What I Watched Today

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

General Hospital

Nika gives Curtis a drink, and says he couldn’t ask for a better opening night. He says he could think of a few things. Portia walks up to him, and says, she knows he’s probably busy and it’s a bad time, since it’s his opening night and all. He says, actually, her timing couldn’t be better. She says, good. She was thinking about what he said at the pool earlier. If she was… He says, if she was interested. And here she is. She says, yeah.

Jordan asks Stella what she was thinking, telling Portia to back off Curtis. Stella says she was thinking Jordan and Curtis needed time to work out their differences, and remember how much they love each other. She gave Jordan an opportunity to fight for her man. Why didn’t she take it? Jordan says she doesn’t owe Stella an explanation. Stella says she’s right, but she owes it to herself to be honest. Why is she walking away without a fight?

Sam walks into the MetroCourt, and Olivia asks if she’s meeting someone or flying solo. Sam says she was supposed to meet Spinelli, but he just texted her, and said he had to reschedule. Gladys waves to Olivia from the bar, and Olivia says, the things she does for this place. She asks what she can do for Gladys, calling her Miss Corbin. Gladys says they’re practically family. Olivia can call her Gladys. Olivia says, Gladys, what’s your pleasure? and Gladys says, another Mai Tai. Plus the inside scoop on what Olivia’s partner Carly is willing to do for her son.  

It’s nighttime, and Brando finds Sasha by the pool. (Maybe we should start using pool for a drinking game.) She asks, what’s wrong? and he says, nothing is wrong. For the first time, everything is going to be all right.

Anna goes to the station, and see Dante. She says he knows she’s been working on finding Peter and Maxie’s baby, and he says he just got the memo. She says she and Valentin just got back from New York. They found the helicopter pilot, and he admitted to being part of Peter’s plan to take Maxie and the baby. When that fell through, he’d been ordered to airlift Peter off the roof at GH. Dante says, he claims he didn’t make the pick-up because he couldn’t land? and she says, yeah. He was denied clearance. There was an added factor. He said there was another person on the roof with Peter. Dante says, someone they know? and she says, it was a vague description; tall, dark hair, street clothes… He says, go on, and she tells him, they have to keep the information confidential. He asks why she’s working so closely with Valentin when she barely seems to trust him?

Valentin runs into the Quartermaine mansion, and asks, how’s his angel? Brook says, she’s fast asleep, and asks if he just came back. He says he came straight from the airport to see Bailey. It was a short trip, but he can’t tell her how much he missed Bailey.

At the hospital, Elizabeth tells Finn, according to Cameron, Violet wolfed down three pieces of pizza, and couldn’t stop talking about how her father taught her how to get a hit. Good job, coach. He says he refuses to take any credit for Violet’s T-ball triumph. She says, he was Violet’s main inspiration, and he says, time with Violet is the only thing that makes him forget what he has hanging over him. She says, Peter August? Let her remind him, Peter poisoned Chase, and waved the antidote right in front of Finn’s face. Finn rid this town of a monster. He says, that’s the thing. You see enough horror movies and you realize, monsters never die. They haunt you forever.

Finn walks to the elevator, and Elizabeth follows. She says, Peter’s already taken enough from him. Don’t let Peter rob him of his enjoyment of Violet. He says, Violet is his joy. She’s his reason for living. It makes him realize how painful it would be without her, but Elizabeth says, that’s not going to happen. He says, nobody gets away with murder, but she says, don’t call it murder. Peter got what he deserved. Finn says, that doesn’t justify throwing a man face first down a flight of stairs. They’re going to give him a polygraph. They’ll put him on the stand and he’ll have to admit he wanted Peter dead. She says, so did a lot of other people, but he says, they weren’t up on that roof. She says Finn pushed him in the heat of very justifiable anger. Once a jury understood the circumstances, they’d acquit him. Not that they’re going to find out. They’re going to find a way out of this.

