or change what you’re not willing to reveal.
(rambling, random thoughts & annoyingly detailed recaps from real time TV watching)
General Hospital
Esme says she doesn’t know what’s sadder, that Josslyn taped her little spectacle to show to the world – Cameron says, they didn’t even know it existed – or that she can’t do a halfway decent job of blaming Esme. If Josslyn is so hellbent on blaming someone, don’t look at her, she wasn’t there. Why doesn’t she ask someone who was? She points, and they turn around to see Trina, who asks, what’s going on? Cameron says, what was supposed to be a private moment between him and Joss was filmed and made public. Josslyn says, there’s a video of her and Cam at the cabin, and it was just played in front of Professor Kahn’s class. Trina says she’s so sorry, and Esme says, is she though?
Harmony points at letters, and Ryan blinks. She says, he’s cold; she can get him a blanket. Doc comes in, and says, she’s Harmony, right? Harmony says she is, and he’s Ryan’s brother, Dr. Collins. She’s never seen him visit before. He says he limits contact with this brother whenever possible, and she asks what made him show up today. He says, primarily curiosity. He understands she’s Ryan’s primary caregiver. How would she assess his condition? She says, unchanged. He remains locked in, and communicates only by blinking. He says, so he’s heard, and says hello to Ryan, who doesn’t respond.
Maxie rolls the stroller to where Britt is sitting in the MetroCourt lounge, and says she hopes Britt doesn’t mind Bailey crashing their ladies lunch. Britt says, of course (🍷) she doesn’t. It’s about time she got to meet her niece. Maxie says, Baby Lu, this is your Auntie Britt, and Britt says she’s Bailey’s resident bad influence. She promises to send Bailey home all sticky and keep all her secrets. Bailey looks at Britt like she totally gets it, and Maxie says, speaking of secrets, can Britt forgive her for hers?
Laura sits with Sam and Drew, and says she think it’s their best shot at finding out what Victor’s agenda is. Sam agrees, and says, they just have to iron out the logistical issues. Drew says, Victor isn’t going to be easy to manipulate; their execution has to be flawless. Laura says, which is why they shouldn’t bring in any more people. Do they agree on that? The fewer people the better? They do, and there’s a knock at the door. Sam opens it to Dante, who says he was in the neighborhood and thought he’d drop by. He realizes she has company, and asks if he should he go back outside.
Ava lets Victor into Windymere, and says, what a surprise. He says he was hoping to share some tea with his nephew, and she asks if he’s talking literal tea or the gossip kind. He says, as fun as the second one would be, Darjeeling was more what he had in mind. She says, that can be arranged. Will she do, since Nikolas isn’t here? He says what he was hoping to discuss with his nephew, he could happily relay to his charming wife. It’s about Spencer. The poor boy is struggling, and he’s afraid she and Nikolas are making it worse.
Doc asks Harmony to tell him more about Ryan’s communication skills. She said he can blink out complex messages. She says, it depends on the caregiver. She and Ryan communicate pretty effectively with the letterboard, but it doesn’t go so well with the other staff. Nikolas comes in, and Samuel asks if he can help him. He says he’s there to see Spencer. Samuel knows who he is. His Uncle Victor hired him to look after Spencer, so why doesn’t Samuel go find his son? Samuel asks if Nikolas’s son wants to see him, and Spencer walks in.
Britt picks up Bailey, and says, there’s nothing to forgive, but Maxie says, Bailey is Britt’s family, and Maxie kept her hidden from Britt. Not that it was her intention. She was ready to have Britt deliver her. Britt asks how they could know Cyrus was going to try and kill her, and she’d end up on the run with Jason? Things happen; she understands. Maxie kept her beautiful niece safe, and now they’re both here. She’s proud of Maxie. Maxie thanks her, but says she hates the thought that Peter got his hands on Bailey at all. Britt says, it was ultimately Maxie’s quick thinking that saved her daughter, and Peter’s gone. They never have to worry about him again. Maxie says, but he didn’t take Bailey on his own. There’s another person out there responsible for taking Bailey, and they’re free as a bird right now.
Laura tells Dante, come in, and he asks what he’s walking in on. Laura says, a plot, and he says, sounds both illegal and dangerous. She says, it’s definitely risky, and the legality is kind of murky, so they’re calling this unofficial. Sam says, but necessary, and Laura says, it could be considered a matter of public safety, but it goes beyond her interest as mayor. She’s here as a mother and grandmother, and even thought the plan gives her pause, she’s committed to doing what must be done. Drew says, it sounds like she’s considering bringing Dante in, and Sam says they can trust him. Laura says she knows. Considering Dante’s position, she understands if he doesn’t want to help them, but she needs his discretion either way. He says, of course (🍷). He’s in. He trusts them, they trust him; what are they doing? Laura notices the time, and says she’ll let Sam and Drew fill Dante in on the details. Doc is waiting for her and she’s already late. Don’t anyone make a move without consulting her first. Drew says, they’ll reach out as soon as the plan gets solidified. Laura tells Dante, welcome aboard, and leaves. Dante says, the plan to do what? and Drew says, stop Victor Cassadine.
Victor tells Ava that he was visiting Spencer earlier today, and Spencer was devastated not to be able to visit his mother’s grave on the anniversary of her death. Ava asks if that’s now her fault, and Victor says, of course (🍷) it is; it’s entirely her fault. She brought charges. She says, Spencer stalked and terrorized her and her child, and Victor agrees it wasn’t Spencer’s finest hour, but he’s always felt they should keep family squabbles in-house. She says, what’s done is done; can’t change the past. He says he agrees, but you can change your future plans. She says, any plan in particular? and he says, now that she mentions it, he thinks she and Nikolas should rethink their vow renewal.
Doc says his brother appears unresponsive, and Harmony suggests he let her try. She asks if Ryan needs some eyedrops, and he blinks twice. She says, that’s a no, and Doc says, so his eyes aren’t dry. Ryan just has nothing to say to him. There’s no response, and Doc says, let’s keep it that way. He says goodbye to Harmony, and leaves.
Spencer tells Samuel, it’s okay, and Samuel steps away. Nikolas says he has to admit, he’s surprised Spencer agreed to see him. The last time he was there, Spencer told him not to come back. Spencer says Nikolas can thank his better angels for a change of heart; one angel in particular. Nikolas asks if this angel has a name.
Trina asks what Esme is trying to imply, and Esme says she’s just wondering. Is Trina sorry for Joss and Cam, or is she apologizing for something more? Trina says, like what? and Esme says, whoever recorded and emailed that video was in the cabin. Trina says, and Esme has the nerve to be pointing her crooked finger at her? and Cameron says, no one’s pointing fingers, but Josslyn says, she is. Right in Esme’s face. Esme says, once again, she and Spence left that night, but Trina probably doesn’t remember much. She was pretty out of it. Cameron says, there has to be an explanation for all of this, and Trina says, there is. Cameron and Josslyn were set up.
Britt says, Austin and her mom are convinced Victor Cassadine is involved, and Maxie says, yeah, but they can’t prove it. Britt says, yet. There’s no way her mother’s letting this go. Maxie says, Anna and Robert aren’t going to let go of it either, but she’s tired of looking over her shoulder and jumping at shadows. She just wants to relax, spend time with her kids, and with her precious baby girl. Britt holds Bailey, and asks how James and Georgie are feeling about their little sister. Maxie says, the bright spot in all this; they’re so in love. Britt says, as is Maxie, and Maxie says, it’s new. Anything is possible. She’s not going to rush things. Britt says she was referring to Bailey. Who is Maxie talking about?
Laura meets Doc at the MetroCourt, and he says he hopes her day was more productive than his. She says, that remains to be seen, and asks, what happened at Spring Ridge? He says, Ryan refused to communicate with him. He blinks messages that are understood by the caregivers and medical staff. In fact, he saw Ryan interact with his primary caregiver, but he absolutely refused to acknowledge Doc. Laura asks what that means, and he says, he’s not sure, but it makes him uneasy.
Spencer says, Uncle Victor urged him to be more receptive to Nikolas’s visits, despite his misgivings. Nikolas says, and Spencer listened to him, and Spencer asks why he wouldn’t; Victor listens to him. Believe it or not, Victor holds Nikolas in high esteem. Nikolas says he wouldn’t expect Victor to be his champion, and Spencer says, something else that might surprise Nikolas is, Victor’s never said a word against him. He always says family is what matters most, which is why it surprises Spencer that Nikolas never appears to give Victor the benefit of the doubt. Nikolas says his dealings with Victor is complicated, but he does agree with him on the importance of family. It’s why he’s here today, of all days. Spencer says, so he remembered, and Nikolas says, it’s been almost two decades since Nikolas lost his mother. It seems like it was yesterday. He regrets Spencer has lost so much in his young life, and Spencer says he’s lost Nikolas twice. Nikolas says Spencer hasn’t lost him; he’s lost Spencer.
Ava says, their vow renewal is none of Victor’s business, and he says, therein lies the problem. She and Nikolas want to live in their own private little bubble, and while that might be very romantic, he doesn’t think either one of them considered Spencer. It’s driven him to these sad, desperate acts to get his father’s love and attention. Ava says, Spencer wants to break them up, and Victor says, of course (🍷) he does. Why wouldn’t he? He has to watch the two of them so deeply in love to the exclusion of everyone else, including him. How does she think that makes him feel? She says, Spencer’s a young man; he’s not a child. And from what she’s seen, he should be less concerned about his father’s love, and more concerned about his own.
Trina says, only one person at that cabin was twisted enough to give a teddy bear with Ryan Chamberlain’s voice to an innocent child, and Josslyn says, or torch Ava’s car, leaving her murdered daughter’s hospital badge beneath it. Esme says, those were terrible mistakes, and Josslyn says, mistakes? Because Esme has regrets, or because she got caught? Trina says, and now everyone knows what kind of soulless person Esme really is, and Esme says, she messed up. She doesn’t know how many times she can apologize. She guesses forever, but suggesting she set up Joss and Cam is deflection. Trina says, when someone shows you who they are, believe them. Esme’s had trouble following her since she first set foot in Port Charles, and now she expects them to believe this disgusting stunt is somehow beneath her? Cameron says, let’s not do this right now, and Trina says she doesn’t want to do this at all. She’s sorry it’s making this harder on him and Joss, but Esme’s coming for her, and she’ll be damned if she doesn’t defend herself. Esme says, right. Trina’s not to blame here; she’s at fault.
Britt says, Austin? He and Maxie are a thing? Officially? Maxie says they’re officially trying it out, and Britt says she knew Austin liked Maxie, but after he pointed Bailey in Victor’s direction, his chances had dropped to none and never. Maxie says, Austin majorly messed up, but he apologized, and if you take into consideration how supportive he’s been, and how his quirky personality just cracks her up, she wants to see where it goes. Slowly. Super slowly. Britt says, after what happened with Peter, she’s proud of Maxie not rushing into things too fast. Very pragmatic. Maxie says her kids just got their mom back. She needs to settle in, and reestablish stability for them. Then there’s Deception. They’re coming up on the IPO, and she’s done nothing to contribute. So officially unofficial is the best she can do with Austin at the moment. What about Britt? Anyone new on the horizon? Britt says, same as always. Work keeps her busy. Maxie says, work always keeps her busy. What’s really preventing her from seeing someone?
Josslyn asks if Esme admits she’s behind this, and Esme says, in a manner of speaking. She pushed for the weekend getaway, and described it as a couples trip, which made Trina feel like an outsider. Then she asked those provocative questions during the drinking game. It was immature, petty, and she’s sorry. Had she known it would push Trina over the edge… Trina says, oh hell no, and moves forward. Cameron stops her, but Trina says, no. Not when Esme is talking all this trash about her. Esme says she had no idea Trina had issues with anger. She always seems so poised, but if Esme’s psychology class has taught her anything, it’s that sometimes people who seem so controlled, have an undercurrent of disfunction. Trina says, who the hell are you calling dysfunctional, you conniving bitch?
Nikolas says, he and Spencer both have a lot to answer for. They say, like father like son, and it seems accountability is something they both struggle with, but he’s sure of one thing. Spencer is the greatest gift of his life. He’d planned to tell Courtney that when he visited her grave. Spencer says, he visited mom’s grave? and Nikolas says he had some things he wanted to say to her. Spencer says, like what? and Nikolas says he wanted to apologize for failing Spencer, that Spencer would have been so much better off if his mother had lived. He wanted to ask for help. Spencer asks, what kind of help? and Nikolas says, help in being a better father to Spencer. He didn’t get to say any of it because Sonny was there, and in spite of everything going on with his own life, he was quick to point out the mistakes Nikolas made with Spencer. Spencer says, that sounds like Uncle Sonny, and Nikolas says he’s not Sonny’s biggest fan, but Sonny certainly cares about Spencer. So does he. Spencer says he knows, but what about Ava? Where does Nikolas’s wife fit into all this?
Harmony sits down with a book, and says she’s surprised Ryan chose Wuthering Heights, although she supposes it’s not a romance if you read the novel. It’s about the price of obsession, isn’t it?
Victor says he’s simply trying to promote family harmony, and Ava says, by criticizing her and Nikolas? He says, their desire to recommit themselves to each other is lovely. Actually, it’s inspiriting, but isn’t a vow renewal a chance to recommit themselves to melding their families together? How can they do that without including Spencer? Ava asks if he’s suggesting they call off the ceremony, but he says, no, of course (🍷) not, but it’s a family affair, and as such, surely they have to include the entire family. Ava says, she appreciates that sentiment, and don’t call her Shirley, but she and Nikolas want a drama free ceremony. It is, after all, still about them. Victor says, it is, but Nikolas and Spencer are in a very precarious position right now, and he’s sure she woudn’t want to widen the gap between them. He’s afraid a small, intimate ceremony would do just that. If it’s a matter of expense… She says, it is not, and he says, excellent. He gets up, and says, it’s all settled. She asks whatever gave him that impression. So please sit back down.
Dante says, Drew thinks Victor is after him? and Drew says, Victor tried to activate his conditioning a few days ago, and it didn’t work because he had the wrong tarot card, but it all fits. Victor was helping Peter because Peter promised Victor the means to control him. Dante says, to what end? He knows Drew has combat experience and skills; a lot of ex-military do. Why is Victor going through the trouble for Drew? Sam says, because he wants Drew’s memories, and Drew says, the theory is, Victor is going to activate his conditioning and order Drew to tell him something. Probably something from one of his classified ops when he was a SEAL, but it doesn’t matter, because Andre Maddox said those memories are gone; they cannot be accessed. Sam says, but Victor doesn’t know that, so they’re going to pick up where Peter left off, and let Victor think it’s still possible. Dante asks, how? and Drew says they’re going to supply Victor with the tarot card Peter never handed over. Sam says, and Victor is going to use it, and Drew says, whether Victor gives him an order or asks him a question, it doesn’t matter; they’ll find out what his objective is. Dante asks if Drew is sure he wants to put himself in such a vulnerable spot, and Drew says, absolutely. He wants Victor out of all of their lives for good. Dante asks how they get him the card, and Sam says, they’re still working on that one. Dante says, too bad they can’t just put it in an envelope and slip it under his door, and Sam says, that would be nice. She asks if Dante has any better ideas, and Drew says, in order for this to work, Victor’s got to believe he found the card himself. He wonders if Peter knew why Victor wanted to activate his conditioning, but Dante says, Peter’s dead. Sam says, Dante is a genius. She knows how they’re going to get the tarot card to Victor. Drew asks, how? and Sam says, Peter’s going to give it to him.
Esme says she had no idea that Trina was capable of hurting their friends, or she wouldn’t have provoked her. Josslyn asks if Esme is psycho or just stupid. She and Esme are not friends, and Josslyn wouldn’t spit on Esme if she was on fire. Esme says she’s sorry Josslyn feels that way, but Josslyn says, Esme’s not sorry for any of it. She’s probably actually enjoying herself, and why not? She obviously took a lot of trouble to set it up. Esme says, how dare Josslyn blame her for this; she’s not the one responsible. Cameron says, enough. Trina’s right, Esme is toxic. Get out. Esme says, fine. She’ll go. She hopes they both realize who their true friends are someday. She storms out, and Trina says, she swears, one more word, and she doesn’t know what she would have done. She asks if Josslyn is going to be okay, and Josslyn says, she just needs to pull herself together to leave this room. Trina says she doesn’t know who Esme thought she was fooling with that fake innocent act, and Josslyn says, she’s the absolute worst. How do they think it happened after Esme and Spencer left? Trina says, cameras have timers, and Josslyn asks if anyone saw Esme near their room. Cameron says he doesn’t know. He wasn’t watching her; he didn’t think he needed to. Trina says, sadly, she was out of it most of the night, and Josslyn says she wishes that night had never happened.
Britt asks if Maxie knows who she sounds like, and Maxie says, don’t say it, but Britt says, her mother. It’s a conspiracy, and during Women’s History Month no less, or doesn’t she care? Maxie says, of course (🍷) she cares. She’s the mother of two daughters. Britt says, then Maxie should know how important it is for women to blaze their own trails, reach their own goals, follow their own passion. History isn’t made by women desperate to be in a relationship; it’s made by women who see the bigger picture. Maxie says she’s all for blazing trails and following passions, but she thinks love can be part of the equation. When was the last time Britt went on a date? Britt says she’s had no time. She had to expose Cyrus. Maxie says, he’s been in prison for months, and Britt says, then she had to go to Greece and rescue her mother. Maxie says, she’s home, and in love with Scotty. Britt says, then the whole Peter thing… and Maxie says, that’s defunct, departed; next. Britt says she works a lot. Unless she dates a patient or another doctor, it’s slim pickings. Maxie asks if she’s thought of a matchmaking service, and Britt says, Maxie is working with her mother. Maxie says she just wants Britt to be happy, and Britt asks if anyone is really happy. Maxie says, that’s dark, very dark.
Doc asks how Laura’s meeting went, and she says, they have a plan in the works. All they really need is confirmation of what they suspect, that Victor had a hand in Luke’s death, and also in the abduction of Maxie’s baby. He also seems to have an interest in Drew. Doc asks if she thinks this plan could lead to Victor’s arrest, and she says, probably not. He’s got a real talent for evading justice, but right now she’d settle for getting him out of Port Charles; getting him away from Spencer and Nikolas. He asks if Ava is on board, and Laura says, she is. They’re putting together a small army; all eyes on Victor. All they need is to come up with the right bait, and then they can trip him up for good.
Victor says, as Ava wishes, and sits back down. He didn’t mean to jump the gun. She says she appreciates his concerns and takes them to heart, but if he expects her to unilaterally make a decision about their ceremony, he’s out of luck. She and Nikolas will decide what’s best together. He says, that’s the tragedy of us Cassadines. We’re either fiercely loyal or at each other’s throats, and never the twain. And that plays right into their enemies’ hands. She asks if he doesn’t think that’s a bit grandiose, and he says, maybe, but he’s been a Cassadine a lot longer than she has, and there are always those who wish to thwart them., to undermine their power, and feed off their disunity. Stavros, Mikkos, Helena, all tried and failed to unify them as a family, but he’s determined to change that. That’s why he’s been cultivating a relationship with his son Valentin, as well as working to end the rift between Nikolas and his son. That’s why he’s always there to help Nikolas in times of trouble. Ava flashes back to talking to Laura about getting Victor to lower his guard enough to confide in her. Victor says, he has big plans for this family, and he needs her help. She says, with what? What are these big plans?
Harmony says, if you go by pop culture, Heathcliff is the hero, but if you dive into the book, he’s vengeful and obsessive. Nikolas tells Spencer that Ava knows he’s here. She encouraged him to come, despite what Spencer’s done to her. She won’t not stand in the way of their relationship. Today was a painful reminder that Spencer’s already lost one parent; the other one is right here, hoping Spencer will give him a chance to make things right between them. What does he say? Can he find a way to put the past aside, and can they start fresh? Spencer says, Nikolas didn’t get to say what he wanted at Courtney’s grave, but he thinks she heard him now, and he feels she would want him to say – Esme walks in – yes. Esme says, this is the best thing she’s seen all day, or at least a close second. Nikolas says he’ll be back to visit next week. Maybe when Spencer is out, they can properly celebrate his birthday. Nikolas squeezes Spencer’s shoulder and leaves, and Esme says she didn’t mean to run him off. Spencer says, she heard him; he’ll be back. She says she’s glad, and he says he’s glad she’s back. It gives him a chance to make things right with her. He’s sorry he was so thoughtless about the loss of her parents. She says, it’s forgotten. She didn’t have the best relationship with her adoptive parents. Her grief is nothing compared to his. He never even got the opportunity to know his mother. He says he’s so grateful she understands, and he understands she’s sensitive where Trina is concerned. He won’t bring Trina up so much from now on. She says she’s not sensitive when it comes to Trina. She’s just on to her.
Victor says, the only plan that matters is Ava’s vow renewal, and she says, to be clear, she does know the value of family, and considers herself a Cassadine just as much as a Jerome. He says he didn’t mean to imply otherwise, and she says, if opening their special ceremony to the family will mark a new start, she’s all in, but only if Nikolas agrees. In perfect soap timing, Nikolas walks in, and says, agrees to what? Victor says, he and Nikolas’s lovely bride were having tea. Please do join them. They were discussing the possibility of opening their vow renewal to the entire family. Nikolas says he thought they decided on just the two of them, and Ava says, they had, but his uncle got her wondering if it’s the right way to go. Wasn’t she just saying earlier how important family is, and they’ve got to make an effort? They could start by inviting Spencer. He may not come, but they can extend the invitation. Victor says he’ll be glad to do his part in bringing the lad around, and Nikolas says, Victor does seem to have a lot of pull with his son. Victor asks if that’s a problem, and Nikolas says, it worked in his favor today. He and Spencer are in a better place than they’ve ever been. Victor says he feels Nikolas is still uncomfortable with his and Spencer’s relationship, but Nikolas says, he has no issue in Victor getting to know Spencer. What worries him is what Spencer might discover about Victor. For instance, none of them initially knew Victor was in league with Peter. Is he hiding anything else? Victor says, certainly. If Nikolas is concerned he has an ulterior motive, he most certainly does.
Sam says, Peter had personal effects, items that were with him at the time of his death? And Dante says, they would have been collected off him; it’s standard procedure. Drew asks, who would have that stuff now? and Dante says, the WSB. Sam says, as evidence? and Dante says, at first, but then they would have gone through it, and passed it on to his next of kin. Drew says, Bailey, by way of Maxie, and Sam says, they have to make that known to Victor. Dante says, so Victor goes through Peter’s belongings, thinking the card he can use to control Drew is among them, and Drew says, he’s a genius. Sam says, they have to get access to Peter’s things, and plant the tarot card in there, and hope Victor finds it. Does Dante know anyone who would be able to help them? He says he might. He’ll make a call.
