What I Watched Today
(rambling, random thoughts, recaps, and the whole GH enchilada on Fridays)
General Hospital
At the stable, Tracy hears someone behind her. She says, stop right there. She’s sleep deprived, hasn’t had her second cup of coffee, and Hades bit her and she’s in a bad mood, so consider themselves fully warned. Ned says, those are pretty good odds.
Kristina meets Michael at Bobbie’s, and he says, pregnancy looks good on her. She says she should be savoring every moment. There are some great aspects of pregnancy. It’s a life enriching experience, but if this baby is one day late, she’s inducing. She senses he didn’t want to meet to discuss her birthing plan, and he says he wanted to see how she was doing, how she’s feeling. She says she’s known him long enough to know that she wants to ask her something and he’s hesitating, and he says, the last thing he wants to do is increase her blood pressure, but she says, it’s just going to make her more stressed. Just tell her. He says he thinks they have a problem, and she says, with dad?
Carly goes to the penthouse and tells Sonny that they need to talk. He says he guesses she’s already talked to Michael, and she asks, what happened? He says, stay out of it, and she says she’d love to stay out of his problems, but all of his troubles land in her lap. She’s here to let him know that Cates wants to take him down.
Ava opens the door to John, and says, what a lovely surprise. He asks if she has a moment. It’s about Sonny. She says, of course (🍷), and invites him in.
Jason goes to Anna’s office, and she says, Carly was here. He asks what Carly told her, and she says, Carly told her that John paid him a visit and she believes it had something to do with Sonny. Jason says, she was half right.
Tracy says, if Ned has wife drama, ex-wife drama, or ex-lover in-law drama, she doesn’t want to hear it. She took a ride to clear her head and wants to hold on to the feeling for as long as she can, so spare her the agita. He says, everyone at the house is getting along fine, and asks where Hades bit her. She says, it was just a nip. He has a mean streak. He asks if she bit him back, and she says, it’s really her fault. Ned gets the first aid kit, and she says she didn’t read him right. Hades wanted to run, and she was going too slow for him. Ned takes out an ice pack and puts it on her, and she tells him to be careful of her wrist. He says she should have it looked at. Or he could call the local glue factory. She says, he’d better not touch Hades, or she’ll make glue out of him. The kids know better than to go near him without Cody. What is it this time? He says he came check on her. She can ride as far as she wants, but she can’t escape it. He knows what today means just as much as she does.
Michael says he’s assuming Kristina knows it’s tense between dad and Ava, and she says, of course (🍷). Ava got her mother disbarred, then maliciously leaked Natalia’s recording to The Invader. He says, dad told him and he’s sorry. She says, Ava baited Natalia into expressing her homophobia, then like the coward she is, extracted her own audio and turned it over to The Invader. Now their dad is out for her blood and filed for sole custody of Avery. He says, if the blow-up he just had with Sonny is any indication, he’s not going to win. He’ll be lucky if he walks away without a restraining order keeping him away from Avery.
Carly tells Sonny that Cates is on the warpath. She thinks Sonny has been his main objective all along. He has something on Jason. Sonny says, Jason is an informant, but she says she was there when Cates showed up and dragged Jason away from Danny to have a private conversation. She thinks it was about Sonny. He says, if Cates doesn’t know to keep his nose out of other people’s business. It’s about time somebody beat that lesson into him.
Jason says, the FBI lost Valentin, and Anna says, in one day. He says, Valentin is still gone, and asks if that isn’t what she wanted. She says she wanted to give him a head start, so he had a chance to disappear and make a new life with Charlotte. The FBI will mount a search that could last years. They won’t give up and declare him untraceable after one day. Jason says, it’s been long enough for Cates. According to Cates, he failed to meet the terms of their agreement, and he’s been given a new assignment out of town.
