What I Watched Today

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

 

 

General Hospital

It’s GH’s 14,000^th episode.

New detective Chase comes to the gallery. Ava says the insurance value of the sculpture Mike broke is $14,000. The man is deranged and she wants him caught.

Sonny asks David if he knew something was wrong before referring him to Griff, but David thinks Griff is the doctor he should be talking to. Sonny says he must have seen the signs. Why didn’t David warn him?

Franco tells Elizabeth that he’s exactly where he wants to be. Elizabeth is glad they’re going to be spending the rest of their lives together. Epiphany sees them, and says, hell no.

Anna sees Finn talking to Alexis at the hospital desk, and turns away. Alexis bemoans another article about her tanking the election. She says no one should run who has skeletons in their closer. Finn mentions there’s an elephant in the room. Alexis sees Anna.

Carly goes with Jason to the station. She says she’s been getting calls for weeks. She says if the police can’t help them, they have Spinelli as a fallback. She wonders if she’s being ridiculous, and Jason says he wants to help her find out what happened. Dante asks them what’s going on, and Carly tells him that she’s been getting calls from a local number and no one is there. She called back, but no one answers. On one call, a male voice said, I’m here, then twenty minutes ago (two days in our time) she got this. She shows him her phone and says she heard an explosion. She wants Dante to trace the number, and he says okay. It must be nice to have friends in high places. There’s no way they’d bother with this IRL. You might even get reprimanded for being a time-waster.

Epiphany says she can’t let Elizabeth defy tradition; she doesn’t want to invite misfortune. Doc pops out of his office, and tells Franco it’s time to get started. Epiphany asks Elizabeth what her plans are for tonight, the night before the wedding. Elizabeth says she’s going to take a bubble bath, and Epiphany says, wrong. Epiphany is taking her out for a drink. Elizabeth is concerned that Epiphany wants to talk her out of marrying Franco, but Epiphany says Elizabeth’s friends spent the better part of the past year trying to convince her not to marry him. What would be the point?

In Doc’s office, Franco is worried that if Elizabeth finds out he’s keeping another secret, she’ll never trust him again.

Alexis tells Anna that they just came from an AA meeting, and Anna says she was there for an appointment. She says she’s sorry about the election. Alexis was trying to do a good thing, and didn’t deserve what happened. Anna leaves, and Alexis calls Finn a silver-tongued devil. He couldn’t even choke out her name. She tells him to clear up the misconception, and go after her. He doesn’t see a need for that. He told her how he feels, and she shot him down.

David says he’s told Sonny what he could. Technically, he shouldn’t be discussing Mike’s case with him. Sonny says Mike didn’t believe the diagnosis, and stormed out. They haven’t seen him since. They don’t have the greatest relationship, but Mike has always been a capable guy, and able to think on his feet. This has to be worst thing in the world.

Ava talks to Chase, who says it will help if she gives him the security footage.  Griff shows up, and asks what’s going on. Ava says a disoriented guy came into the gallery, broke a statue, and ran off. He asks if she was threatened, and she says no, but she felt unsafe; the guy was out of control. She goes to her laptop to get the footage. Chase tells her that he’ll forward it to all local units, and leaves. Griff looks at the screen and says he knows that guy. We see a still shot of Mike at the gallery.

In the interrogation room, Jason asks Carly when the phone calls started, and she tells him the beginning of February. At first, she thought it was a wrong number, but the calls kept coming. All three of them? Then on Valentine’s Day, she heard a young man’s voice say, I’m here. Jason says that was a week ago, and asks why she waited so long. Carly didn’t think it was important. He says, maybe, but if it’s bothering her, it’s important to him. She says this is why she missed him. She can always come to him no matter what shows up. He’s the first person who did that for her. She counts on him, and knows she takes advantage, but he loves her. He says he does, and if something is bothering her, he wants to fix It. She wants him to let her do the same. She says the only reason Sam married Drew is because she’s running. Jason tells her to stop. Dante comes in, and says he got a hit on the phone number.

At the bar, Elizabeth is worried that Epiphany has set her up, but Epiphany says it’s just them. Elizabeth tells her it’s hard being surrounded by friends smiling and wishing her well, when they’re thinking it’s a mistake. Epiphany tells her to forget her friends; what does she think?

