General Hospital blog - January, 2023
January 3rd, 2023
Captain Hook takes a swing at Josslyn, who, through a combination of quick reflexes and a refusal to back down, is able to hold her off. Britt jumps in and saves her, and is in turn saved by Dex, who's able to graze the killer with a bullet and make her drop her hook. He convinces Josslyn to leave with him before the police arrive, letting Britt pretend that she doesn't know what happened to Captain Hook's original target. Britt goes back to the Haunted Star to end the evening on a better note with Obrecht, but they realize the hook got her, and the venom is already starting to work through her system. P.S. Captain Hook is, inexplicably, Heather? Dex's justification for not talking to the police is that they wouldn't be able to provide any helpful information on Captain Hook. Plus, his gun is unregistered and was given to him by Sonny. Josslyn's annoyed with him for protecting his boss again, but not so annoyed that she doesn't make out with him, then have sex with him. Elizabeth panics over all the crimes she and Nikolas committed, but he thinks that there's only a small chance that everything will come out, so they just need to keep quiet and act like Esme was never there. Spencer and Trina turn up the PDA again, supposedly as part of their act, but the line there is going to get blurry reaaaaaaaally quickly. Esme turns up on the Haunted Star, and they're shocked to discover that she's pregnant. They get her to the hospital, where Nikolas and Elizabeth try to act casual while internally freaking out that they're about to get busted. Dante talks to Sam about how he became a cop to help people and pursue justice, but he doesn't feel like he does that when he looks the other way over Sonny's crimes. Sam points out that he's never covered up a crime and would never be asked to build a case against his father, so he has nothing to worry about. Obrecht laments not giving Britt a better childhood or being there more for her and Nathan. She's grateful that Nathan's son has Maxie as a mother, and that she and Maxie are still in each other's lives. Maxie encourages her to let go of the past and be proud of the way Britt turned out. Drew and Carly are able to spend part of New Year's Eve together and look toward a future together.
Ahhhh, there's so much going on! Heather's apparently the killer (which makes no sense)! Britt got the hook! Josslyn and Dex had sex! Esme got away! Also, now everyone knows she's pregnant! And it's only the first episode of the year!
I did think Britt might get the hook, though. Why not add another body to the count with a character who's already exiting?
Nice reflexes, Josslyn! But next time, start screaming sooner.
Heather only makes sense as the killer if she knew Esme was her daughter before Ryan told her. Or is she a copycat?
Welp, I definitely didn't see the Esme stuff coming. I figured she'd be in the wind for at least a few weeks.
Esme should fake amnesia, then use everything Nikolas has done to get money and whatever else she can think of out of him.
It says a lot about Spencer that his first instinct was to help Esme.
Dante, you very much did cover up one of Sonny's crimes. Or have you forgotten that time he shot you?
January 4th, 2023
Knowing that she won't make it to the hospital in time to get the anti-venom, Britt insists on staying on the Haunted Star with Obrecht by her side. She's able to say goodbye to her mother before dying in her arms. Esme's confused, unaware that she's pregnant, and has no memories of who she is or what's happened to her (allegedly). Spencer and Nikolas immediately call bull, though Elizabeth thinks she could be telling the truth, because the easiest way to clear her name as Captain Hook would be to tell the police that she was Nikolas' prisoner. Laura asks Ava if she knows what Victor is holding over Nikolas. She thinks Ava might have an idea since she knows Nikolas better than anyone else. That gets proven very wrong when Ava learns of Esme's pregnancy and easily figures out that Nikolas is the baby's father. Josslyn still doesn't know how to reconcile her Sonny issues with her feelings for Dex, but she does know that she needs to end things with Cameron before anything else happens with Dex. Just as Cameron, inspired by Scott, is heading out to find her so they can spend the rest of the holiday together, Josslyn shows up and tells him they've grown apart. Cameron's understandably mad that she didn't tell him she'd fallen out of love with him, and he most definitely doesn't want to stay friends.
If only I cared about Britt and/or Obrecht.
Spencer's face when Dante said that Esme was claiming memory loss was exactly the face I would make in that situation.
Guys, stop yelling at Dante. The guy thought he was going to spend the evening with his girlfriend; now he's dealing with a possible serial killer with possible amnesia. Give him a break.
Kiki mention – drink!
I'll admit, I laughed when Scott asked Cameron why he wasn't bringing in the new year "with a bang" with Josslyn.
Excellent work from both Eden McCoy and William Lipton.
January 5th, 2023
Esme continues claiming amnesia, and when Kevin can't get her to break, he says she probably does have problems with her memory (though she finds him familiar). Elizabeth hovers around and tries to gather information, but Esme doesn't slip up at all. Nikolas gets an extra level of security by pulling strings to have Martin represent her, which could keep her from talking to the police. As soon as Obrecht learns that Britt's suspected killer is a patient in the hospital, she puts on Britt's medical coat and pays Esme a visit. Ryan figures out that Heather is Captain Hook and urges her to turn herself in to clear Esme's name. Heather has a better idea: Step things up, kill more people, and form a little family including them, Esme, and the baby. Oh, and Ava, because Ryan still can't let go of her. Austin tells Obrecht that Britt was planning to leave town for good and never see her loved ones again. He tries to cheer Obrecht by pointing out that between the Christmas delivery, the awesome New Year's party, and saving Josslyn, Britt's last couple weeks of life were pretty spectacular, and she got to spend most of them with people who cared about her. Dante questions Nikolas about Esme's suspected crimes, skeptical that a seven-months-pregnant woman could do everything she's accused of doing without help. Not that Nikolas is being examined as an accomplice or anything (except he's totally being examined as an accomplice). Nina takes Maxie and Brad to Britt's hotel room to clean things out, but they discover that she's already done most of that herself. Maxie and Brad start putting together that something was going on with her, and Nina tells them that she had Huntington's. They're sad that she wanted to push everyone away and think she must have been lonely. At Mac's insistence, Felicia lets Cody know about Britt's death so he doesn't have to hear from a stranger or the media. He wishes he'd told her that though he first got close to her because he wanted the necklace, in the end, what he really wanted was her. Curtis and Portia are the filler, and I imagine that their happiness is going to jinx them somehow leading up to their wedding.
To be fair, Kevin also doesn't suspect that Ryan is faking his condition, so let's not rely on his judgment about Esme actually having memory problems.
