As the show drew to a close on Wednesday, I found myself wondering why every week can't be like this week.
Over the course of the last few days, I found myself experiencing a gamut of emotions as I watched the storylines unfold. I laughed, I yelled, I cried, I gasped, but mostly I smiled because everything moved along at a good pace with lots of interesting dialogue and truly unexpected twists.
I like the way Jax and Carly are together, but I accept that they are pretty much doomed from the onset because Carly's heart will always belong to Sonny. Even now, knowing that it could have easily been Sonny's hit man who had planted the bomb in Julian's car, she's latching onto Olivia's rationale that Sonny had done for Carly what he hadn't done for any other -- he changed his ways.
Personally, I think it's debatable that Sonny is a changed man because he only called off one hit -- at the very last possible minute. It's quite telling that Sonny couldn't promise Carly that he wouldn't go after the person responsible for the bomb and Morgan's death, knowing that it's what she needed to forgive him. It speaks volumes about Sonny's commitment -- or lack thereof -- to a peaceful life.
I was rather disappointed that Sonny proved to be the most selfish human on the planet by turning Morgan's funeral into a confessional in the hopes of washing away his sins then wallowing in his misery and a bottle of whiskey when he was released on bail from jail rather than trying to honor his son by staying strong. Sure, Carly left him, but that's not an excuse to sit on the floor, swill booze, and drunk-call your grieving wife to whine to her about being alone. It was rather pathetic and made Sonny look weak and self-indulgent.
I don't know what Nelle has planned, but I found it amusing how easily she whipped Sonny into a frothy jealous rage over the possibility that Carly turned to her ex-husband for comfort in her time of sorrow.
I'm undecided as to whether I like Nelle or not, but I do find her far more interesting now that we know she does have some sort of agenda. I was bored by the sweet do-gooder she was portrayed as, who fluttered everywhere, sprinkling fairy dust on Carly's world, making it all magically perfect.
I like for soap characters to have a bit of an edge, even if they are good people.
I'm still leaning strongly toward a biological connection between Carly and Nelle, in part because I sense that Nelle is keeping Michael at arm's length for a specific reason. However, it's also possible that Nelle is a scam artist after a big payday, and Michael isn't part of the plan. Whatever the case, this is a storyline that definitely has my interest after this week.
Now, time to chat about Julian.
I admit that I dearly adore William deVry, but like many, my opinion of Julian is not what it once was. I loved when Julian was written to be a truly reformed mobster who gave up his wicked ways for the woman he loved. It was romantic, refreshing, and fascinating to watch him fight his darker urges.
All that was quickly undone when Julian was suddenly revealed to be a mentally unstable liar who'd been willing to kill his own wife when she tried to save herself from being railroaded into a murder conviction. I was heartbroken and quite angry at the writers for ruining such an interesting character.
It was hard to watch Julian after that, but I kept hoping there would be some kind of explanation for why he'd suddenly skidded off the rails of respectability and slid right back into the depravity of a world where killing your business rival is a perfectly sensible solution. Hope sprang eternal that the writers would address the real reason for Julian's fall from grace because I never believed that it had anything to do with Carlos. Carlos never had a death wish and could easily be bought. Plus, he and Julian did have a genuine friendship under all that dysfunction between them.
It appears we just might get some kind of answers once we find out exactly who Oscar Jessup is.
According to Sonny, he's an associate of the Scullys and Jeromes. Sam easily uncovered that Oscar Jessup had died in 1994, which explains why I never heard of him, since I only sporadically watched the show during those days because I was busy working and starting a family with my husband.
If anyone knows anything about this character, please share in the comment section below. I'd love to know more about this mystery man because he's now connected to Julian.
The question now is, how long has Julian been Jessup's puppet? Could Jessup somehow be responsible for the crazy things that Julian did when he imploded his life and marriage?
If Sonny can get a second chance, then Julian should be able to as well.
That is if Julian survives his deadly encounter with Alexis' car.
Alexis is a hot mess, and this week, she took a swan dive right to rock bottom. It started with her Thanksgiving dinner from hell when everyone decided to show up with bottles of booze, except for Sam who appointed herself Alexis' personal alcohol watchdog. It was a true wonder that no one noticed Alexis desperately licking her lips as she stared longingly at their drinks. Alexis tried to keep it together until Sam asked for help whisking heavy cream because she didn't know Alexis' trick to get it to thicken.
