Tag Archives: The Flaming Lips

Nov15

November 14, 2024 – Jason Punches Drew, New Lulu, First Soap, Gates Open Soon, A Friend Joins the OC Reunion, Salty Talk, Prank Slam, Charming Exit, Latest House, Surprise & Cosmic

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What I Watched Today

(rambling, random thoughts, recaps, and the whole GH enchilada on Fridays)

General Hospital

Alexis says, if Kristina wants her help to get justice, she’ll do everything she can to help. Kristina says she wants to prepare for Ava’s trial and do everything she can to see that Ava is found guilty of killing Adela.

Ava meets Ric at the Grille, and he tells her that he’s going to be upfront. Her case isn’t a slam dunk. An innocent baby is dead, two mothers are grieving, and there’s a photo where Ava has her hands on Kristina. Ava says, it’s not what it looks like, and Ric says he believes her, but he doesn’t know if a jury will. Ava asks if he doesn’t plan to paint Kristina as an explosive, unpredictable woman, and he says, like her?

Trina sees TJ at the boxing gym, and he tells her that it’s good to keep busy. She says she’s sorry about Sam. How’s Molly? He says he’s barely seen her.

Molly sits at Bobbie’s reading a book. She puts it on the table and looks at her phone. As he’s walking by, Isaiah knocks the book off the table. He picks it up and says, Little Women. She must be in the mood for a good cry.

Willow says, it seems something is bothering Michael, and he says, there is something on his mind. There’s no good way to ask, so he’s just going to ask. How does she feel about Drew moving to DC?

Jason is waiting in the foyer when Nina comes in with Drew. She tells Jason that his brother is a congressman, and Drew walks toward Jason, holding out his hand. Jason punches Drew in the face. (Jason is all of us right now.)

Nina says, what the hell? and Jason and Drew struggle. Jason hits Drew again and draws blood. Nina yells, stop! when Lois and Brook come out. Brook says, that’s enough, and Nina says, Drew is hurt. Drew asks Jason, why? but Jason says, you know why. He leaves, and Ned comes in. Ned asks if Drew wants to tell him what the hell that was about.

Willow says she understands it might be difficult to believe, but she’s glad Drew is leaving for DC. He won’t be a constant reminder to Michael, and the longer he’s gone, the easier it will be to get past this and the less it will matter. Michael asks if that’s what she wants, and she says, it’s all she wants. He says he’s glad to hear it, and she says, he doesn’t seem as happy as she thought he’d be. He says he’s not sure it solves their real problem and wonders if it’s enough to save their marriage. Or is it too little too late? Willow says, of course (🍷) it’s not. It will give them a chance to work on their relationship. He says he knows where he wants to start, with the truth.  

TJ tells Trina that losing Irene was devastating. They don’t have closure. Trina says, maybe they need more time, but TJ says, they’re burying themselves in work and avoiding each other. They used to love spending time together. She says, grief changes you. She always thought she was outgoing, but after Spencer died, she felt alone. He says, when they lost the baby, he thought they’d tackle it together, but they feel separate. She suggests they’re just going through a rough patch and will figure it out, but he says, with Sam being gone, Molly is more distant than ever. She’s not confiding in him, but he doesn’t blame her. The loss is too much.

Molly tells Isaiah that Little Women is her favorite book. It comforts her. He says, it doesn’t look like her first copy, and she says, it’s the newest edition. It was her birthday gift to herself. Her birthday is today. He tells her, happy birthday, and she says, he’s the first person this year to wish her happy birthday. He may be the only one. He asks if everyone forgot, and she says, seems like it. It’s not as bad as it sounds. Her family has a lot going on. He says, that’s no excuse, but she says, it kind of is. She doesn’t mean to unload on him, but her sister just passed away. They’re all in shock and dealing with planning a funeral. He says he’s sorry, and she says, it doesn’t feel real and doesn’t make sense. He says he hopes she doesn’t mind him asking, but what happened? Was she sick? Molly says, she died unexpectedly after a routine surgery. She was a liver donor. He asks if her sister was Sam McCall.

Kristina tells Alexis that she’s not worried about the outcome. She has faith that justice will prevail, and they’ll find Ava guilty of killing her daughter. She wants to be as prepared as possible. She’s been working with the DA’s office, but she trusts Alexis more. Besides, they could use the distraction. Alexis says, it’s a good idea to be as prepped as possible and know what she’s going to say on the stand. Kristina says she does. She’s going to tell the truth. Alexis says, of course (🍷), and Kristina says, it’s an open and shut case. Alexis says, it’s possible the case may not work the way Kristina wants.

Ava asks how Ric can say that when he knows she’s hanging on by a thread, and he says, the prosecution is going to portray her in the worst possible light. She says she’s not the monster people make her out to be, and he says, she needs to be prepared for what the ADA is going to throw at her. They way she reacted to what he just said might not bode well on the stand, and the cross-examination by the prosecution will be harder. She says, it’s not her first time, and he says, they’re going to leave no stone or bad deed unturned. Every time she jaywalked, they’re going to dredge it up. It’s his job to see how well she holds up under pressure.

Kristina tells Alexis, of course (🍷) it’s going to go her way. The truth is on her side. Alexis says, unfortunately, that’s not going to matter. Not when Ric is involved. He doesn’t care about her feelings or her grief or her pain. Kristina says she can handle Ric, but Alexis says, he’s smart and shrewd and will set a trap. Kristina will walk into it and he won’t bat an eye. She’ll do what she can to help Kristina be prepared, but it may not go the way she wants. Kristina says she’s not going to fall into Ric’s trap, but Alexis says, she already has, at the Grille. Don’t think he won’t use that to make her look unstable. Krisina says, Ric won’t blindside her again. With Alexis’s help she’ll be ready for whatever Ric throws at her.

Ava asks Ric why her past needs to be brought up. Isn’t it inadmissible? He says, that motion is always shot down. Character is definitely relevant to establish a pattern. Ava says, there’s no pattern, but he says, her brushes with the law are admissible. Her taking the stand is the only real weapon in their arsenal. She has to confront her past and accept what she’s done. She says, probably nobody will understand why she’s done the things she’s done.

Willow asks what Michael means by the truth, and he says he’s done a lot of thinking. It’s all he’s been thinking about. He loves her and he wants them to move past this. She says she does too, and he says, she has no idea how happy he is to hear her say that. They haven’t exactly been truthful. She says she’s sorry she kept her and Drew’s kiss from him, but he says he’s not just talking about the kiss. They’ve both kept secrets from each other. He didn’t tell her about his and Dex’s plan to take down his father, and didn’t tell her that Nina was the one who called the SEC. It’s easy to keep secrets because it’s become their pattern (WOTD). She says she wanted to tell him. She hated lying to him. It was tearing her apart. He says, they’ve both lied. He wants to feel like they can be honest. To make it work, there have to be no more secrets, and he can’t be the only one who wants that to happen. She needs to want it too. Is she ready to be completely honest?

Drew is helped to the living room, and Ned tells them not to let Drew bleed on the upholstery (ha-ha-ha!). Lois asks, what’s wrong with him? and he says he’s thinking about Monica. If they keep the damage to a minimum, she never needs to know. Nina says, Drew was just attacked by his brother, and Brook says, that will be upsetting to Monica. She leaves to get ice, and Lois says, Drew needs to go to the emergency room, but Ned says, no. The family can’t endure another scandal. Lois says, Drew needs medical attention, but Drew says, Ned’s right. It will draw too much attention that they don’t need.

Molly says, Sam is her sister, and Isaiah says, this is a strange coincidence. He’s the surgeon who operated on Lulu. They introduce themselves, and Molly says she didn’t know who was operating on Lulu. They were so focused on Sam and Lucas, it didn’t occur to them to ask. He says, there’s no reason they should have. He’s sorry for her loss. From what he heard, Sam was an amazing person. Molly says, she was, and thanks him. She says, if he’s not meeting someone, would he like to join her? He says he’d love to, and sits down. He says he can understand why her family forgot. He’s sorry he was harsh. She says, even if they’d remembered, she’s not in the mood to celebrate, but he says, even on the hardest of days, it’s important to enjoy yourself. Birthdays are only once a year. It would be a shame to waste it. He has something to take care of, but he’ll be right back. He leaves the table.

Trina works the heavy bag, and TJ says, she packs a hell of a punch. She says, it comes in handy when somebody cuts in line at the coffee shop, and he says he has to get back to work. It was nice to have a sympathetic ear. She says she’s here for him, and he packs up. He tells her to enjoy her workout, but she sees Kai is there and says she doesn’t see that happening. Because of that guy. He says, Kai Taylor? and she asks if he knows him. He says, everybody knows him, but she says she didn’t before the other day. He tells her all of Kai’s football accomplishments, and she says, he’s messing up her GPA. He’s her partner for a project and hasn’t showed up for any classes. TJ suggests she talk to him.  

Kristina says she’ll do what it takes to beat Ric, and Alexis says she believes Kristina can do whatever she puts her mind to, but she’s not sure it’s going to work. Kristina says she can’t accept that. Ava has tortured their family long enough. Ava killed Morgan and Connie, and it’s not fair there were never any consequences. Ava belongs in prison for everything she’s done. Ava is responsible for the fact she can never hold her daughter or experience being a mother. She wants Ava to experience the unbearable pain of having Avery ripped out of her arms and know it’s because of her.

Ric says he knows what it’s like not to be proud of your past, and Ava says she had good reasons for doing the things she did. He says, that’s what they try to convince themselves and the people they love, doing mental gymnastics. One small bad deed leads to another until they’ve painted themselves so far in a corner, they don’t know how they got there. And the worst part is, when it’s over, they’ve lost the people they love. The people they love hate them, and they’re left alone wondering where they went wrong. They live with the guilt and the person they’ve become, becomes familiar. Maybe they’re not so different. He’s not going to judge her when he’s not ready to judge himself. She tells him, do his worst, and he says, Miss Jerone, how did you feel when you pushed Kristina Corinthos-Davis out of the window? Similar to when you shot Connie Falconari in cold blood?

Lois asks if they know a doctor who will make house calls, and Nina says she’ll get Willow. She thinks they should call the cops, but Ned says, the attention the police will attract is worse than an ambulance. Nina says, they can be discreet, and if the press finds out, she’ll mitigate the fallout. Jason needs to be held responsible. She leaves, and Ned says, so they all agree, no cops. All he saw was a disagreement between brothers. Lois says, it was more than that, but Drew says, no cops, no ambulance.

Willow says she wants a life with Michael. It’s what she’s always wanted, for them to have a family together. He asks if that’s what she really wants or is she saying that because she feels obligated? but she says she’d never think of him as an obligation. He says he wants to make sure they’re on the same page and both want to fight for their marriage. She says that’s exactly what she wants. Where do they start? He says he thinks it’s time they were completely honest, when there’s an urgent knock at the door. It’s Nina, and she says, Willow needs to come to the house. There was a fight and someone was injured. Michael says, who? and she says, Drew and Jason had a fight and Drew was hurt. They leave.

Isaiah brings Molly a cupcake with a candle in it, and she says, that’s very sweet. He says he’s embarrassed to admit it, but he’s a big birthday guy. But it’s not a go until she makes a wish. She asks if he thinks it’s okay if she wishes for something that’s not possible, and he says, that’s the best kind of wish. She blows out the candle.

Ava says she did not kill Connie, but Ric says, she was arrested for Connie’s murder. She says, the charges were dropped, and he says, because the evidence disappeared. Just like the bags Kristina tripped over. Ava says she explained that to the police. She panicked and moved them. He says, the same bags Kristina fell over when Ava pushed her out the window and killed her baby? Ava says she’s done terrible things that she wishes desperately she could undo, and he says, like killing Morgan? She says she didn’t kill Morgan. She loved Morgan. He asks if she didn’t replace Morgan’s bipolar medication with placebos causing him to have mental breakdown and be in the wrong place at the wrong time, causing his death. Remember, she’s under oath. She says, his breakdown was her fault, but she’s not responsible for the explosion. She put Morgan in a vulnerable position, but she never intended for him to die. Morgan was the most beautiful person she’s known. She’s not denying she switched his medication and prays for forgiveness for the part she played in his death. It haunts her. But as tragic as it was, it was nothing like what happened with Kristina’s baby.

Alexis says she’s never heard Kristina talk like that, and Kristina says she’s never experienced what she’s been through. Alexis says, it’s not about revenge. The law is about justice. Kristina says, not if the guilty don’t pay for their crimes. Ava deserves to be punished. Alexis asks if she knows who she sounds like, and Kristina says, her father? Alexis says, she sounds angry and cold and she’s talking about Ava like she’s not human. Act like this, and Ric will exploit it. Kristina says she’s not going to let him get to her. She’s more focused and has clarity. Ava needs to be punished. Alexis says, revenge isn’t the same as justice, but Kristina says, in this case, justice and revenge go hand in hand.

In the nook, Lois says she can’t believe what happened. She hopes Drew is okay. Brook says, his eye looks terrible. She wonders what caused Jason to lose his temper, and Lois says, he’s still grieving Sam. Brook says, that’s probably it, and Lois asks, what’s that look, like she knows something? Spill it. What’s this big secret thing they’re not letting her in on? She’s Brook’s mother. Brook can trust her. Brook says, she can’t keep a secret. It’s big and it’s better Lois doesn’t know. Lois says, it’s affecting her life in this house, and she has the right to know what’s going on. Brook says, she does have a point. Promise not to tell a single living soul. Lois gestures locking her lips and putting the key down her bra, and Brook says, Drew and Willow kissed. Lois says, holy cannoli, and Brook says, obviously, Jason knows. This is really bad.

Willow asks, what happened? and Nina says, Jason happened. He attacked Drew out of nowhere. Willow asks why he would do that, and Ned says, let Willow take a look at Drew while he talks to Michael in the foyer.

Ned says, Michael told Jason? and Michael says, it just kind of happened. Ned says, Michael knows that Jason likes to take matters into his own hands.

TJ leaves, and Trina walks over to Kai. He asks if she’s going to dump her water on him too, and she asks what he’s doing here. Doesn’t he work out in that fancy gym on campus? He says, it’s under maintenance, and she says she’s sorry he has to slum it with the rest of them. He says he doesn’t think of it like that, but she says she doesn’t care where he works out, as long as it’s not in her space. He says he thinks they got off on the wrong foot and he wants to make things right. He got his schedule and he’s going to come to class for the rest of the year and work hard. She says, don’t bother. She already asked for a new partner, and when it gets approved, she’ll never have to think about him again. She walks out.

Isaiah says, it’s a book he’s read many times. Maybe Molly should just read part one, the happy part… happyish. She says she means this as a compliment, but she never met a man as familiar with Little Women as he is. He says, when he provided medical services to refugees in Africa, it was the only book he could get his hands on. He must have read it ten times, maybe more. She says, it’s a great book. It’s definitely gotten her through some hard times. He says, immersing yourself in a book is better than something less constructive, like binge drinking, and she says, self-destructive coping mechanisms aren’t her thing. Those are more Kristina’s speed. He says, so she’s one of several girls. That’s why she loves the book. She says, they all have different fathers and her mom is the one who bonds her together, like Marmie. He asks, which sister is her? and she says, Meg, the responsible one. Kristina is Amy, spoiled and impulsive. Sam is definitely Jo, independent and outspoken. She was Jo. She doesn’t think she’ll ever get used to referring to Sam in the past tense.