It would be hilarious if Esme really does have amnesia, but she accidentally reveals stuff about Ryan and he gets found out.
Everyone thinks it's crazy that Esme could take down Brando and Rory, but were supposed to believe that Heather could?
What are the odds that Curtis and Portia actually make it to the altar? I'll say about 50–50.
January 6th, 2023
Obrecht confronts Esme about Britt's murder, genuinely scaring Esme, who's unable to summon any help. She reveals that she's pregnant, and though that makes Obrecht pause, she still wants Esme dead. Nina catches her as she's injecting Esme with a sedative so she can deliver the baby, then kill Esme. For once, making it about herself is the right thing for Nina to do, and she reminds Obrecht that things didn't turn out well when she did that to Ava. She convinces Obrecht that her idea of justice for her daughter isn't the kind of justice Britt would approve of, and they get out of the hospital before anyone sees them. Carly will likely be worried to learn that Willow remembers visiting Josiah after she and her parents left the commune. Not that that gives Drew anything to go on, but it could go somewhere. In even better news, not only is Willow's first round of chemo done but a bone-marrow match has been found through the donor registry. In actually-I-don't-know-if-it's-good-or-bad news, Nina and Obrecht take some of Britt's things from her office, and Nina might be seconds away from seeing paperwork mentioning that Willow has been receiving chemo. Spencer and Cameron fill each other in on their respective New Year's Eve activities. Spencer suspects that Dex had something to do with Josslyn and Cameron's breakup, and though Cameron didn't think so before, he might now. Despite all his recent horrible decisions, Nikolas manages to do one nice thing, asking Sonny to tell Spencer about Britt. It's just one more thing in Spencer's life that makes him miserable. He might feel better if he knew that Sonny punched Nikolas after hearing about Esme's pregnancy. Carly and Dex tell Josslyn about Britt's death, and she spills to Carly that she was Captain Hook's intended target and was there when Britt was poisoned. Carly's very unhappy to hear that Dex got Josslyn to leave the scene, and that the two of them went to his apartment. (Josslyn has no intention of telling her what they did there.) Elizabeth basically babysits Nikolas, trying to keep him away from Esme (in case she really does have amnesia and he triggers her memory) and warning him that if he goes to prison, Victor will probably end up raising the baby.
The show keeps surprising me this week. I didn't think of the possibility that Nina would find out about Willow's cancer before it's public knowledge, and I definitely didn't expect them to find a match on the bone-marrow registry. That will most likely fall through, though. Like, it'll turn out Britt was the match (why not? She was Willow's...first cousin once removed? Something like that), and they'll realize at the last minute that obviously she can't donate.
Obrecht has no idea how poetic her version of justice would be if she killed Esme – she'd be killing the daughter of the person who killed her daughter.
When Nina is the voice of reason, you know you're doing something very wrong.
Trina already knew that Britt had died, right? I'm surprised she didn't tell Spencer.
Aww, Spencer wants to be a good brother!
Interesting that both Spencer and Josslyn asked if Britt was alone when she died. It's not something I would think to ask.
Sonny punched Nikolas because...? I mean, guy who slept with his son's girlfriend says what?
Is it just me or has the moss grown? Did it get SORAS'd?
Elizabeth policing Nikolas is a lot funnier than it should be.
January 9th, 2023
Willow's eager to have her transplant, but she gets more and more worried when Terry tells her it would be best to deliver the baby early before she continues her treatment. Then there's more reason to worry, as the transplant match isn't cleared as healthy enough to donate, and they'll have to find another one. Nina looks through Britt's papers a little, planning to sort them later and return all the medical stuff to the hospital. She doesn't see the paperwork about Willow's chemo, but it looks like Sonny does. Jordan and Dante try to question Esme, but now that Martin's her lawyer, it's going to be harder to get access to her. She continues to claim total amnesia and seems horrified at the thought that she committed the crimes everyone's accusing her of. Martin tells her that an alibi would really help here, so it would be nice if she could remember where she's been the past few weeks. The police are also turning their attention to that, since Dante's pretty sure Esme isn't Captain Hook, and the best way to confirm that is to find out where she was during the most recent attacks. Victor is a step ahead: After Spencer tells him that he saw Dimitrios in the section of Wyndemere that's supposed to be closed off, Victor checks it out and finds a burned Christmas ornament. Nikolas asks Alexis for legal advice in regard to getting custody of his and Esme's baby. Alexis won't help him take the child from Esme, and she thinks Nikolas should focus less on the baby who hasn't even been born yet and more on his relationship with the child he already has. Nikolas seems to think that's a lost cause, but Alexis tells him that being a parent means taking care of all of your children. Sonny offers to let Spencer stay with him so he can avoid Nikolas, and now that Spencer's sentence is officially over, he's free to go. Victor asks Sonny to help Spencer reconcile with Nikolas, citing Sonny's own reconciliation with Mike as inspiration. Sonny has no desire to help Spencer heal his relationship with a guy Sonny hates, and he's not going to push. Also, Victor needs to shut up about his family. Speaking of reconciliation, Willow urges Michael to reconcile with Sonny, but he doesn't see the point in mending things with someone he doesn't respect. Just as Elizabeth is supposedly about to tell Finn something big about Esme, Jordan asks for another statement about her encounter with Esme. The police are going over everything again to determine whether Captain Hook was visibly pregnant during her attacks. Finn suggests again that they check out Spoon Island, since it seems like the most likely place Esme would hide out, and she keeps popping up on the docks. Ava confides to Nina that she plans to use the leverage she has over Nikolas to get him to give her Wyndemere. The two are kind of amused over the fact that their friendship has come to where it is.
What's the most dramatic way for the Willow/Nina stuff to come out? Whatever it is, let's do that.
Willow, you're going to want to deliver either way before or way after Esme, just in case someone decides to get up to any shenanigans.
For all of Michael's faults, he's a really supportive partner. That guy's a ride or die.
The police don't seem to be interested in finding the person whose life Britt saved. That's the witness they really need to confirm whether or not the killer is pregnant.
"Spencer's the one that gave up on me." You're the parent, you imbecile! Act like it!
Elizabeth, go find the nearest mirror and use it to practice your poker face.