John says he thought he’d stop in and see how Ava is, and she says, that’s thoughtful of him. The last couple days has been difficult. She’s used to Avery being with her and it’s not easy being alone. She’s glad he stopped by. She and Scotty have been strategizing on how to fight Sonny’s petition for sole custody. He says, that’s no mean feat. Sonny is powerful, corrupt, and violent, and he’s convinced a legion of otherwise intelligent people that he’s just misunderstood. He’s automatically right, and anyone who opposes him is automatically wrong. Ava says, and they’re willing to take up arms on his behalf. It’s terrifying going up against Sonny, and she feels alone. He says, she’s not alone now.
Ned says, Tracy has been extra spicy and standoffish all day, and she says, hence her desire for solitude. He says, it’s Luke’s birthday. It was on Monica’s calendar. She says, he always had a soft spot for Monica. He’d be pleased she remembered. He says, Olivia and Lois’s too, and she says she guesses he had a soft spot for most women. He says, it’s on his calendar too, and Luke had no soft spot for him, nor he for Luke, but he does have a soft spot for his mother, so he knows to keep his eye on her on this particular day. He and Luke had their differences, and he definitely had reservations about their quasi-legal marriage. She says, legal or not, her marriage – or more accurately, marriages – to Luke marked a significant turning point in her life. They knew each other for years and after they each went through their separate misadventures, suddenly, they were together. And from that moment on, she realized… Ned says, he was the love of her life.
Jason says he has an assignment to infiltrate a gang in a federal prison at Lompoc. He was supposed deliver Pikeman and failed to deliver. Anna says, she gave him a phone with records of illegal arms deals and proof Valentin was in charge, but he says, as far as Cates is concerned, he delayed handing over the evidence, and he aided and abetted Valentin’s escape. Anna says, Jason was coerced by the FBI into helping and now they’re breaking their word. Go public and let the world know. It will shame them into backing down. He says, then what happens to Carly? They’ll use the recording to convict her. If he goes public, Carly will be seeing her family from behind bars for the rest of her life.
Michael says, Sonny asked to see him in the hope he’d testify on Sonny’s behalf in family court, and Kristina asks if he declined. He says, they didn’t get that far. He had to point out the problems they’ve had and the public blow-ups that could be used to Ava’s advantage, and that he could cause more harm than good. Kristina asks, what’s the problem? and he says, Sonny took it the wrong way, and said it was proof of his disloyalty. Sonny is as angry at him now as he ever was. He wants to help, but if he gets on the stand and uses the wrong word and it sets Sonny off, imagine what it will do if he loses it in front of a judge. She says she keeps hoping Sonny and Michael will mend fences, but he says he’s getting used to this kind of treatment. Obviously, it hurts sometimes. Kristina says, no matter how old you get, you never stop craving the love of your parents. And they both know, it’s good to stay on Sonny’s good side. He says, Avery is the one they have to protect. All of Sonny’s failings pale in comparison to Ava’s. She says, no question, and he says, Sonny needs someone who can testify, and if he can’t do it, who can?
Ava tells John that she appreciates having someone to talk to about this. She has to pay for her other support. Taking Sonny to court is going to cost a pretty penny. John says he’s sure she has enough. Or has she already blown through her Cassadine divorce settlement? She says he’s been looking into her finances, but he says he’s been looking into her, like any potential witness or suspect. She asks which one she is, and he says, the jury’s still out. She asks what he’s learned so far, and he says, she and Sonny are more alike than he thought. She says, if she’s like Sonny, why is he working with her? and he says, she’s turned a corner Sonny never did. He still victimizes every woman who crosses his path, and those who don’t bow down at his feet, he crushes, but she’s broken that mold. She says, she and Sonny were never a match made in heaven. Avery is a miracle born out of a moment of poor judgment. He says, they managed to co-exist until recently, and she says she had to fight tooth and nail for a truce. He says, she was living with Sonny, and she says, Sonny made her believe he respected her and considered her a friend. It felt real at the time. Maybe because she was so vulnerable, she needed to believe it. He says, maybe Sonny is that good of a liar, and she says, Sonny become so erratic and volatile. She doesn’t think he realizes what he’s doing from one moment to the next.
