detroitpiston

Due to the ABC and DirectTV beef I had to go and buy an antenna to be able to catch the show live 🤦🏾‍♂️ just watched the recent two episodes on Hulu though I really wish they had let who shot Jagger be a mystery. Its hard for me to fully care about a lot of the material happening now when we already know Sonny did it in cold blood. They took away at least a month’s worth of tension and suspense that could’ve been played up. Classic CVE wrong turn with a semi interesting setup, as entertaining as the show has been daily I knew the cracks would start to show eventually with him back in charge and here we are. Michael and Carly just readily helping Sonny cover up the murder is true to character but definitely feels been there done this. I laughed at Nina and Tracy’s reactions to Carly and Sonny waltzing into the Q living room to sell the alibi and was glad when Tracy immediately pegged Sonny as Jagger’s killer. MB and LW have an easy on screen dynamic but I’m really not interested in another round of CarSon man, ugh. Kristina’s grief at the grave site did not work for me at all and I really need her to get checked for the “my baby” spiels again, preferably with someone giving her a good ole Stephanie Forrester slap. They framed the gun taking as just looking for justice against Ava and Jagger in her scenes with Michael but I still hope they go deeper than that. What I did love was her scenes with Sam and Alexis on Tuesday’s show. Glad we finally got to see Sam and Kristina connect over losing their babies right at the delivery finish line. I’m still holding out hope the show reverses a certain decision…. I was so proud of Liz dumping Finn the second he went off the rails so her letting Ric charm her like this is a bit sad for me. That said, Rebecca H and Rick H still have stellar chemistry. Them peeping Alexis tossing Sonny’s gun off the bridge was funny. This Jason and Ava team up has been surprisingly interesting. Loved their scenes taking down the fake agent, Maura West did some good work there with Ava reclaiming her power. Then the scenes for Wednesday’s show with Diane having to defend them both and Anna revealing Jagger’s death were cool too. Anna telling Jason she was proud of him for calling the police was hilarious, this is still one of my favorite dynamics on the show. Jordan’s deep interest in identifying Isaiah is a little clunky for me but at least she finally has something to do. Stephen A Smith trying to mack on her is always kind of odd to view, I can never take their scenes seriously and it takes me out of the viewing experience a bit. Shout out to him for making that Disney contract work to his advantage though. Willow and Drew and their “morals” are grating on my nerves now, just hunch already lol. I’m glad Holly showed up when she did because Lucky and his captor playing cards was so boring. I did appreciate the LnL2 flashback though. Emma Samms looks amazing my goodness 🔥 Tristan Rogers’ appearance did shock me a few episodes back but he was fine in his scenes with Mac. I’m actually glad he’s back onscreen which is funny because I disliked him for years at Y&R and during his Guza era returns. Overall the show is still decent but some of these story turns feel a little too back to basics. Still curious how the rest of the week goes.

I haven’t thought about Lindsey McKeon in years but I liked her as Marah even though she got some awful storylines. I could see her as a suitable Lulu. Jennifer Landon is the most interesting choice IMO but I could also see the audience rejecting her brand of acting even though she matches the Spencer vibe perfectly. Alexa Havins I could see being the most successful of the three, she’s got that fire in her and is a chemistry magnet. She’d be my pick if I’m tptb. Part of me hopes they don’t even announce who got the role and the camera just pans over to Lulu’s hospital bed one episode and we hear “The role of Lulu will now be portrayed by…” voiceover.