January 10th, 2023
Drew accuses Carly of not wanting Willow to locate her biological family. She confirms this and admits to sabotaging his efforts to find them. He's mad that she made decisions on Willow's behalf instead of letting her make them for herself. He spills that Willow has cancer and needs a bone-marrow transplant, so Carly's interference has had potentially dangerous consequences. She immediately tells Drew that Nina is Willow's birth mother. Victor is totally on to Nikolas and now has even more to hold over him. Nikolas resists when Dante and Jordan ask to search Wyndemere for signs that Esme hid out there, but Victor has already gotten Dimitrios to get rid of everything incriminating, so he invites the police to do whatever they need. The problem is that Dimitrios did too good a job, and Dante smells paint and cleaning products, a good indication that the Cassadines are hiding something. Laura urges Spencer to leave Esme alone for the baby's sake, but he doesn't even wait five seconds before asking to see her. He tells her a little about their connection, and when she asks if he's the baby's father, he says he might be. Willow beats herself up for taking risks with her health and not telling Michael about her diagnosis earlier. She thinks he should be mad at her, but he understands why she made the choices she did and is more focused on her getting better so they can enjoy the rest of their lives together. Sonny and Nina are really nosy about Willow's health, but at least they're compassionate and want to help her. Nina thinks Michael talked Willow into delaying her treatment, though. Josslyn's suffering from survivor's guilt after Britt's death, and she worries that she and Dex could have saved Britt if they hadn't run off after the attack. Dex consoles her and they have sex, which is all it takes to get her to cheer up. Sonny texts her to meet him at his office, which makes her think that he's going to confront her over whatever she and Dex have going on. Elizabeth isn't sure if Esme's faking or not, but if she isn't, Elizabeth hopes she never gets her memory back. Laura's like, "That's weird, but okay." She confides that she thinks Nikolas has backed himself into a corner and is in a bad situation.
I like the contrast we saw today between Michael and Carly. Carly made decisions for Willow because she thought she was protecting her, while Michael thinks Willow was justified in making her own decisions, even if she didn't consult him.
Again, Nikolas, you're an imbecile. The police have already come up with the perfect cover story if they find anything connected to Esme – that she was hiding out there. Shut up and play dumb. It shouldn't be too hard.
For someone with total amnesia (allegedly), Esme doesn't seem very curious. If I were in her position, I'd be asking all kinds of questions, especially about my family and the father of my baby.
I was just thinking that someone should feed Esme a lie and see if she went with it, so good for Spencer.
We did the kid-names-the-baby thing with Scout. Let's not do it again.
Why is Wiley getting more screentime than actors on this show who have contracts?
It would have been hilarious if Josslyn and Dex had mixed up their phones and Sonny's summoning text was actually for Dex, and when Josslyn showed up, he'd been like, "Why do you think I wanted you to meet me here?"
January 11th, 2023
Nina thinks Willow made a selfish decision to delay treatment because she and Michael wanted their baby, which could leave Wiley without his mother. Also, she's still mad that they won't talk to Wiley about Nelle. Michael won't listen to her opinions and keeps trying to get her to leave. Before she does, Wiley comes downstairs, eager to spend time with his grandmother. Willow dreams about Nina taking away her kids because she's too weak to care for them, and when she wakes up and finds Nina in her house, she flips out. Michael is able to calm her down, but she collapses. Drew determines that Carly has known that Nina is Willow's biological mother for months and thinks she kept it from him because she knew he wouldn't go along with the lie. He accuses her of wanting to control the situation and blasts her for indirectly putting Willow's life in danger. He thinks the donor match is still on the table, so he's not in any hurry to tell Willow about Nina. Carly thinks she was justified in lying since Willow said she didn't want to find her biological family and Carly didn't know her reason for starting the search. That's not good enough for Drew, and he's done pursuing a relationship with Carly. Thinking that Josslyn already knows, Sonny spills that Willow has cancer. Josslyn is really upset, not just because Willow's sick but because Wiley could lose his mother and because the situation brings up memories of Oscar. She talks about him to Dex, who proves to be a good listener and comforter. Brook comes up with a music-related reason to get Chase to come over so she'll have an excuse to spend time with him. Cody's hanging around and tries to lend a hand when Chase shows up with Sasha. It's surprisingly successful, and Chase and Brook act like their old selves, at least briefly. Gladys wants to sell Brando's garage (clearly because she needs money for her gambling debts) but hasn't convinced Sasha to accept the deal they've been offered. She lets Sonny think that something's going on with Sasha instead of confessing that she's the one in trouble. Sasha talks to Chase about her grief and how she's worried that if she lets herself get too deep into fantasies about Brando, she'll lose touch with reality. Chase is very encouraging and tells her she can call him any time, day or night, if she needs to talk.
No character since Peter has frustrated and annoyed me as much as Nina does. She doesn't deserve Willow as a daughter.
Part of me feels bad for Drew, but (a bigger) part of me is like...were you really naïve enough to think that Carly would never lie to you? Like, really?
Sonny and Nina specifically said yesterday that they didn't think Michael and Willow had told anyone about her diagnosis, since no one had mentioned it to Sonny, so why did he think Josslyn already knew??
Between today and Friday's episode, Eden McCoy is cultivating a great Emmy reel.
Josslyn, you don't have to respond to Sonny's texts. You can just ignore him.
Are you telling me Brook's stupid little plan actually worked? Amazing.
It's bad enough when they make actors eat while they're supposed to be talking, but biscotti? Whose bright idea was that?
Nothing against Chase and Sasha's friendship but I'd like to see her discuss her grief with someone who can relate. Why not Maxie?
January 12th, 2023
Willow's in bad shape and either needs a donor or a new treatment plan. When everyone finds out that the donor fell through, Drew presses Carly to come clean about Nina being Willow's biological mother. Carly doesn't want to, of course, but she knows she'll need to if it helps Willow, so she prepares herself to drop a bombshell on Nina. Brook and Chase worry that Nina won't willingly hand off Wiley-sitting duties to them, but Sonny shows up and she volunteers to go to the hospital with him, so Wiley doesn't catch on that Nina isn't supposed to be there. Brook does a great job reassuring him about Willow and keeping him entertained. Wiley asks why Willow said that Nina was bad and wonders if it's okay for him to love her if she's not a good person. Brook tells him that sometimes people do the wrong thing but that doesn't make them bad. This, surprisingly, might be what brings Chase back around on her. In fact, he chooses to stay with her and Wiley instead of going to the hospital to check on Willow. Cameron blames Esme for his breakup with Josslyn, since they didn't start having problems until the sex tape. Elizabeth thinks that things probably started declining before that, which I guess is her way of saying that they need to take responsibility for their own relationship issues, but he's kind of right (minus the Dex stuff, of course). Sasha and Cody get to know each other better, and he doesn't scream and run away when he learns about all the drama in her life over the past couple of years, so that's a good sign. Alexis and Gregory are basically filler, and she thinks he wants to be a journalist instead of just teaching it.
