General Hospital blog - July, 2025
July 1st, 2025
Kristina's reaction to the fire is to stand there staring at it for a stupidly long time, failing to put it out with a nearly empty fire extinguisher, and then just standing there again instead of running for the back door, what is wrong with you, you moron? Marco sees the fire on his way to the hotel and saves her. The guard assigned to get Natalia to the plane is clueless about the fact that she's passed out in her room, and he flees just as Chase shows up to check on her. Despite the best efforts of Chase, then Isaiah and Elizabeth at the hospital, Natalia dies. Pending an autopsy, Anna and Chase aren't sure if she died from the pills and alcohol or if the guard Chase saw outside her room was fleeing because he'd just killed her and set things up to make it look like an overdose. Alexis insists on reviewing some paperwork with Sidwell instead of just letting Marco file it, and he spends the whole episode trying to get rid of her. That's because he's responsible for the fire and can't follow up with her there. But he didn't want the fire set while anyone was in the building, and he knows that if Kristina was injured or killed, he's in for some major trouble. Sonny and Jason find it suspicious that Marco happened to show up at Charlie's just after it was set on fire. Alexis, however, blames Sonny for everything. The fire brings up horrible memories for Michael, who confides to Sasha that he's not as healed as he's let on. He promises that Daisy will never face the danger he did as a child, and he's now more motivated than ever to protect all three of his kids. Lucas learns about Natalia's death from Elizabeth, who calls because she knew he and Marco were going to be together that evening. He's confused and worried about where Marco went instead of the hotel, but at least he's able to tell the police that Natalia was drunk earlier, which could help them determine that she wasn't murdered. Just hearing about the fire upsets Carly, who's reminded how easily one of her children could be harmed by their father's enemies. Molly is (contrivedly) at the Quartermaines' when news of the fire spreads, and Cody offers to take her to Charlie's to make sure Kristina's okay. He tries to help her stay calm instead of worrying about the worst-case scenario. Brennan stops by Carly's house, having followed Josslyn there, to discuss her and Vaughn's plans for Emma. Josslyn notes that he didn't have to talk to her in person and guesses that he was hoping to run into Carly. Brennan doesn't appreciate that, but she keeps poking at him, asking if he's told the WSB that he's dating the mother of one of his agents.
Once again, Kristina proves that she's completely useless in a crisis. Can a person have a negative amount of survival instincts?
It sounds like Natalia was dead by the time Chase found her, so hopefully, Marco won't feel like he could have saved her if he hadn't stopped to help Kristina.
Jason: "There's a fire at Charlie's." Sonny: (no change in facial expression). You know, Charlie's? The place your daughter just went? Hello?
Michael mentioning that he has nerve issues and still takes pain pills sometimes makes me predict an addition storyline.
July 2nd, 2025
Once Marco and the police have put together the events of Natalia's day, Marco accuses Sonny of killing her. Lucas doesn't want to go down that road, but he tells Elizabeth that Natalia's death on top of the fire at Charlie's sounds like the beginning of a mob war. Sidwell informs Selina that he used two of her associates for the fire, so when Sonny eventually tracks down the culprits, it'll look like Selina was responsible. Selina figures she can just go to him now and tell him the truth, but Sidwell suspects that he would just kill her and ask questions later. This leaves Selina with no choice but to leave the country, knowing she can likely only return after Sonny's dead. Sidwell hurries to be with Marco as soon as he hears about Natalia's death from Lucas. He's shocked to learn that Marco couldn't get to his mother before she died because he stopped to save Kristina from the fire Sidwell ordered. Sonny and Jason both suspect that Sidwell was behind the fire, and if they're right, Sonny wants to retaliate eye-for-an-eye-style by killing Marco (yes, even though he just saved Kristina's life). Anna comes by with the news that Natalia's dead and one of Sonny's guys was seen on surveillance footage paying her a visit, which means Sonny's a person of interest in a possible murder. Brook tells Tracy about the dirty money that accidentally got invested in Deception and tries to convince her to bury the information. Instead, Tracy wants to go straight to Turner and make it clear that they were innocent bystanders. Brook balks at anything that will cause trouble for Sonny, not just because of her relationship with him but because of his relationship with Gio. Tracy agrees to leave Brook out of it and pursue the takedown herself. Chase's revelation that Natalia's dead and Sonny might have been involved make Tracy desperate to get Gio away from him immediately. Josslyn is, of course, Team Sonny Is a Danger to Everyone Around Him, and she lets Vaughn know exactly how much she hates him. She admits that part of the reason she joined the WSB was that she hopes to one day be high up enough to take Sonny down. She thinks that confession could get her fired, but Vaughn hints that he has similar motives for joining the organization. Then they make out. Gio wants to drop out of college since he's supposed to have a music scholarship and doesn't plan to go back to the violin. Emma urges him not to do anything just yet, since he might feel different later. She enlists him to help her take down Dalton, warning that it might involve some less-than-legal activities. Despite Alexis' anger at Sonny, Kristina tells Molly that she doesn't think it had anything to do with him.
