What I Watched Today
(rambling, random thoughts & annoyingly detailed recaps from real time TV watching)
General Hospital
Alexis listens to opera and looks at the watch her mother gave her. She remembers watching her mother and Mikkos from the stairs as a little girl, when Sam comes in, and asks why music so loud. Alexis says she didn’t know it was still playing. It’s her last night of freedom and all. Sam asks if it’s Alexis’s mother singing, and she says, yeah. She had a beautiful voice, didn’t she? Sam says she’s not a fan of opera, but her voice was amazing. She asks Alexis if she’s wearing her mother’s watch, and Alexis says she was putting things away to store in the attic for when she’s gone, and it was there. It’s still broken. Sam says she thought Alexis had it fixed, and Alexis says she did, twice. It’s frozen in time, like she will be for three years.
Outside, Molly asks Kristina if she was able to get things ready for tonight. Kristina says, it’s all set, and asks Molly to go in the backyard with her.
Alexis tells Sam, it just hit her how much she’ll be missing. She won’t see Scout or Danny for three years. She gets up, and Sam says, please… but Alexis says she can’t talk. She’s feeling so scared right now, and she doesn’t want to do that. She’s going to run errands, and see some people. She thinks Sam was right. She needs to talk to someone about this.
Hours later. Alexis goes to Doc’s office and thanks him for seeing her. He says, anything for a friend. What can he do for her? She says she’s turning herself in tomorrow, and she needs help. She’s starting her prison sentence. He asks if she wants him to ask the question everybody hates, and she says, how does she feel? She prides herself in being a fighter, an idealist, and an advocate. Now she’ll be prisoner number whatever. He says she’s more than that, and she says she’s a disbarred, out of control addict. She’s not a lawyer anymore, and that’s how she defined herself. She doesn’t know who the hell she is anymore. He suggests they begin there. Who is Alexis Davis?
She says, who is Alexis Davis… anymore? He says, how about who Alexis Davis is right now? and she says, that’s easy. Alexis Davis is going to prison in the morning. She’s got be honest; she didn’t think she’d get a prison sentence. She knew it was a possibility, but did she think it through? It happened, and like it or not, it’s here. Her last day of freedom. He asks where else she’s been, and she says, what? He says she’s clearly terrified, and she asks if that’s baffling to him. He says, no, but tell him how else she’s been spending her last day of freedom so far.
Earlier that day. At Kelly’s, Ned, Jax, and Finn toast to Alexis with their coffee. Finn says, ten years will fly by, and she says, it’s only three. He says, that helps with the silver lining, and she says she won’t miss him. Ned says she won’t miss any of them. They’re going to visit every chance they get. Valentin comes in, and says, good. He didn’t miss them. Alexis tells him, pull up a seat. She’s glad he could make it. She says, I trust you gentlemen can get along for one meal, right? Valentin says he hasn’t seen her wear the watch in a while, and Jax asks if it’s an antique. She says it belonged to her mother. Valentin found it and gave it to her, but it’s stuck again. She thought she’d give fixing it one more try before she goes off to the hoosgow. Valentin says he’s proud of her for taking responsibility and owning her mistakes. It’s more than any of them, including himself, have done. Ned says, for once, he and Valentin agree. They could all learn from her example. They lift their cups to her.