Doc asks if Laura has shared her suspicions with Tracy, but Laura says, no; she’s too much of a wild card. Anna is going to Austria, and she’s sure Anna will uncover the truth about Luke’s death. He says, so she has full confidence in Anna, and she says, absolutely. He says, but she still wants to go to Austria herself.
Spencer asks what Esme means by she’s on to Trina? and she says, every time she turns around, Trina is trying to get close to him. He says, this is what he was trying to avoid, and she says, don’t you dare try to tell me I’m making it up. She’s seen the stolen glances, Trina holding his hand at Kelly’s, the secret meeting at the gallery before he came here, and her Valentine’s Day present. He says, it wasn’t intended as a Valentine, and she says, he and Trina have an intimate relationship; they share secrets. He flashes back to meeting Trina in the cemetery, and says, they’re just friends. She says, Joss and Cam thought Trina was their friend until she recorded them having sex, and sent the footage to the entire PCU class, and Spencer asks when that happened. She says, just this morning. They were definitely not ready for prime time. He says, that’s insane. Poor Joss. She says, poor Joss accused her at first, until it became clear that her so-called bestie was the culprit. He says, Trina wouldn’t do something like that, and she says, the footage was taken at the cabin after they left. He asks what makes her think it was Trina, and she says, Trina was black out drunk, and in her feelings about being alone and unloved; it tracks. He says, the Trina he knows… and she tells him, that’s what she’s been saying. Maybe he doesn’t know Trina as well as he thinks.
Josslyn tells Cameron, she doesn’t mean she wishes the whole night had never happened, and he says, he knows what she meant. She says, her mind is going a thousand miles a minute. She doesn’t know how this happened. She feels like she’s in a nightmare. Trina says they’ll get to the bottom of this, she promises, and Cameron says, he’ll go to the dean. At least it was contained in the internal student PCU website. Trina’s phone dings, and Josslyn says, what? Trina says, somebody sent her a link to an X-rated website, and Josslyn asks, have we gone viral?
Laura tells Doc, she would like go to Austria with Anna if she could. She still feels a kind of loyalty to Luke. She’s sorry if it’s hard to hear. He takes her hand, and says, it’s not; it’s understandable. Of course (🍷) he’s concerned it might be dangerous, and he’ll miss her, but he’s not going to stand in her way. She says, that means the world to her, and he asks if she’s leaving right away, but she says she’s not leaving at all. She’s needed here. He says he could have told her that, and she says, not just as mayor; as a wife, as a mother, as a grandmother. They have a predator in Port Charles, and she’s not about to leave while it’s circling the nest.
Nikolas says, so Victor has an ulterior motive, and Victor says, yes, happily. As he told Ava, he intends to reunite this family, and if he can move the needle even a fraction toward a reconciliation between Nikolas and Spencer, he’s gratified. Nikolas says, as is he, and thanks Victor, but Victor says, no. He thanks Nikolas and Ava for reconsidering their plans for their vow renewal. He says, to their family celebration, and they clink teacups.
Dante gets off the phone, and Drew says, that didn’t sound good. Dante says, Peter’s belongings have already been delivered, and it’s too late to recall the messenger. Sam says she’ll reach out to Maxie and see what she can find. Dante says, it’s not Maxie. Peter stipulated a different executor for his estate.
A messenger asks Britt to sign and initial, and she asks who it’s from. He says, everything she needs to know is inside the box. She signs, the messenger leaves, and she opens the attached note. Maxie says, what is it? and Britt says, what’s left of Peter.
Cameron looks at his phone, and says he’s not clicking that. Josslyn asks what they do, and he says, damage control, but first, they’re getting the hell out of here. Let’s go. Trina tells Josslyn to go. They’ll talk later; she’s here for Josslyn. They leave, and Trina’s phone dings. It’s a text from Spencer that says: Heard about the video. Are u ok?
Esme tells Spencer that she’s glad they left the cabin early. They could have been victims of Trina, amateur pornographer. Samuel tells Spencer, it’s time for routine room checks, and Spencer says, these take a while. Esme sees Ryan, and says, don’t worry; she’ll be here. Spencer leaves, and Harmony tells Ryan, that’s it for today. She’ll order him some nutrition before she finishes her shift. She asks if he’s warm enough, and he blinks once.
Harmony leaves, and Esme approaches Ryan. She asks if Ryan needs something. She can get an orderly. He seems distressed. Through clenched teeth, barely moving his mouth, he says, what they hell are you doing?
Tomorrow, Sasha asks if Brando has changed his mind about getting married; Sam tells Dante, there might be a problem with the plan; Drew tells Victor that his timing couldn’t be better; and Maxie tells Britt, don’t do that.
The Real Housewives of New Jersey
Teresa bitched to Luis that the women were coming for her. They were always right, and she was always wrong. She didn’t want to fight with her family. Back at the house, Traci told the others, all she said was Teresa should be more vocal in supporting her brother. In Teresa’s interview, she said, Traci didn’t know her or what goes on in her family. She needed to step away. Joe #2 and Melissa followed Teresa and Luis down to the dock, and Joe said, sometimes he wanted a sister. Jennifer had called him a crook when he works like a dog. If someone had said the same about Teresa, he’d defend her. Jennifer was evil. Teresa said she didn’t think Jennifer was a bad person, and in Joe’s interview, he said this was coming from the woman yelled at Marge for asking questions. In Melissa’s interview, she said it was ripping the family apart, and Teresa didn’t get it. It was the usual ridiculous amount of hypocrisy. She was done. Joe said Teresa should have his back; that’s what brothers and sisters did. Back at the house, the party continued on, with pictures taken, food consumed, and lots of pinkness. Teresa and Luis came back, and Teresa told Tracy that she didn’t want to fight, but Tracy said, Joe was Teresa’s brother, and she should stand up for him. Teresa said when Marge brought up the video, Joe didn’t say anything, and Tracy said that was a different thing; Teresa’s friends were concerned. Teresa said she’d never seen the video, and in her interview, she said, she never watched it because she didn’t care, and Gia had never seen it either. In Marge’s interview, Marge said Teresa was full of sh*t. She didn’t believe Teresa and Gia hadn’t seen it, or Teresa wouldn’t be so upset. Teresa said they should respect it if she didn’t want to talk about something. She brought up Marge outing Bill on his affair, and Marge said, for years Jennifer had been saying horrible things about her. Everybody had an issue with Jennifer, and she’d pushed it to the limit.
At Jennifer’s house, it wasn’t so pink, and the kids played in the pool. Jennifer said they’d have their own pink party and family night, but in her interview, she said she was mad at Bill for not defending her. She was tired of putting on a brave face for the children, and pretending everything was okay when it was clearly not. Back in Pinkworld, Tiki was wondering what had happened, and Joe #2 said he loved Bill, but Jennifer put her hands on his wife, and Bill didn’t want to get involved. In Joe’s interview, he said, Jennifer had called him a crook, and kicked him out of their house. He and Bill were supposed to be friends. We saw some clips of good times with the guys, and Joe told them, that’s what the wolf pack is. Frank said, no matter what happened with the wives, they don’t let anything come between them. They called Luis over to join them in doing a shot. Melissa told Jackie that she loved them hanging out together. It was too bad Jennifer took Bill away.
Marge and Marge Sr. went out to lunch, and in Marge’s interview, she said, two weeks into the pandemic, Marge Sr. landed a gig with a wine distributor. Wine was essential to life as far as Marge Sr. was concerned. Marge wondered how they were going to find Marge Sr. a man. She was opinionated and it scared people. Marge Sr. said, and Marge wasn’t opinionated? and Marge said, rumor had it, she could be.
Teresa took Gia to Asbury Park, not far from where I live. Asbury Park was really cool, started going downhill, was a nightmare, and now it’s cool again. She and Gia had some ice cream, and talked about Gia’s first year anniversary with boyfriend Christian coming up. Gia said she wanted to take a helicopter ride around the city, and Teresa asked if Gia liked Luis, and Gia thought he and Teresa were moving too fast. In Gia’s interview, she said, when you were in the honeymoon stage, it was easy to just see the good.
Marge told Marge Sr., on the surface, Luis seemed great, but she heard things. We saw headlines about Luis facing a lawsuit for abuse, and having a playboy past. Marge said, it was hearsay, but Luis’s ex-fiancé implied he’d hit her in front of her kids. Teresa told Gia that she didn’t care what people thought. Marge brought up Luis’s past, but all she cared about were her children, Luis, and his children. Marge Sr. said she hoped it worked out for Teresa, and Marge said, her too.
Dolores’s mother Valerie and father Larry visited her townhouse, and she gave them the tour. She told them that she was up in the air about how long she’d be there. The house renovation fell behind because of covid, and now she felt afraid to leave. She’d never felt so peaceful. She loved the house where her kids grew up, but it also held some painful memories. Apparently, Frank had exhibited quite a bit of rage back in the day, and in Dolores’s interview, she said, she used to cry to her mother, but there were a lot of things she didn’t tell her dad. He’d been a cop, and would probably have wanted to strangle Frank. Thank God he’d cheated. She didn’t know if the yelling, screaming, and breaking things would have been enough for her to break up with him. She told her parents that Frank was moving back in, and we flashed back to the rule setting dinner. Then she reluctantly told them about breaking up with David, and there was a bit of a silence, broken by Larry saying, oh boy. It had been five years. Dolores said she went on vacations and to events by herself. David didn’t want a life outside of work. Larry said David was like his own, and Valerie said, they didn’t come better, but Dolores had the right to expect more. Dolores said she didn’t want life to pass her by, and Valerie said, Dolores had gone through a lot and survived.
Melissa went to the new property with Joe #2, and in her interview, she said they looked for a great property with a house to knock down. Even though it didn’t look like much now, it would have six bedrooms, and the kitchen would be bigger than the one she had. Joe showed her the plans, and they went out on the back porch where there was a humongous beehive. Melissa screeched and squealed, and flew off the porch. She noticed a broken window, and Joe said he’d broken it since she’d had the keys. He broke another one, and she was like, WTF? but he said they’d have to be broken anyway. She wanted to take a shot, but her rock just bounced off. She said it was hard to believe it was going to go from this to a big beautiful house. She loved her house, but was ready for a change. In Joe’s interview, he said that they’d been going through a rough time – we flashed back to that – and Melissa wanted to move. He loved the house, but changes in life kept it fresh. He was taking his time with building, and Melissa had designed it. They were having fun, and it was going to be like a new chapter.
Jennifer had a kickboxing instructor coming to the house for a session with her and Gabby. In Jennifer’s interview, she said she wasn’t big on working out, but her family decided to change to a healthier diet. It would fun to do something together that was also teaching them a healthy lifestyle change. Dolores was going to join them. She said her mother was extending her trip in Turkey, which didn’t thrill Olivia, but when Olivia was gone, Jennifer told Gabby that she was in no rush for grandma to get back. She was going to have a lot to tell her. In her interview, Jennifer said, they’d decided to tell Gabby about Bill’s affair, and wanted her to know they were in a place where they could talk about it, and everything was going to be okay. Her mother wouldn’t think Bill was the culprit, since she thought, men will be men, but she was going to be mad at Marge for bringing it to light. She told Gabby that grandma would want her to have revenge, and Gabby said, but it was ten years ago. The instructor arrived, and Jennifer told Gabby that she and dad were good. They were going to get through this. I want to like her, but she is really awful.
Dolores came shortly afterward, and they started with squats. Ugh. I hate squats. They used the heavy bag and the instructor sparred with them, and in Jennifer’s interview, she said she thought it was a great idea. It was releasing a lot of tension. She just pictured Marge as a punching bag, and got some good jabs in there. The instructor said they looked fantastic and did well, and Dolores said she’d take it over a therapist. When the instructor left, Dolores told Jennifer that an abnormality had been discovered when her mother took a stress test. She was going to need an angioplasty. Jennifer asked about David, and Dolores said they’d talked every day when they were going out, and when she texted, saying they hadn’t talked in a while, he said he thought there was nothing left to say. He was still in contact with the kids, and was hanging out with everyone but her. She was avoiding him by not going to the hospital, but she’d also wanted to talk to Jennifer. Jennifer said she’d been hoping she and Melissa would get to a better place, but Melissa got confrontational. And thanks to Marge, Jennifer had to tell everyone about Bill cheating. In Dolores’s interview, she said, Frank cheated on her when she was pregnant with Frankie, and she’d felt shame, wondering if she wasn’t good enough. Jennifer told Dolores, Joe #2 said he loved Bill, but couldn’t stand his wife, and Bill was a p*ssy, not saying a word all night. For ten years, she’d put him on a pedestal. If she saw Bill was being ganged up on, she’d say, if you disrespect him, you disrespect me. He betrayed her once, and was doing it again. Dolores asked if Jennifer was still mad about the affair, and Jennifer said, at this point, she was numb. She dealt with it the only way she knew how, and thought if she forgave Bill, they should never talk about it again. Maybe she hadn’t gotten over it. Dolores said Jennifer’s Cinderella dream was thrown off a cliff. She might still be angry. Jennifer wondered, since she’d decided to move on at the time, was it okay to change her mind? Dolores said, Bill was a reasonable guy, and if Jennifer needed to deal with it, speaking to him might be cathartic. Dolores’s brother called, and told her that Valerie had a 90% blockage. A triple bypass had been scheduled. Dolores told Jennifer that her family was crumbling.
The guys got ready for their night out, and Marge picked out a shirt for Joe #3, which her teeny tiny pup immediately took up residence on. She told him to wear extra cologne. Teresa asked if Luis was looking forward to it, and he said he was nervous. Teresa said she was staying out of the Bill thing, since she didn’t want Joe #2 to think she was taking sides. Bill told Jennifer that obviously, Joe #2 brought the girl drama. Even told Jackie that he didn’t hold Bill responsible for Jennifer’s behavior, and Jackie said she hoped he could admit what his wife did was terrible. The guys met at a restaurant, where Frank ordered an appletini, and Joe #3 said, Frank could crush apples with his biceps. Tiki asked Joe #2 what was up with Luis, and Joe said, supposedly he’d smacked around his ex in front of her kids. He didn’t know what to believe. In Joe #2’s interview, he said, what if the rumors were true, and he’d given Luis the benefit of the doubt? Joe #3 said, when there were witnesses, that was bad. Teresa was in love and it was making her blind. Tiki thought Joe #2 needed to have a conversation with Luis, and wondered if Bill was coming. Frank said, Bill hadn’t responded to the group text, but Joe #2 had responded with, f*** you, Bill. Tiki said, the last thing dude needed was for his ass to be kicked again when he was going through this.
Bill showed up, and said he hadn’t been sure if Joe #2 was joking with the text. He’d thought they were cool, but a night like that changes a lot. He tried not to get involved in the women’s drama. Joe #2 said, Bill’s wife was out of control. What she’d said was dirty and disgusting, and she’d crossed the line. Bill asked if Marge didn’t cross the line. She’d done some digging, but Jennifer hadn’t. Evan said, oh yes she did. She was always trying to find stuff to hurt people. She was not a good person. Bill said he was done, and left. Evan said, bye. See ya.
To be continued…
🏖 Summer House is so awful, I’d literally wiped watching it from my mind immediately, and forgot to include it yesterday. Here are the highlights.
Carl wished Kyle would read the room sometimes. Good luck with that. Paige thought it was rude to go on a date with Adrian while she was talking to Craig, but didn’t know where she and Craig were at. Paige thought it was loser-ish to ask a guy where you were in a relationship, but Paige asked anyway. Craig told Paige that he felt saying they were exclusive at that moment might be too much pressure on him. Austen came to the house, and Ciara told him that she didn’t want Lindsay in his room, which Lindsay reacted to by spitting fire. Then Ciara made out with Austen at the bar to cinch the deal.
Carl invited new main squeeze McKenzie to Lindsay’s princess fairytale birthday party. Just in case you’re confused, no, she wasn’t turning 12; she was turning 35. It was McKenzie’s first time in the Hamptons, so double good luck with that for her in the house. The party décor was pretty impressive, and I loved the costumes, but it still seemed weird. Like, call it a Game of Thrones party or something. Kyle humped the unicorn floatie, proving once again that he shouldn’t drink, and McKenzie told Carl, it was hard to believe Amanda would be with that forever. She was the luckiest girl alive.
This season, Craig wants to introduce Paige to his parents; lots of drinking; Carl and Lindsay hook up; Amanda and Kyle argue about a prenup; lots of fighting, more drinking, and throwing things. In other words, it continues to be just as awful. Maybe Jennifer should move in.
🌉 Once More Unto the Breach…
Drop in tomorrow for a dash of soap and OC happenings. Until then, stay safe, stay viewing your cup as half full, and stay believing someone if they show you who they are.
(rambling, random thoughts & annoyingly detailed recaps from real time TV watching)
General Hospital
Finn comes downstairs, telling Elizabeth that her shower has great water pressure, and she says, Franco had just put in a new head. Sometimes it’s like he’s still here, all around us. Finn says, or so someone wants her to believe.
Sasha tells Brando, it’s so beautiful here; so peaceful. She doesn’t want to go back to the real world. She doesn’t want this trip to end. He says he wishes he could give her that, but what he can try to do, is make the real world just as special. She asks how he plans on doing that, and he says he’s planning on spending the rest of his life with her. She says, let’s do it, and he says, do what? She says, let’s get married – today. He says, they’ll just elope somewhere… She’s not kidding, is she? She says, the aisles, the I dos, the ring, the works. The two of them going to the chapel. He says, today? and she says, today. He says he doesn’t know what to say, and she says, here’s a hint; say yes.
As she shows Curtis and Portia the house, Lucy says, four bedrooms, four bathrooms, high end finishes everywhere, state of the art appliances, and – wait for it – your own dock. The lot is so private, they have no neighbors close by, and total waterfront access. Portia asks if the dock comes with a yacht, and Lucy says, sorry. Luxury watercraft sold separately. Portia says, good, because that would make it just a little too good to be true. Lucy says, it is too good to be true; this place is amazing. She just needs to mention one little thing. A smokin’ hot legal eagle divulged to her that a certain don is also in the market for new digs.
Carly waits for the elevator at the MetroCourt to open, and when it does, Sonny is there. He asks if it’s okay that he’s here, and she says, yeah. It’s a public place. She’ll make sure the hostess gets him a seat. He says he doesn’t need a table. He’s just here to see her. She says, they talked about this, and he says, it’s not about them. It’s about today. She says, it’s about Courtney.
Spencer puts flowers on his mother’s grave, and Trina walks through the cemetery. She asks what he’s doing out of Spring Ridge, and he says, it’s a long story. Is she alone? She asks, why? Is he planning on taking her hostage while he makes his getaway? He asks if she liked her gift, and she says, that’s what he wants to talk about right now? She guesses they’ll cover the jailbreak later. He says, excuse him for being glad to see her. Please tell him she’s not with anyone. She says, anyone who might rat him out… besides her?
Professor Kahn asks her disrupted class what’s more important than the lesson, and one of the students says, see for herself. He puts the video of Cameron and Josslyn having sex up on the screen at the front of the classroom. Everyone laughs, including Esme, and Josslyn says, turn it off. Kahn says, yes, of course (🍷), and yells to the kid to turn it off.
Portia says, Lucy really has a handle on all the details. Between her real estate career and Deception, how does she keep it all straight? Lucy says, it’s crazy, but she doesn’t mind it. She’s waiting for the impending IPO for Deception to come through. Then maybe she can let go of one of her two revenue streams, but until then, she’s not letting go of her precious leads. Portia says she appreciates Lucy showing them the place, and Lucy says, of course (🍷). Jax called her right away, and said he wanted to put the property back on the market. She didn’t want them to miss out. She couldn’t live with herself. She thinks it’s the perfect spot to start a family.
Sasha says, surprised? and Brando says, maybe a little. Don’t they need a license? She says, people elope all the time. They can hop on a plane to Vegas and get it. He says, she wants to go to Vegas? and she says they don’t have to. Niagara Falls is right here, and it’s notorious for quickie weddings. He asks if she’s not going to regret rushing this. None of their friends will be there, no family. She says she’s sure they’ll get an earful from them, but it’s fine with her, and he says, Niagara Falls it is then. She says, good, because he’s her family. He’s all the family she needs.
Kahn tells everyone to calm down, and says, clearly, they’re not going to get anything more done today, making me again wonder if this is really college. She tells them to look up a case for the next class, and dismisses them. Josslyn tells Kahn that she doesn’t know what to say, and Kahn tells her, she doesn’t have to say anything. Allow her to apologize. Cameron says, for what? and she says, one, for not thinking faster, and closing the video for the laptop, and two, for losing control of the situation. She’s so sorry everyone had to see it. Brian, the student who chose to share it with the room, will be disciplined. Having said that, she advises them to keep better track of their intimate personal files.
Spencer says, Trina’s not going to get in trouble, and she asks if he’s on a jail field trip, or did Spring Ridge let him out early for good behavior? He says, how would she know if he’s been well-behaved? It’s not like she visited. She says, first of all, his sentence is 30 days, and he says, it’s still prison. She says, secondly, and most important, do not make this about her. She’s not the one who snuck out of country club jail to tool around some old cemetery. He says, this is where his mother is buried, and she says, it is? He points to Courtney’s gravestone, and says, this is her grave, and visiting her on the anniversary of her death isn’t exactly his idea of tooling around. She says she didn’t realize it was today, and he says, it’s the first time in years he’s visited her in person. He sent sunflowers every year when he was in school. Even though he was away, he could feel her presence, not that it stopped him from completely screwing up his life. She says, at least now he’s making an effort to clean up his act, jailbreak notwithstanding. He says, he actually is. It’s just that this day, of all days, he wanted his mother to know that. So is Trina ever going to visit him or what? She hesitates, and they hear something. He says, don’t give him up. If anyone finds him here, they’ll send him straight to Pentenville. He ducks behind some bushes, and Trina sits on a bench, taking out her phone. Jordan walks by, and says, Trina.
Carly asks if Sonny would like a drink. It feels like a bloody Mary kind of day. He says, actually, he’s trying not to drink too much these days, and she says, that’s good. She’s sure Courtney would be happy about that. He says, Carly misses her, and Carly says, the MetroCourt is named after her; she thinks about Courtney every day. Courtney was her best friend. Best friends are hard to come by nowadays. He says he knows how she feels, and she says, does he really? He says, maybe this was a mistake; he’ll just go. She says, he can stay, and he says, he just thought Courtney was something they could share together. She says, they’re always going to be connected, and he says, yeah, through the kids. She says, they have a history together. They had a life together, and he still thinks Courtney is a good enough reason to seek her out. He asks what she’s saying, and she tells him that she’s saying it hurts when she sees him, so she should see him less.
Brando says, Sasha is his family too, but it’s so sudden. They never really discussed marriage… under their current circumstances. She flashes back to them saying goodbye to Liam, and says she knows they haven’t discussed marriage specifically, but they were planning a life together and know what they mean to each other. Unless… Have his feelings about her or them being together changed? He says, no, they’ve only gotten stronger, and she says, he doesn’t seem 100% sure. He says, it’s more like he feels like he missed an episode. He’s not opposed to them getting married, but there’s one thing he doesn’t understand. Why now?