Franco wants Doc to be able to tell him that Elizabeth and the kids are safe, and there’s no weird monster inside of him. Doc says he can’t do that. He can help Franco with what’s troubling him, but Franco has to tell him. Franco says he and Drew were playing hide and seek. He found Drew in a toy chest, locked it, and left him in it.

Sonny asks how long the progression is, and David says it’s not his area of expertise, but some medications work in some cases. Even so, the best that can be hoped for is to slow the deterioration. The long term is inevitable. Sonny says it sounds grim, and David says he’s sorry. Sonny appreciates his honesty, and that he’s not sugarcoating. Sonny gets a call from Griff. Griff asks if he’s found his father. Sonny says, no, and Griff tells him to get to Ava’s gallery.

Anna sits at the bar, messing with her phone. Andre asks if this seat is taken, and she asks what took him so long.

Dante tells Carly it’s a pay phone off of Route 35 by the river. There haven’t been any reports of an incident in the vicinity, but he has to follow up.

Elizabeth tells Epiphany that she and the boys see the real Franco, but everyone else seems to be waiting for him to prove he’s as bad as they thought. Epiphany says they trust her judgement. She just hopes Elizabeth is right. They love her, and remember Franco’s life before the tumor was removed.

David sees Kiki studying in a booth at the bar. She groans over her studies, and he tells her that she’s going to need more than coffee to survive; she needs sustenance. He orders ribs, coleslaw, mac and cheese, and two plates. He says he can’t have his future intern collapsing from hunger, and asks, what’s stumping her?

Anna tells Andre she’s glad he’s there, and he says he is too. He didn’t expect it. The bureau is reviving the memory mapping program. In exchange for his cooperation, his sentence was commuted and his record expunged. He says it had to have come from someone high up. She wouldn’t know about that, would she? Whoever it is, he owes them. Anna asks if he thinks he can duplicate the procedure without his research notes, and he says he’s reasonably confident. He’d rather it be funded by the WSB than a faceless backer who turns out to be Faison. Anna says even though know she knows he’s dead, she still feels sick hearing his name. Andre says she suffered severe trauma at his hand, especially when she thinks about the baby. She says she has no one to blame but herself, but Andre says she still doesn’t have to endure it alone. She needs  to confide in someone. She says she told him, but he says what about the man she’s grown close to? Has she told him?

Alexis tells Finn that the downside of running for mayor – besides losing – is that it negates the anonymous part of AA. People must either be thinking, hooray, she lost, or poor thing, she lost. He asks if she’s projecting a little, and says she shouldn’t second guess her campaign. She did something valuable. She says a lot of good it did, but he tells her to fight harder next time. She says this was the only time, and he says find another way to fight. She cared enough about the community to put herself out there; don’t be sorry for making an effort. She appreciates the encouragement, but tells him not to feel an obligation to prop her up because of last night. And last night can never happen again.

Sonny gets to the gallery. Ava says his father was disoriented, got agitated, and broke something, and she called the police before she knew who he was. Sonny wonders why he went there, and she says he thought it was Luke’s club. Sonny says Mike worked there as a bartender when he first came to Port Charles. Griff says it’s like when he went to Kelly’s. Sonny says ,but it was the same diner in the same spot. Aside from the address, the gallery has nothing to do with the club. Sonny asks if he’s that far gone, and Griff says the disease isn’t a steady or consistent process. Times of lucidity can be followed by disorientation, especially after emotional strain. Sonny wonders if hearing the diagnosis made everything worse. Sonny’s phone rings, and it’s Mike. He tells Sonny that he’s at the station.

Anna tells Andre that she hasn’t said anything; there’s no need. He says there is if she wants a healthy relationship. She says she and Finn have no relationship. Andre says the word was out that they were seeing each other. Anna says her plan was to use him to gain access to Cassandra. One thing led to another, and they pretended to be lovers, but Finn insisted  on staying when she wanted him to quit. He refused to listen to anything, and almost got killed twice. First, Cassandra drugged him, and the second time she knocked him out when Faison wanted her to shoot him. Andre says Cassandra is comatose, and Faison is dead. Andre isn’t saying it’s not complicated. She can find a million reasons for them not to be together, but can’t change her feelings. She says feelings aren’t the point. Finn deserves love, and also deserves the truth. In order for them to mean anything to each other, he has to know about her past, and the worst thing she ever did. It doesn’t matter anymore though. By the time she got to him, it was already too late.

