What I Watched Today
(rambling, random thoughts & annoyingly detailed recaps from real time TV watching)
General Hospital
Jackie goes to Anna’s place, and says she’s sorry for dropping by unannounced, but she needs to talk to Finn. Anna says, Finn’s not there. He didn’t come home last night, and she’s not sure he’s going to.
Chase tells Finn, good morning, and Finn says, is it? Chase says, is it good, or is it morning? which is already more talking than I can handle first thing. Finn asks, where’s Violet? and Chase says he figured with the day Finn had yesterday, he’d want to sleep in. He called the nanny to take Violet out to breakfast, and maybe the park afterward. He told her that Finn would be in touch. Finn’s phone dings, and he sees 12 missed calls from Jackie.
Phyllis tells Lenny, the bank won’t give them an extension, so they pay the mortgage. It’s as simple as that. Lenny says, it’s not simple at all. They have to replace the stock the vandals smashed. Otherwise, they’ll be serving the customers tap water, and how much can they charge for that? In the hallway, Sonny makes a call. He asks if it’s still on for today, back of the garage. He’ll be there.
Jason meets Carly by the hallowed bowl of moss, and she gives him some coffee. She asks if he slept much, and he says, not much. She says, her neither. She gets that Elizabeth has to blame someone because she’s grieving, but she shouldn’t have blamed him.
On the phone, Elizabeth thanks Nikolas, and tells him, just get home safely. She looks at a picture of her and Franco, then goes to the kitchen. Terry is there, and Elizabeth tells her that Nikolas will be on the next flight out, after he tells Ava. She and Franco were good friends. She asks where the boys are, and Terry says, Jake and Aiden are watching a movie upstairs. Elizabeth asks if they ate breakfast, and Terry says they did. Cameron, not so much. He left early, and didn’t say where he was going. She assumed to clear his head. She says, there are some eggs on the stove if Elizabeth wants, and Elizabeth says she didn’t have to do all this, but Terry says she wanted to. She takes Elizabeth’s hand and says she’s not alone.
At the hospital, Josslyn asks Trina what she thinks Cameron’s text was about, but Trina says she doesn’t know. Josslyn can’t believe it, and Trina says, they’ve all lost so much, and now Cameron loses Franco? Josslyn says she feels awful for him, when Cameron comes in. She goes to him, and hugs him, saying she’s so sorry. Trina says, her too, and asks how he’s doing, hugging him. He says he’s all over the place, and Josslyn says, sounds about right. He thanks them for meeting him, and Josslyn says, of course (🍷). Trina asks what it’s about, and he says he needs their help getting out the truth. Trina asks if he knows who killed his stepdad, and he says, it’s nothing like that. He spent all night going over everything in his head, and it hit him. Franco’s still alive.
Jackie says Finn’s not returning her calls, and Anna says, so she thought she’d try the sneak attack. Jackie says, it doesn’t really work if he’s not there, and Anna asks if there’s anything she can do to help. Jackie flashes back to Gregory telling Finn that they hadn’t planned on having a family. Chase was a happy surprise, and they joked that he was a souvenir from their honeymoon… Oh. Finn and Jackie were together the night before their wedding, and nine months later, Chase was born. Is Chase Finn’s son? Jackie tells Anna, it’s just a family matter, and Anna says if she hears from Finn, she’ll tell him to get in touch. Jackie thanks her, and asks if she’s okay. She knows what happened between Finn and Anna is none of her business… Anna says, it’s hardly private at this point, and Jackie says, Anna didn’t tell Finn that Peter was her nephew and not her son. Maybe if she explains, Finn will understand where she’s coming from. Anna says, there really isn’t an explanation. She was completely at fault.
Chase asks, what happened? and Finn asks if he wants to narrow that down. Chase says he means between Finn and Anna. Does he think it can be salvaged? They fold the blankets from the couch as they talk, and Finn says he doesn’t know. The lies cut pretty deep. He can’t help wondering if it’s not symptomatic of something greater. He thinks the question is, if Anna had been involved with Robert or Valentin, would she have kept the secret from them? Chase wonders if Finn asked her, and Finn says he wants to ask her a lot of things, but she walked out.