Finn gives Elizabeth some coffee, and asks how she slept. She says she tossed and turned all night. And him? How’s the couch? He pats the couch, and says, they’re old pals by now, although it did take a moment for him to turn his head off. She says, this is going to sound crazy, but did he feel like he was being watched? Because she did. He says, not exactly, but he knows what she means. Finding out Betsy wasn’t behind all this was unsettling. She tells him, to say the least, and he says, so he stayed up most of the night trying to solve the problem, but her trouble sleeping has been going on for a while. She asks, what gave her away? The circles under her eyes? He says, they’re beautiful. He wonders if she’s spoken to her GP about maybe taking something, and she says she has and she is, but she doesn’t want to take anything stronger. She just really needs to turn her screens off earlier. He says, don’t they all? and asks if they boys are okay. She tells him, they say they are. Not that they would tell her if they weren’t. They’re all about projecting strength. He says, they’re worried about their mom, and she says she’s worried about them, especially Jake. He needs help, and she doesn’t think he can get it from her.
Trina tells Jordan, hi, and says, her mom told her Jordan was back. Jordan says, live and in person. Is she interrupting? Trina says, interrupting? and Jordan says she heard voices. Was Trina talking to someone? Um… she has her phone in her hand, and this woman is Police Commissioner? Trina says, herself. She’s taking voice notes for a course she’s taking on art and death. Jordan says, sounds cheerful, and Trina says, it is. Jordan would be surprised. That’s why she’s here. There’s so much more to cemeteries than death. Spencer listens in, pleased Trina is covering, and Jordan says, things are different than when she was in college. They were just shown slides, and called it a day. Trina asks how Jordan’s been doing; all better? Jordan says, and ready to get back to it, and Trina says, bad guys are officially on notice? Jordan says, damn right, and Trina says she’ll let Jordan get back to it. Jordan asks if Trina is sure she’s okay, and Trina says, positive. Jordan says it’s good to see her, and moves on. Spencer comes out and thanks Trina, saying, he knew he could count on her. That story about being here for school… She says she is here for school. Unlike him, her being there is not a felony. He should try it some time. He says he can’t thank her enough, she pushes him, and he falls to the ground.
Cameron wonders how that just happened, and Josslyn asks how there’s a video at all. Cameron says, and how did it get sent to their entire class? Josslyn looks at her phone, and says, everyone is texting her; all of her friends. She doesn’t think it was just this class. He looks at his phone, and says, him too. Does she think it was sent to the entire school? She says, it’s in her email. There’s no message; just a file. He says, him too, but he doesn’t recognize this email. Does she? She says, of course (🍷) not; what does he think? He asks why she’s yelling at him, and she says, their entire class just saw them having sex. Their professor saw it, and God knows who else. He says, this is freaking him out too. It’s not like he made the video and sent it out to everyone… Wait. Is that what she thinks he did? In the hallway listening, Esme laughs.
Sasha says she sees no reason why they should wait, and Brando says, he wants to marry her more than anything, but a part of him wonders if she’s asking now because it’s what she truly wants, or she might be distracting herself from something they’re both truly missing. Is it about them, or is it about Liam?
Finn tells Elizabeth not to sell herself short. She’s single-handedly raising three amazing young dudes. She says, one of whom might be taking a page out of Spencer Cassadine’s playbook, and he asks if she means trying to break them up. She says, and unnerving the entire family in the process, but he says, they don’t know it’s Jake. She says, but they both think it could be, and he says, he’s just trying to approach this as logically as possible. That way, they can rule Jake out sooner. She says, and if it is him, they can put a stop to things before it goes any further. He says, at least they’ve eliminated the most obvious suspect, and she says, Betsy. Jake has been through so much. Losing Franco and Jason in the same year, not to mention all the years he spent on Cassadine Island. Finn says, his history and his behavior might lead Elizabeth to think he’s involved, but it’s not a given. It could be someone from Franco’s past. He wasn’t exactly a saint. She says, that’s putting it mildly, and he says he’s sure there’s some people out there who Franco wronged who are still angry; yet, it could be someone completely unknown to them. She says, believe it or not, a complete stranger in her house messing with her things, setting fire to Franco’s studio, and bringing that – she indicates the portrait – in here isn’t comforting. He says, sorry. His bedside manner… She says, is horrible. He says, yes. People have complained. Lots and lots of complaints. She laughs, and he says, they should do something about this. She says, such as? and he says, such as a road trip, a change of scenery. Why don’t they go somewhere warm? There’s good therapists everywhere. Maybe they could find someone by the beach, and take off for few weeks; her and the boys, him and Violet… She says she can’t go anywhere with him.
Curtis says, great spot, and Portia says, it’s stunning. He says he’s just not sure he wants to get in a bidding war with Sonny, but Lucy says, that can absolutely be avoided. She has this listing exclusively, and she hasn’t even publicized it. She an tell them for certain Jax would literally rather sell it to anyone else but Sonny. So clear their heads. She wants them to picture a hot summer day, smell the sea air; it’s so wonderful. Picture themselves lolling in a hammock, drinking a lemonade, or perhaps the beverage of their choice, watching the boats go drifting by… It sounds so good, she might even buy this place herself. She tells them to take their time, and makes herself scarce. Portia says she’s not a hammock kind of gal, but this is a nice house, and Curtis says, very. It’s a lot of space. She asks if that isn’t a good thing, and he says, there’s only two of them. Is she sure they need three extra bedrooms? She says, they could make an office, maybe a home gym. Trina’s going to need a room, at least for a few more years. He says, that’s true, but it leaves two extra bedrooms, and she says, or just one. Maybe they could leave a room for his father.
Jordan brushes the leaves off a gravestone, and asks how her old partner is doing. She’s sorry she hasn’t visited in so long, but she’ll tell him the same thing she told Bob; never again. She doesn’t just mean the time between visits. She promises to do the job they all swore to do; to protect and serve and uphold the law. She’s back, and the bad guys are on notice. She kisses her fingers, and places them on the stone.
Sonny says he doesn’t like to be the reason Carly is hurting, and she says, he’s not the only reason. He says, there was a time she didn’t see him at all. Maybe they should go back to that, where he’s like dead to her. She says, Nina would love that, right? and he says, whatever she wants, just say the word, and he’ll make it happen. If she doesn’t want him here, and he’ll be gone. When he picks up Donna or drops her off, she doesn’t have to be there. When she wants to visit Morgan at the cemetery, they’ll pick dates. Whatever she wants, they’ll do.
Spencer says he’s sorry he put Trina in that position, and she says, good luck with his escape, but he says he didn’t escape. It’s kind of a furlough. She says, if this was on the books, he wouldn’t have pressured her into lying for him, and he says his uncle arranged it. It’s his mother; have a heart. No one would have let him come out to see her; it’s such a short sentence. She says, exactly. He couldn’t have waited? No. Because he’s a spoiled rich brat who doesn’t know how good he’s got it. She couldn’t imagine skipping out on her prison sentence. It doesn’t seem very rehab to her, but he does as he pleases, with no regard to rules or consequences because it’s second nature to him; instinct. He says he knows. Privilege.
Cameron asks how Josslyn could think he’d do something like that. Esme continues to listen, and Josslyn says she doesn’t think that. Right now, she can’t think about anything, and he says, but she’s wondering, isn’t she? If he set up a hidden camera so he could secretly record their first time. Why would he do that? She says she doesn’t know, and he says he wouldn’t do that. Esme smiles broadly, and he asks if that’s who Josslyn thinks he really is. She says, of course (🍷) she doesn’t think that, and he asks if she’s sure. She says she’s sorry she made him feel like she doubted him. Her mind just froze, because someone recorded them without their knowledge in her stepfather’s cabin, none of which should be possible by the way, and it’s really freaking her out. He tells her, everything’s going to be fine. Does she think her brother and Nelle could have done it. They used the cabin, right? She says, no. That was years ago, and Michael? No. He asks, what about her stepfather? Could Sonny have some kind of secret camera set up? Esme hears them coming, and tries to jet, but Josslyn yanks her back by her backpack strap, and I laugh at the look on Esme’s face. Josslyn says, you going somewhere?
Trina says, she never thought see the day, Spencer Cassadine admitting to his own privilege. She guesses their previous conversations on this topic haven’t been completely lost on him, and he tells her, nothing she says has been lost on him. Being his friend must be exhausting. She says, that’s one way to put it. Fortunately, every time she says she’s going to give up on him, he does something that shows he might – might – be capable of evolving. He says, he man, she woman, poking her shoulder, and she tells him, never do that again. At least do his best not to try his patience. She has friends who aren’t currently in lockdown who are taxing enough.
Cameron comes out in the hallway, and Esme says, oh my God. She hopes they’re both okay. Josslyn says she just bets Esme does, and Esme says she was just waiting in the hallway. She figured they might need some time, but she stuck around to make sure both of them knew they had her complete support. Josslyn says, is that right? and Esme says, of course (🍷). What Brian did, showing their video to the entire class, was heinous. They should complain to the dean, and if they need a witness, she’ll be at the front of the line. Josslyn says Esme is such a giver, and Cameron says, the video wasn’t just played in front of the class. Seems like whoever did it, emailed a copy of the video to everyone. Esme says she knows; she got one too. Do they think there’s any way it could be unsent or something, or is it just out there for good for the whole world to look at and enjoy? Josslyn says, only one person is enjoying this; the bitch right in front of her.
Finn says Elizabeth is right. Forgive him. Of course (🍷) there’s no way they should be going anywhere together. She says she just doesn’t want to create more upheaval for Jake and Aiden, especially if Jake is the one behind what’s going on. Finn says, until all this gets settled, he can hunker down here, but she says she doesn’t want to uproot him and Violet, and Dante has a patrol coming by. He says he’d feel better being here, but she says she woudn’t. Getting close to him has been amazing, and she’s ready to move on from Franco, but she’s not sure the boys are. She thinks they need more time, and right now, they need their mom to put them first in her life. He says he understands. That’s kind of been his life with Violet; she needs to be first. He just wants her to know he’s okay coming in second, but she says, that doesn’t work for her either.
Brando asks Sasha if he ruined this. If he’s wrong, just say so. He just has a thought, and if putting it out there hurts her, he’d do anything to take it back. She says she asked, and he was honest. He deserves the same from her. She shows him a $10 chip, and says, her winnings from last night. Not much, right? For a long time, not much was what she was used to. Money, people, things all came and left, so she got used to going without. Not being attached to anything because nothing ever lasted long. She came to Port Charles with nothing to her name and zero expectations, and slowly that changed. She started to see maybe things could last. With Nina, with Michael and his family, with Deception, and most of all, with him and Liam. She doesn’t want to live with all that impermanence anymore. She takes his hands, and says, losing their son made her see that her life has become so full, and she wants to hold on to every bit of it so hard, so yes, asking him to marry her is about Liam, but it’s about him too; about them. She wants him and wants all the joy he brings to her life, and never wants to let him go.
Sonny says, however Carly wants it to be is the way it’s going to be, and she says, they agreed to be a team for the girls. She suggests they see if they can manage that, and he says, it’s a good first step. He tells her that he’s got to go, when Jordan walks in. Sonny says, welcome back, and Jordan says, same to him. Carly asks if she’s back on the job, and Jordan says, she’s getting caught up. She was sorry to hear about Jason. Carly thanks her, and Sonny says, it was a big loss. Jordan says, she knows. Cyrus Renault might be walking free today if it hadn’t been for Jason, and Carly. Carly says, Jordan’s no slouch either; she’d say it was a team effort. Jordan says, it was, one that came with shared sacrifice. Carly put herself on the line, letting Cyrus know she was in charge of Sonny’s business while he was out of the picture. Sonny says, well, he’s back, and Carly is focused on the hotel. Jordan asks what he’s focused on, he says, his coffee business, and they smile. He says, they can talk business if she wants, and Carly says she’s going to run her hotel business, and leave them to it. She goes back to the bar, and Sonny says, as he recalls, they got along much better when they worked together. She says, they did. That was when they had a common enemy. Now Cyrus is out of the picture, and his cooperation is over.
Curtis says, they haven’t even made a bid on the house, and Portia has Marshall moving in with them? She says she was thinking more like a dedicated guest room. It does seem like he and Marshall are getting along better these days, and he says, they are, but it’s more a no-longer-want-to-punch-a-hole-in-the-wall kind of better; not can-you-move-in-to-our-dedicated-guest-room better. They still have a long way to go; Marshall has 40 years to account for. She says, maybe they can manifest some father and son bonding. Maybe some bonfires on the beach, a holiday barbecue now and then. He laughs and takes her hands, saying, she really wants this house, doesn’t she? and she says, it is a lot of space, but they’ve got a lot of life and love to fill it with. That’s the way she sees anyway. What about him? What is he thinking?
Spencer says, Trina must be referring to Josslyn. That woman is always about the drama. Trina says she’s not getting into this with him. He’s got to get back to Spring Ridge. He says, if they can both keep quiet about running into each other there, neither one of them will get into trouble for it. She says, unless Jordan doubles back, and he says he should get back to prison. She tells him, be careful. He’s so close to the end of his sentence, and she bets his mom would be the first to say not to mess it up now. He says he bets she’s right. Besides, he wouldn’t want to miss the party she’s throwing him when he’s released. She says, party? He’ll be lucky if he gets so much as a cookie. He says he likes ginger snaps, and she says, he would. He tells her, she didn’t say if she liked his gift, and she says, finish his sentence, then she’ll give him her review, and she leaves.
Esme says, sorry. She doesn’t get her jollies from low-fi armature porn. Cameron says, maybe not, and Josslyn says, but Esme does get off from sticking it to her and Cameron. Esme says, they’re in a bad place right now, so it’s not surprising they’d take this out on her, but it’s a shame. All she wanted was to be their friend, and from the looks of it, they’re going to need all the friends they can get. Cameron says, with friends like her… Josslyn says, who needs pornographers? Esme says, most people find it hard to rebound when their sex tape goes into wide release online for the world to see, but if they want her support, she’ll gladly give it to them. Cameron asks if that’s why she did this; so they’d want her comfort and support after she completely screwed them over? Esme says she tried, and Josslyn says, tried what? To convince them once and for all she’s a sociopath? She succeeded. Esme says she doesn’t have to take this abuse, and Josslyn says she’ll show Esme abuse. Esme asks how Josslyn can be this cruel, and Josslyn says, because Esme is the one who did this.
Sasha says, that was probably a lot for Brando. If he wants to take a step back and reevaluate… He says, the answer to her question is yes. He’ll marry her today, tomorrow, in Niagara Falls, in Las Vegas; wherever, whenever she wants, he’s hers. She laughs and they kiss. She asks if they’re really doing this, and he says, not if they don’t get themselves in gear, get over the border and get to a chapel. She tells him, use the shower, and she’ll look for possible venues.
Elizabeth tells Finn that her kids need her attention right now; her undivided attention. He says he gets it, and him being around, he gets it. She says she’s not asking him to wait for her, and he says she doesn’t have to because he was probably going to do that anyway. Not forever, just like 100 years, 200 tops, but then, he’s walking. She laughs, and he hugs her. He says, in case he wasn’t clear, she’s worth waiting for. He says he’ll see her and leaves, and she looks at the portrait.
Portia asks what Curtis thinks, when Lucy comes back. She’s on the phone, and says, he’d better get home soon because she can’t wait to gobble his cobbler. Curtis says, she’s back, and Lucy says, indeed she is. Do they have any questions? Curtis says, just one, for Portia. Is she ready for that boat life? Portia asks if he’s serious, and he says, let the bidding begin. Portia squeals, Lucy applauds, and Curtis and Portia kiss.
Sonny says he thought he and Jordan were a good team, especially when he was helping her when Cyrus was blackmailing her. She says she thanked him then, and thanks him now, and he says, but her gratitude is limited? She says, it is, which is why she’s offering this token of her appreciation. She considers the slate swiped clean. As far as she’s concerned, the past is just that. He asks what the future looks like, and she says, they have a chance to move forward. Sonny says, as long as he behaves? and she says, just be a good citizen. Maybe it will be easier now that he’s sampled a simpler life. He says, now that he’s back in stride, he’d prefer something a little more spicy, and she tells him, you do you, and so will I. I want badly to make a joke here, but I’ll let it go – too easy. She says, just know, whatever happens next, she won’t be looking the other way.
Sasha fishes the pills out of her bag, and takes another one.
Spencer says, the next time his mother sees him, he’ll be a free man; one she can be proud of. He touches her gravestone, and leaves.
Esme says, how dare they blame her for this? and Josslyn says, because she did it. Esme says, typical Josslyn, record her first time, share it with the world, and blame her. Cameron says, they didn’t make the video, and Josslyn says, Esme did. Esme asks, how? Explain that to her. Josslyn says, how about if they start with Esme constantly trying to push her and Cameron into bed? and Esme says, they’re college freshman. If they need to be pushed into bed, she recommends seeing a doctor. Josslyn says, it’s all Esme talked about for weeks; she couldn’t have been more obvious. Cameron says, actually, she could have. Esme went all in with it at the cabin. Esme asks when she had time. They practically forced her and Spencer to leave. Josslyn says, Esme stayed long enough to piss everyone off with her drinking game, and Esme says, which she apologized for. Josslyn says, the only reason Esme apologizes to anyone is so she can manipulate them again, and again. Esme says she doesn’t know what’s sadder; Josslyn not taking responsibility for taping her revolting little spectacle and sending it out – Cameron says, they didn’t even know it existed – or that Josslyn can’t do a halfway decent job of blaming her. If she’s so hellbent on blaming someone, don’t look at her; she wasn’t there. Why doesn’t she ask someone who was? They turn around, and Trina has walked in.
Tomorrow, Drew wants to find out what someone’s objective is (probably Victor); Victor says Ava is just making things worse; Maxie asks if Britt can forgive her secrets; and Trina asks, who the hell is Esme calling dysfunctional?
🤷🏽 Is it me? As Scotty would say, for cryin’ out loud, why such a bizarre reaction to the video by Cameron and Josslyn’s peers? It’s not like they had a goat with them or something. Are college kids 12 now? I just can’t see it being so hilarious to people of college age. And Cameron and Josslyn’s friends would all ditch them because…? The only thing they should really be concerned about is someone distributing it and making money. In which case, they need to make sure to get a cut.
Below Deck Sailing Yacht
We backtracked a little, and Ashley tells Tom that she feels she’s more mature than he is. Tom insists that just because he got f***ed up the first night, doesn’t mean he’s not mature. In Ashley’s interview, she says she’s not into guys her age. Get over it. If she changes her mind, she’ll let him know. Tom whines that he’s not a f***ing child. Ashley tells Kelsie, Tom’s having a meltdown, and Tom grumbles to Colin and Gary. Colin says, Tom has a crush, and he can’t wait for them to have make-up sex.
In the morning, Ashley says she feels like sh*t. She’s got to stop drinking tequila. Colin also admits to a hangover. Daisy tells Ashley to vacuum, and Ashley makes an exasperated sound. In Gabriela’s interview, she says, Ashley makes a big stink over things when she doesn’t have to. Tom tells Gary that maybe he heard the whole thing wrong… or maybe he didn’t like what Ashley said. Gary thinks Tom should clear the air. Everyone does what they need to do in turning the boat over. Ashley bitches to Marcos about not wanting to date guys her age, and being entitled to her opinion. In Marcos’s interview, he says, to be young again. When he was young, he’d worked a charter with all women crew members, and had sex with everyone, but nobody knew. Until one day, they started drinking and ended up wanting to burn him alive. He says, they’ll learn the hard way. Captain Glenn calls Daisy, Gary, and Marcos to the crew mess for the preference sheet meeting.
Glenn gives them the sheets upside down, and when they’re flipped over, it’s a collective, noooo. It’s returning primary Erica and her mother Cindi. Marcos doesn’t know who they are, and, being generous, Glenn says, they’re very interesting. We flash back, and it’s the rude blonde girl with a Kim Kardashian voice from last season. The husbands are coming, along with some new friends who want to experience the luxury and adventure of sailing in the Mediterranean. Glenn says, since the husbands are coming, it could be different. Because there are seven guests, they want the master divided, so Erica and her husband will be separated from her mother. Glenn doesn’t think it’s feasible to use the divider they have on board, since it hasn’t been used in years, but maybe they can hang something. The guests want a steak dinner, and a boozy beach party, as well as a party to celebrate each decade they’ve been through. Erica also expects a higher level of service than they received last season. In Daisy’s interview, she says, these people are disrespectful, exhausting, emotionally draining, and unpredictable, which is scary.
Glenn and Gary work on devising something to separate the rooms, while Daisy tells the stews what a horror show the guest were last time. She explains that Erica wanted her luggage unpacked, and there was so much luggage. She says, their cabins were vile, and we flashed back to that. She tells them, be prepared. Gary phones around to find material, and Daisy calls for scotch and cigars. Gary wants Tom to sort things out with Ashley, and in Gary’s interview, he says, a little argument can turn into a massive thing on a boat. Tom tries to radio Ashley, who isn’t picking up, so he hunts her down. He tells her that he’s sorry about last night, and she says, she gets it, but she got angry since she’s allowed to have her opinion. In Tom’s interview, he says, Gary is 32, and he’s Gary. Tom might not be everyone’s cup of tea, but his mom would tell you that he’s a catch. He and Ashley hug it out. Gary goes over stuff with the deckhands, and Gabriela discovers the bar is a mess. She cleans it, mumbling, that’s what she makes a list for. She chants, I’m pissed, I’m pissed, I’m pissed. Meanwhile, Ashley is in the crew mess talking to Daisy about décor as she stuffs her face. Gabriela confronts Ashley about not doing what was on the list, saying, she guesses Ashley thinks the bar isn’t important, but Daisy tells her, it will be fine. In Daisy’s interview, she says she’s hoping they could tell she doesn’t want to hear it. They’re on ego trips, and better find a way to work with each other. Gabriela goes up on deck with Gary to grab a smoke, and asks what she should do. Ashley wants to be second stew, and she thinks Ashley is trying to make her look bad. Gary tells her, calling someone out in front of the crew isn’t a good look, and in his interview, he says, your problem becomes everyone else’s problem. Pull up your socks and say sorry. Gabriela says she’ll apologize, and approaches Ashley, who’s busy on her phone instead of working. Gabriela says, calling Ashley out wasn’t cool, but she was nervous about everything getting done. Ashley says, it was uncalled for, but Gabriela says, it was rude, but not uncalled for. Ashley says she thinks having titles is obsolete, and Gabriela says, when Ashley doesn’t do what she’s told and jumps over her, it makes her look bad. Ashley insists talking to Daisy wasn’t jumping over Gabriela, and in Gabriela’s interview, she says, so much for taking the high road. Ashley says, the mentality she’s going with is that they’re on a level playing field, and in Ashley’s interview, she says, Gabriela isn’t her boss; she’s not chief stew. Gabriela asks if they’re good, and Ashley says, it’s fine. I decide Ashley is a real ashhole.
