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Same! And I have wanted Nina's ass gone for almost a whole decade (until very recently).

I did LOL at Anna silently taking the axe from Ned at the bachelor party. Great moment.

There's no endgame there as long as Vanessa Marcil is alive IMO, lol. When this show goes off the air or MB quits or retires it will be Sonny and Brenda, hopefully not just with her coming back at the end. I do think multiple regimes have known for many years Maurice and Laura just don't have it, and FV parked them together to try to keep the show stable and thought the FB, etc. or casual audience's loyalty for them would carry the day through endless mind-numbing couplehood sagas. Then that ended for a variety of reasons, probably not by his choice. It's always been a stopgap with LW in the role. And now that they've broken apart again I think it's more likely to stay that way than it was for far too long. JMO.

It has always felt like a low-energy effort in those many years of the show merely treading water and holding space with FV trying to keep FB fans happy. Then MB clearly asked to be paired with Watros and things changed.

Changed my life on the PP soaps. Though they really probably shouldn't have sprung for the Rolling Stones in one of those last eps where Jack Manning banged his teacher when they knew they already couldn't pay 90% of the cast. 😅 I have my doubts. They were apart for a long time before the mid-2010s.

I suspect the Saga of Heather's Hip is intended to transition AM/Heather into a role of Laura's kooky cousin/talk-to on canvas, still making mischief but not psychotic. It's certainly not something I'd come up with but so far I've been impressed with the performances and writing involved, and I appreciate their mining of the Webber family connectivity with the two women. So I'm provisionally open to it.

I think like with a lot of online things the truth is somewhere in between. If you spend a lot of time on GH Twitter these days you'd get the sense that Sonny and Nina are a supercouple lol, that the average viewer gives a shít or has any idea whether or not Chris Van Etten still works at the show and that this is some major controversy, that people are deeply invested in Ava being a heroine, etc. I don't think most of that is true. There's a lot of self-important amateur social media pundits on there who want to sound very authoritative but don't really have their fingers on the pulse of anything in terms of broad viewership. And at the other end of the spectrum I tnink there are a lot of very basic, easy to please fans on FB or casual viewing or whatever who have been trained to adore Sonny, Carly, Jason, etc. and just want more of that or their families. But ultimately they'll watch what is put in front of them. I don't particularly love either of those camps. But I do think Sonny, Carly and Jason are inextricable until certain actors choose to leave at this point. And I agree that cutting Sonny would hurt the bottom line in terms of existing viewership. So for me, again, these things are about execution - how you handle these characters you have to work with, how you write for them or make the situation more nuanced, and if they can move Sonny back into the kind of role he had in the late 2000s/early 2010s that would be for the best. I think the show has been pretty hospital-centric again for a long time tbh. I think it swung heavily back to that in 2005-2006 when Kimberly McCullough returned, when they hired Jason Thompson for her and brought in Epiphany and many others with the advent of Grey's Anatomy on the network, and I think it's stayed that way since. Not all those stories/characters worked, but some did and the focus on the hospital has continued. They even had another spinoff all about it. There have been a lot of doctors, nurses etc. on contract over the last decade-plus. A lot of story is either centered around it or at the very least is backdropped inside of the hospital. Yes, the mob is still a part of the show but it's the part of the show that feels more vestigial and left over from the past now to me. The hospital has been a constant for almost 20 years again, and hospital stories, hospital characters feature a lot. The issue there for me is the quality of some of those stories or characters.

