4 minutes ago, Vee said:

I vaguely remember that, yes. That was Ron and Frank. I came back in with them in February 2012, though it was a rough ride all year.

Johnny actually lasted til early-mid 2013 under Ron IIRC. Then they brought him back off and on after that until maybe 2015-16 for teases with Lulu. But that was it.

Lol! For some reason I thought Johnny was gone earlier. I do remember Starr/Cole's tires getting shot out so that does make sense now. I was never a huge Johnny fan so most of it blurs together in my mind. I did like him with Olivia though.

Without knowing much about the Soleitos I do wonder how you would make that family different from any other Jason/Sonny rival back then.

Edited 5 hours ago5 hr by carolineg

1 minute ago, carolineg said:

Without knowing much about the Soleitos I do wonder how you would make that family different from any other Jason/Sonny rival back then.

You wouldn't, but dredging up Tracy's connection and having her woven into a new and unusual mess for her without it being an excuse for another goofy Anthony plotline would potentially interest me.

The Decline and Fall of the Monty Empire

Week 20 (May 12-16, 1986) -- Part I

Jake: "You know, the real evil is Laurelton. ... A secret, brooding town, filled with horrible alliances."

Anna: "Unholy alliances."

Jake: "Even if Terry's not with Kevin, I worry about her being in the clutches of that town."

Laurelton, the Kevin and Terry stuff: It's a little late in the game to play the Laurelton is evil, not necessarily its townsfolk, card. I'll be honest, though. I might have had more tolerance for this storyline if if was more consistent and apparent that we're dealing with an ersatz Collinsport. Kevin's behavior this week, along with his parents and others' inability to think logically, only seems to make sense if there's some possession and bewitching going on. And that tattletale hotel waitress, reprising her trick of letting Sheriff Broder know Anna's in town, is clearly a disguised demon if ever I've seen one.

I know I keep harping on over how things played out when Kevin killed Earl, but I want to go over how things apparently happened:

• Patrick was last seen at his and Terry's motel room. I don't recall the show explaining what he did after calling for her to come back inside. You would think Patrick would maybe have gotten dressed and tried to stop her sobbing, naked traveling to town hall.

• At town hall's meeting room, a relatively small, open space, there was a meeting of the Purity Water board. People in attendance included Earl, Jennifer, Ted, Tim and Kathleen, Sheriff Broder, Sarah, and Kevin. It appears that Kevin was secretly there, as none of the older folks mentioned seeing him.

• The meeting was interrupted by the lights going out. Either directly before or after that, there was an argument between two people, presumably Kevin and Earl. This is what Terry heard when she was at town hall's doors. It's unclear whether anyone else heard this specific argument. You would think they would be able to recognize two very distinct voices, especially if one was coming from the only teenage guy in the vicinity.

• Everyone except for Kevin and Earl remained seated, despite there being a power situation to take care of, someone coming in from outside, and a murder going on. There's no indication that the bystanders were impaired aside from the lights being out. No hypnosis, paralysis, etc.

• Kevin killed Earl, doing so in plain view of Terry, then apparently got the hell out of there. Before the lights were back on, Jennifer was the first one to find the corpse and her granddaughter. Whether or not she believed Terry committed murder, Jennifer's immediate priority was to get the body out of there before Terry fully came to. Jennifer and company, now all milling about, took Earl's corpse. It was buried in burlap in an unmarked grave.

• Terry got banished from Laurelton on Feb. 15, 1983. Patrick would soon be punished for his role in Terry's drunken experience. Jennifer wouldn't allow an investigation into the murder. Along with the lurid and not fully explained situation of Terry's naked traveling, misinformation became accepted as fact, regardless of whether it was logically sound. I was initially hard on Tim telling Kathleen that they'll never, ever know who killed Earl, and later Kevin claiming that a stranger did it, but I guess it makes sense if you figure that his parents didn't know Kevin was there.

