Tag Archives: nighttime drama

November 17, 2017 – A Meeting on the Footbridge, a Zombie Saint, Not Once & a Quote Quinary

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What I Watched Today

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

 

As Riff Raff said in Rocky Horror, a decision had to be made. Once Upon a Time had a two-hour episode tonight, overlapping Z Nation, which is not being shown again tonight. Z Nation, I choose you, especially after the disappointment that was Walking Dead last week. If it’s possible, I’ll do an extra blog using On Demand tomorrow.

General Hospital

Curtis is at the gym, using the punching bag. Andrew comes in, and thanks him for taking the case. He asks if Curtis found evidence that he’s Jason Morgan. If this dude isn’t Andrew, there are a few of us who will be embarrassed. Carly, Sonny, me…

Elizabeth, Franco, and Jake get ready for movie night. Jake goes upstairs. Franco asks if Jake picking a movie about twins is an eerie coincidence. Elizabeth says he doesn’t know about it, but thinks they should tell him what’s going on. Franco says that’s the last thing they need to do.

Kiki is studying in the gallery when Ava comes in. She asks if Ava wants to talk about her passing along the flash drive. Ava says it was a wonderful gesture, but turned out to be disappointing. Griff told her no doctor would risk performing the surgery. Kiki is sorry didn’t work out, but also glad.

Nathan and Maxie walk in as Maxie is telling Chet that Amy is really Ask Man Landers. His sister loves him so much, she did it to get him the care he needs. Nathan tries to cover, saying that’s not what Maxie meant, but Amy says it’s true. She’s Ask Man Landers.

Nina visits Sam to discuss the Crimson budget. She tells Nina that Jason isn’t there. Nina asks her if she’s not co-owner with Jason, or whoever he is.

Jason sees Robin on the footbridge. She says she knew he’d be here.

Franco tells Elizabeth it’s confusing enough for him; he can’t imagine what it would be like for Jake. Elizabeth asks, what if someone else tells him, or he sees the man again? Franco thinks it’s Jason’s news to share, but whatever she decides, he backs her up. She says he has a good point. She’ll talk to Jason (or whoever he is). The doorbell rings. Franco answers, and I wonder why Elizabeth no longer answers the door. He assumes it’s a process server, but it’s a package. He brings it inside, and it’s the painting of the brothers. Elizabeth asks who it was, and Franco tells her, karma. Geez, it wasn’t even in a crate. It just had a piece of cloth wrapped around it, not even tied.

Nina tells Sam that if Jason isn’t Jason, the company could be in flux. Sam tells her it’s none of her business, but she says it kind of is, since it puts the sale in question. Sam is sure it will be fine. Nina says she feels bad for the other one. If he is Jason and his story is correct, she understands what it’s like to wake up and find out that everyone has moved on. At least she didn’t have to fight for her own identity. Sam says he’s not the only one it’s hard for.

Jason tells Robin that Sonny told him she was alive, but he couldn’t believe it. It’s good to see her. Robin says Sonny said he had his old face, but seeing him… He knows it’s a shock, but everything will be okay. She says it makes no sense. How can this be? He says because it is it’s him, Jason. She knows that, right?

Amy explains to Chet about how she started the blog. She called it Ask Man Landers in honor of him. He always gave her the best advice, and teased her, saying he was Man Landers. When she gave advice, she would think of what he would say, and have the right answer. Telling him isn’t hard, but telling him why is. He’s her hero. Everything she is, is because of him. He’s brave, strong, courageous, and smart, and she watched him and learned. When the blog turned into a book deal, she used the advance to pay for his treatment. She lied about the VA because she knew he was too proud to let her help him. After everything he did for everyone else, and serving his country, she wanted to be his hero, even if he never knew it.

Nina tells Sam, sorry, she didn’t mean to upset her. Sam says it’s okay, but she needs to be alone. Nina thinks that’s the last thing she needs. Sam says they’re not friends. Nina is an employee, and she wants to keep it professional. Nina says years ago, when they were fighting over Silas, she didn’t think they’d ever be working together, but here they are. She says people change and move on, and doesn’t think either of them are who they were years ago. She thinks Sam might be resistant because the guy who came back is really Jason.

Robin doesn’t know what to think. She knows Sonny believes in his core that he’s Jason, and she sees someone who looks like him. Jason says the last thing he remembers is being shot in the back. The next thing he knew, he was in a Russian clinic, where it took him six months to escape. Robin tells him about how the guy she’s known as Jason took her place in an elevator rigged with a bomb. He has Jason’s heart and spirit; who else could he be? Jason says, he’s his brother; his twin.

Curtis tells Andrew that Betsy’s trail went cold. He wants to sit tight, and maybe he’ll get a hit on her credit cards or bank account. Heather isn’t talking – literally. She took a vow of silence to repent or something. He tells Andrew, that girl cray. Andrew needs answers, and Curtis says he’ll keep digging, and maybe find them in a new direction. Andrew says he might have one – Andre.

A note with the painting says that Andre thought he’d return this, and Franco knows the right thing to do. Elizabeth asks what he meant, and Franco tells her that he has no idea. In his last session, Andre had told him to move on from his past, so that’s what he’s going to. She hopes he’s not going to destroy it, but he says he’s not. He says to tell Jake to save him some popcorn. He’ll be back.

Chet asks how Nathan got involved, and Amy says her readers wanted to know what she looked like. She stole a picture of Nathan, and when he found out, he made her take it down. When the book deal happened, the publisher wanted to meet Man Landers, so he became the face of the brand. He’s a cop, and technically committed fraud. Chet asks why they did all this for him, and Amy says because she asked them. Nathan says he made a huge sacrifice in serving his country. Amy says he probably hates all this, but hopes he doesn’t hate her. Chet hugs her.

Franco brings the painting to the gallery. Kiki thought that Andre bought it, and Franco tells her that he regifted it. Now he wants Ava to sell it, and use the proceeds for Kiki’s education. Kiki thanks him, and Ava asks her to put the painting in the storeroom. She asks Franco what’s up with the late night delivery? He says the last think Elizabeth needs is a reminder of his dark past. Ava says, out of sight, but not out of mind. What’s he going to do about two Jasons nipping at his heels?

Andrew tells Curtis that Andre took off. Curtis finds it hard to believe the epitome of professionalism just left his patients and snuck off without cause. There’s definitely something going on. Andrew is counting on him to find out what. Curtis says he knew squeaky clean wasn’t the real deal. Elizabeth calls Andrew. She needs to see him about Jake.

Jason tells Robin that the cops ran a DNA test, and they both match; they’re identical twins. Robin says maybe he’s the twin. Jason says his twin didn’t stand up there with her all those nights, taking about everything and nothing. He wasn’t here when she made the decision to go on protocol, and didn’t have to say goodbye when she left for Paris. He might have those memories, but there’s no feeling behind it. He tells her all that matters, is that she’s alive and well. Believing in him would be the icing on the cake. She repeats, icing on the cake, and asks if he remembers the night in Montauk when he described what it was like to kiss her. We flash back to when we were all practically in diapers, and him telling her that being with her is enough, kissing her… and she finishes it would be the icing on the cake. He doesn’t know what she means, and she tells him it means better than the best, and he says, that’s it. Back on the footbridge, Jason laughs, and says he didn’t know what she was talking about; better than the best. He tells her it’s true. Her being there is better than the best. She says, omg, it’s you, and hugs him.

Amy apologizes, saying lying by omission is still lying. (Thank you.). Chet tells them it’s been a tough reentry to the world, and Nathan suggests he talk to a group. Chet says that the pain doesn’t go away, but for the first time in a long time, he feels less alone. Amy tells him to look around. He has friends he didn’t know he had. He’ll never be alone again. They hug.

Jordan goes to the gym, and tells Curtis she needs his help on a case. She doesn’t want to leave a paper trail, and a PI can go places cops can’t. This one is personal. She has reason to believe Andre is mixed up in the Jason Morgan case. Curtis asks if she’s saying the Ivy League brother she chose over him is dirty? Fancy that. She asks if he’s going to help her, and he tells her, wait for it… He’s already on it. She’s not the first person today to ask.

Franco tells Ava that everybody needs to shut up about Jason Morgan, and both Jasons need to shut up. She says that one is married to Sam, and thinks he’s concerned the other will make a play for Elizabeth.. He says hypothetically speaking, those concerns would make him paranoid. She thinks those concerns would be valid. They’ve aligned themselves. No matter how hard those they love try to see past their faults, they wonder if they’re good enough. Their loved ones try to pull them into the light, but are afraid they’ll be pulled into the darkness. She says it’s exhausting. It would be easier if they were different, fixed. Franco asks if he should be worried, and Ava says she would be.

Andrew asks Elizabeth if something is wrong, and she says she thinks it’s time to tell Jake about his twin. Andrew thinks Jake has been through enough, but Elizabeth says what if Jake sees him again. He needs to be prepared, and he should hear it from them. Jake comes downstairs, and asks if his dad is watching the movie with them. He says, no, but he and Jake’s mom have something to tell him.

Nina tells Sam that she meant no disrespect, but she recognizes Sam’s brain is on overdrive, and her heart and mind are on disconnect. She’s hurting, and can’t talk to the people closest to her. Maybe she can talk to Nina. She wonders if Sam believes the new guy is Jason, if she’s afraid she won’t be able to fit her husband into her life somehow. Sam says that’s not if. Nina asks what she is afraid of? That she might be in love with two different men?

Robin can’t believe Jason is real and they’re both here. She asks if he remembers when she left for Paris, and talked about the future. She never imagined this. Jason says it usually isn’t what you imagine, but sometimes it’s better. Sonny told him about her little boy. She thinks maybe they could have a playdate with Bella and Scout, and then remembers Scout isn’t his daughter. He tells her whatever happens, Sam has a little girl, and Danny has a little sister. They’re happy, and that’s all that matters.

Chet says he still has a lot to work through, but now he’s not alone. Maxie points out that no one can know. Amy could be sued, and Maxie’s professional reputation could be shot, then corrects herself to include Nathan. Chet says no one will hear it from him; they went above and beyond. Amy says they’ve intruded enough, and says they’ll go to her place. She thanks Nathan for all he’s done, and Maxie for putting up with it. Maxie tells her don’t mention it. Seriously, don’t mention it, not until their out of the woods. Amy and Chet leave, and Nathan tells Maxie that her judgement call was spot on. She says she has to tell him something.

Ava searches for unethical doctors on her laptop, to see if there are any out there who can help her.

Jordan tells Curtis that she has her own agenda, and asks if he can separate the two. He says he’s only interested in finding Andre, and wants to know if she’s okay with it. She says for once they’re on the same side, and he says he’ll probably be sharing the same information. She tells him it came to her attention that Andre was working with the WSB on something called memory mapping. Curtis doesn’t like the way it sounds already, but it would explain why both guys think they’re Jason. Jordan doesn’t know what they’re dealing with or who. Andre was never an open book. She was always uncovering things about him. She thought it was charming, but now thinks she didn’t realize who he was at all.

Sam tells Nina that the man she’s in love with is her husband. They’ve made a great life together. Nina asks what if the other guy turns out to be Jason, and Sam says they’ll still love each other; that’s all that matters. Nina asks if she loves who he is now, or who he used to be?

Jake says he knew it! His dad has a twin brother. Andrew says he didn’t know much about him until now. Jake asks what he’s like, and Andrew says he’s a confused guy who thinks he’s him. Jake asks, how could he? He’s him. Andrew says he’s his dad, but because he looks the way he used to look, some people believe him (like me). Jake asks who, but he says it doesn’t matter. He and his mom know the truth. He’s Jake’s father, and that’s not going to change. Jake says he loves him, and Andrew says he loves Jake too.

Sam tells Nina that she loves her husband, the man she’s committed to. She says she’s also committed to the business, and Nina takes that as her cue to leave. She says they can discuss the budget another day. In the hallway, Nina’s phone rings. She looks at it, and says, oh no.

Maxie tells Nathan she has unexpected good news, she hopes. He’s up for that, but her phone rings. She looks at it, and says, omg. It’s an alert from The Invader. They just broke a story that he’s not Ask Man Landers. She shows him the article with his and Amy’s pictures.

Ava reads a Crimson article about unconventional cosmetic procedures. She notes the doctor’s name – Gregory Zajack. Kiki comes back, and asks what she’s working on. She tells Kiki that she’s just doing inventory. She has new work for a new exhibit. She thinks everyone will be happy when it debuts.

Sam looks at her (latest) wedding photo. She flashes back to a few days ago, when she was telling Jason it’s the kind of love that just is; you can’t stop feeling it, can’t deny it, can’t shut it down. All you can do is choose not to act on it, and accept the reality that the person you’ll always love can’t be in your life. The background music is so sad, it makes me want to cry. She looks at the photo again.

Robin can’t imagine what Sam is going through. If she admits he’s Jason, she has to admit the last two years of her life weren’t exactly a lie, but not what she thought. The man she thought was him, isn’t. Jason tells her that Sonny and Carly want to prove he’s Jason, and Diane is working on it. She’s looking for cold cases where he was arrested to find a hard copy of his fingerprints. Robin says at least she has a wealth of material to chose from, Jason tells her they’re focused on the wrong thing. He only cares about who’s responsible.

Curtis tells Jordan even though he hates to admit it, Andre is a good dude who just got caught up. His phone rings, and he says, speak of the devil. He might have hacked into Andre’s personal account. Jordan says she doesn’t want to know, but she does want to know what he found. He tells her that Andre had a courier service make a shipment to an address on Elm Street, and he has the IP address he used.

Franco sees Andrew coming out of Elizabeth’s house, and stays hidden. Elizabeth says they did the right thing. They might have their differences, but they’re a good team when it comes to Jake. He thanks Elizabeth for believing in him. It means more than she knows. Franco listens.

On Monday, Ned and Michael talk about ELQ’s future, Jason says goodbye, and Robin asks about Anna’s new boyfriend.

Z Nation

Kaya messes with the circuit breakers. She tells her son not to tease the frozen zombie. She sees someone walking toward them in the distance, and hopes it’s Citizen Z, but it’s a group from Zona. They begin to shoot, and she shoots back. She tells Nana not to panic but they have intruders. She grabs her bag, and Jay-Z CD, and says let’s go. They take a ladder to the bunker downstairs. where she sets up the radio. She makes an emergency broadcast, saying they’re under attack by Zona forces. She asks if Simon or anyone is out there.

Lily and Doc sing Camp Granada, the stoner version. Murphy tells them those aren’t pot leaves; they’re maple leaves. They’re in Canada. Frozen wasteland of peace, here they come. Murphy says he believes in no one but himself, and Roberta says he’s like a cockroach. He says they survive, and he plans to keep on surviving. Mounty zombies stagger out of the building.

A few zombies in toques come out of the woods. Doc calls them hosers, and tells them to, take off, eh? They dispatch the Mounties, and Lily takes one of their hats. Doc says he hates to stereotype, but they’ve been the nicest zombies he’s seen. Roberta tells them to go back to America, as a hockey team races toward them. She and 10K jet, and the rest run into a chapel on the border. They go upstairs, and hear some really weird sounds. It’s zombie nuns, and Doc says, zombie mother of God, whacking one with her own guitar. Murphy struggles with two of them, and says this is why he hates organized religion. 10K and Roberta have come back, and they save him.

Zombies clamor at the boarded-up windows. Doc says as if Catholic school didn’t scare him enough, and backs into a holy water font. He knocks it over, and says now he’s really going to hell. Lily says it was a church, but zombies run it now. Doc is afraid what’s outside is Mother Superior mean. He informs everyone that the food and water is back in the van. Murphy misses Zona. He thought they won, and it was over. Now, the best he can hope for, is freezing his nuts off in Newmerica. Doc wonders how many Z hordes they need to get through to get there. Roberta doesn’t know how far the darkness spreads. Maybe her dreams are true, maybe not. She asks Murphy what they did to her. She tells them if her dreams are real, nowhere is safe; not even Newmerica. Doc says they need to get inside her head, and she tells him, good luck. 10K says Murphy can do it. Doc agrees. She has his blood in her, and it’s worth a shot. Roberta says she needs to know.

She and Murphy concentrate, but Murphy says it isn’t working. Roberta tells him to give it a minute. She tells him to look at her. They close their eyes, and she thinks of her vision. He opens his eyes to a beautiful field, where he’s standing with her. She says it’s the end of the world, but he can’t see it. The fire, ash, darkness, and pain. She tells him to look in the distance, but he only sees a snow-capped mountain. She says she’s sorry. The rain is coming; it’s here. The ash begins to fall. Murphy is on fire, and he opens his eyes, brushing at himself. Doc asks what he saw, and he says, nothing, but he felt what she’s feeling. It’s excruciating.

Lily motions for them to come. Murphy takes Roberta’s hand. He asks if what he felt is what she’s been feeling this whole time, and she says, yeah. He asks if they’re going toward it or away from it. She tells him that she doesn’t know. They reinforce the door, but Roberta thinks they need something stronger. Murphy opens the confessional doors, and zombies tumble out. They shove them back in.

Lily, Doc, and 10k see a live person, a backpacker, who runs from them. The church bells start to ring, and the zombies are drawn to the noise. They begin to punch through the barriers.

The backpacker continues to ring the bells. Doc tells him, not so fast, Quasimodo. Zombies are trickling in, and Roberta is mesmerized by a hockey player for a moment. 10K and Lily come downstairs, and help put up barricades. Murphy slices up a nun, doing a Zorro number with his cane sword, and says he’s getting good at this. When the others see what he’s done, he tells them he has issues.

Doc brings the backpacker downstairs. Lily says she’s always wanted to interrogate someone, putting a gun to the backpacker’s head, and telling him to give her one good reason not to off him right now. Roberta pushes her aside, and says she’s Lieutenant Warren from the National Guard. He tells her his name is Louis. She asks if there’s any reason he wants to get them killed, and he says no. She asks him if he has a death wish, and he shakes his head. She asks what he’s doing here, and Doc says he came with this, showing her a pickax. Roberta looks at all the jewelry he’s wearing, and asks if he’s a grave robber. Jewelry would be important, but not off of corpses. Lily notices he has a load of St. Christopher medals. She says her granddad had one, and never took it off. He would never take it off, unless he was dead. Louis snatches them back, and Roberta asks why he has this stuff. Doc tells her he searched Louis’s bag, and he has a cornucopia of comparative religions. He shows them a Buddha, and a necklace like one he once had, from a woman at Grand Canyon. Louis says he mercied an old lady before she turned, and she was holding it. Roberta asks why take it? Was he moved by the Great Spirit? He says someone was, and someone will be when this is finally over. Lily says it sounds like grave robbing to her. He came from downstairs, where there’s a crypt. He says it’s not what she thinks, there’s a relic from a saint’s bone buried there, and it’s supposed to cure the sick. Roberta tells him to believe what he wants, but quit trying to get them killed. Louis says he didn’t know who they were. People are weird and dangerous. Doc says that’s an understatement. Roberta asks if it’s worth risking his life. Lily says there’s a horde situation, and all ways out are blocked. Louis knows a way out.

Louis takes them to a tunnel that leads to an old graveyard. The zombies aren’t far behind, and they push a faux sepulcher aside. There’s an opening underneath. Zombies bust in. Louis jumps down, and they follow, one by one, as 10K shoots the zombies. Doc holds his nose before jumping, and I laugh.

The zombies start dropping down. Doc and 10K manage to move the sepulcher back enough to stop them from getting through. They walk through the tunnel. There’s a room with a a real sepulcher, and Roberta asks Louis if this is his saint. He says it’s a relic, buried along with a bishop from 20s. She was a martyr, killed by her father when she wouldn’t marry. Doc comes back, and says they hit a literal brick wall. Louis says it wasn’t in the blueprints. Roberta asks for his ax.

Louis asks Roberta to help him open the coffin. She says not many people have religion since the apocalypse, and he says he doesn’t , but if the relic can cure people, people will need healing when this is over. Roberta says if he thinks it will be over, that’s faith. He says it’s basic survival. He has to believe it to live.

10K works at chipping away the bricks.

Roberta asks Louis, why all this stuff if he’s not a believer? He says his mom was a good Catholic. It made no sense to him, but he was glad she had something; it was comforting. One day, the whole world literally lost its mind. It was a bad first night. He was in a garage; he was a mechanic. Roberta says her too. He tells her it was in the middle of the city, and it seemed like ground zero. his boss first to turn; then his buddy Juan. It was up to him to put them down. It took forever; they didn’t know what was needed back then. We see him fighting with zombie Juan. He picks up a huge wrench. He tells Roberta all he could hear was screaming from outside, and the sound of the wrench, hitting. Then it was done. They were dead. It was dark, and Juan’s candle with the Virgin Mary on it kept burning. Roberta asks if that isn’t a miracle, and Louis says it was a light. He needed it, so he took it, and ever since then, he kept finding stuff. It gives him reason to keep going, a mission. Roberta asks what if it ends up being nothing? What if the apocalypse never ends, or does, and no one wants it? Is he doing good, or just delusional? How does he know. He tells her that he doesn’t. She looks for something to help him with

10K is still working on the wall. Roberta asks for the crowbar, and Murphy brings it to Louis. He says the saint had a pretty crappy dad, and Louis says all those girl saints did, but St. Lucy had a crappy mom. She’s the patron saint of the blind and epidemics. Murphy says his daughter’s name was Lucy, and she could have cured everyone, just like his saint, but she died saving him. She wasn’t a saint, just a little girl. Louis tells him sacrificing yourself for someone you love, it doesn’t get more holy than that, Murphy says he needs more leverage.

He asks for pickax, telling the group it’s important. Louis, Roberta, and Murphy start to slide the top across the coffin. When they get it over several inches, smoke wafts out and banging comes from the inside. The bishop sits up. Roberta tosses 10k the crowbar. Murphy struggles with the bishop, and Louis whacks the zombie in the back of the head. He says he thought he was supposed to be dead dead. He fiddles with a pendant the bishop is wearing. He says it doesn’t open, and there’s no secret compartment; it’s just a cross. He looks around in the coffin, and says, it’s empty. Murphy says, then it’s probably time to go.

There’s another wall behind the bricks, Lily tells them she has one grenade left. Roberta thinks they need an actual miracle. Murphy doesn’t think they’re going to find one, and the bells begin to ring. Murphy is like, oh, come on, and Doc says someone is ringing them. They go back upstairs, and the zombies are all tangled in the bell cords. They look around, and no zombies. They see a dead little girl in her First Communion dress, who looks like Lucy. She’s holding the relic that’s embedded in a sculpture of a hand, studded with gems. Doc says he calls that a damn miracle. Murphy says, St. Lucy.

They leave the church, and Roberta looks at the relic. She gives it to Louis. He says it’s more beautiful than he thought. Murphy asks to look at it. He turns his back to them, and touches the bone. He thanks Louis. Louis thanks Roberta, and she says she didn’t do anything; she was just there. He wants to give her something for helping him and not killing him. He asks if there’s anything they need to keep going, and Lily suggests bullets, aspirin, and toilet paper. He has batteries, and gives them to her. She calls him my man.

As Doc leaves, Louis gives him the necklace like the one he had, and tells him have faith. Doc says he will, and they part company.

Lily gets the radio going. They hear Kaya in the Skya, and that it’s an emergency. Lily tries to answer, but Kaya can’t hear her. Murphy hears her say Zona, and says that’s bad. They decide to look for a transmitter, but Roberta is missing. She’s walking back toward the US. Murphy says sometimes you just gotta believe. They follow her in the van, and pick her up.

As they drive by Louis, he waves. A zombie falls out a window on top of him, and he goes splat. I laugh.

I know that sounded mean, but it was funny in a Zombieland kind of way.

Next time, a news station is awash with zombies. No comment.

Quotes of the Week

A friend is someone who knows all about you and still loves you.Elbert Hubbard

Security is mostly a superstition. It does not exist in nature, nor do the children of men as a whole experience it. Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. Life is either a daring adventure or nothing.” – Helen Keller   When I moved to NYC after high school, I didn’t bring a lot with me, but I had a mini-poster that said: Life is either a daring adventure or nothing.

Any fool can be happy. It takes a man with real heart to make beauty out of the stuff that makes us weep.  – Clive Barker

The pessimist complains about the wind; the optimist expects it to change; the realist adjusts the sails.William Arthur Ward

Dorinda best drunk in Housewives history. – Michael Rapaport

😣 So My Week Be Like…

BadWeek

 

 

 

November 15, 2017 – Valentin is Paying, Siggy’s Retreat, Brody is a Dog & the Queen’s Hair Rules

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What I Watched Today

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

 

 

General Hospital

Maxie tells Nathan it’s not often they get a day off together, but he’s going to GH. Maxie wonders if Man Landers ever gets a day off, but he says Amy needs a friend. He leaves, and Lulu comes in with great news – she’s back. Maxie is excited that Lulu has brought her favorite pesto salad.

Nelle goes to see Laura about a job. She thought she was meeting with someone from HR, not the board. Laura says childcare is close to her heart, and she likes to have a personal hand in the daycare operation. She asks why Nelle left her last position.

Cassandra meets Nina at the MetroCourt. Nina has already ordered wine, and it’s her favorite. Cassandra says it must be fate. They don’t even know each other and already it’s like they’re old friends.  Nina tells her to cut the act. She knows Cassandra lied.

Alexis asks Valentin what his connection is to his friend Olivia-J. He says she’s no friend of his, and Alexis says he probably doesn’t have any friends, only co-conspirators. He says maybe that’s fair. She tells him that Julian was scapegoated, but he asks if Julian wasn’t an accomplice to several crimes. One could say he’s getting what he deserved. Alexis wonders where Valentin would be if they all got what they deserved. He tells her he’s not as sinister as she thinks, but she thinks sinister doesn’t even begin to describe what he is. She says their father in hell must be beaming with pride over him. He insists he has no relationship with Olivia, and Alexis asks who paid her legal fees. Or is he going to pretend he doesn’t know Nora either?

At the prison, Scotty tells Julian he was working on a case, but ran right over when Julian called. Julian says Scotty went against his wishes by telling Alexis what happened. If they didn’t have glass between them, he would reach over and wring Scotty’s neck.

Lulu has a confession, and Maxie asks if the pesto is from jar. Lulu says don’t insult her. She tells Maxie that she followed her heart about being an investigative reporter, and already submitted an article to Port Charles Parents. She didn’t want to jinx it by saying anything earlier. She says she was upset by the quality of the food at Charlotte and Rocco’s school, and did some probing. She thinks she has a knack for turning a little story into something big, and wants Maxie to take a look at it. Maxie frowns as she reads, and suddenly runs from the table.

Nelle tells Laura that she loves taking care of kids, helping them, and watching them learn. She was trained in childcare and education, and thinks she’s at her best when taking care of children. Laura agrees she was wonderful with Charlotte, but she can’t help wondering why she would have taken a job with Nina. Nelle says Valentin had some legal troubles, and no longer needed a nanny. Nina offered her a position while she was looking for work, and no one had showed that kind of faith in her before. Laura mentions Carly, and Nelle says that she was angry with Carly for reasons that turned out not to be true, and deeply regrets what happened. She took the job with Nina because she wanted the opportunity to prove she was up to the challenge, both for Nina and herself. Laura wonders why she would leave the glamour to go back to nap time, runny noses, and skinned knees?

Cassandra asks what Nina is talking about. Nina says she knows her name isn’t Cassy White, it’s Cassandra Pierce. She also knows Cassandra had a relationship with her husband at one time, adding that she and Valentin don’t keep secrets. Cassandra asks what else he told her, and Nina says they were involved, but not seriously; at least not serious to Valentin. Cassandra says she can explain, but Nina interrupts, saying she knows what Cassandra was doing, and to be honest, she doesn’t like her.

Valentin tells Alexis that Nora was his counsel in family court, and the reason he got custody. Alexis says until he was arrested for espionage. Valentin tells her that he and Lulu came to an agreement because they acted like grown-ups; she should look into that. Alexis asks if it’s an amazing coincidence that the same day he was awarded custody, Nora represented Olivia-J in her competency hearing. He says she’s an out-of-state attorney, and it makes sense. Alexis calls it collusion.

Scotty tells Julian that he’s not apologizing for sending a flare up to Alexis. Julian wants him to keep her out of this, and Scotty says his job isn’t to keep her out, but get Julian out. Julian says some guys have a grudge against him, others don’t care, and some just want to see blood fly. Scotty says it’s prison; what did he think? It isn’t prayer circles and yoga classes; these are hard core criminals. Julian needs to keep his head down until Scotty can get him out.

Alexis says it’s obvious he and Olivia-J share a common enemy – Anna. Valentin says they’ve reached a détente, and they’re good. He loves her carpet-bombing him, but doesn’t have the time. She says it is just a theory, but she might be compelled to share it with someone who has influence and resources, and blames Olivia for the death of their child. Valentin says she must mean Sonny. Alexis says if he knew, he might feel the need to dig until he digs Valentin’s grave. Valentin says that’s colorful, but what is it she wants? She needs to talk to Olivia, but can’t get access to her because of Nora. She wonders what the odds are of them sharing an out-of-state attorney, and she bets Sonny knows. Valentin says she wants Olivia to exonerate Julian, and if Valentin doesn’t help, she’ll tell Sonny. He says she has no proof, but a grieving father will listen on her say-so. She must really want him free. She tells him to talk to Nora or she’ll talk to Sonny.

Julian tells Scotty that the last thing he wants is Alexis being involved. Being involved with him almost cost her career and her life. He can’t afford any more damage. He says to keep her out of it. Scotty says he might have married her, but she doesn’t take orders from him. Why would she listen? He tells Julian the trouble is, he doesn’t have enough ammo for the appeal. He’s looked at it from every angle, and has nothing. If Julian has a silver bullet, he needs to use it now.

Nelle tells Laura that Nina has been good to her, and she doesn’t want to tell her that she’s looking for a job. Why, Nelle, why? This girl is never going to learn her lesson. Nelle says she was happier when she was watching Charlotte, and is convinced GH’s daycare is the right place for her.

Amy sees Nathan, and says Chet hasn’t been discharged yet, but he’s in occupational therapy if Nathan wants to talk to him. Nathan says that he came to bring some reading material. Amy tells him that if it’s not Sports Illustrated, he probably won’t be interested. Nathan says it’s for her. He’s brought the Man Landers book. He tells her that the presales are good, and Quinn thinks it will be a blockbuster. Amy says the only reason she did it was for Chet, and now he’s mad at her for even trying to help. Nathan suggest she read her own book. He has something marked on page six. Amy starts to read.

Lulu asks if Maxie thinks it was the salad, but she says she only had two bites. Lulu is afraid it was her article, but Maxie says she reads bad writing all the time without throwing up – not that the article is bad. Lulu says maybe it was the details about sour milk and moldy cheese. Maxie says she’s not helping, but it’s not her fault, and she runs to bathroom again. Lulu says omg, Maxie’s pregnant.

Maxie comes back, saying she’s not pregnant, just stressed out about her own article and photo shoot, and her husband having a dangerous job. On his day off, he went to see his needy nurse friend who has a family disaster. She realizes she sounds selfish, and Lulu says, a little bit. Maxie says add the article about spoiled lunch, and no wonder she’s sick. Lulu says she’s ignoring the obvious. She and Nathan have no doubt been making up for lost time. Maxie says she can’t be pregnant; they haven’t talked about it yet. Lulu tells her that’s not a required step. Maxie tells her that Nathan loves kids, and they’ve talked about someday, but not right now; the timing is wrong. Lulu says a funny thing about nature is, it doesn’t care. Maxie suggests a career in fortune cookies. Lulu tells her with all the money Nathan has made with the book, he could be an amazing stay-at-home dad. Maxie says that will never happen. He loves his job and she loves her life the way it is. The last thing they need is a complication.

Amy reads, is it possible to love someone too much? The writer’s husband is an addict, and she wants to know how to keep from losing him. Nathan tells her to read what Man Landers said. The surest way to lose him is to lose herself. Addiction isn’t just an individual’s problem, but involves the entire family. She needs to join a group to help her find strength and courage, and to realize that you can’t force someone to save themselves. They have to come to that on their own. It’s painful, but she’s not alone. Nathan says now comes the hard part, to take her own advice.

Laura tells Nelle she definitely has the right experience, and asks if she has any question. Nelle says the online job description was clear, and Laura says most people ask about the package. She’ll get medical and dental, and a 401K, but HR will go over it with her. She says the salary is every two weeks. Nelle seems disappointed that it’s not weekly, but says she’ll make it work; the kids are what matters. Laura says everything looks great on paper, and the rest should be a formality. Nelle asks to look at the daycare center.

Then, my good friend, George Stephanopoulos interrupts. Because nothing can ever wait until four o’clock. Heaving huge sigh. Once again, thank God for YouTube.