Carly tells Sonny not to go after Cates like last time, but he says, there was no last time. She asks if he expects her to believe it was just a coincidence that John was beat up one block from the coffee warehouse, and he says, she thinks he ordered a hit on a federal agent? She says she thinks he’s smart enough not to have it linked to him. He’d better hope John doesn’t find out about Dex. He says, that’s doesn’t fall in the FBI’s jurisdiction, and he made peace with Dex. Dex isn’t going to talk to Jagger. She asks if anybody else knows about the beating, and he says, Ava.
Tracy says, they take so much for granted in the moment. The sheer depth of happiness isn’t appreciated until later on. She feels that when she thinks about her time with Luke. She misses the buoyancy Luke created. He was so resilient and managed to stay afloat. He improvised and adapted. Without him, she feels like she’s barely keeping her head above water. Stop her please. This is getting maudlin. He says, and miss a chance for her to share her feelings? It’s as rare as a comet. She tells him to set his clock for another 75 year wait, and he says, she can go on like this anytime she likes. He won’t think less of her for being human. He’s never thought less of her for choosing Luke. He saw how happy Luke made her and he likes seeing her happy, even more than he hates seeing her sad. He asks if there’s anything he can do, but she says, no. He already has. She tries to leave, but he grabs her arm and says, come here. He hugs her, and she thanks him.
Anna says, there has to be a way to block John, and Jason asks if there’s anybody in her contacts that she thinks can rein him in. She says, sometimes interfering with an FBI investigation can backfire, and he says he’s asking a lot, like she asked him to wait two hours to turn the phone in. She says she didn’t mean for this to happen, and he says, it doesn’t matter what she meant. He’s supposed to be on a bus to Quantico tonight.
John says, the only thing he’d like more than removing Sonny from Ava and Avery’s life is removing Sonny from society and locking him up in Pentenville once and for all. Imagine the ramifications to Avery’s custody battle if it was revealed sonny was under an FBI investigation. She asks if he is, but John says, not yet. He needs something more substantial to work with. She says she has no information to give him, but he says, she was living with Sonny for months and they spent extended periods of time together. Does she mean to tell him that she has no prosecutable intel? She has to help him first before he can help her. She says she’s in a delicate situation. Put himself in her shoes. Sonny’s not happy about the custody suit, but he’d be relentless and remorseless if he saw her as a threat. He says, Sonny won’t lay a hand on her if he’s charged, but she says, what if the charges don’t stick? He murdered a Quartermaine and was pardoned. He’ll retaliate and take Avery someplace she can’t reach. Or worse, get rid of her.
Sonny says he made a mistake telling Ava about Dex, and Carly says, Ava must have told Cates by now. She wonders when they hooked up, and Sonny says, he and Ava were having an argument in Ava’s suite when Jagger walked by and came in to defend Ava. He left and he’s sure she threw herself on Jagger’s mercy. She says, it’s typical for Ava to play the damsel in distress, and he says, Jagger loves playing the hero. Carly says, if Jagger takes Ava’s side in the custody hearing, it will be a major problem for Sonny. He needs all the witnesses he can get. He says he’s already messed up with Ava. He had a meeting with Michael. He wanted Michael to be a character witness. It didn’t go well. They fought and he blew up and said things he regrets. He was wondering if maybe she could talk to Michael on his behalf and smooth things over.
Kristina asks if Carly would stand up for Sonny, and Michael says, especially if the alternative is Ava getting full custody of Avery. But her testimony could end up working against him. When they were together, there was a lot of tragedy and danger. Scotty will take anything that happened when they were together as fair game. She says, what about Brook or Dante? and he says, there’s only so much Brook can say, and Scotty will have Dante show the judge the scar from when his own father shot him. Sonny needs someone who sees the best in him, and can’t point out the ways he’s a good, loving, generous father. That person is her.
