What I Watched Today
(rambling, random thoughts & annoyingly detailed recaps from real time TV watching)
General Hospital
Dante and Sam kiss, and Dante says, sorry; he overstepped. Sam says, no, she wants this too, and they kiss some more, then head upstairs.
Alexis, Shawn, Spencer and Esme have just finished some take-out Chinese, and Spencer thanks Alexis, saying, it’s a nice break from the traditional turkey. She says, all she did was order in from Noodle Buddha, and he says, she is the one with a working credit card though. She says, good point, and Esme says, she and Spence insist on cleaning up. They start to clear the table, and go to the kitchen. Shawn says, Alexis really doesn’t like Spencer’s girlfriend, does she? She says, it’s not about like. She just doesn’t trust Esme.
On the phone, Valentin thanks Mac, and says he expects immediate action to be taken on this matter. Tonight.
Ned tells Olivia, Scout inherited Drew’s shares when he was declared dead, but now that he’s alive, that calls into question Drew’s shares that he signed over to Valentin. She says, which means Valentin’s majority hold on ELQ is in question. He says, Valentin isn’t going to take this lying down, which means he has to act fast while Valentin is still recovering from the pain of realizing Bailey isn’t his daughter. Olivia looks at him, and he says, just say it. Tell him that he’s a jerk for even thinking about this when they just learned Drew is still alive, and Jason probably isn’t. She says she’s going to shock him, and not going to say any of that. She thinks where Valentin is involved, staying ahead of the situation is absolutely the right move.
Chase finds Brook outside, and asks, what’s going on? She was taking care of Bailey one minute, and then just bounced. She says she’s just overwhelmed, trying to process everything they just learned. Everything Drew told them, the miracle he’s alive, the fact that Jason isn’t. Plus, all their personal drama, and the fact that her dad is disappointed in her again, but the sacrifices they’re making for Bailey will be worth it in the end. They have to, because not everyone is so lucky. Not everyone is going home to their loved ones tonight.
Britt walks onto the footbridge, and tells Carly, sorry. She didn’t expect to find Carly there. She actually didn’t think anyone would be there. She just thought she could… She doesn’t know what she thought she could do here. Carly says she does.
On the phone, Sonny says, Cyrus! Realizing Cyrus is no longer there, he throws the phone, and says, you want a war, you bastard, I’ll give you a war.
Drew says Monica wasn’t kidding about Annabelle. She’s so big, she’s going to need a wing of her own. I laugh, because at first, I think he’s talking about a turkey wing, and I figure she’d already had a couple of them. Monica says, actually, she agrees with him. It took her a long time, but she’s finally fallen in love with that dog. He says, she never left Oscar’s side when he was sick, and Monica says, she laid on his bed for weeks after he was gone. Has Drew seen Sam or Scout? He must be anxious to get back to his old life.
Sam leads Dante to the bedroom, and they get busy. I’m not sure how they can concentrate with that loud music playing.
Drew tells Monica that he tried to concentrate on his life here to give him strength. Mostly Scout. Thinking about her got him through those brutal two years, but he can’t charge back into his life in Port Charles, and expect someone as young as Scout to welcome him with open arms. She says, a lot can change in two years, and he says, exactly his point. He doesn’t even know what a return to his life in Port Charles means. When he left, he was still trying to piece together his identity, and find where his place was in the world. She says, let her help him out. His place is here with his family.
Alexis comes out of her house to find Valentin on her porch. She says she thought she heard him talking out there, and he says, he was hoping her invitation to join the orphan Thanksgiving still stands. She asks why he’s not at the Quartermaines having pizza, and he says, change of plans. Charlotte’s with friends this year, and he’s second guessing his choice to be alone. She asks if there’s anything he wants to talk about before they go inside, but he says, no, and she says, let’s go. They go in, and she says, hey, everybody, make room for one more. Spencer asks what the hell Valentin is doing here.