Whisking vigorously, Sam. It's in the instructions.
I wasn't surprised to see Alexis end up in a bar after she ditched her guests on the pretext of running to the store. I definitely understand why Alexis is in a bad place, but I'm disgusted with her behavior and her choices because she acknowledged that she had a drinking problem, yet she still got behind the wheel of a car.
What happens to Julian is completely on Alexis because he tried to stop her and begged her not to drive off, but she ignored him. Drunk or not, Alexis knows that it's illegal to drive drunk, and given her history, I would expect her to have had at least a moment's hesitation before taking off.
After all, Alexis killed Kiefer Bauer in a hit-and-run when she tore off in a car in a rush to get to her daughter to the hospital after Kristina had been beaten to a pulp.
It's one thing to be reckless with your own life, but there's no excuse when you endanger others.
I hope that Julian doesn't meet the same fate as Kiefer, but I also don't want Alexis to get away with what happened because it's time for her to pull herself together and get some help.
There were some lighter moments this week, starting with Dante and Lulu, who decided to surprise their dinner guests with a Thanksgiving wedding. The wedding was heartwarming and made me realize that somewhere along the line, I'd forgiven Dante for cheating on Lulu. I'm happy that they are past that ugly period and are moving forward with their life.
I also like where Laura and Kevin are headed. Kevin is such a sweetheart, and Laura deserves to have someone kind and stable in her life like Kevin. They are quickly becoming one of my favorite couples.
Finally, I'm delighted that the writers decided to keep the tradition going by having the Quartermaines celebrate Thanksgiving with a pizza dinner. I was a bit curious why Finn would leave a huge container labeled "bacteria" in a kitchen, especially one that looked exactly like a container labeled "brine," but in the end, it didn't matter because it gave us that touching scene at the end of the show when Ned placed a plate of pizza on the mantel in front of a picture of Edward and Lila.
It was a perfect ending to a Thanksgiving episode.
Is there some kind of ranking for prisoners at the Port Charles Police Department? I'm curious because Sonny was wearing a nice pair of jeans and T-shirt after his arrest for murder and attempted murder, but others either wear county prison blues or Pentonville orange. Note to the prop people: please paint Carly's stairs on the set of her house. If nothing else, grab a black Sharpie for touchups when characters are filmed sitting on the stairs and chatting. The poor paint job was distracting.
Did Rocco have a mild case of SORAS? He suddenly looks suspiciously close to Charlotte's age. I still believe that Charlotte is Lulu's child. Ideally, Valentin got his hands on one of Dante and Lulu's original frozen embryos and paid someone to tell Dante and Lulu that it wasn't viable. As for the paternity test that Griffin ran on Valentin, I wouldn't be surprised if someone was paid to tamper with it. It's not exactly unheard of in Port Charles.
This week has been extremely difficult for me to watch as I have faced the death of a son. The powerhouse performances from LW and MB opened up old wounds. I almost decided not to watch Friday, because I knew I would be blubbering...and I was. I thank them for truly showing the phases of grief that a parent goes through, and how it affects those around them. With that being said, I am so ready for this S/L to move on, for that matter to move on so many others as well. I think the new character, Valentin, will manage to move some of them along. I have noticed that the ratings for this show have gone up some, and I hope the writing gets better, S/L's don't drag on forever, and the cast gets trimmed. -- lovethosedimples
And Franco and Liz kind of bugged me this week, just last week he was irrationally jealous and seemed annoyed that he and Liz hadn't had sex (even though they have only been dating for 5 seconds). Then this week, Liz suggested they move beyond kissing. The way this is playing out, it felt like Liz was suggesting sex just to give Franco what he wanted/soothe his ego and not because she was totally ready. -- lk
Hayden will grow deathly ill, and of course, Finn will do everything he can to save her, up to and including declaring his love for her. It will be touch and go for awhile, but of course she'll recover, and as a bonus, her blood will now have developed the antibodies to the pathogen that Finn needs to cure himself. That way, Finn saves Hayden, then Hayden saves Finn, everybody is in love, and they all live happily ever after, except for Brad, who never sees Lucas, and got stuck with cleaning up the toxic spill in the lab. -- Scrimmage
Now, I turn the spotlight over to you. Please share your thoughts about the show in the comments section below. I love reading what everyone has to say.
Until next time, take care.
Liz Masters
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