AMC: Friday 12/5

[alwaysAMC]

Santa Jesse was super cute.

Nice to finally see Kathy again...even if homegirl doesn't know which way to run out of a scene.

Love the mix of characters as opposed to yesterday's show. Sure as hell wasn't a "Tamara/Reese hour", as some are spewing this show is all about in other threads...

The Trevor mention was great today too...and it didn't even come from Amanda or Janet.

Loved Erica and her scheming with Jackson - you go girlfriend.

Annie is soooo fun - "Bitch better watch her back!" And that ending --- coaxing Aiden towards her and then taking him down! Haha, I've been waiting for that and Aiden is so dumb to fall for it.

[alwaysAMC]

Well to give her a tad bit of credit - she did mention that she didn't want to be there, but she was summoned and couldn't phone in.

[Kubla Khan]

Why was Greenlee there? Because Greenlee is a pathetic idiot. She's Ryan's little lapdog, so of course she'd be there! David was so right the other day -- that Leo would be sickened by what she's turned into. I just wish Dr. Dave would've slapped that bitch right back!

[Cheap21]

What did she even add to the review? Seemed more like some silly plot point and completely unnecesary. My problem with her is that she's ALWAYS showing up where she knows Annie will be. Tagging along while Emma was kidnapped, going off to search for Annie when she ran from Ryan....etc. She's too far up Ryan's ass and its sickening. I have to roll my eyes when she talks about blaming herself and talking about how she and Ryan need to stay away from each other but then proceeds to be all up in Ryan's business in front of Annie as if she's flaunting herself. She can play dumb all she wants but common sense would tell her she needs to fall back and remove herself from the equation and let Ryan and Annie deal with their own issues without her presence. This is the problem that Greenlee has had for the past year. The annoying bug just wont go away

haha, she is a pathetic idiot. She cant leave town soon enough for me

As much as I liked Amanda conspiring with David bc it was bringing out the bad girl in her, I dont want to see her hurt JR or Lil A. Considering what they've been through, it would be beyond cruel. What I want to see her do is pretend to go along with David's plan and swindle him out of as much money as possible, then turn the tables on him and team up with JR to take David down. He needs to be stopped and it would be great if she used all the advice he's been giving her to ultimately help make him pay for the stuff he's doing

Usually love Krystal but she's annoying the hell out of me. I get her grief but Im sick of all her crying and how she is letting David so easily manipulate her. Its tough to lose a child, but someone needs to remind her that she still has 2 living, breathing children that need her. I wish she'd find comfort in them

Go Annie! Loved her attacking Aidan at the end

[Kubla Khan]

I just finished watching Friday's episode and I was very pleased with it.

First of all, I can't fault Krystal's actions. I can't complain about her "crying." She lost her beloved daughter; extending beyond what she and Babe did to Bianca (that's beside the point), it is realistic for her to still be grieving. It's realistic for her to be vulnerable and bitter and irrational -- grief will do that to a person. I'm glad to see that Babe's death is still having ramifications and it's still having a BIG impact on people. The problem with Megan McTavish's writing is that every 'big event' seemed to be glossed over within a couple of weeks (see the death of Dixie Cooney Martin) as they moved onto the next plot point. Yes, Krystal has Jenny and Kathy to consider, but when she's suffered a loss as big as she has, I am understanding where she is coming from; there is no 'universal requirement' that people need to be calm, rational, and strong. A death will SCREW up a person, and turn their lives into a big helpless mess. An added bonus is that Bobbie Eakes has been rocking the heck out of all of this. I believe her to be one of AMC's best actresses, and despite the horrible things Krystal did in the past, I'm feeling for Krystal, and this is laregly because of the stellar work Bobbie has put. I also find the connection between Krystal and David so intriguing and complicated; they do share a common bond, obviously, and I can understand why Krystal is drawn to him -- he WAS Babe's father, and thus, a part of him was always apart of her.

Very interested in crazy Annie's antics, as always. That goes without saying. MCE is so good at what she does.

I liked the Amanda/JR/Little Adam scenes. I think it'll be an interesting direction for the story -- Amanda is trying to bring down JR, but yet, feels genuine concern and affection for him. LOVED the last scene between Amanda and Adam.

Also appreciated the Tad/Jesse/Angie scenes. I like how real friendships are apart of this show.

Adam/Erica & Jack/Erica scenes were also well-done, I thought.

While nothing "big" or "extreme" happened today -- I'm finding that the episodes are very cohesive and there's lots of of movement and MEANINGFUL character interactions taking place. There's a variety in the scenes -- the crazy Annie drama, the touching Little Adam/JR Christmas tree scenes, the Tad/Jesse friendship scenes, the quasi-romantic dynamics between Adam and Erica, and the twisted Krystal/David scenes.