Nina says that when Cassandra tripped over Charlotte’s skates, she couldn’t have known who she and Charlotte were. Then when she found out, what was she going to say? She didn’t want to put Valentin on the spot. She tells Cassandra that she knows about their past, and also present, connection.

Maxie tells Lulu just because she threw up twice, doesn’t mean she’s pregnant, and says, take it back. Lulu says the sooner she knows, the better for prenatal. Maxie says she doesn’t need a lecture on babies from her. She apologizes, and Lulu says they have a complicated history with babies, but it’s in the past She thinks Georgie would love a little brother or sister. Maxie talks about the time she missed with Georgie, and Lulu says she missed years with Charlotte. Maxie starts thinking about the joys of motherhood, and says they have to stop this; she’s not pregnant. They make plans for a future lunch.

Julian tells Scotty that it’s his job to find reasons for the appeal. He’s not paying a retainer to himself. They have to prove something wrong with initial trial and judges don’t want to anger other judges. St. Jerome was patron saint of librarians and students, not knocked around convicts. Julian says he didn’t claim to be a saint, but Scotty says he’s acting like one, and they’ll need a miracle to get him out. Julian says he’ll stop acting like a saint when Scotty starts acting like a lawyer. He needs something to make the appeals court stand up and take notice right now he has nothing. Julian could spend the next fifteen years there if he doesn’t come up with something.

Nina tells Cassandra that Valentin told her that she’s getting treatment from Finn. Cassandra says she did. Nina hopes it’s nothing serious, but she wouldn’t have come all this way for a hangnail. Cassandra says it’s nothing contagious, and Finn is zeroing in definitive diagnosis. Nina says there’s no one better, and Cassandra says she’d be tempted to flirt with him if he wasn’t involved with Anna. Nina plays along, and says Anna went after Valentin. Cassandra can’t blame her. He has charm, wit and is infused with danger; does anything make a man more desirable? No. Oh, sorry, I thought I was part of the scene. Nina says that he can be dangerous, but so can she. She tells her to ask Ava what she’s capable of if someone goes after her man. She realizes what that sounded like. Cassandra says it sounded like a warning. Nina says that’s crazy. She would never do that; their relationship is in the past. Cassandra makes a hand gesture as if she’s waving it away.

Valentin visits Nora. She says a visit from two people from Port Charles in as many days. Sensing early frost. He tells her Alexis told him about speaking to her about Olivia-J. Nora says she’s heard Alexis is a formidable attorney, but made a rookie error thinking Olivia could make a statement exonerating Julian. Valentin says that’s exactly what he wants her to do.

On the phone, Laura thinks Nelle is an ideal candidate for the job. Lulu overhears and says to call them back. Laura hangs up, and Lulu says there’s a lot she doesn’t know about Nelle.

Amy says it won’t be easy, but she’ll try to take her own advice. Who knew she was prematurely wise? She’s lucky to have him as a friend, especially after she turned his life upside down getting him involve. He adds in something he didn’t think he wanted to get involved with. It turned out to be rewarding and long after Man Landers is gone, he’ll be her friend. He signs her copy of the book.

Laura asks to speak to Nelle. Nelle asks if she has more questions, and then sees Lulu is there. Laura says just one. Why did she lie about being fired from Crimson? Nelle thanks her for her time, and walks away. She sees Nathan signing Amy’s book.

Cassandra thanks Nina for being so enlightened and forgiving about her foolish subterfuge. Nina understands, and Cassandra says she was completely caught off-guard, finding out Valentin was her husband. Nina says everything is out in the open now, right? She thinks Cassandra is great, and thinks they have a lot in common. She doesn’t have many girlfriends in Port Charles, and would love for them to be friends. Cassandra says cool, but she has to go. They make plans for lunch. A lot of that going around. When Cassandra is gone, Nina says, keep your friends close

Scotty sees Alexis at the bar. He orders a drink and tells the bartender to put her fizzy water on his check. It’s his way of thanking her for seeing Julian and putting some sense into him. He says he’s not looking for trouble, but it’s finding him. Alexis wonders if it’s a slow-motion suicide, and Scotty says because of her, he’s seeing signs of life. He’s a better guy on the inside than he ever was on the outside.

Valentin tells Nora an innocent man is spending time in prison for crime he was forced to commit. Nora says Julian is far from innocent, and she’s not his attorney; she represents his sister. Valentin says, maybe, and maybe he can’t, in good conscience, pay Olivia-J’s legal bill, but if she makes a public statement exonerating Julian, he might change his mind. Nora says that’s blackmail, but Valentin says, no, it’s a choice. Olivia can exonerate Julian, or try her luck with a public defender. He tells Nora to present her with the options and get back to him.

Amy thanks Nathan. Nelle flashes back to hearing Maxie talk to Nathan about Amy writing the column, and Nathan says they would both be in trouble if that came out. At the time, we didn’t see Nelle listening. Nelle makes a call to a celebrity tip line, and asks how much they pay for a story. She says they should definitely meet. She has inside information on Ask Man Landers.

Laura thanks Lulu. Lulu tells her that Maxie didn’t know the details, but got a strong impression that Nelle did something underhanded to Nina, not professionally, but personally. She says it’s not hard to believe. She’s just one of those people looking for a weakness to exploit. Laura says they can’t have someone like that looking after the children. Lulu says speaking of children, she doesn’t want to jinx it, but a close friend might be pregnant.

Maxie comes home with a pregnancy test.

A guard has a message for Julian – watch his back tonight.

Scotty tells Alexis unless he finds grounds for an appeal – and he doesn’t know where – Julian could be spending the next fifteen years in prison. The way things are going, it doesn’t look like he’ll survive the next fifteen days. Alexis says they might be closer to the answer than he thinks.

Nora tells Valentin it never occurred to her to ask, but what connection does he have to Olivia-J? He says it doesn’t matter. The only question is if he’s going to continue to pay legal fees. He tells her to encourage her client to tell the truth. Nora says once this matter is settled, their business is concluded. Valentin says he doesn’t know about that, and leaves. Nora makes call, saying she needs to talk to Olivia.

Tomorrow, Maxie wonders baby or no baby, Ava begs Griff to finish what Klein started, and Nelle says she has the goods on Ask Man Landers.

The Real Housewives of New Jersey

Margaret and Joe #3 go wallpaper shopping. She wants something grand; he wants traditional and normal. He asks why they need fabulousity; he wants normalousity. She says it’s a statement room. She tells him about meeting with Dolores. She’s hoping she’ll go back and calm Siggy down. In her interview, she’d thought she and Siggy had mutual respect for each other and never thought she’d be so overreactive. They talk about her stepchildren, and he says they’re holding a grudge. In her interview, she gets weepy about missing a piece of their lives she can’t get back.

Dolores says the one time Teresa could have had her back, she didn’t, but it’s a friendship worth fighting for. They meet for lunch. Teresa wants to see where her head is at. Dolores tells her to lay it out. Teresa says Dolores’s vibe is that she’s not sticking up for her. In Florida, Siggy was saying crazy sh*t, and Danielle said Dolores told her that Teresa thinks money is more important than anything else. Dolores says, don’t trust her; something isn’t right. She suggests Danielle does drugs or is on medication for being crazy. Teresa says she does yoga and is into healing. Dolores says Teresa doesn’t have her back either. She joined in with the girls making fun of her relationship with Frank. Teresa says Dolores is in another relationship. Why would she let Frank move in? Dolores tells her twenty years ago, she didn’t want to put up with what Teresa did. Teresa asks if she’s trying to say Joe #1 cheated on her. I’d say that’s a yes.

Dolores gets quiet. In her interview, she says she’s never approached Teresa about her marriage, rumors, or lack of disrespect, and although Teresa attacked her relationship, she has to be diplomatic. Dolores tells Teresa that she never saw him cheating (interesting choice of words), and Teresa asks what she’s trying to say. Dolores says he was a lot of work, and she’d never stand by someone who got her in trouble. Teresa deserves all the respect in the world. Teresa says hopefully he’ll get his sh*t together when he gets home. She tells Dolores that if it was a choice between believing her or Danielle, she’d believe Dolores. They’ve known each other a long time. Dolores is glad they talked. What a sidestep.

Siggy makes some ice cream sundae thing, topped with what has to be an entire can of whipped cream. Dolores comes over. Siggy says she can’t fit into her jeans, and Dolores asks why she’s eating that. Siggy tells her that she’s stressing out. Michael wanted her to slow down, but she wants to take the next step in her career and do overnight retreats. She has to figure out how to juggle everything. Dolores says she can do it, but be realistic about it. Siggy has booked a retreat at Crystal Springs, and wants to test small group activities with her friends. She doesn’t want to include Margaret, but Dolores says she should.

Siggy calls Margaret, and tells her about the retreat, extending an invitation to her. Margaret appreciates it. After she hangs up, she tells Dolores they’ll see. She asks if she should invite Danielle, and Dolores says go ahead. It wouldn’t be fair not to ask her to give Danielle another chance, when she encouraged her to give Margaret one. She’s not going to hug her though.

Margaret and Melissa meet for lunch. Melissa feels like her kids have an agenda now, and are more work than when they were babies. Well, of course. I don’t even have kids and I know that. Her biggest problem is trying to separate Envy from the other boutiques. Margaret wants everyone to do well, and offers to help. She says the food was amazing at the tasting, but the behavior was another story. A grown woman stuck her tongue out at her, and tried to humiliate Melissa at her party. Melissa says she was invited to Siggy’s women’s empowerment event. Margaret says she got an invite, and wonders how she can go when she feels belittled by her. She’s crossing her fingers that Siggy doesn’t display her anger. Melissa says her biggest issue is that she cries or gets dramatic to deflect when she doesn’t like something. Margaret says Siggy is afraid she’ll steal her friends. She’s a friend thief. Melissa suggests she say a couple of Hail Marys and an Our Father.

Michael hopes the event is successful, but hopes she doesn’t do too many. In her interview, Siggy says he sees it as time away from him; she sees it as building her empire. She tells him about inviting Margaret.

Margaret says Siggy has a lot of issues. Her assistant suggests she walk behind Siggy when she’s hiking.

Frank says he’s an alpha male, and Dolores thinks he’s her bitch. She says it’s hard to take him seriously when he’s holding a mop.

Melissa says Siggy embarrassed her, but encourages women to life each other up. She’s going to have to say something. Joe #2 tells her not to come home if she doesn’t. He wants a tough wife. Melissa goes to Teresa’s house, where they’re being picked up. Teresa’s dog has a pink tail and ears, and I wonder if she’s been hanging out with LVP. Teresa says the crazy thing is, Siggy invited Danielle. The van arrives, and they get in. Dolores is already there, and Margaret joins them. Teresa warns Dolores that Danielle is coming. Dolores says she doesn’t care. She lost her sh*t twice, and Danielle isn’t getting her a third time.

Siggy is excited, and goes over the program with her assistants. She says it’s about helping and empowering people.

Dolores tells them to go with open mind. Margaret asks if they saw Siggy’s Instagram post. We see a picture of her with a bow and arrow, looking like Katniss Everdeen. In the text, she says the last thing anyone wants is her hating on their ass. Margaret hopes it wasn’t directed at her. She says she’ll ask at dinner.

The van arrives at the venue. Guests are already trickling in. Siggy greets everyone with hug. She thanks them for coming, and she and her assistant, Vikki, explain the retreat goal. It’s an opportunity to be open and vulnerable, with no one judging. They should get emotionally naked. They’re to be inspired to live their authentic self, and trust their instincts. What people say doesn’t change who you are. The key is to surround yourself with positive people; negative influencers can make you feel worse. Geez, I could have come up with this. Siggy starts talking about someone she couldn’t get through to, and how if someone is hurting you, you have the right to say eff-you. Melissa thinks Siggy is about to publicly shame Margaret. Yes, she is. She asks Margaret if she’s right.

She says she and Margaret got off on the wrong foot. She felt that she got emotionally naked and it wasn’t working, but it takes two to tango. She withheld a lot. She’d been bullied about her name while she was growing up, and when Margaret called her “Soggy,” it her back. She hated her childhood. She might be a relationship expert, but she has issues too. Character flaws make us unique. I hope it’s more than that. In her interview, Margaret says had she known, she wouldn’t have done that. Siggy thanks Margaret. She tells her that they’ve had no chance to know one another, and maybe she doesn’t want to, but she’s rooming with her and Dolores.

Siggy invites everyone to the “Zone room,” and I think of the Zen room in Rocky Horror. There are different experts they can consult with, like stylists, makeup artists, a plastic surgeon, and a photographer. She says the takeaway is that when they leave, she wants them to understand it’s about them, not her. She also has some swag available, and one of her T-shirts says “Soggy Flicker” on it. Margaret thinks she’s handling it well, and Siggy tells her that she’s getting a percentage. Siggy thanks them again.

Teresa tells Danielle about meeting with Dolores. She wasn’t sure if Danielle was trying to come between them. Danielle says, absolutely not. Teresa lets her know that she’d said if she had to pick, she’d believe Dolores. Danielle says they’ve known each other longer, not necessarily because she’s more believable. Teresa tells her that Dolores thinks she’s on drugs. Danielle laughs, and says that’s never been said before. In her interview, Danielle says Dolores has called her a scumbag and garbage, and is now starting baseless rumors. She has no imagination, but she has an imaginary boyfriend.

They fawn over their rooms. Margaret tells Siggy she appreciates it, and they got off to a wrong start. Siggy says it was a crazy time, and she has difficulty letting go. She has things to work on.

Teresa thinks it’s funny that Siggy is all about knowing your worth, but all the people there are for superficial improvements.

Margaret calls Joe #3, and tells him she was concerned when Siggy called her out, but it went well. They’re rooming together in a suite. She thinks they’re on a good path. At the end of the call, Joe doesn’t understand how to shut FaceTime off.

The ladies meet for dinner. Margaret and Dolores don’t drink, since they’d rather spend the calories on food. Vikki makes a toast, and Siggy asks what they thought. Melissa says she never heard Siggy speak, and was impressed. She was sincere, and had good chemistry with Vikki. In her interview, Melissa hopes they go deeper, and the next day is more about the inside. Danielle says since they’re being open, Dolores is saying she’s medicated, and Dolores asks if she is. She’s so nasty. Danielle says no, and Dolores says she thought she was “off,” since she was making stuff up about what she said. In her interview, Melissa says Dolores said the conversation never happened, but it’s not okay to accuse someone of being a drug addict. Dolores doesn’t trust her motives. We flash back to 2009, and the infamous book. Danielle wants to know what she’d have to gain. In her interview, Dolores calls her a pathological liar and crazy. Danielle says she repeated something Dolores had said that she was confused about, and Dolores says she should have talked to her then. Dolores challenges Danielle, asking what she’s going to do, Danielle says she knows who she is. Margaret doesn’t know what happened, or why it’s at this level. Siggy thinks Dolores should take the high road, and it’s getting out of hand. Vikki, who everyone forgot was there, says there are more workshops to get through. They can make a bad situation positive, and they’re not done yet.

Danielle asks Teresa and Melissa if they think Siggy making up with Margaret was genuine. She thinks it was a little fast. Teresa thinks of course Siggy is going to be all kumbaya, since the retreat is supposed to be about uplifting each other. She thinks Siggy wanted to make a display of fixing her own relationship so she can show how good she is.

Siggy asks Dolores about the Danielle thing, saying Danielle takes it personally and she’s hurt. Dolores says the only redeeming thing about the situation is that she and Teresa are good. Siggy says you can’t buy history.

Melissa says they’re supposed to have a special surprise. She’s hoping it’s mimosas on an island somewhere.

They go to an outside space. Vikki tells them they’re going to have their first activity, and it sounds more like camp than a retreat. She tells them that some things still need resolution. Each person is going to tell another one thing that’s wrong with them using role playing. Sounds like a great exercise for this group. She asks who wants to go first, and there’s dead silence. Siggy volunteers. She says she and Margaret have come a long way, but they haven’t had a chance to say what they’ve wanted. Um… what about that lunch? Vikki tells them to come out and tell the group why they feel hurt. Siggy says when Margaret called her “Soggy,” she struck a nerve and I hurt. Margaret says she thought Siggy was being hypersensitive, and was taken aback. Vikki says there’s no right or wrong, and they’re to role play being the other person. Margaret starts to wail about the cake, Josh, and the cake again. Teresa thinks it’s hysterical, but doesn’t think Siggy likes it too much, judging from he expression. Nope. She doesn’t. In her interview, Dolores wonders if Margaret is off her rocker. Margaret continues to go on about the cake, and Danielle says this is not going to be good.

This season, a trip to Milan, Margaret’s birthday, a visit to Joe #1 in the pokey, Teresa and Dolores fight, Danielle and Siggy fight, and there will probably be other fights they didn’t have time to show clips of.

🌟 On Star, Carlotta went to bat for Simone, but the judge wasn’t having it, and Simone had to go back to the facility. Star told her to focus on the music, and it’s what will get her out. I love the way the music is incorporated into the show when it’s a regular scene (i.e. not a performance). Ayanna suggested emancipation to Simone, and Carlotta said unless it’s business, stay away from the girls. Brody got a load of cash to steal photos from Star’s phone, and gave $10K to the benefit. He hoped to impress Star, but she called him a dog anyway. Alex and Star worked different angles to get Joyce Sheree on their next track. Alex got friendlier with Gigi, and when Noah took a selfie with Alex that went viral, Gigi told her to use it for publicity. Ayanna hit the sheets with Jahil (Carlotta said she’d been there, done that), and was working overtime to restore Midtown’s image, tarnished from the shooting and Noah’s tweets. She ended up giving a press conference, where she sounded like the Queen of England after Diana’s death. Cotton’s old boyfriend also came back to haunt her. Queen Latifah wore some luscious curls this week, and Star rocked some blue lipstick, which I’m usually skeptical about. The next episode will be in two weeks, when the girls perform in the showcase.

🎼 Patti LaBelle and Brandi Norwood will also be coming on board this season, as Carlotta’s mother and younger sister.

🎆 Not the Only One Obsessed…

http://www.tvguide.com/news/queen-latifah-wig-star/

StarQL

November 14, 2017 – Might As Well Call Him Andrew, Travis Stalks Kelly Some More & Maryann Visits the Captain

Standard

What I Watched Today

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

 

 

General Hospital

Valentin wants to explain to Nina why he’s involved with Cassandra.

Monica tells Anna and Jordan that Andre abandoned his job without so much as a resignation letter. Jordan tells Anna there’s an APB out for him in connection with the Jason Morgan case.

Diane tells Carly that she can’t do anything until Jason tells her to. Carly is disappointed. She leaves, and Diane thinks she doesn’t have the pull she used to with him. Alexis sits down and asks her how Nora came to defend Olivia-J. Diane asks why and Alexis says it’s complicated. Diane is like, seriously?

Real Jason watches Sam from the balcony. He almost walks in, but Other Jason comes home. He talks sweet talk to Sam, and Real Jason comes busting in, telling him get away, and shoots him. Sam asks what had he done, and says she loves Other Jason. Real Jason wakes up yelling her name, and wonders what he’s supposed to do.

Sam asks where Other Jason was last night.

Nina says infidelity is a deal breaker. Valentin says he isn’t being unfaithful, but Nina says his lips were on his hers. He says hers were on his; there’s a difference. When she told him she was in town, he knew he had to meet her, and tell her his life has changed. They’d barely exchanged pleasantries when she kissed him, and Nelle must have been there with her camera. Nina says he could have pushed her off, but he says she’s a complicated part of his past. She’s accepted he’s not available, but she’s not going anywhere. He has to work with her.

Diane asks for one reason Alexis would want that information. She thinks Scotty tried to manipulate Alexis, begging her to visit Julian, where he’d tug at her heartstrings, and she’d get involved in the appeal, looking for details that chowderhead (meaning Scotty) missed. Alexis says she did visit Julian. He’d been attacked, and was bruised with broken bones. He’s going to get himself killed if someone doesn’t do something. Diane says that man nearly destroyed her.

Anna asks if Jordan thinks Andre knew something, and Jordan says according to Franco. He was going to therapy, and Andre provided a death certificate for Andrew. Anna says it was obviously forged, and wonders what Andre is covering up. Jordan tells her that’s why she has an APB out. Anna feels sorry for the Jasons. She knows what it’s like to be confronted with a twin. She wonders if Andre knows who is who.

Other Jason – okay, lets’ start calling him Andrew, because I will totally flip out if he’s not – tells Sam he had a lot to think about. Sam asks if he came to any conclusions. He says he may have twin, but he’s not taking his life. He asks if Sam is with him, and she says of course. He tells her it’s going to be a fight. Sonny and Carly are backing his brother. Sam asks what if he doesn’t pursue it, and Andrew thinks he wouldn’t be there otherwise. It doesn’t matter if he’s crazy or lying. He’s coming after everything Andrew loves, and rest assured he’s not letting him do it. He says, that face. People look at him and think he’s Jason. He can’t prove it because he’s Jason Morgan, her husband.

Carly knocks at Jason’s door. When he answers, she hugs him.

Nina asks if Valentin is going to rob jewelry stores, and split the profits with Cassandra between kisses. He says no kissing and no robbing, and explains that Cassandra is dealing in synthetic opioids. Nina says he’d never be a drug trafficker, no matter how much money is involved. He says it’s not the money; it’s the only way to stop her – take her down from the inside.

Alexis says Julian didn’t ask to see her, and was upset that Scotty told her about him being roughed up. Julian wouldn’t even talk about the attack. Diane says he wants Alexis to forget and move on, and Alexis says, more or less. Diane thinks he’s either pushing her away, so she does the opposite, or he’s sincere. If Julian is a good man, she should honor his sacrifice, and if he’s bad, she should refuse to fall into the trap. Take him at his word, forget, and move on. Alexis says if dies, and she could have done something, she’ll never forgive herself.

Sam says Jason has no documents to prove who he is. How can he lay claim to Aurora? Andrew doesn’t think he’s after the company, but Sonny will advise him to. He wants the guy to be him, the way he used to be. He couldn’t give Sonny more, but Sonny thinks this guy will. Before they end up in court, he needs to get the company up and going, so it will be harder to challenge. Sam says even if his brother doesn’t exist from a legal standpoint, they share DNA, and share the same family.

Carly tells Jason it will be a while before stops hugging him. He tells her it’s okay; he likes that she’s glad to see him. He’s glad to see her. She says without him helping her navigate life, and catching her when she falls, she missed him all the time. He tells her that he’s sorry he wasn’t there. Carly tells him now she has to clean up the messes she made. She handed his life to someone else. Jason says he has a twin brother; now everything makes sense. She says no matter how much she wanted it to be true, not once did she look in his eyes and see Jason’s eyes looking back. If she’d had the courage to face it, he wouldn’t be in this situation, watching Sam go home with Andrew. Jason says Sam loves him, and he can’t move against him without hurting her. He won’t do that.

Nina says, so Valentin is just pretending he’s working with Cassandra while he’s servicing his own agenda. Valentin says he’s no expert on ethics and morals, but Cassandra has money; this is only greed on her part. Nina says she deserves what she gets, but there’s a flaw in his plan. He’s going undercover with no credentials. Valentin tells her that he’s serving in an unofficial capacity to the agent in charge – Anna.

Carly tells Jason that Diane is waiting at the MetroCourt. She’s waiting on fingerprint records, but there’s some question about the federal one. The good news is, he’s been arrested more than fifty times. Ha-ha! Jason doesn’t care; he’s just happy to be home. He tells Carly to just think of another name for him, but not Andrew. She says he should be fighting for his own name, and fighting for Sam. Jason tells her that he had a nightmare. He dreamt that he saw Sam and Andrew together, and shot him. He was dying, and Sam was next to him, saying she loved him. Carly says it sounds awful, but it was just a dream. He doesn’t want Sam caught in middle. Carly says she is, and the only way out is to make a real choice. His brother has to accept who he is, and Sam has to decide if she wants to be with him or him, the real and only Jason Morgan.

There’s a knock at door, and Carly answers, even though it’s Jason’s room. It’s Monica, who asks if it’s the wrong time. Carly says she was just leaving. She asks Jason to please talk to Diane. Monica doesn’t want to intrude; she just wants to look at him. She’s so happy to see him.

Andrew says he hopes when Sam says sharing a family, she means the Quartermaines. He’s not sharing his wife and kids. He babbles unreasonably, and Sam says it’s Sonny they’re really fighting. Even if Sonny wants his brother to be him, he won’t put the kids in the mix. When Sonny sees something he wants, he goes for it. Andrew thinks they should adopt his tactics, starting with Aurora. He’s interviewing for a CEO today. Sam looks at the resume, and tells Andrew to be tough on him. He promises they’ll keep everything that’s theirs. He leaves, and Sam flashes back to her and Jason when we were all practically children.

Carly knocks on the door. She asks if he’s here, and Sam says no. She says good. She needs to talk to her about Jason.

Andrew meets with the potential CEO, Peter. He asks how Peter became available just when they were looking for someone with his background.

Alexis tells Diane that she went to Llanview, hoping for access to Olivia-J, but Nora stonewalled her, saying it wasn’t in her client’s best interest. Diane says any competent attorney would have done the same. She hates to admit it, but Nora is extremely competent. Alexis wonders who she’s billing it to. He siblings wouldn’t be paying, and it can’t be pro bono, since Nora is in a different state. Who would pay a heavy-hitter like Nora to defend Olivia, and why?

Peter tells Andrew that things were unhappy at the company, and he was offered a golden parachute. He was ready for a change, found out the media company had a new owner, and thought it was the perfect opportunity. Andrew asks what he knows about the company, and Peter says it was brutally mismanaged. The only consistent performer is Crimson, but he thinks with work and a coherent business plan, it can turn around. He says it was a good idea to change the name. He asks if Andrew is actually Jason Morgan. Oddly, Andrew doesn’t knock over any tables.

Monica is surprised to see Jason is there. She thought he’d be at Sonny’s. He says he wanted to be on his own, and she says he’s always been independent. Susan is dead, and Heather is evil, and it’s he fault he and his brother grew up apart. They’re lives would have been different if they’d known. Jason says he doesn’t know about Andrew, but likes his life. The only thing he wishes went differently was his unfairness to the family, especially her. She says he was confused, and they didn’t handle it right. They were all wrong. She tells him that she doesn’t know how to act or what to say. He says she doesn’t have to know. He knows she loves him, and he loves her too. They hug.

Nina thinks Valentin has more of a desire to work closely with Anna than stopping the drug trade. He tells her that he’d turned Anna down when she asked. Nina wonders what changed his mind, and he says her and Charlotte. Cassandra orchestrated their meeting, and it was a warning shot. She can take away what he loves. It was an implied threat, and he has to act. He can’t eliminate her; it would only create more problems than it would solve. He has to bring her down. As far as Cassandra knows, he’s under her thumb. Nina says to be clear, she hates the idea of him working with Anna with the fiery passion of a thousand burning suns, but it’s necessary. Valentin says maybe it’s fair that the past bit him, but he’s sorry she has to be dragged in to the mess. She says apology accepted on one condition – he let her help. She thinks she’s in the perfect position to manipulate Cassandra. Valentin says he can’t forbid her to do anything, but he’d rather kill Cassandra than let her go near Nina. She and Charlotte are his life. He can handle anything if they’re safe. Nina tells him okay; be careful, and no unnecessary contact with Anna. He promises there won’t be, and she leaves for work.

Jason tells Monica not to worry, but she says she does, and worries about Andrew too. He’s been wonderful; open and accepting, and they kind of have a bond. Jason says Andrew is easier than him. Monica says, no, they’re different, but she loves them both very much. She knows it will take time to sort things out, and could be a painful journey. She hopes at the end they can be brothers. He’s not sure that’s possible, but she says he kind of has a gift for making the impossible possible. She leaves, and he heaves a sigh, as the returned Jason is wont to do.

Peter says that Andrew bought the company under the name of Jason Morgan. Andrew says there’s no question about his legal identity, but he did have a twin that surfaced. There are rumblings that he might go after what’s his, but the company belongs to him and his wife, and he has every intention of keeping it. They shake hands.

Diane mentions to Alexis that Charlotte’s custody hearing was the same day as Olivia’s hearings. Alexis thinks it’s no coincidence. If Valentin’s lawyer defended Olivia, it’s because he wanted her to. She leaves, and Andrew approaches. He says he’s sure Diane has heard about his twin. He needs to cut him off at the pass before he comes after the company. Diane says she called him because she’s resigning as his attorney. It’s a conflict of interest. She can’t defend his claim that he’s Jason Morgan, because she doesn’t believe he is.

Sam tells Carly to skip it; she already knows what Carly is going to say. Carly tells her she can’t stand by and watch Sam make a mistake. She owes her an apology. She wanted Andrew to be Jason so bad, she pressured him to be someone else, and pressured Sam to accept it. Andrew is a good man, but not Jason. Deep down, Sam knows it. Carly rationalized and made excuses, but that stopped working when she saw him again. She’d thought Sonny had lost his mind, until she saw him and knew. She’d know him anywhere, and so does Sam. She says when Sam looked in eyes, she knew in her heart and soul. The only reason she’s not saying it is out of loyalty to the man she slept with last night. Sam says she didn’t sleep with anyone last night.

Anna tells Jordan that Andre was working on a way to copy a person’s memory and place it in someone else. Jordan thinks that’s disturbing, but Anna says it’s a useful application, even though the ethics are indefensible. The WSB wouldn’t follow through with it, so Andre left. Jordan asks if Anna thinks he pursued it, and Anna says that would explain things.

We see Andre’s passport.

Alexis visits Valentin. She tells him that she needs information. He asks if they’re on speaking terms, and she asks what his association with Olivia-J is.

Nina calls Cassandra. She tells her that she had a cancellation, and asks if she wants to meet at the MetroCourt.

Andrew tells Diane it didn’t take long. If she turns over any of his records to his twin, he’ll have her disbarred. She says his records are sealed, and she’s sending them over to him. He tells her to warn her client to stay away from his family. She says her client is Jason Morgan, and she looks forward to proving it. He tells her to go to hell. Andrew runs into Jason coming out of the elevator, and tells him that his lawyer is waiting.

Diane tells Jason that she just informed his brother that she intends to prove he’s Jason Morgan, and he’s not happy. Jason says it’s just a name. He doesn’t want anyone hurt over this. She says speaking as a lawyer, from what she remembers, he’s a rare client who actually listens, and takes advice. She wants to work in his best interest, but he says he’s worried about Sam’s best interest. She tells him that his name and assets are under a cloud right now, and when he has the legal rights, he can do what he wants, and can sign them over to Sam. He asks what he needs to do, and she tells him to think back to the first time he was arrested in 1996. She needs to subpoena the files

Sam tells Carly that Andrew never came to bed last night. He was strategizing on how to fight her and Sonny. He’s afraid his best friends will take everything away, including her, and hand it over to someone else. Carly says it’s not up to her. She knows Sam’s the one who has to make choice, and she’s sorry for that. Andrew is going to fight, but Jason won’t; it’s not in his nature, and she knows it. He’s just going to step back and wait; be there when she needs him, and back off when she doesn’t. He thinks that’s what will make her happy, and that’s all that matters to him, but it won’t make her happy in her heart. Andrew is a good man and loves her, but Jason owns her heart and soul, and she owns his. It will be the hardest thing she’s ever done, but the best thing for everyone, especially Andrew. Carly leaves, and Sam remembers old stuff again. She’s drunk, and wants to dance with Jason. They fall on floor, and she kisses him.

Tomorrow, Nathan tells Amy to take her own advice, Lulu has great news, Scotty tells Julian they need a miracle to get him out, and Nina knows Cassandra lied.

If Loving You is Wrong

Lushion tells Natalie that the gun was stolen. She says it doesn’t make any sense. He wants her to find out where the gun came from – now. Natalie thought she was legit, but he tells her not to give the number out again. She calls, but the number is out of service. Lushion asks if she knows how this looks for Kelly; like she stole Ramsey’s gun to kill him. The DA will be all over it. He says they’re going over there right now. They go outside, and see Travis lurking around Kelly’s house.

Lushion ask where he’s coming from and what he’s doing there. He stammers that he was stopping by, and Lushion tells him to come over there. He tells Natalie to get in the house. He asks what Travis was doing and he says knocking on the door. Lushion says the door is right there. Travis says she prefers him to go to the back. Lushion tells him not to move. He knocks on Kelly’s door. He asks if Travis was knocking, but she didn’t even know he was there. Travis tells her not to act like that, and she says she told him to stay away. Lushion asks if he doesn’t have a restraining order against her, and Travis says he does. Lushion asks why he’s hanging around then, and he says he’d heard she had trouble. Lushion tells him he’s under arrest. Travis asks if Lushion has any idea who his parents are. Lushion tells him to quit whining like a little bitch, cuffs him, and puts him in the car.