Ashley hopes the charter goes by fast, since she’s ready to have another night out. Marcos notes that the preference sheet for co-primary and Erica’s husband, Charles, says he likes everything. Tom suggests he highlight that to show Charles when Charles complains. Glenn announces there’s been an update. He got a text saying their guests were removed from their flight at Heathrow, and met by the police. The brouhaha caused them to miss their connecting flight. That’s f***ing crazy. Daisy says she told him they were crazy, and he says, Cindi will be coming later, and picked up by the tender. In Daisy’s interview, she wonders, who gets kicked off a plane? Provisions come in, and I’m suddenly hungry. Gary cuts a door in the dividing material so there’s access to go between the makeshift rooms. Everyone does a final walkaround, and Marcos does fast feet in the galley. Gary hugs Daisy from behind and won’t let go. Glenn says the transom doesn’t look done; it has to be washed, rinsed, and shammy dried. He tells Kelsie, you can do all the work, but if it still looks like sh*t, it’s not done. In Glenn’s interview, he says, they can’t neglect certain things. He wants results, and it has to be perfect moving forward. The guests arrive, and Daisy repeats that she loves her job. Glenn says, oh God.
Erica says they’re at the point where they can give hugs, and Glenn says he’s happy to welcome them, and looking forward to having Cindi back. Erica says, she’s on her way, and Daisy gives the tour. The deckhands bring on a million bags. Erica declares the room division perfect, and tells Daisy that there was drama at the airport. Her mother was flying in economy class, and wanted the omelet that first class had where she and Charles were. She snuck into first class to get Charles’s omelet, and they were met by fully armed cops at the airport. I have the feeling there’s more to that story, and in Daisy’s interview, she says she doesn’t have the words. She tells them it will be a drama free charter, and the boat sets off.
On deck, Charles talks about his triple astrological tendencies, and says he comes off as peaceful, but he’s crazier than sh*t. Daisy asks if Erica would like them to unpack, and she asks Charles, when has she hung up things in her entire life? Daisy asks Ashley to unpack the master, and the sails go up. Sailing music plays in the background. You know the kind I mean. The boat starts to tilt, and things start falling. Ashley unpacks a wet bathing suit. Charles parks himself on the bed, and talks to Ashley while she unpacks, and talks, and talks. In Ashley’s interview, she says, oh my God. Pray for my sanity. She might lose her sh*t this charter. She suggests Charles check out the views, and he finally leaves. Marcos studies the preference sheets, and I go get some cheese and crackers during the commercial.
Colin realizes Tom didn’t take the pins out of the transom door before trying to open it. Tom says, it’s not a big deal, and in Colin’s interview, he says he doesn’t like Tom’s attitude.. Cindi is ready to be picked up, and Gary leaves in the tender. If you try to open the transom without removing the pins, you could damage the door. Then you can’t take people on and off the boat. It’s a serious thing Colin talks to Tom more calmly about the pins, and in Tom’s interview, he says he’s not much of a sailing expert, but he knows superyachts, and he’s not a moron. He’s going to forget tiny things; be patient. Cindi arrives, and I remember her. She wanted a massage, and one of the stews was certified, and gave her one. And she talked, and talked, and talked. Then the stews were talking about her, and Erica overheard. Marcos goes over the menu with Daisy, so she can double-check with the guests. Charles says, gazpacho sounds disgusting, and he doesn’t even want to be anywhere near it. In Daisy’s interview, she says, just tell her WTF they want. There’s definitely tension, and she’s trying to hold it off, because it will be her who has to deal with it. She tells Marcos that Charles and Cindi are not into the gazpacho, and he says he’ll make a salad. Erica beelines to the galley, and Marcos tells her the rest of the menu. One of the courses contains broccoli mousse, and she asks there’s any way he can make it not mousse. In Marcos’s interview, he says he gets it now. Just because they have fancy clothes and are on a fancy boat, doesn’t mean they have fancy tastebuds. Gabriela feels the vibe is different from the last charter, and she’s not wrong. Tom bitches, and Gary helps wash dishes in the galley.
Charles paces on deck, making me think an impending storm is brewing. Ashley makes a drink for Cindi, and Gabriela gets a load of the master, which is already a mess. In Gabriela’s interview, she says, holy sh*t, dude. So gross. The guests sit for dinner, and Glenn hunts for gummi bears in the crew mess. Marcos presents grilled vegetables and marinated steak. Charles says, at first, he didn’t know if he liked it, but it turned out that he did like it. Erika says that she doesn’t like any pink in her steak; she wants medium, no pink. Charles says he thinks she means medium well, and in his interview, Marcos says, this cannot keep happening. He takes the steak back to the galley, and returns with another one, done medium well. When they finish, Cindi says, it’s a man’s dinner, and Charles says, it’s one of the best steaks he’s eaten. This is in the top five dinners of his life. Erica tells Daisy that they’d like brunch tomorrow, and Daisy tells Marcos, brunch at the beach; no breakfast and no lunch.
In Marcos’s interview, he says, messing up Erica’s steak sucks. He’s going to pay close attention. He’s making simple food for simple tastebuds. When the guests get up, Charles immediately starts bitching about waiting until 11 to eat. Daisy asks him to let her know what he’d like, and suggests an omelet. In Daisy’s interview, she says, she’s so confused. Not only was it on the preference sheet, didn’t he confirm it with the co-primary, his wife? Cindi asks for bacon and poached eggs. Daisy brings Charles and omelet, and he examines it like it’s a bug under a microscope. He says he wants another one; there are ingredients he didn’t order, like tomatoes. Daisy brings it back to Marcos, and tells him to just include bacon, onion, and cheese. At the table, Charles starts complaining that the food isn’t even as good as Chili’s; it’s worse than bad. Cindi retroactively gripes about her steak, and Erica tells Daisy that Charles is disappointed. Charles says he’s disgusted. Gabriela tells Ashley that he’s just an entitled a-hole, and Charles doesn’t like the next omelet either. In her interview, Daisy says, he was raving about the food last night. This guy is just looking for a fight. He’s uncultured, unmannered, and untraveled. He can go f*** himself. Charles rants that he’s had better food at the ballpark.
We actually have a local ballpark – go BlueClaws! – that has very decent food, but highly doubtful it’s better than Marco’s food.
Next time, the beach; Glenn says, it looks like someone sh*t their pants on the sofa; Marcos gets a head injury; and a drunk Daisy kisses Gary
⛵️ The Bloom Is Off the Rose…
I couldn’t find out what exactly happened at the airport, but there was some info on Erica out there. Apparently, she’s no stranger to reality TV.
Come by and take a break tomorrow, and check out some soap and drama with the RHONJ husbands. Yes, I said husbands. Until then, stay safe, stay on an even keel, and stay not being too unpredictable. It scares people.
(rambling, random thoughts & annoyingly detailed recaps from real time TV watching)
The Walking Dead
Eugene wakes up, and Stephanie is next to him, reading his manuscript. He asks, what in the name of little Billy goats is she doing? She says she’s almost finished, and he says, on the other hand he’s nowhere near finished. Several early scenes without context will be made clear in subsequent chapters. She says she loves it; she’s proud of him. He says he went to get some knives sharpened and was thinking of her, and she asks if she should be alarmed. He says, his thoughts were not homicidal; the cutter was also a key maker. He wants to see more of her, and knows her job is taking up time, so he wants to make it easier. He gives her the key to his apartment, and says he loves her. She says she loves him too, and they kiss. Eugene walks out, manuscript in hand, and she waves from the fire escape.
Eugene tells Princess that he and Stephanie are meeting for ice cream, and he’s uncertain what his follow-up move should be. What transpired was a positive outcome, but he can’t conceive what comes next. Princess asks if he said he loved her, and he says, affirmative, and she told him that she loved him too. Princess tells him, then relax. When a woman tells you she loves you, believe her.
Eugene sits at a table outside, holding two ice cream cones, and smiles. He’s still sitting there, alone, when darkness falls, the ice cream has melted, and he’s no longer smiling.
Eugene goes to Stephanie’s apartment building, and sees a light on inside. He rings the bell, but there’s no answer, and when a man comes out, he uses the opportunity to get inside the building. He knocks on her door, and asks if she’s there. He keeps knocking and calling to her, but inside the apartment, she’s quickly tossing clothes into a suitcase.
In the newspaper office, Connie looks at what’s being printed, and signs to Kelly while Kelly interprets to Jan. Connie signs, it doesn’t look good. Tyler Davis has a story to tell, and wouldn’t risk being locked up. Jan says, he didn’t. There’s a statement from his doctor backing up that he had a PTSD episode. Connie signs that she doesn’t trust the military. Something happened to Tyler; something he blames Pamela Milton for, and was worth confronting her in public over. They clearly have a reputation for suppressing the truth. Jan says, that’s one interpretation. The other is that Tyler had a mental crisis, and it’s the only interpretation backed by the facts. Connie signs, and Kelly says, she should be… Kelly stops, and Connie looks at her, continuing to sign. Kelly says, Connie thinks she should be finding out what really happened, instead of paraphrasing the government’s press release, but Jan says, no. She wants Connie to paraphrase it so next time, she doesn’t have to.
Eugene confronts the guy who’s filling in for Stephanie at her job. Eugene says, no one has seen or talked to Stephanie. How could she have called in sick? The guy says, all he knows is, he was told to be there because she didn’t show up.
Kelly asks if Connie is sure; Tyler took a hostage. Connie signs that he was afraid for his life, and Kelly says she’s been afraid for her life too, but never took an innocent hostage. Connie wants to know what Milton did to cause this, because they’re keeping it a secret. The guard tells them, it’s a private room, and translating Connie’s signing, Kelly asks if Tyler has a lawyer, and what the charges are against him. Mercer opens the door from inside, looks at them, and closes it again.
Rosita and Green make a wellness check at Stephanie’s apartment. They come out, and Rosita tells Eugene, she’s not there. He thinks he should make a statement immediately, so he can recount the details while they’re fresh in his mind. Rosita says she’ll come to the station and help him fill out the paperwork. He looks up at Stephanie’s window, and remembers her waving to him.
Carol rides on a road through the woods in a wagon driven by Lance, while troopers stab any zombies that get in their way. Lance says, it might sound crazy, but he feels better out here than in the city. She says, it doesn’t sound crazy; a lot of her people feel that way. He says, she still sees it as her people and his people. He wants her see how the place works, and wants her to be part of it. He’s done fairly well, but didn’t start out at the top. The governor runs the city, but he knows how it runs. She asks if he started at the bottom, and he says he proved himself to the Milton family a long time ago. If you know the right people, the sky’s the limit. Lean climbing up in any organization, there are two types of people. Mercenaries, who are doing it for the money, or whatever psychological itch they have to scratch, and patrons, true believers, the ones who want to do good. In their hearts, they believe in the organization. She asks if he wants to make a true believer out of her, and he says he read her file. She’s there because she’s smart, and he needs her help dealing with this a-hole, but what she gets out of it is up to her.
They come to a clearing where a lot of people are milling around a camp, and Carol asks if they’re smugglers or drug dealers, and Lance says, smugglers, but it’s not what she thinks. This place isn’t part of the Commonwealth, but they need each other. The Commonwealth uses the poppies to make opium for the hospital. Things would be bleak if they ran out, so he makes sure that doesn’t happen. Sometimes it means dealing with guys like Moto. Lance approaches a guy, who says he told Lance this would happen. Lance says, Moto is supposed to be managing it, and Moto says, he told them to process the last batch, but they’re holding this harvest hostage. They’ll let it rot without a raise. Lance says, he’ll see what he can do.
Kelly and Connie go up to a soldier among the team in the woods, and Kelly says, they’re with the Tribune. He tells them where to go, and Connie signs, this is bullsh*t. Jan knows how she feels about militarizing the police. Kelly suggests if Connie doesn’t want to be on Jan’s bad side, do it just one time. They see Mercer getting in his truck, and he and Connie lock eyes for a moment.
Princess knocks on Eugene’s door, and says she hasn’t seen him in a few days. How’s he holding up? He says he’s functioning within the relative parameters, and she says she can see that, calling him an a-hole. Let her in; she brought lasagna. She comes inside, and sees a chart like detectives make, with threads going to different pictures and articles. He says the dish is empty, and she says, sorry. She didn’t make lasagna, but people always let you in if you’re carrying food. She asks, what’s up? and he says, since they gave up the search, he decided to investigate Stephanie’s disappearance himself. Truth be told, as the hours ticked by with nary a breadcrumb found, he let despair get the best of him, until a chance encounter put him on her trail. Eugene remembers drinking in a bar, and seeing the guy who came out of Stephanie’s building go past. He goes outside, and approaches the guy, saying, he needs to talk to him. He saw the guy coming out of 1634 Racine, an apartment in Residential 1, three days ago, at 7 in the pm. The guy says he doesn’t remember being there, and Eugene says, someone dear to him has gone missing from there, and he might have seen something. The guy asks, where? and Eugene says, Residential 1, three days ago, at approximately 7 in the pm. The guy says he remembers now. He’s a plumber, and was called in to fix a clogged sink. Eugene points to a missing poster with a drawing of Stephanie, and asks if he remembers seeing her, or anything suspicious in or around the premises. The guy says, no. Are they done? Eugene says he sincerely apologizes for troubling him, and wishes they could talk another time, but the guy is already walking away. Eugene tells Princess, needless to say, he greeted the story with skepticism. When he came out of the building, the guy was wearing no uniform and had no tools, and there were no service trucks around. The one person who was there had a flimsy alibi. So Eugene started following him. Princess asks what he found out, and he says, the guy’s name is Roman Calhoun, and he is definitely not a plumber.
Eugene tells Princess, they mostly conduct business at night; the base of the operations in the warehouse district. It’s a plumbing business that on the surface seems legitimate, but the lights are on at odd hours when they’re closed. People go in and out all the time, but it’s the same four people. They arrive alone, and depart shortly afterward. On only one occasion did they all come together, and met with a fifth, who he thinks is the head honcho, the mastermind; maybe someone from a rogue element of the government that Stephanie ran afoul of. Princess asks if Eugene thinks Stephanie was kidnapped by the government, and he points to a drawing of a man who he calls, co-conspirator #2, aka Beany Hat Man. He belongs to the group of movers that took Stephanie’s belongings to an unknown location. The same day, he found a file at the station in Stephanie’s transcript saying she’d resigned, but the man who was filling in for her said she gave no notice. Such orders can’t falsified or fabricated without powerful influence. Stephanie knew they were coming for her, and eluded them. They took her belongings, anything that could be evidence, and silencing her is the last step. If he’s right, his only hope is to expose them before they find her.
Lance fishes with Moto, and says Moto’s hobby is also an apocalyptic skill. He can’t give them a raise, but he can meet them halfway with incentives. They more they produce, the more they make. Carol watches a woman watching them.
Two troopers are chased by zombies in the woods. They get to their car, but one is grabbed before he can get. He fends off the zombie, and stabs it in the neck, but another takes its place and gets him down. The zombie’s head suddenly splits open to reveal Mercer, who calmly walks away. Mercer asks if Connie saw what she needed to see, and she signs, more than enough. He says, then this is the part where she asks the questions they sent her, and she signs, it’s been a month since Tyler has been in the hospital under armed guard. What is he charged with? Mercer says, that’s not one of the questions, and she asks if it has anything to do with the woman Tyler took hostage being Mercer’s sister. He says he was wondering when she’d figure that out. For the record, the answer is, his sister doesn’t have a goddam thing to do with it. Connie signs, Tyler was loyal, and had been recommended for early promotion by Mercer. The military is being manipulated by the politicians. If she was him, she’d be interested in who she was risking her life for. He says, if he was her, he’d wonder why he was out there digging for answers that they both know will never see the light of day. He leaves, and Kelly signs, a-hole.
Eugene and Princess sit within watching distance of Roman’s apartment building. She tells him, it’s really cool how he’s doing so much for Stephanie, but he says, strike that; reverse that. He’s repaying what he owes. He made promise himself in the early days, when they thought this would blow over quickly. If he lived through this, he’d pursue his dream of being a science fiction author. He jokingly related that story to Stephanie over the radio, and she told him that he can’t wait until after he’s lived through it. Ready or not, right now is all they’ve got. It gave him the courage to do what he’s always wanted to do. When someone does that for you, words like love seem insufficient.
They see Roman leave to go jogging, and Eugene runs to the back of the building. Princess says, Eugene might want to break in, but she doesn’t want to get into trouble. She’s got a little job, and a little flat, and she might get a little cat. Eugene says, Roman will be gone for 90 minutes, and begs her, please. She relents, and he gives her a boost up.
Lance tells Moto that he’s sorry they can’t stay for the fish fry, and Moto says, next time. On the side, Lance asks what Carol thinks, and she says, Moto is robbing them. She talked to one of their lieutenants, and he’s pocketing the money from their raises, and beating them to keep quiet. He went too far, and that’s why they’re on strike. Lance says, they’ll get their money back and their raise; he promises. She says, what about Moto? and Lance says he’s not going fishing with Moto anymore, that’s for sure. He tells a couple of the troopers, take him into custody. They grab Moto, who says, what the hell? and calls Lance a mother pussbucket as they take him away. There are imperceptible nods between Carol and the watching woman.
Eugene looks around Roman’s apartment, and finds a set of keys. It starts to thunder, then rain, and Princess asks what this guy does when it rains on his 10 mile run? Eugene says, because of the lack of precipitation, he has not gathered that data, and she says, he has it now. He’s here. They have to get out. He tells her, count his range, but she says she’s not good at that, and he says, just tell him how much time he has. He fiddles with the keys, trying to open a large case, and she says she is telling him; he has no time. He opens the case, and they see a bunch of weapons. Roman goes into another apartment, and they sneak out. A woman says, she saw them on a ladder outside. That’s them.
At the hospital, Mercer finds Tyler’s room empty, and asks a nurse where the patient in M-33 is, and soldiers with him. She says, no one is in M-33, and he says he realizes that. What happened to the man who was in there? He can’t be moved without Mercer’s authorization. The nurse says, apparently he can, and Mercer punches a hole in the wall.
Eugene tells Princes that he’s sorry he manipulated her into accompanying him on his lamebrained mission. He told them she was an unwitting participant. Lance comes in, and says, he just got back to town. What the hell, you two?
Lance looks through some papers, and tells Eugene that Roman Calhoun is who he says he is, a plumber for Ruby’s. They’re lazy with the paperwork, but have a contract. According to the invoice, he was sent to fix a sink in the building where Eugene saw him. Princess asks, what about the kidnap kit? Those weapons are illegal. Lance says, for them. Roman is a citizen, and a lot of people have go bags. He told Eugene’s story about Stephanie to Calhoun, and explained the mental anguish Eugene was going through, and Calhoun agreed not to press charges, but Eugene has to leave him alone. He also has to sign a statement saying he was emotionally distraught and in a paranoid state following the disappearance of his girlfriend. He’s sorry it didn’t lead where Eugene thought it would. Eugene was wrong, and needs to accept it. If he doesn’t, Lance can’t help. Eugene signs.
Back at his apartment, Eugene tells Princess that he should have known the conspiracy goes deeper than he initially thought, but she says, none of this is happening, Stephanie broke up with him. He says, that’s absurd, and she says, she’d been thinking, what if he right was right, but the guy was a plumber. There was paperwork for Stephanie’s work transfer order, and the moving guys literally came and took her furniture. Maybe it’s not that complicated. He says, her first bit of advice to him was, when a woman says, I love you, believe her, and Princess says, when a woman quits job and moves away without telling maybe he should believe that too. He sits heavily, and she says, the day her dad had enough, he just split. She thought it was because she’d smoked his cigarettes. She never saw him again, so who knows? Maybe that was it. You can think you know someone, then find out you never even met them. It sucks, but it happens all the time. He says he appreciates how she reached that conclusion, but he’s privy to one piece of data she is not; he knows how it felt. She says, okay; it was just a theory. She pats his shoulder and leaves. He looks at the board, gets up, and takes a rendering of the plumbing building down.
In Connie’s room, Kelly says, Connie did her job, and that’s a good thing. They’re not going be here forever. Every day doesn’t have to be a fight. That’s what moving here temporarily is about. Connie signs, maybe, and her doorbell light blinks. She goes to the door, and no one is there, but she finds a note. She signs to Kelly that it’s a list of names. Look at the last one. Tyler Davis.
Eugene sneaks into the plumbing building and watches a woman go upstairs. He goes to the stairs, and hears a door open and close. He takes out a spray bottle. A man says, hey, and grabs Eugene, but Eugene throws him off and sprays his eyes. A woman flies out, and kicks Eugene in the stomach. She says she told the guy that she heard something. We see it’s Stephanie, and Lance comes downstairs. He says, he’ll handle it, and the others leave. Eugene says, you played me. Lance corroborated Calhoun’s bogus alibi, and Eugene was certain he was involved in covering up Stephanie’s disappearance. Now he realizes the depth of his self-delusion. Occam’s Razor should have led him to this conclusion, before a kick to the belly did. There was never any Stephanie, was there? Who is she? An undercover agent? A con artist who owes Lance a favor? She was very convincing. Lance used her to pull at his heartstrings, and trick him into telling Lance everything he wanted to know about the communities. It worked. She led him to the trainyard where they were captured by Lance. Lance thought he was easy mark, and split Eugene and his friends up, thinking he’d break, but he didn’t break. Then Stephanie led him to the radio room, where they were captured again. Lance got money’s worth; Eugene fell for that one twice. She told him that he could trust Lance, and he did. She read his book, so she could get helpful autobiographical information to serve Lance’s needs. When Lance got everything he wanted, there was no need to continue the ruse, but Lance didn’t see this twist. He’s going make absolutely certain everybody knows who and what Lance is. Lance says, okay. Who or what is that exactly? The villain, the boogeyman, or the best goddam thing that ever happened to him? Eugene is right. He did lie. Just like Eugene and his friends lied to get inside these walls, but who’s keeping score? Lance did what he had to, to get Eugene here, and Eugene should thank him for it. It’s not his fault they’re too stupid not to know a good thing when it lands in their laps. Eugene says he fell in love and everything was fiction, and Lance says, they tried to rip the band aid off when they saw it was getting serious, and Lance did what he could to get Eugene to stop looking. At least he can stop now. It wasn’t going to get better for his people; they were about to starve. Now Eugene is here, his community is getting fixed, and they’ve got everything from concerts to cancer surgery. All they’ve been asked in return is to be productive members of society as long as they choose to stay. The statement Eugene signed says he was suffering from paranoia as a result of nervous strain. Look at him. This has obviously taken a toll. Lance is sorry Eugene’s heart got broken, and he’s sure Eugene’s friends will be sad to hear about it too, but in the balance of things, Lance still thinks it worked out in everyone’s favor. Eugene’s friends probably would to. He puts his hand on Eugene’s shoulder for a moment, and starts to go up the stairs. He stops and turns, and says, by the way, Stephanie’s real name is Shira. She hates Iron Maiden, but genuinely enjoyed his book. He should stick with it. Lance continues on up.