Sorry, this isn't dramatic enough for me. Carly's just going to tell Nina, and then Nina's going to get mad and they're going to fight, and then she'll get tested and it'll all work out. Next!
Thank God for Drew, who would never in a million years let Carly continue to keep the secret if she hadn't agreed to tell it now.
Dang, Elizabeth, let Cameron blame whoever he wants for the breakup. He's earned it.
A Sasha/Cody pairing kind of seems like a foregone conclusion. I'll allow it.
January 13th, 2023
Carly breaks the news to Nina that she had twins and one of them is Willow. Nina doesn't buy it, thinking Carly's spinning some wild story in an attempt at revenge. Carly reveals that she ran their DNA and will show Nina the results later, but right now she needs to get tested as a marrow donor because she might be the only person who can help Willow. Nina's furious that Carly kept such a big secret, but she acknowledges that Willow's the priority and rushes to see her. Drew tells Michael that Willow is Nina's daughter, leaving out how Carly has known for months. Michael knows he should be the one to inform Willow, but Nina is the last person she wants to talk about. Robert and Jordan have Dante call Josslyn to the police station so they can confront her with surveillance footage showing that someone who resembles her was on the docks right before Britt was attacked. Josslyn hesitates to spill anything, then clams up entirely when Diane arrives. Ultimately she admits that she was on the docks and was Captain Hook's intended target, but Britt saved her and told her to run. Then she fudges some details, saying that she didn't know Britt had died until a few hours ago, and then she got distracted by a family emergency. (Dante: "A family what now?") Spencer's still concerned about Nikolas and Esme's baby, and even hearing from Alexis that Nikolas wants full custody doesn't make him feel better. Alexis enlists him to help brainstorm who Captain Hook might be, which leads to him realizing that Maggie could be involved, or could at least provide useful information. Trina's naïve enough to think that Esme might really have amnesia and soft-hearted enough to feel bad that she could be prosecuted for crimes she doesn't remember committing. Whatever's going on, Trina's ready to put that part of her life behind her and move forward. Portia and Curtis are glad to hear it, but Portia wishes that Trina weren't also moving forward with a friendship with Spencer. She warns that everyone who associates with Cassadines gets hurt and basically forbid Trina from hanging out with Trina. Trina pushes back, and Curtis reminds Portia that her daughter appreciates boundaries, so Portia should tread lightly. Sonny remains in the dark and can't intimidate Drew into telling him why Carly and Nina are having a big secret conversation.
It's not a question of whether Nina will get revenge on Carly for all this, but when.
Okay, now we're just recreating the Sam/Alexis stuff from 17 years ago. What they should have done was have Willow remain unconscious, leaving Michael to make medical decisions for her. Or they could have had Nina try to assert the power to make her medical decisions, if Michael doesn't get it just from being engaged to her.
"You stole my DNA...?" First of all, you stole her husband. Second of all, not the point, Nina.
LOL at Nina calling Carly irresponsible for presenting things as fact without evidence when she spread rumors about Willow and T.J. based on nothing more than assumption.
Another LOL for Josslyn's expression when Diane showed up. It was very "oh, you guys are in for it now."
Ooh, good, we're following up on Maggie. That totally got dropped.
Sorry no one called you about Michael, Dante. But if it's any consolation, changes are really slim that anyone called Kristina, either.
Portia seems to have forgotten that Trina is an adult.
I love that, once again, Drew is anything but intimidated by Sonny and won't tell him anything just because Sonny feels entitled to know what's going on.
January 16th, 2023
Nina tells Willow that she's her biological mother, and though Willow doesn't believe her at first, she does when Michael says he heard the news from Drew. Nina thinks this will lead to a wonderful mother/daughter relationship and she'll be allowed in her grandchildren's lives and they'll all live happily ever after. Willow informs her that she'll accept their connection if it turns out to be true, but they will not be having a relationship. Spencer wants to try to get custody of Nikolas and Esme's baby, which Diane warns could be a long fight that destroys his family. Spencer wants to make sure that his little brother or sister doesn't grow up with a disinterested father like he did, or with...you know, Esme. Nikolas is pretty confident that if Esme doesn't recover her memory and Victor never deploys the leverage he's gathered against Nikolas, he and Elizabeth will be in the clear. Elizabeth seems to have a little sympathy for Esme, since she knows what it's like not to be able to remember everything about her life. She comments that it would be nice if they could ensure that Esme never remembers what they did. Nikolas' face: "Yes, that certainly would be nice, wouldn't it?" Laura chats with Esme, who's under the impression that Spencer is the baby's father and has to be told otherwise. Dante shows her a picture of the Christmas ornament she had on her when she turned up, but she says it's not familiar. Laura's like, "Not to make this about me or anything but this whole situation really isn't going to do anything to help my political career." Sonny still thinks he's entitled to answers about Willow and Nina, and when Drew won't provide them, Carly gives in and explains everything. He accuses her of hiding the truth out of spite instead of her supposed intention to protect Willow. Michael blasts everyone for fighting and ends up venting to Sonny a little, which is definitely a crack in his iciness and will probably be the first step in their eventual, inevitable reconciliation. Drew comes to Carly's defense, so that's probably going to end with a reconciliation, too. Taggert is as unhappy about Trina and Spencer's rekindled friendship as Portia is, so she finds herself in the strange position of trying to talk him down. Curtis joins in, but Taggert doesn't care for his opinion on parenting a child who isn't his. (Cough.)
From the previous for tomorrow's episode, it sounds like Willow might not agree to accept a transplant from Nina, so that could put us back at my idea where Willow loses consciousness and Michael has to make medical decisions for her.
Nina: "I don't want to upset you." Willow: "Epic fail." I'm going to let that go this one time because you're going through a lot, but please don't ever say that again.