Alexis tells Doc, it felt good to see her friends; it reminded her of better days. Before she threw her career away for Neil. Can he tell her why she did that ? She doesn’t really know. When she was an attorney she always stood for something. When she was on her game, and doing the right thing, she felt like a superhero. Ridiculous, she knows. Doc says he’s seen her in court, and it isn’t, and she says she was a fighter, and idealist and an advocate. She asks if that’s what he’s writing now, and he says she knows he needs to take notes. She says, what notes is he taking? and he says, that’s the second time she’s used those words to define how she sees herself; a fighter, an idealist, and an advocate. Alexis says, when she’s nervous she repeats herself, and he asks why she’s nervous. She says, maybe she doesn’t want a shiv in her side, and he says he can recommend a prison consultant, but she says she already did that. He asks what they said, and she says, don’t joke, keep cigarettes as currency, and find a purpose. He says, that’s sound advice, and she says her purpose is gone. She needs help getting it back. Isn’t that part of his job? To help her find her purpose? He says, let’s do that then, and she asks, how? He asks where they left off in their last session, and she says, it was a while ago. The British were coming, and tea was in the harbor. He says, good thing he keeps detailed notes. He looks through her folder, and says, where were they? When they ended their last session, they’d just touched on her relationship with her father. Alexis flashes back again to being a little girl, watching her parents from the stairs. Doc asks if she’s still with him.
She tells Doc, she doesn’t have many memories of her father. He was barely present in her life or her mother’s life. She looks at her watch, and he asks if there’s somewhere she needs to be. She looks at her little girl self, sitting on the floor of Doc’s office, and remembers again. She says, there isn’t much unpack about her father. He was a married man, and kept her mother as his mistress, in a gilded cage with beautiful clothes and on a short leash. But she didn’t get her tendency to self-sabotage or make mistakes because of him. Even when she was spinning out of control, those were her choices. He asks when she started spinning out of control, and she says she thinks the turning point was when Julian took a knife to her throat; the same knife Helena used to kill her mother. The circle of life… or death. Doc says, it was Julian’s decision, not hers, but she says it was her decision to let Julian in her life. She let him in because she loved him. One in a long line of toxic men. He says, they weren’t all toxic, were they?
Earlier that day. Alexis sees Ned outside of Kelly’s, and he says he’s worried about her. She tells him, stop that, but he says he can’t help it. She says she doesn’t even know why he’s still talking to her after what she did to his marriage. He says, it’s his fault, not hers, and she says, what’s with the two them? Why did she walk out of the wedding? He says her timing’s not always great, but her instincts are spot-on. They were wrong for each other. She asks what that has to do with now, and he says, not a damn thing. She’s his dear friend, and always will be. They’ll always have each other’s backs. Alexis tells Doc, Ned was stable, kind, and treated her with respect. No wonder she left him at the altar. He says, it’s not a bad decision if you know it’s wrong, and she says he makes a valid point. She and Ned didn’t belong together. Of course (🍷) that didn’t stop her from hopping in the sack with him when she knew he wasn’t available.
Earlier that day. Alexis rings the bell at the Quartermaine mansion, and Olivia tells her, Ned isn’t there. He’s supposed to be with her. Alexis says she came to see Dante, but Olivia says, he took the boys for ice cream. What does she need him for? Alexis tells Olivia, she wanted to say that… never mind. She starts to leave, and Olivia says, for the record, she’s still furious, beyond furious, at Alexis, but she’s terrified for her. She doesn’t hate her. Alexis says she’s really sorry they’re not friends anymore, but she’s glad Olivia doesn’t hate her. Olivia says, a long time ago, she met someone named Alexis Davis. Ever heard of her? Alexis says, it rings a bell, and Olivia says, when a lowlife had her arrested for feeding her kid in public, that’s who she turned to, to defend her rights, and did she ever. Alexis says, she remembers, and misses her. Olivia says, so does she. Go where she needs to go, and do what she needs to do to find the Alexis she used to know.
Alexis asks Doc, how low can she go? She slept with her friend’s husband, and almost killed her friend’s son, yet Olivia was able to show her the kindness and grace she didn’t deserve. He asks if she thinks pleading guilty and serving a sentence is penance for the steps she’s made since Neil died. Is the goal to punish herself?
Alexis says she’s been punishing herself her whole life. She doesn’t even know why. She just knows she needs to be accountable. Doc asks, to whom? and she says, everyone for everything. He asks, why? and she says it’s her job to hold all things together for all people all the time. He says, she couldn’t if she tried. She made the right choice with Neil. She asks if that’s supposed to be a solution. Neil died; he OD’d in her bed. Doc says she didn’t put the needle in Neil’s arm, no more than she put the knife in Julian’s hand. How is she responsible?