Lois says, Chase missed everything, and Brook says, he was called out on an emergency. Lois says, it’s best he wasn’t here. He would have had to arrest Jason. They head to the living room with the ice, and Lois says, that’s what happens when you kiss someone else’s wife. Brook shushes her.

Ned asks what Michael was thinking. Now the whole town will know Drew and Willow were playing footsy. Michael says he needed someone to talk to, and Ned says he hopes it was worth it.

Willow tends to Drew’s eye, and Brook brings her the ice. Lois says, it looks awful, and Nina agrees. Nina, Brook, and Lois leave, and Willow asks Drew why Jason attacked him. Does he know what happened? Drew says, that’s impossible. They’re the only two who know.

Outside Bobbie’s, Isaiah’s phone rings. He asks what he can do for Terry… Can he ask what it’s about?… Sure. He’s headed over there now.

Molly gets up to leave Bobbie’s, when Kristina comes in. She hands Molly a present and says, happy birthday. Molly opens it, and it’s a gold necklace with a tiny M initial charm. Kristina says she knows Molly loved hers, so now she’s got one of her own. She hopes Molly doesn’t mind that they’re matching. Molly says, of course (🍷) not. She loves it. Kristina says, happy birthday.

Ava says, Kristina’s fall was a terrible accident. If she hadn’t tripped… If she had it to do all over again, she would never have let Cates leave his luggage. That bag is the reason she’s in this mess to begin with. She shouldn’t have moved it. That’s what makes her look guilty when she’s not. How could people think she’d hurt a pregnant woman? That’s a line she would not cross. She’s barely slept since it happened. She lays in bed remembering the look on Kristina’s face before she fell. How shocked she was. She remembers the sound of glass breaking and Kristina’s scream, so panicked and scared. She’ll never forget it. Kristina lost the baby daughter that she loved and couldn’t wait to meet. Just like Ava lost her precious Kiki. She knows how horrible the pain is. It rips you apart. She would never inflict suffering like that on another mother. Shame on people who think that. If she could, she’d give up everything to give Kristina back her baby. Ric says, that’s it. Perfect. That speech is exactly what he wants her to say on the stand. Her heartfelt sympathy is real and if she takes accountability the way she just did, they’ve got the win locked up.

Kristina fastens the necklace on Molly, and Molly says, it means more than Kristina knows, this year especially. Kristina says, Sam wishes her a happy birthday too. They hug, and Jason walks in. Kristina notices his bloody knuckles, and he quickly goes to the back.

Willow tells Drew that the cut will need to be cleaned. She’ll come back in the morning. Michael looks into the living room, and because these two don’t learn, he sees Drew and Willow alone, Willow’s hand against Drew’s cheek. Willow says she wanted to make sure Drew was okay. She’s sorry this happened. Drew says he’ll be fine. We’ll be fine.

It’s not often I feel sorry for Michael, but yeah, this is one of those times.

Tomorrow, Felicia tells Anna that Sasha doesn’t know something; Lucky asks Sonny why he should stay if what he’s looking for isn’t here; Jason says, all Carly needs to know is that Drew got everything he deserved; and Ric asks Drew to please tell him they’re pressing charges.

🩺 And Suddenly…

I’m thinking Terry called Isaiah because there’s been a good change in Lulu’s prognosis.

https://www.soapsindepth.com/posts/general-hospital/alexa-havins-teases-her-debut-as-ghs-lulu

🧴 Gotta Start Somewhere…

She could do worse than Rice Plaza at Christmastime.

https://www.soapsindepth.com/posts/general-hospital/days-star-bryan-dattilos-daughter-delia-cast-on-gh

🧼 Opening the Gates…

Beyond the Gates begins February 24, 2025 CBS – the next day on Paramount+.

https://parade.com/tv/beyond-the-gates-season-1

🍊 These Oranges Are Moldy…

It’s the second part of a three part too long RHOC Reunion, and the Jenn/Ryan topic is still raging. Tamra annoys me immediately, saying she misspoke in her tirade about the FBI, having heard gossip on the street. First of all, let’s look at the word misspoke that’s being used incorrectly here. The actual definition is mispronunciation, but what’s worse is how this word is constantly used by people who are actually talking about gossiping or lying. You didn’t misspeak. You passed along something without knowing if it was true or not, and presented it as fact. Tamra said she was plastered and didn’t remember it the next day. She ended up getting a cease and desist letter. Alrighty then.

There was a lot about how Jenn is a dimbulb who doesn’t even understand where her rent payment is coming from or even if it’s being paid. She did finally spill that she’s supposed to get $6K a month from her ex and it’s an ongoing battle. Still, this woman needs to learn how to take care of herself. Then there was the subject of the $2000 dress. Jenn and Katie thought it was mean girl of Fancy Pants Heather to check the price tag and tell Tamra, but Fancy Pants said it was just gossipy. Because mean girls don’t gossip? Fancy Pants ultimately said she brought up the dress because Jenn didn’t take her financial suggestions. A debate over mean girl versus gossipy ensued, and in reference to being gossipy, Emily said, we all do that. My next bone of contention after misspoke. This statement is equal to the person who says, we were all drunk, when they alone did something incredibly stupid while drunk. No. It wasn’t all of us. It was you.

Jenn said, Tamra went lower than the rest of them, and she wondered when it stopped. She said, everybody would rather be by Tamra’s side than go against her, so they weren’t her targets. Tamra confessed that she was starting therapy, and Andy asked, what took so long? Tamra said, when everybody tells you you’re dead, it’s time to lie down. This gives me hope, but not really. Emily told Jenn that her ex was probably going to string things out forever, and she wanted Jenn to create something for herself. Or as Gina put it, be her own hero.

We found out that Gina and Travis are still living apart, but Gina was more forthcoming about the problem being Travis’s ex. Apparently there had been incidents that affected Gina’s children, making them fearful. Gina said she and Travis saw each other every day, but she didn’t think things would ever improve with his ex, even after the divorce was finalized.

There was a blah-blah-blah about Katie’s kids saying Fancy Pants was mean. Funny, for someone who insists they don’t exhibit mean girl behavior, the word mean comes up a lot in conjunction with her. Evidently, Katie’s daughter is also telling the world via TikTok that her mother works with fake-ass bitches. She’s not wrong. The women were all like, my kids would never, and said, no matter how old they were, they’d force their kids to remove it. Maybe. But bottom line is, Katie’s daughter is an adult and her own person. Maybe she’s bucking for her own show. Who cares? Andy had to finally shut the conversation down citing the beating-a-dead-horse clause.

Alexis was brought on in the last 15 minutes and was the same idiot she’s been on the show. When Andy asked how she was feeling about coming back to RHOC, Alexis acted like it was a return to her fabulous career as a television star after a hiatus. Shannon asked how many times she’d practiced, there’s the door, Shannon Beador, when there was no door. Technically, there was, but they were outside, and Shannon going inside would defeat the purpose of showing her the door. Alexis pretended that she’d never intended to bring up the videos and it somehow just slipped out. Once again, a receipt of unseen footage told us otherwise. The general consensus was that she should stop being Johnny J.’s mouthpiece.

Another peeve, Fancy Pants going, no, no, no, no, no, like Brynn did on RHONY. Is this a thing now? No. Just one no.

It seemed like they saved a lot of the fun times footage for flashbacks of things we never saw the first time. They used to do that with the lost/found/secret footage specials. I think we need to see more fun on the actual show. Maybe I’d dislike these women less.

Next time, Emily says, Alexis is the dumbest girl she’s ever f***ing met. That’s enough to get me to show up.

Real Housewives of Orange County Season 18, Episode 19 Recap: The Attacks Continue in the OC

If that wasn’t enough.

https://people.com/rhoc-recap-shannon-beador-slams-alexis-bellino-being-john-janssen-mouthpiece-reunion-fight-8745852

🧂 Adding Some Salt…

Yesterday’s recap, lengthier than mine.

Real Housewives of Salt Lake City Season 5, Episode 9 Recap: This is Not the Brat Summer I Thought We Were Headed For

Another teaspoon. I found this pretty amusing, especially when Angie called it a random blog.

How Reality Tea Got Dragged Into RHOSLC Season 5 Drama

🗽 Not a Fan…

Is he kidding? That’s the best episode I’ve seen of RHONY 2.0 since it began.

Andy Cohen and Jeff Lewis Slam RHONY Pregnancy Prank: ‘It’s a Bad Move’ 

🍹 Time To Bounce…

No great loss, but so did things not go well with Venita or…?

https://people.com/jarrett-jt-thomas-announces-exit-from-southern-charm-amid-filming-for-season-10-8742246

💣 Moustaches Are Twirling…

I don’t watch this show faithfully, but every time I catch it, it’s a lot of fun. There’s a big difference between Teresa haranguing her brother and screeching about false love bubbles on RHONJ, and Teresa deliberately acting the villain and strategizing as such in a game. And I love Joel McHale.

House of Villains Season 2, Episode 7 Recap: Kandy Is Out for Blood

🐨 Australian Meet Cute…

It’s a shame it tried to bite, but what an experience.

https://people.com/australia-couple-comes-home-find-koala-in-bed-8745155

🍂 Jumping In a Pile Of Leaves…

Join me tomorrow for soap, what to watch (or not), and watchful words. Until then, stay safe; stay making a contribution to your local food bank/soup kitchen for Thanksgiving; and stay enjoying yourself, even on the hardest of days.

Nov10

November 9, 2023 – Charlotte Tries To Plant Bad Seeds, Shep Becomes a Baby When He Loses At Ping-Pong & Rebellion

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What I Watched Today

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

General Hospital

Eddie/Ned looks out over the water and hears the siren’s song. He ditches his coat and shoes, and jumps into the water.

Brook asks what Tracy meant about Lois leaving, and Lois says, Brook knows her. She’s not one to overstay her welcome. Not that there’s much of a welcome with Tracy. Of course (🍷) she’s gone. Lois raises her glass of wine, and Brook says, Lois is going too? Lois says, the only reason she came was because of that awful tabloid story about Brook, but look at her now; she’s fine. In fact, she’s more than fine, and Lois thought she’d get out of Brook’s hair. Her work here is done. Brook says, her work here is never done, and she kind of likes having Lois in her hair. Lois takes Brook’s hand and says, always and forever, she’ll be here for her. If Brook needs her, she will drop everything. So just say the word, and she’ll stay exactly where she is.

Things are being set up for the photoshoot. Coming in with Salvadore, Maxie says she can’t believe they landed this session with him. Whoever gave up this slot… Salvadore says, they’re dead to him. (He looks just like someone I used to work with. I know it’s not, but it’s weird.) Miss a booking and poof! You’re history. Maxie says, their loss is our gain, and Salvadore agrees. He’s seen their troubles in the trades. This is just the sort of challenge Salvadore likes. Maxie says, with his genius steering their ship, they will be sailing straight out of stormy waters. Imagine Sasha immortalized by Salvadore. He says, Sasha-a, no. He won’t work with divas, dopers, or demorados. This girl has flair, no doubt, but will she smash his lamps? Will she listen to the voices in her mind? No drugs on his set. Do they hear that? Go outside for that. Maxie says, it’s not going to be a problem with Sasha, when Sasha walks in. He says, no? He’s got eyes and ears. He knows all about Sasha-a. If he’s to create an iconic image, he cannot have a fragile, unstable flower. Maxie says, Sasha is stronger than he thinks. She won’t let him down, Maxie promises. He turns around to see Sasha and says he prefers to hear that from Sasha herself.

Felicia sits in the Bistro, when Stella puts a cup in front of her – some chamomile to calm her down – and a piece of cake – and some sugar to pep her up. She sits down and says, Felicia has been jittery and distracted all afternoon. Come on, out with it. Felicia says she doesn’t know where to begin, and Stella suggests she begin at the beginning. She doesn’t have any place else to be except here with Felicia. Felicia says, it’s horrifying. Her best friend accidentally shot someone last night, a young girl, and it’s all her fault.

Spencer meets Laura at the MetroCourt and asks if she’s okay. She sounded really serious on the phone. Laura says, it is serious, and thanks him for meeting her. She wanted him to hear it from her before he heard it on the news. He says, what is it? and she says, his cousin Charlotte was shot last night. He says, what? Is she… Laura says, she’s alive, and Spencer asks, who shot her? She says, Anna Devane.

At the penthouse, Sonny asks where Anna is going, and she says she has to explain everything to Valentin, but he says, that’s the last thing she wants to do.

Nina says Charlotte’s name, and Valentin says, she’s waking up. He asks her to come back to them and she opens her eyes. He says, she’s awake. He speaks to her in French and says he was so worried about her.

Olivia calls to Eddie outside the boathouse and sees his guitar and shoes. She goes inside, but it’s empty, so she goes back out and finds his jacket on a chair. She wonders what he did and calls to him again. She asks if he can hear her, and wonders what to do. She takes off her jacket, says, please let him be okay, and jumps in. She swims under the water, looking for him.

Brook says, it’s weird to hear Lois say she’s fine. Even weirder to know she is. For once, she’s not in any crisis. Lois says, hear, hear, and Brook says, but that doesn’t mean she doesn’t need Lois any less. It’s been amazing having her here, and a little bit strange while dad is going through this Eddie Maine thing. Lois says, strange to Brook? and Brook says, growing up, she used to hear all these stories about Eddie Maine, the rock star, the rebel. But she never saw it for herself until he performed at The Savoy. It was like a childhood fairytale come to life. Lois says, Eddie Maine was, and is, a huge part of her father’s life, and a huge part of her life. She fell for him, hard, and he fell for her, until she discovered he was actually somebody else.

Stella asks what Felicia means, it was her fault? and Felicia says, Mac told her that Anna, her friend, came home to find someone in her apartment. The lights were off, and the intruder seemed to have a weapon. Anna thought she was in danger, so she fired. It turned out to be a 15-year-old girl. Stella says, good Lord, what was she doing at Anna’s? and Felicia says, they don’t know, but right now, she’s in the hospital fighting for her life. Stella still doesn’t see why Felicia thinks she’s responsible, and Felicia says, it was her idea Anna move in to her daughter’s old apartment. If she’d just had Anna stay with them, none of this would have happened. Stella says, she doesn’t know that.

As Sasha gets her makeup done, Maxie stands in a set adorned with flowers. She tells Salvadore, their spring line is all about renewal. Updated colors, a softer palate, a whisper of nature. Imagine Sasha in this Eden with a sweet baby animal by her side. He says, the garden is ready, but where is the baby animal? and she says, it will be here; she promises. Unfortunately, the lamb she booked got laryngitis, but she called in a favor for a backup. In the meantime, why doesn’t he shoot Sasha getting her groove on in this beautiful garden? He says he supposes they must. Come, Sasha. Is she ready?

