What I Watched Today

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

General Hospital

Lois looks over Ned’s shoulder while he’s on the computer and says, three million, four hundred and fifty-nine thousand. He says he didn’t hear her come in, and she says, that’s because he was focused on the numbers. He says, these are figures on a deal Michael closed with an Australian company, RCD. Michael and Drew insist it’s a good deal, but he’s not so sure. She says, that’s because his numbers are off by eight hundred and twelve thousand.

In the nook, Chase asks Brook what she’d say are three most important moments in her life, and she says, when she scored Jonas Brothers tickets in 2010, but he says he’s being serious. She says, heavy question. Okay. The last time she ever saw her great-grandfather Edward, the first time she wrote a song, and… when she gained a little brother in Leo. He says he wants this moment right now to be on that list, and she asks what he’s talking about. He gets down on one knee and says, Brook Lynn Quartermaine, will you marry me? She says, he really doesn’t have to do this.

Going into Molly’s apartment, Kristina tells her to sit down and let her get Molly a drink. What would she like? Another glass of wine? A pot of coffee? Molly says, Kristina doesn’t have to baby her like this, and there’s silence for a moment. Kristina says, it just got really awkward, and Molly asks if she’s sure she wants to be the surrogate for her and TJ.

Kelly’s is closed, but Josslyn walks in, and Carly asks what she’s doing here. Is everything okay? Josslyn says she got Carly’s text that she was covering for Amber, and she knows Amber usually closes, so she came to see if she could help with anything. Carly says, she’s thoughtful, and her timing is great, and Josslyn asks what she can help with. Carly says, a lot, but clean-up can wait. She has an update on Josslyn’s grandmother.

Nina asks Sonny if Ava was right. Is Cyrus after him? Is his life in danger? Sonny says, they’ve gone over this how many times? Threats exist in his business, and he’s going to take care of it like he always does. He just doesn’t want her to worry. She says, if his life is in danger, of course (🍷) she’s going to worry. They’re married. They’re in this together. And yes, she realizes there’s a certain amount of danger in his business, but this ruthless man just got released from prison, and he still might be after Sonny? And Sonny doesn’t want to discuss it with her?

Carly gives Josslyn a bowl of ice cream, and Josslyn asks if she’s softening bad news with it or are they celebrating good news with dessert? Carly says, they’re burying frustrations with a treat, and Josslyn asks, what’s going on with grandma? Carly says, she called from Amsterdam. Josslyn knows how her grandmother is always happy and upbeat. She is drowning in red tape. Surprise, surprise, Luke didn’t have his papers in order. Josslyn says, shocking, and Carly says, that man never met a form he wanted to fill out or a tax document he wanted to file. (To be fair, have any of us?) Josslyn says, so he left her with this mess? and Carly says, oh yeah. She said she’ll probably have to stay away longer. Josslyn asks if Tracy didn’t go over there to help her, and Carly says, Tracy’s there full of opinions and insisting that she knew what Luke would have wanted. She’s basically driving Carly’s mother crazy. Josslyn says, Tracy can be tough, but her money’s on grandma, and Carly says, hers too.

Sonny says, he’s been very clear from the beginning. There are things in his business that he can’t tell Nina. She says, he can’t discuss it with her because he doesn’t want her to be implicated if whatever he’s involved in gets investigated by the police, and he says, it’s for her own protection. Look what happened to Carly even after they were divorced. Nina asks what he’s talking about, and he says, the SEC investigation? It wasn’t about insider trading. They were trying to squeeze Carly to get her to give up information on him. Nina flashes back to telling Martin to go out all and expose Drew and Carly for insider trading, and to make sure to keep her name out of it. She tells Sonny that she wants to make one thing clear. Her situation is nothing like Carly’s.

Molly says, Dr. Navarro reminded her that there’s always a chance of miscarriage. What if it happens to Kristina? Kristina says, then they’ll survive it, and Molly says, there are possibilities of other complications too. Kristina will be taking a chance with her own health. Kristina tells her, take a breath. There are no guarantees of course (🍷) with an easy, successful pregnancy or a delivery, but the odds are in her favor. It’s the right timing and she’s in good healthy mostly, and she really wants to do this. TJ comes in and says he didn’t expect to see Kristina here, but welcome. Kristina says she’s heading out, but she’ll see them later. She leaves, and in the hallway, she gets a text from Blaze: R u around? Kristina texts back: Just leaving my sister’s, and Blaze asks: Can I see u? Kristina texts: Meet me at my place. 27 S. Patton, apt 3B.

TJ says he’s been thinking a lot about their last conversation, and Molly says, her too. She wants him to hear her out first.