We knew Jagger was going under the bus but I wasn’t expecting Sonny to actually just shoot him lol, wow and he even fired multiple shots too. 😂 We got all of these scenes of Sonny trying to repent to his loved ones for his unmedicated behavior, today’s with Dante being particularly touching IMO only for him to still be a callous, vengeful murderer at the end of the day. The big confrontation at the Q boat house had me at the edge of my seat and didn’t disappoint. Curious how the writers try to get Sonny out of this hole. For a moment I thought Kristina would be the one to put a bullet in Jagger after his rotten behavior at the PCPD and her taking Alexis keys and Sonny’s gun, so kudos on that fake out. Now it looks like she’s headed for a suicide attempt at baby Irene’s grave instead which…woof. Drew put that dirty mack work in on Willow, I laughed so hard at the talk of being there for family while not realizing Michael was blowing up Willow’s phone worried and looking for her. I buy Drew being sad over losing a mentor and wishing he’d met Alan but it also came off like a scoundrel using whatever play he could just to get Willow more sympathetic and willing to give him some sex. I hope they full out hunch next episode. Ava trying to convince Jagger’s flunky not to kill her was hilarious. Then the car accident with Isaiah, will be interesting to see the dynamic there. JJ and the writers are really morphing Lucky into Luke Jr which I dig. The show got so much heat from the audience and JJ himself for relying on his emotional performances too much during his last lengthy run and this is a much more interesting take on the character. Maxie and Felicia’s scenes at the hospital with Lulu were nice. I appreciated the touch on medical bias against patients who aren’t seen to be viable long term. Carly actually apologizing to Dante and Brook Lynn showed a lot of growth. They really do seem to be hinting at Brook Lynn and Dante hiding a kid and it being Gio which would explain why his family backstory seemed so off. I’m actually kind of alright with the idea. Overall solid episode and week for the show. Loved the use of the storm to create a dramatic atmosphere while all of these storylines came to a boiling point and looking forward to next Tuesday.

I loved Jagger vs Kristina today. Him charging her for baby Irene’s murder and the way she went from weeping and begging him to let her go whenever she had a familiar audience to then calling him a son of a bitch and saying he won’t use her to go after Sonny as soon as Dex and Alexis weren’t around was good stuff. Kate Mansi played that little flip switch well, I’m pulling for Kristina to go full out Cassadine/Corinthos. Carly and Sonny on good terms does nothing for me, I hate how they’ve wrapped up the beef with the toxic trio with this med switch reveal. Carly vs Dante on the other hand was a fun revisit. That’s still one of my favorite Carly storylines with LW in the role and DZ is doing a great job playing Dante letting his guilt for leaving Lulu when he did cause him to lash out. Drew’s lack of subtlety when it comes to creeping on Willow is hilarious. Shouting your nephews wife out like that during a campaign speech should have brought more suspicious eyeballs lol and Michael’s doofus self just cheesing away, almost feel bad for the guy. Drew using the Senators sudden death to get Willow alone was pretty shameless too. Curtis and Portia are a complete snoozefest of a pair. Portia further researching Ric did pique my interest though, I’m hoping Ric taking Heather’s case is leading to him boinking Portia so Brooke Kerr has something more interesting to do. Violet, Chase and Brook Lynn also put me to sleep but I’m curious if they really are hinting at Brook Lynn already having a kid offscreen and it potentially being Gio.

Jen Landon would actually be perfect.

Jagger and Kristina were in a battle for who’s the most crazy today, my word. The Sonny/Alexis/Kristina scene were so interesting to watch lol, Sonny and Alexis were looking at Kristina and each other like “damn she’s lost it”. Good work from all three actors. Y’all already know how I feel every time she calls baby Irene Adela, I hope Molly, Jordan or even Stella hear her do it again and give her a good ole slapping. Kristina trying to convince Jason to off Ava was also kind of wild to hear, glad he talked her off that ledge at least Jagger Jagger Jagger. Its kind of fun watching a character go under the bus like this. Him talking sweet to Ava while it looks like he’s setting up her death, then barging in at Alexis place to lure Sonny in and present his plan for him was all fun stuff to watch. I kind of hope he’s not actually planning to off Ava and Sonny’s just using his unhinged behavior to make it look that way so he takes a nasty fall. Maura West continues to shine btw I loved her hotel scenes with the alleged FBI agent and panicking she might be on a death list. I liked all the Laura and Lucky stuff. She and Kevin are a bit old to be going to foreign countries and saving Lucky but I’m willing to ride with it all. It was nice seeing Laura, Tracy, Kevin, Brennan, Anna, and Robert all interacting in various scenes. Lucky and Isaiah continue to have a fun dynamic too. I guess this rescue mission will be how one of the next returns comes into play. As far as the show being better than it was under PM, it absolutely is. I miss the script quality but the character work and history play has remained pretty decent and the show does hold my attention and satisfy my soapy craving better.