In an alleyway, Eugene burns all his evidence, and throws his manuscript in the fire. Outside the gate, a woman asks if he’s all right. She needs to talk to him. This is Blue Weevil to Tater Bug; please come back. He turns around, and asks, who are you? She walks through the gate, and he sees it’s Max. She says, it’s me. I’m the one you were talking to on the radio.
Next time, Pamela says, nothing good is going to come from stretching their resources; Lance tells someone, if Maggie says no, cut them off; Maggie doesn’t trust the Commonwealth; Mercer tells Daryl, remember, they’re always watching; and Maggie and Pamela meet.
🪒 What He Said…
This is actually the third time I’ve heard this expression this week. Occam’s Razor: the simplest explanation is likely the correct one.
Join me tomorrow for soap and Sailing. Until then, stay safe, stay moving it or losing it, and stay remembering, you can think you know someone, then find out you never even met them. It sucks, but it happens all the time.
(rambling, random thoughts & annoyingly detailed recaps from real time TV watching)
General Hospital
Sasha wakes up and Brando brings her coffee in bed, because no one on TV ever has to go to the bathroom first thing like IRL. She asks if she overslept, but he says, there’s no such thing on vacation. She can go back to sleep if she wants. She says, thanks, but she needs to wake up. She takes a sip, and says, good. He tells her that making coffee is one of his many skills, and she says, the others being? He says they have an entire vacation for her to find out. She says she can’t wait, and he says, they have a lot to celebrate. Maxie is finally home safe, and Peter August is gone, and they can just spend time together. Just the two of them. This is exactly what they both need. They kiss.
Trina puts her stuff in her bag, as Professor Kahn tells the students to read chapter 8 and be ready to discuss. The professor asks Trina for a moment of her time. She seemed pretty silent in class; is everything all right? It’s not like her. Trina says there’s been a lot on her mind, and Kahn says she knows freshman year can be overwhelming, but Trina seems to be handling it well. She’s one of the few A students this year. Trina thanks her, and the professor tells her to remember class participation is a third of her grade, and she’d hate to see Trina get lost in the shuffle.
In the hallway, Josslyn thanks Cameron for walking her to class. She knows he has a lot going on at home. He says he’s sorry he can’t be there for her, and asks if things are still weird between her and Trina. Josslyn says, they’re roommates and they barely see each other. A lot of that’s on her, between team meetings and practice she’s really busy, but Trina only comes back to the room to sleep. She’s not returning any of Josslyn’s texts or calls. He says, things have been weird since the cabin with Esme and Spencer, and she says, they’ve only gotten worse since, and it’s all thanks to Esme.
At Spring Ridge, Esme looks at her phone, and flashes back to her plot to film Josslyn and Cameron having sex in the cabin. Spencer throws The Brothers Karamazov on the table, when Esme comes up behind him. She kisses him, and says, happy belated birthday. He asks if she’s crazy; she’s going to get him in trouble. She tells him, lighten up, boyfriend. She knows he spent his birthday alone; the kiss was her present. He says, if the wrong guard sees her, it blows back on him. She says she’s sorry to bother him. He’s lucky, she’s leaving. Class calls. He says, see you around, and she says, someone woke up on the wrong side of the prison cot this morning. What’s with the mood?
Sam sees Carly at the MetroCourt bar, and says she guesses their day of hatchet throwing didn’t cheer her up. Carly says, it did. Sam and Olivia were right; she definitely needed to blow off some steam. She’s just sad today. She’s been thinking about Courtney. She shows Sam a picture of Courtney on her phone, and says, today’s the anniversary of her death.
Sonny leaves flowers at Courtney’s grave, and says, it’s hard to believe how much time has passed since she left them. Her son is a full-grown man, getting himself in trouble. He couldn’t make it last year because… He’s sure she knows what happened. He likes to think she’s always watching out for him. He just wants to let her know that he’s thinking about her, and she’s still in his heart. Nikolas walks into the cemetery, and says, his too.
Victor greets Ava with a double cheek kiss at the MetroCourt, and she says it’s good to see him. Nikolas is meeting her for brunch. If he’d like to join them, that’s fine. He says, unfortunately, he can’t stay; he has some business to attend to. She says, he’s been keeping himself scarce since Valentine’s Day, and Laura approaches, and says, keeping a low profile?Trying to avoid being implicated in an ongoing investigation? That sounds right, doesn’t it?
As they walk out of Kelly’s, Anna thanks Drew for meeting her. She didn’t realize it was going to be so cold, and he says, too bad they weren’t in Port Charles during the heat wave. She says she just wanted to speak to him in private. He says, her message sounded pretty urgent; what’s going on? She says she has this feeling they’re headed for danger, and at the center of it all is Victor… and Drew.
Sonny says he didn’t expect to see Nikolas here, and Nikolas says, Courtney was important to him too. He loved her. Sonny asks if it was worth Nikolas breaking up his marriage to Emily for an affair. He’s just curious. Nikolas says, he loved Courtney, and he was going to marry her, and Sonny asks if Nikolas thinks they’d still be together if Courtney was alive. Nikolas says he thinks so, but the truth is, he doesn’t know. Sonny says, at least he’s honest, and Nikolas says, he does know this though. Courtney is always going to be the mother of his son; nothing is going to change that. Just like Carly is always going to be the mother of Sonny’s children.
Carly says, the MetroCourt was named after Courtney, and Sam says she knows. Carly says, she and Courtney were close, and with Jax out of town, Spencer and Josslyn on the outs, and her impending divorce to Sonny, she feels like all her connections to Courtney are slipping away. And Sam doesn’t need to hear this. Sam says, it’s true she and Courtney weren’t the best of friends, but had she lived, they might have been friends. If she and Elizabeth can be friends, anything is possible. Carly says, hell sure did freeze over there, and Sam says, who knows? Maybe she and Courtney would have been able to bury the hatchet. Carly says, or throw the hatchet at a wall, not at each other.
Victor tells Laura, he’s sorry, but he has no idea what she’s referring to. Laura flashes back to telling Sam that she doesn’t think it’s a coincidence that Victor resurfaced at the same time Luke died and the Ice Princess was stolen; it’s all connected, and Victor was behindit. She tells Victor, there have been a lot of suspicious activities in Port Charles recently, and he asks if this is her way of accusing him of helping Peter escape. If so, he categorically denies having anything to do with it. Peter August was a blight on this city, and all of them are better off without him. Laura says, he can deny it all he wants, but if he was involved, there will be a way to prove it. He says he’ll take that as his cue to leave, and tells Ava, a pleasure as always, kissing her hand. He says, Madam Mayor, and leaves. Ava says, well, that was fun. Does Laura want to tell her what’s going on between her and Victor?
Drew says he’s been working under the same assumption, that Victor is dangerous, and his agenda did not die with Peter. How did Anna get that? Anna says, Liesl bugged Victor, and overheard a conversation he had with Drew and Sam. He says, at the docks, and she says, yeah. He says, he and Sam were convinced Victor was trying to reactivate his old conditioning, and Anna says, exactly. He asks if Valentin knows about this; did Anna mention this to him? Because they shared a cell in Greece for a little bit, and he seemed to have such solid insights into Victor. She says, Valentin’s out of commission right now. He was abducted right before Peter escaped. He turned up in an alley, he was drugged, disoriented, and still recovering from the gunshot wound in Crete. He’s at a clinic out of town, but he’s making progress. He’ll be home soon. Drew asks her to give Valentin his regards when she talks to him, and she says, her wish is, that they expose Victor for whatever his crimes are before Valentin comes home. Drew says, that’s a tall order; they’re going to have to move very quickly. She says she just feels that Victor is going to exploit the father/son relationship, and manipulate Valentin, the same way he’s coopting the rest of his family.
Spencer says, sorry. He didn’t mean to take his anger out on Esme. Forgive him. She says she gets it. Spring Ridge might be minimum security, but it’s still a prison, and he’s still incarcerated. He says, it’s more than that, and starts to cry. Today is the anniversary of his mother’s death. She sits next to him, and takes his hand, and he says, even though he never knew her, he still feels they have a connection. Every year, he made sure there were flowers on her grave, and he’s never missed a year. Until now. She says, his mother understands, but he says, it’s not about her understanding. It’s about letting the world know that he remembers her, because his mother lives on as long as he keeps up these little traditions. When he was talking to Trina about how she felt when she thought her father had died, he thought she felt the same way.
Josslyn says she hates that there’s tension between her and Trina. All she did was call Esme out for playing mind games with her. Cameron says he’s sure Josslyn was very nice and polite, and she says, her mother taught her, you can’t just ignore an Esme and hope they go away. They’re like sharks looking for blood, so the best way to deal with them is to punch them in the nose, and hope they retreat. He says he thinks the expression is to bop them on the nose, and she says that’s not how she does it. Trina walks out of the classroom, and Josslyn asks, how brutal was Kahn’s class? Trina says, there’s lots of participation required today, so be prepared to be called on more than usual. She starts to leave, and Josslyn asks her to wait. She asks if Trina is still mad at her for what she said to Esme the other day.
Esme says, that’s a beautiful sentiment, but Spencer doesn’t need to keep his mother’s memory alive on the anniversary of her passing. He can get flowers for her when he gets out, which won’t be that long. He says, true, and she says, he was in boarding school for years. What did he do during those times? He says Alfred and Ross left flowers on her grave for him, and she says, there you go; you can do that again. Or, she’d be more than honored to leave flowers for his mother. He says, that’s not the point. The point is, he’s finally here in Port Charles, and – he gets louder – he should be able to do this for her, but he can’t, because of the choices… he made. She says she was involved too, and he says, but she doesn’t understand. She says, but Trina would.
Brando and Sasha kiss, and he says, it’s too bad they spent most of the night talking. She says, he could have made a move, and he says he was waiting for a signal from her. He didn’t want to pressure her. She asks if anyone’s ever told him what a great guy he is, and he says, a great guy? That’s something you tell someone you want to put in the friendzone. She says she’s missed him, and he says he’s missed her; he missed them. They kiss some more, and she asks if they have plans in town. He says they have lunch reservations, tickets to Maid of the Mist, or they could just hang out here. They get busy.
Sonny says, he and Carly might not be together, but she’s still a great mother to Michael, Josslyn, Donna, and Avery. Nikolas says, Ava’s Avery’s mother, not Carly, and Sonny says, he’s not here to argue with Nikolas, especially in front of his sister’s grave. He’s just saying she would have been an amazing mother to Spencer if she had lived. Nikolas says, Courtney had a kind soul and the patience of a saint, and Sonny says he would have loved for Spencer to get to know her. Nikolas says, she would have been a good influence on him. She might have even negated the mistakes he made while raising him. You can say he did the best he could raising Spencer… Sonny says he wishes he could, if he believed it, but he’s not going to lie.
Trina says she’s not mad at Josslyn, and Josslyn says, just too busy to respond to her calls or texts? Trina says, maybe she’s a little annoyed. Josslyn made her collateral damage when she got all up in Esme’s face, and Josslyn says, come on. Trina knows that apology was as fake as Esme is. All she did was call Esme out on it. Trina says, and told her something Trina told Josslyn in confidence, and Josslyn says she told Trina that she was sorry for that, but obviously Trina doesn’t believe her. Trina says she just needs a little time to process. Josslyn put her in the middle of her war with Esme. Josslyn says, but Esme wasn’t coming for her; she was coming for Trina. The whole thing was a set-up, start to finish. Esme texts Trina saying she wants to meet up, shows up to apologize, so she can do some saccharine speech about how she made a mistake and wants to be friends. Josslyn admits she lost her temper, and the thing about Spencer giving Trina that book just slipped out. Cameron says, Spencer gave Trina a book? and Trina says, he asked his grandmother to give it to her, and she happened to get it on Valentine’s Day, but it wasn’t a Valentine’s Day gift; it was just a gift. And what part of in confidence does Josslyn not understand? Josslyn says, Cam cares about Trina, unlike Esme. She’s sorry for betraying Trina’s trust, but she’s not going to apologize for defending her friend.
Esme says, so only Trina understands what it’s like for Spencer to lose his mother? She gets up, and he follows. She says, Trina hasn’t experienced real loss. Her father isn’t even dead. He says he’s sorry; it was a stupid thing to say. It’s just that Esme never really talks about her parents. She says she doesn’t like talking about them, and he says he gets it, and he forgets sometimes. (How much you want to bet she ax-murdered them?) He promises to do better; it’s not going to happen again. She asks what about the gift he gave Trina? and he says he gets all his friends thank you gifts. It’s a lot easier than sending handwritten cards. She says, and it’s just a coincidence that his grandmother just happens to give Trina his gift on Valentine’s Day, and he says she has to believe him. Victor walks in, and says, apologies for not visiting Spencer on his birthday… He’s sorry. Would Spencer like him to come back another time?
Laura asks what Ava thinks is going on, and Ava says she thinks Victor helped Peter escape from that prison van, the one that was taking him to Pentenville, and she thinks Victor helped smuggle him out of the country, and she thinks Laura thinks the same thing. Laura asks if it matters now. Peter’s dead. Ava says, but this isn’t about Peter really, is it? It’s about Laura’s Uncle Victor, and for her it’s very, very personal. Laura laughs and says, Ava can think whatever she likes. Actually, she came to meet Sam. Ava asks if Laura doesn’t trust her, and Laura says she was watching Ava with Victor, and it looked kind of close. Ava says, keep your enemies closer and all that. She trusts Victor as much as Laura does.
Drew says, Victor coopting his family is one thing, but what use does Victor have for him? Anna says, the working theory is that Peter was stringing Victor along, and Drew says, right. Peter was going to give Victor the means to activate his conditioning, but he still doesn’t understand it. Why? What use does he have for an ex-Navy SEAL to do his dirty work. He’s got plenty of ex-military on his payroll. She asks if he doesn’t think it’s possible Victor believes he knows something, or rather that he did?
Laura says, she thinks Victor is planning something that could spell trouble for all of them, and Ava says, he has made some cryptic comments about his plans. Laura says, and now, Spencer just idolizes his great-uncle, and it seems like Nikolas warmed up to him too. So she feels like she can’t say anything negative because they both defended him, and that would just drive them closer to Victor. Ava says she knows Nikolas has his guard up, but Laura is right; she thinks Victor is making some progress there, and Spencer is already firmly in Victor’s camp. Laura says, but Ava is smarter than that.
Nikolas says, he walked right into that one, and Sonny says, Nikolas has made a lot of mistakes; mistakes that have changed Spencer’s life and shaped his character. He can’t change that. Nikolas asks what Sonny wants him to do; own up to his decisions and his past? Sonny says, that would be a start, wouldn’t it? Move forward with the people he loves. Don’t run away from his mistakes. Because when you do that, it makes your pain worse.
Sam say she guesses they’re all starting new chapters, and Carly says, things are going good with her and Dante? Sam says she doesn’t want to jinx it, but things are going great. Carly says, what about Drew? and Sam says, that’s definitely over. They just realized they were better off as co-parents, and friends. Why does she ask? Carly says, he’s been very supportive with everything she’s been going through with Sonny and the divorce. She’s trying to look out for him the way he’s looking out for her.
Ava says she’s listening, and Laura says, Victor is trying to make nice with Nikolas, and he’s going to do the same with Ava. Ava says, he’s already trying pretty damn hard, and Laura says, good; let him. Get him to lower his guard so much with her, that he might even confide in her. Ava says, and if he says something incriminating, Laura would like it passed on to her? Laura says, if she likes, and Ava says she’s guessing Laura doesn’t want her to tell her husband about this arrangement. Laura says, they dealt with that situation with Ryan together. She wouldn’t ask for Ava’s help if it wasn’t something serious. Ava says she’s sure she’ll know if Victor says something relevant, and Laura says, she’s sure Ava will. Laura has every confidence in her. She thanks Ava, and leaves.
Carly says she was ready to lose her mind, then she walked in on Sonny and Nina at the Haunted Star. She ran into Drew right after, and he let her vent. He didn’t try to fix her, and he didn’t try to stop her, or make it better. He just let her talk. Laura joins them, telling Sam that she’s sorry she’s late. She got a little sidetracked. She says hi to Carly, and Sam says, not a problem. Sam tells Carly that it was nice talking to her, and Carly says, her too. Carly leaves, and Sam asks, what was so important Laura couldn’t talk to her on the phone about it? Laura says, it is about Victor’s associate, and Sam says, Yohan? Laura says, new details have come to light, and she thought Sam should know about them, considering it involves Drew.
Esme tells Victor, as always a pleasure. She’d like to stay and chat, but she has to bounce. Class calls. She says goodbye to Spencer, and leaves. In the hallway, she takes out her phone, looks at the video, and says, time to get this done.
Victor asks what all that was about, and Spencer says, his fault. He took his frustration out about being stuck in here on Esme, and she didn’t deserve it. Victor says he takes after his grandfather. He always had a much shorter fuse than the rest of the family.So what exactly lit this particular powder keg? Spencer says, every year he leaves flowers on his mother’s grave on the anniversary of her death. He can’t this year for obvious reasons. Unless… He moves closer to Victor, and Victor says, unless what? Spencer says, unless Victor busts him out.
Drew says, Anna thinks that Victor is trying to access his old memories? and she says, it’s possible. He gets up, and so does she, saying, Andre confirmed to her those memories were gone. He says, but Peter made him believe otherwise. She says, Peter and Faison were in charge of the whole memory experiment. But then Victor took custody of Drew at Creighton-Clark – Laura and Sam walk through the gate – and this kind of tracks with this new information she’s privy to. He says, such as? and Laura says, it’s all right. She thinks Drew has a right to know the truth.
Victor says, absolutely not, and Spencer says he knows Victor has connections in Spring Ridge. He arranged for Samuel to make sure Spencer was safe, how hard can it be for him to arrange a furlough? Victor says, furloughs are almost exclusively reserved for family funerals, and deathbeds. Spencer says, then it can be off the books. This place is surrounded by barbed wire. He can be shuttled out, and be back in an hour. Victor says, he won’t risk extending Spencer’s sentence, much less joining him in here. Not when there’s so much in the works for the future of this family. Spencer says he wants to be a part of that future. They are Cassadines; family means everything to them. They don’t get to pick and choose who they love, who they trust. Just because his mother died hours after he was born doesn’t mean he doesn’t miss her every single day. He knows he screwed up, and he’s being punished for it, and deservedly so. But think about the people Victor’s loved and lost. Wouldn’t Victor do everything in his power to make sure they weren’t forgotten? There must be something he can do.
Trina says, they were so close to being past this, but Josslyn just can’t help herself, can she? Cameron says, let’s just take a moment right now… and Trina says she didn’t know he was taking a course in mediation. He says, none of his business, and Josslyn asks if she was wrong for defending her friends. Trina says, it’s not wrong, but it doesn’t make it better when there are certain things she won’t apologize for, after saying she’s sorry. Josslyn says she’s trying her best here. They all mess up sometimes, like Trina did at the cabin. Trina says, oh my gosh, apologies aren’t transactional. Who made her feelings for Spencer part of the Josslyn Jax show? Josslyn says, it was Esme, not her, and Trina says, it’s always Esme, isn’t it? Can’t Josslyn just take responsibility for making things worse? Can she, for once in her life, think about what Trina is going through? Esme appears, and says, my, my, you can cut the tension with a knife, can’t you?
Nikolas says, Spencer loved Courtney. Maybe he needs to remind Spencer of that more often. He leaves, and Sonny gets down on one knee at Courtney’s grave. He says, he knows he should have been nicer, but he thinks that’s what Nikolas needed, and that’s what Spencer needs, and he’s going to look out for her boy. Just like he trusts she keeps an eye on his dad, Morgan, Jason, and Brando and Sasha’s baby boy.
Sasha says she loves Brando, and he says he loves her too. She says, that was good, and he says, like the first time. She says, except they’re in a bed this time, and not the back seat of a car he’s working on, and he says, there is that. She asks what he’s thinking, and he says he’s thinking it’s been while since they’ve been with each other. Not since… She says, let’s not wait so long next time. She kisses him, and says she’ll be right back. She goes to another room, putting on her robe, and takes a little plastic bag of pills out of her purse. Possibly black beauties. Not that I would know. She takes one. She goes back, and Brando is standing in front of the window. She tells him not to move; she needs a mental picture of this. She walks toward him and says, beautiful. He asks if she means the view, and she says, that too. They look out the window together.
Cameron tells Esme to stay out of this, and she moves on to class. Trina says she should go, but Josslyn says, wait. What if she ditches class so they can talk? Trina says, she’s all talked out; maybe another time. Josslyn says, text her; she’ll always answer. Josslyn goes into class and sits down, ignoring Esme. Cameron tells Trina, for what it’s worth (🍷), he’s very sorry. She says, thanks, and he joins the class. Trina’s phone dings, and Esme bounces out of class, saying, Trina. Trina says she really doesn’t want to hear from Esme, and leaves. Esme looks at the video, and says, don’t worry. Trina probably won’t hear from any of them soon enough.
Nikolas asks if Carly is holding up okay, and she asks, is he? He says, he’s joining his lovely wife, and tells her, take care, but he comes back. He says, Courtney would have loved what Carly’s done with the place; what it’s become. He’s sorry he never told her that. She thanks him, and says he just missed his mother, and he asks what Laura had to say. Carly tells him that she didn’t to say but hello, but she did seem to be getting into it with Ava and Victor.
Drew says, Laura really thinks Victor had something to do with Luke’s death, and Laura says, they don’t have proof; they only have circumstantial evidence. Anna says, they all believe Victor’s been planning something for months. What if Luke stumbled upon it?Victor would only have one way to stop Luke. Drew says he barely knew Luke. How would Luke come across something that relates to him?. Laura says, Creighton-Clark, Helena, Victor, the Ice Princess… Anna says, common threads, the Cassadines, but they can’t stop Victor until they have proof. Drew says, but dozen of people died in that crash, and Anna says, the only way to prove Victor is responsible is to go to Austria. Laura says, she has to tread very carefully. That was deemed an accident. If they reopen the investigation, it’s going to let Victor know they’re on to him. Sam says, there is another way to find out what Victor wants.
Sasha tells Brando, it’s so beautiful here; so peaceful. She doesn’t want to go back to the real world. She doesn’t want this trip to end. He says he wishes he could give her that, but what he can try to do is make the real world just as special. She asks how he plans on doing that, and he says, by planning to spend the rest of his life with her. She says, let’s do it. Let’s get married today.
Carly is about to get in the elevator, and Sonny is there.