Ned tells Lois that he was hoping to find some discrepancy in the numbers, but he’ll have to find another way to blow up this deal. She asks why he’d want to do that, and he says he was right in the middle of his own negotiations with RCD when he took that damn fall at the MetroCourt pool. She says, and woke up as Eddie Maine, a dedicated musician whose only interest was in performing and didn’t want anything to do with ELQ. He says, which gave Michael the exact opening to swoop in and renegotiate the deal for completely different terms than he’d been working on. And to top it all off, Michael closed the deal without even checking with him. She asks how Michael could check with him. He was Eddie Maine. What does he think Eddie would have said if Michael tried to talk to him about a business deal? He says, it doesn’t matter. Michael wasn’t even working for ELQ. He’s a shareholder, nothing more. He had no right to go behind Ned’s back and close that deal. Lois says, that makes no sense.

Chase tells Brook, he doesn’t have to do this? That’s so not the answer he was hoping for. She asks him to stand up, and says, he’s the sweetest man she’s ever known, and she loves him like crazy, but he doesn’t have to ask her to get married just because her mom and grandma are stuck on the subject. He says, that’s not why he asked her to marry him.

Molly tells TJ that she ran into Dr. Navarro leaving the hospital. She’d heard about Andrea’s miscarriage, and her reaction was that miscarriages aren’t uncommon, and she reminded Molly of all the people who’ve had children through surrogacy that wouldn’t have otherwise. It really resonated with her. So she ended up taking that meeting with Claire Brown, the matching professional, and Claire presented her with new potential surrogate candidates for them. But then she ran into her mom, and her advice was, whatever they choose to do, it has to be a mutual decision. And she knows her mom was right, so she only wants to explore new surrogates – if he’s totally open to it too.

Kristina says, sorry to keep Blaze waiting, but Blaze says she just got here. Kristina opens the apartment door and says, welcome to her humble home. Blaze says, nice and cozy, and Kristina says she’s glad Blaze likes it. She likes it too. Beautiful building and view, but the thing she likes best about it is, she pays her rent all by herself. Blaze says she can tell that really means something to Kristina, and Kristina says, it does. Both of her parents are super successful, and she spent plenty of time running around as a trust fund kid, which was fun in the short term, but she didn’t like the person she’d become. She knows managing Charlie’s isn’t very glamorous, but it’s where she got her head screwed on straight. It’s good, honest work, and she’s really proud of herself for standing on her own two feet. She really likes this version of herself better. Blaze says she can’t speak to who Kristina was in the past, but she likes this version of Kristina now a lot. So what does Kristina think? She takes a bottle of champagne out of her bag and says, time to celebrate?

Brook tells Chase that she knows her mom and grandma can be a lot. They have the subtlety of a freight train. He says he thought they were great, but she says, come on. Can he honestly say that the idea of marrying her ever came into his mind before her grandma’s lecture on marriage? Then her mom has to pile on top of it with her Chase-you-make-my-kid-happy speech. He says, so what her mom said wasn’t true? He doesn’t make her happy? She says, he makes her incredibly happy. Happy with their life together in his apartment. Happy that he accepts her for exactly who she is. Happy that he has a really great sense of humor about her family, both sides. But don’t let them pressure him into asking her to marry him. They can just take that topic off the table and forget it was even brought up. Okay? He says, nope, it’s not okay. It’s too late to take marriage off the table. He takes out a ring box and shows her a gorgeous round diamond ring that no doubt someone helped him pick out. Maybe his ring guy. She asks what he’s doing.

Josslyn asks if she told Carly about Adam, the kid that lives down the hall from her, but Carly says, nope. Josslyn says, he’s in her Organic Chem class, so they study together sometimes. Like ten minutes into this test, he starts freaking out. He starts hyperventilating and looking like he’s going to faint, so the TA had to stop the exam. Carly asks if he had a panic attack, and Josslyn says, that’s what it looked like, so she volunteered to take him to GH. Carly says, poor guy, and Josslyn says, he told her that he took some sort of medication to help him focus and he took an extra dose before this test. That’s why he thinks he had a panic attack. Carly asks what Josslyn thinks.

Nina tells Sonny, Carly did commit insider trading. When she bought that Aurora stock, she did so because she had privileged information that ELQ and Aurora were going to merge. That is why Carly and Drew got into trouble. It’s just unfortunate that the FBI and SEC were trying to use that as leverage to get Carly to flip on Sonny. He says, she’s missing the point. The FBI knew Carly had information because when he was in Nixon Falls, Carly was running his business. Nina says, and she kept him from his life in Port Charles. Is that what he’s saying?