Laura says, apparently, Anna mistook Charlotte for an intruder in her apartment, and Spencer asks how this is even possible. Laura says she doesn’t have all the details yet, but she knows Anna isn’t reckless, so she must have felt there was a genuine threat there. He asks why Charlotte was even in Anna’s apartment in the first place, but Laura says, they just don’t know yet. When she left the hospital this morning, Charlotte was out of surgery, but she hasn’t woken up yet. He says, but she will, and Laura says, yes. She’s supposed to make a full recovery. He says, thank God, and she says she’s going to go back over to the hospital later and visit her, but she wanted Spencer to hear it from her in person. Actually, there’s something else she needs to talk to him about. And it is important.

Charlotte says, Nina. They’re both here, together. Nina says she wanted to be here when Charlotte woke up, and Valentin asks how Charlotte is feeling. She says her stomach hurts and her mouth is dry. Nina gets a cup with a bendy straw and says, here’s some ice chips. Drink slowly. (I don’t know as she’ll be drinking ice chips, but okay.) Valentin asks if she can tell them what happened. Does she remember? Charlotte says she thinks so. It was Halloween. They were trick-or-treating, and then… Anna. Anna shot her.

Anna thanks Sonny for letting her stay here last night. She’s very grateful, but she can’t hide out here forever. She has to face Valentin, and she has to get him to understand. Sonny says he knows she wants to confront things, but now may not be the right time. He and Valentin are different people, but they’re both fathers. He doesn’t think he would be ready, if it was him, to accept her explanations at this point. There’s a knock at the door, and Sonny opens it to Dante. Dante comes in, and Anna asks if he’s here to arrest her.

Eddie comes up for air, then goes back underwater, frog kicking away.

Brook says she can’t believe Lois jumped out of a cake, and Lois says, Kathryn Bell nearly jumped out of her skin. Surprise! Brook says, that’s got to be the best revenge she’s ever heard, and Lois says she figured they both deserved a swift kick in the pants. Brook says, but still, she’s sorry Lois had to go through all that, and Lois says, boo-hoo. That’s all in the rearview mirror. She likes to drive toward the future. Brook says, she’s amazing, and Lois says she likes to drive down the road. She never knows where it’s going to take her. Lots of funny places. Like here for example. And what did she get? Her beautiful, talented, feisty daughter, who’s now keeping the musical flame alive. See? It all comes full circle. Brook says, living the dream. At least trying to. Lois says, that’s all any of us can do. Unfortunately, Brook’s dream comes with a lot of potholes. So she’s just got to make sure those potholes don’t knock her off-course.

Stella tells Felicia to get one thing straight. No crystal ball in the world could have predicted that girl being in Anna’s apartment. Felicia says, she’s right, but recently, someone burned down Anna’s house. Anna’s been stalked and threatened, and Felicia should have seen the danger signs. Stella says, how? What happened at Anna’s place was a crime, but Felicia’s heart was in the right place, offering her a fresh start. Felicia says she just wanted to keep Anna safe. She never imagined this. Stella says, she’s been a good friend to Anna. The real culprit is out there. Pray that they’re soon behind bars.

Spencer says, if this is about his father, don’t bother. He realizes Laura wants to give him the benefit of the doubt, but Nikolas has been absent from his life for too long. Now he’s done the same thing to Ace. Spencer just doesn’t have it in him to forgive Nikolas anymore. Laura says, he’s not going to do himself any good by feeding this anger, and he says he knows, which is why he’s channeling all that energy into taking care of Ace. So he can be there for Ace, and make sure he feels safe and secure, and he doesn’t need a father because Ace has him. Esme runs in and says she’s so sorry to interrupt. She sits down and says, Doc told her they were both here. She has news that can’t wait.

Valentin says, it’s okay, and Charlotte says she didn’t know Anna would shoot her. Nina says, it was an accident, a terrible, terrible accident. Anna thought she was an intruder; she didn’t know it was Charlotte. Charlotte asks if that’s what she said, and Nina says she saw Anna this morning. She feels terrible, and she’s so worried about Charlotte. She thought someone was breaking in and she fired in self-defense. Charlotte asks what Anna told Valentin.

Dante says he’s not here for Anna’s arrest. He’s here as a friend and to let her know about some stuff from the PCPD. Anna says, don’t compromise himself for her, but he says, there’s nothing that would compromise himself; it’s the contents of Charlotte’s backpack. But first he wanted to know how Anna thinks Charlotte got into her apartment. She says she doesn’t know, and he asks if she thinks there’s a chance she didn’t lock her door. She asks what he thinks after everything she’s been through in the past few months, but he says he’s just trying to help her. She says she locked the door. That’s what tipped her off that there was an intruder, because when she got back from seeing Robert, the door was unlocked. And she thought that maybe this person who’d been terrorizing her was inside. That’s why she pulled her gun… and made the worst mistake of her life.

Sasha comes out in a pale orange Grecian style gown, and Salvadore tells her, relax and make friends with the cam-er-a. He’s here to capture the essence of her. Maxie tells her, but no pressure, and Salvadore begins taking pictures. He says, very nice… but what’s with those shoulders? Loosen those bones. They’re in paradise. What is there to worry about? She poses, and he says, beautiful, as he takes more photos. Yes, now she’s with them. Cody comes in and asks if anyone ordered a baby alpaca. He sees Sasha and he’s mesmerized.

Esme tells Laura that she found the perfect place. It’s on the ground floor. It’s right by the park. It’s a tad pricey, but it’s so safe, and if Laura’s still willing to chip in with her earnings from The Invader, she thinks it’s the perfect place for her and Ace. She has an appointment in 45 minutes. Spencer says, cancel it. She’s not taking Ace anywhere. She pops him in the nose. Not really, but it’s my fantasy.

Valentin says he hasn’t spoken to Anna. He hasn’t left Charlotte. He’s been too worried. He knows she left Jake and the others on Halloween night, and he knows she changed her Halloween costume. Why did she do that? Why did she go to Anna’s? How did she get into Anna’s apartment?  

Felicia says, voicemail, and Stella says, that’s all she can do for now. Felicia says she’s worried about Mac. He may be the one who has to arrest Anna. And her brother-in-law Robert. Will he be the one who has to prosecute her or recuse himself from the case? It’s all a big mess right now. Stella says, Felicia needs a breather. Why doesn’t she take tomorrow off? Felicia says, no dice. If she doesn’t stay busy, she’s going to spend the entire day worrying about Anna. Stella says, she’s right. Drink her tea.

Dante tells Anna, one of the items found in Charlotte’s backpack was a key with a keychain in the shape of a shoe. Does that ring any bells? Anna says, it sounds like the one Maxie gave her with the key to her apartment. Sonny asks if she lost it, and Anna says she did. She didn’t know she had until she was taking some things to the apartment, and she realized it was gone. The super gave her a duplicate. Dante asks when she last had the key, and she says she thinks she showed it to Valentin. Charlotte was there at his house. Sonny and Dante exchange looks, and she says, what?

Brook says, now Lois is confusing her. She feels like she’s getting mixed messages. Lois says, not at all. All she’s saying is, the music business is like… the roller derby. There’s a sweet jackpot, but it’s ruthless. You think you’re ahead, when all of a sudden, here comes Mary Choppins, and she’s got an elbow jab – boom! Brook knows her motto, no fight… Brook says, no win, and Lois says, there you go. So are she and Blaze ready to go into battle? Brook says she feels like they are. With Blaze’s chops and her songs, she feels like this is her chance to build something from the ground up. Lois says, yes, and that is a long way to go. And there is a much easier life. Her granny’s gift of Deception.

Eddie swims around underwater, looking for his siren. Olivia swims around underwater, looking for Eddie.

Salvadore continues to snap photos, and Maxie asks Cody to get the llama for the next set-up, but he’s transfixed, watching Sasha. Salvadore says, this is Eden, and Maxie says, Cody?

Esme tells Spencer that she’s going to look at the apartment, unless Laura has changed her mind about helping her with the rent. Laura says she hasn’t changed her mind. She’s looking forward to seeing it. Spencer says, what? and Laura says, just a minute. She tells Esme, and after she’s seen it, if she thinks it’s a safe place, she’ll co-sign the lease. Spencer says, they’ve been through this. Esme has thought about moving out before, and he thinks she came to her own realization that Ace is better off where he is. He’s happy, he’s in a safe home, and he’s surrounded by family. Esme says, a lot has changed since then. She’s more confident as a mother now, and she and Ace are ready to be on their own. He asks how she knows what Ace is ready for, and Esme says, she is his mother. She gets up and says, her job is to make decisions for him. She has to go. She picks up her stuff and leaves. Spencer asks Laura, how could you do this?

Valentin asks what Charlotte was hoping to find at Anna’s, and Nina says, Charlotte just woke up. She needs to rest. So maybe their questions can wait, and she can focus on getting better. Charlotte says, that’s okay. She wants to tell them what happened. Papa needs to know.

Sonny says, it’s pretty obvious Charlotte used that key to get into Anna’s apartment. He’s just trying to figure out how she got it. Did she find it? Did she take it? Anna wonders why she would take it. It doesn’t make any sense. Dante says, maybe some of the other items in her backpack can shed some light on it, and Anna asks, what items? Dante says, spray paint; same brand, same color that was used to write murderer on Anna’s front door.

Felicia thanks Stella for taking the time to sit with her. She knows there are a lot of people who count on Stella. How is Curtis doing? Stella says, Curtis is a fighter. Every time she looks at him, she sees the pain behind his eyes. He had such a zest for life – running, boxing, dancing. Like the sister said, he was the greatest dancer. Not anymore. Felicia says she’s sorry. Is that why Stella is staying in Port Charles and not going to London to be with her cousin? Stella says, yes… and no.

Brook asks if that was a subtle don’t quit your day job jab, because Lois doesn’t think she has what it takes to take Blaze over the top. Lois says, au contraire, honey bear. The song Brook and Chase played for her has the perfect hook. She just wants to make sure Brook understands what she’s setting herself up for. Brook asks, what happened to, do what you love, and the money will come? and Lois says, of course (🍷) it will come, but it’s a 24/7 job. No weekends, no holidays. Or Brook can have an easier life – Deception. Brook says, too many bad memories and lost friendships, and Lois says, why not just take the company back and hand it over to her friends? That would really spite Tracy. Not that she or Brook would ever do anything purely for spite. Brook says, who, us? and Lois asks what she says. Does she want to stick it to granny?

Eddie gets his ankle tangled in some seaweed and struggles to get out. He flashes back to Brook, Olivia, and Lois, and the times everyone has said he’s Ned Quartermaine. He remembers being with Olivia at The Savoy and playing for Brook. He starts to remember being Ned. Olivia surfaces and calls for Eddie. She goes back underwater.

Sonny says, there’s a lot of red spray paint in the world. Just because Charlotte had the same brand and the same color, doesn’t prove anything. It was Halloween. Kids are tagging everything at that point, right? Dante says, graffiti? and Sonny says, yeah. Dante says, that would explain the other costume she had in her backpack. Anna says, what if it’s worse than that? Because she thinks she’s identified the person who’s targeting her. He’s from her early years at the WSB, and this individual is ruthless enough to co-opt a child. What if he’s using Charlotte to get to her? Dante says, if that is the case… She says she has to talk to Valentin and heads out the door. Dante asks if Sonny is just going to let her go.

Charlotte tells Valentin that she switched her costume because she didn’t think he’d like her to go as a tarot card character. He doesn’t like when she does the cards. He tells her that he never said that, but she says she can tell. Whenever she asks to do a reading on him, he says no. He says, she still hasn’t said why she was at Anna’s, and she says she found Anna’s key. Anna showed it to them. It must have fallen out of her purse. She just wanted to give it back. She knocked on the door and no one answered, so she just let herself in. She was going to leave a note. That’s when Anna came in and shot her. Nina says, that’s enough. Charlotte needs to rest. Charlotte gets all teary and says she only wanted to help. Is he angry with her? Valentin says, no. He loves her. He’ll always love her no matter what. She says she only wanted to help, and he says, Nina’s right. She needs to rest. He kisses her on the forehead, and he and Nina leave.

In the hallway, Valentin says, she’s lying… about everything, and Nina says, she’s awake. She’s alive. All this other stuff, it can wait. He says, she’s right; that’s all that matters. He thanks her for being here for Charlotte, and she takes his hand. She says she’s just a phone call away. She’ll be back tomorrow. She leaves and Valentin looks sick.

Cody leads the alpaca to Sasha, and she asks what he’s doing here (Cody, not the alpaca). She says, who’s this little guy? and he says, meet Ferdinand, named after his favorite bull. But don’t tell Salvadore. He might throw him in a ring or something. Sasha promises she won’t, and says, he’s so cute (he is!), petting the alpaca. Cody says, he’s super gentle. Look at his eyelashes. She says, he does not need any makeup, and they pet the alpaca. Salvadore sees, and says, stay just like that. Perfection. He takes photos, but Maxie says, they have to get the alpaca wrangler out of the shot. Salvadore asks if she’s mad. This is what makes it so authentic. He takes more photos.

 Felicia tells Stella, that’s not fair. What’s the yes and what’s the no? Stella says, it’s nothing, but Felicia says, come on. She’s been pouring her heart out to Stella. Stella said part of their job is to listen, so consider this training, and let her listen to Stella. Stella says, Felicia is playing her own card against her, and Felicia says, uh-huh. Stella laughs and says, all right. While she was in London, visiting her cousin Wanda, she met someone special. Felicia says, who? and Stella says, George. Charming, sharp, and oh so very British, proper in every way. Felicia says, that’s exciting. Is he a friend of Wanda’s? Stella says, no. He was a regular at their favorite Italian spot. She noticed he was looking at her, and he was a bit of all right. They exchanged glances, and then one day she went to pay the bill, and they said, the gentleman who just left took care of it. Can she imagine? So she went right out, and there he was, looking at her, waiting. Felicia asks, what happened? and Stella says, what didn’t happen? He became her tour guide. They roamed the city together. Galleries, gardens, you name it. It was like something out of a movie. Magical. Felicia says, she fell head over heels, didn’t she? and Stella says, more than she could have ever imagined. Felicia says, but? and Stella says, George proposed. Felicia says, she turned him down, and Stella says she did. Felicia asks, why? and Stella says, because accepting would have meant London for life, and as much as she loves George, her family, her heart, her essence are all right here.

Brook tells Lois, that was Maxie. They borrowed the alpaca for a photo shoot. Ferdy’s such a cute alpaca… She knows Lois is just looking out for her, and so is Chase… Lois says, Brook never told her that Chase was on the same page as she was, and Brook says, he had the same idea that she should just walk in to Deception like a Trojan horse. Lois says she knew that guy was a keeper, but Brook says, there’s a catch. Tracy. She’s not stupid. She did as Brook predicted and made herself President of the Board and made it impossible to vote her out. Lois says, Tracy is not all that. With Brook’s smarts, and a little bit of cunning, she can make things right for her friends. Brook says she doesn’t know, and Lois says, the best way to get rid of the queen is from inside the castle, not from outside the gates. So she takes the job, then she lets destiny do its work. She looks at Brook’s hand and says, and always make sure she gets a fresh manicure every week. Except on Thursdays. Thursdays are bad luck.

Olivia sees Eddie, still stuck, and swims to him.

Anna sees Valentin outside Charlotte’s room.