Lushion goes around back to check it out. Travis sits in the car laughing, because he’s batsh*t crazy. Kelly asks if he thinks it’s funny. He says she’s funny; all this is funny. He tells her that she’s going to jail for life. She messed with the wrong guy, leading him on and ignoring him. Kelly asks if that’s why he killed Ramsey, and called Justice. He pretends not to know what she’s talking about, and tells her she’ll wish she never met him. She already does, and he says she ain’t seen nothin’ yet. She tells him to give it his best shot. He says he did, but she couldn’t take it. Lushion tells her to go inside. He’s taking Travis in, and sending over a detective to look around.

Steven sits in his car outside of Esperanza’s house. She pulls up, and asks why he’s there. He tells her that he’s checking on her, and she says she already has one crazy ass showing up. Steven says he wanted to make sure she was okay, and he’s sorry. He knows how Eddie can get. Esperanza says he’d never touch her, so Steven can go. He asks if he can come in. He can help her clean up. She tells him that he created the mess, and he says it wasn’t his fault. She thinks it’s a ploy to get in the house, but he says no. He tells her she’s amazing, and they can finish what they started. She asks if it’s a marathon. She doesn’t know how they got here, but they don’t know each other. He tells her to ask him a question. She asks when her birthday is, and he knows. She asks what her favorite color is, and he says she doesn’t have one. She’s surprised, and he tells her that he knows by watching her. She says that’s creepy, and he says she wanted it just as bad as he did. She tells him they just work together. He asks again to come in, and she says, purple. He asks if that’s a yes, and when she got a favorite color. She tells him today, when she saw his underwear. He asks if he can please come in, and she closes the door.

Natalie – who never walks, but strides – goes over to Kelly’s house. She asks if Kelly is all right. Kelly wonders what she’s supposed to do. She can’t keep taking this anymore. Natalie says Lushion wants to tell her something about the gun, and Kelly asks her what it is. She says the gun was stolen, but she’d thought it was legit. Kelly says she’ll call, and Natalie tells her the number is disconnected. She says the bad part – Kelly is like, that’s not the bad part? – is that it was stolen from Ramsey. Kelly asks if Travis knew where it was stolen from, and how Natalie does. She says Natalie set her girl up, and Natalie promises to go by the gun seller’s house. Kelly quietly freaks.

Ian and Marcie go to dinner. She doesn’t believe he wanted to celebrate, and he says he likes her. He finds her very attractive. She thanks him, but says she’s not interested. He says it’s just a client/realtor dinner then. He jokingly asks what’s wrong with him? She says she just had enough with her ex relationship. He tells her okay, but he’s buying. She tells him that she doesn’t have much of an appetite. He asks if it’s the company, but she says it’s the ex company. He asks if he’s still bothering her, and says they can sue him. He’s sued people into submission using the law as a tool. She probably won’t win, but he’ll leave her alone. Marcie says he doesn’t know him. Ian’s phone rings. He says he’s at dinner, he doesn’t know the client, and to call Larry. They don’t know where he is, so Ian says call the client’s parents, and he’s on his way. After he hangs up, he tells Marcie it can wait. The client is a spoiled rich kid in trouble, and his parents pay them well. He wants to toast, and she says just water for her. He asks if she doesn’t drink, and she says not lately.

Lushion tells Travis quit playing with him. He plops Travis in a chair. Eddie gets in Lushion’s face. He’s angry because Lushion interfered with him walloping Steven. He says his tattoo is all over that broad. Lushion points out Travis, and asks if Eddie sees this fool. That’s what a stalker looks like, and he’ll be their next one. Eddie threatens Lushion and Steven, and Lushion tells him if he thinks he’s pulling anther Andrew, think again. Eddie says people disappear all the time, and to tell that punk if he touches Esperanza again, it’s his ass. Steven comes in, and Lushion says Eddie has something to tell him. Eddie tells Steven to watch his back, and Steven says he’d rather watch Esperanza’s. BA-DUM-CHH! Eddie says keep coming at her, and he’ll be sorry. He tells Steven that says they can wrap it up real quick mano a mano. Steven says he’ll meet him after the shift. Lushion tells them to go somewhere. Eddie leaves, and Steven asks if everything is okay here. Lushion says it is.

Lushion asks what Travis was doing in Kelly’s backyard. Travis says he already told him, but Lushion says he told him nothing. Travis asks why he should say anything without his lawyer. He asks if it isn’t the detectives who ask the questions? Lushion asks why he’s stalking Kelly, but Travis insists he’s not stalking anybody; she’s lying. He tells Lushion that Officer Dion knows the whole story. He asks if Lushion is on her side, and Lushion says maybe. Travis maintains he didn’t do anything. Lushion asks if he’s sure about that; she’s just lying about all of this? He tells Travis that he’s going to nail his ass to the wall. Travis asks for what, and Lushion says for what he’s been doing. Lushion wants to talk about Ramsey. Travis pretends not to know who that is, and Lushion says Travis murdered him. Travis says he’s a lover not a fighter. He’s a youth pastor, and thou shalt not kill. Lushion asks how he did it; how’d he take Ramsey down? Travis says he doesn’t know what Lushion is talking about. Lushion says Ramsey was a big guy with skills and moves, and Travis asks if he’s talking about the busted ass dude next door to Kelly. Lushion says the memories come flooding back, and asks again how he did it with no skills, not knowing how to fight, and looking bitchy. Travis says he can fight if the situation presents itself. Lushion asks how he took Ramsey down, and tells him that Justice had some interesting stories about how Ramsey died. Travis suggests maybe he did it. Lushion says maybe Travis called him and gave him the details. Travis wishes he could help.

Steve brings in Ian. Lushion says don’t tell him Ian is this kid’s lawyer. Ian calls Travis “Donovan Cain,” Lushion says his name is Travis, and Ian says he didn’t put it together, asking if this is the kid harassing Kelly. He’s not going to be able to rep her. His partner reps Travis’s family and church; he has no choice. They pay a lot to the firm. Lushion says it’s crazy. Ian tells him that he’s sorry, and takes Travis out. Steven says that’s messed up. Lushion says what’s messed up is what he’s doing to Kelly, and he’s not going to stop. He wants Steven to look up Donovan.

Alex and Brad watch TV. Someone bangs on the door. It’s Eddie, who walks right in. Brad says it’s late, get out, and pushes him out the door. Eddie tells him that Esperanza has lost her mind; she’s banging Steven, Brad says, sorry, and Eddie says he doesn’t look it. Brad admits he’s not; she’s single. Eddie says she’s the mother of his kid, and his ass gets whatever he wants. Brad tells him to go home, and he says he doesn’t have one. Brad says he can’t stay there, and he asks Brad to make a call. Brad tells him to go. Eddie offers to do him a favor in return, and Brad says, just go. Eddie repeats that he doesn’t have a home to go to, and Brad says, go somewhere. Eddie says he’ll handle it himself. Brad tells him that he doesn’t understand love, and Eddie says he understands T&A, and when he puts his mark on them, they’re his. He drives off.

Alex doesn’t want to know, and Brad agrees that she doesn’t. She tells him to throw Randal’s equipment away. He picks it up, and asks if the light has been on the whole time; that isn’t good. Alex says it’s disconnected, and Brad says it must have back up battery. He tells her to be quiet. It has a motion sensor, and records video and audio. Brad disables it. Alex is concerned that Randal heard everything they said about the doctor, but Brad thinks if he would have been over there already. Maybe it was out of range. Alex wants him to destroy it. He’s sorry he brought it in. Alex looks like she has a headache.

Randal and Larry go back to Randal’s house. They’re laughing, and saying what a great time it was. Larry wants more to drink, and Randal says he can’t hold his liquor. Larry says Randal likes when he’s out of control. Randal pours some hefty shots of tequila (bleh), and they down them. They laugh some more. Larry asks if Randal remembers when they snuck in the girls’ dorm. He tried to film them, but had a loud ass VHS camera. They have another shot. Randal says Larry got them kicked out of school, and Larry says, but they had a lot of fun. He asks if Randal remembers the girls they did together. Larry says he learned the hard way. Randal says Larry took longer, and teases him. Larry tells him to go to hell, and Randal says he’s been there and back next door. Larry wonders why Randal doesn’t let it go. Randal says no way; she humiliated him. Larry says he humiliated her and Marcie. Randal says they were talking about Alex; he doesn’t care about Marcie because she screwed neighbor in his shed. Larry asks if it’s the same guy whose wife Randal screwed, Randal doesn’t want to do this right now. Larry just wants him to move on; there are lots of women out there for him. Randal doesn’t want lots of women, and Larry says that’s a switch. Randal wants the two women in his life to suffer, and Larry asks for how long? He says until he’s satisfied. Larry says that’s him, and Randal concurs. Larry tells Randal that Marcie really loved him loved him. Randal says she loved him so much, she did the neighbor in his shed, Larry says she was hurt, and Randal asks if that’s why she moved in with him. Larry asks when it ends, and Randal says when she’s on her knees. Larry tells him she’s been through so much, and she’s pregnant. Randal is like, what? Larry realizes he made a mistake, and pretends like he doesn’t know what he said.

Next time, Randal and Larry fight, Alex tells Marcie that her husband doesn’t belong to her, and Travis confronts Kelly. It’s also the finale.

Below Deck

Jen wants to strangle Kate, but she’s a good person, and trying to suppress the feeling. Bri and Nico cuddle. Bri says it’s difficult working with someone who thinks they’re working hard, when they’re not. She thinks Jen is so tired, she’s delirious, and not helping. She tells Jen to go to bed, and finishes cleaning up by herself.

EJ says he’ll miss Baker. He’ll miss 90% of the crew, but there are some he could do without. He and Baker lie on cushions on the deck. He can’t believe he’s leaving tomorrow. She says they can make the most of it. He does a couple of push-ups, and they go to bed separately. I’m confused.

Captain Lee says it’s safe to take guests out for morning cruise. Nico is feeling a little better. He’s put things in perspective, and is going to be team player and do good job. Kate tells him not to be too cool for a sling. Jen stumbles out of her bunk. In the galley, Kate says the longer she’s late, the more she’ll pay for it. Jen doesn’t feel good, and Kate says none of them do. Kate tells her she can handle it. In her interview, Kate says Jen has problems and she gives her solutions, but she finds more problems in the solutions that then become new problems. The Valor moves out, and everyone gets excited. The captain says once around the park, and he’s only doing it for the money. Nico realizes he’s been a d*ck to EJ. He hasn’t been in the right frame of mind since his brother died. He has to respect EJ, and admit the deck team has come a long way.

The breakfast special is Eggs Benedict – my favorite! Matt loves a challenge, and he’s being challenged to every extent. He’s tired of seeing their faces though. They begin to head back to the marina, and the guests complain. In his interview, EJ says the deck team is in a better place than when he came; they’re much more proficient. The guests start packing.

Everyone says goodbye. Eden says it was great, but there was disappointment. It was a big deal to birthday boy Jason and Michaela, but she thinks it was a downer for them too. She doesn’t even know where they are, and thinks they left. What was the crew supposed to do about the weather? Change it?  These people are worse than eBay buyers, who want the moon for nothing.

Eden says the crew was great, but if it was her restaurant, a lot of things would have been sent back. In his interview, Matt says nice of her to wait until the last minute to destroy his food in front of the crew and captain. He bets her restaurant stinks. She says the food could have been taken to another level. Kate has never worked a cruise where the primaries just left the boat. I wonder what this means for the tip.

Captain Lee thought it went well for not having gotten off the dock. He’s surprised with the assessment, and doesn’t see what they could have done differently. There is a tip, and it’s $15K or $1363 each. The captain tells them that EJ is leaving to get back to his other boat, and thanks him for helping out. EJ did everything he asked him to, and well. In his interview, Captain Lee says Nico is going to have to step up. They all bid farewell to EJ. The captain says his wife, Maryann is coming. In his interview, he says it’s very rare for her to join him, and he’s excited, but has enough to worry about. Jen wonders why everybody is getting lovin’ except her.

In her interview, Baker is sorry things didn’t get to take off with her and EJ, but plans on seeing him after the season is over. Nico is glad he’s leaving, and boot him back to Canada. He’s ready to take charge. I wonder what happened to his better attitude of five minutes ago. EJ says his goodbyes, telling everyone to finish hard. He kisses baker’s hand. In his interview, he says he’s leaving them in a much better place. The deck team has graduated, and Nico will make an excellent bosun, if he drops the ego, and stops being a child. He still has a long way to go.

The next charter is a group of eight women, the primary being Shelly, who’s an attorney. The captain says they’re not requesting anything crazy, but want gourmet meals. In his interview, Captain Lee says it’s embarrassing to have a guest shred his chef a second time. We flash back to the first time and the Bananas Foster ice cream debacle. They want a Caribbean Carnival theme night with a surf and turf dinner, entertainment, and games. The captain also tells them that they’re getting a new deckhand. Nico hopes whoever it is, isn’t green.

Here comes Maryann. In his interview, the captain says the season has been trying with a green interior and deckhands, and crappy weather. Seeing Maryann will be a pleasure.

In her interview, Jen says Kate failed her as a boss and mentor. She looked up to her, but Kate was abusive. She has no respect for her. Kate talks about how much she loves the captain and Maryann (♫ Here on Gilligan’s Isle! ♫). She tells us they were high school sweethearts. Maryann is quite cute

Nico is excited to get off the boat and spend time with Bri. It’s been high stress all season. The crew heads out to dinner, with Captain Lee and Maryann joining them. Bri asks how they met, and Maryann says her girlfriends knew him, and he doesn’t remember meeting her. He asks how she can hold him responsible for something he doesn’t remember, and she says they met again a month later, and that was it. We see some old photos of them as a couple, and the crew toasts to them. In his interview, Captain Lee says that they’ve been married forty-two years, and Maryann has the patience of a saint to put up with him and five kids. He was lucky enough to marry his best friend. He tells the crew that relationships take work. He cares more about making his wife happy than making himself happy. If he sees a smile on her face, he’s good. He says he’s very fortunate, and I’m impressed. It’s nice to see the other side of him. Nico and Bri leave. Nico says it’s nice to see a functional relationship in yachting. You don’t see it often, especially with captains.

They talk about losing EJ, and make a toast. Bri and Nico arrive at the hotel, and the rest go back to the boat. In her interview, Kate says Bruno was quiet, Matt didn’t get obnoxious drunk, and Nico is getting lucky. The dinner was a success.

Kate calls someone about their website for acrobats who do yachts. I swear, there’s something for everyone out there. She can’t believe she’s never done a carnival theme party before. In his interview, Captain Lee says he and Maryann don’t communicate all that much when he’s at sea, and it was a treat to see her. He tells us the finish line is in sight. Maryann leaves.

The captain says Nico is back in charge, and he wants to finish strong. The weather should be good. The new deckhand arrives, and Kate says, look who it is, and they go to commercial. I’m wracking my brain for previous deckhands, and can only remember Danny.

It’s Kyle in flamingo shorts. They flash back to when he was on before, and now I remember him somewhat. Captain Lee says he knows the boat and he’s competent. He’s a character, but he can count on Kyle to fulfill their need for next two charters. He’s British, and one of the guys they need subtitles for because his accent is so thick. He was bunkmates with Kate, and she wishes she could give him a warm welcome, but she’s too busy. Nico interduces him around. He tells Kyle they’ve had green deckhands, and a Boy Scout bosun who pissed him off. Kyle has been on cargo ships, and tells us he’s become more of a provider, and it’s made him grow up.

In his interview, the captain says he was embarrassed as hell last charter. The crew had better be on their toes, or give their soul to Jesus, because their asses belong to him. He’s quite the quipster, our Captain Lee. The ladies arrive, and Kate does the tour. The deckhands remark how heavy their suitcases are, and it reminds me of my father asking me if I carried bricks in my purse. Kate says girls’ trips are one of two ways, either super fun or super high maintenance. Shelly tells them to keep the champagne flowing. Nico says the pressure is back on. Drinks happen. Kyle tells Jen he likes her. He could win and argument with her easily. They should get married. I also remember Kyle being a bit of a weirdo.

Nico tells the guests that he’s getting toys out. Shelly asks what kind of toys, and another guest says they like toys. Shelly thinks Nico should take of his shirt. In his interview, Nico says he loves cougars, something I will never be. I liked them older when I was younger. Matt says he has a lot to prove after the last charter. He has a clean slate, and he’s ready to cook. The ladies are served a beautiful salad, and say Matt is amazing.

Kyle says his type of girl doesn’t necessarily need a vagina, and I remember he had a trans girlfriend. Bruno says he doesn’t look at gender, but how he feels. He’s had both girlfriends and boyfriends, and looks at sexuality as fluid. His heart falls in love with a beautiful heart. This is all too poetic for me

The dreaded slide is set up. Nico is taking what he’s learned, and apply it to now. In the galley, Jen says she hasn’t been whoring around as long as Kate, and Kate asks how old her daughter is. Jen says Kate is taking too far, which I think is overly sensitive, since she started it and that was a funny remark in context.

Kate makes stuff with feathers, and they get ready for Caribbean party. Jen tells Kate it was a low blow, and Kate says Jen said she whored around. Jen wants her not to be miserable, and Kate says Jen doesn’t know enough to determine that; she’s highly out of line. Jen says it’s friend to friend, and Kate says Jen isn’t her friend. In her interview, Kate says she was blindsided. She thought they were having fun banter, and Jen brought in her personal life when she knows nothing about her. She’s just being mean.

The table is colorful and glorious. Jen thinks Kate crossed the line, but doesn’t think an apology will happen. The captain hangs around the kitchen, asking if the food is under control. Matt says they’re writing the for tomorrow. Bruno is helping, and Captain Lee says he has every confidence that Matt can come up with the menu on his own. He wonders why Matt is depending on a deckhand for ideas. The guests love the surf and turf. Shelly says it would be a great last meal. When the mostly clean plates come back, Matt says the ladies did a good job. He and Bruno agree they’re tigers

After dinner, Kate leads them upstairs, where an acrobat does amazing things, hanging from a giant ring. Kate tells us it’s nice to have someone else bending over backwards for the guests. The ladies want Nico to twirl on the ring.

Kyle watches Jen, and asks how the dating scene is. She tells him nothing exciting, and he says he’ll take her out. He guarantees two things – it will be an effing blast, and she’ll feel a lot better about herself. Jen isn’t too interested, but thinks it’s a welcome change to have someone talking nice to her. Captain Lee calls Kate to the wheelhouse. He’s concerned with what saw in the galley. He wants to pull Bruno out of there. In her interview, Kate agrees he spends too much time there, but thinks it might make the situation worse. The captain calls Nico next, and says he thinks Bruno is hindering Matt, and wants him doing deckhand things. In his interview, the captain thinks Matt has an unknown fear of putting himself out there. He’s hoping he’ll piss Matt off so much, he’ll want to show that SOB. He says the next charter is important.

Bri suggests she and Nico travel after the season is over. The Valor heads to St. Martin. Kate tells Jen that she’s still grumpy about what Jen said. Jen tells Kate if her boss implies she’s a whore, she’s going to stand up for herself. She thinks they’re just going in circles, and when she’s pushed to the boiling point, it’s best to walk away. Nico tells Bruno they need him on the deck, so no more helping Matt. Bruno has no comment, but thinks it’s unfair.

The captain calls Matt to the bridge, and asks if he’s running out of gas. Matt says he’s good. Captain Lee wants him to pull out all the stops. He thought last night’s dinner was okay, but he wasn’t blown away. Matt should get out of his comfort zone, and Bruno needs to get out of the galley. In his interview, Matt says the guests claimed it was the best meal they ever ate, but he’ll surpass it. In his interview, he says he’s burnt out. The girlfriend thing didn’t work out, and the guests have been critical. He can’t wait for the season to be done.

Next time, Shelley sings to the captain, Jen argues with Bruno, and Bri is called a whore.

🍻 New show RelationShep, starring Shep from Southern Charm, begins Monday, December 4th at 10 pm.

🍚 I hate when a fortune cookie has some saying like home is where the heart is. They’re supposed to tell me who I’m going to meet or where I’m going to travel or something like that. They’re not proverb cookies.

⚓ Views of the Captain and his Lady…

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BelowDeckCaptain&Maryann

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November 12, 2017 – The Kingdom Collapses & 90 Day Triad Treatise

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What I Watched Today

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

 

 

The Walking Dead

Ezekiel washes his face. He fixes his dreads, and gets duded up.

The knights say goodbye to their families. Ezekiel walks out, and the crowd parts. Shiva growls. Everyone moves down the road. Ezekiel tells a boy to fear not and be brave. He says they face dire challenges; their lives, their way of life, hang in the balance. They pray for not one drop of rain under an overcast sky. Yet he smiles. They will fight and bleed. Yet he smiles. They will end them all, as is their charge and sorrow this day. Yet he smiles. They’ll leave their loved ones, rushing out from peace to war. Yet he smiles. They will find glory and honor, and protect this bastion of life. On this day, they are joined in purpose and mission. they are one. The crowd joins him in saying they are one, and gathers around him.

We see a bloody battlefield. Ezekiel crawls out from under a pile of men. He looks through the casualties. He cries out, not smiling anymore. The dead begin to stir. Ezekiel, get the blip out of there! A dead soldier grabs at him. He can’t walk, so he crawls. Oh sh*t! How is he going to get out of this? He can’t get up, and scrambles backward as they come at him.

The zombies stagger toward Ezekiel. He manages to get up, and falls again. He shoots a zombie in the head, but that was the last bullet. The next gun is empty too. He keeps crawling. Suddenly, another live man is there. He shoots a couple of zombies, and helps Ezekiel up.

Carol sneaks around inside the outpost. She hears men talking. Someone needs help. Another guy tells them to move their asses; it’s real now. A couple of guys bring a crate of guns in, but all of them are taken down by some gunfire. Carol drops down from the ceiling, and finishes them off. She takes a gun and runs. Some men follow her, but she ditches them.

Ezekiel asks if the man has seen Shiva, but he says not since they were hit. They see a crowd of zombies, but suddenly the man is shot from behind. Ezekiel is dragged back to the outpost by the shooter. Dude looks like Jeffrey Dahmer, but his name is Gunther (which I find out later from Talking Dead). Gunther makes Ezekiel give him his staff, which is also a sword. He’s taking Ezekiel to the Sanctuary, but Ezekiel says the gates are down. Gunther says Ezekiel is going to help him remedy the situation.

Carol sneaks around outside. She sees some Saviors loading the guns into a truck.

Ezekiel falls, and Gunther shoots the closest zombie. He tells Ezekiel he made it this far; he can walk. Ezekiel tells him, better the dead be his end, than a desperate foot soldier. He asks if Negan knows even knows his name, and Gunther says he’s Negan. Ezekiel says he won’t be used to harm his own people. Gunther tells Ezekiel, let’s go now, and drags him back up. He tells Ezekiel that he played his cards and people good, but they can’t do sh*t for him now. He says some stuff about Shiva, and I swear, if they kill that tiger, I’m out. The zombies trail them, and Gunther tells Ezekiel that he got them killed, and they’re still following him. He calls Ezekiel a meaningless con man in a costume.

Carol pops out, shoots up everything and ducks behind a truck. A bunch of Saviors shoot back, and it doesn’t look good for her. The truck gets riddled with bullets, and she hunches down on the other side.

Gunther says they’re getting something with wheels and getting out. Ezekiel tries to attack him, but Gunther gets the better of him, saying it’s over. He took his shot, and it’s over. I can’t wait for this guy to die. Gunther smears blood on Ezekiel’s face, and says delusions of grandeur.

The gate is padlocked, and Ezekiel says the dead are nearly upon them. Gunther takes Ezekiel’s coat and puts it over the wire on the top of the fence. Ezekiel says he can’t climb. Gunther says he doesn’t have to. Negan was hoping to have his ass chained on the sanctuary fence, but his head on a pike will be fine. Gunther raises the sword, but is split in half from behind by Knight Jerry. Wow, that was cool!

The shooting stops, and the men inch forward, Carol tosses her gun out, and says she can tell them where the others are; just let her live. A savior tells her, nice and slow. She comes out, hands up, saying she’s unarmed.

Jerry brings Ezekiel to his feet, gives him his sword back, and lops off a couple of zombie heads. He calls Ezekiel “Your Majesty,” and Ezekiel says he doesn’t need to call him that. Jerry says, yes, he does.

The Savior asks where Carol’s people are. She asks him to promise not to tell them she told him. She grabs the guy coming by with the ammo, and puts a knife to his throat. The Saviors shoot, but he ends up getting it instead of Carol. In the meantime, zombies start coming in through the gate.

Jerry works on the padlock. More zombies are coming, and he spears one in the eye. He and Ezekiel ready themselves.

Zombies start taking down the Saviors. Ezekiel and Jerry take down some zombies. Jerry thanks Ezekiel for being such a cool dude.

Inside the compound, the Saviors are busy dealing with zombies. Carol says they need to end this. The Savior she was negotiating with says she was lying about her friends. He must not be too bright if he just came to that understanding. Carol tells him to walk away. He says she’s not going anywhere with the guns, but she tells him that she has the ammo, and asks how much they have left? He tells her to come and find out, because he’s five. She notices what’s happening with Ezekiel and Jerry.

She joins them, asking if Ezekiel has fought before. He says he was once a marauder in the woods, and has trained for a long time. He’s ready to become what he must; to will himself into what he must be. He tells her that he was a zookeeper. He was weak, then a 500-lb. tiger needed his help. He didn’t just leap into her enclosure, and wasn’t seized by deep seated instinct. He deliberated for a few seconds, weighing the risk of approaching such a beast or not. He decided he wanted to be the one who leapt. Years later, Benjamin told him what he knew, but couldn’t hear – if you’re asked to be the hero, be the hero. He’s not ready, but made the decision on who he’ll be. He asks if it was easier for her. Was she always this strong and brave, or did she decide? She says she decided, like him. Life decided some things too. He says it does, and it will.

Zombies start to close in, but Carol mows them down. She says there’s nothing she can do about them getting the guns. Jerry finally gets the padlock off, and helps them through the fence. Ezekiel says, word to Rick before the guns get to the Sanctuary. Carol says they won’t be going there. The truck speeds past, with Daryl not far behind it, and Rick behind him.

The driver sees Daryl in his rear-view mirror. Daryl shoots, but the back panel drops down, and there’s a guy with a machine gun. Daryl swerves, and ends up off the road, with the bike falling and sliding. Rick keeps going, serpentine behind the truck. The Savior veers to avoid some zombies, and the shooter in the back is thrown. Rick gets Death Proof close to the truck, and jumps in. He punches the driver in the kidneys, and tosses him out. Nice work.

Daryl sees the truck off the road on its side, and Rick comes crawling out of the weeds. He says they got the guns; let’s see if this a-hole is alive.

Carol, Jerry, and Ezekiel continue on. Ezekiel says they have to leave him; he’s slowing them down. Carol says no way. At least these are slow zombies. They come to a creek, and the place is teaming with them, some of them downright skeletal. I start thinking, wait a minute, wouldn’t the spine deteriorate at some point? How come we don’t see piles of bones everywhere? Carol says they’re almost out of ammo. Ezekiel tells Jerry he’s not his king, and to leave him. He tells them to go, saying he ain’t no king; he’s just some guy.

Shiva to the rescue! Carol and Jerry help Ezekiel up. Shiva attacks the zombies.

Screw this show. The zombies got her. I am so over this. I’m livid.

Ezekiel comes back. He sees the boy he spoke to in the beginning, and touches his face.

😠 I hate this show right now. I’ve had such little investment in the characters, because it’s so one-note. It’s a relentless downer, which is fine for a two-hour film, but not week after week. I understand that it comes from a graphic novel series, but again, it’s a weekly show, and should play differently. There’s just no balance here. It’s not realistic. Before you say the whole zombie apocalypse is unrealistic (could happen), hear me out. It’s not realistic for what it is. If this was a real situation, you’d have more of a variety of people, not just depressing ones. Somebody would be cracking jokes, or at least being sarcastic. They found some balance with Abe, then they killed him off. I was growing weary of the dark atmosphere at that point, but Ezekiel, the Kingdom, and Shiva were bringing me around. (And Negan, who I find amusing.) So what do they do? Kill almost all of them off, let the zombies get the tiger, and no doubt Ezekiel will be his own version of walking dead now. I never like when a show is obvious about eliciting emotion from the audience. This was even worse than Viserion on Game of Thrones. And at least they have Peter Dinklage, king of the medieval one-liners. While Z Nation can be silly at times, they’ve managed to pack both variety and heart into the show, and still give the audience zombie thrills as well as melancholy. Honestly, I’ll probably finish out the season, but I think I’m out. If I want to get depressed, I can look at my bank account. I would have rather seen Rick get it. I hope Negan wins.

😑 Next time, too busy being annoyed to even pay attention.

90 Day Trifecta

I never did find out why Pedro called Chantel “Pinky,” but moving on, and catching up.

Starting with Before the 90 Days, we have Cortney and Antonio. He’s from Spain, and this looked like a catfish in the beginning, especially since he was a model, but he turned out to be the real deal. Antonio said he liked smart girls, and my advice was to not date Cortney, but the whole thing surprised me. After giving a negative first impression, and being relegated to sleeping on the couch, Antonio finally won her over and they got busy. She told us it was better than expected, and I was thrilled she shared that information. Not really. All was well until his A/C went out. I don’t blame Cortney for not wanting to share a cramped apartment in 90 degrees, but she whined so much, he ended up leaving to do laundry at his mother’s house and stayed the night. When he came back and wanted to go flamenco dancing, Cortney started crying. He decided she shouldn’t have any more whine wine, and asked if she was getting her period. Wrong, wrong, and more wrong. Even though they somehow got it together again, and got all I’ll-miss-you weepy at the airport, I was pretty certain that this would be the end for them. Not so. On a Tell All special after the season ended, where he contributed via Skype, they were in a committed relationship with each other. He sent her one of his sexy photo calendars, which her parents have hung up in their kitchen. I have no words. Cortney also told us that in Spain, women will come right up to your table while you’re on a date, and ask for the guy’s number. I should add, Antonio did not give his out, and claims he’s being faithful. I might as well believe him. I’ve been wrong about this one the entire way through.

Patrick went to Paris, and Myriam’s big secret was that she already had a boyfriend. It was so uncalled for and sad. I couldn’t fathom why she wouldn’t have told him this before he spent a fortune to go halfway around the world to meet her. He might have gone anyway, but that should have been his decision to make. It’s the worst when a decision is taken from you because you didn’t know the truth. He told Myriam he had to take a breath, and called his mom, who freaked out. He decided to stay and change Myriam’s mind, and spent the rest of his time there trying to do just that. We never saw Myriam’s boyfriend, but he sounded like a dud. It seemed to me, the real reason she’s with him is because they’re both Muslim. In the end, on a romantic boat ride/dinner, the kind Myriam wished her boyfriend would be into, she told Patrick that she’d give him a chance if circumstances were different. But they weren’t, and her parting words were basically c’est la vie. During the Tell All, both Myriam and Patrick’s mother were on Skype. Patrick’s mother just about cursed Myriam out, and told her karma was a bitch that would bite her in the ass. Myriam insisted that Patrick knew their flirting was nothing serious before he came to visit. Patrick was just like, I’ll be waiting when you dump your sorry ass boyfriend.

Sean finally met Abby’s ex, Chris. Abby took him to beautiful places to get his mind off of it beforehand, so we got to see some of Haiti. And it was, indeed, beautiful. Sean waited with a scowl on his face, while Abby picked Chris up. Their meeting was over before it began, and Sean told Abby that Chris was “poisonous.” I hadn’t gotten that impression, although he was flirty with her in the cab, but more on that in a minute. He told her that if she wanted a relationship with him, she had to ditch Chris. They couldn’t have a healthy relationship with him in the picture. Abby wasn’t thrilled with an ultimatum, but said she’d do it “for love.” Sean went home, but then came back and asked her to marry him. During the Tell All, we found out that Sean was right, and Chris is a 64-year-old a-hole who was basically using Abby as a sidepiece. She’d cut all ties with him but – let’s scratch our heads here – she was calling from his condo where she was staying. Supposedly, he wasn’t in town, and she planned to be gone before his return, but I’m not sure why she couldn’t call from somewhere else. I like Abby. She seems mature and seems to genuinely love Sean, but this gives me pause. My opinion to be continued.