Blaze says she thinks Kristina is going to like this champagne; definitely worthy of a special occasion. She pours them both a glass, and Kristina asks what they’re celebrating. Blaze says, the remix of her latest single just went number on the dance charts, and Kristina says, congratulations. Blaze thanks her and they clink glasses. Blaze says, let’s toast, and Kristina says, Blaze is her stage name. What’s her real name? (This is so weird, because I was just wondering about that.) Blaze says, Allison Rogers Ramerez, and Kristina says, to Allison. They clink glasses again.

TJ says he wants a family with Molly. They love each other. They’re committed to each other, and part of that commitment is listening and respecting each other’s needs and feelings, and that’s something he neglected to do this morning. She says, it’s okay, but he says, it’s not. He was so wrapped up in his own feelings and in his fears, he didn’t make enough room for her and what she’s going through. For that, he’s so sorry. She says, he was being honest, and she needs him to be honest. She wants him to know that she has every intention of being honest with him too. She never would have gone further than an initial meeting with Claire without talking to him. He says he believes her. So she was meeting to look at other potential surrogates. Did she find anybody she liked or thinks they might connect to? She says, yes… and no.

Brook says, it’s beyond beautiful, and Chase says he bought this ring weeks ago, way before her mom and grandmother came to town. His original plan was to propose on Christmas. All Lois and her grandmother did was just speed up the timetable a little bit. She asks, why? and he says, why did he buy the ring or why did he move up the proposal? Because he loves her and he wants to spend the rest of their lives, short or long, together. His dad’s diagnosis made him realize all over again that life can be random, and nothing is entirely promised. He doesn’t want to waste today waiting for a tomorrow that might never come. They need to do what matters now, while they still can. And what matters most to him is her. It’s her. Well? She says, well what? and he says he didn’t technically get an answer. She tells him that she said what she said before because she thought he was just following her grandma’s instructions. Ask her again. He says, Brook Lynn Quartermaine – he gets down on one knee again – the love of his life, would she do him the greatest honor in marrying him?

Lois says, the deal hadn’t closed when Ned hit his head and woke up as Eddie Maine. Correct? Ned says, yeah. So? She says, standard business practice would be to put the deal on hold if one of the parties, mainly him, was not in his right mind. And if ELQ hadn’t sent someone to close the deal, then the Australian company would have had to assume that there was no deal to be had, right? He tells her that he couldn’t really say, but she says, be honest with her. If Michael hadn’t gone and negotiated the deal, there would be no deal, right? He says, that’s not the point, but she says, the point is, Michael closed the deal and he didn’t. Isn’t that what this is really all about?

Josslyn tells Carly that she’s sure the meds contributed to Adam’s panic attack, but she thinks it would have happened regardless. Carly asks, why? and Josslyn says, because he has this relentless pressure put on him by his parents. Then he puts more pressure on himself. He thinks 92% is failing. Carly says, that’s not good, and Josslyn agrees. She says, he spends all of his time studying. He has no friends. When she and Trina got back from Thanksgiving, he had been in the dorm the whole time. Carly says, he wasn’t with his family for Thanksgiving? and Josslyn says, no. His parents were in St. Bart’s. He literally stayed on campus and studied. Carly says she wishes she would have known that. Josslyn could have brought him home for Thanksgiving. Drew comes in and says, they’re closed, huh? but Carly says, not for him. What would he like, ice cream or chili? He says he was hoping to take her out for dinner. One last night out before he heads to Australia. Carly says, what?

Sonny says, whether anybody believes it or not, he and Nina know the most important thing that happened in Nixon Falls was that they fell in love. Nina says, he’s right, and he says, the only reason he brought up Carly was to make an example of it. What if the FBI thinks Nina has information to implicate him? Then they’ll come after her. That’s why he can’t tell her everything. She says she knows that. She’s made peace with what he does, with his life choice, and she does understand why sometimes he can’t tell her everything. It’s not like she wants to be involved in allegedly illicit activities. He says, good. That means they’re on the same page. She asks if they really are. Because if her husband is in danger, she’ll do whatever she can to make sure he comes home. And if there’s a chance her husband she loves won’t come home, doesn’t he think she has the right to know that?

Brook says, yes. With all her heart, she’ll marry Chase. He takes her hand and puts the ring on it. She says, look at that. It’s a perfect fit. Just like her and him. He says he knows that diamond might be a little small by Quartermaine standards… She says, stop it. She loves it. She loves that she chose it. She loves that she gets to wear it for the rest of her life, and she promises she’ll love him for as long as they both shall live. They kiss.

