Vee

lol this just reminds me of the insane discourse about when they started piling every illness onto Stitch's son to write them off - seizures, incontinence...

That is a good idea. (And I do think they need to explore that history from Laura's life, but I worry if done soon it might come off too much like the Shiloh cult nonsense from a few years ago unless they really lean into modernizing it like online cults like Love Has Won, etc.) Yeah, there was no need for him to be her second long-lost brother on top of Martin. I assume Frank thought it would give JK more longevity. It hasn't! AH has had some decent dialogue in the last few tweaked eps but I see no need for him to be on the show.

Brian Gaskill is out here looking like Orson Welles in the Paul Masson ads.

Yeah, I have several large bridges to sell to anyone who thought Steve would not leave Days and return to GH at some point in the next 3-5 years.

I loved Jeff Kober in many TV shows and movies playing the go-to creep in the 80s and 90s, so I was pleased and impressed when GH hired him. But it has never worked. Cyrus has never come off menacing or compelling to me, just feeble and phlegmatic. I don't blame the actor, I blame the lame material and whatever direction they happen to get. He just wheedles on, croaks about his plans and occasionally tells that ludicrous story about how he accidentally on purpose ran over his and Laura's dad with the family car in the driveway. It's ridiculous and I feel nothing for this crotchety old mobster who now has a radio sideline as the Voice of the Night. I have never been intrigued. He should've been gone long ago. They should've played this imprisoned kingpin like a truly psycho, Manson type when he first came on - like some of Kober's classic roles - and instead he just mouths tired 'bad guy' schtick and mumbles about family and God. It was inevitable Steve would be back the day he left. I never had any faith that ABC would stick to principle with him. I am also resigned to it and just hoping better writing will make him more tolerable.

That's a shame. Did they say why she wasn't at the last wedding?

Scott and Amy sounds insane but def something they'd do back then. In other news, we've all talked up Crystal Carson as Julia before and how much we enjoyed her rolling with the changes in the show. These scenes with her after Brenda's 'death' in '98 (timestamped below) are really good work from Carson, I haven't seen them since they aired. I'd forgotten the montage of all the empty locations around town. Another neat little moment earlier on in this video at the Q mansion that's just for me: Evil Katherine silently and grimly snuffing out the candle on the cake after they hear the news about Brenda.

I'm just waiting to see who violates this first.

Fired, I believe. I think Robin's 'death' was Ron's first credited day, or close to it. They did tweak It on the way in though, because allegedly Wolf's team had planned to kill her for real (via AIDS, I believe) and supposedly FV's first order of business was to declare Robin Scorpio would not be killed off while he worked there.

Oh, I'm well aware. But after the last decade-plus since Frank and Ron flushed most of the old team anything smart on the daily show is like pearls in the desert lol.

You can definitely tell there have been changes and tweaks over the last several weeks of air shows. it varies from day to day and scene to scene, but it's there. I go by @Errol who I believe said from today on it's a mix of their work and the outgoing team, specifically with the Jason story being the new team's work. If I'm misquoting him I'm sure he'll check me.

Malone and Griffith also ghostwrote heavily in January of 2003 at OLTL before their names were on it. Guza did the same at GH in 1997.. It was very noticeable in both cases.

It's possible. But my working theory was she sent them to herself so she could appear endangered and endear herself to Sonny. "Why would she appear frightened when alone" is a good question, but also not one that has stopped a new writing team from eliding those small details from past episodes before re: a storyline already in progress. Fanwank it and say maybe she was rehearsing? This theory and issue aside, today's ep appears to already have some considerable surprises and structural moves I didn't expect.

Yes, that was always my assumption at the time. Pure boredom. I enjoy Ava immensely when she is being evil and true to who she is vs. when they try to redeem her or mold her into a romantic heroine, as they have done too often. She should not have half the friendly relationships she does on the show, minus Trina. And she's already been on the show a long time vs. most characters in her position. If going dark shortens her time on the show I've already established I don't mind at this point. She has been on for over a decade; I don't need her to stay forever, I need her to do well while here. Besides, Alex on OLTL, etc. ran for years without losing her edge and I think in that same mold Ava can still have some more good years. If I wanted to watch Carly Snyder I'd watch old eps of ATWT.