You of all posters saying I sound ridiculous was a good laugh so thank you for that 😂 And yes, conspiracy theories is exactly how they all sound when you step outside the nutso Twitter/FB bubble of toxicity. The tin foil hats are on and instead of aliens and the government controlling everything its big bad Laura Wright, Kate Mansi, Steve Burton, Eden McCoy, now Jonathan Jackson and whatever actor they have irrational dislike for onscreen and off that are the villains. Let them tell it they control the entire show from scripts to editing and these “fans” have to harp on it endlessly, often based on out of context scene clips and social media posts because they “don’t watch the show anymore….but”. 🙄 People really learned nothing from what just went down at Days or this very firing. These actors don’t have anywhere near that kind of power control anymore. This hasn’t been the case since the 00s when these shows got picked off one by one. Constantly blaming and harrassing actors for every little thing you don’t like onscreen and bts and picking apart every social media post is just looney tune behavior. I’m a big Kelly fan but the finger pointing at her costars is just gross and needs to stop. TPTB made this decision.

@dragonfliesHow you took that tweet as confirmation of Kelly’s firing having anything to do with paying JJ or anyone else's salary is beyond me. His return negotiations began months ago and there was already another actor dumped that likely provided salary cap space to bring Jackson back (Michael Easton). The “I hate this character so now I have to make conspiracy theories about the actor and rage hate them too” type fans are odd ducks man.

The attacks on other actors have been very nasty to see and the time would be better spent advocating for Kelly as opposed to spewing such venom. The exit has gotten pretty decent coverage they should be taking advantage of that. Frank has a history of pettiness when contract negotiations go awry (Steve Burton, Renee Elise Goldsberry, Hillary B Smith, etc) so I could see killing Sam off being both a way to show the cast they need to fall in line with the budget cuts and finally rid the show of whatever headaches KeMo and her fanbase have given them. I just think killing Sam off is too harsh an exit and if you’re gonna do it at least let it be in a blaze of glory. The rumors going around sound so lackluster. Also if it is a budget issue why not do a big stunt and kill a few more people, this all just feels so personal in a very icky way.

Ric is such a great character to have back on canvas, his scenes confronting Alexis over her Kristina support bias did not disappoint. I liked how the writers had her own it unapologetically and allowed them to both get good digs in at each other. Then we got Ric interrupting a really sweet moment with Carly and Elizabeth reminiscing about their past which was just excellent. The way him and Carly kept trading barbs while he tried making googly eyes with Liz was so good lol, all three actors did nice work there. Ric becoming Heather’s new attorney was also a nice twist even though I still don’t care about her freedom crusade or Portia being the only one trying to put a stop to it. Molly and Dex’s scenes were also pretty good, it was cool to see her able to vent to a non familial face and the play on his family backstory was kind of interesting. I was really glad Molly and Alexis had it out and were able to come to an understanding at the end, KV and NLG did excellent work once again. Now what really surprised me was the Dante vs Tracy scenes. Tracy was right, Lulu absolutely lost a lot of her zest and spark after getting with Dante but him calling Tracy out for promising Luke and Laura to get Lulu the best care possible and ultimately failing was HARSH. The way Jane Elliott played the heartbreak on her face in that moment was devastating, great work from her and Dominic Z. Laura and Nikolas scenes testing for the liver transplant and finding out he wouldn’t qualify as a donor were also pretty good. I think my issue with Adam Huss is he just lacks that moody prince vibe needed for the character but he and Genie Francis were solid overall. Another good episode from this “new” regime so far.

I really don’t get the need to constantly bring up Tyler Perry comparisons. Those character breakdowns for The Gates sounded pretty decent to me and I actually think Tyler comes up with okay dramatic concepts, its his scripts and overall execution that usually stinks. The creatives behind this show have much stronger track records.

Oh wow. Its clear the assumption of there being BTS beef with Kelly is valid. Budget cuts were just the excuse needed to finally get rid of her. This is a nasty spin tweet from Hinsey I’m glad she’s being fried up in the quotes. It makes me wonder though if this is how TPTB feel about Kelly and why this exit was done like this.

