Visit to a Couple of Old Frenemies: GH and B&B Edition

Long time no see, Serial Drama readers! And daytime soaps, for that matter. I haven't watched one since the end of 2013, so I figured it was time to pay a visit since I took a staycation day today (y'all, I slept till 8:10am and it was glorious).

Going in, I know very little. I haven't read any recaps, so I've just absorbed blips of information from friends and from Twitter. If pressed, here's how I'd sum up what I know: Jason's alive and played by Billy Miller but maybe has amnesia (more amnesia, rather)? Sonny killed AJ and Carly helped cover it up and Franco just revealed it in a manner similar to Todd's wedding to Blair where he exposed her for shooting Max in the middle of the vows, so now Michael knows. The Steffy/Liam/Hope triangle morphed into the Liam/Hope/Wyatt triangle, and Kim Matula is leaving the show. Thorsten Kaye plays Ridge now and Ridge has possibly hooked up with Caroline and Katie? I think Brooke married Bill and also Maya and Caroline swapped personalities. There is some sort of love triangle or quadrangle amid the children of General Hospital in which Spencer is an appropriately-Cassadinian pretentious mini-douche. Ava is pregnant. Silas had a coma wife Nina who is no longer in a coma. I have a dog named Nina.

That about sums up what I think I know. Which is already very little, so this should be an amusing little adventure. Come back later when I actually find out what's real and what's not and see how much I really do or do not miss my stories!

Here we go!

1:30pm The Bold & the Beautiful

Liam, Hope, and some people I don't know are on a plane, talking about Dutch and Australian phrases.

Deacon and Rena Sofer are kissing. I think Sofer's character's name is Quinn.

The last time I saw Sean Kanan, AJ Quartermaine was very alive and well. Sadface.

Carter is worried about Caroline. Apparently Rick didn't come home. Oh, there's Maya kissing on Rick, so I guess we know why! 

Maybe the opening credits can help me sort out who's who. There's some people named Ivy and Aly who seem new and relevant.

Carter and Maya were dating the last time I watched, and he's clearly no longer a fan of hers. And she's a gold-digger now? When did that happen? Also apparently Rick is CEO now, and Maya is putting on the pressure for him to divorce Caroline. 

Quinn shows Deacon an ultrasound of his grandchild, so I guess Hope is pregnant. By whom? It sounds like probably Wyatt. 

Apparently Quinn isn't allowed anywhere near... Hope? Wyatt? I have no idea. 

Maya wants Carter to annul Caroline and Rick's marriage. Why does she get to order him around? Does she have something on him? And when did she turn into a bully?

I love when B&B does these external plane shots. They're unbelievably cheesy and they bring me joy. The folks on the plane are talking about Hope for the Future, so I guess that's still a thing. Ivy wants the four of them to get along without any jealousy and drama, so I guess she's somehow involved with either Liam or Wyatt? Or both? Or was?

Every time Rick sees Caroline he "sees Ridge." I'm a little bummed that Thorsten Kaye isn't on today's episode since I have yet to see him as Ridge. At any rate, I guess Caroline kissed Rick's half-brother/erstwhile stepfather, so that's the source of the marital drama? Soaps!

The gang's in Amsterdam right now! Apparently Ivy speaks a little Dutch and now we're getting a really clunky "historic Amsterdam" dialogue. These people in their early 20s are in Amsterdam for the first time and they're going on an architecture tour instead of getting baked with some good hookers. I see the young people on this show are as dull as ever. (We wouldn't want Liam scoring any weed, though, he might just find a random lampshade and put it on his head.) Many brilliant things are said, like "There are a lot of bikes!" and "There are a lot of bridges!" WORST TOURISM PROMOTION EVER.

Quinn calls Wyatt and tells him he needs to make some waves on this trip.

He gets an idea. Well, this is B&B and they're on location, so I'm guessing there will be an impromptu wedding of some sort. To what end, I have no idea, because I don't know what Quinn wants. Or what Wyatt wants. Or why. 

Caroline tells Rick that Maya is an opportunist who doesn't really care about him, which this episode seems to bear out. Seriously, that was a lightning fast character evolution for Maya! And hey, remember when Caroline was really snobby and bitchy and hilarious and it was awesome? That was great. Oh well. Blandy McBlanderson is back.

Wyatt gets some idea about using a boat to further whatever his plan is with Quinn.

That's it. No really, that's all. That was anticlimactic! I was hoping there would at least be a great cliffhanger or something since it's Friday, but maybe various pre-emptions or something put it off schedule. And I wanted to see ThorstenRidge. And Katie, I've missed Katie! And did Taylor and Steffy really leave for good, I guess?

That was such a blip that I can't really say I got any sort of impression at all whatsoever. Go figure. Maybe in about an hour when I visit Port Charles, New York, there will be a little more to play with!

