12 minutes ago, Vee said:

I don't understand why anyone would assume we don't want HP to pay the price for her awful actions or are cheering for her to come back vs. our simply saying, pragmatically, that it's far from impossible that the show will have her back someday lol. Soap stars have done far worse than Pullos and been invited back because of popularity or because (like HP, who grew up on the show and has deep ties BTS there) they're 'family.'

I want HP to take what's coming to her from the court; I think her actions are reprehensible, and I see zero reason for Molly to be on the show now or in the foreseeable future. But she's young, she can rehabilitate herself and she has a long history with the show, and it's not like soaps haven't given second, third and fourth chances before. It's very common. I think that's all either of us are saying. But I don't care either way, so long as I don't have to watch Morticia Molly forever and they write the character out.

Exactly.

7 minutes ago, Vee said:

It's been said, but the dialogue in Maxie's segments for several days running (starting with the Spinelli stuff a few eps ago and up to the end of the week) and the Tracy/Gregory discussion of marriage is also sharper than the usual dull knives BTS at this show. Same with Wagger and Sonny - 'until you get jurisdiction over the FBI or simply die of shame...'

Re: Tom Hardy Jr., he has always been my first choice for a new younger male lead. Cast him in the Patrick mold like when he first came on (brash, brilliant, cocky doctor) and go from there. I guess Tom/Thomas wouldn't be quite as young now as he would've been had they done it ten years ago but whatever, age is fluid on this show and it's doable. I'd have him attempt to romance the older, recently-separated Portia at work as a young man on the make but end up with spiky feminist writer Christina Collins (Lucy and Kevin/Scott's kid, adopted from Chris Ramsey and the locally infamous Dr. Julie Devlin). There, I just came up with two characters with more future prospects than most of the leads under 40 currently on the show.

I have to say I enjoyed the Maxie/Spinelli and Maxie/Felicia scenes.  Everyone had a very strong point of view and no one was really wrong.

I find the Tracy/Gregory stuff not exactly interesting, but I do like the way the actors are playing it.  We need to move Alexis out of the mix because I actually don't find that portion of the triangle to be exciting at all.

I will never understand why Lucy/Kevin/Scott are on this show currently and they do nothing with Christina (or Serena, but that's been said to death here).

1 minute ago, carolineg said:

I find the Tracy/Gregory stuff not exactly interesting, but I do like the way the actors are playing it.  We need to move Alexis out of the mix because I actually don't find that portion of the triangle to be exciting at all.

I would never call Gregory the peak of excitement lol. I need him to go soon, along with his whole family. But at least Gregory Harrison has some gravitas and grace with JE, etc. and the dialogue has gotten smarter there too. But yes, Maxie's dialogue was also sharper at the Qs during the bridal planning.

12 minutes ago, carolineg said:

I have to say I enjoyed the Maxie/Spinelli and Maxie/Felicia scenes.  Everyone had a very strong point of view and no one was really wrong.

Loved this & loved that Maxie suddenly trended for a day and a half on X/Twitter. And, this is more where I look at the perception being shown in characters & think this was a script that was tweaked. 

12 minutes ago, carolineg said:

I find the Tracy/Gregory stuff not exactly interesting, but I do like the way the actors are playing it.  We need to move Alexis out of the mix because I actually don't find that portion of the triangle to be exciting at all.

I love Tracy, period, but I'd still rather Gregory were not on my soap. 

12 minutes ago, carolineg said:

I will never understand why Lucy/Kevin/Scott are on this show currently and they do nothing with Christina (or Serena, but that's been said to death here).

Oh, come on, they're on the show because they're vets & Frank is pro-vet. I also think the show philosophy thinks lots of its fanbase are into that comfort factor which using your vets provides. Soap fans will tolerate a lot of even poor writing if they get to see the characters they've loved for such a long time. The exception here, of course, is if the poor writing messes up who the character is. 

33 minutes ago, carolineg said:

they do nothing with Christina (or Serena, but that's been said to death here).

An obvious recast has to be made here. Kimberly J. Brown or Gregory Harrison's daughter, who played the surrogate for Molly & TJ, would've been solid choices for Serena recasts, or even one as Serena and the other as Christina (nicknamed Christy/Tina).

Someone actually said that HP made a mistake. I'm sorry but what the actual f*ck? Drunk driving is NOT a mistake, it's a CHOICE made deliberately 

I'd argue it's both. I am not going to condemn HP for life, nor am I going to advocate for her to be back on the show. I think she deserves what she gets from the legal system, but I also hope she gets help and turns her life around. Social media is not a place for nuance so I'm not interested in fighting that battle.

I don't think it's both at all. 

28 minutes ago, dragonflies said:

Someone actually said that HP made a mistake. I'm sorry but what the actual f*ck? Drunk driving is NOT a mistake, it's a CHOICE made deliberately 

A mistake is wearing white after Labor Day.