Sonny tells Dante, Anna is whistling in the wind. It doesn’t make any sense to him that a WSB agent tells Charlotte to go to Anna’s apartment with a backpack full of spray paint. Dante says he doesn’t know what to think. When Charlotte was staying with them, she was quiet and reserved, but she was polite and gracious. Did she fit in 100% with the kids? Not really, but she hung out with Rocco a lot and went out of her way to hang out with Danny and Scout. She’s had a complicated life, right? She wasn’t always an angel. Sonny asks if Charlotte is capable of targeting Anna, and Dante says he doesn’t know, but the evidenced is pointing that way. Like Sonny said, it’s a farfetched idea to think there’s some mysterious person from Anna’s past that’s secretly pulling the strings. Sonny nods.

Spencer asks why Laura is helping Esme take Ace away from him, but Laura says, Esme isn’t taking Ace away from him. She’s creating a home for herself and for her son. He says, but Esme can’t take care of Ace alone. Ace needs him. She says she thinks Ace does need him, and he always will, as his big brother, not as a substitute father. He says, Ace doesn’t have a father, and she says she knows. It’s really unfortunate, but Spencer and Esme are not a couple, right? And he’s not ready to commit himself to Esme. So what’s best for Ace is that they make this change now before he’s old enough to remember things used to be different. He says, she’s wrong. Ace needs to stay with him. He storms out.

Taking more photos, Salvadore says, an ethereal vision of a baby alpaca with trust in its eyes. It’s a paradise reborn. Before the serpent. Maxie says, Cody is not a model, and Salvadore says, neither is the alpaca. He’s an alpaca and Cody’s a man. Did she not hire Salvadore? This is what he’s talking about. Salvadore’s vision of spring. Maxie asks if Cody is good, and Cody says, yeah, sure. Why not? Salvadore says, enough of this talk. Sasha-a, listen to the alpaca. She’s his mother. She is teaching it life. And you, trainer, never take your eyes off her. Cody says, not a problem. Salvadore takes pictures of Cody and Sasha, Sasha and the alpaca, and Cody, Sasha, and the alpaca. Maxie says, this is perfect.

Lois tells Brook that Tracy’s a snake. She’s a smart snake, but… Brook says she almost feels bad, talking about getting Tracy out of Deception when she’s going through something so personal. It feels wrong. Lois says, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. Tracy would be the first one to say it. Family is one thing, and business is another, and with this business, you gotta be tough as nails. Brook says she guesses Lois is right, and like she said, Tracy is a snake. So how do they defang her? Lois says, that is the million-dollar question, isn’t it? She guesses she’ll have to stick around a little longer and help Brook figure it out. Brook says, works for her, and they join hands. Lois says, besides, she’s always had a thing for snakeskin boots, and they laugh.

Olivia gets to Eddie just in time, and untangles him. She beings to bring him up to the surface.

Tomorrow, Curtis and Drew toast to freedom and survival; Kristina says, this is an opportunity for Blaze to break that cycle; Charlotte tells Laura that Anna is dangerous and they can’t trust her; and Anna says, there’s something Valentin needs to know.

Southern Charm

Breakfast is served at Taylor’s family’s lake house, and they say grace. Penny begs at the table, and I don’t blame her. I love breakfast food. Taylor says, Olivia is coming in an hour, and mom Leslie says, it’s so soothing here. It’s been a rough couple weeks, and as one of Olivia’s closest friends, Taylor has to own whatever it was to come out on top. In Taylor’s interview, she says she’s excited, but nervous, and hopes to repair the friendship and move forward. Leslie is so right about it being soothing there. This is one gorgeous piece of property.

Olivia calls her mom and says she misses them. She’s heading to Taylor’s family’s mountain house. Her mom says, it will help, but Olivia says she’s hesitant to go. In Olivia’s interview, she says, between the sh*t with Taylor and what happened with her brother, she has unresolved things. Part of her thinks it might be good to get answers and clarity about what to do in regard to the friendship. Her mom says she has a right to be angry, and Olivia says she wants to see Taylor’s family. She’s looking forward to that. She knows it will be a good visit with Taylor’s parents, but doesn’t know how to navigate talking things out with Taylor. Her mom says, she has to clear it up.

Austen and Shep arise, and Shep drinks from milk from the container, then burps at Little Craig. He says, it’s a very different morning here, and Austen takes Little Craig out to play fetch. He can hear Rod snoring outside, and he and a producer laugh about it. In Austen’s interview, he says, last night was lovely. They had cocktails, the conversation was flowing, and there was male fellowship. We flash back, and he says, it was a pretty fun time. We flash back to the heated argument that ensued. Craig calls Paige and asks how her Valentine’s Day was. She reminds him that he said he’d buy her a bag. He says he is, and she says she’s picked it out. She asks how it is there, and he says, fun. He made a bomb-ass dinner. Rod joins JT in the sitting room, and JT says he went for a walk/run. He’s been up four hours, had three cups of coffee, and a hot chocolate. He asks how Rod is feeling, and Rod says he feels the same after sleeping on it. He’s stuck on the info he received from Austen. It was a slap in the face. Austen did what he always does at the first chance; throw Olivia under the bus. We flash back to Austen telling Rod about Olivia stopping by, and Rod says, he and Olivia aren’t together, but her ending up at another guy’s house the same day they had a date isn’t ideal. He’s hoping Austen is lying. JT says, fly fishing will take Rod’s mind off of it, and Shep comes in. JT wonders what to wear, and Shep says, they’ll get waders. Jeans are fine; it’s not complicated. JT asks if they serve alcohol, and Rod says, they’ll be working too hard to be drinking. Shep keeps coughing and says, nobody drink the milk. He took a swig and he’s been coughing like crazy. JT says, good news. He just poured milk in his coffee. He’ll be joining Shep in his misery.

They head out for fly fishing on the bus, and it’s beautiful out. They meet their guide Cole and are given waders. JT has a hard time getting into his. They hike to a beautiful waterfall and are given fishing instructions. Cole asks if there are any questions, but there aren’t any. I figure that’s probably because these guys have empty heads. In Shep’s interview, he says, fly fishing makes him happier than anything. He’s connected to nature and feels like a man. It’s so satisfying to share all this with friends. JT snags his line in a tree, and in Austen’s interview, he says he’s feeling very A River Runs Through It, Brad Pitt-y. JT ends up in the water, and says, it’s cold. In JT’s interview, he says, it’s supposed to be cathartic, therapeutic, and contemplative, but he’s contemplating why he’s wet and cold and has no fish. He wants out of the waders. Nobody has caught anything, when Austen gets one, but it unhooks. Craig catches a stick, and Rodrigo asks when Paige is coming back. Craig says, in a couple days, and Rodrigo asks when he sees it becoming permanent. Craig says he’s sitting here waiting for her decision on moving in. He doesn’t know the math. He says, Rodrigo has been with Tyler a long time, and we flash back to the pheasant dinner Tyler attended. Rodrigo says, it’s definitely work, but he thinks they’re past the seven-year itch. Craig says he and Paige have been together for a while. He’s thinking it’s time to sh*t or get off the pot. Rodrigo asks if he’s said to her, but Craig says, no. Rodrigo asks what Craig’s timeframe would be for getting married in an ideal world, and Craig says, if it was up to him, they’d be engaged by the end of the year. He’s 35, and his parents had him and his brother at 28 and 29. In Craig’s interview, he says, Paige is 30 and says she’ll want kids at 35, but he’ll be 40 then. His biological clock is ticking. He tells Rodrigo that he wants a white picket fence and wants him and Paige to trend in that direction. It comes down to, what does he want more? To be with Paige and be patient that he’ll have a family with her, or does he want a family so bad, he’ll have to leave the love of his life? Rodrigo asks if he wants a family without the love of his life, and Craig says, no, but he feels like they’re spinning in circles. Shep catches a fish, but then loses it when he yanks the line, and it flies behind him. Austen thinks it’s time to throw in the towel, and Rodrigo says he thinks JT caught some fish in his pants.

Olivia arrives at the lake house, and Leslie meets her outside. Leslie says, her hope and prayer is for Olivia to remember how much God loves her. He rescues the broken-hearted and she hopes He’ll rescue Olivia’s crushed spirit while she’s here. Olivia looks around at the great outdoors and says, wow. Leslie says, God’s creation; you can’t top that. Olivia hugs Rick and thanks them for having her. Rick says she’s welcome anytime, and in Olivia’s interview, she says, as awkward as things are with Taylor, she loves Taylor’s parents. It’s a weak spot for her. When their moms met, they hit it off and talked for the rest of the evening, not even touching their plates. They even had Christmas dinner together one time. Taylor tells her that she talked to Shep, and he invited them for dinner, but she said she’d let him know what time. She points to a mountain across the lake, and says, he’s right there. Penny hops around, and Olivia and Taylor sit outside. Taylor gives Olivia a bracelet from her and her mom for Olivia’s birthday and to remember Connor. In Taylor’s interview, she says, it’s not about her; it’s about Olivia. she has to make it right. Taylor tells Olivia that she’s been giving her time and space. She feels like a sh*tty friend; lying, doubling down, and betraying Olivia’s trust. She wants to earn Olivia’s trust back. That’s what’s important to her. Olivia says, what’s most hurtful and eats her up is not having the trust. She prioritized their friendship over everything in this and wants it to be okay, but she needs Taylor to be honest. Taylor says, it would be easier to say she and Austen hooked up or dated. They had a moment after New York. She and Shep weren’t speaking, and Olivia and Austen weren’t speaking. Olivia says, Taylor was the person she was confiding in all through this. Taylor was talking to Austen on her behalf, and Taylor was telling her that Austen loved her. We flash back to the Reunion, where Taylor said she thought Austen should beg Olivia for another chance. Olivia says, yet Taylor was contemplating her own feelings for Austen, and now she questions all of it. Taylor says, Olivia had gone to L.A., and Olivia says, when she left New York, she needed to clear her head. She could see Austen had checked out of the relationship. Taylor says, Olivia was in L.A. for a while, but Olivia says she was only gone a week. She believes Taylor and Austen had sex. Taylor says she and Austen didn’t hook up, and Olivia says, Taylor and Austen can both tell her that, but she no longer believes Taylor. They’re broken, and she’s not sure how much friendship there is to salvage. She loves Taylor’s family, but doesn’t feel comfortable. Taylor wants her to stay, but Olivia says she just needed a change of scenery for a second. Taylor thanks her for coming, and they go back inside. In Taylor’s interview, she says she’s disappointed. She didn’t think this is how the conversation would go, and that she wouldn’t be able to pull Olivia out of whatever she’s thinking. Olivia is who she is. Once the gears are going, it’s hard to retract. Olivia says goodbye to the family and leaves.

The guys stop at a winery on the way back from fly fishing, and rib JT, who has no clothes to change into. Shep says, at least his butt is clean. At the winery, they choose wines and sit outside. Shep sees that Olivia called and calls her back. She asks if it’s cool for her to come to the house, and he asks, what’s going on? She says, she and Taylor had a conversation, and she thinks they’re both going to take some space for a bit. She wants to spend the night at Shep’s, but doesn’t want to crash guy time. Shep tells her to meet them at the winery; it’s on the way from Taylor’s. The wine is brought out, and everyone gets something similar to a coffee mug tree, but with filled wine glasses. Quite a generous pour for a tasting. Shep texts the address to Taylor, and Austen says, it’s the turbulence of his actions. Craig says he’s sad for Olivia, and Shep says, he and Austen are built different because they’re dirtbags. He’s not wrong. Olivia arrives, and JT says he fell in the creek and got the rapids up his butthole. She thanks Shep for letting her crash, and he asks how she left it with Olivia. She says, it wasn’t easy to leave. They both want the same thing at the end of the day, but they need to figure out how to get there. Craig says, he took a multi-year break from his ex, and doesn’t want that for anyone else, but it can take a while. Shep says he invited Taylor to dinner, and we flash back to that. He says, she’s coming up later, and tells Olivia, sorry. In Olivia’s interview, she says, well, sh*t. She left Taylor’s house just to have dinner with her. She wants to leave, but it’s not an option, and they’re out in the middle of nowhere. Shep says, the chef has prepared some delectable treats. Let’s have an awesome dinner. They get back on the bus, Rod riding with Olivia. In Austen’s interview, he says, to be honest, he’s seen more chemistry in his 10th grade class than between Rod and Olivia. Wow. Not too many sour grapes. He tells the guys that Rod follows Olivia like a lost puppy dog. In the car, the silence is heavy. Rod asks what Olivia thinks it will be like with Taylor there. Will she just talk to other people or be superficial? Olivia says she doesn’t even know what to do. They get to the house, and Olivia is impressed. Chefs Davin and Sharon have a feast prepared, and Shron tells Shep, they’ve got it all together. Austen asks Olivia if she’s good, and Olivia says she’d like to go back home. It’s awkward here and she needs to process and decompress. She thinks he has an idea of what that consists of. Austen admits he was wrong and says, it’s going to be a fun night ahead.

When Taylor gets there, she sits outside with JT. They discuss the merits of a beach house versus a mountain house. JT says he’s glad she had the courage to come up, and if there’s anything they can do to help, even if it’s just listening, they will. He’s not specific as to who they are. Maybe that’s his pronoun. I have no idea. Taylor thanks him, and Olivia comes outside, but doesn’t know where to sit.

Taylor asks Rod how fly fishing was, since it was his first time, and he says, humbling and fun. They sit down to eat, and we find out that Rod has never had salad. Taylor says, that’s weird, and Rod says, it’s embarrassing. The food is simple yet fabulous. Craig says he’s going to start keeping notes on things he thinks are nightmares, and Shep gives Taylor a bee sticker he randomly got at the drugstore or something. In JT’s interview, he says, Shep is a good-hearted nihilist. His psychoanalysis for today. I think JT likes to use big words. Shep says, they’re making tinfoil hats and Craig is going to tell them about conspiracy theories, which actually sounds like fun. Craig says, the government can hear them, but not if they’re wearing the hats. In his interview, JT says, he can’t believe Craig thinks pandas are humans, and we flash back to that. In Craig’s interview, he says, if you have to ask what the tinfoil hats are for, you’re not ready to know. He tells them that aliens don’t respect bareheads. They see the hats and know these people are ready for reckoning. This is so silly, I’m deciding he’s just constantly goofing on everyone to break up the awfulness of the people who do sh*tty stuff because they are sh*tty people. Everyone’s hat is different, and they put them on and Shep says, come outside; it’s time. Even Little Craig has a hat on. Craig tells them, people say conspiracy theories are dangerous, but knowing the truth is never dangerous. Modern technology couldn’t build the Pyramids. They were laser cut and pinpoint magnetic beacons in the sky for the space people. He adds, aliens is derogatory. Someone asks if the moon landing is real, and Craig says, they haven’t been back since the 60s. In his interview, he says he thinks it’s real, but we’re prepared to fake it. Watch Transformers; that explains it. Shep and JT go to play ping pong, and Rod sits inside with Olivia. He says he’s glad she came. He wanted to bring something to her attention. She’s obviously going through some things. He launches into the story about his friend stopping by Austen’s and she says, who saw the pink bra? She took her bra off and tossed it. She was leaving and told Austen, just throw it away. Nothing happened. Rod says he went to bed thinking about it, and woke up thinking about it. He was distracted by fly fishing, then it was on his mind again. I’m thinking, Rod’s picture is next to cringeworthy in the dictionary, and I kind of feel sorry for him. Olivia apologizes, but I’m not sure why she thinks she should. Rod says he wants to be as direct as possible. He’s very interested and thinks they shouldn’t see other people and exclusively date. I have no words. Well, time and place come to mind.