Darcy’s visit with Jesse went downhill when she started to have enough of his healthy lifestyle, and militaristic attitude about everything. She met with Jesse’s mom, who is super cool, and honest without being an a-hole, unlike his stepdad and best friend. They had some wine, and his mom told Darcy to take her time. Darcy had another drink at the bar, ignoring Jesse’s texts and messages. When she got back to the apartment, he said she was “obviously highly intoxicated,” which he backed up in his interview, claiming she kept looking at the ground and being “sassy.” She decided to spend the night in a hotel, since he was harshing her buzz. He called the producer, saying she was drunk and irresponsible, and had run off. On her end, she claimed to be only tipsy, and said she left to do her own thing. No camera crew was there, so it’s hard to tell what really happened. I wish I could have been a fly on the wall. In the morning, Jesse came to the hotel. He told Darcy that he has issues with drinking because he’d lost people to the bottle, which explains a lot IMO. He asked her to promise never to drink again, and surprisingly, she agreed. The worst part of all was when, near the end of her trip, Jesse took Darcy to some place with windmills and bridges that was supposed to be iconic and romantic. He got down on one knee, told her how wonderful she was and how much he loved her, showed her a ring, and said this wasn’t a proposal. The ring was an “appreciation ring.” What? Even though Darcy has been tireless in her pursuit of an engagement, this was cruel and unusual punishment. It was like the ring on a string Schwartz gave Katie on Vanderpump Rules. I agree that six weeks is too short, but that was just bizarre. So, like, are they going steady now?

It got better during the Tell All, when Jesse made a surprise appearance. He acted like his robot self, and she was obviously uncomfortable. When asked what the biggest strain in their relationship was, they bleeped whatever Jesse said. I checked around and found a Reddit thread where it was being discussed. A user thought he’d said “bullsh*t.” I watched it a couple of times, and decided to accept that answer. What it means, I don’t know, and Darcy was just as vague. In that same thread, some users thought she seemed like an abused woman, but there’s an ocean and more between them, so I don’t think that’s it. He doesn’t seem to be in any kind of hurry to move either. They went back and forth about their problems without actually naming what they were. Darcy did have “a couple of glasses of wine” – which I’ve decided is her euphemism for getting sh*tfaced – with her sister on some occasion, Jesse wasn’t too happy about that, and she also had the nerve not to think it was no big deal. At one point, Jesse jumped up, said it was over, but then they left holding hands. And he hassled her about wearing his jacket on the way to the car because it was cold. I give up.

It was a real toss-up as to who gets the title of the WTF? Couple – Jesse and Darcy or Paul and Karine. The machete attack won. Because it wasn’t bad enough that Paul made Karine take an STD and pregnancy test prior to their “being intimate,” he kept saying that he had a secret. He continued to fret about it, while we were kept in suspense for weeks. I started thinking that maybe he had been born a woman, when he revealed that he had a “criminal past.” Then I thought maybe he stole some Star Wars action figures. The real story was that there was an ex with a restraining order against him, and he’d done prison time for arson; setting his own house on fire. He never really said whether he was guilty or not, so I’m assuming he has some issues, and the answer is yes. No big shock that Karine was knocked for a loop, but before she had a chance to process this information, Paul went on a kooky little adventure. He ran like a girl through the woods, until he got to the river. Then he clung to a tree, repeating, don’t let me get in this water, over and over. In his interview, he said at that moment, he didn’t care what happened to him, if he got some disease or was bitten by a snake: he’s a bad person. He certainly cared about making a production of it. Karine followed him, and was like, what is up with this, Paul? He basically said he wasn’t good enough for her, and believe me, if a guy ever says that, take him at his word and run. Karine just wanted to get the hell out of the woods, and left Paul still being weird.

It got better. While Paul was busy wallowing in self-pity, Karine’s phone was stolen. She’d already said something about it not being a good area, so why he chose to put this act on there is a mystery. When Karine got back to the more public space, a guy came running up with a machete, and demanded her phone. The camera crew was like, we just got mugged, and it looked like some kind of gang was going through the park, robbing people. They ran into the woods, cops ran after them, shots were fired, and Karine just wanted to go home and never think about Paul again. But that’s not how it ended.

She decided to stay with a friend, and he followed her like the stalker he no doubt is. She forgave him, and after an elaborate proposal on the beach, said yes to marrying him. Good luck with this guy. Are times this desperate? During the Tell All, she and Paul were together in Brazil, participating via Skype. I did wonder if the machete business had been staged, when he got so upset about the topic, he had to walk away, but she didn’t even seem fazed. Although maybe it happens so often there, she’s used to it. Either way, it was strange. Also disconcerting, was when Paul was asked if he returned the favor and also took an STD test. He said he did, and it was nerve-wracking. Why that would be, since he’s not exactly a Casanova, I have no idea, but chalked it up to his many neuroses. What was bothersome was that Karine claimed to have never seen the results, but he asked her if she didn’t remember looking at them on the phone together. 1) For such a paranoid dude, how come he’s doing all this online? and 2) she looked like she had no idea what he was talking about. Referee TV host, Shaun Robinson, added to the insanity by screeching Karine’s name repeatedly when Paul revealed he was with her. I can’t figure this woman out; the way she mugs for the camera is insane. I also can’t figure Paul out. Is he a trust fund baby? Does he work? Either Karine is a desperate girl or there is something seriously lost in the translation here.

On the flipside, there are a few interesting characters on the new season of original 90 Day Fiancé.

Larry – the one who makes me laugh every time he says Filipino Cupid, and the desperation with which he looks at the camera – met Jenny’s family, who had a humongous barbecue for him, which included a roast pig. Here’s where Larry went wrong. Now I’ve been to a pig roast, and although I was creeped out by seeing the entire pig, the smell was heavenly, and it tasted delicious. Apparently, Larry has a tender tummy, because he made it obvious that he could not eat this, bringing Jenny to tears, and disgrace upon the family. They worked things out, and both have decided to wait until marriage for sex, so there was no make-up anything. Larry informed us that he hasn’t had sex in fourteen years, and we’ll just leave it at that.

There are a couple of other standouts. David and the much younger Annie, who is from a poor village in Thailand. David had to give her parents a couple of oxen or something as dowry. There was an engagement party, and the entire village had a parade for him, because it was a huge honor. David handed out money right and left per some tradition I’ve never heard of, and was king for a day, even though this whole enterprise has tapped him out. When they get back to the states, he and Annie will be temporarily staying with friend Chris and his wife. They spent a couple of days in Bangkok, met up with them, and I decided Chris is a creeper. He started off saying mi casa es su casa, and by the end of the conversation, suggested Annie not only cook for them in exchange for rent (the applicant can’t work during the 90 day period), but give him massages. There was a silence heard around the world – one in which Chris’s wife said nothing and looked at no one; she didn’t even kick him under the table – and Annie told him she didn’t mind doing the cooking, but wasn’t giving massages. You’d think David would have spoken up, and later, Annie asked him if Chris got the idea from him. He claimed the only thing he’d ever said was that she gave him a massage. I believe it, and I think it’s a mistake to move in with those people. Honestly, it was one of the creepiest moments in this franchise so far, and that’s saying a lot.

There’s also Nicole, single mother to May, and Azan, who is from Morocco. From the jump, it wasn’t looking good, and his motives were suspect. Nicole’s first visit to Morocco was exhausting for the both of us – I got tired just watching. She’s a large girl, and he seemed disappointed about that when they met, although if they’ve been video chatting or even sharing pictures, I find it hard to believe he wouldn’t have noticed. She wanted to be affectionate, and he kept telling her it was a no-no in public there. He was annoyed that she didn’t show more decorum, and made her promise to eat healthier and exercise. Nicole’s mother hasn’t been thrilled with anything here, and refused to sponsor him for the K-1 visa. Since Nicole doesn’t make enough money, she needed a kind of co-signer. Her father – her parents are divorced, and both have remarried – decided to step up to the plate, figuring he can keep an eye on her if she stays in the states. Nicole made a second trip to Morocco, this time with her daughter. It was another fiasco, since May is a rather energetic child. Azan and Nicole disagreed on parenting methods. A visit to his family made me wonder if he was adopted. They seemed like lovely, joyful people, and very welcoming to both Nicole and May. Maybe they want to get rid of him. Nicole also “cheated” on him prior to them meeting IRL. What this actually means, I’m not sure. It wasn’t bad enough that she kept begging his forgiveness for this transgression, she also went out with a male friend to a club, and had not told Azan, who thought she’d gone with girlfriends, and it made him question the relationship. Not sure where this is going to go, but it smells bad. She seems desperate for a husband and father, and he seems like he might be desperate for… something. He doesn’t sound necessarily gung-ho about moving to America. Maybe he just wants someone to control, but if so, you’d think it would be easier for him to find a girlfriend at home. I can’t even see what these two have in common, besides… nope, nothing.

There are three other couples, but they aren’t quite as interesting because they seem almost normal. However, that’s always subject to change. I still have to watch tonight’s episode.

After the pig fiasco, Jenny told Larry that she never cries for men, mens cry for her. It was like a moment out of a telenova, and I realized that I watch this with a combination of amusement and horror. I also know more about the K-1 visa than I ever wanted to. And I’ve learned that if you want to act like an a-hole, just say it’s part of your culture and get offended if people don’t respect it.

90 Day Fiancé – where stupid people meet.

WalkingDeadCarol

WalkingDeadEzekiel&Shiva

November 10, 2017 – Both Jasons are Jason, Roni Wakes Up, Insane Clown Zombies & Quaternary Quotes

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What I Watched Today

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

 

 

General Hospital

At Pizzulo’s, Carly wants to toast to Michael kicking Nelle to the curb. Sonny says Michael is hurting, but Carly tells him, what happens in Pizzulo’s stays in Pizzulo’s. Jordan comes by. Sonny says it’s been a long day, and she tells him it’s not over yet.

Ava can’t make sense of the files. Kiki can’t do much better. Ava says Klein used cutting edge techniques, and these are the schematics she can be healed with. Kiki adds, and a doctor who can perform the treatment.

David asks Griff about the area. He’s looking to invest in property, but with the riverfront being declared historic, he has to look elsewhere. Griff knows nothing, but David thinks a certain lady friend might know more.

Alexis offers Monica an ear if she needs to talk. Monica says she’s not sure what she’d have to say. A guy drops through the skylight, looks like her son, and claims to be her son. She tells Alexis to put her energy into helping Sam. She’s fine; she always is.

Other Jason goes to the family crypt.

Real Jason asks if he can come in. Sam steps aside but says nothing. Real Jason asks if he’s here. Sam says no, but doesn’t think it’s a good idea for him to stay. Scout starts crying, and Sam tells him that’s her daughter.

David asks how Alexis is faring since the MetroCourt party, and she says it’s been a trying couple of days. He apologizes for bowing out at the last minute, but she thinks maybe he should be glad. He wants to make it up to her. She has a lot going on right now with Sam and her ex-husband, and David says exes have way of making presence known, no matter how far the distance. She tells him not to put his life on hold for her, but something tells him she’s worth it.

Ava tells Kiki that she’s made incredible progress, but no one knows how to replicate the process. Kiki says it’s promising. Ava wonders why she can’t manage some enthusiasm. Kiki says there’s no proof it works, and Ava says she’s proof. Why can’t Kiki be supportive, or does she want Ava to stay like this?

Sam brings Scout downstairs. Real Jason says she’s beautiful, and Sam says her name is Emily Scout Morgan. He says she named her after his sister; Emily would have loved that. He thanks her.

Other Jason tells Alan the only brother he came to know is Sonny, but he’s not sure about anything anymore. There’s nothing for him there, and he doesn’t know why he came. Monica stands in the doorway.

Jordan’s not there to socialize; they have business. He posted bail for Klein, and she’d like to know why. Sonny had questions the PCPD couldn’t answer. She says Klein had better show up for his hearing, and Sonny says he walked out without a scratch. She asks if the conversation was productive. Sonny says, you show me yours, and I’ll show you mine. Carly tells her they know DNA tests were arranged, and they want to know the results.

Kiki tells Ava, of course she wants her to be whole. Ava asks if she’s sure. Maybe she likes being in charge. Kiki wonders if Ava thinks she’s worried about Ava stealing her boyfriend again. Ava says she thought she had a handle on things, but maybe she doesn’t. Kiki says she’s reinventing the gallery and has a wonderful man in her life. She battled despair, and has a great life to show for it. Ava asks how long before Griff meets someone whose face is intact and has no baggage? Kiki is surprised Ava thinks that’s the kind of man Griff is; the lack of confidence is unlike her. There’s a knock at the door. It’s Alexis, and Ava says she knows Julian is in prison, right? Kiki leaves, and Alexis asks to come in. Ava asks what it’s about, and Alexis says Julian is in trouble.

Jordan tells Carly that everyone wants to know which man has the rightful claim to be Jason, but there won’t be any advance notice. Carly says the longer it’s dragged out, the harder it is on everyone, especially Jake Doe. Jordan notes that Carly has already changed his name. Carly says he needs to see the results; it’s the only way he’ll accept the truth. Jordan says there are a lot of assumptions going around, and they’ll get the results when they get them. She tells them not to go running to Dante either. She doesn’t want the past or their relationship interfering with the case they’re building against Klein and his men. They need to find out who’s in charge, and she asks if Sonny knows. Sonny says Klein called the person in front of him, but it was a burner phone. He does know the call originated from Port Charles.

Real Jason says Sam finally has a little girl and Danny has a little sister. Sam says Danny is absolutely in love with her, and named her. He’d wanted a puppy to name Scout, but named the baby instead. She tells him about how the Quartermaines ended up with the dog, and he and Danny get in all kinds of trouble together. Real Jason says Carly told him, but he was kind of distracted. He tells her what matters is, she has two beautiful children and she’s happy.

Monica tells Other Jason that the groundskeeper said someone nosing around. He asks what if he was burglar, but she saw his motorcycle. He apologizes, and she says don’t; he’s always welcome there. He says she might change her mind when she hears what he has to say. She asks if it has anything to do with the man who dropped through the skylight, and Other Jason asks if they’ve met. She says no, and she’s glad, since she wouldn’t know what to do. Other Jason says he says he’s Jason. Monica asks what he says, and he tells her he’d never lie to her. She says he’s her son, and always will be. They hug, and Other Jason says, the thing is, he might be her son too.

Kiki asks David for his help.

Alexis tells Ava that Julian is in trouble, and Ava says what else is new? Alexis tells her that he’s alone with no one to back him up. Scotty alerted her to a certain faction being after him, and Ava says that happens in prison. Alexis wonders why she doesn’t seem to care. Ava says she tried to visit him twice, and he refused. He won’t take her calls or email, and won’t use the money she puts in the commissary for him. Alexis says he was beaten badly, and she needs to do something. She says Ava knows people who can help him. Ava asks with what, paintings and sculptures. Alexis says Ava isn’t exactly a law-abiding citizen, and had wanted to take over the organization. She can call in a favor. Ava says she has nothing; she left that life behind. Alexis is a lawyer, and better equipped to deal with it. Ava wonders if Alexis is worried she’ll send the wrong message – or the right one. She’s still in love with him.

Sonny tells Jordan that the voice was altered, but when Klein wanted help, his boss cut him loose, and said he’s on his own from now on. Jordan asks if Sonny is still in possession of the phone, and he says he’ll see if he can find it. She tells him it’s not a trophy; it’s evidence in the shootings and a murder. Carly says the chain of evidence has already been broken. The best they can hope for is to get more information, and build a case. Sonny wonders why he pays Diane when he has Carly. Carly says for all they know, the phone was misplaced. Sonny says he’ll look for it, and if he finds it, he’ll send it over asap. Jordan understands that it’s personal; some is screwing with their friends, but when Sonny goes it alone, people get killed.

Jordan leaves, and Carly asks Sonny if he’s sure the boss is in Port Charles, and if Real Jason knows. Sonny says he was there, and seems fine, better than he would be. Carly feels like she betrayed him. She forced Sonny to accept Jake Doe, like she forced Jake Doe to accept he was Jason, and it turned out not to be true. Sonny says whatever happened is still happening, and it’s not her fault. She feels worse for Jason and Jake Doe. Jason’s entire life was taken over by someone else, and Jake Doe is realizing his life was never his own.

Other Jason tells Monica about the twins, and how Heather took one baby, and placed the other with Betsy. Monica says Alan had a child he didn’t know about because of that gold digging tramp and her lunatic cousin. Other Jason says he’ll find answers, whatever they may be. Monica says she’ll do everything she can to help. He has to get back, since he told Sam that he was clearing his head. She tells him that she overheard what he was saying, but there is something there for him – his home and her. She kisses his hand.

Sam has no idea how two men can think they’re the same person, and neither does Real Jason. When he saw her and Other Jason together, he had no idea Other Jason thought he was Real Jason. He woke up in a clinic where they’d been drugging him, and he lost track of time. He was stuck in wheelchair, parked in front of a window where he sat for hours, thinking of how to escape, and get back to her and Danny. He’s glad Danny’s not Franco’s son, and will never have to deal with what Franco did. Real Jason says he would love him no matter what. In his heart Danny is theirs no matter what. He wanted to tell her that; he needed her to know.

Ava tells Alexis it’s nothing to be ashamed of. Alexis asks if Julian being targeted by jailhouse thugs concerns her at any level. She tells Ava to stop digging at her and care. Ava says there’s nothing she can do, and tells Alexis to toughen up and handle her own problems. Doesn’t she have a sponsor to help figure things out?

Sam asks how Real Jason got to Port Charles, and he says another patient at the clinic helped him – Ava Jerome. Sam says Ava is he aunt, and he says she told him her brother was Sam’s father. She asks if he knows anything about the Jeromes, but he says they were played out by the time Sonny took over. Sam explains that Julian met her mother at bar in New Hampshire when he was in college, and she was in high school. Alexis got pregnant in the back seat of a car, and years later, he came back. He was part of the witness protection program, and went by the name Derek Wells. He figured out that he was her father, and he and Alexis fell back in love, if you can call it that. Sam says he’s an abusive pig, and lied to Alexis and made her lie for him. He held a knife to her throat, and almost killed her. He’s in prison now for other crimes, but he broke her. She almost lost her career and started drinking. She’s in recovery, but will struggle for the rest of her life because of him. Real Jason says he’s sorry, and Sam says Alexis still loves him. It’s the kind of love that just is. You can’t stop feeling it, can’t deny it, and can’t shut it down. All you can do is choose not to act on it, and accept the reality that the person you’ll always love can’t be in your life. Scout fusses, and Sam asks him to tend to her while she gets whatever. He picks her up. You know what’s going to happen, right? He says he was almost her father.

Carly thinks they should contact Sam’s husband, and let him know what they know. Sonny says they need to bring him back in the loop, and Carly says he shouldn’t have been left out of it; it must be overwhelming. The both realize they haven’t talked to him since Sam was in the hospital. Carly wants to call him, but doesn’t know what to say. He thinks they stabbed him in the back. He might not be Jason, but he’s still their friend. Sonny says he’s always been loyal, and never done them wrong. They can’t abandon him,

Real Jason tells Scout about her big sister, Lila, who’s in heaven. He says she never got a chance to be in the world and do the cool things Scout will. Her mom never held her, but loved her, and so did he. Lila brought him and Sam together. She gave them a reason to be patient with each other, to understand and forgive and have a chance to fall in love – the kind of love that just is. Yep. Other Jason walks in and says get away from his daughter or he’s going to kill him.

Ava looks at the laptop and wonders what happened to the research/ A lightbulb comes on over her head, and she says, Kiki.

Kiki shows David and Griff the flash drive. She says obviously it’s over her head, and she wanted it reviewed without her mother around, so she didn’t feel pressured to tell her what she wants to hear. David says the research is sound, and it’s groundbreaking, but it’s untested. Kiki says it worked on her mom, and supposedly other people. Griff says they didn’t operate under any supervision, and there was no peer review. They don’t know what side effects might occur. David says they’re sympathetic, but can’t help. It basically amounts to voodoo, and no doctor in their right mind would get involved

Monica remembers saying that she had to let go of who she wanted her son to be, and love the man he’s become, and that she wants a relationship with her son.

Sam comes back from the kitchen, saying she was just getting a bottle. Other Jason says Real Jason will stay away from his family. Carly and Sonny show up, and Other Jason says their friend was just leaving. Sam says they can’t keep doing this.

Ava sees Griff, and asks if he’s seen Kiki. He asks if she’s looking for her daughter, or this, showing her the flash drive. Ava asks if Kiki told him what’s on it, and he says she showed it to David in hopes they could finish the work. She asks what the verdict is. He says they reviewed Klein’s notes. Neither of them are experts on the subject, but they agree that moving forward would be a bad idea. It’s a gamble for both the patient and the doctor. She says she doesn’t need any doctor, just the one she’s looking at – him.

On the phone, Alexis requests a visit with Olivia Jerome. She listens, then asks for her attorney, and says, contact Nora.

Sam tells everyone that Scout is at the Quartermaines, and they have to figure out way to deal. What they’re doing isn’t working. There’s a knock at the door. It’s Jordan, and she’s like, oh good, everyone is here. Other Jason asks why she’s there, and she says they ran separate DNA tests on both individuals claiming to be Jason Morgan. She has the results

Monica remembers Real Jason talking about when he woke up and things didn’t make sense. She tells him she loves him, and he says he loves her too. She touches Alan’s plaque, and says she could be on the verge of a miracle. She wishes he was around to witness it.

Other Whiny Jason tells Jordan they didn’t have his permission for a test. She says they didn’t need it. It’s a matter of public safety. They can’t have two guys running around saying they’re the same person. Sonny says they just want answers. She tells them they had the tests double-checked, and the test confirms Other Jason is Jason Morgan, and Real Jason is also a match. Everyone stares at her.

On Monday, Nora meets with Alexis, Maxie tells Lulu she has an idea to solve their problems, and Scotty asks Franco who the real Jason is.

Once Upon a Time

Today, Henry says the photograph is supposed to be a scene from his book, with Roni as the Evil Queen; he doctored the picture. Roni says Victoria is screwing with them. Jacinda blows in, but I get interrupted, and she blows out in the one and a half minutes I’m not listening. Henry is like what was that, and Roni says this is all the magic she’s got, and clinks beer bottles with him.

In the other realm, Henry teaches Cinderella about a torque wrench. A group of ruffians appears, and says, oh wow, look at the magic chariot. Henry figures they want to kill them, and take said chariot, and the head thug says he’s smarter than he looks. Henry says, too bad you’re not, and the fight starts. Regina appears, and says get away from her son, fireball at the ready, but he and Cinderella are doing fine for themselves. They win the fight, and Henry tells Regina they’re fine thanks to this, and shows her his lunchbox. She says she got it for him when he was ten, and here he is with a sword, motorcycle, and girl. He suggests she come along, but she says she’s busy. He doesn’t need his mother around all the time anymore, and obviously can take care of himself.

In Seattle, Ivy asks Victoria is she’s okay. She has a migraine. Ivy thinks maybe the flowers triggered it, and says she’ll remove them. She brings them to the secret room. The witch grabs them, saying she can’t wait. They have the tiniest seed of the magic required, but need fertile ground. She tells Ivy to be patient, and remember how they survive. Ivy closes her eyes, and imagines her mother’s destruction, which I guess is her happy place. The witch says Veronica isn’t the only one to be wary of. It might not have been wise to give Regina the photo. Ivy says by the end of the day, she won’t be a problem.

Henry shows Roni pictures of him on social media, having a drink with Ivy. That’s probably what Lucinda was in and out about. Lucy runs in, and wants to see the picture of Henry and Regina. She remembers reading the scene in his book, and says Roni is Regina. She adopted Henry in the real world in Boston. Roni says give it up; the picture is fake. Lucy says Henry never gave up, and she won’t either. Regina will break the curse. She just has to remember, and Lucy knows exactly how to do it.

Weaver is feeling better after getting shot, and wants to go back to work, but Rogers says the captain wants him to stick it out for a week. Weaver says he’ll deal with the captain, and tells Rogers to watch his phone. He might have errands for him. Rogers asks Tilly what Weaver does when he needs her help, and she says, buy her lunch.

As they walk down the street, Henry tells Roni that she’s been quiet since Lucy dropped the Regina bomb. She says she did try to adopt once, but at the last minute the agency thought she wasn’t a good fit. He says she seems like mom to a lot of people around there. She thinks that if they pretend to believe Lucy, it will stop her from being defensive. The sooner the fantasy fades, the sooner things will get better. Henry calls it Operation Heartbreak. They see the food truck, and Roni tells Henry to ask Lucina out – be charming and don’t slouch.

In the enchanted forest, Regina sees a hooded figure. The figure picks up a fancy box, and opens it. Tree branches come snaking out and she drops it. The branches get bigger, and it turns into a giant Venus flytrap, kind of like Audrey Jr. in Little Shop of Horrors, but prettier. It begins to envelop the figure, and Regina gets a fireball ready. She throws it at the flytrap and destroys it. She says be careful about strange magic. The figure removes its hood, and it’s Drizella. Regina says she should have let that thing eat her; she tried to kill her son. Drizella says she’s through doing things for her mother. Regina thought she was marrying the prince, but Drizella says that wasn’t her choice. She says she was born with magic, but never allowed to cultivate it. If she can’t use her own magic, she’ll use someone else’s. Regina understands. She also had a controlling mother. She says perhaps she can help, but Drizella doesn’t need to steal it. She can use the gift she was born with.

Ivy brings a mound of earth to the witch, who says she’s been under Victoria’s thumb for too long. She messes with the dirt and something grows out of it. It’s Groot! Not really. Ivy says it’s perfect, and the witch says it’s dangerous. Ivy says they’ll see if Regina is as powerful as she thinks she is, and puts pieces of it in a jar.

Jacinda works on the truck. Henry holds a boombox. He says last time he was single, mix tapes worked when he wanted to ask a girl out. She asks if he’s asking her out. He babbles about John Hughes movies, saying he feels the need to explain himself with her. He can’t stop thinking about her. She says he has seen a lot of John Hughes movies. She has a daughter, a business, and no time. He says he has nothing but, and if she gets some, he’d like to take her on a date. She says what about now? Mix tapes always work. He can help her with the truck. They both roll underneath it.

Roni finds Lucy. Lucy tells her when Henry needed magic the most, a book showed up for him, and when they touch it, they remember who they are. Roni says if she grabbed it, she’d remember being a queen? She’d love to believe it, and knows enough to know she doesn’t know everything. She suggests they prove this thing together. Lucy hugs her.

Regina gives Drizella magic lessons. Drizella thinks she’s wasting Regina’s time. Regina says she just needs the right motivation. Rocks start to fall from the mountain above them, and Drizella stops them. She didn’t think she could do it, or it was even possible. Regina says if she believes in herself, it is. She’s a lot like Regina was, but she didn’t have the right guide. Her power came from anger and hate. She did terrible things, and cast a dark curse. Drizella asks if she got what she wanted, and Regina says for a while, but she wanted the wrong things. The only thing that’s truly made her happy was her son Henry. Drizella wishes she had a mother like Regina. Don’t we all? says Rumpelstiltskin, who is suddenly on the scene.

Roni gives Weaver some booze as a get-well gift. She asks if he can find out if a woman applied to adopt a baby. Her name is Regina Mills. Weaver asks what would make him want to take this on? Roni says she’ll owe him one. He says they have a deal.

Tilly asks for a rematch while she and Rogers chat. She asks about Eloise Gardener. Rogers says she was a normal kid up until she disappeared. She was an amateur poet; fearless, but something spooked her. He shows Tilly the rune in the journal. He says all that matters is that she disappeared. Tilly says take a good look at the board. What pieces doesn’t he have? What does he need to pay attention to, to find himself on a different path that leads to Eloise?

Weaver goes to Roni’s, and tells her there was a Regina Mills who adopted a baby boy in Boston. She says that’s impossible; she didn’t think it was going to work. Weaver wonders why she’d ask for help, and she says she wanted information, not to be interrogated. He gives her an envelope with all the information, saying what are friends for if not favors? She owes him one.

Regina tells Rumpel that all those years went by in the blink of an eye for them, and he lived a lifetime with Belle. He says they lived a good life; she made him a new man. He’s finally ready to pass on the path of the Dark One the right way. He says change is inevitable. Regina says tell her about it; her son no longer needs her. He asks about Drizella, and she says Drizella has raw talent. She needs to get on the right path, and stand up to her mother. Rumpel wonders why Lady Tremaine would want Drizella to learn magic.

Drizella looks in a mirror and sees her mother standing over Anastasia. Lady Tremaine reaches in and takes out Anastasia’s heart. Regina says she’s practicing for waking her up. She nearly ripped out her son’s heart. The only way to wake her is to replace her heart, and Drizella thinks it’s going to be her who provides the replacement. She always knew her mother loved Anastasia more, but didn’t realize how much until now. She says she’ll never be free. Regina says she’ll help; she can protect her heart. Drizella asks Regina to help her kill her mother. Regina says she can’t let her go down that dark path. Drizella says she thought Regina cared, and Regina tells her that’s why she’s saying no. Drizella says that sounds like what her mother told her, and if she’s not going to help, she knows a prince who will.

Rogers looks at the paperwork of the dude with the rune tattoo. He goes to his house. When there’s no answer, he looks through the window, and sees the guy lying on the floor. He breaks in.

Roni looks at the adoption papers; She writes Regina Mills, and compares it to the signature. They look the same.

Lady Tremaine is hovering over Anastasia, and Drizella comes in, dragging along Prince Gregory. He says he won’t let her harm his bride, and suddenly freezes. Regina appears, saying she doesn’t want to do this. Drizella says she tried to get her mother to love her, but she’s never going to. Regina tells her not to kill Lady Tremaine, but Drizella says she didn’t bring Gregory to kill her. She opens the fancy box, and the tree thing pops out, spearing Gregory. Drizella says she’s giving her mother what she wants. Regina asks her what she’s done. What is she so afraid of that’s turned her heart black?

Drizella tells her mother she failed. Lady Tremaine asks if she wants congratulations, and Drizella says she wants her to suffer. She threatens a dark curse, and Regina tells her a curse is never worth the cost. Drizella is going to transport her mother to another realm, and plant the seed of pain in her life. It will start small, but it will grow until everything she sees, every breath is pain. Regina tries to get her to listen. She wanted to help, but she’ll do whatever it takes to stop her. Heroes can always break curses. Drizella says then she’ll make hers unbreakable, and thanks Regina for the final lesson. She disappears, poof! in a cloud of purple smoke.

Ivy goes to Roni’s, insisting they have a top-shelf drink. Roni says what she found out had better be good. Ivy says it’s about what Roni found. She needed Roni to go on an adventure. What if Henry’s fairytales were true? Roni asks if Ivy put something in her drink. She starts to remember Storybrooke, and she’s like, omg. Ivy says, welcome back, Regina.

Roni says, Drizella, and Drizella asks if she missed her. She tells Roni she has no magic yet. It was just enough to wake her up. Henry calls, but Drizella says she wouldn’t answer yet. Roni is foggy, and Drizella tells her to give it a minute. It all starts coming back. Drizella reminds her that she said she’d make her curse hero-proof. She tells Regina to remember what she did before the curse, and why she can’t allow it to be broken. If it is, something very bad happens to the people she loves. She should be proud; the student surpassed the master, the sign of a great teacher. Roni asks if she wants a gold star or did she wake her to gloat. Drizella says she needs help. She’s on the verge of showing her mother what true suffering is, and she can’t break the curse now. Roni says, Cinderella, and Drizella tells her to do whatever it takes to stop true love’s kiss from happening. It shouldn’t be too hard for the Evil Queen. Breaking hearts is what she’s best at. Drizella leaves, and Roni cries.

Regina tells Henry that she came to help him. She thought he needed it, but he’s not kid anymore. He left Storybrooke, and can fight his own battles, and he has Ella. Henry says he still needs her. He can take care of bullies and brigands, but will always need her. She says she needs him. Living in Storybrooke without him isn’t worth anything. Whatever else she’s supposed to do with her life, she’s his mother first. She hugs him.

Sitting on a bench, Roni looks at the picture of her and Henry. Henry joins her, and says she’ll be happy to know things with Jacinda went well. They’re going to see where it goes. He asks how things are going with Lucy, and Roni thinks maybe it would help if she knew more about him, like his mother’s name. He says he was born in prison, just like his character, but he was never adopted; he grew up in the system, like Emma in his book. It used to bother him that no one liked he book, but he thinks he wrote it for himself. He dreamt of having a mother, and found a way to get her. Roni says she’s glad they’re getting to know each other, and Henry says he is too.

Next time, a two-hour episode, Rapunzel gets tangled up in the story, a trip to Wonderland, an astounding revelation, and Roni confronts Weaver about Rumpel.

Z Nation

A service is held for Lucy. She’s on a funeral pyre, her body covered, wearing a crown of flowers. Murphy say he’s sorry. Doc says they loved her from the moment she clawed her way into this world. She wove her way in and out of their journey, and was a bright spot in world of darkness; freaky, but a bright spot. In the short time she was alive, she damn near saved world. As another doctor once said, let’s not cry because she’s’ gone, but smile because she was here. 10K lights the pyre. Zombies throw themselves on it.