Anna says, if she didn’t trust Dante, she wouldn’t be giving him the information. And Valentin has a vested interest in what happened to Peter, right? Dante asks if the idea is that the guy on the roof was an accomplice of Peter’s, there to help him find a way out when the helicopter couldn’t pick him up, and she says, yeah, maybe. It’s entirely possible it was someone working at the hospital, so he can understand the need for secrecy. It’s probably someone working for Cyrus, who knew the security cameras were disabled. He says, maybe someone on staff who was hand-picked by Cyrus, and she says she’s going to head to the hospital, and have a discreet conversation with Monica. He says he’ll have their people go over the footage of whatever cameras were working that night. Maybe they can find someone who matches the description. She thanks him, and says it’s good to be working with him again. He says, same. But it wasn’t long ago when she didn’t know if he was a friend or an enemy.

Gladys tells Olivia, after all she and her son did for Carly’s family, she shouldn’t even have to ask. On rainy days, she still aches from the bullet she took to bring down Cyrus. She hopes Carly and Jason don’t forget that. Sam joins them, and wonders how they can forget, when Gladys keeps reminding everyone, and Gladys says, Sam’s only connection to that family is through her ex. Hers and Brando’s are blood ties. Sam says she guesses that Jason proves sometimes water is thicker than blood, and Gladys tells Olivia to put her drinks on Carly’s tab, and walks away from the bar. Olivia thanks Sam for the assist, and says she’ll repay the favor – and she uses the term loosely – by filling her in on the latest Quartermaine drama. The way those people close ranks on an outsider is a sight to behold. Sam says, they closed ranks against Valentin? but Olivia says, different outsider.

Brook tells Valentin that she can’t believe how quickly Bailey went down tonight. She’s been so fussy the last few days. He says, she must feel more comfortable having both parents under the same roof, and Brook says, tell her about his adventure with Anna. He says, it was interesting. At least the investigation is on the right track. She says, in other words, it’s none of her business, and he says, it’s nothing personal. He and Anna… She says she knows; they’re a team. He says, a damn good team if he says so himself, and she asks what Anna says.

Jordan tells Stella, she and Portia have become friends. She has no intention of telling Portia how to feel, or asking her to back away from something or someone she really cares about. Same goes for Curtis. Their divorce is sad and painful, but she just wants what’s best for him. Stella sighs, and says she guesses she’s just old school. When you take the vow, to death do us part, she believes in those words. You don’t simply quit when going gets tough. Jordan says, marriage is a two-way street. She can’t fight for something all by herself. Like their vows said, it takes two, and Curtis is done with this marriage. Stella says Jordan never gave Curtis a chance to fight alongside her. She kept him on the outside looking in. Jordan says Stella is right. She hurt Curtis. Does Stella want her to do it again by fighting him on a divorce that was his idea? That he clearly wants? Stella wants Jordan to be honest with herself. Does she want this marriage to be over, or is she throwing in the towel because she feels guilty?

Nika tells Terry that she looks great; she loves what Terry is wearing. (Ditto.) Terry thanks her, and says she thought it felt right for a grand opening. Tika asks if she’s meeting someone, and Terry says, you never know. She sees Portia sit down with Curtis, and says, the night is young after all.

Portia tells Curtis, maybe it was a bad idea coming tonight. She likes Jordan. He says he likes Jordan too, and she says, and she likes him. He says, in his book, that’s a good thing, and she says, yes and no. He says, so she doesn’t like him? and she says she’s not often at a loss for years, but she’s tongue-tied right now. Everything she’s saying is sounding even more confusing. Yes, she likes him. She wouldn’t be there if she didn’t. He says, nothing confusing about that. He made it abundantly clear that he likes her. Now that that’s been established, is there something else she’s trying to tell him?