When you write it all down, it really illustrates how much this storyline depended on everyone holding the idiot ball. I want to be impressed by the four-minute sequence in Monday's episode where Kevin convinces Terry that she hallucinated her memory, and later on Friday, when he convinces her that she's the murderer and her hallucinations have been coming from a guilty conscience. But I can't see it as a matter of Kevin being clever or persuasive. Rather, it's Terry being a moron.

Anna and Jake spent the week so close to yet so far from Kevin and Terry. Monday ends with the pairs literally just missing one another at separate airport gates. After that, Kevin Bernhardt and Robyn Bernard get a few days off while Finola Hughes and Sam Behrens do some investigation acting. It's things like insisting their flight's got to take off, looking at passenger lists, etc. I'm glad GH isn't ignoring the steps these professionals need to take, but it's boring compared to Frisco and Lucy's scenes back in Port Charles.

By Friday, Kevin is drugging Terry (who would know the difference?), gotten her to sign a confession of Earl's murder, and has lured Patrick to Santa Catalina Island. Frisco, Anna, and Jake are also on the way. And we've got two more weeks until Kevin finally bites the dust.

I forgot to add this exchange, which made me laugh:

Kevin: "Okay, honey. You're all set. Write your confession. 'I am the killer.'"

Terry, dazed: "Am I really?"

Edited 43 minutes ago43 min by Franko

Week 20 -- Part II

Frisco, to Lucy: "Do you have any idea ... what happens to a pretty girl like you in prison?"

Laurelton, the Frisco and Lucy stuff: That crude line aside, Jack Wagner is this week's MVP. It's mostly on the strength of his interactions opposite Lynn Herring, but Jack also has a nice scene with Kimberly McCullough.

Anyway, Frisco's blinders are off after he finds Lucy's spare pair of sexy stockings. Wednesday through Friday is largely devoted to Frisco realizing that Terry and Kevin are on Santa Catalina Island, and along the way, we're presumably seeing a genuine version of Lucy being broken down by repeated questioning.

I still don't believe everything Lucy told Frisco on Wednesday is true, but here's the highlights:

• Kevin used to come to the library all the time and talk to Lucy, who said he was the only one who ever seemed to notice her. "He, um, he made me feel attractive."

• Lucy claims Kevin was the first man she'd ever been in love with. Her love poetry was her own invention before Kevin folded it into his scheme.

• Kevin seduced Lucy, who was a virgin. Hands down, this is the item I disbelieve the most, but it's also worth remembering that in-universe, Lucy is only supposed to be roughly 23 years old.

• Kevin and Lucy having sex happened before he married Terry.

• Lucy didn't know that Kevin was planning to kill Jennifer, and only found out after it happened. This one's crucial, because if Lucy did know in advance, it would have been a lot tougher to keep her around.

• On March 16, Kevin called Lucy late at night (it makes sense; he and the other Brownstone folks spent hours waiting for Jennifer and Terry to show up at the Port Charles Hotel) and told her to wear her racy clothing the next morning at the airport. Lucy was really excited about this, thinking Kevin was going to take her away.

• At the airport, Kevin directed Lucy to tell Jennifer that Terry was ill and that Jennifer needed to immediately reach her. Kevin also switched cars with Lucy, who believed she was taking part in a practical joke.

• Once Lucy learned about Jennifer's body being found, she panicked and wanted to get away. According to Lucy, Kevin threatened to kill her if she didn't follow his orders. This doesn't jibe with how they interacted on May 1, when Lucy was the confident one and Kevin had anxiety.

• Lucy also says she only briefly believed Kevin's murder threat. Kevin claimed he had to kill Jennifer so that he and Lucy would have enough money to go away together. Frisco wonders if Kevin indicated how he was going to get rid of Terry. Lucy assumed it would be with a divorce.

Thursday's episode ends with Frisco busting Lucy when she gets a payphone call from Kevin, and Friday ends with him off to California. I've said it before, but I'm curious how Frisco and Lucy will interact after this storyline ends.

Later this weekend, Sean Swindles the Quartermaines, the lead-up to Sandy Stryker, more fire for Mike's Parentage, and what will turn out to be retroactive Tony-Bobbie shipping.