Sonny tells Spinelli, Renault is in prison, and somehow got ahold of a burner phone. Spinelli says, Cyrus called Sonny from prison? On Thanksgiving? How distressing. Sonny says he needs Spinelli to figure out what’s going on, and Spinelli asks why Cyrus called. Sonny says, he probably heard about Jason, and called to taunt him. Spinelli says, heard about Jason? Is he back from Greece? Sonny says, Spinelli doesn’t know? and Spinelli says, know what exactly?
Carly says, she’s surprised Britt even knows about this place, and Britt says, when she and Jason were on the run, they had a lot of downtime. Carly asks if she knew the original bridge was torn down. It wasn’t safe, so Jason made an anonymous donation, and they built this bridge in its place. Britt says she didn’t know that part, but knowing this place had such significance to Jason, she thought she’d feel closer to him if she came here. She cries, and says she imagines Carly had the same idea. Carly says, long before the wedding they just had, long before Jax, even before she met Sonny, Jason was her other half, strange as that may sound. Britt says she knows. When she and Jason were in the lighthouse, he talked a lot about Carly. She laughs and says, well, a lot for Jason. She knows how much they meant to each other. She gets why Carly is there. Does she want Britt to go?
Brook says she knows what this is doing to Maxie, to Valentin, to everyone. How devastated Charlotte’s going to be when she finds out Bailey really isn’t her baby sister, not to mention what this is doing to Bailey. She’s bonding with the wrong woman as her mother. He says, what about her? Isn’t she hurting? She says, her part in this is basically telling some lies, a skill she acquired at a young age, and has nearly perfected. She’s taking care of Bailey, which surprisingly, she’s good at. He says, see? That’s his point. Valentin, Maxie, Charlotte, they’re sad right now, but one day, when this secret comes out, and Bailey goes back to Maxie, Brook is going to be the one who’s suffering. Has she thought about that? She says, fine. It’s going to hurt everyone, but after the information they just learned, that Peter is responsible for Jason’s death, that he kept Drew prisoner for over two years, it proves they’re doing the right thing keeping Bailey safe from Peter. They made the right decision. He says, now that Peter is in custody with the WSB, they won’t have to keep up this pretense much longer. He takes her hand, and she says, from his lips. Mac walks up, and Chase asks what he’s doing here. Mac says he’s sorry to bother the family on a holiday, but he needs to ask Chase some questions about Valentin.
Alexis reminds Spencer that it’s her house, and she likes Valentin. She knows Spencer doesn’t like him and they haven’t gotten along in a while, and Spencer says, the man tried to kill him when he was a child. Shawn guesses he missed a lot while he was away, and Valentin tells Spencer, that’s the way his father framed an event from his childhood. Alexis says, all right. It’s Thanksgiving, a day to be grateful, so if the two of them could put away their dueling resentments for a few hours, she’d be grateful. Spencer says, he’ll always be grateful, but in 2021, they finally learned the truth; that Valentin is Helena’s bastard child and has zero claim to anything Cassadine. Alexis tells him, that’s not being grateful, and Spencer says, Valentin shouldn’t even be able to use the last name Cassadine. The doorbell rings, and Alexis wonders, what fresh hell is this? and opens the door. Nikolas says, happy Thanksgiving, and Ava says, they brought pie… Is this a bad time? Alexis says, they have no idea. Nikolas says, they wanted to make sure she wasn’t alone tonight, and Ava says, that’s why they brought pie; pumpkin and pecan. Alexis says, that’s very generous, but as they can see, she’s far from alone. She opens the door, and they walk in. Ava says, happy Thanksgiving, everyone, and Nikolas says, maybe a quiet Thanksgiving at Windymere would be better. Spencer says, good idea, but Esme says, come on. It’s a holiday. This is his chance to show he’s the bigger man. Shawn says Alexis promised him that his Thanksgiving wouldn’t be boring. She sure delivered on that.
Ned says, Olivia thinks this is a good idea? Getting ahead of Valentin? She knows that’s equivalent to declaring war with him, right? She says, what his daughter did to Valentin, it hurt. He’s going to be mad and want revenge, and when the dust settles, of course (🍷) he’s going to try and undermine Drew’s shares of the Quartermaine stock. Ned says, he means this as a compliment; how very Quartermaine of her. She says, you can take the girl out of Brooklyn… he knows how the saying goes. She knows she can be reactionary, but over the past year, she’s slowly, but surely, come to realize Ned’s head is back on his shoulders again. She feels she can trust his intentions, not just with Leo, but with the family. He asks if that includes the two of them. Before they butted heads about Leo, he thought they were on their way to reconciliation. Where does that leave them now?