Carly says she doesn’t want to speak ill of the dead, but she can’t believe Franco involved Jason in that ridiculous plan of his; to have Jason kill him if he starts showing signs of psychotic behavior. It’s like Franco was planning for something to go wrong, and of course (🍷) it did. Now it’s all going to land on Jason. He says, it’s okay, but she says, no, it’s not okay. The police have been trying to make a case against him for forever. It’s no secret he hates Franco. He attacked the man in a hospital full of witnesses the day he came back to Port Charles. He’s going to be arrested, and he could be held over for trial. She knows it’s a long shot, but he could go to prison. He says, it’s a very long shot, but she says, people are railroaded every day. Hell, she was railroaded. She’s grieving for Sonny every day. She can’t lose Jason. She won’t.
Cameron tells Josslyn and Trina, he knows it sounds crazy, but when you think about it, it’s the only thing that makes sense. Josslyn says, walk them through it, and he says, Franco faked his death, just like Trina’s dad did. Trina says, yes, that happened with her dad, but it was to protect her from Cyrus. What makes him think that happened with Franco? He says he was so upset when he didn’t get to say goodbye to Franco, but that’s when he realized, Franco knew how hard it would be for them. Josslyn says, to say goodbye? and he says, yes, if he died from the tumor. There’s this long, drawn out process when he’d get sicker and sicker, and Franco would do anything to avoid that kind of pain for them. Trina says, so he faked his death, and Cameron says, and Jason probably helped him. Franco is probably laying low right now, until he’s cured, and it’s safe for him to come back home again. Josslyn says, okay. Say he’s right, and that’s what’s going on. How does he prove it? He takes off his backpack, and unzips it, saying, they do the same thing they did for Trina’s dad with his mom’s computer, and access Franco’s medical files. Trina says, after that security breach, she thinks security has gone way up. Her mom told her there’s a two part authentication process, plus a code on the back of their badges. He shows them Elizabeth’s ID, and tells them, Trina was saying?
Elizabeth digs around the couch cushions, and Terry asks what she’s looking for. Elizabeth says, her ID; she can’t find it anywhere. Terry says Elizabeth just lost her husband. She’s not thinking of going into work, is she? Elizabeth says, no, but she still has to go to the hospital; Franco is there. He was there last night, and it just seems wrong that he was alone. Terry tells Elizabeth, what was at the hospital, that’s not Franco. His heart and soul, and everything they shared, is still with her. Wherever Franco is, he’s not alone. What Elizabeth needs to do is take care of herself and her family, and let some of them take care of her. She offers to check on the kids, and Elizabeth thanks her. The doorbell rings, and Elizabeth opens the door to Sam.
Sam asks if she can she come in, and Elizabeth says, it depends. Is she there to dance on Franco’s grave? Sam says, whatever she felt about Franco, she knows the pain Elizabeth is in now. Elizabeth was there for her a few months ago when she was hurting, and she wanted to return the favor. Please. She hands Elizabeth a cup of to-go coffee.
Carly says she doesn’t understand why Jason went along with Franco’s plan to begin with. It’s a trap. Franco does something bad or dangerous, and Jason kills him? It’s all Jason’s fault, and he goes to prison. He says she’s right. He didn’t know what to do. He hasn’t known what to do about Franco from the day he got back. Jake loved the guy, and when Franco’s tumor was removed, he wasn’t held responsible for the things he did. Jason wasn’t in a position to hold him responsible because Elizabeth has full custody of Jake. Carly says, it’s something he agreed to a million years ago because he didn’t know Elizabeth would turn around and marry Franco, and he says, but she did. Franco was the man she wanted; the man she wanted in the life of her kids. And Jake was happy. All he could do was make the respect Elizabeth’s choice, and try not to get in the way.
Sonny asks Lenny how it’s coming along, and Lenny says, they either pay the mortgage, and they’ll have nothing to serve their customers, or they stock the Tan-O, and the bank forecloses. Phyllis says she can cover one mortgage payment by parting with her china; they never use it anyway. Lenny says, but it’s not just one payment; the margins have been thin for years. With so many businesses are shutting down, he’s not sure there will be any customers left to serve, but Phyllis says he’s just scared. She has to believe the customers will come back when they reopen. Lenny says, and if they don’t? A man walks in, and Sonny says they’re still closed, but he says he’s not a customer.