Anna says she’ll use every resource to make sure this doesn’t happen, but there are no guarantees, and Jason says he needs to know there’s a real chance of success, or Carly will take things into her own hands. Anna says, tell Carly that she’ll get him out of this. What else can she do? He says, clean up the mess she made. He ignored his own instincts and let her warn Valentin because she asked him to, and it was important to her. She asks if he thinks he’d have done a better job going it alone, and he says, if he had, and it fell apart, he’d have nobody to blame but himself. She says she did warn Valentin, which put Jason at risk. That’s on her and she’s sorry. But what’s on him and Carly? What responsibility do they bear for the decisions they’ve made that have led them here? They decided to live outside the lines, and she thinks they’re suffering the consequences of that. He says, she’s right. They did this to themselves, but he can’t change what happened and has to work with what he has now. He’s asking her to give him the same consideration she gave to Valentin. She says she will fix this, one way or another. She swears. She won’t rest until he’s out from under the FBI. He says he knows she’ll do her best, but there’s no guarantees like she said. He leaves, slamming the door.
Michael says, Sonny has the strongest, warmest relationship with Kristina, but she says, it wasn’t always like that. He says, Sonny has always been in her corner. He didn’t even bat an eye when she came out. They worked through the hard stuff when she was young, so when the court asks if he was a good father, Diane can call on her as proof. She says, what if they ask if she witnessed dad beating up Dex at the wedding? He’ll not only lose custody, he could lose his freedom. She wants to help him as much as Michael does, but she’s as much of a liability on the stand as he is. He says, that may leave dad on his own.
Carly says, it’s not up to her to fix things between Sonny and Michael. That’s Sonny’s job. He says, Michael doesn’t listen to him. He knows he said things he shouldn’t have said, but as long as she gets them in the same room, he knows they can fix this. She asks what he’s going to do. Yell at Michael again? Call him a traitor? Disown Michael as his son? Sonny says he lost his temper; he’s stressed. Michael will understand. He’s a father and this is about Avery. She says, it’s not. This is about Sonny behaving like everyone in his life is disposable. They only matter when he wants something. Everyone he hasn’t pushed away is walking away. Name one single person who will defend him who isn’t one of his children or an employee, one friend who will stand beside him no matter what. He says, her, and she says she stood in this very room, and he called her a traitor. Their years and their kids together meant nothing. It’s the way he wanted it and it’s the way it is. She’s not cleaning up his mess. He’s on his own. With tears in her eyes, she leaves
Ava says she’ll fight Sonny for Avery, but delivering him to the FBI is something she can’t do. John says he has a child too, and she doesn’t have to explain it to him. There are plenty of other people that he can get enough evidence to get Sonny another way, and when he does, she can be damn sure he’ll never see Avery again. She asks if he means that. Does he think it’s possible? He says, she seems surprised, and she says, it’s been a long time. She works up some tears, and says she forgot what it feels like to receive a kind gesture. He says he has a code too, but unlike Sonny, he sticks to his. He’s not going to let that poor excuse for a man push her around anymore. She says she almost believes him, and he asks what it would take to get her all the way there, and kisses her. (Ugh, a thousand times.)
Anna calls someone named Jim and says she doesn’t have time to chat. She needs him to to arrange a face to face with one of the agents in his jurisdiction… John Cates. He’s out of control, and if the FBI doesn’t reel him in, she’s going to be forced to.
