StevieM

Either B or C. I would like for Hayden to return to the show. But either way, Violet and Hayden need to be reunited. It was disgusting how they separated them in order to give Michael Easton the opportunity to play a single dad. Violet should have never been ripped away from her mother. I was appalled the other day when Finn said that Hayden "walked out on them." Like it was her choice. No need to clarify her total disappearance from the Earth and everyone she knew, or the threat she had been facing, or her mother's subsequent murder as a result of that threat.

Also agreed. We don't know exactly what happened. Some speculation is reasonable but there is a limit to what we can be certain about. I think it is very likely that PM is the one who suddenly decided that Kristina was gay, not bi. That was left open for years. I suspect that the new team will restore her to being bisexual, possibly even mentioning her marriage to Trey. It also seems probable that PM is the one who decided to restore Ava and Valentin to their villainous ways. Those sudden turns were quite contrary to what the show had been doing until recently and feel like the result of a change in the HW team. Again, the new HWs may decide to back off on that, to whatever extent they can. Here are some other examples of decisions that feel like they came from the HW: declaring that Marshall was misdiagnosed; and Laura and Kevin actually adopting Ace, not just raising him. I hated the decision to make Sasha the Q's cook, and I do suspect that this new aspect to her character came from Mulcahey, but we can't know for certain. Either way, I definitely think he is the one who deserves credit for writing the scene between Michael and Sasha in which it was acknowledged that it was potentially awkward that she was cooking meals for her ex-boyfriend and his family. Toups, I didn't realize that you were an NFL fan. I guess I gave into the stereotype of Canadians and assumed you were all about hockey. Go Islanders!! (next year).

Katherine Bell would flip out if she knew that Lois was going to be the spokesperson for Deception.

Michael absolutely gets the money back. As long as Jason doesn't run, the bail will be refunded. It doesn't matter if Jason is tried and found guilty. Either way, the bail money is returned to whoever paid it, including Jason himself if he had been the one to post his own bail. I do remember that back in 2004 or 2005, when many of the dead came back from Melaswen, Jennifer said something like "Can you imagine being an insurance adjuster in this town?"

Watching that scene, it felt like Spinelli and Sonny's relationship had regressed. It was like the show was ignoring a good part of the progress they have made, all so that they could give a quick history lesson in advance of Jason's return. Sonny had long since made peace with Spinelli and his oddities. He sought out his help, independent of their shared connection through Jason. He even counseled Spinelli at times, also independent of Jason. And Spinelli was far more at ease around Sonny. He reached a point where he felt he could approach him without fear. He no longer called him "Mr. Sir" and I thought he even called him Sonny at times (although I could be wrong about that last part). I also would like to point out how incorrect it was for Carly to say that Bobbie "knew not to chase revenge. My mom never gave in to her worse impulses, she rose above them." That wasn't always true. Bobbie gave in to her worst impulses on many occasions.

I have looked through this entire thread to see if anyone else noticed something that was said by Nina to Ava. Apparently, nobody thought it was worth discussing that Nina told Ava to be there for Sonny, or something to that effect. That would be taking the forgiveness he has given her to a whole new level. At the end of the day, she is still the one who is responsible for Morgan's death. And she killed Connie/Kate in cold blood. I don't think she can ever be someone who is "there for Sonny."

I think this will be the first part of the "redemption of Nikolas." My guess is that he will quickly return with Ace and say that he was just taking him out for some fresh air. Nikolas will realize--having had a few seconds to think about it--that Spencer will get arrested if Ace disappears. Then he will finally do right by his son and protect him the way a father should. After all that, Nikolas will either turn himself in to the police or persuade Esme to allow him to quietly leave town.

Didn't they show a supposed Finn flashback for Epiphany that was actually a scene she had with Silas?

I am so excited about this. Ned and Lois are my all-time favorite GH couple. And Lois Cerullo is one of my all-time favorite daytime characters. It will be wonderful to see her on-screen with Brook Lynn.

I would love to reunite Hayden with Violet. It was disgusting how they brought her back, sent her away, and acted like it wasn't that big of a deal for Violet. The purpose was to further prop up Fin/Michael Easton by giving him a daughter and a single dad identity. Violet should be with her mom. I love Esme. She really has become one of my favorite characters. It has been enjoyable to watch her trying to be a better person, with mixed results. I hope the show keeps her around and redeems her, at least partially. Maybe she can have a long transition, like Maxie did, or Rachel Davis on AW. I know she has done terrible things, but I think she is more redeemable than Franco or Liesl were. There just seems to be a lot to her backstory that is worth exploring.

You would have loved Santa Barbara. I have actually rewatched some old Passions episodes recently. I like watching old scenes of Kay, whether played by Taylor Anne Mountz, Deanna Wright or Heidi Mueller. Deanna was my favorite, but they were all good. You might remember that I always loved Andrea Evans. She was such a good actress. I was sad to hear of her passing. How have you been, Toups?

I have a question about the flashback scenes we saw of Michael Easton and Sonya Eddy. Was that Hamilton Finn in those flashbacks? I could be wrong, but I feel like those scenes were taken from when he was playing Silas Clay.

The biggest mistake on today's episode was that there was no mention of Epiphany's late son, Stanford. He should have been acknowledged. Then again, they should have mentioned him from time to time when Epiphany was alive. Epiphany was a mother and that should have been recognized.

Those scenes gave me flashbacks of that family dinner with Sonny, Olivia and Dominic Perelli back in late 2009. Shortly before Sonny shot him.