Nina says she doesn't want anything in exchange for the transplant, but you know that any time Willow excludes her from now on, she's going to whine that she deserves better after saving Willow's life.
Sonny's going to be like, "Your kid doesn't want to have anything to do with you, Nina? We have more in common than I thought."
You just know Spencer is fantasizing about raising the baby with Trina.
If I had any power over the plot on this show, I would absolutely, 100 percent have her sent to Spring Ridge after she's discharged.
Also, Esme being discharged from the hospital should lessen the chance that she and Willow will have their babies at the same time and there will be some sort of swap. Right?
Thank you, Dante, for immediately going to get tested, unlike SOME people who decided to fight with each other instead.
Hey, guys – just a reminder from hospital personnel that the chapel is for prayer and other religious activities. If you need to have a private conversation about someone's long-lost child or crimes you're covering up, find an empty conference room or something.
January 17th, 2023
Nina's emotions run the gamut from happiness over having a daughter, fear that Willow will die, anger at Carly, and worry that nothing will change and she still won't be allowed around her grandchildren. Sonny is there for support and encouragement. After being filled in on the whole Willow/Nina thing, Sasha wonders if Willow will refuse the transplant because of Nina, and Chase wonders if she'll do something to try to prove she's not like Nina. Willow does want to delay the transplant, since she's not convinced that delivering the baby early is safe, but she assures Michael that if it comes down to having the baby or risking her life, she'll follow Terry's guidance. Desperate to clear Esme's name and start a life with her, Heather plans to kill Josslyn while Esme's in police custody, then run off with her daughter and grandchild. Ryan would like to participate, but he doesn't think Heather's "stab and run" strategy is good enough. It's a moot point, since Esme is brought to Spring Ridge before Heather can cause any trouble. In Paris, Anna and Valentin have been staking out what they think is one of Victor's properties, but it's heavily guarded and there's no way they can get in. The son of one of Victor's guards confirms for them that there's a very talkative American woman inside, and she favors the words "ciao" and "ta." Buoyed by the knowledge that they're close to achieving their goal, Anna and Valentin start looking for access via the catacombs. Victor visits Esme and more or less tries to make her an ally. Martin interrupts and hints to Victor that he might not be able to focus on giving Esme the best defense he can because he's so distraught about Lucy. He adds a warning that everyone's luck eventually runs out.
Nina's justified in blaming Carly for a lot but not her and Willow's rivalry.
It would have been hilarious if Heather had pulled off her big escape, and then moments later, Esme had been brought into Spring Ridge.
Jon Lindstrom cracks me up with Ryan's dry, sarcastic responses to Heather.
This Anna/Valentin stuff is SO BORING. Time to get Lucy and wrap it up.
Fun fact: The boy playing the kid who helped Anna and Valentin is the brother of the girl who plays Violet.
"The police think I killed three people." It's five. Oh, no, Esme forgot math, too!
The Martin/Victor scenes were great. I'd love more of those.
January 18th, 2023
Carly apologizes to Willow for keeping the secret about Nina, swearing that she wouldn't have if she'd known about Willow's health. Michael isn't sure he'll ever be able to forgive her, but Willow has a different perspective on things. While she's not happy with what Carly did and is sure she could have handled the truth, she knows Carly had good intentions and is ready to move on. Nina is practically hyperactive over her chance to save Willow and finally get to have the daughter she's always wanted. She doesn't waver even when T.J. tells her that the process is going to be a little more complicated than just the donation and transplant. Nina wishes Sonny were happier for her, while I wish Sonny would stop treating her like a child and acting like he can buy good health for Willow. Spencer and Ava share their plans for revenge against Nikolas, his to get custody of the baby and hers to get Wyndemere. She thinks he should tell Trina what he's after, as if they're married or something. Spencer would like some help in the custody fight, knowing it's going to be an uphill battle, and Ava happily volunteers herself. Anna and Valentin connect with an old friend of his, Renee, and by "friend" I mean "someone he totally hooked up with on multiple occasions but has no feelings for." She's confident that she can get them through the catacombs and into Victor's compound to get Lucy. Unfortunately, she's a double-crosser and is going to use them to get something from Victor. Esme meets Heather, who's thrilled to be able to spend time with her daughter but comes on waaaaay too strong. She also advises Esme to avoid Ryan, which he's not going to like. Willow asks Sonny to work hard to get Michael's forgiveness so he'll have his father around in case she doesn't survive.
"You know what's really important to me during this big family crisis that I inadvertently contributed to? Knowing how people feel about me." Carly, sit down and be quiet.
That said, I'd just like everyone to remember that Carly did this exact same thing 20 years ago with Sonny and Kristina, and everyone forgave her, including Sonny (especially Sonny), so let's all just chill out.
Not only is everyone banking on Nina being a match for Willow, but they're also banking on the transplant being successful, which might not be the case.
Ugh, Sonny is so condescending.
Spencer and Ava team-up! Spencer and Ava team-up! SPENCER AND AVA TEAM-UP!
I didn't think it was possible but somehow Anna and Valentin's plot got worse.
Willow, Sonny's not the one who needs to put in the work here. It's up to Michael to move past his issues with Sonny. Talk to him about that.
January 19th, 2023
Michael fills Josslyn in on everything, and though she acknowledges that Carly misbehaved, she hates Nina too much to admit that Carly was truly in the wrong. Michael isn't sure he can ever forgive Carly, which I'm sure he also said back when Sonny killed A.J. and covered it up with Carly, and we all know how that turned out. Josslyn advises Michael to cool down before he talks to Carly again, which he definitely doesn't do. Sonny and Carly fight (shocking, I know) about her keeping the Nina/Willow secret, and of course she won't admit that she did anything wrong. She also continues to claim that keeping the secret had nothing to do with getting revenge on Nina, and insists that Willow and Nina's rivalry was firmly in place before she got involved. Nina tells Austin about her...wait, what? (checks notes) Yeah, Austin. She tells Austin about her current situation, and he passes her along to Obrecht. Obrecht is thrilled that Nina has a child she didn't know about and advises her to focus on Willow instead of revenge on Carly. Then she makes plans to go after Esme. Spencer blasts Josslyn for showing up at Kelly's while Cameron's there, as if she knew he would be there or thought he wouldn't be able to handle it. Spencer is firmly Team Cameron in the breakup, and he thinks Josslyn is hiding something, since there was no real reason for her to break up with Cameron. Cameron, that naïve little bunny, sees no reason not to believe Josslyn's opinion that they grew apart. Portia and Curtis ask Marshall to play a clarinet solo at their wedding. He has a bunch of reasons not to, including anxiety and worrying that he'll let them down. Curtis is willing to drop the subject but Portia keeps pressing. She also thinks Marshall was misdiagnosed and should find out for sure if he has schizophrenia. Dex checks in with Michael, but it's really just contrivance so he can be at the hospital at the same time as Josslyn.