Ned tells Lois that he turned ELQ over to Michael, a decision he’s come to bitterly regret. He was too young to be named CEO… even if he did turn out to be surprisingly effective at the job. Lois asks, so what’s the problem? and Ned says, the problem is, once Michael got a taste of that power, he was never willing to let it go. When Michael was pushed out by him and Valentin, he went to work for Drew at Aurora. But he knew Michael was just lying in wait. When he had that fall at the pool, it was just the chance Michael needed. Michael jumping in and finishing that Australian deal was just the beginning. If Ned doesn’t find a way to stop him, Michael will push him out. Lois says, all these years after Edward’s death, all the Qs are still fighting with each other. Ned’s grandfather – may he rest – he would be so proud of that. That makes her so sad.

TJ says, Molly did find a surrogate possibility, or she didn’t? and Molly says, after her conversation with her mom, she had a million thoughts turning through her brain. She went for a walk in the park to get some air, and she ran into Willow and Baby Amelia. He asks if it felt like torture, and she says, in a way, but torture of the sweetest kind. She got to hold the baby and it almost knocked her over with longing to have a baby of their own. She got so overwhelmed with the fear that it might never happen, she went to an isolated park bench and broke down into a million pieces. It’s okay. She just had this flood of emotions that needed to come out. She just sat there and sobbed. He says he was so wrong. He’s so sorry. She says, it’s okay. While she was crying, Kristina found her.

Kristina says, Allison Rogers Ramerez. She’s so curious how that morphed into Blaze. Blaze says she just though her name was to generic to win over a big audience, and Kristina asks if she just woke up one day and said, call me Blaze? Blaze laughs and says, no. She was in high school at this open mic night, and even though this is everything she ever wanted, she was so shy back then. Kristina says she finds that hard to believe, but Blaze says, it’s true. She knew she could sing, so she signed up, but then she got hit with this massive wave of stage fright. She went up to the DJ who was announcing the singers and begged him to withdraw her name. All she wanted to do is run away and hide. Kristina asks, what happened? and Blaze says, the DJ challenged her. He said, do you really want to scurry away like some scared little mouse, or would you rather go out in a blaze of glory? So she went out on that stage and sang her heart out. She got a standing ovation and from that night on, she was Blaze. Kristina says, that is amazing. She loves that story. Blaze says, Kristina’s turn. What was she like in high school?

Drew says he’s flying to Australia for business, and Carly asks, for how long? He says, for a week, and Josslyn tells Carly that she can clean up if they want to head out, but Carly says, Drew’s going to help her clean up. Then they can talk. Josslyn says, then she’s going to go. Have a great night. She’s going to text Drew a list of her favorite places to go when she’s in Australia with her dad. Drew thanks her and says he’d love to check out a couple. Josslyn says, goodnight, and leaves. Carly asks when Drew’s going, and he says, tomorrow. She says, that’s not a lot of notice, and he says he realizes that. He’s sorry, but it just came together so quickly. He just got back and now he’s leaving again, right before Christmas. She asks why he’s going.

Sonny tells Nina that he has to be extremely careful. That’s why he has bodyguards and Brick screens everything. She says, he hasn’t given her a straightforward answer about Cyrus. Is he still after Sonny? Sonny says, he was. Ava was right about that part. When Cyrus was in Pentenville, he used Austin and Mason to set him up to get busted by the Feds. She says, so Cyrus Renault is responsible for him getting arrested, but he says, it didn’t work because there was no proof. The charges didn’t stick. He’s a free man. She says, but so is Cyrus. He just got released from Pentenville. What if he decides to go after Sonny again?

Blaze asks if she just asked the wrong question, but Kristina says, no. She was in an abusive relationship in high school. Blaze says she’s so sorry. Please don’t feel obligated to tell her about it, but Kristina says, it’s okay. She wants to tell Blaze about it because it’s a big part of her and a big part of who she is. She genuinely thought her boyfriend Kiefer had a really sweet side to him. And she did love him, but he was also wildly insecure, and he had a bad temper. Once when they were arguing, he slapped her. She remembers it like it was yesterday because her reaction to it was so messed up. Blaze asks what she means, and Kristina says she was embarrassed. She blamed herself. She was sure she’d said or done something to trigger that reaction from him. The one thing she didn’t do was blame him. She certainly didn’t break up with him. The slapping eventually turned to hitting, and it took her a really long time to ask for help. Blaze says she’s so sorry Kristina went through that, and Kristina thanks her. She says, her next boyfriend Trey was not much better. Not that he was abusive, but her parents didn’t like him and she was in her rebellious phase, so she married him for what felt like five minutes. Then when that failed, she thought she’d try college, and when she was in college, she had an affair with her professor. Blaze asks, how old was he? and Kristina says, she was in her mid-thirties.