Earlier that day. Alexis goes to Charlie’s, and sees the bartender from the back. For a moment, she thinks it’s Julian, and Nikolas asks if everything is okay, all things considered. The bartender turns around, and she says, sorry. She hands Nikolas a photo album, and says she found it in storage. It’s a family album with some nice pictures of him and Stefan when Nikolas was little. She’s sure he’ll get a kick out of looking at them. He says she doesn’t need to make up excuses to say goodbye. She’ll be okay; he promises. She asks if he guarantees it, and he says he’ll be right back. He goes to take the phone from the bartender, and Ava comes over to Alexis. Alexis says she heard Julian left the pub to Ava in his will, and Ava says, he did. Just so Alexis knows, Kristina has a job there for as long as she wants it. Alexis says, that’s good to hear, and Ava says, although the clientele has dwindled. People probably don’t want to go to a place that was owned by the mad bomber. Her brother was a terribly flawed man, but his love for Alexis was real. She hopes Alexis knows that. Alexis says she knows how flawed Julian was; that’s exactly the problem.
Doc asks if this is upsetting her, and Alexis says, yes. Julian is not the root of her problem. Neither is Rick, Jerry, or the rest of them; they’re just a symptom. He says, of what? and she says, her tendency to self-sabotage. At some point, for some reason, she decided she’s not supposed to be happy. He asks, what’s wrong with happiness? and she says, it’s fleeting. It comes in and out of your life like people; like the men in her life. He says, like her father? She sees herself as a little girl watching from the stairs as her parents argue. Her mother says she doesn’t need Mikkos. She’ll be nothing and have nothing? He’s nothing but a boring cliché. Mikkos calls her an ungrateful bitch. Doc asks where Alexis went just now, and she gets up. She says, this isn’t working. She came because she needed him to soothe her anxiety about going to prison. He’s yet another man who defines women by their daddy issues. Not all of her actions are defined by men, and what he’s doing is insulting and offensive. He’s not helping.
Doc says, now they’re getting somewhere, and she says she doesn’t want the men in her life to define who she is… whoever that is. She looks at the watch.
Earlier that day. Alexis leaves the pub, and Valentin says, hello again. Did she get the watch fixed? She says they couldn’t even get it to start ticking. Her mother thought it was beautiful; she lived for trinkets like that. It’s a lost cause; alas, something they both know about. Valentin says, on the contrary. She taught him that as long as they’re true to themselves, they’ll never be lost. She asks when she taught him that, and he says the night she cleaned his clock at misery poker. Doc tells Alexis, it’s twice now that she’s mentioned her father. She went somewhere. Did she remember something? She says, it’s not important, but he suggests she run it by him to make sure. She says, fine. She told him that she doesn’t have many memories of her father; she blocked most of them for decades. One keeps coming back though, like she’s seeing it for the first time. He asks, what happened just now; she was looking at the time. She says, actually, she was looking at her watch. She must have been five or six at the time. We see little Alexis looking at the Christmas tree, and there’s a knock at the door. Her mother runs to let Mikkos in. Alexis tells Doc, her father would stop by every few months, and shower them both with gifts. Christmas Eve was no exception. Mikkos hands Kristen a gift, and says it must be for her. Alexis says, her father brought the watch. She remembers thinking how beautiful it was, and that it must have cost a fortune; several thousand dollars. That’s how he showed affection. It was a wonderful night, and her mother asked him to stay over. She wanted to spend Christmas morning as a family, but he refused. He had to get back to his real family. Alexis was sent to her room so they could argue, but of course (🍷) she didn’t go. She stayed hidden, and they tore into each other. Mikkos tried to leave, but her mother wouldn’t let him. They argued some more, and it got intense. Her mother threated to tell Helena about them, then… We see Mikkos hit Kristen, and she falls. Alexis says, her father hit mother, and kept hitting her. He wouldn’t stop, and there was nothing she could do about it. She cries.