Fair enough that Anna and Marco would suspect that Sonny had Natalia killed, but with pills and alcohol? Anna should know that's not his style. It would be more believable for him to make it look like she fled the country (without his help, of course).
I like the slow rollout of revelations about Sidwell's schemes.
The Selina stuff is ridiculous. If she really believes that Sonny would kill her on sight (which he wouldn't), she knows she could approach Jason instead.
Phew, I'm glad we got Josslyn's input on the fire. I was worried we wouldn't.
July 3rd, 2025
Brook fills Maxie in on Deception's dirty-money problem, and Maxie, like Tracy, wants to be proactive and tell the police everything. She accidentally finds Brook's file on Rocco, and Brook confesses that she was going to use the circumstances of Rocco's birth to get revenge on Lulu. Maxie points out that hurting Rocco in the process of exposing his mother as a liar is a horrible idea, and Brook agrees, which is why she never planned to follow through. Unable to find anything helpful about Britt after reading Brook's Rocco file, Rocco and Danny turn to Emma. She tells them a little about Britt's relationship with Patrick and her lie that she was pregnant with his child, remembering at the last minute that the baby she was carrying was actually Rocco. She won't tell them any more, but she basically encourages Rocco to keep digging. Instead, Rocco goes straight to Lulu and asks her about Britt. Turner tries to get Sonny to talk to her off the record about Natalia's death and any involvement he might have had. He turns it around on her, saying that she must blame herself because she put pressure on Natalia that she couldn't handle. Willow hangs out at the Metro Court pool around the time of Wiley's swimming lesson, which doesn't sit well with Michael. Wiley does get to spend a few minutes with his mother, and Michael gets to see firsthand how miserable he is being kept from her. Tracy's worried for Gio's safety because of who his grandfather is, and she urges him to move back in with the Quartermaines, because she thinks they can keep him safer than (checks notes) the police commissioner can. Gio appreciates her concern and says he'll think about it, but he guesses that her real motive is to get him away from Sonny. Tracy tries to use the fire and Morgan's death as object lessons, but Gio has no intention of turning on Sonny. Lulu urges Laura to publicly disavow Sonny, even if it's not sincere, so the voters don't turn on her. Laura feels like she would be choosing between her family and her morals, and either way, she could be playing into Ezra and Sidwell's hands. Speaking of Sidwell, she's pretty sure he was responsible for the fire, and she goes to Sonny hoping to get more out of him on the coming violence he mentioned before. Dante tells Jason that the police tied two of Selina's men to the fire, but they agree that Sidwell was probably behind it. They do that whole song and dance where Dante's all "I'm going to pretend you'll listen to me when I tell you not to do anything illegal" and Jason's all "I'm going to pretend to listen to you when you tell me not to do anything illegal." After hearing Willow tell Kai how highly Drew thinks of him, Trina raises her concerns – not over Kai's tightness with Drew but over the possibility that he'll get dragged into some Quartermaine madness he's not ready for.
How has Rocco never heard about this big thing everyone in town knows about?
See, Sidwell miscalculated with his attempt to frame Selina. Three people are already on to him.
Sending Gio to talk to Kristina isn-t going to work, Tracy. She-s president of Sonny's fan club and doesn't even think the fire had anything to do with him.
