Tracy looks magnificent as always.  Even when nuanced and vulnerable, she radiates magnificence.

Credits for Thursday, May 29, 2025:

Created by: Frank & Doris Hursley
Executive producer: Frank Valentini
Head writers: Elizabeth Korte, Chris Van Etten
Writers: Ryan Quan, Kate Hall, Cathy Lepard
Director: Denise Van Cleave

4 hours ago, Liberty City said:

But it's clear: they did not want that as the plot (Brook Lynn/Dante). This is a made-up plot to make the casting of Giovanni Mazza work.

I feel like it's kind of the opposite. Mazza is a very charming, attractive guy. He could have easily just been there to look pretty and have a romance, if they had written him that way instead of clearly being unsure of how to use him. I think they've taken his likeability to stitch some story threads together for characters who were at a crossroads and also because it just adds more beat to the bone to have another Quartermaine or Corinthos on the canvas for dynamic moments. 

I agree he could have been a decent Cameron, but they don't care about Liz and clearly they moved on from Cam/Joss (although I imagine some form of Joss/Gio or Joss/Gio/Trina may have been pitched).

4 hours ago, carolineg said:

I think the story in theory is good.  I don't believe Brook Lynn, Lois, and Dante are the right characters for this.  It becomes wild retcon on top of wild retcon.

We watched AL's Brook Lynn talk about losing her virginity to Diego.  Dante and BLQ had multiple conversations about them always being friends.  Dante told Lulu nothing ever happened between him and Brook Lynn.  We saw Cody and Brook Lynn meet on the show.  There was no indication they knew one another previously.  Brook Lynn faked an entire pregnancy for Maxie and wasn't triggered at all by her previous pregnancy?  Brook Lynn never once questioned Gio's existence and her family's obsessiveness over him?  I mean, that fact was added like a month ago, but c'mon, Brook Lynn's not that dumb.

Am I enjoying the fallout of this story? Yes, but you practically have to throw out everything you knew about Lois, BLQ, and Dante to make it work and that is annoying to me.

With Setton in the role we've already lost Brook Lynn's unique style, edge and her singing talent.  Brook Lynn's basically become an entirely different character and not in a good way.

I can definitely see the retcons and inconsistencies. And I do think once the story settles down that will be what stays, unless they manage a higher quality of writing than they often do. On paper, there's enough potential with the various turns to where I don't mind the changes (it helps that I'm not really invested in any of the characters), but I know that Frank and modern GH writers don't care about strong storylines or aftermath.

Regarding Lois, I imagine none of this was pitched to Rena when she initially returned, so I do wonder how she feels about it...personally it's probably the most I've been interested in Lois, but again I know it's not well told for her past character and they are probably going to not follow through with any real long term story that should be there for her and her family and friends. 

(well, the friends not named Brenda) 

Edited May 29May 29 by DRW50

God, can Willow be this stupid?  

3 hours ago, BetterForgotten said:

They got a few decent episodes out of it, but I don’t see the long term goal or story potential here.

Lois will likely go back on the back burner pretty soon, Gio is technically an adult, and who cares about Dante and Book Lynn having a child together in the long run? After the initial shock wears off, there’s no story left as it’s not like Dante and Brook Lynn are in love with each other but torn apart by circumstance, or their insta-child is reliant on them in any real capacity. It all feels very shortsighted.

I think there is story but it's not story I think the current regime would do. I could easily see Brook Lyn fall in love with Dante and blow up her own life for a past she can't recreate, which would cause a lot of mess for Dante (and turbocharge her rivalry with Lulu). As has been mentioned before by @Vee I think I could see Gio playing the field for a while (as a slow burn if they are going to have this Gio/Emma pairing), or for the money and power go to Gio's head, badly (recreating AJ's steps in some way - maybe Jason stepping in to save him to help justify his presence). If they wanted to, they could even use Gio's presence for a more severe Dante/Sonny break, as he wouldn't want his son tied to the mob and would probably be an obsessive parent due to all the time he missed. Then there's Dante and Rocco, who could have a lot of story rebelling or withdrawing after Sam's death, Lulu's coma and return and Charlotte obsession, the arrival of a "perfect" son for Dante, etc. They could have his closeness to Tracy lead to a return of a resentful Dillon if he learns Tracy is leaving Gio a lot of her estate.