Alexis says she and Finn have been in recovery about the same amount of time, and know it’s a bad idea for AA members to sleep with each other. She likes him and gets him; they’re both fighting the same demons. The last thing she wants is to compromise their sobriety. Finn says the back and forth with Anna taught him that he’s in no place to pursue a relationship, but he could use a friend. He’d be sorry if last night messed it up.

David sits next to Kiki, and shows her something that sounds like an algebraic formula. She says he makes it sound simple, and he tells her when you’ve been doing it as long as he has, it is. The food arrives, and he tells her to eat.

Elizabeth says Epiphany is the smartest person in the hospital. She knows there were medical reasons for Franco doing what he did. Epiphany says if she didn’t believe it, Milo would disappear him. Elizabeth says she doesn’t need protecting, and Epiphany asks if Jason knows that.

Franco tells Doc that he locked Drew in a toy chest and pushed him down the stairs. Doc says he’s putting adult judgment on a child’s actions. There could be number of reasons they need to explore. Franco says he’s marrying Elizabeth tomorrow, and asks if Doc can tell him that there’s no darkness inside, and he’ll never commit violence again. Doc says if he chooses to go forward without disclosure, he has to live with the consequences. Franco says he’s not doing this anymore. He’s not letting anything coming between him and the best thing that’s happened to him. He tells Doc not to blow it for him, and leaves. Doc’s phone rings. He says he did ask for the tests to be fast-tracked. He listens, and says, interesting. He wants a copy of everything.

Ava tells Griff that she’ll probably be on the phone half the night; he should go. Griff says he’s not going anywhere. She says okay, if he wants to listen to her wrangle with the claims adjuster. He says he’s not leaving until they talk about Valentine’s Day.

Sonny comes to the station, and is directed to Chase. Chase tells him that he picked up Mike wandering around the pier. Sonny goes into the interrogation room to see him. Mike is sorry for the trouble. He didn’t mean to break the lady’s sculpture. Sonny says it’s all taken care of. Mike says he wanted to go to Luke’s, but it wasn’t there. Sonny says it burned down, and Mike says he knew it; how could he forget? Sonny tells him it’s okay, but Mike says it’s not. You don’t forget things like that unless something is seriously wrong, and the doctor says he has Alzheimer’s. He starts to cry.

Mike says he screwed up this time; scaring the woman, and breaking things. Sonny says Ava has seen and done worse; one day at a time. He’s getting Mike out of there. He asks Chase what he has to do, but Chase says unfortunately, it’s not that simple. Mike was arrested for trespassing and vandalism. The reports aren’t even filed yet. He can’t let him go tonight.

Ava tells Griff there’s nothing to discuss. He asks why she’s pushing him away. He knows he should have called her about Kiki, but Ava says it’s not about Kiki; it’s about her. Since the surgery, she’s been afraid he’ll see her for who she really is, and find someone else who can be a saint like him. He says he sees and accepts her for who she is. She says he doesn’t understand. It’s new to her, being in love.

Anna tells Andre that it’s for the best not to say anything to Finn. The less people know, the better; most of all for her daughter. Andre says she opened a door that might be harder to close than she realizes. She says it’s mostly to protect her children. She can’t imagine how Robin would react. It would shatter Robin’s faith in her. The only gift she can give her other daughter is to not know who her father was. Andre respects her decision. Anna says, but he doesn’t agree, and he tells her it’s not his call. She asks if that’s as a shrink or as her friend? He needs to make arrangements for his room, and she offers him her place. He says maybe another time; he’s been looking forward to some privacy. I’ll bet.

David tells Kiki that life will be easier if she does what he says. She thanks him for dinner and the tutoring. He tells her organic chemistry is the weeding out course, and if she needs more help, just ask.

Elizabeth tells Epiphany that she hasn’t even had a chance to process that Jason is alive and home. She says the first time she saw him, he came out of nowhere and attacked Franco. Ever since then, she’s been trying to tell him Franco has changed, but he can only think about how Franco hurt Michael and Sam.

Dante, Jason, and Carly go to the phone booth. Carly wonders who would be calling her from out there. Um… someone up to no good? For a woman who’s so slick and trying to stay a step ahead all the time, she’s pretty dense.