Anna tells Jackie that she hopes it’s not inappropriate, talking to her about this, but Jackie thinks they passed inappropriate eons ago. Besides, in her line of work, the best insights can come from the most unlikely people. Anna says, in her line of work too. The fact is, she’s been woefully blind where Peter is concerned, about who he really was. Did she know the truth? Not for certain, but enough people she trusted told her. Her instincts kept taking her in that direction, but she refused to see it because she didn’t want to believe Peter was guilty. She didn’t want to think the man Maxie was in love with was just this illusion. She should have faced the truth head on, tried to work through the problem, and try to solve it, but she didn’t. She enabled Peter. She kept trying to find excuses to explain the holes in his story, and his bizarre behavior. So the all fallout is really hers. Jackie says, all the fallout? and Anna says, a large portion was her responsibility. Of course (🍷) Finn is really furious, and he has every right to be. She lied to him, and not just about who Peter was, that he wasn’t her son, but the extent of the crimes Peter committed. Because she knew all that, she had this feeling that… the wedding wasn’t going to happen. She should have warned Finn, prepared him, but she didn’t. Just when Finn was trying to figure everything out, she had to leave to deal with Peter. Her life is kind of falling apart, and she doesn’t have anyone else to blame but herself.
There’s a knock at Chase’s door. It’s Gregory, and Chase says, look who stopped by. Finn asks what Gregory is doing there, and Gregory says he wanted to see how Finn was holding up. He took a gamble that Finn’s brother knew where he was. Chase tells them that he has to shower before work; make themselves at home. He leaves the room, and Finn says something tells him that he wasn’t the one Gregory was looking for, and Gregory says, he wasn’t. He just needed to see his boy. Finn says Gregory’s not planning on telling Chase that Finn might be his father, is he?
Phyllis says, look who it is, and hugs the man. She asks how he’s doing, and he says, fine; and them? She says they’re hanging in there. Lenny introduces the man to Mike/Sonny as their old friend Elijah. Elijah says, nice to meet you, and Phyllis says they missed Elijah at the last town council meeting. Elijah says work has been keeping him busy, and Phyllis says she bets. They heard the strip mall he’s building is doing pretty good. Lenny says he doesn’t know why Elijah chose to build in a ghost town, and Phyllis says, it was a great area way back when, until it started getting dangerous. Elijah says, word on the street has it that it’s not looking great here either. Phyllis says, they’ve seen better days, but it’s hardly a ghost town. Elijah says, crime goes up, the population drops, and businesses shut down; it’s a vicious cycle. He asks if they have enough in the bank to weather the storm. Maybe he can do something to help.
Gregory tells Finn, he’ll always be Chase’s father, no matter what some DNA test says, but to answer Finn’s question, he sees the point Finn and Jackie were making last night. There’s no reason to tell Chase unless they know for sure, and even then, they’ll decide what’s best. Finn is glad they see things the same way, and Gregory laughs. He says, all these years, he blamed himself for how strained their relationship has been. He thought Finn was overreacting to his getting remarried, but he carried the guilt for decades, guilt that he chose his own happiness over Finn’s. He was a fool not to see it was the other way around. Finn was the one who carried the guilt and shame, but he was forcing Gregory to carry it will him. Finn says, it was never his intention. He didn’t want to hurt Gregory more than he already had. He left because he didn’t want to take away Gregory’s happiness. Gregory says, but he did. Finn took away his oldest son by keeping this secret. For a parent, there’s nothing worse.
Jackie tells Anna, for what it’s worth (🍷), she’s sorry. Regret is a horrible burden to bear. Anna says, if she could do it over… Jackie says, but they can’t. Anna says, no, they can’t. She guesses they just have to learn from their mistakes. Jackie asks, how’s that going? and Anna says she thinks the biggest takeaway for her, is that you can’t have real love, real communication, and family if all these secrets are buried underneath. It’s not possible, no matter how much you want it. Secrets are like toxic waste underground, waiting to bubble to the surface at an inopportune moment. Which is exactly what happened tonight at the wedding. Jackie tells her, good luck, Anna says, her too, and Jackie leaves.