Alexis says she Idolized her father. She yearned for his affection, and in the rare moments when he gave it to her, she cherished it. It wasn’t until she saw him in that moment, when he hit her mother over and over, hand over hand, that she knew he wasn’t who she’d imagined him to be. He was a monster. She watched him abuse her mother, and she was powerless to stop him. Alexis sees Mikkos drag her mother up from the floor, and smack her around. She runs downstairs, saying, stop it, but her mother tells her to go back upstairs. She tells Mikkos not to touch her mother, and her mother tells her to go to her room. She tells Mikkos, please don’t hurt her, and picks up the watch. She tells him that he broke it, and he storms out. She hugs her mother. Alexis tells Doc, she knew her mother was done with Mikkos and the Cassadine family, and Doc says, but that didn’t happen. She says, he came back New Year’s Eve, contrite. He apologized for losing his temper, and begged forgiveness, promising to never do it again, and then… Mikkos gives Kristen the watch, and says, just like new. He puts it on her, and says, like nothing happened. Alexis tells Doc, she took him back. He fixed her pretty watch, and put it back on her pretty wrist, and after everything he’d done, she took him back. She watched him shower her mother with gifts and brutality, and her mother was never free of him again, until she died.
She tried help her mother, but she couldn’t. Doc says, it’s a pretty heavy burden to put on a child, doesn’t she think? Alexis says, it’s all she had, and he says, she was a child. She flashes back to Mikkos beating her mother again, and Doc repeats, she was a child. Alexis looks at her child self, sitting on the floor of Doc’s office, and goes to her. Little Alexis says she couldn’t stop him. She’s sorry. Alexis says, don’t be sorry. It’s not your fault. You’re just a little girl. Little Alexis says, if he loved her, he wouldn’t hurt her mother, but Alexis says, he didn’t love anybody; he was damaged and cruel. Little Alexis asks why her mother stays, and Alexis says, she’s damaged too. You’re such a good girl, Natasha, and you deserve to be happy. And all the bad things that happened to you, never should have happened. It shouldn’t have been your burden to carry; it’s too much to handle. No one was there when they should have been, but Alexis is here for her now. She knows who she is – Alexis Davis – and she is a fighter, an idealist, and an advocate, and she can handle this for her, if she lets her. You can let this go now, Natasha. I’ve got this. She hugs her child self.
Doc says, you got this. She may have felt helpless that night, but she found it within herself to stand up for the voiceless. Isn’t that what she’s done her entire life? Be the voice of others in ways she never realized?
Later that night. Alexis comes home to a small surprise party. Kristina says she knows Alexis told them not to have a big party, and it’s not. Sam says Alexis can’t go without a celebration, and Kristina says, not everything is about her. She plays Pomp and Circumstance on her phone, and Molly comes down the stairs in her cap and gown. Kristina says they didn’t want Alexis to miss Molly’s graduation from law school, and now she won’t. Molly says, even though it’s officially next month. Sam says, they’re all together, and she thinks that’s what’s important, and Alexis says she’s so proud of Molly. She hugs Molly, and says, they’re her life raft. Molly says Alexis doesn’t need a life raft. She’s unsinkable. The girls gather around Alexis for a group hug, while Ned films. Ned tells everyone, say cheese, and takes a group selfie.
Doc tells Alexis, several times she used three aspects that she felt defined her; fighter, idealist, and advocate. Either by fate or luck, she has three daughters; a fighter (Sam), an idealist (Kristina), and an advocate (Molly). She didn’t need a law degree to impart those gifts on her daughters or the world. All she need was to be… She says, Alexis Davis, and he tells her, she said it, not him.