Sonny tells Chase that he’ll call Dante, but Chase says it’s not going to change anything. Mike committed  a crime. Sonny says he was just diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. Chase says, sorry; it must be hard for him. Sonny says he’ll compensate Ava, and it will all be over. Let him take his father home.

Ava tells Finn it’s the first time she’s ever been in a healthy relationship. It’s the first time she’s been in love with someone who’s actually good for her, and it scares her -a lot – so that’s it; he has it. She was going to tell him on Valentine’s Day that she loves him.

Alexis tells Finn that she enjoys their friendship, and never wants to lose it. She’s never going to sleep with him again. He agrees, and they pinky swear. He says now that his stomach has uncoiled, would she like to get something to eat? She says she always wants to eat. Anna sees them. Finn tells Alexis that his and Anna’s relationship was over before it started. She made an attempt to open up. She wanted to, but won’t, and he doesn’t know why.

Doc runs into Anna. He tells her that Faison’s diagnosis said that he had Huntington’s disease. It’s a genetic disorder that he could have passed on to his children.

Franco meets Elizabeth at the bar. He wanted to get a glimpse of her before midnight. Epiphany says that’s her cue to leave. Elizabeth thanks her, and gives her a hug. Epiphany hugs Franco, and tells him good luck, and if he hurts Elizabeth, he’ll have her to answer to.

Carly says the calls came at night. Why would someone call from out in the middle of nowhere? Dante says maybe it’s a prank. She says she heard an explosion. Dante says she can see it’s nothing. Carly starts wandering around, saying maybe they missed something. Dante tells Jason that Morgan was killed about a hundred yards from there, and he died in an explosion.

On Monday, Brad tells Julian he won’t be a part of his grandchild’s life, Ava asks Griff if he’s breaking up with her, and Josslyn asks Nelle if she’s getting back together with Michael.

🎢 How’s This for Digression?

Last week, I caught a marathon of Ash Vs the Evil Dead, which is returning to STARZ on Sunday, February 25^th, 9 pm. You can also catch the second season there, earlier on Sunday. This is one of those shows I feel like I have no business watching. Ash is sexist and racist, and probably a bunch of other ists, but I still love him. I feel the same way about Two Broke Girls. It’s embarrassing, but they still make me laugh. Or at least snicker. Maybe I also feel a little bit guilty because I once mistook Garrett Morris for a homeless thief. For a couple of years, I worked in the Manufacturer’s Hanover bank in Rockefeller Center, and just about everyone who worked at NBC banked there, including the SNL cast. I didn’t normally work on the ground level, and was filling in for someone. Most of the news people and Dan Aykroyd (who was dating one of the tellers at the time) did their banking downstairs, and I had never met Garrett. He handed a counter deposit slip to me with only half of the account numbers filled in, saying he didn’t remember the rest. You need to know that this is a way thieves rip people off. They make a phony deposit using a counter slip, but say they don’t know their account number offhand. Shortly afterward, they try to cash a bogus check against the same account, saying they were just here and made a deposit. You’d be surprised with what grifters come up with. Anyway, it was very busy, and I had barely glanced up at the guy who looked like he hadn’t shaved in a few days, and was wearing a rumpled coat, and this was my first thought. Then I looked at the name. And looked at him again. Thank God I hadn’t said anything.

🚫 Right Now

I’m almost at the end of Get Out (on HBO rotation). Everybody is great, but IMO, Lil Rel Howery steals this film. His delivery is The. Best. I also love seeing some old character favorites like Stephen Root (News Radio) and Richard Herd (V). Nice to see it’s getting a lot of nods/awards. It’s confusing as to which category it belongs though, since it seems to have one all its own. Funny, creepy, and gory, wrapped in a message, the story is definitely unique.

Quotes of the Week

Life is hard and dangerous, and sometimes you have to chop off somebody’s head to survive. – Ash (Bruce Campbell), Ash Vs the Evil Dead

You can’t cross the sea merely by standing and staring at the water. – Rabindranath Tagore

Change may not always bring growth, but there is no growth without change. – Roy T. Bennett

There was a certain elegance to it. I kind of miss it. – LeVar Burton, referring to television in the 70s on The Seventies

The best way to find out if you can trust somebody is to trust them. – Ernest Hemingway

… the flick dances by with the same cadence and mediocrity viewers have come to expect. – Erin Huestis, The Celebrity Café review of Insidious: The Last Key

👇 It’s Here..