Tuning back in after not watching for years I could not for the life of me understand why the show used her so sparingly. From the time she came over from Port Charles she has been one of the faces of the series and now she feels like a supporting bit player. Lindsay Hartley popping up as a temp last week during very important scenes just felt like a bad sign, but I was expecting to hear she’d be a permanent replacement soon, not that KeMo would be dropped and the character killed off, yikes.

I mean we all could see the writing on the wall but I still gasped when I saw this. Great scoop @Errol

@Sapounopera @Antoyne I don’t care much for Adam Huss as Nik either. I’d like an actor with more presence in the role if they keep him on canvas. I’m so glad to have Jonathan Jackson back. They seem to be writing Lucky more adventurous like Luke which works for me. I really liked his dynamic with the new doctor as well. I liked all the hospital stuff with Laura getting the info on Lulu’s diagnosis from Porsha and getting the ball rolling on a liver transplant. Dante and Sam’s scenes were also pretty good, can’t wait to see how Lulu puts their relationship to the test. Jane Elliott is such a master, Tracy overhearing Chase and Brook Lynn discuss Lulu while gardening and then running off to the hospital to visit Lulu at the end was so good, glad they didn’t forget their dynamic. Brook Lynn recapping her history with Lulu was good history play as well but made me miss Adrienne Leon a bit, not gonna lie. I wonder what secret they’re hinting at her wanting to tell Chase. Could Gio be her kid from the time she was offscreen in the 00s? Speaking of Gio, I liked seeing him encourage Lois and the slightly cockier dialogue play they gave him but Lord they’ve got to come up with something better for Rena to do lol, I was hoping this accent insecurity would wrap up after last week. It was cool to see Robert and Anna scenes though I hope Tristan Rogers is alright. Glad Robert got on Anna for her Valentin obsession. Brennan and Carly continue to have great chemistry. The idea of Jason working for the WSB is also much more appealing than seeing him be Sonny’s flunky again or moving coffee bean bags. Looking forward to Alexis vs Ric and Tracy giving Dante some lashings tomorrow.

@ranger1rg I don’t see a bandwagon here specifically, just people who watched the scenes and made the same observations and shared them. I haven’t seen people here comparing KV and Mansi in every scene either, in fact plenty of us have praised KV without doing so and mentioned both of their work as outstanding collectively the last few months. When it came to this specific episode however many felt KM didn’t measure up to what her costars brought and I think its perfectly fair to mention that. 🤷🏾‍♂️ Now I do agree that I see a lot of people elsewhere revisioning Lexi Ainsworth as this great thespian who should never have been recast just because of dislike for Kate Mansi as a person, and I find it so disingenuous lol. I’ve found Kristina grating no matter who’s playing her but Mansi has been solid moving the character into a real lead for the show. The comments on her lack of playing any vulnerability with the role are absolutely valid as well though.

Yeah I felt Mansi got outshone in the graveyard scenes. She goes for hammy acting choices often and it works in her favor sometimes (Kristina’s crying outburst during the funeral, the freakout over Sonny beating Dex) but it can ring very false in other moments. She didn’t take me out of the graveyard material completely and it all kind of worked if you lean into the idea of Kristina being a selfish drama queen…but Vaganos, NLG and even Rick Hearst & Tahj B with few lines were performing on one level and Kate wasn’t matching them IMO. I wouldn’t have those in my Emmy reel if I’m her. @titan1978 the comparison to people like SJB and Maura West is a spot on example of what’s lacking in Mansi’s Kristina portrayal for me overall. Those actresses understand how to infuse a layer of complexity and reasoning behind their characters actions in every scene and Mansi isn’t really doing any of that, she’s just playing whats on the page. I’m not gonna begrudge her for that too harshly but I think going a little deeper and maintaining that would help with the likability problem.