After the party, Alexis starts to clean up, but Sam tells her, don’t. Go get some rest. Alexis says, her last night in a cozy bed? and Sam says that’s not what she meant, but yes. Alexis says Sam can stop worrying. She’s all right. She’s scared, but more at peace than she’s been in a long time. Sam leaves, and Alexis looks around. She flashes back to when she first came to Port Charles, telling a law firm that she heard they were looking for a good attorney. Saying, she’s better than good. She’s the best. She remembers almost marrying Ned, and running from the wedding. She thinks about getting pregnant, and pretending to be the Quartermaine’s butler. She recalls explaining to Sam how Sam’s father sent her away as a baby for adoption, but she’s not going anywhere. She flashes back to having lung cancer, saving Kristina, and running over Kiefer with the car. She remembers Sam telling her that being hungover is becoming a pattern, Jax telling her that she’s so torn up, she’s drinking until she blacks out, and hitting Julian with the car. She recalls going to AA for the first time, her relationship with Finn, and Valentin giving her the watch. She flashes back to being disbarred, and hugging her daughters. She looks at the watch, takes it off, puts it on her desk, and goes upstairs.
The next morning. Alexis is led to her cell. Her roommate is at a desk, and jumps when Alexis says, excuse me. Alexis says she didn’t mean to startle her, but she says Alexis isn’t the first, and won’t be the last. She moves some books off the bunk, so Alexis can move in, and Alexis asks what she’s working on. She says she has a parole hearing coming up, so she’s brushing up, since she wants to do everything right. Alexis sits next to her, and says, my name is Alexis Davis, and I can help you.
The house is empty. We see the watch, now running.
This was an incredibly touching episode. It brought tears to my eyes while watching it, and again while editing it.
Tomorrow, Chase asks if Gregory is having second thoughts, Finn asks Elizabeth if it gets easier, Nikolas tells Ava that he’s willing to make a deal with the devil, and Carly tells Jason that she’s getting him out, whatever it takes.
🙇🏻♂️ Feelings…
Nancy Grahn talks about Alexis’s very special episode.
🏖 When we last left Why Am I Watching This Trash? Summer House, Stephen was standing outside Lindsay’s window, in the heart of electric tealights spelling out, I 🤍 You. Kyle told everyone to bask in the moment, but I wasn’t sure if he meant the romantic moment, or a moment where he wasn’t complaining. Supposedly, Stephen was reenacting a scene from his and Lindsay’s favorite 80s movie, but if it was talking about Say Anything, why didn’t dude use the boombox he had sitting there? I give it a 3. Lindsay came down, and Stephen presented her with flowers. He said he was scared of losing her, and wanted her be his girlfriend again, but she didn’t have an answer for him. Even so, she deigned to give him a hug, which led to making out, which led to them having sex. Carl missed everything since he was in the shower. The next day, Lindsay told Stephen about her pregnancy scare, and to his credit, he didn’t even flinch.
Hannah had been holding off inviting Des to the nightmare house, until she saw what happened in the house with Luke, which she said was a mistake on her part. Paige said she felt like she had a penpal instead of a boyfriend, and was practically single without the fun of being single. Hannah suggested Paige actually ask Perry to come out, and what a shock, when she did, he did. Des also arrived, and having gone back to being the adult in the house, Carl told Des that he’d be an ally if need be. Kyle negated that with several crude remarks that Hannah was dating his dad, since he and Des resembled one another. At dinner, Des told everyone that he and Hannah had sex on their second date, which you’d think would be rude, but this bunch talks about their sex lives like it’s the weather. In Luke’s interview, he thought this meant he couldn’t possibly have been leading Hannah on. Because she couldn’t possibly have had a casual relationship while waiting for him to make up his dimbulb mind. To prove my point, in Hannah’s interview, she said that it was quarantine, she hadn’t had sex in 6 months, and it felt like 6 years. Carl extracted himself quickly from that conversation. Luke said Des rubbed him the wrong way, and I’m now at the point where I just want to smack Luke whenever I see him. Paige thought Des was the male version of Hannah. Danielle’s boyfriend Robert also showed up, so it was all coupley. In Carl’s interview, he said he was in a better place, but still had work to do, confirming his status as grown-up of the week.