Michael's anger at Carly is totally justified but he needs to put it aside right now. He has way too much other stuff going on.
People need to stop debating whether Carly or Nina is the villain. They're both villains. Sometimes there's no good guy.
"This was never about Nina." Please. Just own it.
Nina/Austin scenes? Random.
Austin should have called Maxie. Leave Obrecht alone.
Obrecht is a textbook example of "do as I say, not as I do" right now.
Regardless of why Marshall doesn't want to play at the wedding, his answer was no. Portia needs to accept that.
January 20th, 2023
Michael yells at Carly for a little while, blasting her for doing the same kind of thing Nina's done and playing God with Willow's life. But he also gets why she did what she did, and though he's not ready to forgive her, he's going to put that all aside for now. Josslyn feels guilty for feeling safe and happy with Dex while Michael and Willow are going through something so difficult. Dex convinces her that she's not selfish for taking care of herself. Josslyn thinks Carly did the right thing by keeping her secrets, and she hates that Avery and Donna will grow up thinking Sonny is a good person. She also hates that Dex still works for him. Dex tells her that within six months, he plans to be done with that job, but there's something he needs to take care of first (and Josslyn isn't allowed to ask about it). Elizabeth fills Cameron in on the Corinthos family's newest crisis, and he feels bad for being cold to Josslyn. He goes to her dorm room to smooth things over, but she thinks he's a food delivery person and has Dex let him in...shirtless because they've just had sex. Marshall doesn't want to accept that he might have been misdiagnosed since it means all the decisions he made 40 years ago were for nothing and he's basically wasted his life. He also resists finding out for sure, which Portia and Curtis think is because his life might change. Victor tells Nikolas that he and Ava have worked out the divorce agreement and Ava will be getting Wyndemere. It's that or she'll use the recording of Nikolas' fake confession against him. Nikolas resists, and Victor warns that if Nikolas defies him again, it'll be the last time. Mason is back to say the same stuff he always says, and to ignore Austin when he says he quits, no matter what their boss thinks. Mason mentions that he got close to Georgie recently and will keep hanging around her until he has her trust. As Austin is about to show Mason what he thinks of that (with his hands), Ava catches them. Finn and Elizabeth try to explain to Violet that they've broken up but Violet will still have her ties to Elizabeth and her sons. Then, randomly, Carolyn shows up. It looks like they're testing out an Ava/Austin pairing, for those keeping track of that stuff.
I feel like Michael's response to Carly's actions was really realistic, especially for his character.
Can Dex and Josslyn keep it in their pants for, like, one episode?
Portia saying that Epiphany is a part of Marshall's future was a gut punch.
Hey, Victor, go back to what you were saying about Hayden. Uh, you only said her name. Can you elaborate, please?
I assume Mac didn't see Mason offering Georgie a lollipop, or Mac would be in lockup for murder.
"Fashion first. Maxie taught me that." When has Violet been around Maxie?
January 23rd, 2023
Cameron guesses that Dex is at least part of the reason Josslyn wanted to dump him, no matter how much she insists it's just because they grew apart and her feelings for him changed. He's understandably furious when she tells him that Dex saved her and Britt the night of Britt's death, and she and Dex slept together afterward. Josslyn's like, "I get that you're mad and you definitely don't owe me anything but could you please keep quiet that Dex and I are together?" Spencer tells Sonny that he wants full custody of his little brother or sister, and he's making arrangements now to make himself look like a fit guardian. Sonny doesn't think he's at all prepared to parent. Nikolas also wants full custody of the baby, and Laura's disheartened to hear that he doesn't want Esme in their life at all. Also, she doesn't get why Nikolas hopes that Esme never recovers her memories. Heather rescues Esme from an aggressive inmate and ensures some protection for her. She keeps trying to befriend her daughter, who's still uneasy around her and seems suspicious when Heather says the cops will realize sooner or later that Esme isn't Captain Hook. Elizabeth asks why Carolyn has always stayed with Jeff, even when it felt like she was choosing her husband over her daughter. She's no closer to forgiving her mother for what she and Jeff did, but she now understands the difficulties of doing something you regret to someone you love and then having to deal with the aftermath. Carolyn's in town for a while to consult on a patient, and I'm going to guess that that patient is Esme, because the next place Carolyn goes after seeing Elizabeth is Wyndemere. Sam accompanies Dante to Spring Ridge so she can talk to Esme about Maggie while Dante presses Heather for information on Ryan. Heather claims that Ryan asks about Esme all the time and suggests that she arrange a meetup for them and see if he says anything the police can use. Sam offers to try to find Maggie for Esme, since she might have information about Esme's biological father. Esme likes that idea but Heather doesn't. Ava remembers seeing Mason the night she was hooked, and she mentions that she forgot to tell the police that he was at the picnic. Austin practically encourages her to call them, but he also cautions her to stay out of their business. Dex has something important to discuss with Sonny, and let's hope it's not the revelation that he and Josslyn are...whatever they are.
Cam, cut her out of your life. Anyone who says, "I don't owe you anything" after claiming to want to be friends isn't someone you want as a friend.
Maybe Laura should remind Nikolas that he grew up without a mother and it kind of messed him up. Wait, why do I want her to encourage him to let Esme be around the baby?
I thought Carolyn might be in town to consult on Esme's case, but the fact that Nikolas is behind that...honestly, that sounds exactly like something he would do.
Elizabeth doesn't get to question why Carolyn stays with Jeff after all the times she went back to Ric knowing what kind of person he was.
Sam: "I don't think you're the Hook." Esme: "And those other things?" Sam: "Yeah, well, you did those." Hee. I don't know why I found that so funny.