Chase comes back, and his phone rings. He says, wait… What? Do they need him to come in early?… Okay. Thanks for letting him know. Finn asks if everything is okay, and Chase says, Franco Baldwin was murdered last night.
Cameron tries to access the files, and Josslyn tells Trina, it’s not Jason, but as of now, he’s the only suspect. Of course (🍷) Cameron would rather believe Jason was helping Franco. Trina says, Jason helped save their lives, and they’ll always be grateful for that, but Cameron has created an alternate universe where Franco is still alive. Josslyn says, that’s why they have to help him, and Trina asks if they shouldn’t level with him. Josslyn asks if it would have worked with Trina when they were trying to find out the truth about her dad, and Trina says, no. Josslyn says, then they need to do what Cameron needs them to do, so he can figure it out for himself. Cameron says, dammit. He’s tried the passwords a hundred times; his mother must have changed it. How can he get answers now? Josslyn says she thinks she might know one way, and picks up Elizabeth’s ID.
Terry comes down, and says, all good upstairs. Elizabeth thanks Terry, who says she’s scheduled to work, but if Elizabeth wants her to stay… Elizabeth says she’s fine, and Terry says she’ll call later. She leaves, and Elizabeth thanks Sam for the coffee. Sam says she figured Elizabeth could use it, and Elizabeth says she figured right. Sam says she knows the feeling. Like Elizabeth said to her, she might not be the first call if she needs someone to talk to, but she’s happy to be the second. If she hears anything from her sources at the PCPD about who did it, Elizabeth will be the first to know. Elizabeth says, Sam has no idea, does she? Sam says, about what? and Elizabeth says she knows who killed Franco. It was Jason.
Jason tells Carly that he didn’t kill Franco, but he was there, and because he didn’t kill Franco, he can’t control the situation. He was in the wrong place at the wrong time, with zero means to protect himself. Carly says they just have to hope once this first wave of grief passes, Elizabeth realizes he had nothing to do with it. He was too smart to let this happen. He says all they can do is let the cops investigate. The evidence will be there or not, but what matters is, he didn’t do it. She says, that means somebody else did, and he says, that’s what they need to focus on. There are a lot of people who didn’t like Franco, but there’s one person who had actual motive to kill him. She asks if he knows who did this, and he says he thinks it was Peter.
Terry comes out of the elevator, and goes to the reception desk. Cameron, Josslyn, and Trina run into the elevator, thinking they’re being stealthy, but Terry sees them.
Sam tells Elizabeth, that can’t be right, but Elizabeth says, it is. Didn’t Sam hear about the deal they made? Sam says she remembers, but Jason wouldn’t. Elizabeth says she watched Jason stand over Franco’s body as he bled to death. Sam says, there has to be an explanation, and Elizabeth says, Jason hates Franco, and he killed him. Sam says, what if Franco… Elizabeth says, did something to deserve it? Was that what Sam was going to say? Sam says she’s going to go, and Elizabeth thinks that’s a good idea. Sam says, for what it’s worth (🍷), she knows the pain Elizabeth and her family are going through, and would never wish it on anyone. She says she’s so sorry, and leaves.
Carly says, the voices Franco was hearing… and Jason says, one voice. She says, so Franco wasn’t losing his mind; it was a memory? He says, yes. From Drew, when he was in Afghanistan and was kidnapped. It proves Peter was there, and in on it the whole time. Then Franco told Peter about hearing his voice… She says, soPeter knew Drew’s memories were resurfacing in Franco, and he says, Peter knew it was a possibility, and knew he could be implicated for his original crimes. It sounds like a motive to him. What does she think? She says, Peter has claimed all along that Helena and Faison coerced him into the kidnapping, and he was a victim, not the perpetrator. If Drew’s memories prove otherwise, it will blow Peter’s life apart. He thinks Peter killed Franco to keep it from happening; to shut him up for good.
Lenny asks, what kind of arrangement? and Elijah says, one that could provide them with financial backing for the time being. Phyllis says, in what way? and Sonny says, don’t fall for it. He knows a sweet talker when he sees one. Elijah knew they were in trouble; it’s why he came there in the first place. Elijah says, Mike what? and Sonny says, just Mike. Elijah says he appreciates just Mike looking out for Lenny and Phyllis. He owes them a lot. He rented a room from Phyllis after he finished grad school and was buried in debt. But he’s right. Not about the sweet talking, but coming here with an agenda. He’d like to go into business with them. Lenny says they’re listening, and Elijah says, when the spike in vandalism stops, the town will be hungry for local businesses again, but not all of them will survive long enough to get over the hump. His company can provide the cash flow the Tan-O needs. Lenny asks what Elijah wants in return, and Elijah says, to be blunt, he wants to buy the place from them.