Why are Wiley's swimming lessons at the Metro Court anyway? The Quartermaines have a pool.
July 7th, 2025
Dante and Lulu tell Rocco all the details about his conception and birth, reassuring him that he's their biological child. It takes him a little while to accept everything, and though he's upset that they never told him any of this before, it looks like he'll be okay. Lulu quickly puts together who was responsible for him making the discovery, and she immediately goes to confront Brook. It looks like whoever's been circling Daisy has finally pulled the trigger and taken her. Josslyn and Vaughn agree to never discuss their kiss again, which is pretty amazing considering they have to work so closely with each other. They turn their focus to Emma and how best to steer her away from Dalton. Vaughn wants to bond with her over something she dislikes, and Josslyn realizes that she's the best fit for that category. She and Vaughn stage a public breakup, and Emma quickly befriends Vaughn over their shared annoyance with Josslyn. He's easily able to convince her that he's into animal rights. When Josslyn returns to watch the fireworks, Emma puts her arm through Vaughn's like they're dating, and it's not clear if Josslyn's disapproving look is real or fake. Anna suspects that Sidwell had something to do with Natalia's death, but he argues that he had no motive. I guess Natalia cheated on him while they were married, and Anna thinks that's enough. But Natalia's autopsy confirms that she died of a lethal combination of alcohol and pills, and with no evidence that anyone forced her to drink or take anything, her death is officially ruled an accident. Marco doesn't believe that, and Sidwell is all in for whatever he wants to do in response. Gio turns to Carly for the truth about whether Sonny is a good guy or a bad guy. She acknowledges that Sonny's life choices haven't been the best and have put his loved ones in danger, but he's a good person, and it says a lot that Michael and Dante have both walked away and come back to him. Gio decides that if he wants to know more, he'll consider talking to one of them. Brook and Cody have apparently been avoiding each other since the Nurses' Ball, but they finally cross paths. Long story short, they agree not to hold anything against each other for how everything with Gio played out, since neither of them meant to hurt anyone. Ezra films Laura and Sonny hugging, but since he recorded them in an interrogation room without their consent, Laura is able to get a cop to make him erase the footage. Michael and Sasha may be inching toward getting back together.
[Insert hilarious comment here about how the real fireworks are going to be between Brook and Lulu.]
The way Lulu treated Rocco's questions made it out like things were much more serious than they actually were. In the end, it could all be summed up with, "Sorry we never told you, but you were carried by a surrogate like your sister was."
Also, buddy, if your parents didn't want you, they would have let Britt keep you.
Josslyn pretending to look down on Vaughn because he's a janitor was a smart thing to throw in, since it reinforces Emma's view of her as an elitist.
Speaking of Josslyn and Vaughn, they need to be quieter when they're plotting in public. Someone's going to overhear them.
I was going to say that Carly was a good person for Gio to talk to about Sonny, but then she went and made excuses for how he got into the mob.
Cody: "It's been exactly a year since I told Mac he was my father." Michael: "Cool. It's been exactly a year since my wife kissed my uncle." Way to kill the mood, Cody.