Portia says Curtis was honest with her at the pool today, and she heard him. She wants to be just as honest with him. He says he’d appreciate that. Honesty is the best policy, so they say. He wonders where his manners are. She came to the opening of his club, and he didn’t even offer her a drink. What would she like? It’s on the house. She says, actually she’d like a clear head. She wants to get this right. (I think, she must be a lightweight.) He says, this? and she says she was telling Terry that she hasn’t really dated seriously since her divorce. He says he’s not going to trot out the it’s like riding a bike metaphor. He’s pretty sure it will come back to her naturally. She says she doesn’t want him to think she’s a prude, or super old-fashioned. She’s a doctor; she’s seen everything. But she’s had two epic back-to-back failures with Taggert, and then with him. So it’s easy for her to be a little gun-shy, or oversimplify, thinking that things are going to be easy and uncomplicated because they knew each other from back in the day. How much of that is nostalgia? How much of that is actually real? She’s saying this all wrong, isn’t she? He says, no. He wouldn’t say she’s saying it wrong, but maybe talking in circles. It seems like she’s saying everything but what she came there to say. She tells him that he’s right. She had this all down perfect in her head on the way there, but now that she’s seeing him face-to-face, she can’t get a coherent word out. She thinks this is her cue to leave, and starts to get up, but Curtis grabs her hand. He says, wait. Don’t go.

Stella says she knows her stubborn opposition to Jordan and Curtis as a couple made things even harder. She still carries that guilt, and every Sunday, prays for forgiveness. Jordan says she forgave Stella a long time ago, and Stella says, that’s very kind of her, but she wasn’t praying to Jordan. Jordan says, her mistake, and Stella says, the only mistake is if Jordan lets the man she still obviously loves walk out of her life without fighting for him. If she feels there’s anything left unsaid, she needs to go to Curtis and say it. Jordan says, it’s too late, but Stella asks if she’s even signed the divorce papers yet. Jordan says, no, and Stella says, why not?

Brando says when he came to find Sasha, he had no idea how romantic they make the pool look at night. It does look beautiful; the lights are dimmed, but the pool is lit up, and has those balls floating in it that light up. He says, it’s almost as if he planned it, and she says, planned what? He says, you, me, the baby, us. He knows that she doesn’t want to raise a baby in a world operated by people like Cyrus. She says, Carly and Jason are part of that life, and she knows it’s complicated, since Sonny was his cousin. He says, yes. They will always be his family, but that doesn’t mean he has to live in their world. He doesn’t want that for their baby either. She asks what he’s saying, and tells her that he’s saying, sometimes you have to make choices in life, and he’s made his.

Sam says, Olivia is telling her that Austin – the country doctor who happened to be in the woods to deliver Maxie’s baby – is a long lost Quartermaine? Olivia says, how random is that? Sam doesn’t think it’s random at all. When she and Dante went to that house in the woods where the fake nurse took Maxie, it turned out that Austin not only owns that property, he rents it out. He totally claimed his innocence, and she knew there was something fishy about that guy. So if he was coming out as a Quartermaine, she’s sure he was more than happy to get all this inside information on people from Port Charles. Olivia says, whatever this Austin guy is trying to pull, she knows Michael and Ned can ride that ship. She just hopes they can do it without too many fireworks. Had enough of those on the 4^th, eh? Sam flashes back to Dante kissing her, and Sam says, Dante told her about that? Olivia says, told her about what?

Anna says, when Dante first came back to Port Charles, she was really worried that he was still struggling with PTSD. He says he was, so she had every right to feel that way. He was doubting himself, and when Jordan asked him to come back to work, he said, no, because he didn’t know. He didn’t know if he was in control of his mind, or if Kirk was… Anyway, he’s continued to see Doc, who’s making sure he stays on track. Anna says, it takes guts to do that; to admit you have an issue, and work to overcome it. He says he hopes to, and flashes back to Sam talking him down when he tried to kill Peter. He says, Sam talked him down from the ledge, and he’d like to repay her by finding Peter and bringing him in. Anna says she’s heading over to the hospital, to see what she can find out about this accomplice. If she hits paydirt, she’ll let him know.

Jordan tells Stella, she’s in charge of a police department, and they’re in the middle of an ongoing investigation. Stella says, all in need of Jordan’s attention, she agrees. But is Jordan really expecting her to believe, in the middle of her very busy workday, she can’t find time to sign a few papers? Or in her heart of hearts, is she really hoping if she puts it off long enough, Curtis will change his mind? That he’ll declare he never stopped loving her, and rip up the divorce papers right in front of her?