They stop on the road. Doc wonders what stinks. It smells like old French fries and zombie fish sticks. Roberta tells him it’s grease for fuel, and they’re lucky to have it. Murphy says they’ve got company, and a lone zombie ambles toward them. Murphy starts walking. Roberta tells Doc that he has something to work out. He whacks it, and keeps on whacking. Then he stomps on it.

They hear someone yelling for help. Roberta says keep going, but Murphy wants to stop. A sign says Mystery Hill Carnival, but the Carnival is changed to Carnevil.  Roberta tells Murphy to never get tout of the boat, but he wants to kill some bad guys. She says no good can come of this, and he says no good comes from anything.

Doc say it’s the world’s saddest carnival. Zombies grapple at the bottom of Ferris wheel, and a woman is tied to one of the seats. Doc says it’s not the zombies that make the apocalypse suck, it’s the people. The woman says they tied her there and left her for the Z’s. The zombies clamor at the fence; they’re wearing clown greasepaint. Doc distracts them, calling them over to car. Murphy works to get the woman down. Doc locks the zombies in the car, telling them hands and teeth inside the ride at all times. A stray zombie nearly gets Doc, but Murphy stabs it through the neck. The woman asks if they’re done playing around.

Roberta says she’ll live, and she wants to get back on the road. Murphy wants to know what happened. They can hear people inside the building. The woman babbles, and Murphy says he’s putting a stop to it. Roberta tells him it won’t bring Lucy back, or Red, or any of the others. 10k thinks Murphy is right, and follows. Doc thinks they’ll need help, and leaves too.

It’s a pretty ratty looking place. Doc sees a giant mushroom, and is glad 10K sees it too; he thought he was having flashbacks. Lily tells Roberta that Murphy has PZT, Post Zombie Trauma, bad. She says she’s not going in there. If she does, she’ll become a part of it, and she doesn’t want to. The woman carries on, asking if they have any Zagnuts, and saying she’s thirsty. Doc says it sounds like a lot of people in there, and Murphy says the more, the better. Roberta has joined them, and says it’s not their fight. She wants them to go, but Murphy says the apocalypse isn’t an excuse. She says those are humans, and even if they’re bad, there aren’t many left. The woman gripes to lily, and says she keeps the party going. She reminisces about good times, as Lily bandages her arm. She tells a long story, and it’s like when a drunk person tells a story and it’s only funny to them.

Murphy sees a couple of guys in makeup, and says it’s mad Z’s. 10K says, it’s not mad Z’s; it’s mad clowns. Doc tells them it could be worse. They could be mimes. The two guys are teasing a zombie they have buried up to its neck, reminding me of Motel Hell (highly recommended – It takes all kinds of critters to make Farmer Vincent’s fritters).

Lily asks what’s with the circus crap, and the woman explains that they wanted to form their own posse, like their heroes, the Juggalos, except they wanted their own thing, and call themselves the Zuggalos. She says they’re all family, and family always comes back. They’re better together. She suddenly doesn’t feel well, and wants her medicine from inside. Lily finds out it’s oxy the woman wants. She’d thought they ran out of that years ago, but the woman says they recycled it. They’re all so full of drugs, they filter their urine, dry it out, and snort it. It’s called Z-Wack. She asks Lily if she parties, but Lily says no; the apocalypse numbs her brain enough. The woman accuses Lily of thinking she’s better than they are, and then invites Lily in, saying they have Zagnuts and Fritos. And music, because life ain’t worth livin’ without it. They also have solar power. King knows how to work all that, but she’s going to kill him for disrespecting her. She tells Lily she’s just messing with her, but she’ll mess him up for sure.

Murphy says he’s seen enough, and stomps over to the men. Roberta tries to stop him, but the clowns notice, and one shoots at them. Murphy pushes Roberta out of the way, and goes after them with his cane sword. Roberta sees the landscape in her mind. She tells Murphy don’t do this, but it’s too late. Clowns come out of everywhere, with guns drawn. They’re not like regular circus clowns, but weird. And not weird like Pennywise, but more like Insane Clown Posse or Twisty.

King welcomes them to his humble home, and Dark Carnival of Mayhem. He says let the games begin, and Doc don’t think he means parcheesi. 10K is put on the Wheel of Sudden Death, and a guy throws a knife at him. He hits the clown spinning the wheel, and they both laugh. Alrighty then. Doc is getting balls thrown at his head, which is through a hole photo board picture. King announces they also have high tech torture, and we see Murphy in some kind of high voltage booth. They shock him, and King says it’s set to wussy and not even cranked up yet. Roberta plays a “drink for your life” game with King, where he asks her obscure music questions. If she’s wrong, she has to drink, and Murphy gets shocked. To everyone’s surprise, she gets the first question right. The next one is a trick question, and she gets a right answer, but not the right answer.

The woman asks Lily how long they’re waiting, and what if they don’t come back? They’re in a house full of knuckleheads on drugs. She notes how quiet it is, and says that’s when you worry. Someone yells, and she says that’s better. Lily tells her stay put; they tried to kill her. She says all the more reason she shouldn’t be left alone. Lily says to stick close and be quiet.

Everyone watches the drinking game. Doc gets himself free.

Roberta knows some rap lyrics, and they all get crazy.

A zombie grabs the woman. Lily incapacitates it, and the woman beats its head in. She says it was a friend of hers, and takes its weapon.

Doc wanders into an unfinished part of the house, and one of the clowns sees him. Doc gets backed into a corner. He sees a gun on the floor, and grabs it. He shoots, and a flag that says, Bang! pops out. That was pretty funny. The clown disappears, and Doc continues on, but it drops down from the ceiling behind him. He makes a run for Doc, who steps aside, and the clown goes out the window.

King and Roberta have a rap battle. Lily looks in the window, and tells the woman what’s happening inside. She wants to go in, and Lily tries to stop her, but is unsuccessful. Doc frees 10K, who tells him that Roberta is kicking King’s ass at the mic. King calls Roberta his Zuggalo queen, and the clowns start chanting, wedding, and then, Warren. They all raise their cups, and Murphy chants along with them. Doc asks 10K if he wants to crash a wedding. A clown with a gun stops them, and he says they’re with the bride.

Everyone is in greasepaint, and a clown with a top hat performs the eternal bonds of unholy matrimony. When they get to the “forever hold your peace” part, everyone looks at Murphy. The clown officiant says they’ve shared beats and their two lives are coming together to celebrate in grand family tradition, before God, the devil, and men. He says they’ll be sharing in the blood rite, the ceremonial exchange of pinkies, and later, a sharing of the bride. The woman shoots the officiant, and Lily is like, whoa. The woman looks at Roberta, and says she’s beautiful. Her baby is getting married. King says, aw, mom. The woman holds her gun on Lily.

The woman asks what kind of son he is. She breastfed him until he was five, and this is how he treats her? King says they were just messing around. They were going to get her down. She tells him just because he’s playing king doesn’t mean he is. He whines that she’s never there for him, and she says he’s the center of her universe. Murphy tries to give them advice, and gets zapped. The woman says his daddy would have wanted him to respect his momma, and King suggests they ask him. A decrepit zombie is wheeled out. The woman complains that King was getting married without inviting either one of them. She tries to touch him, and he snaps at her.

King asks if he should be head of the he’s ready to become king clown and run the clan; a grunt for yes, and nothing for no. It’s a yes, and the woman asks if she should run the clan, and there’s silence. She goes nuts, and jumps on King’s back. He flips her onto a table. He says he knew she’d like Roberta, and she breaks a glass jar over his head. While they’re wrestling, Murphy escapes his shackles. King pins down his mother, and says he hates her. She says she never wanted him, and he asks if she can’t be a normal mom for once. Because they’re wearing metal, Murphy is able to shock them. He tells King to stop trying to kill his mom; it’s hard being a parent today. King says she tried to kill him, and Murphy says she cares about him, but she’s conflicted. He was selfish prick, and when his daughter was born, he wanted something for someone else. His little girl is gone, but they still have each other; don’t mess it up. King says it’s her fault. Murphy says to stop putting up walls, and listen to her. The woman says that’s the problem; he doesn’t listen. Murphy zaps them.

Murphy says she needs to see King for who he is; he’s not a little boy any more. At least she got to see him grow up. He never got to see Lucy grow up. He never saw her for who she was. And she’d needed him to see that. Her son needs her to see that. The woman says if he doesn’t get his clown ass of her back, she’ll beat him. Murphy shocks them good. Roberta whacks a wandering clown with a chair. King is able to get up, but his mom is down for the count. No, wait, she’s up as a zombie.

Chaos starts to happen, as clowns turn into zombies. Murphy says this is bad, even for them. Roberta says it’s time to GTFO.

King limps outside, and gets in the car full of zombies. Oh well.

The gang gets back to their truck. Roberta tells Murphy he was right. He says, about what, and she says about Lucy. What happened was her fault. She doesn’t know what they’re doing. These visions, or whatever she’s having, are leading them nowhere, and she still doesn’t know what it means. She can’t have anyone following her until she figures it out. They’re heading to Newmerica.

Next time, zombie nuns and a zombie bishop – Doc prays for a miracle.

Quotes of the Week

Delicious autumn! My very soul is wedded to it, and if I were a bird I would fly about the earth seeking the successive autumns. – George Eliot (Me too!)

Do the scary thing first, and get scared later. – Lemony Snicket

People generally see what they look for, and hear what they listen for.Harper Lee

All that pleases is but for a moment. All that troubles is but for a moment. That only is important which is eternal. – carved above the arches at the entrance to the Milan Cathedral

Milan-Cathedral4-740x490

Milan Cathedral

November 8, 2017 – Jason is Sprung (Again), Teresa Goes to Puerto Rico, Brody is a Snake & The Greatest

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What I Watched Today

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

 

 

General Hospital

Finn tells Chet that his vitals are better. It’s like he improved overnight. He congratulates Chet on surviving, saying it’s a good day to be alive.

Nathan shows up at the hospital, and Amy asks if he’s going to arrest her brother.

Anna finds Valentin sitting on her couch, and asks if he’s making a habit of breaking in now. He tells her that he wants to help bring Cassandra down.

Maxie babbles at Nina, saying if Nina doesn’t like the article, she can start over from a different angle. Nina says it’s great. Maxie asks if it’s not a problem that she embellished, and made herself the inspiration. She doesn’t want to contribute to fake news. Nina says it’s not like the fate of the nation is hanging in the balance. She’s is impressed that Maxie sounds like the uber confident and uber supportive wife of Man Landers, and she made Nathan out to be amazing. Job well done.

Nelle walks into the Crimson office, and her phone rings. It’s a notice that her account is past due. Maxie is glad to see her, and says they need to get to work.

On the phone, Carly tells Sonny that Diane is seeing the judge. She says Diane will convince them that Real Jason had a reasonable belief that Franco was a threat. She doesn’t think they’ll drop the charges, but he’ll get bail. Sonny says the most important thing is to get him out. Carly adds, and back to his life. At Pizzulo’s, Sonny tells Michael about Diane working on getting Real Jason released. Michael asks if he’s sure it’s Jason.

At the jail, Real Jason stares at Klein. Klein asks what he’s waiting for, and Real Jason says answers. Klein doesn’t have any. There’s been no name attached to anything. Real Jason can’t find his client. Real Jason says yes, he can, and Klein is going to help him.

Valentin tells Anna that he changed his mind. He’s decided to take her offer. He thinks there’s no better way to bring down Cassandra’s operation than from the inside. Anna asks what changed. The last time she saw him, he threatened to expose her. He says he went home and thought about it, and is concerned about protecting his daughter. He wouldn’t wish this on anyone, and he’ll be damned if Cassandra is going to profit from it too. Anna thinks that’s too altruistic to be his motive, and asks what Cassandra did.

Finn tells Chet he’s in Port Charles at General Hospital. Chet asks if they’re done, and Finn says he’s not dying of pneumonia. Chet starts to pull out the IV, but Finn asks him not to. Not only will he have to clean up a mess, Chet isn’t done with the antibiotics. Chet asks why he cares, and Finn says Chet’s not only his patient, but he’s Amy’s brother. Chet doesn’t want to see her, and Finn says she’s been wearing a hole in the linoleum. Chet will have to break it to her himself. Finn says to be honest, he’s afraid of her.

Amy tells Nathan that Chet is the person who OD’d. Somewhere between the rehab center and Port Charles, he got his hands on some painkillers. She had no idea he was addicted. She tells Nathan that he’s been through surgery after surgery with combat wounds; he must be in so much pain. Nathan hugs her.

Maxie tells Nelle that she’s heard a lot about her from Lulu, and Nelle sarcastically says Lulu has always been so kind to her. She’s heard about Maxie too, and they’ve both been the subject of public gossip. Nelle thinks it’s best they don’t believe anything they’ve heard. Maxie asks if it’s true Nelle was a nanny, and Nelle says she also has experience as an executive assistant. Maxie is glad about that, since she’ll be needing Nelle. She’s going to be sharing the space until her office is ready. She tells Nelle to start with hanging up her coat. Nelle goes into Nina’s office, and Nina tells her that she needs Maxie working out there, and there must be a productive way they can coexist. Nelle says that’s not what this is about. She needs a raise.

Sonny tells Michael he should go see Real Jason for himself. Michael says he tried to visit him, but he’d been released already, but he’s back in jail again? Sonny says he beat the hell out of Franco. Michael questions Sonny believing that he’s Real Jason, but Sonny says once he sees him, he’ll know it’s him. Michael is disturbed that Sam married an impostor. Sonny tells him it’s more complicated than that. It’s a set-up. Someone put him in Jason’s place, and now Sam’s husband is trying to hold onto a life that doesn’t belong to him.

Real Jason gets it; it was a job, but the job went wrong. If Klein doesn’t want to take the fall, tell him who’s behind it. Klein doesn’t think Real Jason is in any position to be making ultimatums, but Real Jason says he has friends. A guard comes in, saying Klein made bail. Klein asks who paid it, and the guard asks if he’s particular. Klein says all that matters is he’s free and Real Jason isn’t. Carly comes in and tells Real Jason they’ve got to stop meeting like this.

Nelle tells Nina that she knows Nina said she’ll have to wait, but she’s been an exemplary employee; she spent time in a Moroccan jail for the magazine. It’s embarrassing, but she’s strapped. Nina thought she was getting a roommate, but Nelle says it fell through at the last minute, and although she’s staying in the apartment, she couldn’t get her deposit back from the movers. She’d expected to be sharing expenses, and the holidays are coming up. Nina says Nelle has been perfect and invaluable, but it’s hard with the whole takeover. Crimson has creative autonomy, but financially, they’re still on hold. If she could, she would, but she thinks Nelle will find what she wants in her Christmas stocking. She asks Nelle to go for coffee, and when she gets back, wants her to look at Maxie’s article. Nelle sees that Maxie’s stuff is still all over her desk, and Maxie asks her to bring back a mocha latte with soy and a dusting of cinnamon. Can we collectively smack her?

Sonny says Michael will feel better when sees Real Jason. Michael says if it is Jason, what is he going to say? He was like a second father, a brother, a friend. How can he look him in the face and explain how he thought another guy was him? Sonny says, since he’s Jason, Michael doesn’t need to say anything. There’s nothing to forgive. Michael wonders how he can justify it to Jason or himself.

Real Jason tells Carly that he wasn’t crazy; he was justified. He doesn’t care about Franco having a brain tumor. He just cares about who Franco hurt. Carly gets it, and says his hatred for Franco is a beautiful thing, but Franco is reformed, or at least pretending to be. He’s not going to hurt anyone. Real Jason needs to focus on himself, get out of there, and get his life back.

Valentin tells Anna he’s giving her what she wants; why the resistance? Anna says she’s not just bringing Cassandra down, but the whole operation. She has to trust and rely on him. His motive could be his greatest asset or his biggest liability. She asks if it’s a personal vendetta or what? Valentin gets a call, and steps away. It’s Klein. He says he thought Klein was indisposed, but Klein says that’s no longer the case. He’s calling to thank Valentin for his generosity in posting bail. Valentin says it wasn’t him, and don’t call him again. As he’s hanging up, he hears Klein say, hey, let go of me.

Amy thanks Nathan for the shoulder, and says she guesses it’s time for Man Landers to turn into a cop. Nathan says he’s not taking Chet in, but needs to know where he got the painkillers from. Finn joins them, saying Chet is awake and stable. Amy runs into Chet’s room. She says he scared her, and tells him that he can always call her. Chet tells her if she really wants to do something for him, get out

Real Jason asks Carly how Sam is, but Carly hasn’t seen her. Real Jason doesn’t want her pressured; she’s dealing with a lot. Carly says it’s hard to believe, but they’re friends now. They bonded in their grief over him. If it weren’t for Danny, Sam would have disappeared; that’s how much she loves him. Real Jason says she loves Other Jason too; she’s married, and Other Jason is going to fight him with everything he’s got. He doesn’t want to put Sam through that. Carly says they need to focus on getting him out. Sonny will post bail, and she even went clothes shopping. He can’t look like a fugitive. She tells him that she had the sergeant throw out his old clothes. Great. What’s in the pocket?

Nelle sees Michael at the MetroCourt. She says she’s worried about him. His family is jumping from one crisis to another, with no help from her this time. She’s sure he has questions about Jason, but Michael says he’s working it out. Nelle tells him it helps to work with someone else. Someone who cares. Someone who never stopped caring.

Klein realizes it’s Sonny who has him. Sonny tells the guards that he needs to talk in private. He says Klein kept his friend prisoner, and drugged him to keep him in control. Klein says it was nothing personal, just business. Sonny says he provided a service, and he wants to know who hired him to provide it.

Anna says Cassandra will keep Valentin on a tight leash, and use anything as leverage. Their pasts keep on going, no matter how they outrun them. Valentin says he’s made peace with his past. He has regrets, but nothing that’s stopping him from a better life. Anna asks if Cassandra has gotten to his family, and he says not yet. Anna says he’ll have to get her to trust him, and then betray her. Any lapse in judgement can be fatal. Is he willing to take that risk? He asks if she’s worried, but she says just concerned about the operation. Valentin says he’s her best chance to bring Cassandra and her sordid operation down. Anna says she’ll be watching his every step. He tells her not to threaten him when he’s risking everything. The doorbell rings, and Valentin says someone has awful timing. Or what I like to call, soap timing.

Klein says Sonny is obviously a powerful man, and must have enemies. Sonny says as far as he knows, everyone loves him. Klein says imagine he was paying to keep an enemy alive and sedated; would he want to be defied or get what he paid for? Sonny says it’s a good point, but when Real Jason escaped, he tracked him down. Klein says he doesn’t care; he was glad to be rid of him, but he was ordered to do it. Sonny asks if he always follows orders, and Klein says he’s not unlike Sonny’s men. Sonny asks who gave the order, but Klein doesn’t even know their name; he’s contacted by phone. Sonny has Klein’s phone, and says it’s a burner phone and untraceable. He’s just going to put it on the table, and they’ll wait until it rings, and hear who it is.

Michael says there’s nothing Nelle can do. She says she can listen. She knows she hurt him, and he might not forgive her, but she wants to be there for him. She needs him to know she’ll never stop loving him. Let her be there for him; they can help each other. She puts her hand on his, and Carly sees.

Amy says okay. If that’s what Chet really wants, she’ll go. She leaves, but immediately returns. She says she left, and now she’s back. Chet says he doesn’t want her there. Amy says she got that, but too bad; she’s not leaving him – ever. She knows he suffered and the recovery is painful, but he’s a hero who served the country. He tells her the heroes are the ones who didn’t come back. She says he’s not just a hero, he’s her hero, and she loves him too much to let him quit. Chet tells her that she’s wasting her time; save someone else. She’s says she’ll go, but only because he’s pissing her off and she’s working. She tells him like MacArthur, she’ll be back. He tells her that’s the Terminator. MacArthur said, I shall return. She says she’ll do both.

Amy tells Nathan that all Chet has left is his pride, and he can’t take it away.

Anna answers the door, and it’s Finn. Valentin says he heard they were seeing one another, and Anna says Valentin was just leaving. After he’s gone, Finn asks what that was about, and Anna says spy business; the thing he’s no longer part of. Finn says, what if he wants back in?

Maxie tells Nathan that Man Landers is bigger than ever. Everyone will be looking to him for answers. He says he doesn’t have them; not a single one.

Finn explains to Anna that Roxie’s whole world is her aquarium, and sometimes his room if she gets out. Anna is like, huh? He says he was like Roxie. Since Hayden left, he was hiding out. He has a patient who’s in pain, but can’t hide. He tells her that she was right, adding that he’s a doctor who just admitted he was wrong. She says it’s complicated, and he says it wasn’t when she was blackmailing him. Anna says she’s found another way. Finn says, Valentin? Hell, no.

Michael doesn’t want to hurt Nelle’s feelings, but can’t go back to way they were. He thinks it’s best they went their separate ways. Nelle says he’s right; she’s sorry. She leaves, and Valentin sees her in the hallway. He asks what’s wrong, and she says she’s glad she ran into him. She needs his help, and he might be her only hope.

Carly asks if Michael and Nelle had a lover’s spat. He says they’re not lovers or even roommates. He tells Carly to break out the champagne. He and Nelle are over.

Klein begs to go, saying nothing is being served by holding him. He can make a fresh start, and can help others like Mr. Morgan and Ms. Jerome. Sonny says he’s not a fan of Ava’s, and it wasn’t Klein’s best work. Klein says he wasn’t able to finish. Sonny says as far as second chances, ask his friend if he deserves one. Klein says he’s still in jail. Real Jason walks in, and Sonny says, he’s right here. Real Jason tells Dr. Klein he told him that he had friends.

Anna appreciates Finn’s concern, and he tells her that’s what people say when they don’t appreciate it. She tells him to do what he does best; take care of patients. Do what he’s trained to do, and she will too. He tells her that he has choices; his patient doesn’t. He also has PTSD that’s fueling the cycle. Finn has a network of people now, but he was like this guy. The drugs almost killed his patient, and he’s not losing him. He doesn’t want to just deal with the symptoms; he wants to get the disease – Cassandra and those like her. Anna says he already cut her loose, telling her about the negative test results. Finn says he’s still waiting on one of the tests. Anna says she needs to be clear. She’s not strong-arming him; he’s doing this of his own free will. He could be putting his reputation and career at risk, maybe even his life to bring the organization down. He tells her some things are worth the risk.

Amy goes back to Chet’s room. She says he was always an angel when he was sleeping; he fooled everyone but her. He can’t talk back now, and she wants to set something straight. She loves him, and is never, ever going to give up on him, and that’s an order. She tells him not to give up on himself.

Maxie asks Nathan what happened. He says it wasn’t even in line of duty. A friend needed help, and couldn’t figure out what to do or say; he was useless. Maxie says he was there, and gave a damn; that’s what counts. Nathan tells her how lucky they are. Nina sees them hugging, and smiles, looking at her ring.

Nelle tells Valentin that Nina has been wonderful, and told her she’s in line for well-deserved raise, but Crimson answers to a higher corporate authority. She thinks that during the transition, Nina should assert her independence with the parent company. She might not want to hear it from an assistant, but maybe she would listen to her husband. Valentin asks why he should help. Nelle says if he doesn’t, she’ll blow his marriage out of the water.

Michael says Carly was right and he refused to see it. Carly says the last thing she knew was that they were moving in together. She’s relieved it’s not happening, but can see he’s hurting. She tells him he can talk to her, and he says there’s nothing to talk about. She can rest assured no one is going to sabotage his kayak or steal his money. She says if he can’t talk to her, there is someone he can talk to.

Real Jason says he won’t forget Klein drugging him or keeping him prisoner, or leaving Sam to drown. Klein says it was nothing personal; just a job. Sonny asks if he wants to die for that job. Klein asks what it will take to let him go. Sonny says the name of the person on the other end of the phone. Klein says he would if he could, and they’d both be out of danger, but he doesn’t know. The phone rings, and Klein stares at it.

Tomorrow, Oscar and Josslyn need Sonny’s help, Valentin tells Nelle it’s a mistake to threaten him, and Real Jason asks Klein how much his life is worth.

The Real Housewives of New Jersey

Teresa gets ready for the trip to Puerto Rico. She’s bringing her dad along. He explains that Speedos are the Italian bathing suit, and everyone wears them. I hope that’s not a foreshadowing of anything.

Siggy gets ready to see the doctor about her hormone levels. Please put a rush on that. She hates Margaret for making fun of her being over-emotional, but admits that she’s having a problem getting control. No surprise, Dolores accompanies her to the doctor. The doctor says she has virtually no numbers, and they’re going to restore them. He says not to blame him if she’s chasing her husband around the block. Why does Siggy always refer to her husband as Michael Campanella? I know that’s his name, but it never seems to be just Michael. She says she agreed to be civil with Margaret. Dolores says they’re claiming her relationship with Frank is weird, yet Teresa visits her husband in jail, and Danielle has been engaged twenty-two times. I thought it was nineteen. Siggy excuses Teresa, because she just lost her mother and has been through a lot, but Dolores isn’t having it. The doctor gives Siggy the pellets, and we’re done.

Margaret gets a visit from her mom, Marge Sr. Margaret tells her about the altercation with Siggy at the Gorga’s party. Marge laughs when Margaret tells her Siggy stuck her tongue out. She says she apologized twice, and Dolores also had a fight with Danielle. Margaret says she gets along great with her ex-husband too, and doesn’t think Dolores should be judged. Marge thinks she should call Dolores, and she does. She tells Dolores that she felt badly about everything going south. Dolores says they need some degree of civility, and they make a date for the next day. Margaret hopes Siggy doesn’t try to blow up her house, since she lives in the same neighborhood.

Puerto Rico looks wonderful, although sadly, this was filmed before the recent hurricanes. It’s day two, and Teresa thinks her daughters are already sick of her. Danielle calls, and Teresa says her father is sunburned and passed out. They discuss the tasting. Teresa says Dolores came at her too; maybe because they’re friends. In her interview, Teresa says that Dolores accuses Danielle of starting sh*t, but she’s the one doing it.

Back in New jersey, Joe #2 and Melissa make dinner and talk with the kids. Little Joey says he has three girlfriends, and Joe gives him a high five. He tells Antonia no boyfriends, and questions her until she finally leaves the room. Melissa thinks he’s too strict. In her interview, Melissa says Joe’s and Teresa’s parenting styles are completely different. Joe tells her that God trusted Adam and Eve, and look what happened. Good point.

Siggy is on her way to meet Margaret, when Siggy calls. She tells Siggy about Margaret suggesting a meeting. Siggy is glad she’s not there. She says she doesn’t want to let her temper get the better of her.

Margaret is already at the restaurant. Neither one of them drink, and Margaret says they’re the lucid ones, which is good. She asks why Dolores was upset, and Dolores tells her it’s about her calling Siggy “Soggy.” Margaret says she thought it was funny, and Dolores says poor timing, poor taste. She says if she was introduced to a new crowd, when things are heated wouldn’t be the time for a joke. Margaret says humor diffuses the situation. She thinks Siggy’s behavior isn’t rational, but Dolores disagrees, and Margaret can’t believe Dolores won’t admit Siggy is at fault. In her interview, Dolores confesses Siggy needs hormone therapy, but says Margaret isn’t hearing it from her. If she has an opinion about Siggy, she’ll share it with Siggy, and only her. Dolores tells Margaret that Siggy felt their questioning of her relationship was a personal attack. Margaret says she defended her; she’s close with her ex too. She thinks it should be emulated, and that it’s impressive. Dolores says she wanted a close family for her kids, so Frank would come over every night for dinner. Instead of being invited out with her friends who were couples, she became the babysitter. For years it was her, the kids, and Frank when he had time. In her interview, Margaret is starting to get why Dolores is friends with Siggy. Margaret talks about her own ex, who had three children that she raised. The marriage fell apart when the kids moved away, and when she fell in love with Joe #3, her stepkids stopped talking to her. She says time doesn’t heal all wounds. Dolores says she can’t imagine the hurt, and says Margaret’s feelings go deeper than they gave her credit for.

Teresa says it’s strange to be on a family vacation without Joe #1. The girls need him, and Milania especially misses him. Teresa has one-on-one time with her, and the eat French fries, the universal food. Teresa talks about missing her mother. Milania says she knows how it is; Teresa was gone and they missed her. Teresa hates that she had to leave them “because of the situation her husband put her in.” Milania doesn’t want to talk about it. Teresa says if anything is bothering her to say something, but she says nothing is. In her interview, Teresa wants them to show emotions, not like when she was a kid, and they were told not to cry.

Melissa takes Antonia shopping. She wants Antonia to talk to her about things like crushes. She wonders what she has to do to get her to talk. Antonia says they’re strict. Melissa says she’s not. Antonia tells her that daddy is, and Melissa says he’s old school. She’s been dealing with daddy a long time. She thinks there’s a middle ground between Joe #2 and Teresa. She promises to talk to him.

Teresa does a professional photo shoot with the girls. She says Joe #1 did one for her when she was in the slammer, so she’s returning the favor. Gabriella doesn’t want to do a photo, Teresa’s father makes noises like a dinosaur, and Milania and Audriana act like toddlers. Teresa tells the photographer not to have four kids.

Joe #2 takes Antonia to a trampoline place. Melissa wants him to spend more time with her. She thinks Antonia is terrified of him, but he’s happy to jump around with her to get Melissa off his back. It looks like fun. They do a bunch of flips and somersaults. Joe says when Antonia was born, he gave her all his athletic ability. He tells her about how he loved her from the moment she was born. He says that Melissa thinks she doesn’t talk because he’s strict, but he just wants to protect her. He says if she would talk a little, maybe he wouldn’t be so strict. In his interview, he’s concerned with peer pressure, and reserves his right to lock her in the house. He tells Antonia he won’t be as strict, but she has to promise to be honest if she thinks a boy is cute. He tells her he loves her, and they have a very sweet exchange.

Dolores and Frank meet Siggy and Michael for dinner. Siggy asks Frank how it is being back at home, and if he sleepwalks (wink-wink). Dolores asks how the pellets are. Siggy says she’s sore, but feels energetic and more sexual. Michael says he paid the pellet guy to put in extra. Some gorgeous seafood platters are served. I should have made note of this restaurant. Dolores says Margaret reached out to her, and they met, and tells them how it went. Siggy says Margaret is allowed to get emotional, but makes fun of her crying. Dolores says she was nice to talk to one-on-one, and she’s not mad at her. There’s no reason they can’t talk and be in the same room, but Siggy says it will never happen. Because even with the pellets, she’s an unreasonable jerk.

Siggy says she’s not going to tell Dolores who she can be friends with. Dolores insists that Margaret was very compassionate and vulnerable; her heart broken over the kids. Siggy understands how that can be painful. In her interview, Siggy says there is a heart in there. She can relate on a mother level, and trusts Dolores. She tells Dolores that she makes sense, and it’s time to move on. The four of them toast to Margaret, and giving her a second chance.

Teresa tells her father the last time they were at the beach was before Adriana was born. Her father says the girls are spoiled. She says they’ve been through a lot. He says she has too. Teresa doesn’t want to fight with them. In her interview, she says her parents raised her and Joe #2 differently. All they had to do was look at them, and they peed their pants. She wants balance, and wants them to open up. Her dad says when she asks something of them, they’re supposed to do it. Teresa thinks they wonder why they’ve lost so much – their mom and dad, and then their grandmother. Her father tears up, and says how much he misses her. Teresa says she does too, and wishes she was there. He says maybe she watches them.

In her interview, Teresa says her father is always so macho. Seeing him cry makes it okay to open up, and cry with him. They’re both without their partners, and need to lean on each other. She wishes Joe #1 had been on top of things more; she would have had more time with her mom. She tells her father that Joe had better be a changed person when he gets back. Her father says she has him now, and she kisses the top of his head. She’s happy he’s moved in with them, and he says he’s always there for advice. Teresa thinks they need a man in the house. Maybe he can help with the discipline. He says maybe he should just take off his belt.

Next time, no belts taken off, but Siggy has a retreat, Teresa asks if Dolores is saying Joe #1 cheated, and Margaret gets emotional about the family dynamics.

🌟 On Star, Ayanna’s father met with her. He told her that he discovered Gigi, and she’ll never get credit for it, but he wishes her well. I’m not trusting Brody at all. Star called him a snake when he showed up at their performance, so we’re on the same page there. Simone’s roommate got transferred to another facility for missing curfew. Derek and Alex broke up and got back together again. Alex had an abortion, and poured her heart out to Carlotta in church. Carlotta told her to believe in God; He believes in her.

Take 3 is the new name of the group, but to be honest, I never knew the group name in the first place. Noah’s best friend Lucky, was not so lucky. He got shot by a cop, who thought he had a gun. Simone wanted to forgive Brody, and Star told him if he messes with her sister, she’ll kill him. He believed her. I would too. After the shooting, Ayanna wanted to “feel something,” and decided to feel Benjamin Bratt. While they were feeling each other, Carlotta walked in.