 

3:00pm General Hospital

I have to say, this morning when I planned to do this, I was a lot more motivated. And I half-knew that, which was why I committed to it by posting about it earlier. So I will keep my promise and somehow get through this! WE ALL HAVE OUR CROSSES TO BEAR.

Here we go. Anna is at the Floating Rib. She flashes back to a scene with Dante. Do they work together a lot now? I love them. I want them to be crime-fighters. Duke's inside and oh dear. She's here to arrest him? I guess things aren't so great between them. Bobbie wants to make sure she's not going to arrest Carly for helping cover up Sonny's murder of AJ. Which apparently is no problem. That's not illegal! Not in Port Charles. I would also like to point out that I just watched a scene with Anna, Duke, and Bobbie. And that's it. That's kind of awesome.

Sonny's about to kill Ava and Michael stops him by showing up and shooting a gun in the air, like you do.

Franco Manning is standing on the docks and according to the flyers behind him, Felicia is running for mayor? Yes! I love it. I'm also seeing signs that say "Re-elect Mayor Lomax: Proven Results." HAHAHAHAHAHA. The idea that any mayor could ever get re-elected in a town governed by flying bullets and criminals as pillars of the community is stellar comedy.

Somebody who I assume is Nina is cooing at a baby that I assume is not hers. A blond person comes in and Nina accuses her of intentionally ruining her marriage to Silas.

Dante tells a cop that I don't recognize that he (Dante) has to go arrest his father. Oh, how I missed soap opera law enforcement in which people are routinely sent off to arrest their own immediate family!

Kiki is yelling at Morgan for something. Telling Sonny where Ava is? I was hoping Kiki and Morgan would not be on this episode. Meanwhile, Sonny flashes back to a text message in which Shawn tells him that Franco is dead, so it seems that Shawn is as effectual an enforcer as he ever was. Since Franco is not dead. Michael confronts Sonny about his having killed his other father. Like you do.

Credits! Oh dear. The credits haven't changed.

Well, I'll certainly say that more happened in the opening three minutes of GH than happened in the entirety of today's B&B episode!

Sonny and Michael are chatting while Sonny points a gun at Ava and Michael points a gun at Sonny, which is generally the best configuration for the most fruitful family therapy.

Ava says she has to find her baby as we cut to Nina holding a baby, so that explains that. Nina is very excited to get a call from Franco. What is Nina and Franco's relationship? I don't know.

Other Beefcake Cop offers to arrest Sonny for Dante, but he turns him down. Other Beefcake Cop says he has to arrest his mother, so he understands. Dante asks what Obrecht did (who is this and, what, he's Obrecht's son?) and he corrects him, saying it's Madeline. So he has two mothers? And then he says something about his sister Nina. So he's Nina's brother and Obrecht's son. What? So he and Nina and Britt are all siblings except not? Does this mean Blondie is Madeline. Soaps! My head is spinning. They wish each other mutual luck arresting their respective parents.

Kiki and Silas... something. I don't know.

Now Lucy and Anna and Duke and Bobbie are all in a scene together. Anna is arresting her boyfriend? Husband? I don't know, but the episode certainly has a theme. 

Ava (to Michael): I gave birth to a little girl. Your sister, or your niece.

Soaps!

Ava tells Michael he should kill Sonny for what he did to his (other) father. The suspense is killing me! Will Michael kill Sonny right now?! I'm almost positive it could totally happen!

Downside to an action-packed episode: I am on Minute 13 and this is taking forever.

Lucy is very upset about Anna having arrested Duke. Are they friends? 

This motel room with actresses from other soaps involves Nina talking to Franco on a cell phone that matches her top. It really brings the outfit together. Franco Manning could really use a friend right now, and I still don't quite get the connection between these two, but the music certainly suggests it's important. And deep. Deep!

Kiki, looking like she just came back from a funeral on Pretty Little Liars, is trying to figure out with Silas where everyone is. 

Morgan and Dante... something.

Michael says something to Ava about having had sex with Sonny on AJ's grave. I'm sorry, let me look at that again: AVA HAD SEX WITH SONNY ON AJ'S GRAVE. Wretch, puke, eww. Okay. 

Nina thinks her mother hired Ava Jerome to seduce Silas. Did Ava seduce Silas? I don't know. Blondie/Madeline admits that, yes, she hired Ava to seduce Silas.

 

I want Blondie/Madeline to wear less makeup, it's a very stressful amount to look at directly.

Franco wanders around the docks with a gun. Ava stumbles out, calling out for help. 

Lucy makes a compelling argument to Bobbie that, in fact, it was shitty of Carly to cover up Sonny's murder of AJ. Then Bobbie calls Duke Lucy's "boyfriend." What? WHAT.