Sam says, something in Drew’s past motivated Victor to help Peter escape, and Anna says, and Peter misled Victor, but now Peter’s dead. Laura asks if it’s possible Victor got access to Andre Maddox and questioned him about Drew’s memories, and Anna says, she doesn’t know, but she can contact Andre for sure. She’s confident he’d never reveal that kind of information, and certainly not to someone like Victor. Drew says, Victor believes he can still access his memories, and Sam says, exactly, so what if they set up a trap for Victor, convincing him it’s possible?
On the phone, Victor says, no further action from Anna or Drew in regard to their connection to Peter August. But he fears this is only the calm before the storm.
Nikolas walks up behind Ava, and kisses her cheek. He sees her martini, and says, without him? but she says, it’s never too early to continue celebrating Peter’s demise. He says, amen to that. Carly just told him that he saw her with his mother, having a pretty intense conversation. What was that about? She says, they were just gossiping about him. Every once in a while, Laura needs a little reassurance that Ava is taking good care of him. He says, and nothing to do with his uncle? and she says, no. She told Laura that she had a nice conversation with him. She’s making more of an effort with Victor. He says he’s making more of an effort with Spencer, and he’s not having much luck. Ava says, and he’ll keep trying until he does. In the meantime, since his uncle wants to get closer to him, what if they invite him to dinner?
At Courtney’s grave, Spencer says, hello, mother. He’s sorry he’s late this year. He puts the flowers by her gravestone, and says, he sees someone beat him to it, and she wasn’t alone. Trina is cutting through, and sees him. She says, Spencer. What is he doing out of Spring Ridge?
Kahn is giving a lecture, and talks about free will and a social contract. Cameron asks if Josslyn is okay, and Josslyn asks, who’s being stubborn? Her or Trina? He says, maybe neither; they both had great points. Josslyn says she needs to find Trina and apologize before they start fighting. The professor talks about devising the roles of imprisonment and incarceration, as Josslyn gathers up her stuff, and Esme looks at the file upload/cancel button. Kahn talks about punishment being used sparingly, and happiness being when the greatest good is shared by the greatest number Esme uploads the file, and everyone in the class gets it on their phones. The professor wants to know what’s more important than the lesson, and one of the students says, see for yourself, and puts it on the screen at the front of the classroom. There’s a lot of laughing, including from Esme, and Josslyn and Cameron are mortified. Esme smiles slyly.
I just have to say it, seriously, these are college kids?
On Monday, Lucy thinks it’s a perfect spot; Cameron asks if Josslyn thinks he did it; Elizabeth says she can’t go anywhere with Finn; and Carly says it hurts when she sees Sonny.
❓ In Case You Forgot…
Jake, the son who comes and goes, along with Aiden.
All about Betsy Frank. The first time around was during a period when I wasn’t watching the show, but I always find it amusing that James Franco played Franco.
Watch your thoughts, they become your words; watch your words, they become your actions; watch your actions, they become your habits; watch your habits, they become your character; watch your character, it becomes your destiny. – Lao Tzu
Do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do better. – Maya Angelou
Listen to the mustn’ts, child. Listen to the don’ts. Listen to the shouldn’ts, the impossibles, the won’ts. Listen to the never haves, then listen close to me… Anything can happen, child. Anything can be. – Shel Silverstein
I haven’t been thrilled since 1865. – Agnes Van Rhijn (Christine Baranski), The Gilded Age
I believe that what we become depends on what our fathers teach us at odd moments, when they aren’t trying to teach us. We are formed by little scraps of wisdom. – Umberto Eco
We must develop and maintain the capacity to forgive. He who is devoid of the power to forgive is devoid of the power to love. There is some good in the worst of us and some evil in the best of us. When we discover this, we are less prone to hate our enemies. – Martin Luther King, Jr.
🖋 Very Truly Yours…
Signing off until it’s time for the Dead to Walk. Until then, stay safe, stay cultivating a good support system, and stay keeping traditions of remembrance, but not to the point of breaking out of prison.
(rambling, random thoughts & annoyingly detailed recaps from real time TV watching)
General Hospital
Portia tells Curtis to check out the double-sided fireplace, and outdoor space for entertaining. He says, and a big room for Trina in case she wants to escape dorm life, and she asks what he thinks. He tells her that he thinks it’s perfect, and takes it she agrees. She says she absolutely loves it and he says he absolutely loves her. She asks if they just found their new home, and he says, they might have. She squeals and hugs him, and they kiss. Jordan asks, what does it take for a girl to get a drink around here? Curtis says, Jordan, and she tells them hello.
Britt finds Nina in her office, and Nina apologizes for surprising her. Britt says, it’s fine, and asks if everything is okay. Nina says, no. She’s tired of Carly painting her as this homewrecking schemer. Everyone’s just standing in line, taking Carly’s side. She’s not blameless, she’s human, but Carly’s the one who rejected Sonny. The divorce is on Carly, not on Sonny, and it certainly isn’t on her. Britt asks if she feels better, and Nina says, thanks, a little. She just needed to say that out loud. She knows Britt has been on the receiving end of Carly’s special blend of malice, so she can sympathize. Britt says, not really.
On the phone, Anna says, it’s not that I don’t trust you; it’s just that I don’t trust you. Why meet there, of all places?…All right. She’s on her way, but if this is a trap, one of them will regret it, and it won’t be her.
Maxie says Austin’s friendship means a lot to her, and he says, how much? She says, like on a scale of one to ten? and he says, sure. There was a time not that long ago when they talked about being more than just friends. She says she remembers, and he says, but she said she wanted to focus on getting her then Louise, now Bailey Louise, back. Maxie says, and she is, and he says, right. So what is she going to focus on now? She kisses him.
Elizabeth opens the door to Betsy, and says she wasn’t expecting her. Betsy says, she needed to… and sees Finn. She says she thought Elizabeth would be alone, and starts to go, but Elizabeth says. Wait. Betsy’s clearly here for a reason. Just tell her what it is. Betsy says she wasn’t honest with Elizabeth before, and Elizabeth deserves the truth – all of it. Finn says, truth about what? and Betsy says, he’s the doctor, right? Elizabeth says, this is Dr. Hamilton Finn, a friend of hers, but Betsy already knows that. Betsy guesses she does, and Elizabeth says, Betsy told her that she deserved to know the truth. About what? Betsy notices the portrait, and takes in a sharp breath. She says, about why she’s here, and what she’s done.
Austin says, he shouldn’t have done that, and Maxie says she’s the one who kissed him. He says, that’s true, she did, and she says, should she not have? He says he’s wanted them to kiss since… He can’t pinpoint the exact moment, but quite a while now. She asks what stopped him, and he says, when they first met, she was under extreme duress from her life before they met. Then she was holding vigil for her lost daughter, even though she was hiding in plain sight from her psycho ex. Maxie says, and Austin was comforting her, and he says, he tried. He felt terrible about accidentally telling Victor something that helped him. Then, after her nut job ex was no longer a threat… She says she thinks the word he’s looking for is dead. Why didn’t he kiss her then? He says, when Peter died? She was in Europe. She says, since she got back, and he says he thought she might want a little time to process things. She asks, is he not trying to rush things, or trying to respect her feelings? He tells her, she says that like it’s a bad thing, but she says, not at all. If that’s really the reason. He asks, what other reason could there be? and she says, maybe he’s having second thoughts?
Curtis says he knew Jordan was coming back soon. How about giving a guy a heads up? He hugs her, and she says, ever since she got the okay from her doctors, all she’s been focusing on is getting back. He asks if TJ knows, and she says, he does, but she hasn’t seen him yet. She went straight to GH, but he was still in surgery. Portia says, isn’t that doctors for you? Always inconsiderate of people’s time. Jordan says she knows; what’s wrong with all of them? She says, it’s good to see Portia, and they hug. Portia says, it’s good to see Jordan too, and since she’s a doctor, she can’t help but ask how the recovery is going. Jordan says, as long as she doesn’t inhale a basement full of carbon monoxide again, she’s good to go. Portia says, once was good enough for her too, and tells Jordan that she looks absolutely wonderful. Jordan thanks her, and says she feels good. She’s sorry to interrupt things. She’ll catch up with them some other time. Curtis says she knows better than that, and pulls out a chair, but she says she’s meeting TJ and Stella for dinner. She thought… Never mind what she thought. They’re busy, so she’ll catch them later. Curtis tells her, wait.
Nina asks if Britt is on Carly’s side, but Britt says, absolutely not and Nina says she didn’t think so. Clearly, she was distracted in Nixon Falls with everything that was going on, but she gets the impression that Britt had a real connection with Jason. Then Carly swoops in, and the next thing you know, he’s marrying her. Britt says, yeah. That happened because Carly and Jason thought Sonny was dead. And that happened because of Nina. She’s not judging Nina. She’s done more than her share of scheming. She’s told lies that were just as damaging. Besides, they’re family. That promise they made at Nathan’s grave is one she wants to keep, so if anyone is coming for Nina, Britt has her back. Nina thanks her, and Britt says, as family, she feels justified to call BS when she hears it, and maybe Nina didn’t set out to wreck Carly’s marriage, but that’s what she did, and there’s bound to be fallout.
Anna walks into the ax throwing bar, and asks what this is about. Whatever game they’re playing, she’s had enough drama recently to last her a lifetime. So whatever game this is, just count her out. Obrecht picks an ax up off the table, and says she’s sorry, but she’s afraid Anna is all in now, up to her pretty little neck.
Elizabeth asks what Betsy has done now, and Betsy picks up a drawing from a stack of them. She asks if these are Elizabeth’s, but Elizabeth says, they’re Jake’s. Betsy says, the artistic one. Bobby wrote her all about him. He was so proud of Jake. She looks at the portrait, and says, maybe Jake will grow up to be as talented as Bobby was. Elizabeth says, Betsy was just about to tell them what she’s done, when the doorbell rings. It’s Dante and Sam, and Elizabeth says, perfect timing; come in. They remember Betsy. She was just about to tell them what she did, and why she did it. Dante says, they think they know why.
Austin says he’s not having second thoughts. He’s having a thought, then another thought, then another thought. He’s thinking that to respect somebody’s boundaries is a really nice thing to do. Maxie says, boundaries? and he says he figured she wanted some time and space after a solid year of fear and doubt. She says, he’s right. Space and time and boundaries, those are all usually good things. He says, but not this time? and she says, Peter kept her in a cage for a year, confined by his obsession. At long last, he’s finally gone, and she can do things that make her happy without worrying they’re going to jeopardize her children. So, no. She doesn’t think she needs boundaries. She’s ready to make up for lost time. Is he?
Portia says if Curtis and Jordan need to talk, she can step out, and Jordan asks why she’d step out. Curtis says she should stay. He didn’t want Jordan to hear this from someone else. Jordan says, they’ve been house hunting, together. She didn’t mean to eavesdrop, but she heard something about a double-sided fireplace and a nice big room for Trina. Sounds ideal. Portia says, it’s a little early to get their hearts set on anything; they haven’t even called the agent yet. Curtis says, they should move fast, and Jordan says, then do that. An opportunity like this, they don’t want to wait. Portia says, once Jordan is settled in, they should get together and grab some lunch, and Jordan says, absolutely. Maybe they can do her a favor. Portia says, name it, and Jordan says, Laura gave her a mini briefing of the criminal activity going on during her convalescence. Maybe they can catch her up on what the law abiding citizens have been doing.
Nina says Britt is right; she fell in love with a married man. It was a mistake, but she can’t be the only person in the world this has ever happened to. Carly insisted on this divorce; she rammed it through practically overnight. Britt says, correct her if she’s wrong, but that was after Carly found Nina and Sonny in bed together, and Nina says, they thought the marriage was over. Britt says, convenient, and Nina says she didn’t go to the Haunted Star intending to sleep with Sonny. All these feelings they’d been fighting for months, they couldn’t fight anymore. She’s sorry she hurt Carly, but she’s a good grandmother, and she sure as hell doesn’t think it should cost her grandson. Britt asks what this has to do with Wiley, and Nina says, Willow just informed her that there’s no clear path in her seeing Wiley. They want to shut her out of her grandson’s life.
Elizabeth introduces Sam and Dante to Betsy, saying, they’re friends. Betsy says, Sam is married to that man who hates her son – Jason. Is he here? Sam says, Jason passed away, and Betsy says she’s sorry for Sam’s loss. Sam thanks her, and Finn asks if she knows Dante. She says, yes. He’s the cop. Dante says, that’s right, and she asks if she’s in trouble. He says, no, nothing like that. He did notice her checking out the portrait. Does she like it? She says she loves it. Bobby painted that. Dante says, it was brought there; saved from a fire in his studio. A lot of strange things have been happening with Elizabeth and Franco’s belongings. Betsy says, what strange things? What’s going on? Dante says they were kind of hoping she could tell them, but she says she doesn’t know anything. What can she tell them? Dante says, maybe she could tell them why she was committed to a mental health facility recently? She asks how he knows that; that’s private. He says, it was part of a police record, and she says, right. She guesses it would be. He says, she was temporarily hospitalized, so that she wouldn’t hurt herself or someone else.
Obrecht says she hasn’t heard from Anna since she returned from Switzerland, her mutterland. She begins to sing in German, and Anna says, what’s happening? Obrecht says, it’s rude to interrupt the something-in-German song, and Anna asks why Obrecht thinks she should have heard from her? Obrecht says she sees, and Anna says, sees what? Obrecht says, their cathartic afternoon in the rage room bonding over their destructive empowerment meant nothing to Anna. Anna says, she wouldn’t call it nothing, and Obrecht says she thought they’d achieved a kind of breakthrough that day, and they might begin to put the past behind them. Anna says, okay, sure. She thought so too. Why is she here? Obrecht says, she thought that would be obvious, and lifts the ax.
Austin says he’s all for making up for lost time, and Maxie says, that’s great. But… He says, but she was just chased into a European forest like she was in some kind of Grimm’s fairytale. She says, she knows what she went through. She lived it. That’s even more of a reason to put it behind her. He says, right, but it would be all right if she didn’t want to rush into anything, and wanted to take her time. She says, oh, she understands now. He’s scared.
Jordan tells Portia that she’s not surprised Trina is going full steam at PCU. The gallery exhibit sounds amazing. Portia says, it was, and Curtis sits down with them. He says he knows Jordan asked about law abiding citizens, but… Jordan says she knew that would only last for so long. Who did what now? He asks what she’s heard about Sonny, and she says, Laura told her that he and Carly are over, but she didn’t get many details. He says, don’t worry, she will. Everybody’s talking about it. She says she also heard that Jason Morgan never came back from Greece. Curtis says, he’s missing, presumed dead. That was after he rescued Britt Westbourne and Liesl Obrecht, of all people. Jordan says, in spite of his faults, Jason was a remarkable person. There’s really no hope? He says, doesn’t look like any. He’s just glad Jason was able to rescue Drew. Jordan says she’s happy for Curtis. She knows he missed his friend. Curtis says, it’s really good having him back, and Jordan says, question. Why did she have to hear from TJ that Curtis’s father finally resurfaced after all these years? Curtis says, when Marshall came back, he didn’t want to talk about him or to him. He’s gradually getting used to having Marshall in his life; it’s a process. Jordan says she can’t wait to meet him. So, are there any other secrets out there? Anything else she should know? A good cop likes to be prepared. Her phone dings, and Curtis says, TJ? She says, yep, and she’s officially late. Again, good luck on the house. She knows they’ll be happy there. She leaves, and Curtis tells Portia, that went well, doesn’t she think? Outside the club door, Jordan pauses going down the stairs.
Nina says she’s gone over and beyond avoiding a legal battle, but they’re leaving her no choice, and Britt asks if she’s sure about that. The more Nina escalates things, the more Michael and Willow are likely to come back at her twice as hard. Nina says she gets it, but it’s not just them. She admits, her interactions with them are at an all-time low, but it’s also Carly. Carly doesn’t want her to have a relationship with Wiley at all. Carly can dress it up as much as she wants, but it’s retaliation, plain and simple. Britt says she’s stopping Nina there, not because what she’s saying is untrue, but because what she’s hearing Nina tell herself is that, Nina’s right and she’s the victim, and Carly’s wrong and she’s the bad guy. The more Nina locks in to that kind of thinking, the less likelihood of a compromise. Nina says she tried to compromise, and she still doesn’t see her grandson, and Britt says, one more consideration. Sonny may be divorced, but Nina is starting a war against his ex-wife and his son. That could put a real crimp in her romance. Nina says, so Britt thinks she shouldn’t go to court, and Britt says she thinks Nina needs to be honest with herself about what she can gain, and what she stands to lose. Britt’s phone beeps, and she says she has a patient. Nina thanks Britt for talking to her. It’s not what she wanted to hear, but what she needed to hear. Britt says, anytime.
Anna says, that was a very good shot, and Obrecht says she’s been practicing. Anna says she still has explain what this is about, and Obrecht says, she needed privacy to discuss a détente, a peace between them. Anna says, really? Given their history? Obrecht says, their overall history has been contentious, complex, and Anna says, an understatement. Obrecht says, but their recent history has been more constructive and straightforward. Anna in the northern alps of her mutterland… Anna says, she’s not going to sing again, is she? and Obrecht says, and she in Port Charles, their mutually adopted home. Together, they were able to locate Maxie, and bring her home safely to her daughter. Anna says, a lot of people helped, but yes, Obrecht was one of them. Obrecht says she wishes she could have been there when Peter met his end, and Anna says, it was necessary. It’s not something she takes any joy in. Obrecht says, of course (🍷) Anna doesn’t, but she does, and Anna says, Obrecht does have every right, given what Peter did to her. Obrecht says, the most entitled to see Peter die was Jason Morgan. Perhaps Jason can torment Peter in the afterlife, yeah? Anna says she’s forever in awe of what Obrecht considers comforting thoughts, and Obrecht says, but Anna understands it. And in her own way, Anna understands Obrecht, and Obrecht understands Anna. Anna says, what if they do? and Obrecht says, what does she say to a new beginning?
Elizabeth asks why Betsy didn’t tell them she was admitted to a mental health clinic, and Betsy says, because it’s embarrassing. Finn says she doesn’t have to be embarrassed, and Sam says, no one’s there to judge her. Finn says, they just want to know the truth about why she came here, and Elizabeth says, she was just about to tell them. Betsy says, was she? She’s having trouble now. Dante says, maybe he can ask her a few questions to get her back on track, and she hesitantly agrees. He asks her to have a seat, and they sit on the couch. Dante says, she didn’t go to Franco’s grave today, did she? She shakes her head, and says, she wanted to, but she couldn’t. From the moment she heard Bobby was killed, she just couldn’t face up to it. Elizabeth says, it was a terrible loss to everyone who loved him. Betsy says, and Elizabeth is one of those people. Elizabeth loved him, stood by him. Elizabeth gave him hope. It was different with her. Dante says, different how? and she says she failed him when he needed her the most. When she heard he was gone, and she’d never get the chance… She starts to cry, and Elizabeth says, it’s okay. They understand. Dante says, but she couldn’t face losing Franco, so she put it on Elizabeth? and Betsy says, what? No, she didn’t. Cross her heart.
Austin says, he’s not scared of Maxie. Why would he be scared? She says, oh come on. There’s a reason he was living in the middle of nowhere when they met. He says, yeah, he was waiting for the right time to come to Port Charles. Maxie says, he could have done that at any point. He was hiding from the world. She basically dropped in out of the sky, in labor no less, and in a crisis. He helped her, they had this connection, but something was always getting in the way, namely havoc being wreaked by Peter. He says, but not anymore, and she says, now that Peter is dead – he says, yay – there’s no longer a crisis, where everything they feel is heightened. She wants to know if their crisis feelings are crisis feelings or real feelings, doesn’t he? He says, definitely.
Curtis says, Jordan seems to be in a good place, and Portia says, she’s very supportive of them moving in together; her and Jordan’s ex-husband. Curtis asks if she thinks Jordan is trying too hard, and she says she thinks Jordan is still in love with him. Not that she blames Jordan. She knows from experience, he’s a hard man to get over. He says, based on experience, back at her. She says, the point is, he’s the type of man who comes along once in a lifetime; for her twice. If she knows that, than Jordan knows that too.
Cameron sees Stella at the hospital, and asks how she’s feeling. she says, she’s fully recovered; it’s kind of him to ask. He says he’s happy to hear that. He doesn’t know if she remembers, but he was at Kelly’s the day she had her stroke. She says, he was? She’s sorry, but her memory of that day is still cloudy. He says, no problem. He’s happy to hear she’s feeling better. Although he’s sorry about her envelope. She says, envelope? and he says he hopes it wasn’t important.
Anna says, if this was just about surviving Peter, she’d say yes to a new beginning, of course (🍷), but she can never forgive the hell Obrecht put Robin through. Obrecht says, that was Cesar’s doing. Her most heinous misdeeds were at his behest. Most of them anyway. But that fact doesn’t move Anna, is that what she’s saying? Anna says, she understands a lot of damage can be done when you love someone and it’s not returned. She gets that; she’s seen it. For Obrecht, it was Faison. Obrecht says, for Peter it was Maxie, and for Cesar, it was Anna. Anna says she guesses that’s something they share; they have in common. That they’re free of that obsession now. Obrecht says, thankfully, she’s shed hers and found real love with Scotty, and Anna says, okay. Obrecht says, their pairing amuses her, but Anna says she’s happy for Obrecht says, for the woman who’s brought such pain and sorrow on Anna and those she loves? and Anna says, none of them are blameless, are they? Faison’s obsession with her brought him to town, and cost Nathan his life. Obrecht thanks her for that, and says, when it comes to her son’s death, there’s plenty of blame to go around. Anna says, she’s not sure they’ll ever be friends, but she does think they should find a way to put the past behind them.
Finn tells Betsy, it’s okay. She’s upset and confused. She asks if he’s ever gone crazy. Not upset and confused, but grief that hits you so hard you go all out nuts. Finn says he has, and she says, terrible, isn’t it? Sam says, here’s a possible explanation, maybe Betsy doesn’t remember taking Elizabeth’s wedding ring. Betsy asks what she’d do with Elizabeth’s wedding ring, and Dante asks if she has any recollection of cutting up Elizabeth’s dress, or burning down Franco’s art studio. She says, she would never, and he says, or bringing that painting here? She says, of course (🍷) not. She loves her Bobby and loves his art. She’d die before she let anything happen to his work. Finn says, people handle grief differently. Some withdraw into a shell; others act out. She asks which one he did, and he says, he acted out. How about her? She says she’s a shell person, and he says, if she ever needs help, they’re here. She says, he’s being nice and understanding; all of them are. But she couldn’t have done any of those things. Sam asks, why not? and she says, she’s been under 24 hour surveillance at the clinic, and she wasn’t released until right before she came to Port Charles. She may not be in her right mind, but even she couldn’t be in two places at one time.