July 8th, 2025
After a thorough search for Daisy, she turns up in a crib in the living room, totally fine. Olivia thinks that Sasha may be overwhelmed by new motherhood and hormones, and Chase worries that whatever's going on with her could put Daisy in danger. But Sasha has reason to be concerned that someone's messing with Daisy, because it turns out that Willow snuck into the house and briefly took her to get revenge on Sasha and Michael. Brook and Lulu basically spend half an hour fighting over which of them is a worse person than the other. Gio breaks up the argument, but as a parting shot, Lulu tells him what Brook did to Rocco. Now Gio's even madder at Brook than before, and Brook/Lulu relations are at an all-time low. Rocco asks Jason about Britt, knowing that they were friends and Jason will tell him more than his parents would. Jason talks about how Britt regretted her decisions and became a better person, and Rocco decides he appreciates her because he might never have been born without her. Lulu is understandably furious when she hears that Jason said nice things about the woman who stole her child. Ava's been going overboard with the blackmail money, using more than she should to pay for upgrades at the gallery. When Ric calls her out on it, she busts him for spending time with Elizabeth and lying about it. He claims it's all innocent and promises to come to a show opening, but considering he earlier invited Elizabeth to the symphony, Ava's right to be wary. Alexis still isn't full on board with Kristina's plan to use Cody to drive Ric and Ava apart, but she's looking forward to the two of them turning on each other. Ric comes by to discuss "business" with Alexis, who's pleasantly surprised when Kristina doesn't mention anything about his and Ava's blackmail. Apparently Kristina is finally learning from her mistakes, and she thinks that keeping quiet about what she knows could be to their advantage. Mac and Felicia reveal themselves as Molly/Cody shippers, but he's a lot more open about it than she is, inviting Molly to have dinner with him, Cody, and Felicia sometime. Felicia wants Cody to do what he wants rather than be pressured, but Mac thinks that Molly could be really good for him. She's definitely better for him than Ava, who freaks out a little when Cody kisses her. Sidwell feeds Marco's belief that Sonny killed Natalia by suggesting that he did it because Natalia told Sidwell about his heart condition. Sidwell vows to get revenge, which Marco wants to be a part of. Portia is a little less serious about Elizabeth and Ric needing to never get back together than I would like her to be.
You know, I had suspicions about Willow, but I didn't really give them much thought because I didn't think she could keep getting in and out of the mansion without being seen. Silly me. Also, why isn't she sneaking in to see her kids instead of messing with Daisy?
I wish they hadn't made it so obvious that Willow was behind the Daisy stuff. It's a good thing they revealed it in this episode, because dragging out the mystery would have been a dumb move.
Is there something about fireworks that makes Willow lose her mind?
Let's hope this doesn't end up with Sasha back in a psych facility.
Okay, here's what we're going to do. Brook and Lulu are both going to acknowledge that they've made bad decisions. They're going to call it even, and then they're going to spend the rest of their lives avoiding each other.
Ugh, another Britt apologist. Cut it out, Rocco.
July 9th, 2025
Sasha worries that Michael thinks she's crazy or otherwise not well for believing that someone's targeting Daisy. He actually agrees that something strange is going on and that they need to do something to protect their daughter. He doesn't agree, however, with Sasha's decision to take Daisy and go into hiding. Kai doesn't regret telling Drew the truth about Jacinda, but he doesn't like that he betrayed his girlfriend's parents, so he plans to come clean and just hope that Trina can move past it. Felicia found Jacinda and made arrangements for her to come back to Port Charles, but she's now disappeared. Felicia guesses that she got cold feet, but Curtis suspects that Drew got to her, which means someone must have tipped him off. Lucas asks Carly to appeal to Sonny not to go after Marco. Carly doesn't think she has that kind of influence, but she also thinks that Sonny won't go after Marco, so we're not going to consider her view too much. Cody tells Kristina that he may have ruined their plans by kissing Ava, even though he was pretty sure the circumstances were right. Since Ava didn't banish him or anything, Kristina thinks there's still an opening there. Molly finds them talking and Kristina easily makes up a story about him coming by to see if she was okay after the fire. Molly's only suspicious because Ava comes up and Kristina doesn't take the opportunity to trash her or caution Cody against spending time with her. Kristina guesses that Molly likes Cody, which Molly protesteth too much about. Ric invites Elizabeth to an exhibit at Ava's gallery (just as a friend! Seriously, he's not expecting anything else!), and she agrees to hang out with him. She tells Lucas that she's made her boundaries clear, and this gallery visit will be a test of whether Ric understands them. Lucas points out that if he doesn't, Ava will make her feelings known, so he'll suffer the consequences. Carly chastises Willow for approaching Wiley at the pool and threatens to have her banned if she pulls another stunt like that. Willow goes whining to Drew, and they sing another verse of "Everyone Is Against Us But We Have Done Nothing Wrong and Are Simply Innocent Victims, and Also, Getting Married Is a Fantastic Idea." Ava admires the maturity of Trina and Kai's relationship, mostly because she and Ric haven't accomplished that. She and Cody clear the air about their kiss, but it's Ric who makes peace better, with flowers and extra money. Jordan has decided to cut ties with Curtis socially so Portia doesn't get the wrong idea about the nature of their relationship. Curtis learns about their confrontation at the pool, which Portia didn't mention to him before. Sonny feels kind of bad about the way things turned out for Natalia, but he's mostly just relieved that there's nothing tying him to her death. He and Jason suspect that the same person who set the fire at Charlie's isn't the same one who firebombed the penthouse or sent the hitwoman after Sonny in L.A., and they're pretty sure that Selina had nothing to do with any of it, but the guys who burned down Charlie's are dead, so they can't get any further information. Sonny remains committed to sending a message to Sidwell that children are no longer off-limits.