Not particularly, no. But it could be a useful plot point here in a new story. I do think a woman could have easily been wearing a man's boots or unisex boots. Further, Austin's shooting was written months ago by a departed writing team; the new team could always potentially not care what kind of footwear the shooter happened to be seen wearing. I don't necessarily think Ava pulled the trigger on Austin herself. But there is nothing in the murder episode that rules her out AFAIC.

Also, I just checked the episode where Austin is shot. There's no sign of Ava in it.

A poster on Primetimer reminds me that Ava got sent the notes/weapon/whatever after Austin's death. This endeared her to Sonny as a woman in obvious distress and had him move her in, close to him. This in turn leads to her being on the island with him in January, getting shot at by the assassin. Do we know where Ava was the night Austin died? She has killed for less.

Ava is not just some local art dealer or civilian. She came to town in 2013 as one of the heads of the Jerome crime family when it was still active; she was deeply enmeshed in it for years after. She did time over it. Her first major act in Port Charles was to murder Connie Falconeri in cold blood because Connie would've compromised her brother's cover identity as media magnate Derek Wells. Ava is as much a part of that life as anyone else at that meeting; she is a viper, which is why Wu was wise not to trust her presence even if Ava isn't suspect. I bring this old post up now because I am starting to think I’m right about Ava being involved is whatever is really going down here. There are two key shots in the last week or two that seem to tip the scales a bit for me; one had Ava inexplicably eavesdropping on Sonny and Wu at the penthouse after Wu ordered her out of the room. The other is the close-up on Ava's approving face at the meet this past Friday as Sonny assures Selina they can trust her. That's what they went to commercial on. These things are rarely done haphazardly in the edit, and the material with Sonny and Ava lately is pitched as intimate but not loving or sympathetic. I have begun to think Ava is playing Sonny again, just as she did in 2013-2014. Also, I will flash the @Khan signal: I'd be curious as to his take on the Maxie/Spinelli, Felicia, Tracy and Gregory, etc. material over the last week. Even the Wagger/Sonny and Wagger/Anna stuff felt smarter. The family cohesion stuff at Scout's party on Friday was especially different for me, weaving in all the family connections we don't often see, Drew and Alexis, Jason's two boys, Kristina and Blaze, etc. And I've said before that I think the Eva LaRue material with Kristina and Blaze was also tweaked.

I'd argue it's both. I am not going to condemn HP for life, nor am I going to advocate for her to be back on the show. I think she deserves what she gets from the legal system, but I also hope she gets help and turns her life around. Social media is not a place for nuance so I'm not interested in fighting that battle.

Thanks so much.

I would never call Gregory the peak of excitement lol. I need him to go soon, along with his whole family. But at least Gregory Harrison has some gravitas and grace with JE, etc. and the dialogue has gotten smarter there too. But yes, Maxie's dialogue was also sharper at the Qs during the bridal planning.

It's been said, but the dialogue in Maxie's segments for several days running (starting with the Spinelli stuff a few eps ago and up to the end of the week) and the Tracy/Gregory discussion of marriage is also sharper than the usual dull knives BTS at this show. Same with Wagger and Sonny - 'until you get jurisdiction over the FBI or simply die of shame...' Re: Tom Hardy Jr., he has always been my first choice for a new younger male lead. Cast him in the Patrick mold like when he first came on (brash, brilliant, cocky doctor) and go from there. I guess Tom/Thomas wouldn't be quite as young now as he would've been had they done it ten years ago but whatever, age is fluid on this show and it's doable. I'd have him attempt to romance the older, recently-separated Portia at work as a young man on the make but end up with spiky feminist writer Christina Collins (Lucy and Kevin/Scott's kid, adopted from Chris Ramsey and the locally infamous Dr. Julie Devlin). There, I just came up with two characters with more future prospects than most of the leads under 40 currently on the show.

Small world. Thanks!

I don't understand why anyone would assume we don't want HP to pay the price for her awful actions or are cheering for her to come back vs. our simply saying, pragmatically, that it's far from impossible that the show will have her back someday lol. Soap stars have done far worse than Pullos and been invited back because of popularity or because (like HP, who grew up on the show and has deep ties BTS there) they're 'family.' I want HP to take what's coming to her from the court; I think her actions are reprehensible, and I see zero reason for Molly to be on the show now or in the foreseeable future. But she's young, she can rehabilitate herself and she has a long history with the show, and it's not like soaps haven't given second, third and fourth chances before. It's very common. I think that's all either of us are saying. But I don't care either way, so long as I don't have to watch Morticia Molly forever and they write the character out.