Next time, labor Day, Danielle doesn’t think Stephan is the guy for Lindsay, and Hannah gets defensive about Des.
🎥 I finally saw the Addicted to Love episode of For Real: The Story of Reality TV. Andy said The Dating Game (circa 1965) looked like preschool compared to today’s love connection shows. Clips were shown from Millionaire Matchmaker, Who Wants to Marry a Multi-Millionaire – which ended up with a scandal attached to it – and Temptation Island, which ended up with a lawsuit. The Bachelor was discussed, and Andy interviewed Jason Mesnick and Molly Malaney. I don’t watch The Bachelor, Temptation Island, or The Bachelorette, since I can’t endure the embarrassment I feel for the contestants who leave their dignity at the door, but Bachelor viewers might remember Jason as the bachelor who dumped his choice for the choice he dumped. To his credit, they’ve been together 11 years now, and have two children, so I guess the dumped choice was the right choice. The Bachelor franchise is nothing to sneeze at, having borne 8 Bachelor/Bachelorette spin-offs, and 37 versions throughout the world. The Lifetime fictional series UnReal (which I loved) was also based on The Bachelor, and the whole thing has culminated in Bachelor Nation, where all things Bachelor can be found. One of the producers felt it was the combination of soap opera, the competitive element, and the element of suspense that made it a successful collective viewing experience.
Flavor of Love was one of my favorites, and another producer said, if you you’re a woman, there’s a very good chance you’re attractive to Flava Flav. Bret Michaels pitched his own Rock of Love, which I also watched, where he wasn’t so much looking for love, as a good time. Several girls quit early on when they realized they were more likely to be objectified than be going on the road with Bret. There were more mentions of spin-offs, including another favorite of mine, I Love New York. I think Tiffany Pollard is the best! Another scandal was born from Megan Wants a Millionaire. Megan literally dodging a bullet when the contestant she wanted to choose was thought a poor choice by producers. She’d planned on calling him on the DL after eliminating him, but he ran off and got married to a model in Vegas. No harm, no foul, until the model was found dead. While her murderer was on yet another reality show, I Love Money. He, too, ended up dead by his own hand. Hmm… Maybe the love of money is the root of all evil… Andy moved on to more current programs like Catfish, and my all-time favorite – the show I love above all other reality shows – 90 Day Fiancé. The beauty of it was that it was rejected all over the place, until a bigwig at TLC asked the producers to show him what they thought they couldn’t sell, and promptly ordered six episodes. Dr. Drew Pinsky, also of reality fame (Celebrity Rehab), said the show is like reality on steroids. The viewers wanted to see more of the cast outside the window of the K-1 Visa, and the franchise was born. For Real is a really well-crafted series. Andy definitely gets a bravo.
😲 Really Real…
On Who Wants to Marry a Multi-Millionaire, one of those millionaires didn’t have quite as much bank as he said. In addition to lying about pretty much everything else.
The lawsuit against Temptation Island only gave them more publicity. They tried to pretend they didn’t want to break up a family.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/1251517.stm
The ups and downs of The Bachelor’s Jason, and contestants Melissa and Molly, along with a few other Bachelor tidbits.
The scandal beyond all of them, involving a murder/suicide.
The Basics:
The Grisly Details:
https://ew.com/tv/2020/01/30/ryan-jenkins-jasmine-fiore-megan-wants-a-millionaire/
🌬 Off Like the Wind…
Brewing the tea for tomorrow, but in the meantime, stay safe, stay in good health, and stay being a fighter, an idealist, and an advocate.
⚠️ Warning: Possible Bad Words Ahead…
What I Watched - TV With Theresa 