Sasha. Please. Get a bodyguard and/or a nanny cam. This will be wrapped up by the end of the week. Or, if you still insist on leaving town, go see your parents.
Sasha should also bring up (not to Michael; I'm pleasantly surprised that he agrees with her) that everyone heard Daisy on the baby monitor during the fireworks, and if the monitor was in the nursery, Sasha couldn't have left her in another room and just forgot.
I will never not love it when two actors are doing a dramatic scene and a baby is just smiling away.
Are we going to do a Molly/Cody/Ava love triangle? No one could have ever predicted that.
I can't believe Drew hasn't suggested that he and Willow have a baby. That's what everyone needs to be worried about.
July 10th, 2025
Michael is supportive of Sasha's decision to leave town, and he asks Jason to help her go into hiding. Jason admits that Sam was right to keep Danny from him because of the danger surrounding his job, and he thinks Sasha's doing the right thing now. Though devastated that he might never see Daisy again, Michael is committed to his promise never to put his kids in the same danger he was in as a child. Kai confesses to Curtis that he's the one who told Drew the truth about Jacinda. He makes no apologies for that, since he couldn't let Portia and Curtis commit crimes against his boss. Curtis tells him he's getting involved in something he shouldn't. Drew threatens to reveal all of Curtis and Portia's secrets if Curtis doesn't publish an article about Sonny and Natalia's relationship and the results of her autopsy. Curtis folds, of course, which means now he's going to have Sonny as an enemy. Ezra tries to deepen Marco's hatred for Sonny, but it backfires. When the press comes to question him about Natalia, and Ezra urges him to trash Sonny, Marco disapproves of the way he's handling a tragedy and trying to use Marco as a pawn. He also disapproves of Laura's friendship with Sonny, so he doesn't appreciate her friendliness toward him or the fact that she sides with him against Ezra. Sidwell asks Jordan to convince Anna not to close the investigation into Natalia's death. As Gio eavesdrops, he tells her that Sonny was going to send Natalia to Belize to disappear. Gio goes straight to Sonny and fills him in. Sonny tells Gio to listen to Tracy and stay away from him. With Ava giving his attention to Ric, Cody turns his to Elizabeth, which has the intended effect of making Ric jealous. Carly can't get Sonny to listen to her concerns that using Marco to retaliate against Sidwell will just lead to more violence and possibly the loss of another child. Martin got his insurance reinstated, thanks to Stella, but she fudged some details about a preexisting condition to do it, so she doesn't want that spread around. Emma rubs it in Josslyn's face that she's spending time with Vaughn, and Josslyn definitely doesn't like it. Portia doesn't buy Jordan's claim that she's staying out of everything going on with her and Curtis.
Between Jason, Michael, and Sasha, I figure at least one would guess that Willow's messing with Daisy.
Let's give Cody a big round of applause for being a surprisingly brilliant strategist.
Hey, Ezra, your first mistake was bugging a lawyer.
Sonny really needs to tell Carly that he's trying to get out of the business.