Michael wonders if he was being naïve, thinking there might be a way back for him and Sonny, but Kristina says, he’s not being naïve. He’s being courageous. He’d be well within his rights to write Sonny off completely, but he keeps trying and that’s admirable. Michael says he’s given a lot of thought to ignoring dad’s past and maintaining a superficial connection, but when will it get to be too much for him? He thinks about his mom and AJ and the price they paid for the lifelong grudges they held. He doesn’t want that for his kids. He wants Wiley and Amelia to know it’s okay to hold people accountable for their actions, but holding onto bitterness stunts you. She says, that’s very perceptive, and he says he learned it from Willow. She’s giving Nina another chance and it appears to be paying off. If she can do that for her mother, it’s the least he can do for his dad, She says, even if Sonny doesn’t extend the same courtesy to him? and he says, what’s happening now doesn’t erase what’s happened before. He raised, loved, and protected Michael. For him to be a good father to his kids, he needs to know he tried his best. She says, after Sonny beat up Dex, she couldn’t see him for a while. It still scares her, but like Michael said, it doesn’t outweigh the years of love. Carly comes in and says, sorry to interrupt. She heard Michael had a run-in with his father… Jason comes in and tells Carly, sorry to interrupt, but he needs to talk to her. She says, yeah, and they step aside.
Tracy finds Sonny somewhere unfamiliar outside and stands next to him. She says, Luke’s club was across the street. Is he indulging in a little walk down Memory Lane? He says, maybe it’s the day for it, and she says, it’s his birthday. He says, you were never on your own with a friend like Luke, and she says, finally, something they can agree upon. Sonny says, they didn’t just celebrate by drinking tequila. One time he woke up in a barn with hay in his hair and a horse in his face. She says, it was her house. It was a gift from Luke for her birthday. He says, Luke was very generous. He was big on gestures. She says, and he never passed up an opportunity to celebrate. He always said, if somebody was going to buy him drinks, why not accept? Sonny says, that’s the thing he loved about Luke. He always enjoyed himself. She says she thinks it’s because some of his life was just not enjoyable.
John’s phone rings, and he tells Ava that he has to take it. He says, Agent Cates… No, he wasn’t… Yes, loud and clear… Okay. He’s on it. He tells Ava that he has to go, and she asks if there’s trouble, but he says, there are a few provincial egos that need massaging. He asks if they can pick this up where they left off, and she says, they most definitely can, and soon she hopes. He leaves and she smiles.
Jason and Carly go to his room, and she asks, what happened with Cates? He says, Cates is sending him on another assignment. He leaves for Quantico tonight.
Tracy says, Luke made up his mind at a very young age that he was going to go for every opportunity that presented itself. She thinks it was her favorite thing about him. Sonny says, the last time he saw Luke was at the waterfront. They were saying their goodbyes and Luke walked off into the sunset, which she knows was Amsterdam. She says she’ll deny it until her last breath that she went to Amsterdam in search of him. She happened upon him in a little café. How could she consider that anything but fate? The time they had together, as Luke would say, they had an absolute blast. He says, Luke was always a good time, and she says, he was the best.
Kristina says, someday Avery is going to go through what she and Michael are going through with dad, and he says, she’ll find out everything there is to know about him. And just like them, they’ll see if it changes the way she feels about him and if she wants him in her life. Kristina says, that has to be Avery’s choice. Ava can’t decide for her.
On the phone, Ava asks, how much will it help her case if Sonny is busted by the FBI?
Cates bursts into Anna’s office and says, she’s been talking to his boss. She says, whatever she needs to do. Set Jason free now or she swears she’ll bury him.
Carly says, Jason’s not leaving, but he says, it’s already been decided. She says, he did what Cates wanted, and he says, she has to listen. There’s a way he can still beat Cates. There’s a way around this. But she has to stay patient and calm. She says, while Cates whisks him away to some other dangerous job where he’ll be killed? She doesn’t think so. She’s turning herself in and there’s nothing he can say to stop her.
Tomorrow, Nina tells Ava to be thankful if the worst Sonny does is take sole custody of Avery; Carly says, Jason is out of his mind if he thinks she’s going to stand by while Cates takes him away again; and Anna says she’s going to do everything in her power to stop John.
🧼 All the Soap News Fit To Print…
We should all have off days this good.