Drew says Monica has always been so incredibly kind to him, more than he deserves, especially considering the mess and trauma his arrival caused. She says, this family thrives on strife and drama. He wouldn’t be a Quartermaine if he wasn’t stirring things up. He says he sees she redecorated, and she says she thought it was time for a change. Does he like it? He says he likes it a lot, but he misses the family photos on the mantel. She says, her too. It was hard putting those away, but it was just always a reminder of everyone they’ve lost, and now Jason’s gone. She tears up, and he hugs her. She says, but sometimes it takes a new perspective to see things, or really see them. Willow came to her, and asked if she could put some pictures Wiley had drawn on the fridge. All of a sudden, she had this sense of family again. Soon there will be drawings Bailey did next to Wiley’s. They’ll never forget the ones they’ve lost, but they’ve got to find a way to move on with their lives. He says, somehow we do.
Basking in the afterglow, Dante says, that was… Sam says, a long time coming, and he says, that’s one way to put it, kissing her again. He says, it felt like the right thing to do, and she says, this big step had to be about the two of them first. Dante’s phone rings, and he says, it’s probably his mom, worrying why they flaked. They should make their families wait until tomorrow. Unless of course (🍷) she thinks he should take off tonight.
Ava tells Alexis that she’s sorry. She thought she was encouraging Nikolas to do a good thing. Alexis says, she’s not sure Nikolas can do a good thing anymore, even with an instruction manual. Ava says she doesn’t want to fight. She just came to check on Alexis, and see how she was doing. She’s sure Alexis remembers the significance of this day, other than it being a holiday. It’s been a year since they last saw Julian before he… Alexis says she must have blocked that anniversary. As Ava knows, things did not end well with her and Julian. Having said that, she knows he’s Ava’s brother and she misses him, and she’s sorry Ava is in pain. Ava thanks her, and Alexis says, now if Ava will excuse her, she’s going to try and make at least one person smile instead of cry before this dreadful holiday is over. The doorbell rings, and Alexis says, who could this be? Satan? She opens the door, and Victor says, hello, Natasha.
Alexis says, he’s… He says, late for dinner? He supposes he is. Is this any way to great a member of her family? She lets him in, and Spencer says, Uncle Victor, you’re alive, and hugs him. Victor says Spencer is all grown up. Quite a chip off the old block. Nikolas says, sorry. He should have warned them. Alexis says, he knew Victor was alive and didn’t say anything? How long has he known?
Spinelli tells Sonny, they just need to access the appropriate technology, a scan that can measure body temperature, and prove there are signs of life. They need to notify the Greek authorities. Sonny says, they did that already; there’s no sign of life. Even though they haven’t found a body, it doesn’t look good. They have to prepare themselves for the worst case scenario. Spinelli says, Sonny finally found his way home, and so did Drew, only for them to lose Jason. Sonny says, Jason knew the risk going to Greece. In this business, they’re provided with a great life, but it also turns them into people who take action. It’s always a risk. They can’t always take for granted that they’re going to beat the odds and come home. Jason knew that. Spinelli says, Jason was never concerned about risk; he embraced it, but he truly never thought it would catch up with him. He cries, and Sonny hugs him.
Carly says, the footbridge is a public place. It’s not for her say whether Britt can use it or not. Britt asks if she should join Carly, and Carly says, she knows how important Britt was to Jason, and he was to her. Britt says, the last time they talked, Carly said she wished Jason had never met her, meaning he’d still be alive if their paths had never crossed. Carly tells Britt, she shouldn’t have said that; she’s sorry. I fall out of my chair in shock. Britt says, don’t be. She feels the same way. So whatever Carly feels about her, know that right now, she hates herself too.