Driving in such a way that you hit one car & leave the scene & then in your car, driving again, you jump a 2 foot high barrier on the median & continue barreling down the road, on the wrong side of the road & almost hit one car which swerves to avoid you but hit the car behind them head on, destroying both your car & that car & the damage being so bad that you have to be cut out of your car with the Jaws of Life & the other person has to be hospitalized with very severe injuries & yes your blood alcohol was way over the limit & I'm sorry but I'm not sure how we can minimize this & call it a "mistake." I would add the pix of the 2 cars but it's just too awful. 

I feel like this HP convo becomes circular very quickly every time we have it.  Some people feel the way @Vee and I do.  Some feel the complete opposite.  I totally understand.  No one is saying what HP did wasn't absolutely awful and we all want her to pay for her crime and get help and we wish the victims well.  I believe I used the word "mistake" and perhaps crime would have been more accurate.

On 3/1/2024 at 4:00 PM, j swift said:

May I ask someone who actually watches the show to explain Ava's presence in the Friday episode to me?

They're trying to draw out Sonny's shooter.  They know it is going to be a dangerous situation.  So, who do they decide to bring along?  The local gallery owner and mother of Sonny's child?  Because as Julien's sister, she knows how to make a deal?

Even Selina Wu questioned it for a minute.  But, then was instantly cool with it.  To me, it made no sense.

Ava is not just some local art dealer or civilian. She came to town in 2013 as one of the heads of the Jerome crime family when it was still active; she was deeply enmeshed in it for years after. She did time over it. Her first major act in Port Charles was to murder Connie Falconeri in cold blood because Connie would've compromised her brother's cover identity as media magnate Derek Wells. Ava is as much a part of that life as anyone else at that meeting; she is a viper, which is why Wu was wise not to trust her presence even if Ava isn't suspect.

I bring this old post up now because I am starting to think I’m right about Ava being involved is whatever is really going down here. There are two key shots in the last week or two that seem to tip the scales a bit for me; one had Ava inexplicably eavesdropping on Sonny and Wu at the penthouse after Wu ordered her out of the room. The other is the close-up on Ava's approving face at the meet this past Friday as Sonny assures Selina they can trust her. That's what they went to commercial on. These things are rarely done haphazardly in the edit, and the material with Sonny and Ava lately is pitched as intimate but not loving or sympathetic. I have begun to think Ava is playing Sonny again, just as she did in 2013-2014.

Also, I will flash the @Khan signal: I'd be curious as to his take on the Maxie/Spinelli, Felicia, Tracy and Gregory, etc. material over the last week. Even the Wagger/Sonny and Wagger/Anna stuff felt smarter. The family cohesion stuff at Scout's party on Friday was especially different for me, weaving in all the family connections we don't often see, Drew and Alexis, Jason's two boys, Kristina and Blaze, etc. And I've said before that I think the Eva LaRue material with Kristina and Blaze was also tweaked.

Edited March 3, 20241 yr by Vee

2 hours ago, Vee said:

I would never call Gregory the peak of excitement lol. I need him to go soon, along with his whole family. But at least Gregory Harrison has some gravitas and grace with JE, etc. and the dialogue has gotten smarter there too. But yes, Maxie's dialogue was also sharper at the Qs during the bridal planning.

I don't expect Gregory to live much longer, but his scenes with Tracy are more interesting than his scenes with Alexis.

2 hours ago, Vee said:

I have begun to think Ava is playing Sonny again, just as she did in 2013-2014.

I can't decide if it is too subtle or too obvious, but she's also wearing a red coat (sign of a traitor).

Ava is up to something. I just am not sure what it is. But, I am kinda excited. 

29 minutes ago, j swift said:

I can't decide if it is too subtle or too obvious, but she's also wearing a red coat (sign of a traitor).

A poster on Primetimer reminds me that Ava got sent the notes/weapon/whatever after Austin's death. This endeared her to Sonny as a woman in obvious distress and had him move her in, close to him. This in turn leads to her being on the island with him in January, getting shot at by the assassin. Do we know where Ava was the night Austin died? She has killed for less.

Edited March 4, 20241 yr by Vee

30 minutes ago, Vee said:

Do we know where Ava was the night Austin died? She has killed for less.

I think it is impossible for Ava herself to have killed Austin.  IIRC, they cut from a scene with Ava to a brief scene of Austin seeing someone he knows, a gun shot, and then a pair of men's boots.  Indicating that she couldn't have been at the scene of the crime.  Now, she might have hired someone, but her reaction to the evidence being mailed to her seemed genuine.  And, I'm still surprised that they exonerated Nikolas when Ava accused him of killing Austin.

I find it mildly amusing that amongst Ned's recovery and BLQ's wedding, there's been no mention from any of the Q's about Austin.  They clearly don't miss him.  And, I can't imagine that the new writers will do anything to tie up the loose ends of who benefited from Austin's estate, or inherited his shares.

Spoiler

If it's somehow Julien who's either hired Jason, or he's not dead so that Sonny will once again never pay for his crimes, I'm not going to be satisfied with the outcome

 

Edited March 4, 20241 yr by j swift