Finn says, Franco’s dead? and Chase says, he was murdered in his art studio last night. He was shot to death. Finn asks, by who? but Chase doesn’t have any details; they just wanted to give him a heads up. He tells Gregory, the victim was married to Violet’s aunt, and Gregory says he’s so sorry. Finn says he’s going to go see Elizabeth and find out if she needs anything, and Chase asks Finn to send his condolences. Finn says he’ll call the nanny on his way over, and tell her that he’s picking up Violet. Chase says Finn forgot his phone, and picks it up. He looks at it, and says, DNA test results. What’s that about?
Finn asks if Chase doesn’t need a warrant to search a phone, and Chase says he just picked up the phone, and it was on the front screen. Why did Finn order a DNA test? Finn says he can’t talk about it; it’s for work. Chase says Finn is an infectious disease specialist, but Finn says he orders lab tests all the time. Chase says, but it wasn’t on the physician’s portal. It came in on an app patients use. He’s asking again why Finn ordered a DNA test, and why didn’t Finn say that Chase’s mom called him a dozen times? Does it have something to do with what Finn and Gregory were talking about? Finn insists it’s about work, when Jackie comes in, and says, stop. They can’t keep doing this.
Carly tells Jason, this is huge, and he says, it could be. They need proof, but nothing is going to get resolved before he meets with the five families. She says, about Cyrus? and he says they have to make sure everybody is on the same page. He needs to make sure everybody knows Carly and the family are off limits, but if he’s facing legal trouble… She asks what he’s going to do, and he says he’ll find some way to be there. Somebody has to show up from Sonny’s organization, and he’s the only option.
A technician in the autopsy room hears a yell, and Trina runs in. She tells him, come quick. Her friend fell, and she thinks she hurt herself. He runs out with Trina, and Cameron sneaks in. He looks on a chart to see which locker Franco’s body is in.
Elizabeth’s phone rings. Terry tells her that she just saw Cameron and his friends sneaking around the hospital. She thinks Elizabeth should get down there.
Cameron looks at the nameplate, and reaches for the handle. He opens the locker, and slides out the body. He lifts the sheet, and sees Franco. He cries, and stumbles back, sliding to the floor. Okay. I’d actually thought the same thing. That it might be a Taggert situation, maybe something to set up Peter. There goes that theory.
Phyllis says they’re not ready to sell, and Elijah says he hears that. The Tan-O is nothing without them at the helm. They could think of him as a silent partner. The place would be theirs to run, and when they’re ready to retire, leave it to him. Lenny asks what Elijah would get out of the deal, and Elijah says, he’s a businessman. He sees the opportunity to turn a modest profit there, one day; only when they’re ready. He also thinks of it as a way to repay their kindness. The Tan-O was supposed to be their retirement nest egg, but it’s become a financial drain. He can help. Lenny says, they’ll talk it over, but that’s all he can promise. Elijah says, fair enough. Nice meeting you, just Mike. He leaves, and Sonny says he’s sorry, but he doesn’t like Elijah. Lenny says, he can be a little much; he has an intense personality, but he’s a good egg. Phyllis says, they’re not going to sell him the bar, are they? and Lenny says, it’s not like they have kids to leave the place to. It would solve a lot of problems. Sonny says, there’s somewhere he needs to be. Don’t decide anything until he gets back.
Jason is messing with his phone, when Sam comes in. She says she went to his house, but he wasn’t there, so she figured he’d be there. Carly says she’s going to check on Donna, using the kid excuse to leave. Jason asks if Danny is okay, and Sam says, Danny is fine. She just needs to hear it from him. The truth. Did he kill Franco? He says, no. He found Franco shot at the art studio. She says, okay, good. She wouldn’t want anything to come between Danny and Jake. She’s sorry he’s being blamed for this, but he says he’ll be okay. She says, do her a favor and be careful, and leaves.