Austin tells Maxie not to take it the wrong way, but there’s something different about her since she came back; she seems lighter and more buoyant. He likes this Maxie Jones. She says, he means the Maxie Jones who likes to keep moving forward with no regrets? The one who doesn’t hide how she feels because there’s no reason to hide anymore? There’s no way he could have known this, but this is the real Maxie Jones. He asks why he’d be scared of that, and she says she heard it takes some getting used. He asks what she’s doing tonight.
Curtis tells Portia that he and Jordan signed the divorce papers long before she got hurt and went away. He’s moved on and so has she. Portia says, she doesn’t doubt Jordan’s intentions. If she were in Jordan’s shoes, she’d say all the right things, just like Jordan did. She might even believe them, but if there was a chance, even a long shot, she’d never let him go.
Stella says she’s doing her best to recall, and Cameron says, she had an envelope with papers inside. She was going to mail it, and that’s when she had her stroke. Stella flashes back to that moment, and Cameron asks if she’s okay. She says, she’s fine, but for the life of her, she can’t remember what was in that envelope. Since she hasn’t gotten any calls or emails asking for missing documents, whatever it was must not have been important. He says, that’s a relief. He felt horrible that whatever was in it got soaked. She asks what he said he did with the envelope, and he says, in the midst of the confusion, a waitress threw it out. He can’t help but feel it’s all his fault.
Obrecht and Anna sit down, and Obrecht asks how they begin. It’s no small feat to distance oneself from one’s past. Anna says, especially one as contentious and complex as theirs. Obrecht says she’s got it. They’ll join a book club. Together, they will steamroll armchair bibliophiles. They can take turns choosing the books. Then they’ll tell them what to think, and devour their homemade snacks. Whoever brings crudités, forfeits their life. Anna says, she likes crudités, and Obrecht says, why is she not surprised? She’s more of a charcuterie lass herself. Anna says, she likes that too, and Obrecht says, see? Just when they thought common ground would impossible to find. Anna says, so this ax throwing thing. Were they imagining their enemies or each other as the targets? See what she did there? Our enemies or each other. Obrecht says, they are no longer one and the same.
Dante gets off the phone, and Sam says, well? He says, the director of the clinic says Betsy was there from Thanksgiving until she came to Port Charles. Finn says, obviously, she didn’t do anything with the ring or to the dress, and Elizabeth says she guesses Betsy couldn’t have started the fire or taken the painting. She’s so sorry for thinking Betsy did all those things, but Betsy says she doesn’t blame Elizabeth. In Elizabeth’s place, she would have suspected her too. She should have been more open about how Bobby’s death hit her. If she’d had the chance to say how sorry… Elizabeth says, Franco loved her, and knew she did her best. If he were here right now, he’d tell her that she had nothing to apologize for. Betsy says, she thinks so? and Elizabeth says, absolutely. Betsy says she’s glad her son had someone like Elizabeth to love him. She should go. She has a bus to catch home. Dante says they’ll give her a lift to the bus station, but she says she thinks she’ll call a Ride Share. She’s sorry Elizabeth is going through this. Maybe it’s just a simple explanation.
Maxie asks what Austin thinks she’s doing, and he says he thinks this is the point where she says she’s going out with him, but he’s getting a strong vibe that maybe that’s not what this part is. She says she’s spending time with her daughter and her siblings, and he says, awesome. He doesn’t want to be somebody who comes between her and her kids. He tells Bailey Louise goodnight, and says, it’s nice to have met this Maxie Jones. In the hallway, Maxie says she’ll see him tomorrow, and he watches as she goes down the hall.
Obrecht suggests they start with something simple. Perhaps a drink at The Savoy. She’ll even leave Scotty at home. Anna says, that would be best, and Obrecht says, it would just be the two of them. Anna suggests they not push their luck. Why don’t they just start with not plotting each other’s demise and go from there? Obrecht says, agreed. Auf Wiedersehen, Scarecrow. They laugh, and Anna says, until they meet again. Obrecht smiles, and leaves. Anna looks at the ax, picks it up, and throws a bullseye. She says, yes. Still got it.
Curtis tells Portia, they don’t want to loose out. They need to book a tour with the broker, and come in with a strong bid. She says she’s ready when he is, and he says, this is it. This next chapter is just the beginning. They kiss.
Stella tells Cameron, don’t give it a second thought. She made the mess, and someone did their job and cleaned it up. Cameron says he hopes her experience doesn’t prevent her from coming to Kelly’s again, and she says, as a matter-of-fact, she’s on her way there right now to meet TJ and his mother. Jordan’s back in Port Charles, so they’re all getting together. He says he thinks he’s working there later tonight, but in case he doesn’t see her, he’ll call one of the waitresses and tell her that dessert is on him. She thanks him, but says he’ll do no such thing. He says he’d like to treat her, and she says, it’s a lovely gesture, but her dessert is not coming out of his paycheck. He’s going to spend that money on his education. He says, but the envelope… She says, is gone, and that’s the end of it. She doesn’t want to be late. It was wonderful to see him. He says, her too, and she leaves.
Finn says, there’s no way Betsy could have pulled any of this off, and Sam says, none. Betsy is barely holding it together. Dante says, it sure seems like she’s suffered enough, and Elizabeth thanks them for their help. Dante says he wishes they could have actually found the person who’s harassing Elizabeth, and Elizabeth says she’s at a complete loss. Sam says, if it’s not Betsy, who was it? Elizabeth picks up a drawing, and Finn asks what it is. She says, it’s a sketch of Franco that she’s never seen before. Jake drew it.
Tomorrow, Brando tells Sasha, they have an entire vacation to find out; Ava asks if someone doesn’t trust her; Laura says, new details have come to light; Anna tells Drew, they’re headed for danger; and Spencer says, there must be something Victor can do.
😟 ButWe Hardly Knew Ye…
Just when I was thinking he’d find a reason to stay.
Drop on in tomorrow for soap, tea, words to heed, and perhaps an earworm. Until then, stay safe, stay looking for the upside, and stay remembering common ground is never impossible to find, even if it’s crudités or charcuterie.
(rambling, random thoughts & annoyingly detailed recaps from real time TV watching)
General Hospital
Dante shows up at the ax throwing bar where Sam is by herself, and totally misses the target. He says, that was special… which was the nicest word he could think of. She suggests he give it a try, but he says he doesn’t want to show her up. She says, now he’s sounding like an egomaniac. She hands him an ax, and tells him, give it a whirl, positioning him. He tells her to stand back; he doesn’t trust himself with this thing. He makes a perfect bullseye, and she says, of course (🍷).
Finn says he doesn’t want Elizabeth to worry. Dante will figure out how the painting got here, and he’ll be here in case anything else weird happens. She says she just doesn’t understand why. Is she in danger; are her kids not safe? What’s the endgame here? Jake walks in, and says he heard the police were here earlier. What’s going on?
Portia sees Drew at the MetroCourt bar, and asks if he minds if she sits down. He says he’d be lucky, and she sits down, saying, she’s grabbing some dinner for Curtis, and it’s going to be a minute. She says, he’s not expecting anyone, is he? but he says, no. He just finished a meeting. She asks if it was business or personal, and he says, it was a little bit of both actually; business on behalf of a friend.
On the phone at the Bistro, Curtis says he’ll send the paperwork over, and tell the band he’s excited to have them at the club. Marshall comes in, and Curtis asks why he wanted to meet. Marshall says, because he knows what Curtis did.
Mac makes noises at Bailey, while Felicia talks babytalk, and asks if she knows she’s the cutest baby. Mac says she’s asking the softball questions, and has to hit Bailey with some hard ones, like FDPC or PCPD? when Anna walks in and says, PCPD all the way. Felicia asks if she’s ever seen a more perfect picture, pointing at Maxie holding Bailey, and Anna says, beautiful. Maxie says, Bailey maybe, but she barely had time to brush her hair this morning. Mac says she’s absolutely glowing, and it’s all because of Bailey. Maxie says, it’s because Mac gets to go home today. She’s going to let them visit with Anna, and Felicia leaves with her to pick up a prescription for Mac. Mac tells Anna, talk to him. Will the WSB be able to get any information out of compromised Agent Kreger? She says, doubtful. He’s dead.
Laura sees Maxie with Bailey, and says, there’s the precious baby girl that so many people worked so hard to protect. Maxie says, talk about guardian angels. Her heart is so full of gratitude, it could burst. Austin joins them, and says, how about forgiveness? Is there room in her heart for that?
Dante guesses they can chalk that up to beginner’s luck, and Sam says, beginner’s luck, her you-know-what. He says he loves her you-know-what, and she says she thinks he’s done this before. He says he’s never thrown an ax before, and she says, liar. He says he’ll swear on anything she wants him to, but he’s never thrown an ax a day in his life, and she says, liar. He asks why they don’t chalk it up to beginner’s luck, and his superior hand/eye coordination, and she says, or maybe…You know how some people think they had a past life, and you can bring those skills to this life from that life? She thinks maybe he was a frontier guy, a mountain man. She certainly wasn’t either of those. He says, that’s good because he doesn’t want to picture her as a mountain man. She asks how his day was, and he says, good; a lot of work. She says, anything interesting? and he says, more like strange. He thinks Elizabeth has a stalker.
Jake asks why the police were here, and Cameron comes downstairs, and says, because when he and mom came home, they found this on the mantel. He indicates the portrait, and Jake says, that’s Franco’s. He thought Elizabeth said they were all destroyed, and Elizabeth says, that’s what she was told. Finn asks if Jake saw anyone around the house when he left yesterday, but Jake says he doesn’t think so. Finn says, what about something unusual, like a car he didn’t recognize? What about Betsy Frank? Has she been in contact with him? Jake says, no, and wonders why Finn is asking him this stuff. Cameron says, because someone broke in and placed that here. Finn asks if Jake knows anyone who would do this.
Austin says he never intended for Louise to be in danger, and Maxie tells him, it’s Bailey Louise now. He says he loves that; it’s beautiful. He tells Bailey, he Bailey Louise. He’s Austin. They met when she first arrived. He tells Maxie that he’s sorry. He didn’t know Victor was helping Peter, and Maxie says she asked him to stay out of Brook’s business multiple times. He says he didn’t know what was going on, and that’s no excuse; there is no excuse. He did a dumb thing, and his stupid vendetta could have cost her everything. If she can’t move past it, he gets it. Laura says she’ll give them some privacy, and thanks Austin for giving her the information about Victor. He says, a lot of good it did, and Laura says, the jury’s still out, and leaves. Maxie asks what he had on Victor.
Mac says, so there’s nothing to clue them in as to who could have sent Agent Kreger to kill Peter? and Anna says she thinks it’s significant that Kreger’s dead. He was hit and it was serious, but nobody thought it was fatal. The prognosis was that he was going to recover, then he up and dies here in the hospital? He says, it’s convenient for somebody, when Laura walks in, and asks, how’s the patient? Is he ready to get out of here? He says, the sooner, the better. There’s a loose end in Europe. Anna says, she was just explaining that a Bureau agent went after Peter, and there ended up being an exchange of gunfire with her team, and he got hit, but died before he could be interrogated. He had a phone on him though. Laura says, anything there? and Anna says, no. Most of the data was related to navigation. There was one phone number that piqued her interest. Mac says, belonging to? and she says, it was a burner unfortunately, but the area code was local. He says, local to here? and she says, yes. Laura says, so whoever the agent was communicating with was likely here in Port Charles. Is anybody thinking who she’s thinking? Mac asks Anna to hand him his clothes. He’s not waiting for the nurses anymore. He has to get down to the precinct. Felicia comes back, and says, no, he doesn’t. If he thinks he’s going anywhere other than home, he has to answer to her first.
Marshall sits down, and says he just got a job offer from Curtis’s boy Drew, and Curtis asks, what kind of job? Marshall says, jazz consultant-slash-concierge for Aurora, but Curtis knew that already, didn’t he? Despite the subterfuge, he appreciates Curtis sending work his way, but why couldn’t he just be honest? Curtis says, like Marshall has been with him? and Marshall says, oh, so this is payback? but Curtis says, no; this is an opportunity. One that he knew Marshall would turn down if he knew Curtis had a hand in it, because he’s stubborn and prideful. Marshall says, traits he passed down to his son, and Curtis laughs, and says, fair enough. But he knows Marshall operates on a need to know basis, so he can’t be mad when someone else does the same thing. Marshall says, it’s a moot point anyway. The job requires an extensive background check. Curtis says, and that’s a problem? and Marshall says, it could be. There’s an incident from back in the day that concerns him. Isn’t Curtis going to ask, what kind of incident? Curtis says, no. He’ll wait for Marshall to tell him – or not. Marshall says, progress. If he accepts this offer, Drew might discover he has a criminal history.
Jake tells Cameron that he has no idea what’s going on right now, and Cameron says, mom’s a little but weirded out with this whole portrait thing. She’s also relieved Peter August is toast. Jake says, what? and Cameron says, mom didn’t tell him? Jake says, tell him what?
In the kitchen, Elizabeth says she doesn’t want Finn giving Jake the third degree, and he says he just asked if Jake noticed anything. She says, it felt like he was insinuating Jake had something to do with the portrait, but he says he wasn’t suggesting that. Does she really think he’s accusing her sons, or is she actually worried they could be involved?
Sam tells Dante, it’s so creepy to have a portrait in your house, knowing that someone had been there. Then the ring and the dress. Ugh. He says, Elizabeth was pretty shaken up, and she asks what he thinks. He says, it sounds like it could be a jealous lover, and she asks if he thinks Franco was cheating. He says, no, but he doesn’t know, and she says, he can’t rule anything out. He says he barely knew the guy, and asks what her take is. She asks if he thinks she paid attention to Franco, and he says, no, but she’s friends with Elizabeth. They’ve gotten closer, so maybe she knows about some trouble in paradise. She says, the only thing she saw was, Franco was devoted to Elizabeth, Elizabeth was devoted to him, the kids loved him, he loved the kids; they were one big happy family. He says he guesses he’d better look through Franco’s cell phone records to see if there was anyone he was in constant communication with. She asks if he floated it by Elizabeth, but he says, not yet. She asks if Elizabeth had any ideas, and he says, she’s convinced. Sam asks who Elizabeth thinks is responsible, and he says, Betsy Frank.
Portia says she’s really glad Drew is back, which she knows is a strange thing coming from her, considering they’re not close, but she can see how much he means to Curtis. It’s so sweet, the friendship they share. Drew says he’s really grateful for it, especially considering he’s now lost both his brothers, and she says, she’s so sorry. He thanks her, and she says, when you think about it, he and Curtis have gone through so much change recently. She could write a book about him… He says, please don’t, and she says, but Curtis too. Just this past year, his aunt’s health issues, a divorce, a change of careers. Drew says, and a father reappearing after four decades.
Curtis says, Marshall has a criminal history that Drew may discover, and Marshall says, the records are sealed. Curtis says, sealed records don’t usually show up in a background check, and Marshall says, but it exists, which means it can resurface. Forty years ago, he got locked up briefly, a non-violent offense, but it was the inciting incident that precipitated his disappearance. Curtis says, the reason he went into hiding, and Marshall says, for lack of a better term, yes. He wishes he could forget it ever happened, but it did, and severely impacted his life. He told Drew that he can’t move forward, and Curtis asks if he even wants the job. Marshall says he does, but he wanted Curtis to hear about it from him, not his friend, and Curtis says he appreciates that. He hopes it means Marshall trusts him. Marshall says, of course (🍷) he does. His holding back is not for lack of trust. In fact, telling Curtis is a relief. Curtis says, in that case, why hold back at all?
Felicia asks if Mac heard her, and he says he thinks the whole hospital did. She says, his choice is here or home; work is not an option. He says, there’s a situation… and she says, there’s going to be a situation if he tries to do anything other than get better. Does she have Laura and Anna to thank for this? Anna says, no, and Laura says, us? Felicia asks if they’re encouraging her husband to prematurely return to work, and Anna says she was just briefing him. Mac says, turncoat, and Laura says she was just checking on him. He is indispensable. He says, see? and Laura says, she too, is concerned about his health, so she’s going to see about his temporary replacement. NuJordan walks in, and says, no need for a replacement. She’s back, and reporting for duty.
Austin thanks Maxie for coming to his office to talk to him. When it comes to people like Victor Cassadine, the walls have ears. She asks what Laura was saying about him giving information on Victor, and he says, it wasn’t enough. Victor destroyed the bug before they could hear anything… She says, hold on. He planted a bug on Victor Cassadine? He says, technically, Liesl did, but he set the stage. She looks confused; is she confused? She says, he and her former mother-in-law hatched a plan to trap Victor? and he says, she’s not confused. She says, what was… how was that… why? He says, the answer to that is twofold. First of all, Liesl didn’t really give him a choice, and she says, and the second part? He says he really wanted to make it up to her. It was entirely his fault that Victor found out about Louise. Sorry. Bailey Louise. And he just needed to know what Victor’s game was. She says, but he didn’t find anything, and he says, the bug bit the dust before they heard anything. All they really heard was Victor talking to Drew Cain about memory suppression and tarot cards. She asks if that’s important, and he says, he doesn’t know. The mayor seemed to think so.
Everyone crowds around Jordan, hugging her, and asking how she’s feeling. Mac says, they could have sent a squad car, and Laura says, they could have done better than a squad car. Jordan says, she left yesterday. She took a car service, and she feels great. Anna says she looks great, and Jordan says, being at the clinic for so long had its challenges, but she couldn’t argue with the level of care. Anna asks if she’s back for good now, and she says she is, and apparently needs to get caught up. Laura suggests they step outside, and Mac says, it’s really good to see her recovered. She says, now it’s his turn, and he gives her a thumbs up. They go into the hallway, and Felicia tells Mac that he nurse gave her the discharge papers. Is he ready to go home? He says, he was born ready, and she says, to leave the hospital? He says, that really doesn’t work, does it?
Dante says, Betsy told Elizabeth that she was at Franco’s grave around the time the break-in happened, and Sam asks if he questioned her. He says he tried. He called the hotel, but she wasn’t there. She says, what about an APB? Betsy is technically a person of interest. Dante says, the problem is, Elizabeth is worried Betsy is involving her kids, and she thinks a formal inquiry will blow back on the family. Plus, he’s not convinced that it’s Betsy. She says, Elizabeth is, and he says, because the alternative for Elizabeth is, she has to consider the fact there might have been another woman in the mix. She says, Betsy’s very scary, and he says, she’s scary, crazy, all of that, and he will look into it, but how obsessed with your own kid do you have to be to shred a wedding dress, and burn his art studio? Sam tells him, she’d have to say, pretty obsessed, and he says, he has to retrace Betsy’s steps; find out if she was actually at the cemetery when she said she was. Sam messes with her phone, and he asks what she’s doing. She says she has skills too, and he says, other than throwing axes. She says, hey, Spinelli. She’s going to need his help.
Elizabeth says her boys wouldn’t terrorize her this way. They adored Franco; they would never use his memory to punish her. He agrees, and asks if she’s being defensive because she thinks he shouldn’t question them at all, Because he just wants her to be safe. But if she thinks he’s overstepping, say the word, and he’ll back off.
Cameron asks Jake to say something, and Jake says he’s glad. Is that wrong to be glad when someone dies? Cameron says, not if that someone was Peter August. He took Franco away from them. Jake says, and everyone believed his dad killed Franco, and Cameron says, including him, which made things pretty crappy between the two of them. Jake wishes Peter had died sooner, and Cameron says, Jake’s dad died fighting him. He wishes that too. He hugs Jake.
Marshall says he knows he’s not an ideal father, and Curtis says, ideal for who? Marshall says, anyone, but talking specifically, Curtis, and Curtis says, he’s a grown man. It’s not Marshall’s job to live up to some boyhood fantasy. If Marshall can trust him, and feels a sense of relief to unburden himself, then why not fill in all the pieces of the puzzle? Marshall says, because it might not be safe to do that yet, and Curtis says, Marshall is under no obligation to unburden his soul to him, but if he’s harboring secrets that could be a danger to either his club or his home, he needs to know. He will not put Portia and Trina at risk. Marshall asks since when Portia became a fixture in Curtis’s home, and Curtis says, since he asked her to take the next step with him. The plan is to find a new place and make it their own. Marshall says, that’s wonderful; it fills him with joy to see Curtis so happy. Curtis doesn’t have to be afraid of anything. On everything they hold dear, he promises he will not allow anything to hurt any of them. Curtis says, understood, and if Marshall needs to share more, Curtis is here for him, and he won’t pry. Marshall says, that’s his plan, but right now, he needs to see a man about a job.
Portia says, having Marshall drop from the sky, certainly has knocked Curtis for a loop, and Drew says, he got that impression. It does seem like they’re working toward something. She says she hopes so. All she wants is for Curtis to be happy. He says, what do you know? They want the same thing. Is she doing what he’s doing? She says, what’s that? and he says he’s giving Curtis a little space so he can draw his own conclusions, but at the same time, he’s keeping a cautious eye out. She says he must have been spying on her, and he says, obviously, he prays that Marshall’s intentions are good, but just in case there’s any doubt, he’s at his buddy’s disposal. She says she loves that Drew has Curtis’s back, and he says, always. She raises her glass, and says, to long friendships. He says, and to new ones. He really looks forward to getting to know the woman who clearly has stolen his buddy’s heart.
Anna says, it’s good to see Jordan; she’s looking so strong and healthy. Jordan says, and ready to hit the ground running, and Anna says she’s missed Jordan so much. Jordan says she missed Anna too, and thanks her for all the calls and texts, and Laura for the beautiful weekly flower delivery. They both kept her spirits up. Laura says, they’re both grateful to have her back, but is she sure she’s ready to go back to work? Jordan says she’s sure. They should have seen her when she heard Peter was on the loose. Anna says, they probably had to lock her in her room, and Jordan says, almost. She knows that’s wrapped up, but there have to be other pending cases. Anna says, the investigation’s not completely wrapped up, and Jordan asks, what’s the status? Laura says, some of this is classified, and Jordan isn’t officially back on the job yet. Jordan says she’s sorry; she should have called first, instead of assuming she could just pick up where she left off. Anna thinks they might need as much help as they can get, and as soon as they can get it, and Laura says, barring a few small, but necessary formalities, she hereby reinstates Jordan as Commissioner of the PCPD. Welcome back. Jordan says, she won’t regret it, and Laura says, she knows.
Finn says they haven’t established who he is to Elizabeth’s boys, but he’d like to build something with them… if it’s okay with her. She says she’d like that, and he’s not overstepping. She just wishes she had answers. He says she’s going to. They’re going to figure out who’s doing this, and put a stop to it, he promises.
Jake tells Cameron that he’s sorry mom is freaked out, but also happy Franco’s painting was saved. At least now he has something to remember Franco by. Cameron says they have their memories too, and Jake says, yeah, but memories fade. People move on, and sometimes he worries Franco’s being forgotten. Finn listens in.