JT wins at ping-pong, which infuriates Shep. Olivia says, Rod is literally the perfect guy (no, no he’s not) and she respects him too much to drag him along. She is seeing other people, but wants to keep that open with him. The stuff with Austen threw her, and she has hesitation about getting into another relationship right after that. She needs to figure out the situation in her mental space. Rod says he appreciates it, but it’s not what he wants. Did they even go on a second date? What’s with this guy? Shep goes outside, and Austen asks how drunk he is on a scale of one to ten. Shep says, five. JT tells Taylor that Shep is mad, and she says, he hates losing. She congratulates JT, which causes steam to come out of Shep’s ears, and he says, don’t f*** with him. Taylor says, he’s acting jealous and controlling, and Shep says, she enjoyed that he lost and rubbed it in his face. Taylor says she congratulated JT for winning and Shep’s mad because he doesn’t like losing. He says, she’s goddam right. Does she like poking the bear? She asks if he liked cheating on her, and he says, sometimes. It was fun. She wonders if she heard him right, and he affirms she did. She throws her drink on him, calling him a POS. She goes inside and says he wants out f***ing now. Olivia follows her in, and Shep tries to joke, but it goes over like a lead balloon. Taylor tells Olivia what Shep said, and says she wants out. Austen tells Shep to listen to himself, and Shep says, Austen’s been against him since day one. In Craig’s interview, he says, who knew ping-pong would literally spark the giant heap of baggage Shep has been carrying? This is what happens when you repress your feelings. There’s an explosion. He knew this would happen. Shep says, Austen f***s up privately, because God forbid he should be honest, real, and soul bearing. Um… Neither can Shep. His anger isn’t soul bearing. It’s a childish tantrum because he didn’t get his way. Shep says, Austen can’t be honest, and storms into the house. Olivia says, incoming, and Shep tells Taylor that he’s sorry, but she made him mad. She poked him, and that’s how he thinks. We flash back to him being a sore loser at the egg toss. Seriously? He’s 40? He says he can’t believe Taylor took JT’s side. Ha-ha-ha! It’s not like she’d been cheering JT on; he won. Taylor says, it’s not about the game more, it’s the underlying stuff Shep is upset about and has been bottling up. She’s always loved Austen and had a great friendship with him that Shep was supportive of. Shep whines, that’s because he trusted everyone. JT comes in and wonders if it’s a good time, and Shep says, she’s all his. Taylor tells him, stop doing that. Craig comes inside, and Taylor says she’s going to bed. Craig asks if Shep is good, and Shep says, yeah. He’s hanging out with his ex. Craig suggests picking at a scab is not the way to get it to heal, and Austen asks if they’re quarreling. In Craig’s interview, he says he knew Shep would lose it at some point, but he didn’t think over that. Shep says, funny how things manifest, and Austen asks if this is suppression, and Shep says, probably. In Shep’s interview, he says he bottles things up and he’s got to scream. Sometimes he can be dangerous when he pressurizes his anger and disappointment. Some people have therapists. Some people have a bottle of bourbon. Yep. Like a big three-year-old. I wonder why these people take this sh*t from Shep. Are trips to the mountains worth it?

While digging in her makeup bag, Olivia finds a polaroid of her and Austen, and she laughs. The guys make breakfast, and JT says he almost wants to have a beer to get over this pain. Olivia comes downstairs and sees Little Craig whining at one of the doors. She opens the door a crack, and Taylor and Shep are sleeping inside. Craig calls Paige, and Olivia runs in his and Austen’s room to tell Austen the news. Austen says, Shep and Taylor banged, and Craig relays the news to Paige. In Shep’s room, he asks if Taylor slept well, and she says, he disrupted her sleep with his coughing. Little Craig’s snoring doesn’t bother her. He says, so she came just for Craig, and she says she did. He asks if she got what she needed and calls her the kissing bandit. Rodrigo peeks in, and Shep says, they both slept in a bed with the dog they love. Rodrigo says, motherf***er, and Craig makes unsavory jokes. Olivia jumps on Austen’s bed and tells him to get up. Craig says, last night was insane. There were so many suppressed feelings. Taylor has done some sh*tty stuff recently, but she’s not a sh*tty person. If Taylor is backsliding with Shep, it’s not a path to her happiness. Olivia says she’s concerned Taylor is going backward, and in Olivia’s interview, she says she doesn’t know this Taylor. She tells Austen that she’s going downstairs to figure out coffee.

Olivia can’t wait to tell the Rods and JT about Taylor being in Shep’s bed. JT says he’s never seen a situation where a girl throws wine in a guy’s face, and then goes in the guy’s bed. There’s no coming back from that. Everyone gets ready to leave, and Rodrigo asks if Olivia left a bra upstairs. He tosses it to her, and she waves it like a flag, saying she took it off. Taylor asks if Shep is sad that they’re sleeping in the same bed, but not really. He says, no. She’s the one who said time and time again, he shouldn’t do that. She says she knows, and he says he thinks it’s time to get up.

Like Taylor, I’m just in it for the dog. Honestly, I’m not sure I could be friends with any of these people.

Next time, Whitney wants to eat the slice of wedding cake Patricia got from (at the time) Prince Charles and Camilla; Craig tells Paige that he wants a wife, children, and family; JT says, because Taylor got burned, she’s cooking everybody; and Shep says he meant every word he said.

🎨 Painting The Town Magenta…

Start your weekend with stopping by for some soap and more extras than you can fit in a clown car. Until then, stay safe, stay tolerating those relatives during the holiday season, and stay not getting a manicure on Thursday. According to Lois, it’s bad luck.

Apr30

April 29, 2022 – Spencer Has His Eyes On Esme, New Villainy, an Anniversary, Steve In Salem, an Apology, Disengaging, Explosive, a Return, 7 Quotes Plus a Joke & Can’t Stop It

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What I Watched Today

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

General Hospital

Ava lets herself into Windymere, and Nikolas pops out of the living room. She asks if he’s been lurking there until she came in, and he says, would that be so wrong? She wonders if he doesn’t have anything better to do than wait for her to come home, and she sees he has candles lit and champagne waiting in the living room. He asks, what’s better than spending time alone with his wife?

At the gallery, Trina says she gets how being productive could be important to Spencer, and he says, she always does. She says, not like Esme gets him though, right? She says she’ll leave him a to-do list, so he can get home to his phony, twisted witch he calls the love of his life. He says, Esme is anything but that, and Esme is about to walk in and stops. Trina says, anything but what? A twisted witch or the love of his life?

On the phone at the hospital, Carly says she’s fine. They discharged her, but she’s going to wait around to see if Harmony is all right. For Willow’s sake. Her whole world has been turned upside down tonight.

Willow and Michael go into the chapel, and she tells him not to feel like he has to stay with her. She just wants to make sure her mom is okay. He says he texted Josslyn. She’s on her way, so he’s not going anywhere. Unless she wants to be alone. She says she wants him here with her, and they hug. She wonders what her mother was doing; walking down a road at night in the woods by herself. It doesn’t make any sense. He says, hopefully, they’ll know more soon, and she says, she and her mother were just getting close. If she doesn’t make it, Willow will never forgive herself for pushing her away.

Sasha digs in her bag, and takes out her pillbox, but it’s empty. Gladys says, there she is. Sasha left so fast, her shoes left skidmarks. Sasha says, Willow didn’t see her, did she? but Gladys says, no. The poor thing is a mess. Michael took her to the chapel; they were headed in that direction. It’s probably going to be a while before the doctors can tell her anything about her mom. Unless of course (🍷)… Unless it’s not as bad as they thought. She suggests they sit, but Sasha says she has to get out of here. Brando comes in and she runs to him. He tells her, it’s okay, he’s got her, but she says, no, it’s not okay. She might have killed Willow’s mother.

Nikolas pours champagne, and says, he shouldn’t have taken for granted that she was coming home. She asks if he’s wooing her, and he says, what if he is? Dinner might have been a bust, but there’s still plenty of time for dessert. They clink glass, but she says, it’s not going to work, and hands hers back. He asks, why? and she says she’s made her position clear. As long as Esme is here… He says, she isn’t here, and Ava says, since when? He says, Laura stopped by earlier. She got Sonny to give his word nothing will happen to Esme. Now Esme can go back to the mainland, and they can devote all of their time to each other.

Esme continues to listen in, and Spencer says, things with Esme are complicated, but Trina says, they’re not. Would he like her to explain what’s going on here? He’s keeping her on the hook. She let herself believe that he can be a better person. He misses that feeling, and now he’s trying to reel her in. He says, that’s not… and she says, it’s the only explanation she can come up with. He’s giving her mixed signals. He says, he’s not, and she asks what that jealous act was before. He says, he is not jealous of that guy, and she says, so what? Who cares if he’s jealous or not? He made his choice. Deal with it. Just remember, he threw their friendship away for some psycho girlfriend. Esme comes out, and says, she’s not the psycho; Trina is.

Josslyn comes into the waiting area and hugs Carly. Carly asks what she’s doing here, and Josslyn tells her, Michael said she was in the ER. Is she okay? Carly says she’s fine, and Josslyn says, Michael told her that Willow’s mom got in a car accident. Was she involved? Carly says she wasn’t there when Harmony got hit by the car, and Josslyn says, thank God. She was freaking out the whole way here. She doesn’t know what she’d do if anything happened to Carly. Carly says, it didn’t, and Josslyn asks, then what was she doing in the ER?

Willow tells Michael, you’d think at a time like this, she’d be able to focus on the good times, but with her and her mother, there are no good times not touched by the bad. It’s impossible to separate the two. He puts his arm around her, and says, she’s strong enough to forgive Harmony, and see that she genuinely wanted to make up for a lifetime of… He doesn’t have to tell her. She says, she’s accepted her mom allowed a lot of horrible things to happen to her because Shiloh manipulated her, and even though it took her a long time to forgive Harmony, Harmony never gave up on her. For the first time in a very long time, she started to feel her mother’s love. She’s not ready to be without it again. He holds her hands, and she cries.

Brando asks if Sasha wants to tell him what happened, and she says, what happened is Willow’s mom is fighting for her life, and it’s all her fault. Gladys says, it’s not all her fault, and Brando suggests she start from the beginning. They sit down, and Sasha says, this photographer, this paparazzi guy, started taking pictures of her at the MetroCourt. Gladys says, she’s underselling it; this jerk was harassing her. Sasha says, it was too much, so they left. Next thing they knew, this guy was chasing them down in his car. He was flashing his high beams, and she couldn’t see anything. Gladys says, and this woman ran right into the middle of the road, and Sasha says, she tried to swerve, but she didn’t have time. Brando says, she didn’t do anything wrong; it was an accident. Gladys tells her, that’s what she’s been saying. If that sleazeball hadn’t been coming after them, they wouldn’t have been driving so fast down that stretch of road. They should sue him; so should Willow. Michael’s got lawyers. Brando says, what he doesn’t understand is why the photographer was chasing her. She flashes back to the photographer catching her with the pills, and says, he had his reasons.

Carly says, and Harmony had a needle, and managed to inject her, and Josslyn says, oh God. Carly says she was in the back of her own SUV when she woke up, and heard Harmony and Alexis arguing. When she got out of the car, they were parked on Ramalamadingdong Point, and she jumped Harmony. They fought, and Harmony took off running when she heard Alexis call 9-1-1. Josslyn asks if Alexis is okay, and Carly says, she is; Sam took her home earlier. Alexis is okay, but Harmony jumped in front of a car. She saw Harmony when they brought her to the hospital. She and Alexis weren’t there when Harmony was hit, and she doesn’t know when she was hit. They stayed and waited for the cops, and the paramedics brought them here. Josslyn says she’s confused. Why did Harmony attack Carly in the first place? Carly flashes back to confronting Harmony about Neil’s papers, and saying, this is what Harmony meant that she wishes Willow was hers. Willow isn’t her biological daughter. Carly tells Josslyn, she found out something Harmony was desperately trying to keep secret. Something Willow does not know.

Michael says, one thing he knows about Willow’s mom is, she’s a fighter. There’s nothing she won’t do to fight her way back to Willow. Willow says, when she escaped from Dawn of Day, she would tell herself that she didn’t need a mother. At the time, she was right, but when her mother turned against Shiloh, she began to change, to make amends, and more and more she became the mother she should have been all along. He says, she tried, no question, and Willow says, she’s beginning to understand why some women say they’ll always need their mother, because right now, she needs hers.

Brando asks what reason the photographer had for chasing Sasha, and Gladys says she stole his memory card. He says, she did what? Why would she do that? Gladys says, he wouldn’t stop taking pictures of Sasha, even though every last one of us told him to knock it off. Sasha was getting extremely upset, and she wasn’t about to let some parasite with a camera exploit her daughter-in-law. Sasha says, Willow isn’t going to care about any of that. All that matters is, she hit Willow’s mother with her car, and she might die. Brando tells her, like he said, it was a terrible accident. She didn’t mean to do this. Willow will understand. Sasha says, what if Harmony doesn’t make it? Willow will never forgive her, and she’ll never forgive herself. Brando says, they don’t have any control over that, so let’s not do what ifs. Right now, she just needs to tell Willow what happened. Gladys says, does she? Willow has enough on her plate; Sasha’s a wreck. Can’t it wait? Sasha says, no, it can’t. The only reason she came here is because Willow deserves to hear the truth from her, but she doesn’t know if she can face her. Brando says, there’s no right or wrong here, and Gladys says she doesn’t know if she’d put it like that. Sasha cries, and Brando says, whatever she chooses to do, he’s behind her 100%, but if she goes to tell Willow right now, she’s the strongest person he knows. He knows she can do this. She says, let’s go, and they leave together.

Trina says, she’s the psycho? Says the girl who’s been lurking in the shadows for who knows how long. Spencer asks what Esme is doing here, and Esme says, it’s bad enough Trina has half of Port Charles blaming her for Cam and Joss’s sad little sex tape. Trina says, only half? She’ll have to step up her game. (Ha-ha! Sounds like something I’d say.) Esme says, even though all the evidence points to Trina, Trina’s lies got her kidnapped by Sonny Corinthos. Spencer says, which is why she’s supposed to be back at Windymere, right now. Esme says, that’s what she came to tell him. His grandmother, the mayor, personally intervened on her behalf, and forced Sonny to back down. She’s safe now. Spencer says, that’s great, and Trina says, she’d call it a useless waste of cement. Esme says, thank God Trina didn’t manage to poison everyone against her. How does it feel to know people finally see through her good girl act?