I definitely didn't figure that Magneto wasn't dead! I was very annoyed by the distinct lack of mention of him (or a funeral) throughout until the end. I was also pleased they had Diamond Emma turn up, just like in the comics during the original Genosha holocaust. Operation: Zero Tolerance was a good idea in the comics that created or showcased fun characters like Cecilia Reyes, Marrow and Maggott, even if its actual plotline (like so many in the '90s) left a lot to be desired. IIRC at the time it was intended as a major reset for the staid X-line - they were supposed to be back on the run, out of the mansion, etc. as Bastion hunted them down for an extended length of time, not just one crossover. As a lapsed fan that interested me and I liked some of the new team members, so I came back for a bit. Soon enough though the typical overbearing editorial of the era intervened and the actual fallout was contained to just one storyline, with little else changing. The three new members stuck around with a new writing team, but within a year or so most of them were flushed along with the writers as the X-office pivoted yet again and finally brought back the long-lost classic characters (Kitty Pryde, Nightcrawler, Colossus) back to the main book and out of Excalibur hoping to boost increasingly sluggish sales as the company spiraled into bankruptcy. I've had a soft spot for Cecilia Reyes in particular since, and when Claremont returned a few years later in 2000 he made a point of using her heavily again. Anyway, that's just remembrance. Very weird seeing Captain America and Thunderbolt Ross, the Hulk, etc. referenced or shown in this cartoon vs. back in the day, when IIRC the most they got away with was a few cameos here and there. (I wonder if we'll see Carol Danvers again.) I liked seeing Bella Donna and the Thieves Guild at Gambit's funeral even if those characters always annoyed me. And I liked Morph turning into Quicksilver. Amelia Voght (one of Xavier's many slampieces) turning up to talk to Beast in Genosha was a deep cut - I saw Mimic in the background of one of those shots too. Notable that Val Cooper is explicitly not counted among the dead. That is not coincidence. It has to be Mystique. Does it really take Storm that long to fly across the country? It's been a few days at least. Get the lead out!

I do think Steve has come to work so far. I thought the scenes where he monologued about how he got the tattoo, etc. to Carly last week were very well-written and well-performed by both of them - the closest he and LW have ever had to romantic/sexual chemistry. The writing for Jason and/or rather how they handle him in relation to the town and his family/children is more nuanced, which I appreciate. The idea of Jason being less corrupt or fundamentally flawed than Sonny has been something the show has been laying in for many years going back to the late Guza era, as @titan1978 and I have talked about a number of times. I think it's true, as much as I so often despise Jason. But I'm also glad they have his loved ones and kids giving him the business about who he is and the choices he's made. I also like PM making the clear choice to have him back above Bobbie's/Kelly's again, and the echo of the classic scene of Carly in Bobbie's room from '96 with Danny in Jason's. I agree the big 3 only hold so much interest for me. But again, like Delia I am far from convinced ABC gives a shít about horning in on GH's stories that much these days (so long as they're not showcasing rapists or serial killers, or Roger Howarth). What will matter or show us something is when the show has new stories going that aren't the Jason return arc, and besides maybe Drew and Nina's hate sex affair which is only the beginnings of a story/couple they don't really have that yet. So we'll see. I don't think there is that much intense oversight, but nonetheless I think they'd have a hard time actively pushing MB or Burton off the show unless (current) BTS conduct warranted it. If they start phasing Sonny into a different role again, as they did in the late 2000s, then that is a good move.

Yeah, the Molly thing was circular and weird at best given the circumstances and history. But I thought the dialogue in that scene - and the sentiments Anna expressed to Molly about the situation - were very strong, moreso than her likely canvas-based insistence that Molly take the case. I got the sense Anna was taking it out on Molly to prove the point to herself. Nor am I. I have a hard time believing this ABC, even more than the ABC of 2014, gives a shît about most of this content. Nathan Varni might but I am not convinced he has any serious authority lol. The question is if FV has been demoted in creative control. We'll find out soon enough. Ned and Lois can and have had scenes, BTW. That's not an issue for WK and Rena. The one thing they did (understandably) veto was a Ned/Lois reunion. I also thought the Sonny/Nina farewell montage was silly, but it is the custom for pretty much any exiting couple on a soap in recent years so I get it. As long as they're over I'm happy.

That definitely looks like Jane's Addiction from AMC a.k.a. the OLTL coffee shop. I am very amused the PP sets have returned.