TJ asks what it was like when Kristina found Molly crying, and Molly says, she was actually really wonderful. Kristina calmed her down and got her out of the park. Kristina took her back to her place and listened while she opened up a vein. And then, Kristina offered to be their surrogate again.

Lois says, Ned knows she loved his grandfather, and in many ways, Edward was a wonderful man, and she cherishes his memory. He says he feels the same way, and she says, and he loved keeping them all in an endless competition; everyone always jockeying for power. He loved playing them all against each other. Ned versus his mother; Ned versus AJ. All the while, belittling poor Alan, who only wanted nothing to do with the family business. She remembers when Edward exiled Tracy. Then he let her come home and exiled her all over again. Ned says, his mother is hardly an innocent, and Lois agrees. She says, maybe that made for a very successful business, but it made them all miserable. Edward is gone. Does Ned really want to carry on his legacy? Ned at Michael’s throat; Michael at his. He says, that’s just how the Quartermaines are, and she says, really? She looks at a photo of Edward and Lila, and says, what about Lila?

Drew asks Carly if she remembers him telling her that when Ned was out of commission, Michael closed a deal between ELQ and an Australian firm. He’s going to finalize the paperwork and probably oversee a few other acquisitions while he’s there. She says, that’s ELQ, not Aurora. She still doesn’t get why he has to go. He says, Michael was going to go, but he was reluctant to leave Willow and the kids so soon after her leukemia. She says she thinks it’s really wonderful of him to offer to go so Michael could stay home. She just wishes he would have told her, so she could have planned and processed it. He says, it really did come together last night, and she says she’s going to miss him. He says he’s going to miss her too, and kisses her.

Brook says, Chase started this by asking about the most important moments of her life. This is definitely one of them. She’s so surprised she’s not even nervous at all. He says, it just feels right, and she agrees. She says, even if they can’t predict the future, at least they know they have each other. He asks if she remembers when they first met. She clocked him over the head with a bottle. When he tells people about that day, he’ll say it was one of the most important days of his life because it was the day he met his wife. They kiss.

Lois tells Ned, Lila was sweet, angelic, loving, but she was nobody’s pushover. She saw through every one of them, including her husband, and she loved them all anyway. He says, grandmother was one of a kind, and Lois says she asked Lila one time what her secret was. Lila told her, I always look for the good in everyone, and I almost always find it. She was a Quartermaine. Ned could try her way for a change. Look for the good, right? He was incapacitated. He wasn’t able to finish the deal, so Michael stepped in, and he made the deal for Ned. If it was good for ELQ, it was good for everyone in the company, including Ned. So instead of trying to blow up the deal, why doesn’t he thank Michael for making the deal, and next time a deal comes around, Ned can ask Michael to collaborate with him. They can work together instead of against each other. Maybe the results will surprise him. He says, she really channeled his grandmother right there. He hopes she knows how proud of her Lila would be.

Outside Kelly’s, Carly asks where they’re going, and Drew says he was thinking Café Cheri, a bottle of wine, maybe two. She says, sounds like a perfect farewell dinner, and he laughs. He says he realizes he’s letting her down, but it’s only a week. She says she knows, and she knows it’s important to him. If it weren’t, she’d tell him to send Ned. He says he wouldn’t trust Ned to close this deal. The man can’t see past his own ego for the good of the company. She says, Drew sounds like Michael, and he says, Michael is right. She should have seen Ned when he found out Michael closed the deal. He turned into a little four-year-old. He told Michael that he wasn’t authorized when he should have been thanking him. She says she gets it. That sounds like Ned, but Drew is usually the one to let things go and move forward. He says, one trip to Pentenville is enough for him. Ned isn’t going to stab him in the back again. She says she understands that, but please don’t let Ned change who he is. He says he can’t undo what he’s been through, and she says she knows, but we can choose to fill our minds with better things to dwell on, like our dinner and our wine and us. He says, and us, and they kiss.

Sonny tells Nina, Cyrus is mopping floors at the PC Grill. He has his guys on Cyrus 24/7. Yes, Cyrus was a threat, but those days are over. Mason Gatlin is on his way to Pentenville, Austin’s dead and Cyrus’s allies and connections don’t want to work with a broken old man. She laughs and thanks him for sharing that with her. He says he didn’t tell her about Cyrus because he didn’t want her to be worried, but she says, he doesn’t have to shield her like that. She’s tougher than she looks. He says he has no doubt, and kisses her.