Brook tells Mac, let her guess. Valentin is filing charges against her for fraud or something? Mac asks why she’d say that, and she says, no reason. She probably shouldn’t have had that second glass of wine with dinner. Chase asks what Mac is doing here. It’s Thanksgiving; he should be home. Mac says, he’d like to be, but when the PCPD has a formal complaint lodged against the department, he has to pay attention. He doesn’t know the whole story, but Valentin is saying one of his detectives assaulted him over a personal matter. Brook says, that’s ridiculous; Chase was just standing up for her. Mac says, there will be a time and place for Brook to give her version of things, but this is a serious matter, which is why he’s not with his family on this holiday. He needs to speak to Chase in private.
Alexis says, Nikolas knew Victor was alive, and didn’t think to tell her about it? Nikolas says, neither she nor Spencer were speaking to him, and he expected Victor to remain in prison. Spencer says Nikolas warned him away from Victor, but as they know, his word is good for nothing. He always thought Victor was a good man. Victor thanks him, and says, that means a lot. He’s sure they’re wondering why he’s here. He went to Windymere, but it was empty, so he came here, looking for the family he has left. He asks Alexis where her daughters are; he was hoping for a proper family reunion. She says, they had other plans, fortunately, and Victor looks at Valentin, saying, all is not lost. He had no idea Valentin and Natasha had gotten close enough to spend a holiday together. Alexis says she didn’t know Victor and Valentin were so close, but Valentin says, they’re not close. Victor is his father.
Olivia tells Ned, it’s a lot to unpack, but it’s different this time. Ned asks, why? and she says, this time she has hope. Over the course of the last year, there were a lot of times she didn’t have any. She thinks it’s a good sign. Is that enough for now? He says, it’s worth everything to him, and she says, one thing she does know is that she wants him in Leo’s life. Julian’s been gone a year, but even when he was alive, Ned was the most fatherly figure in Leo’s life. Despite what’s gone on between them, she regrets they didn’t make it official last year. He says, him too, and they hug. Monica comes in with Drew, and says she didn’t mean to interrupt, but Olivia tells Drew, if he’s hungry, he’d better jump on some leftover pizza; it goes quick. Monica says she’s right. If he wants to hit the pizza, go now before everyone starts on round two. She’ll have the staff get a room ready for him. He says, that’s not necessary, but she says, he needs them as much as they need him, and Ned says she’s right. They have a lot to catch up on.
Sam asks if Dante is going to just cut and run on her, but he says he’s not going anywhere. He didn’t want to be presumptuous. Rocco is spending the night, but if he’s there for breakfast, there are going to be a lot of awkward questions. Sam suggests they set an alarm extra early, and he can sneak out before the kids wake up… He asks where she went, and she tells him, she was going to say she wanted him to stay because she didn’t want be alone tonight, but that’s not true. She doesn’t want him to stay because she’s lonely. She wants him to stay because she wants to be with him. He says, that’s good. He wants to be with her too. So it’s settled then; he’ll stay.
Alexis tells Valentin, they knew Mikkos wasn’t his father. They also knew Helena had an affair with an unknown man. Victor says, that would be him, and Alexis says, eww. Him and Helena? Victor says he knows Alexis had issues with Helena. Of course (🍷) she did, Helena killed her mother, but he saw a different side to her. Valentin says, so if anyone needs it spelled out, that makes him 100% Cassadine bastard. He told Nikolas that he’d be eating his words. Spencer says, Nikolas knew about this? and Nikolas says, he knew Victor was alive, but had no idea he was Valentin’s father. Have they had DNA tests? Victor says, not yet, but he’s willing to, and Valentin says, as is he. And if it turns out to be true, the silver lining is he and Alexis are blood family. Spencer says he doesn’t believe his Uncle Victor would have a son like Valentin, and Nikolas says, he’s no fan of Valentin’s, but he thinks Spencer is putting Victor up too high. Spencer says he didn’t ask for Nikolas’s opinion, and Ava tells Nikolas that she thinks they should go. Nikolas says, good idea, and Valentin thinks he’ll go too, but Alexis says, no one is leaving until every dish is done. Nikolas says, he’ll stay if his son wants him too, and Spencer says, fine by him if Nikolas stays; he and Esme will go. Nikolas asks if everything has to be a grand gesture, and Spencer says, like Nikolas throwing him out of the house and saying Spencer is nothing to him? Talk about grand gestures, how about dressing up like a stalker and stabbing him? There’s no gesture there? Victor does a two-finger whistle, and says, he recognizes that blood feuds are something of a Cassadine tradition, but speaking as the patriarch of the family, that’s going to change starting today.