I am not sure Mazza is the best actor for heavy material, but the roads are there.

It's just not something I see the show wanting to do...but if they want to I do think there's a good amount of story potential in place.  

3 minutes ago, DRW50 said:

I can definitely see the retcons and inconsistencies. And I do think once the story settles down that will be what stays, unless they manage a higher quality of writing than they often do. On paper, there's enough potential with the various turns to where I don't mind the changes (it helps that I'm not really invested in any of the characters), but I know that Frank and modern GH writers don't care about strong storylines or aftermath.

I'm with you on this. I see the retcons and inconsistencies. This story has been strong enough to allow me to get past those.

A lot of people here seem angry about/disgusted with the retcons, and I can't tell others how to feel. I admit I am surprised at the amount of negativity here, because I think the show has been firing on all cylinders

 

 

3 hours ago, BetterForgotten said:

Lois will likely go back on the back burner pretty soon, Gio is technically an adult, and who cares about Dante and Book Lynn having a child together in the long run? After the initial shock wears off, there’s no story left as it’s not like Dante and Brook Lynn are in love with each other but torn apart by circumstance, or their insta-child is reliant on them in any real capacity. It all feels very shortsighted.

But doesn't this happen to most soap characters -- a return to the back burner? In what universe is Lois a character who's always front burner?

There's no story left for Gio after this initial shock wears off? Then what's your alternative where Gio has a story and then there's a lot of story left to tell?

As far as GM being a Cam replacement, I'm glad they didn't go that way. There is no evidence Cam was going to be front-and-center. None.

 

Kate Hall has written the last four consecutive scripts. I cannot recall a prior time when the same script writer wrote that many shows in a row.

30 minutes ago, DRW50 said:

I feel like it's kind of the opposite. Mazza is a very charming, attractive guy. He could have easily just been there to look pretty and have a romance, if they had written him that way instead of clearly being unsure of how to use him. I think they've taken his likeability to stitch some story threads together for characters who were at a crossroads and also because it just adds more beat to the bone to have another Quartermaine or Corinthos on the canvas for dynamic moments. 

I agree he could have been a decent Cameron, but they don't care about Liz and clearly they moved on from Cam/Joss (although I imagine some form of Joss/Gio or Joss/Gio/Trina may have been pitched).

I can definitely see the retcons and inconsistencies. And I do think once the story settles down that will be what stays, unless they manage a higher quality of writing than they often do. On paper, there's enough potential with the various turns to where I don't mind the changes (it helps that I'm not really invested in any of the characters), but I know that Frank and modern GH writers don't care about strong storylines or aftermath.

Regarding Lois, I imagine none of this was pitched to Rena when she initially returned, so I do wonder how she feels about it...personally it's probably the most I've been interested in Lois, but again I know it's not well told for her past character and they are probably going to not follow through with any real long term story that should be there for her and her family and friends. 

(well, the friends not named Brenda) 

100% agree about Giovanni Mazza.

I am invested in Dante and especially Lois.  Brook Lynn has always been kind of a nothing character to me.  I don't think any iteration of the character has been stellar.   AL's first run was probably the closest the show got to making Brook Lynn what I thought she'd be as an adult, but she was pushed aside for a lot of other characters even back then.

With Rena it's hard for me to say.  I think her only demand was not to be re-paired with Wally and she just rolls with the writing and likes meaty material.   I don't get the sense that Rena is that invested in Lois's character integrity and that's not a dig at her.  She just played the character for a few years in her life and probably isn't as concerned as the actors that have played roles for decades.  I am 100% sure I think about Lois's character trajectory more than Rena does 😂  

34 minutes ago, ranger1rg said:

I'm with you on this. I see the retcons and inconsistencies. This story has been strong enough to allow me to get past those.But doesn't this happen to most soap characters -- a return to the back burner? In what universe is Lois a character who's always front burner?

