bossruen

Echoing this—I think Hansis has been a huge upgrade all the way through. Lucas seems like a real person and not just another in the stone-faced hunk brigade (apologies to Ryan Carnes).

We need to get Michael and Willow hate-[!@#$%^&*] again already.

Agree with this—I thought these scenes had spark and tension. There’s no easy way out for either Britt or Joss. (I am also the weirdo that enjoys both of these characters and performances, however.)

LMAO talk about a show that’s in a permanent lull.

Thank you for the memory refresh; I’d completely forgotten.

Wait, was that established onscreen? I thought TBTP just changed the character’s name and expected us not to notice.

I appreciated that too. The WSB is basically DHS at this point.

Maybe Adrian can return as Natalia’s oft-mentioned, never-seen son Eloi. Remember Eloi? BTW is anyone gonna tell Blaze her brother is dead? I agree that killing off Marco (while, ugh, sparing Cullum) is a waste, although these episodes were very effective. Worse than Lucas inevitably reuniting with Brad is the fact that he’s likely to be backburnered entirely now. Sonny’s absence from this whole thing is indeed wild (and refreshing). I was also surprised that the show didn’t put Carly in that parking lot with Britt, Danny, et al. at the end. Congrats to Tabyana on four years. I found her IG post somewhat poignant because it reminded me how much the writing for Trina fell off after the show fired Shannon Peace.

There’s no question that all of the show’s storylines are dictated by budget, actor guarantees, and actor availability. Maxie would never have been in a coma, for example, if KS hadn’t needed time off. But the “lulls” on GH are less and less frequent, and the show does a pretty good job of laying the groundwork over 4 to 6 months for stories to climax in a satisfying way, as they did this week. IMO GH has provided two genuine shocks so far this year: Willow paralyzing Drew and Rocco shooting Cullum. That’s not bad.

What an episode! I howled (in a good way) when Jason headbutted Dante. Really quick, well done stunt. Loved the Lucas and Carly stuff, with Lucas’s bliss cross-cutting with Marco bleeding out. Rocco being the one to take out Cullum was inspired. You do not reach adulthood in Port Charles without a body count.

The sigh of relief I breathed when we found out Jordan isn’t pregnant…

The Britt/Rocco thing is a small part of my unified theory of why we’re not getting a Spencer recast anytime soon. It’s because a bunch of other characters are now filling the various niches that made that character complex. The hotheaded young heir with high cheekbones is now Michael (who plays more like a slightly aged Spencer than Chad Duell’s Michael IMO). The YA heartthrob with blood ties to Sonny is now Gio. Whereas Spencer accidentally softened Brit’s heart with quasi-maternal feelings, now Rocco is doing that. 3 is definitely the least significant of these, and I agree that giving Brit a case of the mommies should not be a priority at all. But it tracks!

It is, after all, a “mass psychosis event.” Were we supposed to think Jason didn’t shoot Cullum because he couldn’t get a clean shot without nicking Brennan? Why not just kill Brennan too?

I’m fine with the Dante/Liz chem test. It’s a nice change of pace to see Dante not grumble or scowl at someone. Howling at Cody sounding out “endometriosis.”

The Melrose Place characters played by Thomas Calabro and Marcia Cross—he was a scumbag and she was a psychopath.

I thought Eden was incredible this week, but I’m always here for characters calling Carly and Sonny on their bullshit. Interesting nuance to her scenes with Jason, too, where she suggested that blaming Sonny was just a front. There are layers there. Agree that Maxie and Felicia were both unreasonable with Lulu but Maxie had a line about choosing Spinelli because she felt like Nathan was already gone that nicely dovetailed with the “is he really Nathan?” lingering question. I can’t with Sonny and the shaggy ADA. Brutal. When the incest teens somehow aren’t the least appealing couple of the week… Trina suddenly serenading the Surf Lodge reminded me of when Designing Women would let Dixie Carter sing in later seasons. Maybe it’s Frank’s way of saying “Sorry we back-burnered you for two years.” LOLed at Britt’s photo of Rocco in his Corinthos Coffee jersey, which looked straight off the ABC press site.

I don’t know why it’s taken them so long to chem test Dante and Liz. It’s been a process-of-elimination no-brainer since Sam died.

I don’t know—the younger cast, especially, may feel like they can’t say no if he asks (weren’t there rumors about Mo being pissed when NAC declined?). These actors typically don’t have proper publicists. If I were on the show’s PR team, I would want to protect them from sharing things that may come back to haunt them later.

Absolutely hilarious that he gets away with this. Mo’s whole “browbeat my costars into spilling their darkest secrets on my YouTube channel” shtick is so unprofessional.

Always alarming to see flashbacks to the days when Mo could get his lines out.

Between this and the endless Finola vaykay I’m wondering if they’re furloughing some of the higher-paid actors for budget reasons.

I loved the giant sign that said “Power Grid” on the chain link fence that Joss stopped in front of to make sure she had her explosive device. Then, in case we hadn’t seen it, the camera panned over to the sign after Joss walked away. It was the kind of soap moment that you wish would be paired with organic music.

Was it, though? This person is supposed to terrify our allegedly fearless Anna.

My God, is it possible that Ramsey was even hammier in this return appearance than during his original run? It’s like he thinks he’s doing a Mad TV sketch parodying soap opera acting. How did Finola not break?

I honestly feel a bit bad for TPTB because the audience is constantly comparing every choice to whatever happened in the ‘80s and ‘90s. I don’t need Willow and Drew to be Monica and Alan because I’m enjoying their particular [!@#$%^&*]ed up dynamic. Two years ago, both characters and performances were flat and boring—reconceptualizing Drew as a narcissistic [!@#$%^&*] and leaning into Willow’s pathology as a cult follower with Daddy issues has revitalized both characters and freed the actors to do their best work. When audiences complain about characters and stories like this one, I honestly don’t know what they’re asking for—endless scenes of Laura and Scotty reminiscing about the ‘80s over tea? And for the nostalgia-driven, the show has made the brilliant choice to squeeze every drop out of Jane Elliot for as long as she wants to work. Plus, legacy leading ladies like Alexis and Anna are vital and dynamic. The show is much more balanced between veteran and newer characters than it was during the HW merry go round of 2023/24, and there’s a lot of strength to go around. For my money, the aimlessness around Nathan (attributable to Storms’s absence) and the wet-match Trina/Kai romance are the only things that aren’t clicking at the moment.