Cameron sits on the floor, and Elizabeth calls to him. He quickly covers Franco’s face, and Elizabeth walks in. She asks what he’s doing down there, and he says he thought that Franco was protecting them, and he was… somewhere. But he’s gone. He cries, and she holds him. He says he misses Franco so much. Terry comes in with Josslyn and Trina.
Anna looks at a picture of her and Finn.
Jackie shuts the door, and Chase asks, what the hell is going on here? Finn says, please don’t, and Jackie says she’s sorry, but she doesn’t want what happened between Anna and Peter to happen to them. The one thing that will never change is that she’s Chase’s mother, so she’s going to make the call on this. Chase says, the call about what? and Jackie says Chase needs to know the truth – about everything. Finn gives her a soap stare.
Tomorrow, Willow needs to find the right words to tell him, Anna doesn’t want someone ending up like their father, Jason says the damage has already been done, and Sonny says he’s in.
📰 Read All About It…
Roger is making a temporary exit, but it’s unclear whether Franco is.
🏖 On the God-awful Summer House, Kyle was the winner of the Big Baby award this week. Not only did he act like one when a couple of the girls asked him to turn his music down, calling them senior citizens, Hannah perfectly summed it up in saying he was being passive/aggressive and a d*ck, after he talked about her instead of to her. Lindsay just wanted to celebrate the last minutes of her MF’ing birthday, which she did by having shots with the girls. Luke sent Ciara her favorite flowers, hydrangeas, but she insisted she and Luke were strictly platonic. She didn’t want to give Luke mixed signals, since he tends to run with that sh*t. Amanda and Hannah apologized to each other, but when it was suggested Kyle apologize, he said he didn’t even know what he did, and was going to lose his sh*t. Sh*t, along with literally, were the words of the night. Lindsay was pissed about Stephen leaving without saying anything, since she had abandonment issues due to her mother jetting on the family when she was young. She wasn’t the only one with parental problems, since when Amanda confused Ciara saying she missed her cat with saying she missed her dad, it caused Ciara to cry. She explained that her father remarried when she was 14, and because she and her sister didn’t like his fiancé, they were disinvited to the wedding. Hard to make a judgement on that, since she didn’t go into detail as to how much animosity there was. Stephen called Lindsay repeatedly, and when she asked for his thoughts on the relationship, he sent her a power point presentation, complete with a pie chart. Lindsay said that’s how Stephen thought – in pie charts, bullet points, and stick figures – and she was all for it. He also sent a bouquet of sunflowers, along with a request for a new beginning. Lindsay said she just wanted to be happy, but didn’t know if that meant being with Stephen. After calling them senior citizens, Kyle whined that the Gen Z girls did no work around the house. Lindsay claimed they were the more mature ones, subsequently falling drunkenly down the stairs. Amanda said she was emotionally drained by the Kyle/Hannah drama, and thought they were both wrong, but to take Kyle down meant taking her down too. Still, karma got Kyle back by whacking him in the nuts via a toss from some kind of yard game. This was actually the highlight of the show, along with Carl returning with a beard. On his face. He’s not gay as far as I know. Verdict: still horrible in the Hamptons.
Next time, Amanda tells Kyle that she’s ready to get off the Pill (which frightens me), Hannah’s new squeeze Des arrives, and Luke walks out. Almost.
🧼 Soap Starts…
The road to stardom begins with a first step.
https://ew.com/gallery/celebrities-soap-operas/
👠 Ahead Of the Carpet…
How Grammy fashion will work this year.
https://www.eonline.com/news/1247182/all-the-details-on-e-s-2021-grammys-red-carpet-coverage
📺 They’re Comin’ Up…
Some shows to look forward to.
https://www.essence.com/articles/most-anticipated-tv-shows-spring-2021/
💰 Just For Fun…
The rich, they’re just like us.
https://nypost.com/article/hoarder-houses-apartments-nyc/
🚤 Cruising Into the Weekend…
Another Friday is here, or the day you used to look forward to in more normal times. Regardless of your sense of normalcy, stay safe, stay hoping for the best and preparing for the worst, and stay not falling for sweet talkers with an agenda.
What I Watched - TV With Theresa 