July 11th, 2025
Lulu tells Laura about Rocco's big discovery and how difficult it's been for him to accept it. Rocco confides to his grandmother that he feels like he wouldn't have been born without Britt's interference, which means his parents may not have wanted him. Laura assures him that they did, and that they see him as a miracle, just like it's a miracle that Lulu came out of her coma. Rocco seems to get it, but then he emails Obrecht, so obviously he still has questions. Trina is furious with Kai, seeing his choice to put Drew before her family as betrayal. He won't back down from thinking he did the right thing, and he even thinks that she wouldn't respect him if he'd let Drew have something pinned on him that he didn't do. Trina doesn't care about that, and she also doesn't care about Kai's last-minute declaration of love, so this could be the end of them for good. Dante confronts Brook for the Rocco situation, which angers Michael, as if he has any idea what's going on or any involvement in the situation. Brook is genuinely sorry for the way things played out, but her bigger issue right now is that Gio's mad at her about it. Anna crashes a date between Emma and Vaughn, wanting to know more about the older man her granddaughter is hanging out with. When she learns that he's in the facilities department at PCU, she suspects that Emma's using him in her mission to bring down Dalton. Vaughn secretly summons Josslyn, who tells him to choose between her and Emma. He chooses Josslyn, hoping to get Anna's attention off of him. Emma seems disappointed, but it's probably a cover, because she got something she needed out of the date: Vaughn's keys. Curtis tells Portia that Drew's playing another round of What Kind of Stuff Can I Get Curtis and Portia to Do? and now he's going to be on Sonny's bad side. Portia storms out, because she's a child, but later she acknowledges that if her marriage ends, it'll be her fault. Isaiah doesn't think she should have to jump through hoops for her marriage, and he advises her to start playing her own game. I suspect that whatever game she decides to play, it's going to involve him. Tracy asks Chase to try to get Brook to back down from whatever she might be plotting as revenge against Lulu. Chase doesn't want her asking him to police his wife, something he would never do, and though he won't admit it, he probably wants Brook to get whatever revenge she wants. Curtis gives Michael a heads up about his anti-Sonny article, which at least means that Michael will give Sonny the same heads up and hopefully save Curtis from retaliation. Michael doesn't love this turn of events, but he gets that Curtis has to prioritize his family.
Dang it, Rocco! Now she's going to come back!
Why can Brook acknowledge that her actions accidentally affected Rocco when she didn't want them to but not that Lulu's actions accidentally affected Gio when she didn't want them to? I mean, I know why, but it's so frustrating that Lulu's been vilified for something she didn't mean to happen.
Go play white knight for someone else, Michael. Dante has every right to be mad at Brook.
Interesting that Vaughn decided that getting Anna off his back was more important than keeping close ties with Emma.
If Emma was able to snag Vaughn's keys without him noticing, Brennan needs to recruit her immediately.
July 14th, 2025
Alexis tries to convince Marco that Sonny didn't kill Natalia, which I'm sure he's happy to discuss the morning of his mother's funeral. Not that he's going to make it there, since Jason kidnaps him before he can go. I'm not really sure how, but Emma uses Outback the dog and Dalton's annoyance with Danny and Rocco to get volunteer hours with Dalton. Brennan tells Vaughn and Josslyn to fully commit to their fake relationship so Anna drops her suspicions. Cloning Dalton's phone paid off, even though there's nothing on it – that means he's using a messenger to communicate with whoever he's working for. That messenger is Sidwell, who tells Dalton that their "mutual friend" is very displeased with his lack of progress in his research. Michael tells Sonny and Carly that Sasha's leaving town with Daisy because someone's messing with the baby. Sonny thinks it's because of him. Isaiah makes Willow and Lucas play nice while the three of them are working together. Willow vents to him about Michael, and Isaiah notes that she's angrier than she's ever been while discussing her ex. Lulu and Jason make peace over what he told Rocco about Britt, but Lulu wants that to be the end of it, since she can't have Jason saying nice things about a woman she wants Rocco to know is a monster. Anna requests a background check on Vaughn and is more suspicious than ever when it comes back squeaky clean. Felicia thinks she's being overprotective (and also needs to chill about Emma and Vaughn's age gap, considering her own experiences with an older man), but Anna believes that Vaughn and Dalton are connected and is determined to prove it. Alexis enlists Lulu to find out from Curtis who's behind the Aurora article about Sonny possibly having Natalia killed. Sidwell and Lucy are mostly filler as he makes himself look like a good person by claiming to be upset over Natalia's death. She offers to try to get Aurora to retract the did-Sonny-kill-Natalia story for Marco's sake, as if that'll make any difference.