Dante stands behind Sam, putting one hand on her waste, and the other on her hand holding the ax. Much like when he taught her to swing a bat, he explains how to throw the ax. He says, just like how she throws a baseball, and she says she likes baseball. He tells her to bring it forward, let it go, and let the ax do the work. She says she’s ready, he steps back, and she throws. She says, bullseye, and it’s very close, but not quite. She thanks Dante and hugs him, and says, she just needed… He says, a little lesson, but she says, a little him; her mountain man. They kiss, and her phone rings. She says, Spinelli is the best in the biz, but his timing is always off. She answers saying, hey… Okay… Send it over right now. Dante asks what Spinelli’s got, and she says, he’s sending over camera footage from the entrance of the cemetery. They look at her phone, and Dante tells her, roll that back. Is that Betsy? She says, sure does look like her. He asks what she’s doing, and Sam says, she never went in; she just left. He says, which means she lied, and they can’t account for her whereabouts. The phone rings again, and she says, talk to her… Okay… She’ll tell him. She tells Dante, Spinelli was about to run a background check on Betsy, mostly insignificant. He says, mostly? and she says, it looks like last November, she was arrested by the New York State Police.
Portia says, a dumpster, why? and Drew says, they were looking for a bag from a defunct Chinese restaurant. It’s a long story. They were hoping to the bag would tie a guy to the crime. They’re in there, and come across this enormous rodent. She says, no, and he says she should have seen it. He’s never seen anybody jump so high so fast in his entire life. Curtis’s exact words were, no, no, no – he waves his finger – I don’t do rats. She says she can see him doing that. How Indiana Jones of him. Drew says, it really was, and she says, they’ve really had some adventures together. He says, they have, and he hears Curtis is about to embark on a new one with her. He heard they’re moving in together. She says they’re looking at properties, and he says, congratulations. Any luck finding one? She says, not so far. They want spacious, and they want contemporary, but nothing’s been quite the right fit. He picks up his phone, and says, before he moved in with the Quartermaines, he was shown a property that was amazing, and it’s still available if she wants him to email her the listing. She says she’d love that. If it works out, she’ll owe him for sure. He says he hears her culinary skills are amazing, and he never turns down a homecooked meal. Just saying. She asks about the kitchen in the new house, and he says, it’s incredible. It’s super high end. It’s got a dual fuel range. It’s got an induction cooktop. She’ll love it. She says, all right, then it’s a deal, and they shake hands.
Austin tells Maxie, he listened to Victor for as long as humanly possible, and that guy, that slippery bastard, didn’t say anything even interesting, much less incriminating, and they had no idea where Peter was taking her. He wishes he could have done more. She says, he did a lot. Making a move like that on Victor took guts. He says, it took Peter. He was afraid they wouldn’t find her. He was afraid of what would happen to her. He was afraid she wouldn’t forgive him. Maxie says, she was afraid too, and he says, of course (🍷). He didn’t mean to compare what she was going through with what he was going through. It must have been very difficult for her, especially when she had to leave Bailey behind. She says, that was the easiest decision she made actually. Believe it or not, she’s used to leaving Bailey behind, especially if it means she’s being protected, which is funny, since now she can’t let Bailey out of her sight. He says, that was the easy part; what was the hard part? She says, staring down the barrel of forever, alone with Peter. Not seeing the peoples she cares about anymore. That made her blood run cold. He says he could imagine. Her mom and Mac… She says, Anna and Britt… Liesl…you. He says he made the list, and she says, whatever Victor’s involvement was with Peter, it wasn’t his fault. She knows he only wanted the best for her. He says he still does want the best for her, and she says she knows. He thanks her for saying that, and asks if this means he’s forgiven. She says, hmm… How do they say yes in Pawtuck? He says, we pretty much just say, yes, and she says, yes. He holds out his hand, and she takes it.
Jordan says, Obrecht told Laura that Victor seemed to want something from Peter? and Anna says, something related to Drew? Laura says, and his conditioning, and Anna says, it’s most likely Victor was working with Peter, quid pro quo. Jordan says, but if the theory is Victor helped Peter escape, why send someone to kill him? and Anna says, maybe he outlived his usefulness? Laura asks if Anna thinks Victor got what he wanted, and what would that be? Anna says, Laura’s guess is as good as hers, and Laura says, all right. They’ll meet tomorrow at the precinct; she’ll text Jordan. She leaves, and Anna asks if Jordan wants to grab dinner. She thinks TJ will probably be in surgery a while. Jordan asks if she can take a raincheck. There’s someone she needs to see.
Portia walks into The Savoy, empty except for Curtis, and says, she comes bearing gifts. He asks if it could be a steak from the MetroCourt, medium rare, and she says, it could. And it’s still warm; she got green lights all the way. He says, this is his lucky day, and she says, luckier than he knows, because she has some exciting news for him.
Dante asks what Betsy was arrested for, and Sam says, a driving infraction. Her phone can’t provide details of the arrest. She usually goes to a friendly neighbor law enforcement guy. He says, how friendly? and she says they’re pretty tight. They have great chemistry, and make the most beautiful ax throwing together. He says it sounds to him like she wants him to like this guy, and she says, no one likes him better than she does. They kiss, and he takes her phone. She says, she knew it; he’s going to show her up. He calls Donovan, and asks if he can do Dante a favor. He tells Sam, she’s not the only person who knows people, and kisses her again.
Finn says he didn’t mean to question Jake earlier, and Jake says, it’s okay, but Finn says, it’s not, and he’s sorry. Jake doesn’t know him well, and sometimes he has a tendency to live in his head. Communication is not always his best suit. Forgive him. He’s just worried about Jake’s mom. Jake says, he and Cam can take care of their mom. They have been ever since Franco… Elizabeth says, they have been, and they’ve been amazing, but it’s not their job to take care of her. She wants, and Franco would want, for them just to enjoy being kids. Jake asks how could she know what Franco would want when he’s not there to tell them? and she says, the same way they knew his favorite paint color, and what part of the movie would make him laugh. They knew him, and they’re so much luckier for it. Finn says he’s not trying to replace Franco, but he hopes together, if Jake is willing, maybe they could forge a different bond. One of their own.
Portia and Curtis look at her phone, and she says, double-sided fireplace, and all that space for entertaining. He says, and a big room for Trina in case she wants to take a break from the dorms. She asks what he’s thinking, and he says he’s thinking it’s perfect, and he’s thinking she looks great. She says she absolutely loves it, and he says he absolutely loves her. Did they just find their new home? He says, they might have, and she squeals and hugs him. Jordan has walked in, and sees.
Marshall finds Drew still at the MetroCourt bar, and says, about that job… Drew says, he reconsidered, and Marshall says he was always interested. He just had to run it by someone important first. He’s grateful for this job offer, and would like to be considered. Drew says, after he fills out the standard application, they’ll get started on that background check, and Marshall says he’s got nothing to hide.
Austin says he’s glad they can talk through this, and Maxie says, her too. His friendship means a lot to her. He asks, how much? and she says, he means on a scale of one to ten? He says, yeah, how much? There was a time not so long ago, they talked about being more than friends. She says she remembers, and he says, him too. She said she had to focus on getting her Louise, now Bailey Louise, back. What is she going to focus on now?
Anna’s phone rings, and she answers it with, what on earth do you want?
Dante says, Betsy was arrested for driving erratically, but she was not under the influence, and Sam says, being sober doesn’t get you arrested. He says, no, but attacking a state troper does, and she says, yikes. He says he guesses Betsy was in such a bad way, they had to stop at the first hospital, and put her on a 19-7A hour hold for evaluation. Sam says, a 72 hour involuntary psychiatric hold? and he says, that’s pretty good, P.I. She says she has her moments, and asks if he knows what it means. He says, Betsy was a danger to herself and others
Finn says he wants to be here for all of them, but he agrees with Jake. Franco shouldn’t be forgotten, and he won’t be. Jake asks if he can go upstairs, and Elizabeth says, of course (🍷). The doorbell rings, and Elizabeth opens the door to Betsy. Elizabeth says she wasn’t expecting Betsy, and Betsy says, there’s something she needs to… She sees Finn, and says she thought Elizabeth would be alone, and starts to leave, but Elizabeth says, wait. Clearly she’s hear for a reason. Tell her what it is. Betsy says she wasn’t honest with Elizabeth before. She deserves the truth – all of it.
Tomorrow, Cameron tells Stella, he can’t help but feel it’s all his fault; Britt tells someone that she has their back; Maxie says she’s ready to make up for lost time; and Anna tells someone, whatever game they’re playing, count her out.
The Real Housewives of Orange County
Emily talked to stepdaughter Shelby about Annabelle’s baptism. Shelby says she’ll feel warm inside, and Emily said that Shelby seemed different; grown-up and so happy. She felt emotional, but didn’t know if it was about the baptism or menopause. She told Shane that it made her think Annabelle could be like Shelby. In Emily’s interview, she said she had no doubt or apprehension about Annabelle’s baptism into the Mormon church, but if you’d asked her a year and a half ago, she would have said, absolutely not. She told Shane that she wondered why she was so emotional. She wanted better for her children than she had. Shane said she had that, and Emily said her dad left when she was young and wasn’t around; she wished he’d been more like Shane. In her interview, she said her parents divorced when she was six, and she didn’t see her dad much. She didn’t know if her mom had alienated him, but she’d had no foundation of a father/daughter relationship. Shane said she didn’t know the whole story, and she said when she saw her dad now, he was the coolest guy ever. She wished she’d had that her whole life. She told Shane that he was a good man, and he said he didn’t need a stack of vaginas. He was a one woman man, and she was his woman.
Heather, Shannon, Jen, and Heather’s friend Tawnie met for drinks. Tawnie was wearing the stupidest outfit I’ve ever seen. Okay, maybe not ever, but it was high on the list. She had some kind of wench-type cincher under her boobs, which were hanging over it, and it was definitely not the sexy look I think she was going for. Jen said her day had been stressful, and Heather asked, why? Jen said it was her relationship. She wanted to talk to Ryne in a professional setting or it would end up worse. In Jen’s interview, she said Ryne felt distant. He’d walked out, and it was humiliation. Then he came home the next morning to yell at her, and she had to go to work and be a normal person. It was an exhausting cycle. She told Heather that she got an email that the mortgage hadn’t been paid, freaked out, and Ryne told her to quit yelling at him. Heather said she had to figure out Ryne’s language, and Shannon said she’d written David a letter since she felt talking went in one ear and out the other. Jen says, she used a sports analogy; Ryne was on the court, but not catching the ball. Instead, he walked off the court. Heather said Terry wasn’t good with feelings, and Shannon said, most men weren’t. We flashed back to Terry wanting onion rings at a dinner party, and Heather working them into their Western party. She told the women, she thought, let’s change the narrative, and got jewelry as a bonus. Jen said she’d mocked Ryne’s gold necklace, and he got her a mini version when he was in Hawaii. Heather said Jen had to pass the ball back, and she’d have them over. In Heather’s interview, she said she thought this was a make or break moment in Jen and Ryne’s relationship, and we flashed back to Jen saying Ryne needed an example of a normal relationship. Heather said it would be helpful for them to be around couples who had navigated the ups and downs of life. They needed to learn how to communicate.
Batsh*t crazy Noella visited friend Keni, and popped some champagne, saying, it was an all the way to the top kind of day. Keni asked how mediation went, and Noella said, it was crazy. She could see the airport where James’s jet would be, but he wasn’t physically there. He’d pushed for them to do it in person, and Keni said, but only for Noella to be there in person. In Noella’s interview, she said James was on FaceTime, but they were in separate rooms. She didn’t hear his voice or see his face. She said, the whole thing felt sad, and all they discussed was money. Keni asked if James asked about personal stuff, and Noella said, zilch. He asked about no specifics like art, furniture, or his $20K shoes. She was into details, like life insurance and their son’s education. In Noella’s interview, she said, there was nothing about James’s concerns, thoughts, or what was in his heart. She would have even settled for hate. She wanted something, but there was only silence after six years of so much noise; joy, excitement, and their child. She told Keni that she could do nothing more to get closure from him, and needed to do it on her own. Keni said Noella couldn’t fix him anymore, and needed to be happy. What she got in her divorce settlement was herself.
Heather visited Gina, and since they were going through Gina’s closets, she brought Gina a new pink leather jacket. In Heather’s interview, she said Gina was launching a business, and needed clothes that reflected the changes in her life. Gina could think of her as her Fairy Godheather. Gina showed Heather around, and in Gina’s interview, she said she and Heather both recognized that her tour was shorter. We flashed back to Heather’s tour of her house, which is as big as a small town. In her interview, Heather said, it was amazing that six kids lived there, and it hadn’t been ravaged. They went to Gina’s bedroom closet, which wasn’t too shabby, and possibly as big as my first NYC apartment. Gina brought out her old prom dress, and Heather wondered why she was keeping it. She was never going to wear it again. Gina said she probably couldn’t fit in it, but when she tried it on, she said it was tight, but she fit. She could wear it to the supermarket there, and no one would bat an eye. Heather went through Gina’s clothes, and wondered why so much still had tags. Gina said she didn’t go anywhere, but she liked to shop. In Heather’s interview, she said Gina didn’t understand her own personal style yet. She wanted Gina to dress young and fresh, but also professional and edgy. She had some nice pieces, but you couldn’t see them because they were smashed together with blobby silhouettes and weird things. She told Gina that some of her clothes needed to find a new home, but she didn’t know whose home. Gina brought out her wedding dress box, and said it had moved with her several times. She’d wanted her daughter have it or thought maybe the kids could make it into baptism gowns or something for their children. It made her sad. In her interview, Gina said she never thought her life would be different. In letting go of the dress, she was letting go of the life she thought she’d have. She told Heather that even though she was happy, and had no regrets or doubts, that doesn’t make it not sad. Heather suggested she do something fabulous, and give it to someone. It was time to let it go, and make some other bride happy.
Emily had a baptism reception for Annabelle, and Lizzie was there. Remember her? She was on RHOC for a hot minute. Emily joked about it being a Mormon baptism where there was drinking afterward. She told Shane that he hadn’t known he was going to do the blessing. He said he’d spoken from his heart, and it had felt like someone was telling him what to say. In Emily’s interview, she said their friends and family were there, and Shane dunking Annabelle was a beautiful thing to see. It was a beautiful moment between her husband and daughter. She told Shane, in the thirteen years they’d been married, it was only the second time she’d seen him cry. In her interview, she said, she and her sister grew up and floundered. They made stupid mistakes because they didn’t have guidance. She picked the best guy ever to be a dad, but she’d never know what it was like, and it made her sad. Gina and Travis arrived, and Gina said, the ceremony was so beautiful, it made her cry. Emily said she was glad she wasn’t the only one, and everyone applauded Annabelle. There was a huge spread, and they sat down to eat. Emily and Gina sat privately, and Emily thanked Gina for coming. She asked if Gina remembered when she said Shannon was jealous. She had six glasses of champagne, and told Shannon. In Gina’s interview, she said, it wasn’t her first day in high school. She knew if she told Emily something, it would probably get back to Shannon. That wasn’t to say, she didn’t want to take that shot herself. Emily said Shannon told her that Gina liked to talk about herself a lot, and Gina said Shannon was starting to piss her off. There wasn’t much more of Shannon that she could take. If that’s what Shannon got from who she was, Shannon didn’t know her, and she was pissed.
John and Shannon went out to lunch at the Not So Quiet Woman, and sat at what Shannon now called her booth. Shannon said she was surprised hearing the doctor talk to her about her energy levels possibly being related to hormones. We saw a clip of the doctor saying, if Shannon wasn’t balancing her food properly, she might have a problem with hormones. In Shannon’s interview, she said she and John both said they’d never experienced this level of intimacy with any other partner. She didn’t know some of this stuff was possible. I really didn’t want to know any more, and thank God she changed the topic. She told John that when she’d had the lunch for the women, Heather had brought up Gina’s skincare line. Gina told Emily that Shannon appeared jealous. John said that was so irritating to hear, and in her interview, Shannon said she didn’t know where to go with her friendship with Gina. It went back to the sushi party. We flashed back to that, and Shannon said she was confused as to where the judgment was coming from. She thought it was arrogance. She wondered why Gina wouldn’t bring it up to her, and John said Gina tried to find things to make Shannon look bad. Shannon said it was pretty low of Gina to ask if she even had any friends, and we flashed back to Shannon telling Gina that she only had a small circle, and John said, it was beyond mean; it was cruel. Where the hell did Gina get off saying it looked like Shannon had no friends? In John’s interview, he said, confidence was super attractive, but cockiness was not. In her interview, Shannon said they needed to get to the deeper issue. The little comments kept coming. John said he’d never been anything but kind to Gina and Travis, and for Gina to talk behind Shannon’s back and the comments that came out of her, who did she think she was? Not knowing John that well, I wasn’t sure if he was bored or enjoyed adding to the drama. Either way, I thought they were both exaggerating just a tad.
In Heather’s interview, she said, having a dinner party was like putting on a stage production. Since she had no time, it was simpler than she usually did. Translation: pretty fancy to the rest of us. She found an error on the menu, and in her interview said, she liked things to be the way she envisioned them. It was going to bother her all night. Terry was happy that onion rings were on the menu, and Heather said she’d made the menu of things he loved. Jen wanted Ryne to see how they operated. Terry was like, Ryne? and Heather said, like the river. Terry said he needed to process that.
In the car, Jen whined for Ryne not to talk superficially all night, and he said sports weren’t superficial. They were a metaphor for life. In Jen’s interview, she said Ryne had no idea what he was stepping into when she asked him to wear clothes.
Heather gave last minute instructions to the waitstaff, and Terry realized there was still a tag on his shirt. He asked if that wasn’t how you showed you were successful, and got a hard no from Heather. Coming up the walk, Ryne wished he’d brought dog, and said, who doesn’t like that dog? Not me, and I wished he’d brought Mr. Puppers too. When asked what they’d like to drink, Ryne asked for water, and Jen said he’d never had alcohol. Terry asked if the first question wasn’t always, was he a Mormon? and Ryne said, or an alcoholic. He’d never had any drugs either. It was noted that he was wearing athletic ankle socks with his dress shoes, and he said he didn’t wear shoes often. In Heather’s interview, she said she was just glad he was wearing a shirt. Jen went with Heather to the kitchen, while Terry and Ryne went downstairs to hang. Jen said it wasn’t easy for Ryne. Terry asked what Ryne was into, and Ryne said, sports and gambling. Terry said, so he did have a vice, and asked what Ryne’s game was. Ryne said he played poker until the kids were born, and Terry asked if he did more stuff with the kids than Jen. Ryne said he did, and Terry said it was a kind of role reversal. He couldn’t imagine, as a guy, being married to a doctor. That actually surprised me, coming from him, and he said Jen had met the perfect person. Ryne suggested Terry mention that to her.
Heather’s friends arrived. Michael and Nancy, who had been married 40 years, and Sara and Paul who had been married 20. In Heather’s interview, she said the couples were good compromise, family, and communicating, and had fun together. Jen and Ryne could learn a lot by being with them. In Jen’s interview, she said Ryne acted aloof in social situations, and people sometimes took it as arrogance. They thought she was married to an a-hole.
They sat down to eat, and Jen told Ryne how to angle his chair. In Heather’s interview, she said, Jen was hammered, and we saw clips of all she drank before sitting down at the table. Heather said she liked to see Jen letting loose, but the more loose she became, the more introverted Ryne was getting, and that was bad. Heather suggested a toast, and Jen said, to women’s underwear; not the best thing in the world, but the closest thing to it. Heather said, oh dear, and dinner commenced. Ryne tucked his napkin into his collar, and Jen told him to take it down, but he said he didn’t want to dirty his shirt. Jen was insistent, and he said, for her, he would. In her interview, Heather wondered what he was protecting; the one shirt? Terry said being married successfully for 20 years wasn’t easy; you needed to get past the down time. Heather said nothing about it was easy, but it was worth working for. Paul said his father told him the secret to a successful marriage was to wake up every morning and say he’s sorry. Paul was following suit. Heather asked how Jen and Ryne met, and Jen said she saw a guy in Louis Vuitton sunglasses, and wondered, who TF is he? She slipped him her number, and he called four weeks later. Terry asked how long they were dating before Ryne proposed, and Jen said they had the children before they were married. She’d gotten a job offer at Harvard, and told Ryne that she wasn’t giving up her career unless he asked her to marry him. She was only willing to stay if he proposed. Heather asked what Ryne’s side of the story was, and he said he was going with what Jen said. Heather said, but why did he pick that moment? and Ryne didn’t say anything. Terry said they needed to swear the witness in, and Heather said he was going to be thrown out of court. He actually started to talk, when Jen interrupted, and Heather said it was Ryne’s floor. I think it’s pretty obvious what the problem is in their relationship. He was right when he said it had to be the Jenny Show.
Ryne said he’d go with what Jen said, and in Heather’s interview, she wondered if he was scared because it was a different story or if it was embarrassing. Jen wouldn’t let Ryne talk, and he was happy not to. Jen said the wine was fantastic, and Heather said, wait until they had the 2013; it was insane. Jen said the wine was very good about ten times, and told Heather that she was connoisseuring [sic] everything that was put in front of her. She might seem drunk, but she was concentrating. She didn’t give a f*** who you like, this was good. She caressed Ryne’s face, and he asked her to stop, to which she responded, f*** you, and told the server to fill her glass. Ryne got up, and she grabbed at him. He told her that she needed to stop drinking, and she said it was good wine. He wandered off, and got on his phone, and Terry gave a toast, to well-established friends and newly established ones. Jen said Heather was awesome. She couldn’t believe Heather put this all together. In her interview, Heather said she’d never seen Jen like this. Loosening up was a goal, but getting hammered was the polar opposite of what she’d been hoping for. Jen needed to be honest about what her part was. Whatever you say was not good. Jen teetered to the door, gathering up Ryne on the way. She said she loved Heather; she was awesome.
Heather told the other guests that Jen and Ryne had been going through some rough waters, and they’d all been through that. Nancy said Ryne was very shy.
In the car, Jen said Ryne did awesome, and asked if Terry was cool to hang out with. Ryne said he was, and Jen said she literally wanted to collapse in his arms. She put her head in his lap, and he talked workouts with the driver.
Everyone said how Ryne was sweet and nice, and Terry said, let’s be honest. They’re a mess.
Next time, the trip to NYC, Heather and Gina get drunk and eat pizza on the street, Shannon says Gina needs to put a pin in it, and Jen sees a therapist.
🙋🏽♀️ Saying Goodbye With Shalom…
Come on down tomorrow for soap and tea. And for those of you who would rather watch people cook than do it yourself, like me, the new Top Chef starts tomorrow (Thursday), along with spin-off Top Chef Family Style. Until then stay safe, stay choosing your friends wisely, and stay leaving your connoisseuring at the door when going to a fancy dinner party.
What I Watched - TV With Theresa 