 

1995-1996.  She was everywhere lol.  All the stories.

Look, I just don’t see GH playing any aftermath here or what the long term value is for either Brook Lynn or Dante as characters.

Brook Lynn and Dante have a child, who is technically an adult now - does that change anything about their relationship or create future storylines for them? I don’t see it and it would be pretty ridiculous to do a learning to co-parent storyline for an adult child. The writers wanted an insta-child and they got one, so now what? 

I’d also be pleasantly surprised if they do play out any long term ramifications from Gio’s perspective as well. 

 

Rory Gibson showed more fire and range today as Michael than he ever did as Noah. Color me surprised. He played the dark side perfectly. I do wish it would come out that Drew set it up for Michael and Willow to not speak in Germany, I'm hoping that happens at the custody hearing. Drew literally sickens me.

1 minute ago, Antoyne said:

Rory Gibson showed more fire and range today as Michael than he ever did as Noah. Color me surprised. He played the dark side perfectly. I do wish it would come out that Drew set it up for Michael and Willow to not speak in Germany, I'm hoping that happens at the custody hearing. Drew literally sickens me.

Well, it's not like Griffith ever provided groundbreaking material; he was only hired because Michael Mealor quit as Kyle.

14 minutes ago, BetterForgotten said:

Look, I just don’t see GH playing any aftermath here or what the long term value is for either Brook Lynn or Dante as characters.

Brook Lynn and Dante have a child, who is technically an adult now - does that change anything about their relationship or create future storylines for them? I don’t see it and it would be pretty ridiculous to do a learning to co-parent storyline for an adult child. The writers wanted an insta-child and they got one, so now what? 

I’d also be pleasantly surprised if they do play out any long term ramifications from Gio’s perspective as well. 

 

I agree.

Gio, Dante, and Brook are all decent people.  Gio gets a family unit, BLQ and Dante get to know their son, people will yell at Lulu and Lois, and everyone will be happy a few months from now.  It will be like the Trina/Curtis reveal.

 

40 minutes ago, BetterForgotten said:

Look, I just don’t see GH playing any aftermath here or what the long term value is for either Brook Lynn or Dante as characters.

Brook Lynn and Dante have a child, who is technically an adult now - does that change anything about their relationship or create future storylines for them? I don’t see it and it would be pretty ridiculous to do a learning to co-parent storyline for an adult child. The writers wanted an insta-child and they got one, so now what? 

I’d also be pleasantly surprised if they do play out any long term ramifications from Gio’s perspective as well. 

 

I've said that I believe Monica's death will unite everyone back together 

Kate Hall has written excellent episodes 

40 minutes ago, BetterForgotten said:

Look, I just don’t see GH playing any aftermath here or what the long term value is for either Brook Lynn or Dante as characters.

I can understand the concern, because GH has been bad at playing the aftermath with some of its stories. For instance, in the past 9 months, Sonny killed Jagger in cold blood, and then later in a totally unrelated storyline his penthouse was firebombed, and then more recently someone tried to assassinate him after he was recovering from open-heart surgery. And none of those stories have seen any meaningful follow-up, and not even the characters who are close to Sonny seem remotely curious about figuring them out.

By contrast, the Gio umbrella storyline already seems to be impacting characters in a way that could lead to a lot of long-term story. Today, we see how it's bringing Gio and Emma closer, while also putting a big wedge in Lulu and Dante's relationship (potentially sending Lulu in different directions, like possibly pairing her with Cody). I don't know if this storyline will change everything for all of these characters long-term, but it's generating a lot of good story right now, and I can see that story having a lot of ripple effects over the upcoming weeks.