I'm going to need some electrolytes to get through this.

Michael yells at Sonny some more and calls Ava a "lying whore," so while he may be trying to distance himself from the Corinthos name, he certainly has their lexicon down. Michael learns that AJ was innocent of Connie's murder. He knew it! Sonny tells Michael the truth about having killed AJ in cold blood, and he tells him in an especially hilarious manner.

Sonny swears he wouldn't have murdered AJ if he had known AJ didn't really kill Connie. Michael believes him but thinks it makes everything worse.

Anna wants to know why Duke chose Sonny over her. That's a good question! I don't even know what happened, but it makes me very, very sad.

Bobbie and Lucy continue to bicker about men, namely Scotty and Duke. So I guess Kevin is out of the picture? 

Nina keeps referring to the baby as Silas's daughter, so now I'm really confused because I thought the baby was fathered by either Morgan or Sonny. Oh and Silas and Kiki find a collapsed Ava on the docks.

Franco runs into Bobbie. 

Bobbie: Okay. Carly cheated on you. Join the club. It's happened before, to better men than you!

Love it. 

Duke explains to Anna that he helped Sonny cover up the murder because Sonny is a good friend and employer and understands the depth of his hatred for Julian Jerome.

If Duke says one more thing about how Sonny is such a good friend he needs to be loyal to, I will just cry. Cry, I tell you!

I see Sonny still loves saying, "Okay, you're angry, you have a right to be, but..."

Michael accurately mentions that Sonny cost him his whole life with his father. And now he's going to make Sonny pay! (Oh, Michael, don't be silly. Sonny tried to murder your brother and he forgave him, you'll get over it!) (Oh, Michael just brought that up!) He makes Sonny put down his gun.

Ava gets admitted at the ER and Lucy shows up at the PCPD to help Duke.

And of course we end on Michael "about to shoot Sonny." So that'll probably happen first thing on Monday, right?

And I'm done!

Well, that was a fun visit. I'm glad I stopped by during November sweeps after a major reveal. The Michael scenes were quite satisfying!

And now breaking news is telling me that there was an explosion at the subway station next to my house (I did see folks evacuated out front), so I am going to make some hot cocoa since I'm obviously not going anywhere!

Thanks for joining me on my first day back as a soap viewer! I doubt it'll become a regular thing, but I certainly don't rule out stopping by every now and then.

I hope all you Serial Drama readers are doing fabulously in your lives!

Destiny out.

Comments

[C]

Yay Louise! And awww, cute doggy!

[SharonGS]

Welcome back, Louise, even if your return is temporary! Let us know what you think about all this, please.

[Callie]

Welcome back, Louise!

Most of what you wrote was correct except Brooke didn't actually marry Bill. Ava just gave birth but Nina stole it and bolted.

[Bill C.]

You pegged it pretty well, Weezie. (Which may be a better or worse reflection on the show if you're coming in blind after a year, but still.) For later reference, though: Ivy is Eric's niece--the Aussie daughter of his brother John. And Aly is indeed Thorne and Darla's daughter Alexandria, all grown up and dating Oliver and occasionally talking to a disembodied floating Darla head.

[C]

Wonderful write-ups Louise, we've missed you!

The deal with Nathan West (a.k.a Other Beefcake Cop) is that he was introduced as Nina's brother and Blondie/Madeline's son, but it turned out that Dr. O is his bio mom and that Madeline is Dr. O's sister, Magda.

So Dr. O's his mom, bio dad hasn't been revealed yet (it's not Faison and Nathan currently thinks it's Victor Cassadine, but Dr. O has hinted that it's someone even worse), Britt's his sister, Nina's his cousin (though he still considers the crazy bitch his sister), and Madeline's his aunt.

Whew!

[MissySnow]

Louise, welcome back and thanks for the recap!

[Cindy]

Louise, when I saw your mention of a drive by of GH today on FB I thought wow you picked a wild time. They're wrapping up a ton of storylines in spectacular fashion. Come Monday, 1/3 will be in jail, 1/3 in hospital and the other 1/3 taking care of them.

And yes, the most disgusting thing ever is true...Ava and Sonny had sex on AJ's crypt the day of his funeral. I was so seriously squicked out.

[Judy]

Yay! Thanks for coming back, Louise, even if it's only temporary. I've missed your snark and your awesome screencap captions.

One thing you missed was an awesome five-minute reunion of Ric and Elizabeth before his death was faked to save him from Julian's boss (I think that's why they did it). Another thing is a fake Luke (known as Fluke) that's been running around town for lo, these many months. You should be glad to miss that though, he's ickier than anyone has a right to be. He actually drooled over Kiki. Gah.