I’m loving Benjamin Bratt, and the relationships between the characters; the acting is superb. The characters behave and react the way real people would, making them believable and relatable. But of course, the highlight for me is always Queen Latifah’s hair. In addition to an attractive dark bob, Carlotta wore some lovely lilac locks tonight. Definitely one of my favorites among her looks so far.

📜 A Bonus Mid-Week Quote

💪 Impossible is just a big word thrown around by small men who find it easier to live in the world they’ve been given, than to explore the power they have to change it. Impossible is not a fact. It’s an opinion. Impossible is not a declaration. It’s a dare. Impossible is potential. Impossible is temporary. Impossible is nothing.Muhammad Ali

💥 Brush with Greatness…

😍 I saw him standing in an elevator once at a hotel I worked in. He smiled at me. He was gorgeous.

Muhammad Ali

MuhammadAli2

November 7, 2017 – Amy Finds Her Brother, Larry Has a Shady Past & a Charter at the Dock

Standard

What I Watched Today

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

 

 

General Hospital

Nathan and Maxie are doing a home photo shoot. Maxie reminds the photographer that the article is about her. He wonders who the person is who hasn’t smiled since he got there. Maxie tells him it’s her assistant and she’s thrilled to be there. Amy says, she’s thrilled.

Monica asks Finn if he can stay later. A John Doe was brought in with an opioid overdose and also has a serious infection.

Valentin tells Anna that he’s past needing to prove himself to her. Anna says even though he’s clean, it obviously struck a nerve. He says he looks at the world through the eyes of a father now, and doesn’t want the drugs in his community. Anna says he should tell Cassandra that he’s taking her up on her offer, and he can be a spy for her. He says, no way in hell.

Nina and Charlotte have ice cream at the MetroCourt after seeing Disney on Ice. Charlotte asks if she could be figure skater, and Nina says she can be anything she wants. She had thought Charlotte wanted to be a vet, but she wants to be both. Nina tells her she wanted to be a ballerina and on an equestrian tea when she was younger. Charlotte asks if she did, and Nina says definitely not, but her life turned out better than she imagined, now that she has someone like Charlotte in it. She tells Charlotte that she loves her, and Charlotte says she loves Nina too. Charlotte thanks her, and says she’s wonderful. Nina says she wasn’t trying to be; she just wanted Charlotte to have fun. Charlotte says that’s what makes her wonderful.

Cassandra and her companion enter the restaurant. Cassandra wants something exotic, like a strawberry daiquiri. Her companion says she’s allergic, but she tells him Finn told her that she’s not, so she’s going for it. She sees Nina and Charlotte. She calls them the apples of Valentin’s eye, and thinks she needs to take it up a notch.

Alexis goes to Pentenville to visit Julian, who doesn’t look very beat up, but is sporting a fresh haircut. He asks why she’s there, and she asks why this happened to him.

Finn looks at John Doe’s chart and says he’s close to respiratory failure, and must have been ignoring his condition. Monica tells him to find the right protocol.

Cassandra pretends to trip over a shoe-box with skates near Charlotte’s chair. She asks if Charlotte is taking skating lessons, but Charlotte says she’s not supposed to talk to strangers. Cassandra says she’s obviously been raised right, and is sorry for interrupting. Charlotte tells her that she took skating last winter, but she’s taking ballet now. Cassandra suggests she take skating as well; it will improve her ballet skills and vice versa. She tells Charlotte that she did, sometimes having both lessons in the same day. She says she even competed, but it was nothing professional; she wasn’t very good. Nina asks her to join them, and Cassandra says she’d like to, since her dinner companion hasn’t arrived. Her real companion takes photos with his phone from across the room.

Julian tells Alexis it was nothing and he’s fine. She says he’s obviously not fine, and asks if he was targeted. He surprised to see her, and thinks Scotty must have told her about it. He says they both agreed he belonged in there. She asks if he started it, or was provoked or ambushed, and he tells her to let it go. He didn’t start a fight, not the way she means, but they both know enough about the criminal justice system to know bad things happen. She asks if he can’t buy protection, and he says sometimes that works, but it doesn’t mean he won’t be a target. She asks if another crime family is after him, and doesn’t think he’s telling the whole story.

The photographer finishes the shoot, saying Nina will love it and he’ll send the proofs tonight. When he’s gone, Amy says she didn’t need to be there. She’s supposed to write the article, not watch Maxie pose. She has to get to work, and could have used more notice. Maxie asks if she means like the notice Maxie was given when they decided to go behind her back. Amy tells her not much subterfuge was needed, since she was living on the other side of the country. She says they can still be exposed. Maxie tells her that Nina demanded an exclusive, and this is as exclusive as it gets. When the readers see how blissfully happy she and Nathan are, they’ll stop trolling her on Twitter. Amy says she’s sorry Maxie is having a hard time, and that she thought Nathan was cheating, but she can’t reach her brother. She could have been making calls instead of watching Maxie put on stupid sexy outfit after stupid sexy outfit. Maxie says she can write it, and Amy can leave. Nathan tells Maxie to take this with love, but Amy isn’t going anywhere.

Cassandra talks about her first double-axel. She says it was in a local competition, but she felt like she was in the Olympics. Alas, a knee injury ended her career. She encourages Charlotte again to take both skating and ballet, saying both skills will improve. She tells Charlotte that if she masters the basics, she can do anything. Charlotte says that’s what her papa tells her. Cassandra says a man after her own heart, and asks where he is tonight.

Valentin tells Anna that she doesn’t know what Cassandra is capable of. Anna says the WSB has extensive intel on her. Valentin says she’s become a recluse, and also a hypochondriac, but has mostly eliminated those who have gone against her. Anna says she hasn’t eliminated him, whether it’s because he’s too formidable or she wants him for something, and he’s in a perfect position to gain access to her. Valentin says if she becomes motivated to act, she also becomes very dangerous.

Julian tells Alexis that he’s stopped trying to get her to trust or love him. In the past, he badly betrayed her trust, and he wants to make it right, but he doesn’t want her here. He thinks it’s probably part of Scotty’s stupid plan. He doesn’t concern her anymore, but wonders if there’s another reason she’s there. Alexis tells him there’s been a development that he has a right to know, and she might as well be the one to tell him.

Maxie types, and Amy laughs at what she’s writing. She says Maxie is giving too much background; that’s why she’s here. Nathan says that too many details could trip them up later. Amy says it might prompt too many fan questions, and Mac is one of Man Landers’s biggest fans. Maxie says Amy barely said anything, and she’s just writing answers to the questions fans want to know, like what to give when flowers aren’t enough? Amy says they don’t really ask things like that, and comes up with something else, conferring with Nathan. Maxie says enough; stop right now. She asks whose article is this anyway?

Alexis asks if Julian has had access to newspapers or the internet in the past week, but he says he’s been in the infirmary. She says that Jason bought Derek Wells Media. Julian thought it would be a good way to cut ties, but realizes it looks like a mobster transfer of power. Jason assured him he has nothing to do with the mob, and he’s just setting something up for Sam and his children. Alexis says Sam’s husband might not be Jason after all.

Finn says doctor stuff, and tells Monica they should see the results soon. He wants to monitor the patient. She says a nurse can call him if there are any changes. He says that she knows about his own struggle, and he didn’t even connect the dots between himself and the opioid epidemic. He says there’s an artificial wall between doctors and patients, and he was reminded why he went to medical school in the first place. It’s all related.

Nina tells Cassandra that her husband has lot meetings, sarcastically adding that she’s sure he’s heartbroken about missing the ice show. Cassandra says he missed the opportunity to spend time with Charlotte, but Nina says don’t worry they’ll tell him all about Disney on Ice. Cassandra thinks he’ll remember the remember conversation for a long time.

Anna says Valentin is a lot of things, some of which she despises, but she never took him for a coward. He says never trouble trouble until trouble troubles you. He believes in letting sleeping dogs lie when family is involved. I never took him for a dude who spouts clichés. Anna says his family can be safeguarded. He tells her she’s not hearing him. He’s not going to help, and if she doesn’t back off, he’ll blow her investigation.

Nathan tells Maxie it’s not her article, but she says the fans want to know about Man Landers and his wife. He says Nina will love it, and shows her some pictures the photographer sent. Amy says that’s it; ten questions, and she has time to call Chet on the way to her real job. Maxie says he’s the reason they’re keeping the secret, so if it’s about anyone, it’s her brother. Nathan thanks her, and Amy leaves. He says it’s done, and Maxie will look so gorgeous, he’ll have to fight the guys off. He goes to take a shower, and Maxie looks at what Amy wrote. She’s like, no, this won’t do, and says she needs to punch it up a little.

Julian asks Alexis how that’s possible. She says that’s what they’re trying to figure out, and she has no idea. He asks if Sam is okay, and she says, physically, yes. Real Jason saved her from drowning. Julian asks how Sam is able to wrap her head around any of it, and how is she coping after finding out the man who’s her husband could be someone else? Alexis doesn’t want to talk about Sam, thinking she wouldn’t appreciate it. She says if Sam’s husband isn’t Jason, he’ll have to sort out the legality regarding the company. She tells him be careful in there.

Cassandra says she’s taken up enough time; maybe they could all go skating this winter. She suggests they take a selfie before she leaves. She takes the photo, and they exchange numbers. She says they should have lunch some time. Charlotte tells her that she liked her stories, and Cassandra thanks her for the conversation. She’s glad they crossed paths, and thinks they’re going to be good friends.

Valentin tells Anna the conversation is over She says this has to be stopped, and he says it won’t be if Cassandra covers her tracks. She’ll be gone like the wind, and go underground. If he tells her about the investigation, they’ll have nothing, and never see her again. Anna says the drugs have killed more people than HIV at the height of the epidemic. Valentin wants Anna to bring Cassandra down, but not implicate him. If she does, she’ll have nothing.

Nathan asks Maxie why she didn’t join him, and she says she was busy. He asks if she’s still mad, and she says no, everything is perfect – now. She used her professional judgement to tweak what Amy wrote. He looks at it, and says she basically put back her made-up story about how she discovered Man Landers. Maxie says it was dry, and needed a personal aspect. He says it’s supposed to be a puff piece, and she says it is – a look inside the life of Man Landers. Nathan says it would be if he was Man Landers. The fewer details, the better. Maxie wants to know why he keeps defending Amy. He says he’s not; that’s how he feels. She tells him it’s duly noted, but what she wrote is what’s going to press.

Monica asks Finn if there’s any news, but he says they need to know who he is, and his medical history. Monica says he’s obviously had several surgeries, and she thinks he’s a veteran. Finn says the guy has been through hell, and Monica says so has Finn, but he still functions even with his battle. She doesn’t think John Doe would have lived If Finn hadn’t stayed. He says that’s his job, but she says he needs relaxation too. Finn says he just had time off, but she says it didn’t sound like much of a vacation. He says it wasn’t really.

Cassandra says she’ll be in touch. Nina and Charlotte leave, and Cassandra asks her companion if he got what she wanted. He tells her that he got lots of photos, and thinks the selfie was genius. She tells him she thought about the value of Valentin discovering them together, but given his territorial behavior and temper, it’s a good thing they just left. She says she just texted him, and voila! here he is.

Valentin tells her that he’s not staying, and asks why she wanted to meet. She says she has a lovely surprise to share. He asks why would he care? She tells him that she met his wife and daughter, and shows him the pictures. She says they’re both delights, and they hit it off, but she wonders about Charlotte. Nina is a terrific stepmother, and Charlotte adores both her and her papa. Valentin asks what the point is, and Cassandra says she was wondering how Charlotte would feel about her papa if she discovered what he did with and to Claudette.

Julian hangs up the phone. On his way out, a big dude pushes him out of the way. Julian and Alexis look at each other.

Nathan tells Maxie to use Amy’s draft; it’s what Nina wanted. Maxie accuses him of stopping her from putting herself in, and he says it’s not for the reason she thinks. There’s still a chance this could blow up in their faces. They committed fraud, and she’d be committing it too. She loves that he’s trying to protect her, but says no one reads articles in Crimson; they just look at the fashion. She just sent it to the publishing team. Their fate is sealed.

At the hospital, Deanna tells Amy that Finn wants to know if there are any changes at any time with John Doe. Amy takes his chart, and goes into the room. She says, omg, Chet. It’s her brother. Why I didn’t put two and two together right away with this one, I’ll never know. I’m slipping.

Monica says it’s been a long night; she’s heading out. Finn wants to see if John Doe’s numbers improve. Monica says the synthetic opioids snuck up on them. They’re cheap and deadly, and they have to find a way to cut off the supply. Finn would like to see it happen too.

On the phone, Anna says the case isn’t working out, and she has to rethink the priorities for the WSB, and her too. She doesn’t give up. One way or other, she’ll get Cassandra.

Cassandra tell Valentin that his wife is delightful, and his child is scrumptious. She understands why he loves them, and thinks they’re a good influence on him. She can’t imagine what would happen were he to lose them – for whatever reason. She says, so, about her operation… Valentin says he’s in’

Alexis bangs on the window. The guard takes Julian, and the thug looks at Alexis.

Tomorrow, Valentin tells Anna that he’ll help her, Michael says it’s over with Nelle, and Sonny asks Klein who gave him the order.

If Loving You is Wrong

When we last left, Eddie busted in while Esperanza and Steven were getting busy.

Eddie attacks Steven, and they fight. Esperanza yells for them to stop. Lushion comes in, and breaks it up. He tells Eddie to calm down and asks what’s going on. Can’t he tell? He tells Eddie to get out. Eddie says, me and you, to Steven, and leaves. Lushion asks what’s going on, and where are Steven’s clothes?

Steven says, sorry, and Esperanza tells him to get out; the both of them, out now. Steven and Lushion leave, with Steven half-dressed. Lushion asks if he’s crazy. Steven says he was fixing the wall, spilled paint on himself, and Esperanza offered to wash his clothes. It just happened. Lushion tells him to get in the car.

Ian calls Marcie at work; he wants to talk about the house. He asks a question about the vents, and she says she’ll call the realtor. He wants to see the house again, and asks if they can meet later; he has to meet a client across the street. She asks who, but he’s not at liberty to say. She tries to get information, but he tells her not to do this to him. She asks if it’s Randal, and he says, who? She tells him that Randal is her ex. He asks if Randal knows Larry, and she says they were college roommates. Ian says he wouldn’t represent that guy for anything. He hopes the divorce is over with soon.

Brad pours some wine for him and Alex. The baby is having a nap, so it must be wine o’clock. Brad asks what the doctor said, and Alex says the baby is doing well, but he meant the DNA test. Alex tells him the doctor switched it. He says she rewound their lives. He can’t believe it, and Alex says she was shocked. Brad tells her that they won’t have to deal with Randal until the baby gets older. Alex tells him they’ll cross that bridge when they come to it, but for now, they’re good. Alex is glad Brad is back, and he’s glad to be home. Could we please name this baby? Please? We see that the camera light is blinking. Uh-oh. Even though Brad tore it down, wouldn’t there still be a companion piece inside Randal’s house?

Here’s what I’m thinking. Obviously, the doctor didn’t switch the tests, but obviously the baby is Black. If Alex isn’t lying about being with anyone else, that means somewhere along the line there are Black relatives. It would make sense if they were on her side, since her parents were so radically racist. Maybe Rusty wasn’t her real father?

Natalie tells Kelly the house looks good; Kelly says it looks better. She thanks Natalie for everything, even helping her with the gun. Natalie says they need to talk about that. Kelly says she’s getting rid of it, but the police have it right now. She can’t believe Justice touched it. She wants to punish him, but he’s going through so much. Travis is messing with her child, and she can’t let him do that. Natalie says it’s getting out of hand, and Kelly says she just wants to go on with her life, but he won’t let her. She’s tried everything, and can’t keep dealing with this.

There’s a knock at the door. It’s Ian. Kelly asks if the police took the gun, and he says they did. Natalie and Kelly are relieved. Natalie asks if it had a serial number. Out of Ian’s earshot, Kelly asks Natalie if that girl sold her an illegal gun, but Natalie says no, she was just asking.

Outside, Natalie calls Lushion. She tells him the police took Kelly’s gun. She asks if it having a serial number means it’s legit. He says it could have been stolen, and she asks him to find out. He chastises Natalie for steering Kelly that way in the first place. She asks him to just find out about the number.

Natalie visits Alex and Brad. She wants to talk to Alex, but Brad needs to hear this too. She asks if it’s Lushion’s baby, and if Alex is sure. Alex says she’s never had anything going on with Lushion. Natalie wonders where it’s coming from then. Alex says she’s sorry, but she was in a bind. All she said was that Randal wasn’t the father, and Natalie asks why Lushion is involved. Alex says it was Randal’s idea. Natalie wonders why the test didn’t match Randal’s, and Brad says a doctor friend helped them out. Natalie seems to accept that, and he says he believes Alex. Natalie thanks them.

When she’s gone, Alex asks if Brad thought that was a good idea. What if she tells someone? He says it’s not good either way. He says she hates Randal as much as they do. Alex says if she flies off the handle, she might open her mouth. Brad doesn’t think so, and Alex hopes he’s right.

Ian tells Kelly they’ve been watching Travis, and all he ever does is go to church and back home, and spends time with his fiancé. She says he has time to harass her with hang-up calls. Ian suggests they get the phone records and texts. He asks if she’s positive Justice had nothing to do with it, and she’s surprised he’s even asking. He says he can talk to the DA and see if Travis will come in. Kelly is shocked they have to play nice with him, and Ian tells her to be patient. They’ll get him. She asks when she can get her gun back, but he says it’s in evidence. She tells him she needs protection. He says he’ll see what he can do, but tells her to start learning how to use it and get a safe.

Marcie pulls up just as Ian is getting to the house. The vents are acceptable. She says the owners will cover the closing costs if he moves up the date. He says as long as the inspections are good, he’s fine with that. She knows the company, and says she’ll have them put a rush on it. She goes back outside while he looks around again. Randal pulls up. Marcie starts laughing, and he says they’ll see who’s laughing soon. She thinks she’s slick, and thinks Larry will be on her side. She tells Randal to sign the papers. He tells her no, and she says she gave him everything, just let her out. He says no, and she calls him an ass. Ian comes out, and asks if she’s okay. Randal asks if Ian is screwing his wife. Ian wants Marcie to look at the kitchen, and Randal suggests she show him the bedroom too.

Marcie apologizes, and Ian asks if she’s sure she’s okay. She says she’s used to it. He asks if Larry is repping her, and what he’s doing to get it over with. She says he’s working on it, but Ian doesn’t like it. She doesn’t want to talk about it, and asks if he saw what he wanted to with the house. He’s good, and says no second thoughts. He tells her to take him to dinner to celebrate. She says as long as he’s paying. He tells her she’s making the commission, but she says he’s a gentleman. He says so he’s been told, and agrees.

Randal arrives at the bar, and sees Larry talking to a couple. Randal tells them not to believe anything he says, and he and Larry move to another table. Larry didn’t think he was coming, and Randal says he almost didn’t. Larry asks why he decided to come, and Randal says because Larry is buying; he owes him from last time. Randal orders the most expensive cognac. He asks if Larry is representing Marcie. Larry says he’s friends with both of them. Randal says Larry knows him better, and Marcie doesn’t know much about Larry. He thinks Larry wants to determine how angry he is, but Larry says he invited him out because they’re friends. Randal tells Larry that he can see right through him, and Larry’s secret is safe with him. He asks why Larry agreed to rep Marcie when Randal has this on him. Larry says he was looking out for the both of them. Randal says she knows nothing about their past, and Larry asks if he’s sure.

Larry wants to be sure Marcie isn’t playing him. He thought it was strange that she came to him. Randal says she’s broke; she had to come to him. He asks if he can go now, but Larry wants to catch up. He says his wife and kids are out of town, and it’s hard being alone. Randal is like, what? and he says, sorry. Randal mentions the bitch next door, and Larry says Marcie told him he had an affair with a neighbor and there’s a baby. Randal asks if Marcie told him about her sleeping with the neighbor’s husband, and them moving in together. He says the best part is the kid isn’t even his. Larry’s mind is blown. Randal says every time he sees a Black man in the neighborhood, he asks if they know her. Larry says a married woman who lied to her husband, then lied to him, and he’s upset? It doesn’t make sense. Randal says he didn’t know she’d been with another Black man. Larry says he can’t go around asking all of them if they know her. Randal starts laughing, and says he set up a camera, and every time someone comes to her door, he gets an alert. Larry says it’s unhealthy, and Randal says he knows. He thinks Randal should reevaluate the situation. Randal says Larry is judging him, but Larry says he’s just worried. He tells Larry to shut his ass up, and orders another drink. Larry says he’s driving, and Randal says he is too. He says he wants to sue Brad’s ass after he knocked him off the ladder. Larry says that’s easy stuff. He suggests they buy drinks for the couple he was talking with. They sit with them, and Larry introduces Randal. Weird.

Esperanza goes to Natalie’s house. Natalie asks what’s wrong. Esperanza doesn’t know what she’s going to do with Eddie. He just tore her house apart while he was fighting with Steven. She says Steven was helping her fix some bullet holes. Natalie is like, what? Esperanza explains how she shot at Eddie to get him out of the house. Of course he came back, and saw her and Steven having amazing sex. She doesn’t know how it happened. Natalie only focuses on the word amazing. Esperanza says Steven’s body is insane, he was there, and it’s been a long time. Natalie pours some wine. She keeps laughing, and Esperanza says it’s not that funny. Natalie asks if she likes him. Esperanza says she was angry with Eddie and he was there at the right time. He’s been flirting with her for months, and she’s been ignoring him. Natalie says she created a monster with Eddie. She asks what Steven says, and Esperanza tells her that she has to call him; she took advantage of him. Natalie says she doubts Steven feels that way. She asks if he was better than Eddie, and Esperanza says, much.

Lushion comes home, and Esperanza jets. Natalie wonders why Esperanza left when she saw Lushion. She says she knows about Esperanza and Steven, but Lushion says that’s not important right now. He needs to talk to Kelly. The gun was reported stolen two months ago, and this is going to be bad for her. It was reported stolen from Ramsay.

Next time, Lushion says the DA will be all over this, Steven checks on Esperanza, and Brad tells Eddie that he doesn’t understand love. One more episode before the season finale.

Below Deck

EJ says he doesn’t want the deck getting dirty from feet. He tells us one drunk Nico is bad, and now he has two – Nico and his brother. He says he needs to be the bigger person. In his interview, Nico calls him a d*ck, saying he’s holding back because EJ is his boss, but he still thinks he should be bosun. Brother Josh jets. EJ is at his wits end.

Kate goes over the supplies. EJ meets with the captain, who’s concerned about the weather. The worst thing you can have happen is not being able to get off the dock. EJ says he’s enjoyed working for him, and is appreciative to be here. He thinks there’s been an improvement, but his boat is arriving soon. He can only stay through the next charter. Captain Lee isn’t too sure Nico is up for the job, but he has to work with the cards he’s been dealt.

Time for the preference sheet meeting. Jason, the primary, is the CEO of a media company that works with outdoor advertising. His wife and some good friends are coming along. One of the friends is Eden Alpert, daughter of jazz musician Herb Alpert, and also a restaurant owner. They’re open to anything, and not picky, but want to be impressed. Jason is having a birthday, so a dinner is required, and they also want an 80s theme party. Kate asks about the weather, but the captain doesn’t know yet. They need a definite plan B.

Kate tells Jen the crew notices, and resents it, if she sneaks breaks. In her interview, Jen says the cleaning and laundry never ends; it’s a vicious cycle. Wait until she owns a house. The crew readies the boat. The captain confirms they’re not leaving the dock, and won’t be leaving anytime soon. Because of the wind and waves, they can’t use the water toys or tender either.

Nico calls for help out on the tender. He needs to go to the hospital now. Baker tells the captain that Nico hurt his arm. Nico says he hit his elbow, and now can’t move his fingers. The captain thinks it’s nerve damage. He tells us just when think it couldn’t get worse. He’s down a man, is losing a bosun, and the weather is a sh*t sandwich. Kate asks what’s going on, and Captain Lee says he sent Nico to the hospital to get checked out. EJ gives Baker some tasks, feeling awkward because he likes her and he’s her boss.

Nico comes back wearing a sling; he pinched a nerve. He tells the captain, and Captain Lee says he’s as useful as a one-legged man in an ass kicking contest. This reminds me of the time my sister worked as an insurance adjuster. They were swamped at the office, and a co-worker asked how she was doing. She said she was “as busy as a one-armed paperhanger,” and turned around to see it was a co-worker who only had one arm. He told her he was as busy as a one-armed insurance agent. BA-DUM-CHH! Captain Lee tells Nico to start his meds and get better.

The guests arrive. EJ wonders if Nico will make it through the charter. The captain does his welcome spiel, and says the wind is a problem, and due to safety issues, they can’t leave yet. He points out Nico’s sling, and says that was a direct result. In her interview, Kate says this means the interior will be doing all the work, while the deckhands relax. The guests immediately start complaining that it sucks, and one asks if they’ll be stuck tomorrow too. Captain Lee doesn’t know, and Kate gives the tour. Jason says it’s not the worst place to be stuck. It would be fine with me. I’d eat, drink, and be merry. Rinse and repeat.

Guest Charlie, who started the bitchfest, says they could have gotten hotel rooms and saved a load of money. Eden wants to see kitchen, and tells Matt to watch out, reminding him that she’s a restaurant owner. Grumpy Charlie asks if they can go out on deck, but mellows when he runs into Bruno. He tells Bruno that he has beautiful eyes and makes small talk. Kate says it’s a challenge, and Bruno tells her they’re complaining already. If they need anything, just communicate. In her interview, Kate thinks Bruno is confused, but if he wants to be a stew, he can start cleaning toilets.

Matt says it’s massive amount of pressure on the crew when they can’t get off the dock. They have to make the guests forget about being there. Kate says it’s hard to tell if the guests are nice or fake nice, since they’re from Los Angeles. EJ tells them that they can use the jet skis and hoverboards, and there are beaches around if they want to go. Bruno thinks the stews don’t have pride in what they’re doing, and he’ll show them how to do their job. Kate says he should think about going to the interior side.

The guests use the jet skis, and a picnic is prepared on the beach. Honestly, this would be a great vacation for me. Although I’d be happy with the hotel on the boardwalk here too. Kate wonders what’s taking so long, because no one said anything about a beach picnic; the deckhands just did it. Jen welcomes the guests back with drinks. Kate says guests always want the crew involved with theme parties, and if you have to wear a mustache or an afro, that’s what you do.

Jen tells Kate that Bruno is being bitchy, but Kate tells her to let him shine. The guests all dress up, but this looks more 60s to me. Pop Rocks are passed out, and an alternative use is suggested. I’m sure you can google it. It’s fish for dinner, and Eden whines about having fish more than once in one day. Kate says if she’d like something else, they can accommodate her, but she pouts and says she’s done with food anyway. Kate tells Matt enough fish. In his interview, he says unless it’s specific on the preference sheet, they should relax. He asks if he should make something else, and Kate says they’re happy with themselves and life, and don’t need more food right now.

Bri periodically checks on Nico. The guests eat something off of sticks, and do shots. They don’t fall out that late though, about 1:30. Geez, I stay up later on karaoke night. The captain visits Nico, and tells him nerves regenerate quickly. He sees Bri bringing Nico a dinner tray, and says he’ll smack his elbow to get treated like this.

Captain Lee asks if any guests want to tag along on a weather check. In his interview, he says he’s never spent an entire charter on deck. The charter guests always think they’re lying, so he wants to give them the ride of life. Two guys join him, and it’s pretty rough. The captain asks if they’ve seen enough, and they tell him yes; the jokes on them. In his interview, Captain Lee says a small apart of him was enjoying the hell out of it. Grumpy Charlie says he had a dream that he and Bruno got married, and lived in Portugal.

One of the guests who went with the captain tells them that the swells were nine feet felt, and they agree it’s unsafe. One of the women is waiting on a chai latte with soy milk. Jen is lollygagging in the kitchen, and Kate tells her to go now. She tells the guests she has some suggestions for the day. There’s a great place to go shopping on shore, and they’re close to a man-made reef where they can go exploring. It has fish and a sunken helicopter. Jen says Kate is stressing her out. In her interview, Kate says Jen was making the latte the way she does her hair. It took forever, an still looked like sh*t.

The captain calls Kate, EJ, and Matt to the bridge, and tells them to do whatever they can. Kate says they’re having a luau, and she’s ordered hula dancers. Captain Lee says how well they distract the guests can make a difference in the tip. Nico is pissed off and grumpy. He has no control over anything; it’s EJ’s deck. Kate tells the stews that when she gets back, they’ll discuss breaks. She leaves with the guests, one of them noting it’s Kate plus eight.

Matt has never done a luau, and isn’t himself right now. He feels like the world’s largest punching bag. The guests go to the reef, and do stuff underwater, while Kate serves drinks to the one woman who’s a party pooper. The reef is beyond cool. Kate texts the captain, asking if he’s ready for tonight, and he wonders what that means.

EJ explains to Baker that he’s going to be leaving, but asks her not to tell the others yet. She says it’s a bummer. Jen is having lunch in the crew mess. Bri radios her, but she keeps talking and eating. Bri finally goes to the mess, and asks if she can eat more and talk less. Jen whines that she’s entitled to eat the rest of her food, and Bri needs to shut up. Bri says she’s following Kates rules, and Jen accuses Bri of attacking her, when she did nothing of the kind. When they cross paths afterward, Jen says she has nothing to say to Bri.

Bruno helps Matt, making him a happy guy. They make a birthday cake. EJ wishes he had more time with Baker. He feels there are still chapters to be written. Please. The guests get back. Kate wonders what the stews were doing, since the laundry isn’t done and there are dishes in the sink. Bruno says there was some kind of tiff because one took a longer lunch than the other. Kate says apparently, they both took six hour lunches. She tells Bri about the laundry, and Bri says she’s mad at the wrong stew.

EJ thinks the deck crew has graduated to a higher level, and will be successful the rest of the season. Jen relays the dinner menu to the guests. Kate talks to her, and she acts like Bri was some kind of dictator who wouldn’t let her eat. Kate wants to know what happened the whole five hours. In her interview, she says Jen loves extra break time, and is competitive with Bri. She’s lying. Kate asks what time the captain is putting on his royal Hawaiian outfit. He says he’s not changing, and she says, yes he is. She got him an outfit. Bruno does some decorating. He wonders how the boat could be empty all day, and nothing done. Nico suggests he and Bri go to the hotel in town during their off-time. Kate asks Bri about what happened, and Bri says she felt she had to say something to Jen, but doesn’t think Jen ever came back from lunch.

Everyone gets dressed up for the luau in grass skirts and such. Jen rolls her eyes at whatever Bri says. Bri thinks her behavior in front of guests is unprofessional, and she plays the victim. Bruno says Charlie seems to have crush on him, and it’s fun to play along. He tells Matt that nothing has been set up outside. Kate asks Bruno how he feels, and he says the buffet looks terrible. She says he should tell the captain what he would do differently. He wants to know.

Bruno gets to the bridge and Captain Lee is in a whole get-up, with a floral headpiece, grass skirt, and a pineapple on the end of a staff. I guess he’s a Hawaiian chieftain. Bruno says he nailed it. In her interview, Kate remembers when she was green and knew everything. She was an idiot. Bri leads the guests upstairs, and Captain Lee tells them to be seated. He introduces himself as Don Ho’s brother, Ass. He does an entire riff, and says by the power invested in him by some nonsense, it’s officially Jason Swing Day, let the games begin. The hula dancers come out and do their thing. The captain says he’s outside his comfort zone, but contributing. If crew does it, he has to step up to the plate and sacrifice some dignity. Bruno admits Kate knows a lot, and he should be more humble. Captain Lee wants a raise.

Jen asks if she can have dinner, and Kate asks if she had lunch. Kate didn’t. Kate says she’s going to be the early girl, so Bri and Jen are going to do the clean-up work. She leaves written instructions so there’s no confusion. In her interview, she says she’s done all kinds of managing, and it’s time for good, old-fashioned shut-up and work. Jen complains that Kate has issues, and she hates life right now. She calls Kate a miserable, old bitch.

As Captain Lee would say, suck it up, buttercup.

Next time, Eden complains about the food, the captain is concerned about Bruno in the galley, the charter is a girlfriends’ trip, a new deckhand arrives, and Captain Lee’s wife, Maryann, visits.

CanYouSeeFriday

 

November 3, 2017 – Jason Fills in the Gaps, From Beignets to a Truck & Frankenzombies

Standard

What I Watched Today

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

 

 

General Hospital

Ava sees Griff at the hospital. He asks if they have plans, but she’s there for a follow-up. She tells him everything is fine, and they were actually impressed. Too bad the doctors in Russia didn’t finish what they started. She says what you see is what you get, and Griff tells her what he sees is beautiful. It’s bad enough they constantly hand each other cups of fresh empty from Perks, but now I’m expected not to notice Ava is anything but gorgeous.