January 24th, 2023
Josslyn begs Cameron not to let Sonny find out that she and Dex are...whatever, in case Sonny turns on him. Cameron would love to spill her secret, but putting someone in danger would make him just as bad as Josslyn, so he'll keep quiet, at least for now. Dex tells Sonny what happened with him, Josslyn, and Britt on New Year's Eve, leaving out the stuff he and Josslyn did after they got to his place. Sonny acts like he's fine with everything, other than the fact that Dex took so long to tell him, but later asks someone to check up on Dex. Nikolas keeps most of the details of what's going on with Esme to himself as he asks Carolyn to repress her memories the way she did Elizabeth's 25 years ago. Carolyn refuses, having learned from her mistakes. Plus, she thinks Nikolas has selfish motives and doesn't trust him. Elizabeth wonders if she's ready to move on from what her parents did to her and start forgiving them. Laura encourages her to give them a second chance. Also, if she wants to talk about anything else bothering her, especially anything that involves Nikolas, Laura would be happy to listen. Renee takes Anna and Valentin into the catacombs, trying to get Valentin alone so she can seduce him. Valentin has to walk a fine line between rejecting her, which will risk losing her help, and letting herself get close so she'll think she has a chance with him. Anyway, they find Lucy, so now it's just a matter of getting her out of Victor's clutches. Sam and Maxie are mostly the filler, recapping some stuff about Esme and Captain Hook. Sam and Dante are going to go to London to look for Maggie, and Maxie thinks they should take advantage of their time alone to get romantic.
Ooh, look at Ms. I Don't Owe You Anything acting like Cameron owes her something.
I love that Carolyn's like, "I don't know you or anything about your dynamic with Elizabeth but if you're having problems, I'm going to assume it's because of you."
I can't wait until Nikolas starts dropping all the balls he's been trying to keep in the air. I'm going to laugh so hard.
Anna and Valentin should probably be suspicious that finding Lucy was so easy.
January 25th, 2023
Anna and Valentin are in the process of freeing Lucy when Renee pulls a gun on them and yells for backup. They call Victor, who orders his minions to kill Anna and lock Victor and Lucy up. But Anna has been on to Renee since she made her deal with Victor, and she's ensured the tunnel they're in will flood and kill the bad guys. She, Valentin, and Lucy escape, but now they need to stay underground and make everyone think they're dead. Carly comforts Josslyn over her big blowup with Cameron and tries to make sure she's really up for a relationship with Dex. Meeting Jason was a defining moment in her life, and she sees this time in Josslyn's as the same for her. Josslyn acknowledges that she can't go back and can't stop feeling the way she does about Dex, so she'll have to get used to being with someone who lives a dangerous life and works for someone she hates. Spencer and Trina offer Cameron some support, but his mood doesn't improve, and he complains that they shouldn't even be hanging out since they don't need to trick Esme anymore. They decide to keep up their fake-dating ruse anyway, as it doesn't look like Esme is Captain Hook, and they'll continue it when Trina attends Britt's funeral with Spencer. They discuss Nikolas, Esme, and the baby, and Spencer starts to share his plan to get custody. Drew tells Olivia about his falling-out with Carly, and though Olivia can't explicitly support what she did, she doesn't think Carly meant any harm. Also, Drew knew who he was getting involved with. Not that that makes it any easier for him to accept that Carly lied to him and he can't trust her anymore. Laura's worried that Martin is going to take Cyrus' suggestion that they work together to take down Victor. Instead, he plans to use his role as Esme's lawyer as leverage, which Laura doesn't see as any better of an idea. Charlotte thinks Victor is the reason Valentin has been away, and she doesn't hide her disdain for her grandfather. He thinks she'll eventually come around on him, especially since he'll be the only way she gets her father back.
So instead of revealing that Lucy's alive, we're going to fake Anna and Valentin's deaths, too? Yargh.
Guys, stop trying to make "cataphile" happen.
Have Trina and Josslyn not talked for three weeks?
I kind of wish Olivia had taken things a step farther with Drew and been like, "You knew who Carly was when you got together; you probably should have seen this coming."
"I'd be embarrassed to break up with Cam." Heh. Cameron's face when Spencer said that was great, too.
Laura: "Please tell me that you're not going to use a pregnant girl who has traumatic memory loss as leverage." Martin: "...A little?" Ha! He's been a great addition to the show.
I want Charlotte's sparkly red sweater.
January 26th, 2023
Sasha encourages Nina to keep trying to connect with Willow and show her the person Sasha came to love. That whole thing gets put on hold, though, when the news comes that Nina isn't a match, and Willow's back to the drawing board for donors. Trina doesn't think that Spencer is in any way prepared to be a parent and hasn't thought through how much it would affect his life. For one thing, he won't have a social life and might have trouble finding someone who wants to date a guy with a child. Spencer asks if she would be hesitant to date him if he had a child – er, he means any guy with a child, not just him! The conversation veers toward their relationship, because it's definitely gone beyond their fake-dating ruse. Trina doesn't reveal her feelings, but she acknowledges that they're friends and that Spencer has become a better person. Nikolas signs the divorce papers and gives Ava everything she asked for, including Wyndemere. She's prepared to be completely done with him, but he thinks one day she'll realize all the sacrifices he made and will want to get back together. Carly apologizes to Drew again, and now that he's had time to think about her lies, he's decided he can move past them. And he's moving pretty quickly, because they go directly to her house and have sex. Gladys owes Selina a ton of money, and Selina's ready to collect. Gladys offers her Brando's garage, promising that Sasha won't get in the way of the transaction. Cody might, though, since he eavesdrops and now knows that Gladys is keeping big secrets from Sasha. Willow is still giving people advice (like Brook, about Chase) because she's basically the new Emily and can never stop being a good person. Mac worries about Cody's association with Selina just like he would about his own child. He and Felicia chat with Cody about Britt's memorial, which he's not sure he wants to attend. Ned puts aside his rivalry with Michael to be nice to him and Willow.
Admittedly, I know next to nothing about this stuff, but when Kristina needed a bone marrow transplant, she got cord blood, so would that work for Willow, too?
Every time Nicholas Chavez is on screen, half of my thoughts are solely about how much I enjoy watching him. Whereas when Marcus Coloma is on screen, half of my thoughts are variations on, "Oh, you're still here?"