Love this. Style and fashion for all.
https://www.soapsindepth.com/posts/general-hospital/ghs-tabyana-ali-has-a-spectacular-new-project
It’s sweet that they’re keeping in touch.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, he was the best Nikolas.
https://www.soapsindepth.com/posts/general-hospital/adam-huss-reaches-out-to-his-gh-fans
Another loss to the soap world.
https://www.soapsindepth.com/posts/all-my-children/amc-stars-remember-esta-terblanche
And while we’re at it, the mid-year roll call.
https://www.soapsindepth.com/gallery/abc/remembering-the-soap-stars-we-lost-this-year
👺 Best Of the Worst…
Last weekend, I was finishing Season 2 of Outer Range, and since I was on Amazon, I consulted an article I’d read about the best documentaries on Prime. I chose to watch Best Worst Movie and it’s one of the best things I’ve seen lately. In 1989, a film called Troll 2 came out. It has nothing to do with the Norwegian film Troll or the film Troll with June Lockhart. Actually, it has nothing to do with trolls at all. Written by an Italian film director and his wife, it’s original title was Gremlins, but we see how that could be confusing in the USA.
Years later, when the film was shown on late night TV and cable, a cult began to form around it. Little conventions, late night showings, and watch parties sprang up, and documentary is mainly about that. I couldn’t stop smiling throughout the whole thing because, although it’s not my movie, it’s their movie, and I get it. I’ve been that person who watches something 10,000 times and just wants to watch it again. Of course I had to watch the actual film afterward, and it’s bad. So bad. Not even Ed Wood bad. But I get that too. The fans see something in it that others don’t. Been there, and I hope they never lose that. It can keep you sane.
The cast of Troll 2 is also involved, and it’s an interesting tributary to see how it affected each of their lives. For some it was a blessing, for some a curse, and one actress doesn’t want anything more to do with it, although she reenacts one of the scenes from the movie with two of her co-stars. The only one who doesn’t realize the film is bad is the director, who thinks he made an artistic masterpiece, and the actors are a bunch of whiney egoists.
So give it a whirl. I hope it brings you as much joy as it did me.
https://theindependentcritic.com/_best_worst_movie__review
🐪 Eat, Pray, Camel…
Taleen wants you to know that she did not beg to be on the show.
🦸🏻♂️ A Few More Days…
I probably won’t go the first weekend if it’s crowded, but I can’t wait to see it on a big screen. A selection of everything Deadpool & Wolverine. The finances.
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/deadpool-wolverine-box-ofice-1235955857/
The fashion.
The reviews.
https://editorial.rottentomatoes.com/article/deadpool-wolverine-first-reviews/
The kudos.
https://www.thedailybeast.com/obsessed/deadpool-and-wolverine-is-kick-in-the-nuts-the-mcu-needs
The not-so kudos.
https://ew.com/deadpool-wolverine-review-relentlessly-irritating-cheap-jokes-instead-stakes-8682433
The music.
https://ew.com/deadpool-and-wolverine-soundtrack-the-greatest-showman-song-8679476
The cutest couple.
https://www.purewow.com/news/blake-lively-ryan-reynolds-movie-releases
🐉 Dragons In the House…
Possible spoilers if you didn’t see the last episode.
https://ew.com/house-of-the-dragon-season-2-paddy-considine-viserys-cameo-harrenhal-daemon-8681112
Netflix competition.
https://www.unilad.com/film-and-tv/netflix/netflix-the-last-kingdom-game-of-thrones-364207-20240723
👑 Original Game…
We know one of them is not doing a Jon Snow spinoff.
https://ew.com/game-of-thrones-cast-where-are-they-now-8677595
🐶 Rescued By Killer Miller…
Good for her. My rescue chihuahua El Wray has issues, which he’s slowly overcoming, but I’ve never regretted adopting him.
https://www.soapsindepth.com/posts/general-hospital/ghs-carolyn-hennesy-adopted-the-cutest-dog
✈️ Flight Now Boarding…
Join me tomorrow for soap, Listings talk, and whatever else is entertaining. Until then, stay safe, stay not overdoing your fragrance, and stay holding people accountable for their actions, but not holding onto bitterness.