Ava asks why Sonny backed down, and Nikolas says, his mother didn’t tell him Sonny’s rationale, but he was here when she told Esme. So Esme is aware the threat is over. Ava asks when she’s moving out, and he doesn’t say anything. She says, tell her that he’s not letting Esme stay, and he says, they just haven’t set a date for her to move out yet. She says, they have a staff. They can pack up her stuff, put it on the launch, and it can be waiting for her on the pier tonight. He says, Esme isn’t going wait for a launch to come back from town and find her luggage waiting, and she says, so Esme went to the mainland. He says, to tell Spencer the good news, and she says, the good news is that she can stay there. He says, there’s the matter of how she’ll support herself, and Ava says, she has a trust fund. He says, she’s only given a pittance, and Ava says, she was sent to school in Paris. Her life has not been the stuff of Dickens. He says he promises, Esme will leave Windymere and Spoon Island soon. Ava says, she better, and he says, the best part is, once she’s gone, all their problems go with her. Ava caresses his face, saying, my sweet beautiful husband… She smacks him lightly, and says, no they don’t. He says, the root of their problem is that he invited Esme to move in without consulting her, but she says, the roots go far deeper than that. He says, when he invited Esme to stay here, they were planning on renewing their vows. Is she telling him she wasn’t happy? She says, she was, but when he told Esme and Spencer that they could move in, it made her realize she was ignoring some very real issues. He says, such as? Start at the top; what’s their biggest issue? She says she doesn’t trust him. Don’t look so surprised. He doesn’t trust her either. He says, this isn’t about trust. It’s about the fact that he chose his son. That’s what she has an issue with, isn’t it?

Esme says, Trina refuses to take the blame for what she did to her so-called friends, and Spencer says, enough, but she says she’s not going to stand for it anymore. She tells Trina, mark her words, the next time Trina lies about her, there will be consequences. Trina says, Esme talks a good game, but know this. Trina sees her, and soon one day, everyone is going to see her for who she really is, a needy entitled psychopath, who hurts everyone around them, and wonders where they all went. She’ll be all alone with no one left to fool, except maybe that idiot (meaning Spencer). Now she’s going to put this away, and when she comes back, Esme won’t be here. Because she’s trespassing.

Carly tells Josslyn, Harmony is still in surgery, but they don’t think she’s going to make it. Josslyn says, Carly seems pretty worried about someone who just tried to kill her, and Carly says, she’s worried about Willow. She’s got enough on her mind right now. Maybe she should wait to tell her, but Jordan knows. The last thing she wants is for Willow to find out during the course of the investigation, but they probably won’t question Willow tonight, so maybe she should wait. Josslyn says, that’s one way to look at it, and Carly asks, what’s the other way? Josslyn says, can telling Willow really make things much worse? 

Michael asks if there’s anything Willow needs, and she says, right now, she needs answers. She thinks she’s strong enough to get them. Michael says, Josslyn is here. So they should go look for her and his mom. Maybe they have an update on Harmony. As they’re leaving, Brando and Sasha walk in, and Michael says, he guesses they heard about Harmony. Brando says, they’re aware of what happened, and Willow says, they were going to check on how her mom was doing. Sasha says, she’s sorry. She knows this is a terrible time, but she needs to talk to Willow alone. Willow says, sure, and Michael says he’ll check on her mom. Willow says she’ll join him later, and Sasha thanks Brando for being here. He says, where else would he be? He kisses her forehead, says she’s got this, and leaves. Willow asks what Sasha needs to talk about.  

Michael tells Brando, he saw his mom in the ER and texted Josslyn. Brando asks why Carly was in the ER, and Michael says, she didn’t tell him, but she seemed okay, so he focused on Willow. Brando says, rough night all around. Keep him posted. He’s going to wait for Sasha. As Michael is about to get into the elevator, Smoltz comes along, and says, if it isn’t the husband of the Face of Deception. His sources tell him that Brando’s wife ran down a pedestrian tonight. Any comment?

Josslyn says she’s sorry, but she knows Carly will make the best choice for Willow. Carly says she appreciates Josslyn’s vote of confidence, when Gladys comes by. Carly asks what she’s doing here. Are Sasha and Brando okay? Gladys says, physically, yes. She’s fine too. Carly says she can see that, and Josslyn’s phone rings. She leaves to take the call, and Gladys asks if there’s any word on Harmony. Is she going to pull through? Carly says she doesn’t know. Why is Gladys asking? Gladys says, because she cares deeply about the suffering of others. Carly might want to look into that sometime. Also, Sasha was the one who ran over Harmony. Carly says, oh my God, and Gladys says, believe her, she knows. She was in the car. Carly asks where Sasha is, and Gladys says, Brando took her to see Willow. She’s dreading what’s going to happen when Sasha tells her.

Willow asks how Sasha found out about her mom; did Carly call her? Sasha says, no. She knows because… It’s so hard to say. She and Gladys were driving on a back road. She was driving, and a guy was chasing them; it’s not important why. The point is, he was flashing his high beams in her rearview, and it was blinding her. She couldn’t see and the road was dark. Out of nowhere, someone ran in front of her car. She couldn’t see who it was until she get out to help, and she’s so sorry, it was Willow’s mother. Well, here’s a thought. Why don’t she and Gladys flip the script? Since the headlights were blinding, technically, it’s the jerkface photographer’s fault.

Spencer tells Esme not to let Trina get to her, but she says, Trina isn’t the one getting to her. Why is it that every time she sees him with Trina, they’re having a moment of some kind? He says, it wasn’t a moment. He didn’t say anything he wouldn’t have said in front of her. She says, even the part where he was jealous about some guy? He says, not jealous, annoyed. When he got here, she was talking to the cop who arrested him. Esme asks, why? and he says, the whole sex tape mess has the media harassing her. She says, gee too bad, and he says, he doesn’t hate that guy because he’s jealous; he hates him because he’s a jerk. She says, even so, she can’t help thinking history is repeating itself, but he says, trust him, it’s not. She’s the one he has eyes on.

Brando asks who this is, and Michael tells Smoltz, this is not a good time. Brando says, Michael knows this creep? and Smoltz says, this creep is happens to be doing Mr. Corinthos a favor, and Michael says, Smoltz is a reporter, and he and Willow are cooperating with him on a feature. Smoltz says he’s always on the lookout for the next good story. He takes out his phone, and says, Mr. Gilmore – Brando says, Corbin – about this pedestrian his wife ran down… Brando says, no comment, and Smoltz says, it’s better for him to get a quote from Sasha herself, or as his source called her, the Face of Collision. Brando lunges for him, but Michael gets between them, and pushes Brando back. Smoltz says, he has rights under the First Amendment, and Brando says, he fought in the US Military to protect Smoltz’s rights; he’s well aware of what they are. His First Amendment rights only protect him from government censorship. Michael runs a media company; does he have that correct? Michael says, he sure does, and Brando says he thought so. He gets close to Smoltz, and asks if he looks like the government. It’s a simple question. Smoltz says, no, and Brando says, which means, the First Amendment won’t protect Smoltz if he catches him even breathing the same air as his wife. Nothing personal, but he’ll make sure Smoltz is incapable of ever writing any story ever again. He doubts the other journalists will miss him, or find him if they did. Understood? Smoltz nods and leaves, and Michael asks, what happened to Sasha?   

Willow says, Sasha is the one who hit her mom? and Sasha swears it was an accident. She’s so sorry. She’d do anything, give anything, to make it so it didn’t happen. Is there anything she can do? That’s so stupid. Of course (🍷) there’s nothing, but she’s here for Willow if Willow needs anything. She’s probably the last person Willow wants to see, so she’s just going to go. Willow tells her, wait. Was she with Carly and Alexis? Sasha says, what? and Willow says, Carly and Alexis were with her mom before the accident, but Sasha says, no. She was coming from the MetroCourt. Willow wants to ask Sasha a question. It might seem a little strange, but did it seem like her mom jumped in front of Sasha’s car on purpose? Sasha says she doesn’t know; it happened so fast. It felt more like Willow’s mom just didn’t see her. Willow cries, and Sasha says she knows Willow and her mom haven’t had the easiest relationship, but they were making amends. She’s so sorry this happened because of her. Willow is the last person who deserves this. She asks if she should get Michael, and Willow says, she just wants some of this, any of this, to make sense.

Gladys tells Carly that she’s worried about Sasha. She doesn’t know how much more Sasha can take. Carly says, as long as she’s known Sasha, she’s weathered crisis after crisis, and come back tougher every time. Gladys says, that was before. Since her grandson died, Sasha’s been an open wound. If Sasha killed her friend’s mother, what is she going to do? Carly says, they’ll get her through it, and Gladys says, Carly didn’t see Sasha with that photographer. Sasha has dealt with photographers before, and knows how to handle the paparazzi when they’re being jerks, but tonight she was a different person; panicked, desperate, and the way she snapped… Josslyn comes back, and Gladys excuses herself. Josslyn asks if everything is okay with Brando and Sasha, and Carly says she just needs a hug. They hug, and Josslyn asks if Carly is sure she’s okay. Carly says, it’s just been a night. So much devastation. She wants Josslyn to know she loves her, and she’s so grateful to have her. They hug again.

Ava says, she and Spencer will never be each other’s favorite people, but he’s Nikolas’s son. She meant it when she said she’d keep their issues out of her and Nikolas’s relationship. Esme though, was never part of that agreement. He says, as long as Esme is important to Spencer, she’s part of that agreement, but Ava says, not as long as Esme is a threat to Trina, she’s not. This isn’t about Spencer and Esme; this is about her and Nikolas. He says, she’s right. It’s about their marriage and their partnership. He should have consulted her before inviting Esme to live there, but when she had a problem with Esme, she went to Sonny instead of consulting him. She asks what there was to consult him about. He was giving that horrid little monster the benefit of the doubt, while she was framing Trina for something even her so-called victims know she didn’t do. He says, so she’s trying to punish him, and she says, not without good reason. He says, and her mystery plans tonight, did they involve exploring divorce? She says, of course (🍷) not. That ship sailed weeks ago. He says, when was this? and she says, the day he invited Esme into their home. He says, she can go on about not trusting him, but how is he supposed to trust her when she always has one foot out the door? She says, if he wants her to stop straddling the threshold, then stop pushing her away. He says, at least give him a heads up. Should he be expecting divorce papers soon? She says, not yet. She couldn’t go through with it. He asks, why, when she can’t trust their toxic manipulative marriage? Why the hell is she still here? She says, because she loves him, and he says he doesn’t believe it. She says, believe this, and kisses him.

Esme takes Spencer’s hands, and thanks him, saying, he’s the only one for her too. They hug, and Trina sees, but steps back. Esme says she feels close to him, and he says he’s sorry it’s taken him so long to get back on track. He thanks her for letting him take it slow, but she says she doesn’t care how long it takes, just as long as they do. He says, it’s their second chance; he wants to do things right. She says, he’s not the problem. When she thinks of how close Trina came to destroying them… He says, Esme… but she says she can’t help it. That conniving little witch drove a wedge between them. She wants a front row seat at Trina’s trial. She wants to see Trina’s face when they lock her away. She can’t wait for everyone at school to see what a backstabbing bitch… He says, stop talking about Trina like that, and she says, why? Trina continues to listen.

Brando tells Michael, Sasha’s the one who hit Harmony, and Michael asks, how? Brando says, some photographer was harassing her at the MetroCourt. He chased after her, and she was speeding to get away. Harmony ran into the middle of the road. Michael says, oh my God. How is Sasha doing? Brando says, she’s devastated. It’s enough with an accident like that, but what she’s really having trouble with is hurting Willow. Michael says, as terrible as all this is, he hopes Willow will have some answers. Sasha might not have the whole story, but he has the feeling his mom does.

Gladys presses the elevator button a bunch of times, takes the memory card out of her purse, and looks at it. The elevator comes, and she gets in.

Josslyn asks if Carly is going to talk to Willow now or later, and Carly asks what Josslyn thinks. Josslyn says, if it was her, she’d probably want to know right away, but she’d understand if Carly thinks it’s piling too much on Willow. Carly says, Josslyn doesn’t? and Josslyn says, she does, but there’s never going to be a good time.

Esme asks if Spencer is still defending Trina, but he says, for God’s sake. He doesn’t care about Trina; he cares about her. If Trina leans over any further, she’ll be in the room, and Esme says, then why? Spencer says, all of this anger Esme is holding in can’t be good for her. She’s tied in knots. She’s scowling; her forehead is scrunching up. The both of them almost laugh, and he says, he’s serious. All this stress she’s carrying around, let it go. She says, she’ll try, but she just hates that Trina is getting away with everything. He asks how she thinks he feels, but her and Trina getting in each other’s face is making it worse. She asks what she’s supposed to do. Trina is walking around free, blaming her. He tells her to look at him. Does she trust him? She says, of course (🍷), and he tells her, then trust him when he says this is all going to be over soon, and when it is, she and Trina will never have to see each other ever again. He hugs her, and Trina slips back, pondering this in the hallway.

Nikolas and Ava start getting busy on the couch, but she says, they can’t do this. She gets up and says, their problems aren’t going to go away if they keep distracting themselves with sex. He says, this isn’t a diversion. It’s them expressing their love. They do love each other, right? She says, they do, and he says, if they have problems, they can fix them. She says, they can’t fix them with sex, and he says, then just tell him what he has to do to make it good, and he’ll do it. She says she doesn’t know, and he says, while she’s figuring it out, let him prove that she can trust him. She says, trust is earned; it’s built over time. And if he thinks he can fix things with one or two grand gestures, she’s sorry; he can’t. She leaves, and he blows out the candles.

Sasha tells Willow that she wishes she could make it okay. All she can say is, it was a horrible, senseless accident. Willow wonders what her mom was doing there in the first place. Why was she in the woods, stumbling into the road? Carly comes in, and says, she can answer that. She asks Sasha if she can have minute with Willow. They need talk alone. Willow takes Sasha’s hand for a moment, and Sasha leaves.

On Monday, Austin says, if Maxie doesn’t want to hang out, all she has to do is say so; Spinelli says someone will be the first to know: Nina asks if Sonny is looking for someone; and Carly tells Willow to prepare herself.

🦸🏻‍♂️ He’s Going To Disney…

I can definitely see him doing a show like this.

James Patrick Stuart Previews His New Disney Series!

💗 Happy Fifth…

So I wonder how it was at home after Peter died?

Laura Wright and Wes Ramsey Celebrate Their Fifth Anniversary

🏍 Where Jason Went…

Sooner or later, everyone ends up on a streaming service.

Steve Burton Joins the Cast of DAYS OF OUR LIVES: BEYOND SALEM!

💎 So Sorry…

Seriously, who cares? But there is a repeat of Puffy!

Garcelle Beauvais Apologizes To Kyle Richards Over Remark About Kathy Hilton!