Chase goes back inside the mansion, and Brook says she’s gotten him into trouble with his boss, hasn’t she? How bad is it? He says, Mac suspended him from the force for six months.
Drew says, when Monica puts it like that, how can he say no? He thanks her, and she says he’s welcome, leaving to talk to the staff. Olivia goes to check on Leo, and Ned says, it’s his turn to welcome Drew back. It’s nothing short of a miracle, and one this family needs right now. They hug, and Ned says, at the risk of sounding mercenary, he wants to warn Drew that his return created complications with ELQ. Sorting it out is going to put a target on Drew for Valentin.
Victor says, now that he has their attention, the Cassadines have been plagued for far too long with infighting and family members stabbing each other in the back. Spencer says, sometimes they stab you in the chest, and Victor says, his point exactly. Can’t they imagine how much stronger this family would be together? Alexis says, he’s been dead a long time; he’s missed a lot. There’s a lot of bad blood going on between them, especially in the last three months. He’s not going to be the one to patch the family together. Frankly, she doesn’t think anyone can. Victor says, he hopes for all their sakes, that’s not the case. There will always be threats to this family lurking in the shadows. He just hopes and prays they come to realize this family is a lot stronger with a united front, before those threats step into the light.
Sam looks out window. Dante realizes she’s not next to him in bed, and gets up. He puts his arms around her from behind.
Spinelli tells Sonny that he thinks he should be going home now. He’ll get right to tracing the call. Georgie is getting dropped off in the morning. Sonny says Spinelli can stay there tonight; Josslyn and Carly wouldn’t mind. Spinelli thanks him for his kind offer, but thinks he needs to sit with the news, so he can get in a better headspace for Georgie in the morning. Sonny says, they’re just a phone call away, and Spinelli thanks him. He starts to leave, but says, at the risk of speaking out of turn, he knows things were complicated between Jason, Sonny, and Carly after the negated wedding, and he’s glad things got sorted before… before they lost him. He leaves.
Carly tells Britt, she knows what Jason would want her to say. He’d want her to tell Britt that she doesn’t blame her. That was one of the many roles Jason played in her life. He had the ability to talk her down. With him gone, those generous thoughts don’t come natural. They’re drowned out by loss, and knowing Jason is gone and he’s not coming back. Britt says she understands that feeling, and Carly says she doesn’t want Britt to go. Britt walks to Carly, and puts her arm around her. They stand shoulder to shoulder.
Tomorrow, Olivia asks Dante if things are getting serious with Sam; Valentin tells Anna, if he hurts, Brook is going to hurt too; Carly asks what Sonny is going to do about it; and Brando says he has to prepare Sasha first.
Real Housewives of Orange County
Heather aka Fancy Pants is back, and we heard a whole lot about her house, and how fabulous her life is. And we heard aaalll about the kids. We heard about it for so long, I started wondering where everyone else was. Heather’s life is so important, we didn’t even get opening taglines. Gina and Emily also made it back this season, and Emily said they were best friends again. She thought their friendship had been off because they were at low points in their lives. Now Gina was happy and healthy and it was all good. Gina talked about Matt’s court case being delayed because of covid, and how their relationship got better by the time she had to give a victim impact statement. It was tough seeing him plead guilty. She was still seeing Travis though, so it wasn’t like they were getting back together.
I guess Shannon is the OG of the group now, and we had to hear about her kids. She said the kids growing up was a lot to handle sometimes. She was still the same hypochondriac, but somehow, John was still hanging in strong with her. Heather met with new Housewife and friend Nicole for a hike, and talked some more about her kids. We saw an actual roadrunner run across the road, so there was that. It did not, however, make a beep-beep sound. Heather told Nicole that Shannon had been texting her about past good times, and we flashed back to some past volatile times. Heather thought maybe it was like childbirth, and Shannon was only remembering the good parts, but thought everyone deserved another chance.