Molly dragging Kristina and Alexis to hell and back was so pleasing for me, she got to express every grievance the audience has had with Kristina these last few months. Yet another truly standout performance from Kristen Vaganos today. I love that they included the flashback montage to really highlight Kristina’s hypocrisy and plotting. Loved Molly apologizing to TJ for not listening to him in the first place and her ending scenes with Ric. The contrast with him encouraging Molly not to just cave in and forgive her sister versus Alexis telling Kristina to do the opposite was solid writing. The way they used Alexis relationship with her own sister was also good history referencing, also liked how they used Jordan to recap Ric’s past on canvas to Porsha and Curtis. Porsha seemed real intrigued by him I wonder if they’d let her have a lil fun on Curtis, Brook Kerr definitely deserves a saucy story of her own. This ep might be the first time I’ve bought Jordan in mama bear mode and I hope we get to see her go after Alexis and Kristina too. The Lulu liver drama was pretty good as well. Poor Laura breaking down to Elizabeth, I enjoyed their scenes and how they used it to set up the Lucky return reveal. Kirsten Storms was also great in the scenes with Maxie talking to comatose Lulu. I wasn’t watching when she landed in the coma so I appreciated the slick recap of where the character was story wise at the time. Dante’s scenes with Chase were also nice. I would watch Rena Sofer read a phone book so for that reason and that reason alone I enjoyed the Deception stuff but it was definitely the weakest link of the episode. I wish Lois had a better storyline. This was another solid week for the show overall, I’m curious to see whats ahead with Lucky and the rest of this Kristina vs Molly drama.

They have a lot of conspiracies lol. I think her and Becky Herbst fan bases are nuts in both good and extremely negative ways but it does seem like their characters get sidelined as an act of retaliation either against said fans or in Monaco’s case, some offscreen behavior that caused chaos for the show bts. I agree that if there really is a bias Frank should just go ahead and fire them at this point because its glaring and strange. Not to get too personal but this comment kind of gut punched me but you certainly have a right to feel the way you do about it. Its just when you spend months and months preparing for a child and right when you get to the finish line the life is just snatched away…that’s a pain that is very hard to deal with and having a proper burial and name is one of the few ways to heal and memorialize a life that never got to fully exist but one you had built so much hope and dreams for. These kind of ceremonies are also very important in religious black families so I’m glad they took the time to give the Ashford clan this kind of showcase. My only issue was that we had a similar plot with Lucy messing up and Sasha having to carry the presentation a few months back. That tells me they have very few ideas of what to do with this side of the canvas. I’d rather just…not see any of it tbh.

All of the baby Irene funeral drama was great today. So happy to have Ric Lansing back and glad he immediately called Alexis out for pretty much ignoring Molly. Poor thing really had nobody in her corner for real. Kristina pissed me off standing up when Jordan was supposed to speak but her words about baby Irene were actually beautiful and Mansi did a great job delivering that speech, so did KV reacting to it in silence. Vernee Watson gave another stand out performance as well, loved Stella’s speech. Now where Kristina really got me angry was calling the baby Adela during the burial ceremony. How dare you woman, I was so happy Molly heard her and read her the riot act. She was totally right the baby is dead because of Kristina’s recklessness so to flaunt being the surrogate carrier in Molly’s face was a nasty dig all things considered. KV and KM really killed it there and deserve some Emmy recognition when the time comes, can’t wait for the continuation tomorrow. Lindsay Hartley as temp Sam was a nice surprise. She fits so well in the role that when Alexis and Sam alluded to the backstory with Ric it all still worked for me. She also has good chem with the other Davis sisters and DZ as well. I do wonder whats going on with Monaco… Joss and Trina’s make up scene was nice and I liked the Michael and Willow’s scenes as well. I felt bad for Lois getting crapped on for her accent but glad she still did well with the Deception presentation. The Natalia and Maxie scenes were kind of interesting but I still could do without this side of the canvas. Cody and James was also a snoozefest for me. I enjoyed the SonnyAva/Jagger scenes, once again its clear Jagger is headed off the rails. If he really ends up trying to off Ava like Sonny expects I’m gonna laugh, no subtle character sacrifice at the altar here with this writing regime. 😂

Yeah I keep seeing people talk about SG like she 100% has the role but no credible source to back it up. I’m expecting whoever they cast to just pop up on screen with no warning sooner than we expect.