TJ says he doesn’t understand. The last time Kristina offered to be their surrogate, Molly wanted nothing to do with it. She says, they talked about that, and Kristina admitted that when she initially offered, she hadn’t really thought it through. It was just an impulsive idea. And Molly admitted she overreacted. She was just hurt because her sister can carry a child and she can’t, but Kristina’s being really sincere about doing it. She’s in perfect health and she’s kind of a perfect candidate, but only if it’s something TJ wants too. He says, if this is something Molly wants, he thinks they should accept Kristina’s offer, and she asks if he’s sure. He says, as sure as he is of his love for her, and they kiss. He says, let’s have a baby.

Kristina tells Blaze that her name was Parker. It started off as a crush, but it developed into something much deeper. And that was her first and only relationship with a woman. Blaze asks how it ended, and Kristina says, Parker dumped her for her ex, and Blaze says, ouch. Kristina says, honestly, she doesn’t fault Parker for that, because if not for Parker, she would have kept on denying that part of herself for God knows how long. Blaze says she certainly knows what that’s like, sets down her glass, and kisses Kristina.

Tomorrow, Cyrus tells Ava that he has an alibi, and asks if she does; Anna tells Felicia that she could really use a friend; and Sonny asks what Curtis wants from him.

Below Deck Mediterranean

I grit my teeth and hold my nose and dive into this floating pile of garbage. I’m not quite getting it with the online backlash against Kyle. He’s a gossip and drama queen for sure, but I honestly think he doesn’t compare to Natalya, who just seems like a straight-up bad person.

Genoa, Italy. In Jack’s interview, he says, when he sees Kyle, he sees drama. He was supportive of Natalya, but now he wishes he’d been more supportive of her, based on what he’s seen. At the restaurant, Kyle leaves the table to take a wee, and in Tumi’s interview, she says, Kyle is a stick of dynamite that doesn’t need a match. Can they just behave? On the boat, Captain Sandy wanders around, looking disgruntled. Max hits on Jessika, and outside the restaurant, they race each other to nowhere. Everyone gets in the taxis. The captain continues to wander around, and seeing the mess in the mess, she says, this place is disgusting. It’s like babysitting. In her interview, she says, when she goes downstairs, she doesn’t want to see a disaster. It’s not a frat house. The crew goes to a bar/club, and Max orders one shot for everyone to add fuel to the fire. In Max’s interview, he says, Lily is a new adventure. He and Peter Pan will never be serious, and he likes her vibe. In Jessika’s interview, she says, Luka is cute and you’re stupid if you don’t think so. I guess I’m good then. Kyle broods, and Lily asks Jack, what happened? Jack tells her about being friends with Natalya and that Kyle caused trouble, but Kyle suggests she reserve her opinion. Jack’s been against the interior since the beginning. He’ll separate her from the rest of them. She should have her own opinion. Lily says she doesn’t care about any of it, and Jack tells her not to respond. Kyle says, some people have growing up to do, and some people need to level up. In Lily’s interview, she says, Kyle is making her feel like if she’s not on his side, she’s out to sea, and she tells them, we’re ending the conversation. Lily tells Tumi that she doesn’t want to get involved in the gossip. She’s ignoring Kyle and Jack, and it’s feeling uncomfortable. In Tumi’s interview, she says she feels like a preschool teacher getting the kids together. Natalya is gone, so she thought the drama was gone. She has no time to babysit. We flash back to the tornado that was Natalya, and Tumi says she and Kyle need to have a conversation – without alcohol involved. In the taxi, Kyle says he thinks Lily is being influenced by Jack, but Tumi says she doesn’t think so. In taxi #2, Max flirts with Lily, while in taxi #1, Luka kisses Jessika. Lily wants Max to carry her, and in Max’s interview, he says, oui, oui, oui a thousand times. Jessika gets in Luka’s bunk, and Max gets in Lily’s bunk. Lily hits her head on the bunk above them and I laugh. In the Jessika/Luka bunk, there’s a lot of movement under that blankie and I don’t want to know. Max and Lily both slide off the bunk and onto the floor.

In the morning, Lily says she’s hungover as sh*t, while Tumi tries cleaning up. Lily says she’s dying, and Max and Luke fist bump. In Max’s interview, he says, Lily is pretty with emerald eyes. It feels like Christmas in July. Tumi asks Jack, what happened? and Jack says, Lily wanted to know what went on. Kyle butted in and told her to have her own opinion. In Tumi’s interview, she says, Kyle is paranoid, and we flash back to Kyle thinking Jessika was against him, then telling Jack that Natalya will throw him under the bus. Tumi says, it’s her job to keep Kyle under control. Lily is horrible at laundry, and she needs him. In Luka’s interview, he says, in the past, he didn’t have to do paperwork. He’s glad he can rely on Lara. She’ll just push through.