At the MetroCourt, Diane tells Sonny that Real Jason is being held as John Doe. Sonny appreciates the irony. Diane hasn’t seen his face yet, but understands that he and Carly want to believe he’s Jason. As his attorney, she has to raise the idea they might be being played.

Alexis visits Sam. Other Jason says she’s fine, but let her sleep. Alexis asks who rescued Sam, and Sam, now awake, says the man said he’s Jason.

Real Jason is at the station. Curtis sees him, and says the rumors are true. Jordan apologizes; they had lunch plans and she forgot to cancel. Curtis says he’s only seen a few pictures, but dude is a dead ringer for Jason. Jordan says all parties involved are as much in the dark as they are. Scotty blows in, and asks to be pointed in the direction of the poor soul who needs his expertise. Jordan says he’s waiting for Diane. He sees Real Jason, and says, omg.

Elizabeth tells Franco it makes sense now. He knew there was more to the story, and knew Betsy was lying. He says there was a twin, and he knows what happened to him.

Ava tells Griff to stop saying that; she might start to believe him. Not everyone can see past her scars. She’s starting to meet with new clients, and aesthetics come into play, especially in the art world. I dunno. A scar might be an asset. The art world is pretty weird. Griff thinks they should celebrate her first show. Going after a client is a huge deal, and he won’t take no for an answer.

Sam asks where Danny is, and Other Jason tells her he’s at the Quartermaines. Alexis says they can talk childcare later; how is she feeling? Sam says she’s in one piece. Alexis wonders what happened to taking it easy. Other Jason says there’s a man in town with his old face. Alexis says she heard he rescued Sam, and they owe him a debt of gratitude. Other Jason says he’s an impostor, and he’s at the station now.

Jordan tells Scotty that dude is calling himself Jason Morgan. Scotty suddenly has to go. Jordan tells Curtis that she has to postpone tonight, but he understands. He has a lot going on too. He says they’ll talk later. When he leaves, Real Jason comes out.

Elizabeth tells Franco it’s not their secret to keep. Franco says there are no answers yet. He takes a paper out of his pocket and hands it to her, saying Jason’s twin is dead. Quit confusing me.

Sonny tells Diane that when she sees him, she’ll know the truth. She says Sam’s husband had that face too, and has a DNA test to back it up. Sonny says he’s not Jason; Jason is the guy at the station. Diane tells Sonny that according to Carly, he’s not keen on being released. For some reason, he wants to stay in lock-up.

A guard puts Real Jason in a cell, noting he has experience. When the guard is gone, Real Jason sees Klein, and says they finally have a chance to talk.

Franco shows Elizabeth the fake death certificate. She notices the name is Moore. Franco tells her that’s why he couldn’t find it, but he followed a hunch and a friend helped. Whoever the stranger is, he can’t be Jason’s twin. Elizabeth asks how he can be sure; documents can be faked.  He says that’s not Betsy’s style. Elizabeth thinks they should give Jason as much info as they can to help him figure out what’s going on.

Alexis asks why Real Jason is in jail. Other Jason explains that when he saw Franco, he beat the crap out of him; clearly, he’s done his research and sticking to the act. Other Jason leaves to talk to Epiphany about Sam’s release. Alexis asks what Sam thinks.

Real Jason tells Klein that he’s lucky Sam survived or he’d kill him. Klein says she was only a diversion, a way to lure him to the docks; he had no intent to harm her. Real Jason points out that he threw her in the water, but Klein assumed he’d save her. One thing he’s learned about Real Jason is that he’s extremely capable. Real Jason asks how long he was at the clinic, and Klein tells him long enough to dismantle the operation. Real Jason asks who was paying Klein to keep him there?

Diane wonders why Real Jason would choose lock-up, but Sonny says she’d have to ask him. She says the attack on Franco was brutal and unprovoked. Sonny doesn’t think that sounds like Jason, but Diane says he’d have every reason to want Franco dead. Sonny suggests Franco will finally pay, but she tells him one step at a time. Sonny tells Diane to call him when she admits he’s Jason.

Griff and Ava come into the restaurant. Griff has to return call, and Ava goes to the bar. She got a new hair color with her new face, and she’s a strawberry blonde now. Sonny approaches her. She asks what he wants, and he says answers about Jason.

Sonny says she met him in the Russian clinic, and Ava says he was referred to as Patient 6. Sonny wants to know who was holding him, but Ava tells him that she only dealt with the doctors and staff. Griff asks what going on, and she says they were chatting about the clinic. She tells Sonny that she heard Klein on the phone, warning someone that Patient 6 was getting better. She has no idea who he was talking to though. Sonny asks if she’s sure, or is she lying to cover her part in it?

Klein tells Real Jason that the client wanted to remain anonymous. The only contact was by phone or email. They wanted Real Jason sedated, healthy and secure, and no questions asked. Jordan comes in with Diane. She sees Real Jason, and says my, my. He tells her, hello, Diane, and she guesses they have a lot to catch up on.

Curtis sees Other Jason. Other Jason assumes he heard what happened at the launch party. Curtis heard enough, and thinks Real Jason must be a con man, an enemy getting in his head. Other Jason says it’s definitely working. He’s got the people closest to him believing. Not Sam, but Sonny and Carly. He says it’s hard to explain. He doesn’t know what to think, but needs to figure out who he is. Curtis tells him to stay and keep an eye on Sam. He’s not sure Other Jason can be objective anyway. Other Jason says that’s why he called Curtis. He says the guy has no record on file at all. Curtis isn’t sure where to start, and Other Jason tells him to start with Franco.

Franco tells Elizabeth the information won’t help; it will just throw him off the scent. Elizabeth tells him that she’s kept things to herself over the years, and it was a huge mistake. Franco says it won’t be forever. When it’s sorted out, then they talk to people. They don’t want to give the mystery guy any more ammunition to disrupt Jason’s life more than he already has. Scotty interrupts, and practically strong arms Franco away

Alexis asks what Sam remembers. Sam tells her that she was at the MetroCourt, when a guy stuck a needle in her arm. Everything got hazy, and there was a crash from the ceiling and guy. She doesn’t remember what happened after that, then she was thrown into water. It was cold, and she thinks she got stuck. The next thing she remembers is being on the docks, coughing up water. She could feel his hands on her, and hear his voice. She looked up and saw him. She asks if she’s going to be okay. Alexis says, so he maintains he’s Jason, but what does Sam think? She thinks he believes he’s telling the truth. Alexis says obviously she can’t talk to her husband, but can talk to her. What if it’s true, and he is Jason? Where does that leave Sam and her husband?

Monica is glad Elizabeth’s injuries aren’t more serious, and Elizabeth says Franco is more shook than her. She tells Monica the man who crashed through the ceiling was at the hospital with Carly. He attacked Franco; he said nothing, just tried to strangle him. Monica asks what happened, and Elizabeth says he was arrested and is in police custody.

Scotty tells Franco that he saw him; he’s a dead ringer for Jason, i.e. a twin. He thinks Franco should talk to Betsy, and he says he already did. Andrew is alive, but he can’t tell anyone, especially Elizabeth. Scotty asks why, and Franco says he tried to kill Andrew.

Other Jason says he didn’t think much about it at the time, but Franco had a picture from when he was a kid. There was another boy in the picture, and Jake insisted it looked like him. When he asked Franco about it, Franco said he got rid of it. He knows better than to take Franco at his work, but it’s a starting point. He tells Curtis thanks. He’s not just reaching out to him as a PI, but trusts him. Curtis says damn right. He doesn’t rummage in a dumpster with rats as big as his foot without bonding a little. He’s sorry people are doubting Other Jason, and wants him to know he has his back.

It’s time for Klein’s arraignment. Diane asks for time alone with her client. She tells him seeing is believing is a grotesque understatement, and it’s good to see him again. He’s surprised she doesn’t think he’s a fraud, and she says she’s a litigator. She’s paid to find holes in stories, and the yarn about the other guy is chock full of them. She always had doubts. Real Jason wonders why Carly and Sonny went along with it. Diane says as fond as she is of him, they love him, and they needed him to be alive. There were gaps in his story no one could fill. Real Jason asks if his story doesn’t have gaps, but she says his story logically fills the gaps in Other Jason’s. She has no doubt he’s the one and only Jason Morgan. He says that’s good to hear. She wants to get him out of there, but he says he’s not going anywhere until he’s done with Klein.

Sam tells Alexis that she loves her husband, and he loves her. He’s Scout’s father, and the only father Danny knows. They spent the last year falling in love and built a life together. Alexis says, a life away from Sonny. Sam agrees that’s not like Jason, but does it matter? Other Jason comes back, and Alexis has to leave to meet a doctor about a case. She tells them good luck.

Franco tells Scotty that apparently when he was a kid, he pushed Andrew down a flight of stairs, and almost killed him. Betsy sent him away for his own protection. Scotty scoffs at any truth from Betsy, but Franco says he found another proof; a guy who has knowledge of the situation. Scotty says so there are two Jason Morgans – one with his original face and a bad attitude, and a bouncier Jason with a different face. He asks if they guy told him which was which.

Franco explains about memory mapping, but doesn’t know what to do with the information. He says there are two Jasons who want him dead. Scotty tells him to quit pretending it’s about him. It’s about Elizabeth.

Elizabeth tells Monica that Real Jason beating Franco was brutal and terrifying, but just what Jason would do if didn’t know about the brain tumor. Monica asks if she’s suggesting this guy is her son. She doesn’t accept it. She and Other Jason took a long time to get back to where they are, and she knows in her heart he’s her son. She’s sure somebody will find way to put this all to rest.

Other Jason carries Sam into the apartment. He tells her it’s romantic, efficient, and he likes being next to her. She says they’re the worst CEO people ever. He says she’s okay, and that’s all he cares about; everything else is second. He doesn’t know what he’d do if he lost her. They hug.

Diane understands Real Jason’s desire to question Klein, but suggests they get him out of there. She thinks he should plead temporary insanity. Considering Franco’s history with him, it’s plausible, but he’s legally in the wrong unless he’s not accountable. Real Jason says he’s not doing it; they have to find another way. He asks her to get a message to Sonny.

Griff tells Sonny that Ava was fighting for her life when he found her. Sonny asks if he expects her to believe Ava, but expects him to believe him. Ava would have been killed if he hadn’t intervened. He lets Sonny know that he’s no longer a priest, in case he wants counsel. Sonny can’t believe he’s leaving the priesthood for Ava. He’d thought Griff was on a mission to save his soul, but maybe Sonny should be praying for him.

Franco tells Scotty that Elizabeth will learn he was a monster even back then. Everything he’s done isn’t because of a tumor, but it’s in his DNA. Scotty is like, so he did something bad as a kid. Just tell them which one is which, and leave out the rest. If Franco doesn’t do it, he will. He helped Susan raise Jason. Franco says he can’t lose the woman he loves; Scotty has to keep quiet. Scotty agrees, but says if Franco thinks it will end well for him, he’s sadly mistaken. They leave the office. Franco continues down the hall, but Scotty’s phone rings. He tells Clem to tell the warden to leave a message, then says, what?

Scotty sees Alexis and tells her that he needs to discuss Julian with her.

Griff hopes Ava isn’t letting Sonny get to her. She’s worried he has point about her corrupting Griff.  Griff says she’s not corrupting him. She woke him up, and helped him face the reality of the life he wants to live and who he wants to be with. She says this is a lot of pressure for a second date; let’s just enjoy the evening. They drink their martinis.

Diane tells Sonny that Real Jason rejected her strategy. It’s unlike him, but she did suggest temporary insanity. Sonny says he would have beat up Franco too, and Diane says just think of all the hours she could have billed for the both of them. She tells him that Dr. Klein is being arraigned, and Real Jason told her that if he wants answers, start with Klein.

Jordan calls Curtis, who tells her the case he’s working on got heavier than expected. He asks for a raincheck. She understands, and hopes he’s not getting into trouble. He’s like, who, me? never, as he’s breaking into Franco’s office at the hospital.

Other Jason asks Sam how she’s holding up, and she says good. He says with everything going on with the other guy, and Sonny and Carly, he’s been focused on making sure people know who he is. He hadn’t thought about how hard it is on her. Sam says it’s definitely not how she thought the launch party would end up. Other Jason says he’ll figure it out. He’ll find out what this fraud wants. He realized this stranger is right about one thing – he’s part of a set-up, but Other Jason knows he’s her husband.

Curtis looks at a sketch of old Jason. He opens a locked cabinet, and looks through it. He finds the envelope with the death certificate.

At the desk, Franco asks Monica where Elizabeth is. She says she left, and Monica assumed she went to look for him.

The guard tells “mystery man” that he has another visitor. It’s Elizabeth. They stare at each other.

On Monday, Scotty tells Alexis that Julian was beaten up, Cassandra decides to stay in Port Charles, and Real Jason tells Elizabeth that he’s Jason.

Once Upon a Time

Last week, the bulk of the story followed Belle and Rumpel/Gold/Beast’s story from start to finish. On her deathbed, Belle told Rumpel that once he rids himself of the dagger, he’ll find her again. He buried her in the front yard, which I found a little disconcerting. This was interspersed with Ivy losing Lucy when she took her trick-or-treating. All was well at the end, when Lucy ended up with Jacinda (who I’ve stupidly been calling Lucinda, so I’m apparently going deaf or they don’t pronounce it very well), and Henry ended up having a drink with Ivy at Roni’s. It was definitely worth watching, especially for the fairytale cottage Belle and Rumpel ended up living in, but not a whole lot was added to the plot.

Moving on…

Victoria brings a tray to her witch prisoner. She thought they might make amends. The witch says destroying Lucy’s belief must be more challenging than Victoria thought, and if Lucy doesn’t forfeit her belief, Victoria will never see Anastasia again. She sees belief as independent and solid, but it’s like a weed. It grows deep, and you have to uproot it. Victoria asks if the witch would like tea, but she snarls, saying she wants her own special brew. Victoria says she’ll get it – when Victoria gets what she wants.

Ivy is watching Lucy at the Belfry Towers reception area. Sabine comes by, and Victoria tells her that she’s decided to increase the rent. Lucy says it’s not fair, but Sabine says she can fight her own battles. If Victoria wants to push them out, they’ll push back.

Many years ago, Tiana’s mother welcomes a group to their home, telling them the auction begins shortly. Tiana says it’s humiliating, and Drizella agrees. Drizella complains that everything has been picked over already, but spies something she thinks is valuable. Tiana says it’s not for sale, and she doesn’t know how it got there. It’s a medal containing a firefly ruby; a reward for her father’s heroism. Drizella says too bad he’s not there to protect them now.

Tiana’s mother explains to her that taxes have been raised, and they need to sell everything or be homeless. She wishes Tiana could find a prince. Tiana thinks she knows where to start looking for a prince who will save them.

In Seattle, Rogers brings his box of evidence on the missing girl to Henry. It’s a cold case, but he’s been working it like a side hustle. Henry asks why it’s so important, and Roni says they all have things personal like that. Rogers takes the missing girl’s diary out of the box and wanders off with it. Roni wonders why Henry had a drink with Ivy. He thinks she might be willing to help them. Roni says she’s heard that story before, and it doesn’t end with him happy.

Sabine goes to the chicken place. She’s got great news for Jacinda – their rent is being raised. Jacinda wonders if Sabine is mispronouncing “terrible,” but Sabine thinks she has a way to turn the tables. When everyone finds out how amazing their beignets are, they’ll be rich. She dipped into the rent money for the baking supplies. Jacinda asks if she dipped in a pinch or a dash, and Sabine admits she took it all.

Rogers reads the diary, and looks at a drawing of a castle window. He walks into the station, and sees a fist fight between a cop and a perp. The cop knocks the perp out, and tells Rogers he found the guy at the Pleasure Island Cabaret. Rogers realizes the guy has a tattoo that looks like a drawing in the diary.

Sabine tells Jacinda that Louie won’t be back from his convention for a while, and they can base their pastry operation out of Mr. Cluck’s. He’ll never know. Jacinda loves that Sabine is a dreamer, but she thinks it’s too risky; she needs her job. Sabine tells her that she needs to take the risk for Lucy. They owe it to her. When you love someone, you fight for them. Jacinda agrees, and they hug.

Back in the day, Tiana walks through the shady side of town, and comes to a cottage. She tells one of the people that she’s looking for the traveling soothsayer. She’s recognized, and the townspeople gather around her with their hands out. Dr. Facilier appears, and says she’s there to see him, and the crowd disperses.

He welcomes her into a cottage decorated like a fortune telling den. He tells her a prince is in her cards, and soon to be in her arms. He’ll make her troubles evaporate. She asks how he knew, and he says it’s his job, and he has a few friends on the other side. He shakes out some runes. He reads them, saying it’s the story of a princess whose father passed away. The story turns darker, and their wealth dried up. The people suffered without a strong ruler; that’s why she’s come to him. The prince will save her and he’s going to give her the kingdom discount for desperate souls. He tells her the path is clear, and she’ll find the price she seeks this very night. Just follow the red crow.

Fast forwarding, Ivy brings some herbs to Victoria at the office. She complains, and Victoria tells her not to thinks she wouldn’t trade in her daughter for an actual assistant. She tells Ivy to shut up and earn her job title. When Victoria is gone, Ivy looks on the monitor and watches as she pushes a secret button in the elevator. The side of the cab opens, and Victoria steps into the secret room where she’s holding the witch. Ivy leaves a message for Henry, saying if he still wants dirt on her mother, she has a good idea where to start.

Henry tells Roni that he has a lead. Victoria has been spending time in a secret room on top of Belfry Towers. Roni wonders what’s worse – him believing Ivy or falling for her, when there’s a better, single mother staring him in the face. Henry appreciates her mama bear routine, but not hers, Roni says if she was there, she’d tell him to get back to writing, take Jacinda on a date, and tip her well for the advice. Henry leaves his phone on the bar. Roni sees a text come in – Belfry lobby now – and says she’s on her way, deleting it before she leaves.

Sabine and Jacinda bake up a storm for their pop-up shop. Lucy comes in. She says it’s amazing, but she has a small addition, showing them a firefly stamp. She says that Sabine told her since she couldn’t afford stars, she wished on fireflies. Sabine tells her to stamp all the bags with their official logo. Jacinda suggests doing a farmer’s market next, but Sabine thinks they should get a food truck. They’re finally headed in the right direction.

In the enchanted forest, Tiana says there’s no such thing as red crow. Yes, there is, but not that kind. She sees a tavern with a sign that says The Crimson Crow, and goes inside. A man approaches her, saying he guesses the auction fell short, and he’ll take her earrings – at a discount. A prince steps in, telling him to bow and show respect. She might not be a princess any more, but she’s still a lady. He threatens the man with his sword, and he backs off. He introduces himself as Prince Marius, but tells her to call him Robert. She’s grateful, and not deserving of a nobleman’s heroism. He hopes to be deserving of her company. He says getting rid of a tipsy rogue is simple, but seeing why their paths crossed is more difficult. He asks her to have dinner with him.

In the sort-of real world, Victoria eats one of the beignets, and she loves it. Until she realizes she loves it. She calls a guy named Ralph, telling him she has a job for him. She says there’s a place selling beignets, and she wants him to wreck it. Ha-ha! Wreck-It Ralph.

Rogers asks the perp about his tattoo, telling him it’s a drawing in a notebook from a missing person, Eloise Gardener. He asks the perp if the name sounds familiar, but he says he was serving a sentence elsewhere when she disappeared. He tells Rogers it’s a sign to ward off evil. Rogers tells him it’s more trouble than it’s worth to press charges, so he’s free to go. The perp tells Rogers it’s a powerful rune, and he’d hate to meet what she was facing.

At Mr. Cluck’s, the patrons keep coming. Sabine says their business is on fire. Jacinda smells something, and says she hopes that’s not literal. The run into the kitchen, and everything is burning. They try to put it out, but it’s already out of control. Sabine pulls the fire alarm.

In the world of Tiana’s castle, Robert loves the view. Tiana says her father spent his lifetime building the kingdom. Robert sees the firefly ruby, and says her father was quite the hero. She tells him that her father was a cook until he was the only one left. He threw down his ladle, and picked up a sword, and that’s how the war was won. He also won her mother’s heart. She says now they’re losing it all, but Robert says not if he can help it. He wants to see her again. He leaves, and Tiana sees the ruby is gone. She runs out, telling him to stop, and throws something at his head. He tells her he had no choice. Dr Facilier wanted him to steal it. He’s just a commoner, and Facilier is holding his true love captive; she’s a frog. Tiana says there must be another way. She tells him to go. She never wants to see him again.

Tiana’s mother approaches her on the balcony. Tiana says she was self-centered, and saw the world the same way. Her mother says they tried to protect her; there was no way she could have known how bad it had gotten. Tiana says all her life she was told stories of her father’s success, but once she took action, she realized they have everything they need. Her mother says the people need a legacy, but it isn’t the medal. It’s her; embrace it.

In Hyperion Heights, Lucy sees the firetrucks outside the restaurant. Sabine says it’s just a setback, and Jacinda tells her that she took a huge risk, and looks what happened. Sabine says she just wants what’s best for Jacinda and Lucy, but Jacinda says she doesn’t live in real world. There’s no room for crazy dreams. Lucy tells Jacinda that Sabine just tried to help, and Jacinda says she doesn’t need that kind of help. Sabine gives her the cashbox, and says there’s enough money for ten months’ rent (that’s a lot of beignets!). In that time, she can find a new job – and a new roommate. She walks away.

Roni tells Ivy to put away the war paint; Henry’s not coming. She’s stopping the game before it starts. She asks if Ivy is trying to piss off her mom or take one more thing away from Jacinda. Ivy asks why she’s interested, and Roni says she knows enough to know good kid, and won’t let him mess up his life. Ivy says she’s risked a lot, and if her mom finds out, she’ll be cleaning toilets for real. Roni says if she’s eager to destroy her mom, prove it. Ivy tells Roni to follow her, and brings her to the secret room. There’s a setting for tea, and Roni thinks it’s a strange place for it. She wonders if she’s wasted her time, and then says, maybe not. She opens a locker and sees a photo.

Sabine tells Lucy that she’s going to crash on her mom’s couch. They can’t make it; they keep trying and failing. Lucy says that’s what Victoria wants her to think, but she can’t give up on her dream. Sabine says sometimes bad guys win, and we have to grow up. Lucy says she’s not growing up; she’s running away. She’s supposed to be with them, like she always is. Sabine tells Lucy she’ll always have her, but there are some things in life even she can’t fight.

Reeling back the years, Tiana goes to Dr. Facilier. She’ll give him the firefly ruby in exchange for the kidnapped woman. He points to a frog in a cage, and says, her?  It’s quite a sacrifice for a lowly frog. The ruby is powerful. It transformed a cook into a prince, and caused a princess to make a sacrifice for a man she doesn’t know. He asks why the transformation, and she says she didn’t realize who she was. She says there’s no magic in it, and Facilier tells her it will set him free. He’s in a prison, trapped with one foot here and one in another place. Everything in the cottage starts to tremble. He says he’s keeping the ruby, but he’ll never let the frog go. Tiana says she’s not leaving without the frog, but Facilier stabs a voodoo doll, and she doubles over. He says it feels good to be back. She knocks over the table, and grabs the frog, holding Facilier at bay with a sword. He squeezes the ruby and disappears, poof! in a puff of black smoke.

In modern times, Jacinda apologizes to Sabine. Every time the miserable world gets her down, Sabine picks her up. She didn’t realize Sabine needs picking up once in a while, starting with this – Jacinda shows her a food truck. Sabine asks how she did it, and Jacinda says Rogers helped her out with the auction, and she used the rent money. She took a big risk, like Sabine taught her to, doing what friends do – help each other.

In not-Seattle, Tiana brings Robert his frog. She figured out she doesn’t need a hero if she can be one. He says she sounds like her father, and she’s on the right path. She tells him the king is holding a ball, and she’s going to use the opportunity to turn the tide. She hopes he and his lady will join her, after true love’s kiss. Robert says he kind of misled her. He puts the frog in her hand, thanks her, and kisses the frog. Then he becomes a frog. Tiana puts them together, and they hop into the pond and swim off. I saw it coming, but that didn’t make it any less precious. Cutest. Frog. Couple. Ever.

Back in Seattle, Jacinda goes to the station, and Rogers reminds her the truck is from an impound auction, and she should clean it well. He tells her heat distorted the film in the security cameras. He has a good idea of who caused it. They agree it was someone Victoria hired, since she wouldn’t want to get a smudge on her blazer. The tattooed perp is making a phone call across the street. He says they have a problem. Someone is looking for the girl.

Victoria sees a photo of the truck on Instagram. When Ivy asks if there’s anything she can do, Victoria belittles her.

Henry walks into the bar (not the start of a joke), and Roni has something to show him. She tells him that she answered a text to him from Ivy, and met her at Belfry Towers. She knows it was wrong, but she wanted to know if they could trust her. He asks if they can, and she says maybe. She tells him that she found this while she was there, and shows him the picture. It’s a picture of Regina and Henry. Roni says she’s never owned clothe like this, and has no idea who the kid is. Henry says it’s him.

Ivy goes to secret room. She calls out for the witch, who startles her by coming up behind her. She knocks over the tea set, and say, lurk much?  She suggests getting the witch a stylist, since she looks like Lucy in Sweeney Todd (my description). The witch asks if they trust her, and Ivy says as much as her mother does. She calls Victoria a fool, and says she’s doing a good job of convincing Victoria that she’s the one in charge. She might not see how clever Ivy is, but the witch does. She tells he witch to play the charade until the end. The witch says Ivy knows she will. Ivy tells her not to use that name anymore – she’s Drizella.

Next time, Henry explains the photo, discovering life is a lie, and the most feared villain.

Z Nation

Roberta floors it, hits a zombie, sees the black rainbow, and keeps moving.

Doc says knows it’s the apocalypse, but maybe she should slow down. She turns a sharp corner, and Doc says Murphy is going into cardiac arrest. Lucy tells her stop, but she goes faster. Lily keeps telling to stop, and she finally does, just before they hit a building. It looks like a military facility. They get out. Murphy says he’s fine, and then throws up black stuff.

They get him inside. 10K and Lily take out some zombies who are following. It’s number 8991 for 10K. They set Murphy on a table, and Doc says he’s a walking petri dish. Murphy thinks being cured six ways to hell and back should be good for something. Lucy takes his hands. Doc and 10K confer about taking precautions, thinking they should restrain him. He keels over, and Roberta takes a look at his bite. Lucy says she has to try and save him, and bites him. 10K says he has a pulse. Murphy sits up, but passes out again. Roberta tells Lucy to bite him again, and she does. Murphy says he’s not dead yet. Doc thinks it’s working.

Lily is trying to keep the door closed, and says there’s more of a crowd. 10K goes outside with her. Roberta starts to look around the building. She comes to a room with computers, with decomposed bodies sitting at the keyboards. That would be my luck. She says, square key, and takes a key ring.

Doc keeps slapping Murphy, saying, stay with me. Murphy tells him to quit it.

Roberta travels the hallways. Doc bandages Murphy’s bite. Murphy says he’s better thanks to his little girl. Lucy says her hands are all wrinkly. They look at her, and she’s changing. She’s getting older.

Murphy sits up, and throws up again. Lucy looks at herself. She says it’s okay; it’s happened before, and it’s her business. Murphy says the biting is killing her. She can’t do it again. Lucy says he’s not the boss of her. Murphy says he’s her father. Her life is more important. She asks why he won’t let someone save him for once, calling him The Savior of Mankind. He says not anymore. Lucy thinks Roberta is in trouble. She feels something strange.

10K and Lily come back. Lily says they were doing M&M, mayhem and mercy. Doc tells them he wants to see if Roberta needs back up. They notice Lucy has changed. Lucy stays with Murphy, while they go down the hallways. Lily notes there’s a smell worse than death. Roberta continues on through the building. She sees a door keypad that’s wrecked, and she opens the door with a fire extinguisher. Doc wants to join 10K and Lily. Murphy doesn’t sound good, but tells him to find her. Doc tells Lucy no biting.

Roberta gets the handle off the door, and enters. It’s a lab. She sees a hand in an aluminum pan. She opens another door, and it’s the landscape in her mind. A zombie appears behind her.

Lucy looks in the mirror. She tells Murphy she wants to hear about her mother, Serina. She’s heard Addie’s and Doc’s version, but doesn’t trust it. She wants to know the truth. Murphy says her mother was living with group of women for protection. It was four years ago, when things were still wild, and they thought they were going to die. There was no tomorrow, so they lived for today. Lucy wonders if they just hooked up, but Murphy says Serina was a good friend. They went through a lot together, and he did love her. Not at first, but they saw each other again, and Lucy was born. Serina was fiercely protective, and fought like honey badger to protect her. Lucy brought out her motherly instinct, and Serina would have been proud of her. Lucy says, but she died. Murphy says she died protecting her. Some things are worth dying for. Lucy wants him to explain what it means, there was pie, but he passes out.

Roberta walks through the landscape. She sees some kind of metal unit. She’s back in the lab. She puts in a code next to the unit, and slides a metal window up. There’s a tube inside, and she unscrews it from its base. She injects herself with something, and collapses.

10K and Lily continue to walk. They go through a big room where experiments are done. There’s steel shelving lined with body parts in jars, a row of animated hands, and zombies with parts missing on gurneys. 10K doesn’t know who’s responsible, but he doesn’t like them. Lily says, roger that. They hear something. Lily asks what that was, and 10K tells her to take her pick.

Roberta opens her eyes. She realizes what she’s done. She sees beakers and jars containing experiments, brains and an arm attached to electrodes. She sees a desk and there’s a jacket on the back of the chair. She’s sees an ID for Dr. Caligari.

Murphy is convulsing. Lucy bites him again, but he tells her to stop and save herself. He wants her to promise, but she won’t. He starts to cry. He says she’s the only one he’s loved besides him; she’s one of a kind. He convulses some more, and she doesn’t know what to do.

Doc walks through the experiment room, and says more scientific shenanigans. Give a guy a lab coat, and he’ll screw things up every time. He calls to 10K and Roberta. He sees the partial zombies and animated hands, and says he can’t unsee that. He looks at a jar of eyeballs, remarking you can’t have too many of those. He wonders what in zombie hell these people are up to, and why. He notices a tail, and asks why it always has to be crazy evil sh*t. Why can’t they find a bakery for once? Is it too much to ask? He hears something, and looks all around. He bangs into a shelf, knocking over dozens of animated fingers, and says anything but that. He hits at them with a hammer, but one manages to dig its way into his side (ouch!). 10K and Lily hear him yelling, and he says there’s a finger in him; get it out! It keeps moving around, and 10K says it’s too fast. They manage to isolate it, and 10K slices into Doc, and it pops out. Lily says, die, mother finger, and steps on it. That was definitely the oh sh*t moment of tonight, or at least this half hour.

10K says they were looking for Roberta, but heard him yelling, and came back. Doc says he heard something breathing. They look slowly around, and see something behind one of the shelves.

10K says it seems as afraid of them as they are of it. Doc says not to shoot; they might wake something worse up. 10K wonders if they can go around it. It steps out, and it’s a gigantic zombie with extra arms, like an Indian goddess on steroids. Doc says, frankenzombie. 10K punches it, and it lifts him up by the throat. Lily tries to stab it, but it gets her with another arm. There’s a face in its stomach. Doc hits it with a hammer, and it drops the other two, and grabs Doc. They should have guessed right away they would just irritate it with these feeble attempts.

Roberta goes through papers and files, and finds a gun. She looks through some journals, and sees pictures and drawings of the experiments. We see a photo of the doctor and a friend.

Lucy keeps Murphy warm. He asks if she’s seen their baby, thinking she’s Serina. Lucy calls him “daddy,” saying he’s making a mistake. He says he knows; he never should have left her alone when she was pregnant. His biggest mistake was breaking up their family. Lucy says it’s okay; don’t worry. He doesn’t think Lucy will forgive him for leaving her with strangers. She turned out okay, strong and brave like Serina. He asks where Lucy is, and Lucy says she’ll come back soon. He says she’s the best, and she tells him that he’s not so bad himself. He calls her his little baker, and starts to convulse again.  He laughs about blueberry pie, and throws up. Lucy yells for help.

Super zombie throws everyone around, and punches Doc. Lily shoots him, but he has an automatic weapon, and begins to shoot back. He never runs out of ammo, because his other arms hand him new clips. Doc says this is no regular Z, and he pounds on his chest like King Kong.

Lucy does chest compression, wondering how this works. She looks at Murphy’s bite, and cries. She says he can’t leave her again.