Emily had some work done, and brought Gina to new Housewife and aestheticist Dr. Jen. Gina said Dr. Jen was the whole package; educated, working full-time, and a mom, and she was doing it all in stilettos. Since Jen later said she’d die without her nanny, maybe she isn’t quite the whole package Gina thinks. Heather met with Nobu manager John about catering an upcoming. In her interview, she said, to her, a party was a theatrical experience, a complete immersion into fabulousness. We flashed back to some of those immersions, including the cake bow incident a skabillion years ago. (See below for the full story.) Shannon met Emily and Gina for lunch, and Emily said they were the new Tres Amigas. Shannon said she was looking at them in a new light, and Emily said they’d grown on her like barnacles. Shannon said Heather had told her about a friend named Nicole, and she thought she knew Nicole from their kids going to pre-school together. She’d dated Kid Rock. After meeting with John, Heather met Nicole and the final new Housewife Noella.
In Jen’s interview, I had to hear about a stranger’s kids, and husband Ryne who deals in high-end vacation rentals and catering. He gets a thumbs up from me because of the way he was cradling their Chihuahua, and the way the Chi looked up at him so lovingly. Shannon told Gina and Emily that she was hoping Nicole wasn’t the person she thought, since she’d sued Heather’s husband Terry. Why Heather wouldn’t know this, I’m not sure, but Shannon made them swear they wouldn’t say anything. I don’t know why any of these women would expect another to adhere to that promise, given past experience. It’s Season 16, and it hasn’t happened once.
Heather met Shannon and Gina for lunch, and then gave them a tour of her house, which was basically as big as a small city. When Heather was out of earshot, Gina asked if Shannon was cool, since she’d once had a house like that in the same area. In Shannon’s interview, she said the house she and David built had both good and bad memories, and we flashed back on those. She said it was triggering her, but it felt like a lifetime ago. She looked like she wanted to escape when Heather showed off her hot towel drawers, in a bathroom bigger than my entire first floor. Noella went to Nicole’s for lunch, and talked about how life didn’t suck being married to ambulance chaser attorney Sweet James. Sweet James? Really?
The women headed to Heather’s party, Shannon making Emily and Gina swear again that they wouldn’t say anything about Nicole. In Emily’s interview, she said it was typical Shannon behavior, causing trouble on the downlow. Then, if it came up later, she played the innocent victim. Gina didn’t understand Shannon’s endgame. Does anyone? Does Shannon even understand it?
Shannon thought she’d met Jen before, but it had been at a party, so the memory was fuzzy. We saw beautiful people in Heather’s beautiful house eating beautiful food and drinking beautiful drinks. In Gina’s interview, she said she thought it was the right thing to do to tell Heather about Nicole. She didn’t think she was capable of pretending it was okay. Then Nicole arrived. We saw flashes of Gina telling Emily that it was a disaster, and Heather kicking everyone out.
Then, to be continued…
This season, horse races, fabulous vacations, and other rich people things no one in this cast deserves; lots of fights; Shannon is jealous of Gina’s friendship with Heather; Terry wonders if Shannon is harboring ill will from the past; and Noella says her life is falling apart.
👯♀️ New Girls…
The newest Housewives in the OC. Plus one who was demoted early on.
https://people.com/tv/rhoc-newcomers-shake-things-up-in-season-16-trailer-exclusive/
https://screenrant.com/housewives-orange-county-new-cast-season-16-facts/
🎀 The Bow Incident…
I don’t remember much about this woman, but I sure remember the fuss Heather kicked up. She must have said, she ate my bow, ten thousand times.
https://www.bravotv.com/the-daily-dish/tbt-sarah-eats-the-bow-on-heathers-cake
🏂 Sliding Out Of This Page Like…
See you tomorrow for some soap and faux fur on the Runway. Until then, stay safe, stay being a queen, but not a drag, and stay not letting generous thoughts get drowned out by loss.
What I Watched - TV With Theresa 