🧂 A Break From the Lake…

I have to find my zen with a pint of ice cream and 90 Day Fiancé.

https://people.com/tv/meredith-marks-left-salt-lake-city-for-months-after-dark-times/

⚒ Reunion Warpath…

Sounds like it’s going to be a real doozie. Again, why do they continue to employ that ticking timebomb? And I don’t mean Joe #2.

https://pagesix.com/2022/04/28/teresa-giudice-why-joe-gorga-stormed-out-of-rhonj-reunion/
https://pagesix.com/2022/04/25/dolores-catania-calls-jennifer-aydin-a-f-king-c-t-in-explosive-rhonj-reunion-trailer/

🏞 Welcome Back…

If there was an award for Most Changes, it would go to this family.

https://www.distractify.com/p/welcome-to-plathville-season-4-trailer

🧾 Quotes of the Week

Honest towards ourselves and towards anyone else who is our friend; brave towards the enemy; magnanimous towards the defeated; polite always: this is how the four cardinal virtues want us to act. – Friedrich Nietzsche

The only way to deal with an unfree world is to become so absolutely free that your very existence is an act of rebellion. – Albert Camus

Time is the coin of your life. It is the only coin you have, and only you can determine how it will be spent. Be careful lest you let other people spend it for you. – Carl Sandburg

Honesty is for the most part less profitable than dishonesty. – Plato (I could have told you that.)

Hope is the destination that we seek. Love is the road that leads to hope. Courage is the motor that drives us. We travel out of darkness into faith. – Dean Koontz

Look at all the things moviegoers believe – Star Wars, Spider-Man, and Transformers. You don’t think a gay man can play straight but you believe in Chewbacca? – Billy Eichner on his upcoming film featuring an entirely LGBTQ cast

We are all now connected by the Internet, like neurons in a giant brain. – Stephen Hawking (When you put it that way – yikes!)

🐼 A panda walked into a café and ordered a sandwich. He ate it and then pulled a gun out and shot the waiter. The panda then plunked a badly punctuated wildlife manual onto the table. Look me up, he growled as he walked out the door. The wounded waiter opened the book to the entry for panda. It read, Panda: Large, black and white bear-like mammal native to China. Eats, shoots & leaves.

🥁 BA-DUM-CHH…

Stop by next time, and follow me into the Dead zone. Until then, stay safe, stay hydrated, and stay understanding that trust is earned, and built over time.

Nov13

November 12, 2020 – Nina Confronts Cyrus About Sasha, Leva Throws a Persian Princess Party & Rebellion

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What I Watched Today

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

General Hospital

I seem to be on a streak, and missed the pre-credit warm-up. What you need to know is, Brook tried to get in to see Finn at the hospital, pretending to be his second cousin once removed, but the nurse knew she wasn’t family. Chase showed up and wondered who she was trying to commit fraud to see, and she said, Finn. Michael came home to find Willow painting Wiley’s room, drop cloths everywhere, and dancing around to loud music. Elizabeth didn’t believe Franco’s tumor had returned, and Nina saw Carly and Jax with their heads together at the MetroCourt. She asked Sasha if she was feeling better, and off drugs now, but Sasha didn’t think Nina really cared. Carly was pissed that Cyrus had booked the terrace table, but told Jax she was keeping the peace. She also told him that she had news about Nelle. Cyrus told Brando that his job was to keep Carly at bay while he had dinner with Sasha. That’s where I came in.

Elizabeth says, Franco kept this to himself? and he says Terry wanted him to tell her. She says, Terry knew? Her friend Terry? He tells her to blame him. He asked Terry to keep patient/doctor confidentiality, but she wanted him to talk to Elizabeth. She asks what he was going to do. Pretend he was painting while he snuck off to surgery? He doesn’t say anything, and she asks what else he’s not telling her. He says, it’s inoperable.

Chase says he didn’t know Brook and Finn were that close, but she says she was looking for Finn’s room because she knew she’d find him there. She wanted to see how he was doing. He says, good. Finn is going to make a full recovery, but heart surgery is never a joyride. She says he must have been losing his mind, and he says his dad showed up after his mom called. Finn was not thrilled. She asks if Chase has a problem with his dad, but Chase says, no. They’re great, but his parents are getting a divorce. At least that’s what his mom thinks. His dad is holding out hope the marriage can be fixed. She asks if he wants to grab some coffee, and talk about it, but he says he’d rather hear how she’s doing. She says, after that karaoke trainwreck? and he says, it wasn’t that bad. She says, it was a disaster, but something did come of it. She’s vacating his couch, and got a one-way bus ticket to New York City.

Willow says she should have run it by Michael first, but he was busy, and when Wiley wants something, he wants it now. He asks if Wiley told her that he wanted to be an astronaut. She says he did, and Michael says Wiley told him too, at breakfast. Willow says, Wiley wants stars on the ceiling so he can visit them in his rocket ship. Michael says so she went to the store and bought paint and drop cloths, while he called a painter. They’re coming tomorrow. She says, Wiley has a very specific vision. She doesn’t think they can trust stranger with this important task. Michael says, done. Wiley will like her stars better anyway; he loves everything she does. She says she’s lucky Wiley has faith in her, and Michael asks if she needs help. She says she wouldn’t mind an assistant, but he’ll have to change. Her art projects can get messy. Her students tend to tease her about it. She drips some paint on his head, and starts coming down the ladder to help clean him up, but almost falls. Michael grabs her.

Brando tells Cyrus that Carly is a piece of work. Cyrus says Brando rescued Carly from an ambush at her husband’s warehouse, and took a bullet for her, and Brando says, and how does Sonny thank him? By setting him up in a garage. Sonny doesn’t think he’s good enough for the family business. Cyrus says he thought Sonny protected his family, and Brando says he and his mom are the exception. His mother was good to Sonny’s dad, but Sonny couldn’t get her out of Port Charles fast enough. Cyrus says Sonny will come to regret not embracing Brando and his mother.

Nina says she cares about Sasha. When she brought Sasha to her place, she’d asked if there was anyone she could call, but Sasha told her there was no one. It made her sad how alone Sasha must feel. Sasha thanks Nina for talking to Jax about her, but Nina says, it’s not like that. Sasha says she’s sure it was like that. She tells Nina that she’s late for a meeting, and jets.

Carly tells Jax that she got a call from the DA in Hanover. After reading her interview, and reviewing her statement to the PCPD, Nelle’s death has officially been ruled an accident. Jax says so they don’t have worry about the detective anymore, and she says he wanted her to be responsible, but there was no proof she was on the cliff. He says she’s free now. Hopefully no more dreams, and she won’t be looking over her shoulder anymore. She says, yeah, and he asks why she’s not happy.

Elizabeth tells Franco, they’ll get a second opinion, but he says Terry is the best oncologist around; he’s not getting one. She says she’s not accepting it’s inoperable; she’s not accepting he’s going die. He says he’s trying to be realistic about a terrible situation. She asks if he wants to leave their family or her, and he says he doesn’t like when she leaves the room. He loves her. She’s made him happy in a million different ways. She’s a gift he doesn’t deserve. She says he does, and they’ll find alternative treatment. He says they won’t, but she insists they will. He’s saying he doesn’t want to leave her, but all she’s hearing is that he wants to die. He says maybe he’s not being clear. There’s a fate worse than death, and that’s what he’s trying to avoid.

Willow tells Michael, she got most of the paint off. She thinks he should know, when she found out Finn was shot, she went to the hospital to see how Chase was doing. He told her Finn was going to recover. Michael says, Chase must be relieved, and she says, he is. She said she wanted to let him know she was thinking about him and Finn, and show support. He says she doesn’t have to explain. Of course (🍷) she cares about Chase and wants to support him, and he’s glad she did.

Chase says, Brook is leaving Port Charles? and she says it’s not like her life is full of options. He says he thought she’d patch things up with her dad, and she tells him, like she said; no other options. He asks what she’ll do; how will she live? and she says she’s moving in with her mother. He says, it was just one night. She’s got to keep going. She promises to give it a try, and see a specialist, if it will make him happy. He asks if she knows what would make him happy, and she says, arresting her again? He says he was thinking of getting a drink, but he does need a collar. She asks if he’s filling his quota. She can’t spend the night in jail though. She’s leaving tonight, but he could read her rights to her for old times’ sake. He says she’s not getting off that easy. If she wants to hear the Miranda again, she’ll have to stick around. She asks if he’ll miss her.

Carly tells Jax, it’s a relief to know Nelle’s death has been ruled an accident, and the case is closed. It’s the truth, but like she told him, there’s something about that night that keeps nagging her. Jax says, maybe she’s so used to looking for Nelle, she can’t let it go. She doesn’t have to worry. Nelle can’t hurt her anymore, and she can go on with her life. Nina joins them, and says, it’s been a frustrating day. She talked to Sasha, but Sasha took her advice as much as she did Carly’s. Carly thinks Sasha is worse off than they realize, and Jax asks, what makes her say that? Sasha appears, and asks if they’re lives are so boring that they need to talk about her. She doesn’t need their pity.  To give Nina more fuel for her firepit, she’s going to see someone who doesn’t judge her, and doesn’t get in her business. Carly says, like Cyrus, and Sasha walks away.

Brando thanks Cyrus for helping him; he appreciates it. Cyrus says, don’t thank him before hearing what he has to do, but Brando says keeping Carly away from Cyrus and his guests isn’t a big deal. Cyrus says, that’s the short term request. He has bigger plans for a man with Brando’s skill set. Much bigger. Sasha comes in, apologizing for being late, and Cyrus says, that’s okay; he and his driver needed to catch up. Brando asks if that’s all, and Cyrus says it is, and thanks him. Brando leaves, and Cyrus pulls out a chair for Sasha, saying, he deliberately reserved this table so she’d feel more comfortable. She says, that’s thoughtful, but beside the point. She just announced to Carly and Jax that she was meeting him. He says he’s surprised they didn’t stop her, but she says she didn’t give them a chance. Maybe she should have. He says he thought he’d persuaded her that he’s not the big, bad wolf. She says, after she left him the last time, she got a delivery in the elevator; an envelope full of blow. She doesn’t think it was a coincidence, and thinks it came from him. He asks why she would think that. He respects her, and wouldn’t do anything to jeopardize their relationship. She says she won’t force the issue, but insists he answer one question honestly. What does he expect from her in return?

Cyrus says he doesn’t want anything; just her friendship, if that’s possible. She asks, why? and he says because she’s the only person in Port Charles who hasn’t attacked him for what they think he’s done. She says she’s the last person who should judge anyone, and he says, still, she agreed to meet despite the Page Five item on them in The Invader. She says The Invader must be desperate, to talk about them having dinner. He says he had no idea the paparazzi were lurking, and she says, the fake daughter and the phony philanthropist; a match made in hell. He says sorry about his notoriety. He hopes it didn’t cause her any harm, but she says the publicity is good for Deception. She hopes she didn’t cause him any harm. If he can put up with her, she can put up with him. He says, there’s nothing to put up with. Would she see him again for the occasional meal and conversation? They hear Nina arguing with Brando outside, saying the last time she checked, it was a free country, and she wants to talk to Cyrus. Brando says, she’ll have to make an appointment. She asks if Brando is Cyrus’s personal secretary, and Cyrus comes out. He thanks Brando, and says, it’s perfectly okay. He’s been wanting to meet Nina. He’s heard glowing reports about her.

Chase asks if Brook knows why he kept arresting her, and she says, he enjoys seeing her behind bars? He says she’s outrageous and impulsive, and made his life fun. It was an excuse to have her in his orbit. She says she thinks that’s a compliment, and he says, it is. She asks why she should believe him. How does she know he’s not just feeling sorry for her? Chase says, when he thought his brother was going to die, he decided not to waste time anymore. He doesn’t want to leave things unsaid, or talk around stuff. He wants to be honest. He’s going to miss her. She asks how far his honesty policy goes. Is he going to tell Willow that he’s still in love with her?

Willow tells Michael this is a good place to raise his son, and he says, once the adoption papers come through, she’ll officially be Wiley’s mom. She says she likes the sound of that. She sees an envelope in his hand, and says, it looks serious. He says, a messenger dropped it off from Diane. She says, it must be serious, but he says, not necessarily. He loves Diane. She’s a wonderful lawyer and family friend, but she’s not shy about billable hours and fees. He opens it, and says, it’s a copy of the annulment paperwork.

Franco tells Elizabeth, he can handle losing his sense of smell and taste, but he can’t handle losing his sense of time, and having periods where he’s not aware of his surroundings. During that time, he could undergo a shift in personality. Elizabeth asks if that’s what scares him, and he says he could turn back into the person who used to take pleasure in hurting people, including her.

Chase tells Brook, he said he was going to be honest, but that doesn’t mean she can make assumptions. She says, Nelle slashed her throat, but didn’t damage her eyes. She’s seen the way Chase looks at the pictures of Willow on his phone. He says Willow is married to his ex-best friend. She tells him, she’s not saying break Willow and Michael up; that’s their business. But his feelings aren’t going away. Maybe he should acknowledge them, and tell Willow how he feels. See what she has to say. He says if he tells her something, promise she won’t think it’s a sign. She says, no, but tell her anyway, and he says, Willow came to check on Finn. She told him that she and Michael are getting an annulment. Brook says she wasn’t expecting that, but it definitely helps. Tell Willow he never stopped loving her. He says he can’t. He cheated with Sasha, and broke Willow’s heart. Brook says, the cheating thing was over before it began, and Chase says, once they were found out, he and Sasha felt guilty. She says, cough it up. What really happened with him and Sasha?

Michael says, Diane made it seem like it would take a while, but Willow says they knew this day would come. He says he didn’t know eventually would be so soon. What does she think they should do?

Sasha says she’ll give Nina and Cyrus privacy, and leaves. Cyrus tells Nina to sit, but she says she’s going to keep this short. Stay away from Sasha. He asks if she doesn’t think that’s up to Sasha to decide, but she says, Sasha isn’t in a place to make decisions, and she doesn’t like him taking advantage of her. He says he’s not. She’s a delightful young woman whose company he enjoys. Nina tells him, said the spider to the fly. He says, it’s not very complimentary to speak of Sasha as a fly, and she says, Sasha isn’t in a good place. She’s asking that he respect that, and back off. He says he’s a big fan of her magazine, Crimson, and she laughs. She says he doesn’t seem like the typical Crimson reader, and he says he doesn’t suppose so, but the articles are intelligent and thought-provoking. She says, and the models are sexy and beautiful. He says he’s not blind, but the recent article on women governors made for compelling reading, as did the article on women in shelters. She says, no amount of flattery will convince her that he has good intentions toward Sasha. He says, the magazine celebrates women’s independence, strength, and intelligence; the ability to think for themselves. Doesn’t she believe Sasha embodies those same qualities? 

Outside the room, Sasha says, Brando is Sonny’s cousin. What’s he doing working for the man who tried to kill Sonny’s family? He says, that was never proven, and Cyrus was in prison when it happened. She asks how much Cyrus is paying him, and he asks if she wants to go down that road, since she’s dating Cyrus. She says, they’re not dating, but he says, that’s not what it looks like. She says they met once for dinner, and she’s not defending herself to him. He says, ditto, but he is going to say this. Up until a few moments ago, she was with Michael. Now she’s out with the guy who tried to have him killed.   

A woman asks the MetroCourt hostess if she could be directed to Nina’s table. Jax overhears, and says, Nina is busy at the moment, but he’s her boss. The woman says she heard he was looking for her.