Captain Sandy calls Luka to the bridge, and tells him, the way the crew mess was left was not okay. There was food and booze, the garbage was overflowing, and plates were stacked up in the sink. In Captain Sandy’s interview, she says, Luka knows her expectations. The job’s not just about throwing lines. It’s about making sure the schedule is working and the crew mess is clean. She doesn’t want him to get complacent. She tells him to kick some ass, as Lily repeatedly throws up in the cabin bathroom. In Jessika’s interview, she says she’s in a scary place, knowing her feelings for Luka are showing. He’s a Scorpio, and Scorpio men are known to be promiscuous. She tells Tumi that Lily is throwing up, and Tumi checks on her. Lily says she’s dying, and Tumi tells her to take an hour. Clearly more in practice with drinking, Jessika says she wants a burger. Tumi tells Kyle that the chef and his new friend felt Kyle was overstepping yesterday. Kyle revises history, and Tumi says, what happened was clearly triggering. Kyle says he didn’t tell anything to anyone. Jack wants to cause atomic bombs. Tumi says she’d rather Kyle and Lily communicate with her, and in her interview, she says she doesn’t know how to handle these people. She can’t be handling men in their 30s. Sorry. The captain calls Luka, Jack, and Tumi for the preference sheet meeting.

The primary is Michael, the CEO of a dental implant company. He’s bringing his wife and several friends. Luka reads that they want to go diving at Christ of the Abyss, and Tumi reads that they want a 007 Casino Royale party. Jack reads, late night snacks are welcome, and there’s something about singing Happy Birthday as an aria. Kyle tells Jessika, the laundry is a sh*tshow, and Jessika says, Lily can’t be sleeping all day. Kyle tells her that anything he says is taken to the next level, so he’s not saying anything anymore. Max brings Lily some water, and Tumi tells Captain Sandy that Lily is hung over. The captain says she’ll wake Lily up, and tells Lily, it’s your captain. She needs Lily on deck. This is a real job. Lily says she needs 20 minutes, and the captain says, holy cannoli, as she walks away. In the captain’s interview, she says, if it happens again, they’ll need to have a serious conversation. Maybe don’t drink as much next time. Tumi calls to find some entertainment for the 007 party, and the provider says they have a mentalist. In Tumi’s interview, she says, what the f*** is a mentalist? That has nothing to do with the theme, but her options are limited. It sounds like a bougie way of saying psychic . Jessika relegates Lily to scrubbing toilets, which is not just poetic justice, but a good idea since she’s not done throwing up. She looks absolutely miserable. In Lily’s interview, she say she thinks she drank a bit too much. In Tumi’s interview, she says, it’s a lot to manage Lily. She’s not retaining information. Tumi knows she can do it, but she’s trying to figure out how. In the crew mess, Lara is encouraged to be the singer for the guests, and in her interview, she says, her love of opera started young. She listened to Phantom of the Opera all the time, and that love is still with her. She sings in the crew mess, and I give it a 6 out of 10. Luka says, the guests will love her, and in Lara’s interview, she says she believes she’s destined to be an opera singer. Then she laughs. Lily hits her head on the top bunk again. Man, she is not bright at all. In Lily’s interview, she says, the Brit is back.

True story. My first day at my very first job in NYC, I was hung over since I’d gone out with a group from school the night before. Adding to my misery, it was Donut Day or something and the donuts that particular day had green and orange frosting on them. To my credit, I made it through the day without going all Lily.

Luka tells Haleigh that she’s going on the dive with the guests, and Tumi meets with the interior in the crew mess. She tells Lily, the biggest thing is having initiative, and tells Jessika to guide her. Captain Sandy radios the interior and asks that her clothes be brought up. She has no clean shirts. Jessika goes to the laundry room, and Tumi says, they need to speed things up with the laundry. Jessika sees the captain’s shirts aren’t ironed, so she finishes the job on one and delivers it to Captain Sandy. Tumi calls Lily to the laundry and points out what hasn’t been done. She says, it’s her pet peeve. When someone says something is done, she assumes it’s done. Lily makes excuses in her interview, and says, it feels like the interior is breaking down and she’s the one breaking it. She has little experience in laundry. There’s no winning here, only failure. No positivity.