Curtis tells Portia, he’s sorry. He shouldn’t have pressured her. She agrees, and he says, it’s a classic case of him thinking that if he wants something, everyone else must want it too. He gets it. They had something in the past that was bound to end, so they should keep it where it belongs – in the past. That’s what she wants, right? She says, let her ask him. Does he want to leave them in the past?

Brando says Sasha has to remember who he is. He’s a military guy who owns a garage, so words and feelings aren’t his strong suit. It took her being strong, and knowing what was a deal breaker for her, to give him perspective on what he truly wanted. That isn’t working for Corinthos Coffee (I see we’re still saying that), and all the life that comes with it. She asks if he’s sure, and he says, maybe he doesn’t have everything figured out just yet, but he does know this much. He chooses her. Her and their baby. Their family. That’s what he wants, and he hopes she wants that too. She thinks that he doesn’t give himself enough credit. Those were some pretty nice words. They kiss, and Gladys intrudes walks in.

Sam says Olivia was talking about the 4^th of July fireworks. Of course (🍷). Olivia asks what Sam thought she was talking about, and what’s it got to do with Dante? Dante appears, and says, Sam told his mother? Olivia asks if someone would please explain what they’re talking about, and Dante says, yes, of course (🍷). Him, Sam, Finn, and Elizabeth were on the pier waiting for the fireworks to start on July 4^th, and he was giving someone a lecture – he points to Sam behind his palm – on what a public disturbance was. So it led to kind of a fiery exchange where Sam almost fell in the water. Sam says she did fall in the water, and he says, she did. Then he tried to pull her out, and they both fell in. Olivia says, both of them? and Dante says, it was funny. Olivia says she doesn’t know what to make of this whole story, but she has a restaurant to run. She slaps Dante on the shoulder, and leaves. Dante says, oh, man, and Sam puts her head on the bar, telling him, please don’t say anything. He tells her not to worry. The last thing he wants is his mother knowing about his private life. She asks, what’s that supposed to mean? Is he embarrassed that he kissed her?

Valentin tells Brook that he and Anna have a long, strange, complicated history. They trained as spies at the WSB years and years ago, and through a series of unfortunate circumstances, they wound up on opposing sides. She says, sounds painful, and he says, it was. But they found their way back to each other, and trust each other. Not completely by any stretch of the imagination, but they do work well together. She asks, what changed? and he says, Peter changed things. For their own individual reasons, they gave him the benefit of the doubt. They protected him, and shielded him when they shouldn’t have, and they’re working together now to find him and mitigate the damage. They work well together as a team. She asks if he’s sure that’s all they are, a team, and he says, his personal feelings for Anna aside, what’s important is, that they find Peter, and hopefully, Maxie’s baby.

Anna goes to the reception desk at the hospital, and asks Elizabeth if Monica is still there. Elizabeth says, she’s gone for the day, and asks if she can help Anna with something. Anna says, maybe. Does she have access to all the hospital records on the computer? Elizabeth says, that depends, and Anna says she’s not looking for any personal medical records. She’s looking for a list of staff who were there the night Peter disappeared.

Curtis says, the reason he and Portia are stumbling around, and making things more complicated than they need to be, is because they’re trying to figure out what the other wants. They should just speak for themselves. She says that’s what she’s trying to do, but it keeps coming out wrong. He asks, how it can be wrong if they’re being honest with each other? and she says, okay, here goes. She told him that she thinks he’s still on the rebound, but even if he’s not, and he’s ready like he says he is, what if they’re just trying to rewrite history, or make up for mistakes in the past? It’s been almost twenty years since they met. She needs to know they’re not just trying to pick up where they left off. He asks if that’s how she feels – he moves closer to her – because he doesn’t. She says she’s been thinking herself in circles since that kiss, and the only thing she knows for sure is that she couldn’t forgive herself if she didn’t at least try.

Jordan tells Stella, Curtis was the one who wanted the divorce. She agreed because she didn’t think it was fair that he was stuck in a marriage he didn’t believe was working. Stella says she knows Jordan agreed to the divorce for his sake, but does Curtis know she wanted to stay and fight? Jordan says she tried, but at that point, they were both too hurt to talk it out anymore. Stella asks if Jordan doesn’t owe it to Curtis, or at least to herself, to start the discussion and see where it goes. Do it now. Tonight.