"I'm owning my mistakes." Ha! Tell me another one, Nikolas.
Yep, I didn't think they'd go through all that build-up just to have Carly and Drew split up. That's why I don't think Brook and Chase are completely done, either.
$175,000! Freaking A, Gladys! You are really bad at poker!
January 27th, 2023
Laura tells Victor and Alexis that French officials contacted her with the news that Valentin is dead. Victor's angry at his minions for letting his plans get screwed up, since Valentin was never supposed to get hurt. It turns out that Laura and Alexis both know that Valentin, Anna, and Lucy are all alive and safe. So do Robert and Felicia, who help arrange a reunion between Lucy and Martin. Anna and Valentin hope that Victor's grief and guilt will make him spill something they can use against him, but Victor isn't convinced that Valentin is dead, which might throw a wrench in the works. Terry isn't optimistic that the donor registry will produce a match for Willow, so she suggests using stem cells from the baby's cord blood. Willow resists, still not wanting to deliver the baby early, but a visit from Wiley improves her spirits and she decides it's time to move forward so she can try to save herself. Nina feels helpless since she can't do anything to help Willow, who wants nothing to do with her. She doesn't think she'll survive losing another child. Ava urges her to keep showing up and seeing what she can do anyway. Drew and Carly are back to sneaking around to avoid SEC charges, but they continue to be bad at it, and Nina sees them hugging. Lucy more or less proposes to Martin, asking him to be by her side for life.
Laura seemed a little too shifty for me to believe that she wasn't in on the lie about Valentin, but I totally bought it from Alexis. Her knowing the truth explains why she picked up her phone when she saw Victor – she was cueing Laura to come yell at him.
So it's going to end up not mattering that Nina is Willow's mother? That feels so anticlimactic.
When Terry was talking about the cord blood, all I heard was that I'm basically an oncologist.
At first I didn't get why it matters that Nina saw Carly and Drew hugging, but a bunch of people noted that she could get them busted for insider training. Though she would once again be causing trouble because she saw two people hugging.
Not that I was against Martin and Lucy's relationship before but Michael E. Knight's acting while Lucy was gone has really made me root for them.
January 30th, 2023
Nina offers to let Willow unleash her feelings on her, since she's probably hiding them from the Corinthoses, especially Michael. Willow resists, not wanting to lose her boundaries or make any kind of connection with Nina yet. Sonny is much better than Nina at letting his estranged child know he's around, but it's still not clear whether he'll be allowed to meet his newest grandchild. Stella's in town to help out with Portia and Curtis' wedding, and it only takes her about five minutes to get in the middle of everything. After Marshall and Curtis have shut her out of anything involving Marshall's diagnosis, Stella brings up the genealogy site that connected her to her cousin, and Trina mentions that she had a DNA match in town, too. When she says that Jordan asked her about it, Stella starts getting suspicious. Carly and Drew catch themselves before they can get too intimidate, and they remind themselves that they need to keep PDAs private. Nina doesn't let them know that she saw them together, instead just making other complaints about Carly. Jordan discussed Trina with Taggert off-screen, and she tells Portia that they're concerned about security at the wedding. Portia thinks this is another attempt by Jordan to get Curtis back, and she even accuses Jordan of using Trina to drive a wedge between them. Jordan's like, "You have no idea everything I have done to save you and your family from some very serious legal trouble, so you would be wise to show me a little more respect." Anna and Valentin are bummed to be separated from their families, especially since they missed the holidays together, so Felicia brings Charlotte to visit. He's happy that she won't have to believe he's dead, and she's happy that Anna has done so well protecting her father. Marshall reveals to Curtis that he had the genetic testing done already to see if he really has schizophrenia, and he's ready to let his loved ones in no matter what the results say. Maxie and Sasha talk about grief and how Sasha isn't sure she's ready to let Gladys sell Brando's garage.
If I were Jordan, I would be really tempted to drop hints for Stella and let her take things from there.
The Portia/Jordan stuff keeps making Portia look worse.
I liked Charlotte's sweater today, too. Do I just have the taste of a 13-year-old?
"I need him to live in fear of me." Hee. Felicia became enjoyable so slowly that I didn't notice it happening.
Stop mentioning Nathan. It just makes me miss him more.
January 31st, 2023
Things go smoothly with the delivery of Michael and Willow's baby, until, of course, they don't. Willow ends up seeing a bright light and getting a greeting from Harmony. With some small hints from Jordan, Stella puts together that Curtis may be Trina's biological father. She wants to tell him and/or confront Portia, but Jordan thinks those are bad ideas when they don't know for sure. She also wants to put the burden on Portia, which Stella isn't about to do. Ava gives Spencer a link to the video of Nikolas' confession, in case Spencer wants to deploy it. Spencer is willing to risk completely severing his relationship with his father to get an advantage in the custody case. Trina doesn't like the idea of Spencer playing this dirty, but she watches the video with him anyway. Nikolas takes Carolyn to meet Esme, expecting that Carolyn will do what he wants and repress Esme's memories. When Carolyn discovers that Esme is pregnant, she protests. Esme finally gets some clarification on the baby when Nikolas tells her that he's the father. Drew fills Curtis in on the Willow/Nina situation (he's totally out of the loop), and Curtis comments that it's a good thing Drew and Carly never got together. He can't believe Drew is already moving past Carly's lies, because if someone close to him kept a big secret like Carly did, he wouldn't be nearly as forgiving. Josslyn talks to Trina about her and Cameron's breakup, leaving out Dex's involvement and the big fight she and Cameron had after he caught them together.
Yeah, like they'd kill Willow off after all this. Also: Yeah, like Harmony will be wherever Willow goes after she dies. Harmony's burning in Hell, is where she is.
"Are you telling me that you think Curtis and Portia are related to each other?" Ooooh, so close, Stella.
Jordan, seriously, wash your hands of this and just sit back and watch what happens. Odds are that Stella will get the truth out one way or another, and you'll be in the clear.
The question is, will Spencer and Trina think Nikolas' confession is from what happened to Esme just before she turned up on the Haunted Star or from her original disappearance?
No offense to Adam Huss but buddy, you are not the guy we wanted to see today.
I guess Nikolas isn't worried that Esme seeing him will trigger her memory.
Hmm, I figured T.J. would be Curtis' best man. Good for Drew.