As I said on PTV, it's been known to happen for HWs to be demoted down to staff (as Mills seems to be claiming) and is definitely possible, but tbf I always take this kind of anecdote with a grain of salt for actors when there's no other supportable evidence. It's not some big scandal here either way if Van Etten had the idea or is still on staff somehow, but I still remember Thom Christopher and Tonja Walker in the OLTL oral history praising Paul Rauch to the high heavens for pairing them up when he was long since fired and it was all Michael Malone and Linda Gottlieb lol. So whatever, who knows.

Ohhh, yes he was.

I've said it before, but Mansi is on the verge of carrying the entire under-40 set and it seems like the writers know it. She has gotten more and more scenes spelling out the core themes or character beats in several major plotlines and she's very convincing. They have got to get her a real story, a better partner than Blaze and nix that baby. And yes, they need to hire a man for Rena too.

It was a few years ago, and sounds like it still is somewhere. I'm amazed people are still at it. That Becky story is hilarious.

Welcome to the Trevor St. John Experience, everyone.

Near as I can tell the only place any of these supposed 'rumors' actually come from is the mental hospital that used to be the old Daytime Dish. I haven't been there in forever but the last I checked years ago it was nothing but Jason couples stans gaslighting each other everyday that Becky or Kelly was going to get fired so the other one could be with Burton. So no, I don't particularly buy that Becky Herbst is going anywhere. It's been a long time since GH had any real insiders out there.

Okay then!

If they killed the entire Chase family at this wedding (or just had Finn and his hellspawn slink out of town after) I wouldn't bat an eye.

If they turned Cameron Mathison's leading man into an actual classic Y&R-esque heel squiring mother and daughter before presumably getting exposed and/or offed it could end up the role of his career, lol. But I don't see it happening.

I think Ava's core motive, conscious or unconscious, was spelled out by Kristina a couple weeks ago: Power, and missing the rush of it. Yes, Ava is probably a bit down bad for Sonny now just as she has been for several unworthy men through her entire time on the show, but in the end when the chips are down and he turns on her the power will be what she goes towards. That is who she is. I completely disagree about Drew/Nina though; I want them to become crazy horny power players. I will add that despite some criticisms I've seen I really dug the Anna/Laura and Anna/Molly scenes last week. They were being very determined to drive a stake into the Anna and Laura relationships with Sonny and spelling out why they are doing it now and what they want it to mean for the show and characters. I respect that. There is never going to be a good time to do it in 2024 after decades of these characters excusing Sonny and massaging these relationships to put him over to the audience, but they really dug into the material and Finola in particular ate it up. I believed in her integrity again. And I loved Laura talking about Luke's Club. I mentioned it earlier but I also loved BLQ and Chase actually talking like adults not just about their differences in their upbringing and how they approached money, but also about her life with Lois in Bensonhurst vs. the Qs without demonizing the latter, and then Lois actually talking about life with Ned and their breakup with her daughter. All strong stuff for me. Also: Is it me, or was Danny trying on Jason's clothes in Jason's room a mirror of Sarah Brown's Carly doing the same in Bobbie's room, when Mulcahey first started with the show?

Or: Drew gets openly involved with Nina a la Katherine and Damian Smith but two-times her with younger model Willow. And yes, there has been inappropriate chemistry with Willow and Drew and to a lesser extent Jason forever. I do think Lois at Deception can work, but I would prefer to see her music life woven in somehow.

Again: I think if he'd come on an active, vital and scheming mover and shaker like other characters Harrison played in his glory days you might have seen something really interesting happen with Tracy, as opposed to the somewhat elegant, understated appeal they have despite a bum story. But they didn't do that.

I suspect we'll probably only get dead Thomas Jefferson Gregory out of the wedding, but I will settle for several more exits/firings according to whatever madness hopefully goes down during sweeps.

LOL I forgot all about that! She could fake it coming back 'for a good cause' she's working for, and above all more attention and fame for herself! She could start up a whole popular 'cancer mommy vlog' like so many of those online grifters. Maybe finally seduce T.J. into going along with it (or someone else, T.J. and Molly need to finally go away for years). And then she gets busted at the next Nurses Ball in 2025! Genius! I'm here all week, Patrick.