Dante tells Sam that he’s not embarrassed. She, on the other hand, ran away from him outside Charlie’s, and she’s been kind of avoiding him ever since. So if anyone is embarrassed, he assumes it’s her. She says, first of all, she did not run away from him; she’s not five years old. And secondly, she’s not embarrassed. If she was embarrassed, why wouldn’t she keep it to herself? He says she didn’t keep it to herself? She told somebody? Who did she tell? She says, Maxie, and he puts his hand to his head, saying, oh, man. You told Maxie? She says she didn’t say a name. She just said, some guy. He says, now he’s just some guy? and she says, he can’t have it both ways. Wait. Did he tell anyone they kissed? He says he may have told someone in passing, and she says, in passing. So is she just an afterthought? Olivia watches them.

Brando says, so is it a yes? and Sasha says, yes. Gladys galumphs over, and says, what a nice surprise. She came down for some night air, and lucky her, she found Brando. He says, the very definition of lucky, and Sasha says, it’s a beautiful night, isn’t it? Gladys says, it would be nicer if the lady who owns this place were a little more generous with her family, and Brando asks, what’s Carly done now? Gladys says, nothing. That’s her point. She was just telling Olivia, Carly should be down on her knees, begging Brando to take the top spot in the family business. Brando says, let him be perfectly clear. If Carly or Jason offer him a job, he’s turning it down.

Elizabeth says she can help Anna with that. Remind her again of the date Peter disappeared. (Nice move.) Anna says she’ll text Elizabeth the date and the approximate time he was last seen, and Elizabeth says she’ll get right on it, and get Anna that list. Finn wheels Chase to the elevator, and Anna goes over to them. She says, Chase is still in the chair. When is he getting back to the job, and stop letting everyone else pick up the slack? He thanks her, and she says, for what? He says, for being one of the few people who isn’t treating him with kid gloves. He may be in this chair, but he’s still a cop. She says, he is, and the elevator comes. He asks her to excuse him; he’s headed home. She says he’s a happily married man, and he says, and damn proud of it, as he wheels himself into the elevator. Elizabeth presses the button for him, and he tells Finn, we’re good, right? Finn says they’re good, and the doors close. Anna asks Finn, how’s he doing really? and Finn says, making progress. Not as fast as he’d like, but progress nonetheless. Elizabeth says, Anna is also making progress, and tells Anna that she’ll get her that list. She leaves, and Finn asks what that was about, and Anna gestures for him to walk with her. She says, her search for Peter has led her back to GH.

Nika asks if Terry is sure she doesn’t want another drink, and Terry looks over at Curtis and Portia. She says, no. She thinks her work there is done. She leaves, smiling at Portia as she walks past. Curtis says, there are no guarantees, and Portia says, taking this risk does terrify her, but what’s the alternative? He says, playing it safe? and she says, that’s not him. He says, it’s not her either, or else she wouldn’t have come there. So when do they take this leap of faith? He says, there’s no time like the present, and kisses her. Just as Jordan walks in.

Dante says Sam isn’t an afterthought, and she says, then what is she? He says, she’s her; she’s Sam. She says, that’s so kind of him. She’s Sam, that rhymes with spam, which is so flattering. He says he doesn’t think of her that way. She says she sees, and he asks what she’s saying. Is that how she thinks of him? She says, no. He’s him; he’s Dante. He says, when he said it, it wasn’t cool. Double standard, he guesses. She says she doesn’t owe him an explanation, and he says he doesn’t owe her one either, so they’re even. Olivia comes out, and says she doesn’t know what’s going on between them, but it doesn’t look good to have a couple arguing at the bar. So whatever they’ve got to say to each other, say it in private.

Gladys tells Brando, she’s all for playing hard to get. It’s a good negotiating strategy. He says, listen to him. He’s not negotiating. He’s not holding out for more money, or a better job. He’s just not interested in working for the Corinthos Organization. She says, why not? and he says he got a better offer, and looks at Sasha. Gladys says, she sees. It’s not that she wants it for herself, but as a mother, she wants what’s best for her son. He deserves more. He earned it. He thanks her, but asks her to look at it from his point-of-view, and realize that the life she’s proposing isn’t the life he wants. Everything that he wants is right there. He takes Sasha’s hands.