Good work, Chuck Pratt. Enjoying his version of AMC quite a lot, actually; I'm at the point where I'm taking back blaming him for the ills of GH during his time there (Hello, Bob Guza!).

[Steve]

I thought it was the best episode of the week.

I loved Erica's scenes with both Adam and Jack. Her flirting with Adam was much more lively than with David in Thursday's episode, imo. Leave it to Erica to use Adam to get back at Jack for still dating Carmen!

Of course Krystal is still grieving and it is harder to deal with the holidays after a loved one's death, especially the first year (my dad passed away 11 years ago). What bothers me is how everyone keeps painting Babe as a saint, although I thought Amanda's telling little A to look up at the angel on the tree and think of his mom was quite sweet.

Little A was hot in David's daydream, wasn't he? I like how Pratt gives us scenes like this to explain the characters' motivations. David wants to raise his grandson to follow in his own footstep, which makes sense to me considering his biological children have both died.

I'm glad Adam sees through Amanda and I can't wait until Erica moves in to the Chandler mansion to make this storyline even more complex. How long before she figures out David's plan and will she help him?

Tad & Jesse's scenes were great. I love when characters just have normal conversations like this about their problems; it's the backbone of soaps, imo.

Ryan & Greenlee were even palatable because their screentime was lessened compared to Wednesday & Thursday. I was glad to finally see Emma again and I felt sorry for her that she probably won't have her mother back in time for Christmas. I can see her teaming up with Kathy to stop Greenlee from replacing her mother in the near future.

I loved when Annie threatened Greenlee and at the end when she attacked Aidan. I can't wait for her to get revenge on everyone who hurt her!

[rsmith2k2]

Kubla, I agree with practically every word of your last post (I especially like your comments about Krystal, David, BE and Krystal's grief and McT's problem of NOT following through on the true or at least semi-realistic human cost of the shocking events she machine-gunned at viewers), though I am not a GH viewer and can't comment on Pratt's reign there.

I liked this reminder for the audience, too Steve.

I'd pay good money for future crazycakes Emma and Kathy to team up for that.

I was able to get through the Rylee without it irritating badly today...like you said they didn't seem to eat up the show, adding the anticipation of Annie showing up, and MCE delievering again made it worth it.

One of the things I think I love most about MCE is her ability to have Annie go from one mode to another (Sane-appearingAnnie, CrazyLovesickAnnie, CleverConspiringSeeminglyAwareAnnie, MurderousAnnie) with a quickness I just haven't witnessed in many actors and it's a joy to watch. When Annie switched from her upset to that strangely blinking, Ryan devotee enticing him about their honeymoon it was just an awesome site. And very entertaining. The quickness of her jumping Aidan. Ha! Still loving all that, and best of all she makes Rylee less irritating to watch since their often her targets.

Watch your back, Greenpea! Hee.

The Amanda, JR and LiL Adam dynamic (along with Amanda working with David) has created a very interesting and complex story setup, imo. While JR is not a root for character for me, he is genuinely grievng, trying to stay sober and responsible for his son. But he's still an ass, generally, imo...including to Amanda a lot of times. Junior also has some tender moments with Amanda and I believe there is some kind of genuine attraction between Amanda and JR.

Amanda seems such a sweetie at her very core, very gentle and good with the kid and a person who could be a soothing influence for LiL A and JR. I believe she will quickly have feelings wrapped up in that little family but will continue the plot. It'd be nice for Amanda to find love and family but she's trying to destroy a situation that has that potential good for her.

I guess that's my long-winded way of saying, each side of the equation (including David's & Adam's) has a understandable motivation for their bad actions. Each is coming from a place of pain and trying to ease it or payback an injustice in their mind. So a lot of the players having some sort of rooting value. And to me that makes for very good story. Too bad so much of it is about Arabella The Angel of The Valley, but eh...these people were her family and friends and should be in fresh pain over her death.

[R Sinclair]

This, coming from Joanna Cohen's biggest detractor?! Lord, have mercy! That's like me saying a Beall episode was the best episode of the week! I'm in shock!

Anyway, as for the headstone, we all know props change headstones every time someone goes to the grave. However, my biggest gripe about headstones is why is it that whenever someone dies, if there is a birth date and a date of death on the headstone, the person always seems to be 25? What, in hell, is so damn special about that age with this show?

[SFK]

My gripe with the headstone was the name.

Babe Arabella

Chandler

!?

Isn't Arabella her real name and Babe a nickname?

How about:

Arabella Carey Chandler

"Babe"

Month, Day 198*-Month, Day 2008

[R Sinclair]

Oh, yeah. I noticed that as well, but then when I saw that Babe was the mystical magical "25" as everyone seems to be, that totally went out of my head. But now that you remind me, I thought that was ridiculous, too. You're right. It should've been Arabella Carey Chandler.