Hey Toups!! I totally agree. I absolutely loved that last line from Ryan. It was nice to have Mac's role as Ryan's great archrival recognized, along with the scene where Felicia put her arms around Kevin. In recent years GH has downplayed the importance of downgraded characters to major storylines involving their longtime friends and rivals. Remember when Jerry Jax came back and went years without having a scene with Bobby? Or how Brenda had one lousy scene with Ned when she returned in 2002? I am glad that GH did a decent job of keeping Felicia in Ryan's story, even as they updated it to put the focus on Ava. But Mac hasn't been as involved as I would have liked. It is great that he is the one who finally killed Ryan. Is there any doubt that Jason would have been the one to finish him off if Steve Burton was still on the show?

I agree that shows need new characters. The problem with the Rappaports was the extent to which they were thrust into the center of everything. A OLTL fan said to me back in the early 2000s "Sam Rappaport was a breath of fresh air...until he was on 5 days a week."

Chelsea cannot legitimately be called a surrogate IMO. She is the birth mother. That is not the same thing, and I don't think it is OK to call a biological mother nothing but a surrogate. They are more than just vessels to bear a child. Humanity has a very dark history of dismissing women as "just a surrogate." As I understand it, she broke down an cried after signing the adoption papers. That means that she probably didn't want to do it, and was made to feel that it was the only right thing to do. She was not looking to relinquish her child, but was persuaded that she had to. To me, that is an adoption that never should have happened. Regardless, she was promised an open adoption. Billy and Victoria lied to her. They closed the adoption, shut her out completely, and treated her expressions of love for her child with utter contempt. Billy has even indicated that he plans on coercing Johnny for his entire life not to have a relationship with his natural mother. In my mind, that makes them people who have no business adopting a child.

I understand the point that people are making about the need to widen the gene pool. Of course, OLTL created some genetic diversity by introducing the Rappaports. But they felt so shoved down the viewers throats, especially Sam Rappaport, that many fans became extremely resentful.

My understanding is that Chelsea, regardless of her initial intentions, turned down $10M from Victor to leave town, after the baby was adopted, and that she did not, ultimately, sell the baby. Regardless, she was promised, if I understantd correctly, an open adoption. And it is wrong for Billy and Victoria to be denying Johnny the right to know where he came from, or any relationship at all with his natural mother. In fact, didn't Billy say (a couple years ago) that he didn't want them to ever have a relationship, meaning at any point in his son's life? So when Johnny is an adult, will he be shamed if he wants to know her? That makes Billy and Victoria lousy adoptive parents.

I have never watched a whole episode of Y&R in my life. But for the first time I have an opinion about something that happened on the show. The adoption of Johnny seems like it was pretty disgusting. They promised her an open adoption and that Johnny would know where he came from. Instead, they don't give her a single visit, treat her with contempt for daring to ask to see him, and still haven't told the poor kid that he is adopted by Victoria. I also think it is terrible that there was a prenatal termination of parental rights (TPR) agreement. No woman should ever be asked to sign something at the point, before she has met her child. A situation like that is ripe for coercion. I don't watch the show, but that is what it sounds like to me. Can any long-time viewers offer some thoughts?

Wait, are you talking about the DID story? It sounds like you may be referring to something else. In early 2010 Jessica was given electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) by Mitch Laurence. That, along with a gunshot and an attempted rape, caused her to block out the previous 13 years of her life. She regressed to being a teenager and thought she was in her senior year of high school. Many long-time viewers commented that teenage Jessica acted nothing like the way she was written during this storyline. Adult-teen Jessica was immature and goofy. Actual teen Jessica was mature beyond her years. The part I hated the most was her indifference to her daughter Bree, aside from being loving, as well as level-headed, during their first meeting. It seemed like RC didn't feel he could write the story he wanted for Jess/Christian/Layla without turning her into a bratty teen, who was not the least bit interested in motherhood.

What does NB refer to? I believe it may have been Wendy Riche's decision to recast Edward Quartermaine, after longtime portrayer, David Lewis, retired. I am not so sure that went without saying at the time. But it was an unbelievably successful recast. Claire Labine liked to write socially conscious stories like Stone having AIDS, Monica having cancer, and BJ donating her heart to Maxie. Ned and Lois provided the fun times and comedy.

I wonder if Felicia could somehow be Esme's mother. Obviously, it wouldn't be believable that she slept with Ryan, even if she knew he was alive. That would be an even bigger stretch than Anna/Faison, which was absurd. But there was a period back in 2006 and 2007 when she disappeared from the canvas, and when she came back for Georgie's funeral, we were told she was doing a WSB assignment. She was with Frisco, there was a situation that was described as "touch and go" and "rapidly deteriorating." And they had to maintain radio silence, since they didn't know who they could trust. Maybe at some point she was briefly captured by someone, had her eggs retrieved, and her memories of the procedure wiped, either through hypnosis or drugs. Then Ryan could have "donated" the fertilized eggs to Esme's adoptive parents. They might be temporarily leaving out that Esme's adoptive mother is also the women who carried her. Or maybe she was carried by a surrogate, and then adopted. Actually, it would be pretty cool if Esme's surrogate was Claudette. That would make her and Charlotte womb sisters. And Esme comes across like someone who grew up in Montreal. Finally, speaking of Felicia's family, this courtship between Maxie and Austin is so unenjoyable. They are never going to be a successful pairing. The last time I felt a pairing was this forced was in 2001. JFP decided that Jensen Buchanan and Robert Kelker-Kelley just had to be together. Actually, she first decided that on Another Word, and it was a total disaster. But Jill felt the need to try again, so we were told that Nurse Melissa and back-from-the-dead Stavros had some sort of connection, even including her in his hallucinations/daydreams. At some point they will probably just give up on Austin, bring back Todd, and put him in a story with Carly.

I think the nurse is Kiki, plastic surgery and all.

It looks like Kiki is alive, plastic surgery and all. It doesn't make much sense, but I don't care. Killing her off was a big mistake, and I am glad they are reversing it.