@carolineg I’m hoping you are right and Kristina comes to a realization eventually. The character has also been through enough trauma this year and overall that I could see them using a breakdown to try and restore some likability. I do think she’s always been this chaotically selfish and messy going back to her teenage days. Its why I laugh at some of the Lexi Ainsworth stans acting like Mansi has ruined the part. LA must have built up a lot of good will playing c player with little airtime for all of those years because I found her version to be just as grating when I watched previously, Mansi is just a more believable looking adult version.

Today’s episode was outstanding, I might even say the most entertaining one since I started watching again. So much soapy conflict and confrontation. One scene ended and shifted to another just as interesting. First of all I’m glad Trina finally stood up to Josslyn when it comes to Ava. I hated the way the previous regime had her show such little loyalty. Both Joss and Trina got to make extremely valid points and I loved Ava walking right in the middle of it. Joss telling Ava if she had been the one in the hotel suite instead of Kristina she wouldn’t be the one flying out the window was more of the obnoxious bitchiness I expect from Carly’s daughter. Then Trina making Ava tell her the truth of what happened was good to see. Loved TJ and Molly naming the baby after Stella’s sister and the family gathering together before the funeral. Vernee Watson was definitely the MVP to there and brought some real emotional heart to the episode. Kristina continues to piss me the hell off being mad about Molly and TJ naming their baby. I still loved how Molly and Alexis protected her from Jagger’s raggedy self trying to bring her in for questioning. Molly finding the paperwork of Kristina trying to keep custody of the baby was a great gag and once again Kristin V is just wonderful at playing soapy realization moments like that. Sonny and Jason vs Anna was 🔥 I loved every moment. Valid callouts from everybody. I’m sad Jason chose to end his partnership with Anna when she made him chose between her and Sonny but enjoyed him calling her out for compromising herself for Valentin and her letting him know he’s actively choosing to be in the corrupt lifestyle and can’t hide behind the youth, naivety and his accident anymore as an excuse. Great acting from FH and SB. Then the Sonny and Ava confrontation at the end, whew. The way he tried to corner her but she never coward and then him presenting her with the option to be spared was chefs kiss. Just a good soapy episode. I was sad to see Deception story in the previews.

Welp, men lie, women lie but the numbers don’t. GH has been more solid the last couple weeks and the ratings are jumping back up before the returns even start airing. Curious to see how much of a jump happens after Ric, Lucky and Holly debut.

Yeah I was not happy to see Cyrus again but his scenes with Laura and Kevin were fine. So Lulu has Liver failure…I guess we’re headed for a transplant that wakes her up. Once again I much prefer watching Laura fighting for her family as opposed to the Heather crusade. Loved the scenes with Dante and Rocco, they should use Rocco more often he and Danny are the best of the teen bunch IMO. I enjoyed seeing Sam back in the mix. I really need them to get over whatever Kelly Monaco bias they have because she makes the Davis girls dynamic more interesting. Same with Dante, Jason, and Drew and her lack of presence is felt badly IMO. Jagger is really going under the bus man, oh well lol. Alexis and Sonny made a fool out of him in court and he looked crazy having a meltdown in front of the judge because he was too stupid to put evidence together before Kristina’s arrest. Then that last scene with Ava was just creepy. I enjoyed Ava and Nina’s scenes but it makes no sense for Ava to admit to her she moved evidence around after Kristina’s hotel window flight into the pool, or for Nina to be such a willing ear after Ava helped isolate Sonny at the end of Nina’s marriage to him. Its obvious thus regime just wants to reset them back to friends. I peeped what MW and CW did with how they played the beat of Ava telling Nina she knows she’d never hurt a mother and child and kudos to them for selling the material as much as they could. I’m glad Molly and TJ fully addressed their issues too those were good scenes there. I also thought Sonny and Kristina scenes in the opener where he took responsibility for Jagger going after her because of his predator behavior with Karen were good and the stuff with him and Alexis in the courthouse and at the end at her house taking care of Kristina. Really solid episode overall the show is working much better as a whole.