Mega-zombie has Lily by the throat. 10K hits it with stool, and he throws it back. Doc tries to hit it with a metal thing, but it knocks Doc out. I go, ooh! Lily begins to pass out, and we hear Roberta say, Charlie Baker, Roberta. The zombie turns around, and she holds a gun on him. She asks where Dr. Caligari is, and does he understand. The zombie nods. She hears someone say, I’m here. The zombie turns his back to her, and the doctor’s face is there. Well… I don’t even know what to say.

Murphy opens his eyes, and says he feels great. His bite wound is gone. He tells Lucy to wake up; he’s cured. She’s now an old woman. He asks what she’s done, and sees the bites she gave him. She says it’s all right; she can feel him again. He takes her hand. They smile at each other, tears in their eyes.

Dr. Caligari asks what they’re doing there. Roberta says they came to see him. He asks how she knows his name, and she says she was in his office and saw a picture of him and Charlie. She asks if he knows her, and he asks her to come closer. I hold my breath, but he says, no. (He’s wearing glasses, btw.) She asks if he’s certain she’s never been there. He asks how she got the canister; it was locked in his office. Roberta says she knew the combination, but doesn’t know what it is. He says if she knew what it did, she would be a dangerous woman, and Doc says she already is. Charlie snaps his teeth, and Doc says just sayin’.

Roberta asks what happened, and Dr. Caligari says his knowledge exceeded his wisdom. Isn’t that always the way? He was graphting zombie tissue to humans, hoping to pass on their superior genetic qualities – immortality. 10K says that’s insane, and the doctor says, in retrospect. Roberta asks how he and Charlie happened, and we see as he explains. He says they were both bitten by another assistant, and became infected. Charlie turned quickly, and it was too late to save him, but he was able to chop off his own hand before the infection spread. He mercied Charlie, and used his graphting discovery to attach Charlie’s hand to his arm. It became a part of his body, passing on the immunity. But something went wrong. Instead of the hand becoming part of his body, the zombie cells grew out of control. Charlie was growing from his hand, taking over his body as host. This was five years ago, and this is all that’s left of him.

Dr. Caligari asks why Roberta is there, and she says to find this. She says she has to go, an the doctor asks her to wait; he needs something from her. He whispers something to her that we don’t hear. She looks at him, and pats his hand. One of them anyway. He kneels down and holds out his arms. Roberta says, we give you mercy, and they all shoot.

Murphy cries, holding Lucy. She tells him not to cry; it’s all right. Aw. Can’t somebody do something? She says it’s almost over. He tells her not to say that, and she says she had a good life – her life. She’d promised Addie that they’d stick together. She wants Murphy to tell Addie that she tried. She closes her eyes. Murphy cries, and I tear up, which is more than I did for Glenn and Abe on The Walking Dead. Sorry.

The others come back. Roberta kneels down by Murphy. She cries, and kisses Lucy’s forehead. She touches Murphy’s face, and he turns away.

Murphy covers Lucy, and carries her out. The others follow. The door closes. A sad song plays, about saying goodbye too soon.

Next time, crazy ass clowns say let the games begin, and Doc doesn’t think they mean parcheesi.

Weekend-Ready

October 29, 2017 – The Shahs Reunion Comes to An End, a Triple Attack & Silver Shamrock

Standard

What I Watched Today

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

 

 

Shahs of Sunset – Reunion Part Two

I’m still trying to get over the fact Destiney was on People’s Couch and I didn’t realize it.

Asa asks Reza if he believes her about not getting IVF treatments to have her son. He does, but hates himself for having doubts. She says she and MJ aren’t friends like that. Shervin says Asa doesn’t reciprocate, and that’s why MJ is hurt. Asa insists MJ never wanted good for her, and crossed the line. We flash back to MJ not wanting to hug her after finding out she’s pregnant. MJ says she was shocked and disappointed that it was six months before any of them were included. Asa tells MJ she’s lost all respect for her. Reza tells Asa that she doesn’t understand MJ and what she’s been going through. MJ tells Asa about crocheting a blanket for baby Soltan, and Asa says, the bastard child. They break for lunch.

Backstage, Mike is upset, and GG says it seems like Asa hates them. MJ brings up Asa’s comment on racism, and Mike jokingly asks if she’s talking about him. Asa overhears and isn’t happy. GG asks for the paramedics. She’s having a panic attack, and says she just smoked some weed. She tells the paramedic how cute he is.

Back to the reunion. Andy says it was a season of new beginnings for GG. Her anger levels turned down, but not completely off. A viewer asks about GG’s sobriety. She says she was never practicing sobriety, and shows us her vaporizer. We flash back to her fight with her sister Layla on Thanksgiving, and GG says she can’t anymore. Mike doesn’t think the relationship can be healed – there’s been too much damage. We find out he’s hooked up with Layla in the past. Andy is surprised that Reza and GG reconciled. Reza says hating her was taking up energy and space in his head and heart, and was a lot of work. He either had to let it go or let her go. GG doesn’t think it would have happened if his friends hasn’t pointed out to him that she’d changed. Reza tells us that they were just in Palm Springs together. Now the song Layla will be my earworm for a while. You’re welcome.

We revisit GG getting her hearing aid. She didn’t know how deaf she was, but notices now when the batteries need to be replaced. Andy says by the time he found her wedding registry, he heard the marriage was over. Reza is willing to guarantee that there are relatives on Shalom’s side who didn’t want to go to the wedding, and that’s why they just had a civil ceremony. GG says she kept asking if he was sure things were cool with Shalom’s family, and he insisted it was. Andy asks where things are at now, and she tells him that they’re trying to get to know each other, since they didn’t before. Wow – that’s some ring. Andy reminds her that she has a Shalom tattoo, and she claims she doesn’t regret it, but talks about a fight they had and how she slashed the tattoo to show him that she didn’t care. Mike says that’s some serious sh*t. She says information came out that he’d been married before, and applied for a green card. A lot of people thought that was his reason for wanting to marry her. His ex was also on the reality show Dash Dolls about the Kardashian boutique.

Andy says, guess what? We invited Shalom here! GG is mad, and everyone is surprised. Shalom comes out, and Andy asks how he would define their relationship. He says they’re working on it and trying to figure it out. Andy asks if him snapchatting his abs to her was the deciding factor. and brings up the green card issue. Shalom says there are plenty of women he could marry for that reason, and they’d accept a cheaper ring. Andy asks if he’s attracted to women on reality shows, but he says his ex was only on one for about two weeks. We flash back to Shalom being upset about GG kissing her scene partner in the play. Shalom says it was really bad, and he apologized to everyone. He comes from Persian/Jewish family, and 90% were against him getting married. After a few drinks and people talking in his ear, he realized he had a proposal happening in Times Square. Asa says it was weird. Andy asks why they broke up, and Shalom doesn’t know. GG says whether it was true or not, the gossip was hurting her, but he only sees it from his point of view. She tells him that he got overbearing, and when they got married, she got a call from E! News, saying Shalom wanted to do a story. Shalom says one day she loves him, and the next, she hates him. Shervin asks why try again, and he says he still loves her. He’s confused about her feelings though. Andy points out they don’t have a prenup. Reza says he’s a good guy. He likes GG, but likes Shalom more. Mike says together they might be like oil and water, even if they’re both good people. GG says at this point they’re going to see if something is worth saving. They’re taking it one day at a time. Andy says the good news is, she’ll always have the tattoo. خداحافظ, Shalom. (That’s goodbye in Persian.)

They talk moms. Reza says Mike’s mom is more thug than all the rest put together. Andy ask if Mike relies on her too much, and he says he doesn’t have to. Reza adds that she’s omnipresent in his life. Andy asks why there’s an obsession with Mike’s dool and where it goes. Mike corrects that to where they think it goes, and says it started in Mexico, and never stopped. We flash back to MJ catching a glimpse of “Russel the love muscle.” Mike thinks it’s funny, and Reza says it’s like that one shady relative you have who’s always up to no good.

Andy reads a raise your hand viewer question, and tells them raise their hands if they think Mike is as much of a man whore as ever, but only Reza thinks so. Next, Andy asks who thinks he’s slept with Jessica in the past year. That would be everyone. Mike says it’s complicated. It’s sad, and he felt it ended prematurely because of how he treated her, but now he’s the better version of Mike. Andy asks if he’s seen the email Jessica sent to his mom, but he says no, and has never brought it up. MJ wonders why. He says his mom stepped in when Jessica lost hers. They had a connection outside of him, and it was between them. He doesn’t feel it’s his business. Reza thinks Jessica feels that if it’s not cool with his mom, it’s not cool with Mike. Mike says been divorced for about a year, and they’ve both dated. The whole thing broke his heart, and he cries when he watches the show. Andy asks what’s the number one thing he learned. Mike says a lot, but the main thing is you have to be open and honest in a relationship, and be present and real.

Adam joins the group – his first reunion. He and Reza just celebrated a year of marriage, and Andy asks what Adam thinks of the new Reza. He says he has more closet space since Reza lost weight. Andy asks who he’s closest to out of the friends, and Adam says Asa has become a close friend. She’s the one person who reached out to him after Thailand. GG says Reza has changed a lot. In the beginning, he was rebellious, but he’s calmed down. Mike says his tone is different, and the way he talks about Adam. He wants to be a better person because of Adam. MJ says he fights hard daily to make himself better. A viewer asks if he’s been faithful, and Reza says 100%. He did the don’t ask don’t tell in another relationship, and it didn’t work, but there might come a time for that conversation down the road. Andy points out how upset Adam was about Reza using the divorce card; he felt disposable. Ada says it brought up Thailand for him again, and was hurtful. It’s one thing to think it, but another to say it to your partner. A viewer thinks it’s weird that Reza compares being faithful to alcoholism, using the one day at a time credo. Reza says it helps him as a person who had infidelity in his life.

They discuss what religion their child will be, and Adam says he’s converting to Judaism. Andy asks if having a baby pings Reza’s commitment issues. Reza prays they’ll be together for the long haul, since he comes from a broken home. Adam says he plans for future, but it’s always one day at a time (the phrase of the night). Mike commends it, and loves them both.

Reza says they’ve decided on surrogacy, and adoption can be an option later. They sold their house in Palm Springs, and just closed on a new one, which is a surprise to everybody. Mike says that explains why Reza has been MIA. Reza says once they move in, they can deal with baby stuff. Mike is upset that he didn’t tell them, but he wanted it to be a surprise. Reza says now Mike knows how he felt about Asa’s pregnancy. Asa mentions she didn’t even know Mike had a company until she saw him with the shoes.

Andy tells us Asa’s reluctance to share was a sore point this season, but has bubbled up in the past. He asks about MJ being offended, and MJ says she’s been open, and it hurt her feelings that Asa wasn’t. Reza says as friend he gets it, but as for being a cast member on a reality show, it’s effed up. From that aspect, it bothers him. From friend aspect, he loves Jermaine, who never has negative word to say. Asa says he has his own right not to sign a contract. She tells them that she’s been open about financial struggles, and was labeled the poor one, even though that wasn’t exactly the case. That’s why people are rooting for her success now. GG says it’s a contradiction, how she claims she doesn’t want to get involved, but wants to know everything that happens with the others. She asks why Asa is on the show. Asa says it’s says amazing platform, and GG says the rest of them are bleeding for the world to see, and Asa should tell her facts. Asa continues, saying she has political and social convictions, and wants as many people as possible to see that. Mike thinks its all surface stuff. He has issues with her; she brings only superficial things to the show. Everyone talks at once, so I can’t understand what anyone is saying. Andy tells Asa that’s what she brings to the show, but why is she on the show. Asa says wants her voice heard, just like anyone else. Mike asks why make him sound like racist, instead of using the opportunity to talk about her interracial relationship? He loves her, but doesn’t like the person she became this season. She insists she’s taken the side of other cast members who have been ganged up on, and calls Mike a follower. He says he stands on his own, and asks why she’s continuing if she doesn’t want to show her life? Andy says she’s at a crossroads. Jermaine doesn’t want to be on the show or have Soltan on it, so where does she go from here? Asa tells him that her brain is on her baby, and she doesn’t know. Andy asks if she still cares about her friends.

Asa talks about looking at old videos of their travels, and getting sad. It was a difficult season, and she thought they weren’t happy for her. She believes in the future, and believes there’s hope, but has thinking to do. MJ says every time she bared her soul to Asa, it was her way of being a sister and forming a lifelong friendship. She says it sucks. Asa remembers beautiful moments, but MJ’s back stabbing and being two-faced deteriorated the friendship. If there’s no loyalty or respect, there’s nothing to build on. Mike is sad for the group thinks it will change after today.

Andy asks where they go from here, and Reza says if he and GG can get from where they were to where they are now, anything can happen. At the end of the day, they’re family, and should cherish their relationships. Andy says maybe Shervin’s girlfriend will be at the next reunion. Reza wants Shervin’s publicist’s number, since he did so well with his monologues. Andy hopes Reza and Adam will be pregnant by then; MJ as well. He wonders if GG and Shalom will still be together, and she says she’s a serial monogamist.

Asa says that some of the relationships are frayed, but her most important relationship is at home. She feels changed, being responsible for her son, who won’t eat unless she feeds him. Andy attempts to says something about them all being good friends in Persian. Reza toasts to all of them. Asa can’t leave fast enough.

Backstage, MJ says it was the dumbest day of her life. Reza asks if she thinks she and Asa will reconcile, but that’s a no. Asa tells Mike that she really doesn’t think he’s a racist, and changing her tune, GG thanks Shalom for coming.

🚑 Married to Medicine will be returning next Sunday at 10 pm.

The Walking Dead

We see close-ups of the main characters from Alexandria, Hilltop, and the Kingdom.

At an outpost, the Saviors work at getting their weapons in shape. Mara tries to call Little Roy on the radio, but there’s no answer. She finally reaches Todd, and tells him to lock the stairwell on every floor. A group led by Aaron zooms up in the reinforced trucks, and shoots everything up.

Another group, led by Jesus, sees a moat of zombies outside another outpost. Morgan says they just need the right timing. If the Saviors fire first, the rest will be alerted. He tells Diane not to give them time to fire a gun. One of the others asks Morgan if he needs to be covered, but he says he doesn’t die. Okay…

Carol and Ezekiel recover from the grenade that was lobbed at them last week. Zombies are pouring out of the clinic, and the group shoots, stabs, and axes them. Carol asks where the guy with the grenade went. If he tells the Saviors they’re here, it’s over before it started. Ezekiel is confident that’s not going to happen, and they’ll find him. Their comrades are back to the staging area, and will release Shiva if necessary. He claims certain victory, and Carol looks impressed.

Aaron and his group continue shooting the place up. Aaron is really into it. Rick and Daryl get inside with a small group.

Morgan teases the zombie barricade. Two guards walk toward them to see what’s going on. Diane shoots them in the head with arrows.

Jesus, Tara, and some others go in with Morgan. Diane whistles, and the rest come in silently. Tom says kill the bitches is written on the wall. Wtf? They spread out. Morgan hears someone talking. He waits outside the door, telling the other guys with him to hold up.

Rick looks at the map. Daryl says upstairs. He kicks open a door.

Mara says the Alexandrians are too chicken sh*t to move in, and tells the Saviors to push them back. There’s lot of machine gunning, and Aaron says don’t let them through. He tells his group to move in.

Morgan and two other guys bust into a room, shooting the first guy they see. Several men pop out from behind him, and shoot them. I go, what?! because I wonder why Morgan wasn’t faster on the draw.

Daryl and Rick climb on top of an elevator cab and go to another floor. Rick says they’d be faster if they split up.

Tara and Jesus find a man alone in a room. He begs them not to shoot him. He starts sniffling, saying his name is Dean, and Tara points out he peed his pants. Tara wants to shoot, but Jesus tells her to wait; the man has his hands up. She says they have a job to do. They hear shooting, and Jesus tells her to check it out while he covers Dean.

Diane tells Tara to be ready. They don’t know if Morgan is alive. Dean tells Jesus that he’s just a worker, brought from the Sanctuary to cook and clean; he had to leave his wife and kids. Jesus tells Tara that they don’t want to hurt the workers. He’s not shooting someone with their hands up or letting her. She sees Maggie’s prenatal vitamins, and says they stole medical supplies from Hilltop just because they could. Dean takes this opportunity to grab Jesus’s gun from him, and get him in a hold. Dean tells them it’s hard to piss yourself on purpose. He crushes the vitamins, and says they’re ruined, like that dumb bitch Maggie. She’s just going to die anyway, like they are, but for now, he’s taking them with him for an insurance policy. Dean keeps talking, and apparently never saw The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, where Tuco says, “If you have to shoot, shoot, don’t talk.. While he’s babbling, Jesus gets his gun back, and ties him up. Tara still wants to kill him, saying it’s not about revenge, it’s about getting the job done, but he won’t let her, insisting Maggie will listen to him.

Diane asks Jesus if there’s another way out, and he says to follow him. It looks like Morgan is dead. Nope, not quite. The armor pieces he’s wearing saved him. He sits up, grabs his gun, and runs to catch up.

Gunfire is still happening outside. Mara realizes it’s not good for them, and one of the dead Saviors attacks her, biting out a piece of her throat.

Ezekiel’s group is in the woods looking for grenade guy. Carol says if he made it back, the Saviors know they’re coming. Ezekiel says they’ll be ready regardless. Carol asks him if he knows that it’s not just a few walkers. He says he does, yet still smiles. She asks why, and he says he has supreme confidence. His job is to project certainty. In other words, fake it till you make it. It’s what he’s done and does; he leads people forward in darkness. Carol says they might not make it or win, but Ezekiel has no fantasy of failure this day. They move forward as they move the very world forward.

Daryl sneaks around with his crossbow. I wonder how hard It must be to be sneaky with a crossbow. Props to him. He looks into a room, and sees the remains of food and handcuffs attached to a pipe. He slides back out. Rick goes down another way, and looks in a bedroom that’s empty. Suddenly a dude comes out of nowhere, and punches him out. Rick tries shooting him, but dude is too fast. Rick kicks him in the face, and he slams Rick against a wall. Rick gets him in a chokehold, and asks where they are. Dude says there are no guns. He struggles free, and Rick piggybacks him, continuing to choke him. He sees a hook on he sees a hook on the wall and impales the guy on it. Like Billy did with that guard in Midnight Express, except it’s through his eyeball.

Morgan goes through the building, shooting anything moving.

Jesus and his group circle around the back. He tells them not to shoot right away, but Diane says if they shoot first, someone dies. A Savior opens a big garage door. Jesus tells him to drop his gun and surrender. He does since there’s fifty of them to his one, but his back up comes out, and he tells them to put their guns down; they’re surrounded. Tara tells Jesus that even if Maggie listens to him, Rick will listen to her. All the Saviors lower their weapons.

Morgan keeps shooting people. I assume it’s people; we don’t actually see what he’s shooting. He looks supremely pissed. He comes out into the sunlight, and walks toward the others. In his head, he hears Rick saying, we have to come for them, before they come for us. Where there’s life, there’s possibility.  Morgan walks up to a Savior who says he knows him, and asks if he was transferred too. It’s the dude who took Morgan’s staff, and killed Benjamin. Morgan is about to shoot him, and Jesus tells him to lower the gun. Morgan says they came here to kill them; they’re supposed to. Jesus says they surrendered; it’s not what we do, and Morgan asks, what do we do? And in my head, I think, do-be-do-be-do.

Rick goes back out into another room. It’s a nursery, complete with a baby sleeping in a crib. Rick shakes his head, and I wonder if the guy he killed is her father. Rick gets all weepy like he does on occasion, and I say, there’s no time for that now, Rick. He sees himself in the mirror, and walks away.

Carol sees blood on a leaf, and they follow the trail. Is there a hairdresser in the group? Carol’s hair looks fabulous. Ezekiel says, there! and starts to run. He stops and lowers his gun. He says their friends have arrived. We see Shiva take a man down up ahead.

Aaron’s group isn’t done yet. There’s still tons of shooting going on. How many freaking people do they have? Aaron’s husband, Eric, gets shot. Aaron ducks down and runs to a car. He gets in and floors it to Eric. He asks if Eric is okay, and Eric shows him the gunshot wound. Aaron helps him out of there. Hard to tell if he’ll make it.

Ezekiel says there it is, our certain victory. He’s not glad for anyone’s death, and Carol says she knows. Knight dude, whose name I don’t remember, holds out the radio. The Saviors know they’re coming. Knight dude says the jig is up. Ezekiel says no; their journey won’t end in retreat. Knight dude says, but they know we’re coming, and Ezekiel says, indeed they do. He raises his sword and laughs. Carol smiles. Yeah, he’s cooler than cool. He’s one of my reasons for sticking with the show. Him, and Negan. And peer pressure.

Rick looks in another room. He looks at a photo, and says, dammit!  A man walks in with a gun, and tells Rick to keep his hands down, and turn around slow. The man says, hi, Rick, and Rick says, Morales. Rick says he was in Atlanta. Morales says it was a long time ago. It’s over. He called the Saviors back, and they’re coming.

We see close-ups of everyone’s faces again, like in the beginning. Everyone looks tired, but Ezekiel is still smiling. Carol is too, as much as Carol smiles.

Morales cocks his gun.

Next time, Ezekiel says their first victory will deliver the second, and the second will deliver the third. They will not lose one of their ranks. That is one optimistic guy.

🎃 No Halloween is Complete Without It…

 

October 28, 2017 – Z Nation Packed in a Crate of Weird

Standard

What I Watched Today

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

 

Z Nation

Our beloved crew sees a truck in the middle of the road. Roberta says to move in easy; she’ll check it out with Lily. When she opens the cab door, its empty. Doc thinks it’s odd that an awesome truck was left out in the middle of nowhere, and Murphy says everything in the past eight years has been odd. Roberta asks Lucy if she picks up anything where the cargo would be, but there are no signs of life. She says if anyone is in there, they’re not zombies. The truck suddenly starts. Roberta wants to jet, but Murphy says it could be full of snacks. The truck slowly follows them, and stops when they stop, like something out of a Stephen King book.

Roberta tells Lily if anything happens, shoot the tires. She opens the cab again, and there’s a horrific screeching sound. Everyone covers their ears, and then passes out.

Roberta wakes up in a wooden crate. She bangs on the wall and yells, asking if anyone is there. An alarm sounds, the crate opens, and she emerges along with another woman and a man. The woman attacks the man, yelling for Roberta to get the key that’s on the floor. She plunges the crowbar through the guy’s head. When Roberta asks why she killed him, she says they just have one crowbar. Roberta asks what this place is, and the woman says, fresh meat, just her luck. She’s lost track of time, but thinks she’s been there about a month. Roberta tells her about the sound, and the woman tells her you can’t fight it; just do what they want. She tells Roberta to kill anything that moves, and stay out of her way.

They go down a hallway to an elevator, and the woman says they want them to clear it. She tells Roberta to use the key. When she does, we hear the elevator working, but the doors don’t open. The woman uses the crowbar to pry them apart, and a load of zombies tumble out and attack her. Roberta gets in the elevator, pushing the close door button, but forgets to bring the key. She opens the doors again, and kills the zombies. The woman is now one of them, but I guess she must have a thick skull, because the crowbar isn’t good enough. Roberta makes the elevator doors squash her head a few times, which does the trick.

Roberta hears the noise again. She wakes up in a crate, and hears Doc. He asks if she’s okay. She says she’s trapped in a crate, and he tells her that he is too. He thinks they’ve been kidnapped and enslaved for evil purposes – again. He hates when that happens. She asks if he’s seen anyone else, and he tells her only the two ugly guys he woke up with. They were killed on a suicide mission to clear a stairwell of zombies. When he killed the last one, he heard the noise again. Doc tells her they’re moving him again, and he bounces around for a while.

He comes out of the crate, and 10K comes out of another one. They see a huge wrench, a roll of duct tape, and a gas mask on the floor. Doc takes the wrench, and 10K takes the tape and mask. They move forward in the semi-darkness, and come to a room with a lot of pipes that have some kind of green gas leaking from them. They take turns using the mask. 10K uses the wrench on one of the pipes, and a zombie rushes out. He kills it, and Doc uses the tape on another pipe, while 10K dispatches another zombie.

Murphy hears Roberta, and asks her to let him out of the crate he’s in, but she says she’s trapped in a crate too. We see a room with several crates, and Murphy asks who else is there. Lucy and Lily say they are, and a man’s voice tells them to shut up; he’s trying to sleep. He says they need to be quiet, or it will get them killed. Lucy tells them there are a lot of zombies; she feels it. Roberta says it’s not the zombies she’s worried about.

Doc continues to work on the pipes, while 10K continues to kill the zombies who keep interrupting. Doc gets a face full of the gas, and keels over.

Lucy says even the zombies are afraid. Lily asks if she can determine why, but Lucy says there are too many voices and so many reasons. Lily asks if Murphy is picking up anything, but that’s a no. His zombie whispering days are over. He pulls off a piece of his scarred flesh and eats it. Ew.

10K fights off a zombie, and tells Doc to hang on. He puts the mask on Doc, and performs chest compression on him.

Lucy asks Roberta what’s wrong. Roberta says she can’t do this; she doesn’t feel so good. Murphy says she doesn’t sound so good. He tells her, no pressure, but if she goes wobbly, they all die. There’s no freaking allowed in the apocalypse. Lily has experience with PTSD, and tells Roberta she’s having a panic attack. She talks Roberta through it, and explains that she spent nine days in the trunk of a car hiding from her zombie family.

10K keeps working on Doc, and finally revives him. He says he thinks they won. The noise begins again, and everyone passes out. The crates are rearranged, and Doc and 10K are now in a crate together. Murphy asks Doc what happened, and he says they were fixing the leaks in hell’s plumbing. Doc keeps coughing, and 10K explains that he inhaled nerve gas. Roberta says they need to get out or they’ll be killed one by one. Doc asks who’s running this show, and Murphy says it has to be a Zona operation. No one else is so needlessly diabolical. Doc farts, and tells 10K, sorry. Lucy tells him to be quiet; she’s making a friend, a zombie named Carson O’Keefe. She tells him that she wants to get out, and asks if he can open the door.

The door opens, and Lucy talks to Carson. She sees a lot of crates, but no way out. The noise starts. Roberta tells them to fight it, but it’s impossible. They all pass out.

Lily is being dragged into another area. She wakes up, and a guy tells her that she’s safe. A zombie rushes him, and he kills it. He says they’ll live longer if they work as a team. She tells him if they do whatever is wanted, they can get out alive, but he thinks there’s a chance they won’t make it. He shows her that he has a gun, and says he’s looking for some human kindness. She gets the gun from him, and says she’ll blow his head off if he tries it again. He laughs, saying there are no bullets; he ran out of ammo. He comes at her, but she beats the crap out of him, and throws him into the next zombie that comes along. She’s able to get out through another door, and closes it before the zombie can get to her.

She goes up some stairs, and runs through a hallway to another stairwell. She goes into another room, but a zombie tries to follow her. She stumbles, hits her head on a bannister, and gets knocked out.

Murphy and Doc are out of the crates. Murphy says this would be more efficient if they were just told what’s wanted. Doc says the whole point is fear of the unknown. They’re trying to control them with psychological terror and creepy sounds. As they’re walking, zombies keep popping out. Murphy says if they get out of this alive – and that’s a big if – they need to have zombie come to Jesus moment with Roberta. First she gets them lost, and now they’re slaves in the zombie funhouse of death. Doc suggests they get out of there first.

10K and a woman crawl along a ladder near the ceiling that periodically descends closer to a crowd of zombies below. The woman falls, and the noise happens. 10K passes out, but luckily stays put.

Roberta exits her crate, along with a man we don’t know. A crowbar, a screwdriver, and thick electrical cord drop off a conveyor belt. The man says, shall we? and takes the crowbar, while Roberta takes the cord and screwdriver. They enter a room with a gate on the opposite wall, and several zombies that aren’t exactly all in one piece. While the stranger is dealing with a half-zombie, Roberta comes up behind him, and gets him in a chokehold, telling him to drop the crowbar. He does, and she asks how Zona is involved and if this is part of the reset. He claims ignorance, and she tells him to answer or she’ll put the screwdriver through his head. She asks again if this is part of the reset, and if it has to do with the black rainbow. He asks if she’s insane, and says Zona has nothing to do with this. This is bigger than Zona or the apocalypse. I wonder what can be bigger than an apocalypse. He says no one lives long enough to find out exactly what’s going on, but they’re after something in the complex and using them to clear the zombies. He tells her they’ll be zombies too, if they don’t get the gate open.

Roberta presses a button, but the gate is jammed. As the stranger is messing with it, Roberta says there’s a live one, and a half-zombie attacks him. I say, ooh! out loud, because it’s so creepy, wriggling fast across the floor with its spinal cord hanging out. The stranger falls, and the half-zombie jumps on him. Roberta electrocutes it using the cord, and it’s a thrilling moment.

Lily wakes up, and the zombie that was following her is dead. She hears a noise from the top of the stairs. She begins to walk up, and sees daylight. She asks where it came from, and walks toward the source, but the noise happens.

Everyone wakes up in a cage that’s surrounded by zombies, except for Lily, who is still unconscious. Murphy asks what fresh hell this is, and the stranger says it’s feeding time. A giant metal tube unleashes a load of what looks like kibble. The stranger starts eating. I was joking, but Doc eats a piece and says it’s dog food. Chicken with notes of corn; Puppy Chow. 10K loves dog food, and says Puppy Chow is his thing. He and Doc talk about a bag of Gravy Train they found once. Doc says he can taste it now. With water and warmed by the sun, it’s the next best thing to home cooking.

Roberta wonders why the zombies are so blasé, and the stranger says they’re kept well-fed, but step outside, and they’ll attack. She asks what they’re fed, and the stranger says not dog food. Lily comes to, and Doc gives her some kibble. She tells them that she found a bird, and Roberta says if a bird can get in, there’s a way out. Murphy asks to see the bird, and turns his back after Lily gives it to him. Doc asks if he ate it, and he says no, but coughs out a couple of feathers. Roberta says if Lily saw daylight, they have a chance. She asks if Lily could find her way back. Doc remembers seeing an emergency exit, and they make a map using the kibble. Everyone adds whatever landmarks they remember, and they form an escape plan. Roberta tells them to memorize the map, and make their way to the rendezvous point. The noise happens, and Roberta says they have to fight their way to the surface.

Roberta comes out of her crate to a strobe light and Murphy. He tells her they have a rope, a bowling pin, and a blowtorch. This is like a bizarro game of Clue. They walk through what looks like a basement. Roberta and Murphy are mysteriously separated. Murphy’s flashlight starts to die, and a zombie comes up behind him. He knocks it in the head with the bowling pin. He and Roberta are suddenly back together. They walk up a flight of stairs. Doc, 10K, and Lily meet them, and Doc asks if they’re sure this is the right stairwell. Murphy says he doesn’t hear any birds, and a bird poop plops on his shoulder. He says, crap, literally, as he brushes it off.

Murphy asks where Lucy is. Roberta says to keep moving; maybe she’s ahead of them. They get to the roof, and the door opens to a wheat field. They see six crates in the distance, and the noise happens.

I just keep saying what the hell? over and over.

We see a room with a million crates in it. Murphy asks what they do now, and Doc says he’s going to curl up and die. Roberta says nobody is going to die. She may not know much or pretend to understand what she does know, but certain death in this place isn’t their fate. She knows something bad is coming, and she’s supposed to stop it. She doesn’t know why; she just feels it, the way she felt when she first saw Murphy. She didn’t know how why or what was coming next, but knew her job was to get him wherever he was going.

Lucy busts open Murphy’s crate. She’s with Carson, and they get everyone out. She says the zombies won’t hurt them, and Carson knows the way. They start going up some stairs, but the stranger comes busting through the door with a woman. They’re armed, and he tells the group to freeze. He doesn’t want to, but he’s supposed to stop them. He grabs Lucy, and says, everyone back. Roberta tells him that’s not going to happen, and Carson tackles him. His gun goes off, shooting the woman with him. Carson and the woman start feeding on the stranger. Lucy tries to get to Carson, but Murphy pulls her back, saying she can’t help them now.

They get outside to the field, and Roberta tells them to run, now. As they reach the road, Murphy falls, and they realize he’s been bitten. He’s sweaty and shaking, and Doc says he thought Murphy was immune. Roberta tells him not anymore, and asks Murphy if he can walk. He tells her that he can try, and they help him up.

They find the truck, and a car has been left there from the last group of victims. They get in it, and speed off with Roberta driving. Murphy is going in and out of consciousness. Lucy asks Doc to help him, and Doc asks Roberta what to do, but she’s mesmerized by the black rainbow in her mind.

Next time, Frankenzombie experiments.

😵 I’m assuming, since stranger dude said this was bigger than the apocalypse, we’ll revisit what went on in this episode in the future. I swear I wasn’t drunk when I wrote this. It was really that incomprehensible. Lots of thrills, but quite the puzzlement.

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