The guests arrive, and primary Michael says he’s so excited, he’s jacked. Let’s get this party rolling. The group seems pretty boisterous and pay little to no attention to the tour. In Kyle’s interview, he says, these dentists are having the best time of their life. Where were they when he was getting his teeth extracted. We flash back to Kyle’s dental woe last season, and the boat heads out. Guest Amish noses around the galley. Kyle and Jack are still silent with each other, and Amish lies down for a nap. Lunch is served, and in his interview, Kyle says he doesn’t owe Jack anything. He’s going to focus work on his work. It’s not the place to become chums. In Luka’s interview, he says, if he’s not in a relationship, he’s doing a fling. He’s not usually in trouble, but if he is, it has something to do with the ladies. The guests are happy with lunch, and Captain Sandy radios for someone to take out the garbage. Max goes to help, the water toys are put out, and the guests use the slide. In Lara’s interview, she says she’s lead deckhand and is there to help where needed, but Luka has to adjust the schedule for sleeping. Haliegh and Max leave with Michael and his wife for the dive, Lara driving the tender. Lily sits on deck for a smoke with Jack, and Jack tells her that Kyle is overthinking things. He wants to speak to Kyle, but thinks Kyle should instigate it. A sign of real maturity.

They go to Christ of the Abyss, and in Haleigh’s interview, she says, diving started her out on her ocean career. She’s not super familiar with yachting, but she’s super familiar with diving. She doesn’t have to talk underwater. They dive, and on the boat, Luka texts Natalya. Jessika and Lily do cabins, and Jessika shows Lily the ropes. In Jessika’s interview, she says she doesn’t like to train. Tumi is the chief stew though, and she has to do what she’s told. She doesn’t like teaching people things. She’s a sponge; Lily can be a sponge too. Lara radios Luka and says, Max is having more fun than the guests. Tumi instructs Lily in napkin folding, and in Tumi’s interview, she says, it’s important for her to show Lily how to do stuff. She wants to cover her tracks. If Lily can’t do it, she can say she showed her already. But if she comes out on top, she can say she trained Lily and it was a pleasure. Michael tells Lara that he can tell Haleigh knows her stuff, and they head back to the boat. Even though Lara wants a break, she tells Max to go, and in her interview, she says, a higher up should never a take break before their teammates. She should have been given a break earlier, but she’s not throwing a tantrum like Max. We flash back to Max being a baby, and she says she’ll just deal with it. The mentalist shows up at the dock, and Tumi tells Luka that he needs to be picked up. Luka is annoyed that he’s already put the tender away, and in her interview, Lara says, there should have been better communication on both their parts, but Luka could have asked if interior needed to launch the tender later. The chief bosun should communicate with the chief stew. What did they do the whole day on the boat, have a tea party?

Luka picks up the mentalist, and Tumi says she hears he has magic powers. In her interview, she says, if the guests are happy, she’s happy. She didn’t f*** up. The guests are dressed like characters in a James Bond film, and Tumi directs them to some entertainment before dinner. The man (who’s either nameless or I didn’t catch it) asks who knows what a mentalist is, and Amish says he has no idea what the f*** is going on. The mentalist asks one of the guests to think of a famous place they’ve never been before and would want to visit in the future. He writes something down and asks her to tell him what it is. She says, Australia, and he reveals he’s written Australia on the board. He does some more mind reading tricks, and he’s pretty impressive. Lily says she feels like Tumi and Kyle don’t like her, but Jessika says, if they see she’s working hard and always doing something, they’ll respect her. Kyle radios for someone in the deck crew to help with service, but gets no response. Captain Sandy wonders where the deck crew is, and gets on the radio herself. Luka is in the tender, but she radios him, asking where the deckhands are. Luka says, Lara and Max are sleeping, and the captain says, he’s the only one on deck? That’s not okay. They always need at least two. Captain Sandy pokes her head in Lara’s cabin, and says, they need someone on deck. Lara says she’s on from 10:30 to 3, and in Captain Sandy’s interview, she says, it’s important to have at least two of the deck crew on deck in case of an emergency. It’s not just about safety; it’s about service. The deck team supports the interior, and there are no water sports at night. She needs two. She tells Luka that she’s not happy. The priority right now is food, and this is the kind of stuff that makes her mad. He has to figure out the schedule, and when she radios, someone needs to answer.

Next time, Jessika complains about Lily; Tumi says her patience is gone; Captain Sandy says she’ll give Lily one more chance: Lily says she can’t win; Haleigh needs to see a doctor; drunk guest Amish looks for the hot tub and wakes the crew; and Captain Sandy tells primary Michael to get Amish off the boat.

🍦 Whipping It Good…

Join me tomorrow for soap and tidbits of tea and such from the interwebs. Until then, stay safe, stay being realistic about how much you can do during the holiday season – let yourself say no; and stay not wasting today waiting for a tomorrow that might never come. Do what matters now while you still can. Life can be random, and it’s not entirely promised.