Hope to see you posting again soon :)

[Ziyal]

Yay! Great to have you back, albeit temporarily. I too am sad that you missed ThorstenRidge and Katie and something actually happening! Aren't Deacon and Quinn crazy hot together? That's about all I got out of the episode today.

FYI, Ivy Forrester is currently dating Liam (who is trying to move on from Hope, despite still thinking about her pretty much all the time). They've shared a few kisses here and there and he missed his rendezvous with Hope to save Ivy's life, which directly led to Hope deciding to marry Wyatt because Liam was late meeting her at their "special spot". (Since then Hope & Liam almost got back together for like two episodes (half of an evening), but then she found out she was pregnant with Wyatt's child and despite knowing that Liam was the love of her life, she was going to life her life with Wyatt for the baby).

[Chris]

Glad to see you back posting on here, Louise! I hope to see more posts from you if you have time and care for it!

FYI: Dr. Obrecht and Madeline are sisters, which makes Britt & Nathan siblings, and Nina is their cousin. Before Nina went into a coma twenty years ago, she was pregnant with Silas' baby and Madeline injected drugs into her to put her into a coma, and the baby is either dead or alive (and rumored) in the form of Kiki! And Madeline is played by Donna Mills who starred as Abby on the classic primetime soap "Knots Landing" on CBS from 1980-1990 & 1993. And Kevin dumped Lucy after she cheated on her with Scotty, and Scotty recently dumped Lucy to date his old girlfriend Bobbie!

[Chris]

*him

[Louise]

Thanks for all the welcome backs, y'all! And all the info. Not sure any of it is sinking in, it's a lot to digest (and knowing soaps, every familial relationship will change by next week).

I'd probably stick around GH for a while if I thought for a second there was a tidal change and Sonny and Carly were going to be generally hated.

[Michelle]

If you were grossed out by hearing that Ava and Sonny had sex on AJ's grave, TRY WATCHING IT. *shudder*

[Cindy]

Louise, rumor has it that nuJason isn't going to like Sonny so there's that. I'm hoping Sonny goes to jail (even for only a short time), I'd sit through an episode once a week to watch him suffer the claustrophobia. I know there's been a rumor making the rounds for a while that MB wanted time off so hopefully...And I'll be happy with Michael hating Carly, at least for a while, and to watch that break what passes for her heart.

[Zoote]

Nice recap. So yeah, about the Lucy and Duke thing, one of my pet peeves with FV/RC is they act like just because characters were on the canvas together they were all besties and knew each other intimately. As far as I know, Lucy had very few friends when she and Duke overlapped, because everyone thought she was shady and she was doing shady things to people they actually were close to. She and Felicia only became friends years later. But now Lucy and Duke are long lost BFFs and confidantes. Okay. Sure. I don't actually care because I can't stand Duke making no sense and being in love with Sonny, but FV and RC never stop being irritating.

[bethie]

I gotta say I've been really enjoying the show of late. I'm loving that Sonny is in jail and nobody is mentioning his "claustrophobia" as even an issue. I'm loving that Carly is in jail as an accessory after the fact or as a co-conspirator or an obstructor of justice (but then shouldn't Morgan, Kiki and Ava also be in jail)? Does Ava even have a guard on her. .. I can't remember.

I REALLY loved it yesterday when Michael walked into Q mansion, gave Monica a hug called her grandmother, and then asked everyone to stop calling him Corinthos because his name is his REAL name - Quartermaine! I loved that and got ALMOST as much gratification from it as when Jason FINALLY told Robin that she was right, that he should have listened to her and that Michael would have been better off with the Q's!

Liking Franco with Nina too. .. they are good together as crazy buddies. Gotta wonder if Kiki will start to display "Nini-isms" soon??

[MissySnow]

LOL, Louise, at the "Old Man Nate" comments regarding the clown from OLTL!

[stlbf]

Love the new Corinthos hating Michael! Keep it up! It has been a long time coming!
Bobbie? STFU. Seriously, shut your piehole. Carly covered up TWO MURDERS. It wasn't like she got a speeding ticket.
And how the hell is the ever useless Sean NOT in jail for breaking Heather(a deranged felon) out of a supposedly secure prison hospital, kidnap her, have every intention of MURDERING HER and he is just allowed to walk off? Heather beating him @ his own game and dealing with a threatening Franco was punishment enough for the Keystone Cops of the PCPD? WTF ever.
And why is Ned's deadbeat trashy father still @ Monica's home? Why would she ever let him stay? Why would Ned just stip his not so dear old man back to wherever he was "kidnapped" from?
But pissed off angry Michael is awesome! Cutting tie with Sonny, Carly, Morgan and KiKi all @ once? Stupendous!

[Nancy]

I hope to see a new post soon! Miss you guys and so much is happening that I would love to know what you think about it.

[Nancy]

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