Elizabeth asks if that’s what Terry told Franco; that the tumor could turn him back into the man he used to be. He says, no, that’s not what she said. She said he might skip when it comes to time, and that’s when he realized that there were times he couldn’t account for. She asks, when? and he says when he was painting Ava’s portrait. She says, it’s not abnormal for an artist to lose track of time, and he says, true, but it’s the personality change that’s really scaring him. It should scare her too. She knows the damage he’s capable of. He couldn’t stop himself. He was completely addicted to doing horrible things to people, and getting away with it. If he gets like that again… She tells him, stop. She’s seen a lot of patients who have brain tumors, and none of them have the same symptoms. Just because the tumor returned, that doesn’t mean it will affect him the same way. He says she doesn’t know that, but she says, the compulsion to cause harm and get away with it was removed with the first tumor. Those feelings are gone for good. He promises her that he’ll do anything and everything not be that person, but she needs to promise him if there’s even a hint of danger, no matter how small, to her and the boys, she’ll cut and run. Promise him.

Chase tells Brook, Sasha is a good person, who was trying to do the right thing. Michael was trying to get custody fo Wiley, and his lawyer said getting married would help. Since Sasha had scammed Nina, she would have been torn apart in court, and the odds would be against Michael getting his son. Willow loves Wiley like her own, and they needed a push in the right direction. Brook says, so they pretended to have an affair, and arranged to get caught. He asks, what’s more important? Their hearts or the future of an innocent child? Brook tells him, he’d said it was time for him to be honest. He should be honest with himself first, and then Willow.   

Michael asks if Willow wants to sign first, but she guesses a paintbrush won’t work. She’ll have to get a pen, but doesn’t he think they should read it first? He says, Diane told him it was all boilerplate, no surprises, but if she feels the need to read it before she signs, why not? They look at the paperwork, then look at each other.

Sasha tells Brando, to be honest, she’s not sure what’s going on between them. She ran into him the other night at The Rib (wasn’t it the MetroCourt?), and she was in a bad way. He was supportive and kind. Brando says, and she could use an ally. She’d lied to Nina, and made Nina believe she was her daughter. Of course (🍷) she regrets it, but what she regrets most is that she and Nina were really compatible; for a time they were more than friends. Nina was like a mother to her, and the lies didn’t change how she felt. She thinks it was that way for Nina too. That why Nina is talking to Cyrus. Nina genuinely wants to look out for her. Brando says he doesn’t think she’ll score any points.

Cyrus asks why Nina thinks Sasha can’t take care of herself. Unless she doesn’t believe the foundation of her own publication. Nina says they’ve written many articles on unique and different women who control their own destinies, but they don’t say every woman can. He wonders if she hasn’t read her magazine. He doesn’t talk down to Sasha or treat her like an infant. Why is she telling him to stay away? Sasha has a strong voice. If she didn’t want his company, she would say so. Nina says, Sasha needs to be surrounded by friends, not people who will use her. He says he couldn’t agree more, but she says he’s not Sasha’s friend. She’s a strong woman too, and not to be underestimated. He says her attempt to control Sasha will only serve to alienate her. How would she like it if someone tried to do that to her? Nina says, if he hurts Sasha, she’ll destroy him.

Jax asks who the woman is, and she says the P.I. who found her mentioned his name. Curtis said she was the last call on his list, and he was about to give up all hope. He’d asked if she’d worked as Nina’s nurse, and she said she had. She was happy to hear Nina is not only healthy, but doing well. Jax wonders why Curtis didn’t call him or Nina, and Phyllis asks if he’d like to call to confirm her identity. She also has a driver’s license. Nina comes out and says, Phyllis? She’d recognize Phyllis’s voice anywhere. Phillis says, Nina Reeves, as I live and breathe. They hug.

Elizabeth says she knows Franco thinks he’s going to hurt her, but their love is stronger than the tumor. He says, the tumor is getting bigger. He’s going to turn back into a monster. She says they’re not going to let that happen. They’ll find a way to fix it. He asks if she has a magic wand, and she says, their love. It will give them the strength they need to not give up. He cries a little, and says he just wants to grow old with her. She says, he will, and he’s going to survive as the man she knows now and loves with all her heart.

Brook says Chase can’t play God with Willow’s life. He has to tell her the truth. He says, what’s done is done, but she says, Willow is making decisions based on false information and lies. Not telling her isn’t fair to her or Michael. She can’t leave until he sets it right. He asks how he’s going to do that, and she says he’s going to talk with Willow and tell her that he never had an affair.

Willow asks how it looks to Michael, and he says, legal. She says, the words are kind of a blur. It’s hard to concentrate or focus. He says he knows what she means, and moves in for a kiss.

Carly asks Brando if there’s any chance Sasha intends to kick Cyrus to the curb, but he says, not from what she told him. Does Carly want him to do something about that? She says he’s in a delicate position, but she’d like him to keep an eye on Sasha. Sasha has been good to her family. Brando says he’s on it. Whatever it takes.

Nina tells Cyrus, she saw the look of thunder Nina’s face when she left. She assumes Nina told him to back off. Cyrus says she assumes correctly. He doesn’t like people telling him what to do, and didn’t think that’s what she’d want. As his friend, that’s what matters. She thanks him for being a good friend, and he asks if she’s hungry. She says she supposes she could eat something, and when she lifts up her menu, there’s a new envelope of coke underneath it. They smile at each other.

Phyllis says Nina is so beautiful and healthy. Is she happy? Nina says she’s officially very happy, and Phillis says, seeing Nina, she feels the same. It’s been too long. Is that why Curtis called? So they could reconnect? Nina says she realized Phillis wasn’t just her nurse. She took care of Nina when she was first in a coma and pregnant. Phillis says she did, and Nina says there’s something Phyllis needs to tell her. What happened to her baby?

Tomorrow, Monica tells Ned not to blow what could be his last chance, Sasha says Cyrus knows her appetite, and Jason says there’s a possibility things could go sideways, which won’t be good for anyone.

Southern Charm

Austen griped about how many shoes Craig had around the living room, and Craig accused Austen of finding things to complain about, telling him the house was legit spotless. Austen said Craig saw spotless, but he didn’t, and Craig called him a crybaby. Craig thought the festival was blast, and said he drank 30 of Austen’s beers. That’s a lot of beer, and I wondered if Craig was exaggerating or still drunk. He said Austen needed to prioritize and not be self-destructive, like Austen was the one sponging off of him. Madison visited the chaos that was Kathryn’s house, and Kathryn was in the midst of color coordinating her books. She said her last memories of her mom were in that house, since she’d taken care of her at the end. She was still staying with Thomas while her house was being worked on, and she told Madison, no, they weren’t back together. She didn’t think. In her interview, Kathryn said Thomas was the father of her kids, and she’d thought about it more than a few times.

Shep took Lil Craig to the dog park/bar, where Lil Craig immediately paddled around in the marsh. Danni joined him with her Australian Shepherd, and said she loved seeing Shep act like a parent. He guessed he was a little domesticated. He told Danni that he was forty now, and had a dog and a girlfriend, and Danni said he looked happy. He told her Taylor was chill, but Danni wondered what if she had a goal of getting married? Shep said he would be roadblocked, but he was seeing a therapist. He’d told the therapist he wondered, what if he met someone else? but the therapist said everyone thinks that. He told Madison that he was never getting involved in Austen’s personal life again, and was plugging his ears to any information. Danni thought that was the best thing to do, especially since she’d been on the receiving end of something similar, and we flashed back to when Madison let fly that Shep had given Danni chlamydia. Shep apologized, and said he was glad their friendship survived the craziness. Lil Craig and Danni’s Shepherd took a swim in the marsh together, and Shep told Lil Craig that he was the biggest slob in dog park. He said he’d need a hazmat suit to get Lil Craig home.

Leva told us that she hadn’t achieved a work-life/mom balance yet. I can see why, since Little seems like a handful. Her mom Nahid came by to help do some cooking. Leva said most of her friends didn’t know their story, so she was having a Persian dinner. It was a nice way for them to see that side of her. She’d asked Nahid for help, since she wanted to make a big dinner the way her mom used to back in the day. Nahid said her philosophy was to get inspiration from talking to other people. In Leva’s interview, she said she didn’t want Little to grow up being treated like a novelty. She was Persian by descent, grew up in Winnipeg, and ended up in the deep south. It was like taking part of her mask off. She told Nahid that she’d gotten what she thought was a Persian tea set from Amazon, thinking it was a fantastic price, but didn’t read the measurements. What she got was a miniature. Yep, you’ve got to read that description thoroughly, and always read the reviews.

John visited his sister Jenny, brother-in-law Alan, and their dog who sure looked like a Pekingese or a Peke mix. In John’s interview, he said he and Jenny were twins, and grew up together raising hell. He told us that his kids were the greatest thing that ever happened to him. Quinn was sweet and sensitive, and would do anything for anybody. Asher had the swagger. He FaceTimed with them, and Asher called him a butthole. He told us that his ex-wife got pregnant early on in their relationship, and they’d done their best, but they were better friends now, and did a good job co-parenting. He thought the hardest part of being back in Charleston was being away from his kids. He saw them ten days during spring break, and for half of the summer, and wanted them to feel like Charleston was home. Jenny asked if saw himself dating, but he said dating was work, although being in love was the best. Jenny said he could have the pick of the crop. He showed her Madison’s picture, and she said he was screwed.

Leva talked to her middle sister Mona about the Persian dinner, and said someone was coming in to do her house like a Persian palace. In her interview, she said she and Mona were best friends. She told Mona that she was thinking of inviting Kathryn, but was anxious about it. Mona said everyone deserved a chance, and Leva thought she and Kathryn should have a do-over. She called Kathryn, who was psyched to come, and Leva said the dinner theme was Persian princess. Lots of layers, and a headpiece, but don’t show up looking like Jasmine from Aladdin.

Austen came by to take Madison out, and helped her son Hudson with his math homework. In Austen’s interview, he said, two years ago, he wouldn’t have swiped right on someone with a child. Now, he’d be lying if he said he hadn’t thought about what if with Madison – and he’s helping with homework. They were meeting Shep and Taylor for dinner, and Madison said she was going to be as positive as she could be. Already at the restaurant, Shep told Taylor that he was putting the final nail in the coffin of his angst with Austen. After Austen and Madison joined them, Taylor told Austen how much fun she had at the festival. Austen gave Madison a kiss, and Taylor said she could tell they were in love. Austen asked where Shep stood on PDA, and Shep said if he gives Taylor a nibble, she wants the whole steak. Austen asked if they were an actual couple, and Shep said he was ready to have the talk when Taylor was. Madison wanted them to have the talk right now, and in her interview, said she liked to see Shep squirm. Shep said he and Taylor were together, and Taylor asked if they were dating. Shep gave a thumps up, and Taylor said she approved of this message. Shep said, that was the talk, and they toasted to defining the relationship. Shep said he didn’t want it to be too serious, but Madison said it already was. In his interview, Shep said it was hard to say out loud that he had a girlfriend. Shep got something in his teeth, which Austen and Madison pointed out. Shep thanked them, and Austen said that’s what friends do. Madison asked if this made it official that she and Shep were friends now. Shep asked if she wanted to have the talk.

Leva and Nahid cooking was amazing to watch, and in Leva’s interview, she said cooking together was a big deal, and a gesture of friendship. Leva tried to get Little to eat a date, but he preferred a piece of squash. It mystified me that a kid would choose squash over something sweet. Craig’s assistant Anna-Heyward called him, telling him that he was still living with Austen, but had a lot to get done removing the asbestos from the house. He said it was effing stressful, and she said he kept wanting to go out instead of getting stuff done. She thought he needed to find a rental, since fish and houseguests stink after three days. Craig said he’d never heard that. Proof that he’s not from this planet.

While getting ready, Kathryn wondered if they were supposed to wear belly dancer stuff, and Madison reminded her they weren’t supposed to look like Jasmine. Leva and her home both looked spectacular, and even her dog wore a statement necklace. The spread of food reminded me of a dinner on Shahs of Sunset, and as usual, I was fascinated. There were five different rice dishes alone. Leva’s friends, Jackie and another Madison (Simon), joined them. Kathryn asked if Leva felt weird being Persian in Charleston, and Leva said her roots were completely different. Her parents left a country in turmoil, lost and rebuilt everything, and could never go back to Iran. After her parents got married, her mother had said if she got pregnant with a girl, they were leaving the country, and they did. Leva said she was aware of the sacrifices her parents had made, so their children could do what they wanted. There were things North American women took for granted, like education and wearing what they liked, that were denied to eastern women. She said when she’d moved to Charleston, there were different lines for Black people at clubs, and she wondered where to go and how she fit in. The city wasn’t as open minded as she’d hoped. In her interview, she said she got questions like, did she speak English? Was she legal? Was that her car or her boss’s? Kathryn said when Leva and her husband opened Republic was when life began for everyone. It’s where she met her baby daddy. Leva said she was at that party, and told her husband to watch the red head. She was so young, and the dude she was with was so much older than her. Kathryn thanked her, and Leva said, live and learn.

Craig, Whitney, Austen, and John met at a beer bar. They did tequila shots along with the beer, and in Craig’s interview, he said he had to pace himself. If he didn’t stay disciplined, it was a slippery slope. John struck up a conversation with a table of girls, who barely understood what he was saying. In his interview, he said his game was having no game. Shep joined them, and chatted up the girls, getting everyone Goldschläger shots. He said he could still flirt. It doesn’t matter where you get your appetite as long as you eat at home.

Everyone admired Madison’s necklace, which was from Patricia’s closet. Madison said she couldn’t help but look up to Patricia, and in Kathryn’s interview, she said she thought Patricia was meddling in Madison’s life. Patricia was like the puppet master on the N’Sync album cover. At the bar, Whitney wondered if Madison and Austen broke up, would John… and John joked that he’d definitely sleep with Austen. They moved on to another bar that had a mechanical bull, and Shep begged John to get on it. Madison told the girls that Austen took the guys out for a boys night, and they talked about John. Madison said he was cute and had great manners. At the bar, John took off his shirt and got on the bull, but fell off pretty quickly. Kathryn was asked if John was a good kisser, but all she said was, y’all, come on. Kathryn got a message on her phone, and got up. She said Thomas was an effing liar, and called Danni over. She told Danni that Thomas had gotten a girl pregnant, and she was having the baby. She was six or seven months along. Kathryn’s lawyer found out, and just confirmed it. Kathryn came back, and told the others about Thomas. She said when she asked why he didn’t tell her, he said, why would he? She told him that their children were the baby’s siblings, and he responded, just half. Madison asked if Thomas was dating the girl, and Kathryn said she heard he’d been spotted at an OB/GYN with someone who was showing. She couldn’t believe she’d been living with him, while he’d been hiding a secret, and she’d been thinking about being together again. Leva said Kathryn just threw down a bomb, and Danni thought it was f***ed up, and not fair to Kathryn and the kids. Madison said she’d thought everything was perfect, and Danni said Kathryn couldn’t be living there anymore. Kathryn wondered what she was going to do, and Madison said they were getting Kathryn out of there.

Next time, Craig tells John to drop thinking about Madison, Covid hits, and Taylor isn’t sure if she was exposed.

🚣‍♀️ Rowing the Boat Ashore…

Time for tea tomorrow, but for now, stay safe, stay lucid, and stay getting inspiration from talking to people outside of your cultural sphere.