Valentin tells Brook, if Peter has the baby, they can return it to Maxie, or at least narrow down the search. She says, Maxie will get her baby back; she can promise him that. He asks, why so intense? What did he just say? She says she’s just thinking. He’s been so great. He’s an unbelievable, conscientious baby daddy, but right now, she could use a friend. Chase, who’s wheeled himself in, says, the lady ordered a friend. Would she like a side of fries with that? Brook says, side of fries, always, and Valentin says he’ll leave them alone, and leaves. Brook hugs Chase, and he asks what Valentin said that upset her. She says, nothing. They just actually had a nice moment. He says, then what is it? and she asks if he’s ever gone into something with the best of intentions, and later discover it was just way too hard to follow through with. He says, hello? His fake affair with Sasha? She says, of course (🍷) he understands, and he says he’s not going anywhere. Talk to him. What’s wrong?

 Finn says, what about Peter? and Anna says she and Valentin just got back from New York. They got a lead that might pan out or might not lead to Peter and the baby. Finn asks, what if Peter doesn’t have Maxie’s baby? What if she’s somewhere safe? That would be some consolation, wouldn’t it? Anna says, yeah, but she doesn’t think it would fill the emptiness in Maxie’s heart. Sometimes she thinks she would have done everyone a favor if she’d just put a bullet in Peter’s head before all this happened. He says she doesn’t mean that, and she says, doesn’t she? He says she’d have to live with what she’d done.

Jordan gets the hell out of The Savoy, and Curtis tells Portia that he guesses this is the start of… something. She says, a new beginning, but… He says he knows. They’ll take it slow, and see where it goes. She thanks him, says goodnight, and they kiss one more time. Outside of the club, Jordan cries.

Gladys says she needs another Mai Tai, and tells Brando, be an angel, holding the glass out to him. Sasha says, while he’s there, she’d love a lemonade. He goes to the bar, and Sasha tells Gladys not to worry. Brando will never regret his decision. Gladys says, isn’t that a coincidence? She made that same promise to herself, and she always keeps her promises.

Dante tells Olivia, sorry, but they weren’t fighting. Sam says they were just agreeing to disagree. Olivia tells her, if she says so, and leaves. Dante says, she doesn’t miss a thing, and Sam says, nothing to see here, right? One little kiss means next to nothing. He says, right. It was just one of those sort of one-off things, right? Olivia continues to watch them.

Brook tells Chase, it’s been an emotional day, but nothing for him to worry about. How’s physical therapy? He says, not so bad, and she says she knows him well enough to know his private code. When he says, not so bad, that actually means something’s changed for the better. Is she right? He says, let’s just say, he broke a sweat today. She says, okay. Keep being all cryptic on her, but it’s good to see him smile again.

Finn says, there’s something Anna needs to… when Elizabeth comes over and says, here’s the list Anna asked for, and hands her some papers. Anna thanks her, and Elizabeth asks Finn if everything is okay. He says it is, and excuses himself to check on a patient. He leaves, and Elizabeth says she also has to check on a patient. Anna is definitely thinking something is up, when her phone rings. Valentin asks if she’s made any progress in the search for Peter’s accomplice, and she says they’ve got this the wrong way around. He says, how so? and she says they’re not looking for Peter’s ally. They’re looking for his enemy.

Tomorrow, Shawn has news, Valentin asks Anna to tell him about her new theory, Elizabeth suggests to Finn that Jason is the only solution to their problem, and Jason says he wouldn’t be there if it wasn’t for Carly.

🤹‍♀️ Excuses, Excuses…

Due to life (making a long story short), I ended up running late, so Million Dollar Listing New York is postponed until tomorrow because, sleep. Hint: apartments are expensive, yet deals are made. The millions spent is so unfathomable to me, but even more so when they dicker about $50K. Or patio furniture. Until we meet for the Friday free-for-all, stay safe, stay composed, and stay not walking away from who or what you love without a fight.