On the one hand, Vaughn doesn't seem to have noticed that his keys are gone, which makes him a less-than-stellar spy. On the other hand, he's on Anna's radar for a completely different reason than he thinks, so he must be doing something right.
I want to see Dalton try to get Carly and Olivia to fire Danny (Carly's best friend's son, Olivia's almost-stepgrandson) and Rocco (Carly's cousin's son, Olivia's grandson).
I guess Outback isn't connected to Dalton after all. I figure if she were, she would have growled at him or something.
"Michael drove me to this. He drove me to all of it." Well, now you need to get Drew to drive you to therapy.
July 15th, 2025
Sonny and Sidwell have it out over the fire, Marco's kidnapping, the referendum, and probably other stuff I stopped listening to. Sonny tells Sidwell that to save Marco, he needs to revoke all his support for the referendum and stop trying to interfere with Sonny's business. Lucas can't convince Carly that Marco's in danger, so he tries to go to Sonny. Jason blocks him and dismisses Lucas' warning that whatever happens to Marco is on him, and this could spark a war that puts Danny in danger. When he's finally able to speak with Sonny, Lucas threatens to tell the police that he was going to help Natalia flee the country, which makes him look even more suspicious in the wake of Natalia's death. Sonny isn't the least bit worried. Sidwell thinks Lucas is the key to saving Marco, but Lucas has done everything he can, and he urges Sidwell to just give Sonny whatever he wants. Sidwell knows that he would look weak if he did, and Lucas calls him on putting that above the life of his son. Marco makes a fantastic effort to free himself with the sick-prisoner routine, but the minion guarding him doesn't let him get away. Diane got the visitation hearing moved to October, which means Willow's continuing breakdown won't be over any time soon. She warns Sasha that one day, Michael will try to keep Daisy from her. Sasha's probably thrilled to be leaving town with the knowledge that she might never have to deal with Willow again. Tracy asks Nina to make a public show of going against Sonny and use her media influence to get others to do the same. Nina thinks it's better to keep Sonny in power than risk someone worse taking over, and besides, Sonny's a good person! He loves his family! That somehow protects them from danger! Tracy frames this all as an attempt to keep Gio safe, and she points out that Wiley and Amelia are in as much danger as he is, but Nina still won't budge. Tracy responds by bringing out the big guns: If Nina doesn't cooperate, Tracy will tell Willow about her fling with Drew. Nina's forced to back down, and now Tracy has a new enemy. Drew must be really desperate to help Willow, since he asks Carly to get Michael to compromise. Carly puts everything on him, which Drew thinks is hypocritical of her, since she's always defended her choice in men even if they weren't what was best for her children.
When is the referendum vote? I'm sick of hearing about it.
Someone let Selina know she can come back.
I really enjoy seeing Lucas do stuff we've never seen him do before, like yell at mobsters.
They should have brought Blaze back for the funeral. They could have gotten a lot out of her and Kristina fighting over whether Sonny kidnapped Marco.
I can't believe Sasha didn't call out Willow for implying that being barred from seeing her kids is comparable to Sasha losing Liam.
Tracy should teach a class on blackmail. That was masterfully done.
July 16th, 2025
Drew's latest wild idea is to get Portia to falsify blood tests to make it look like Michael has an opioid addiction and isn't fit to be a father. Portia tries to draw the line at (checks notes) doing the same thing she did to someone else already, but of course, she has no power here. Michael considers taking Wiley and Amelia and leaving the country with Sasha and Daisy, but Tracy doesn't think he would do that to Monica. Michael agrees that sacrificing his relationship with one of his kids is the right move, and he sadly says goodbye to Daisy, knowing he might never see her again. Stella questions Curtis' decision to publish the did-Sonny-kill-Natalia story, knowing it's out of character for him, especially since it'll make him a mobster's target. Curtis will only tell her that it wasn't his idea. Similarly, he doesn't buy Nina's claim that she wants to jump on the anti-Sonny bandwagon, and he guesses that Drew is forcing her to. She confesses that it's the result of blackmail, though not from Drew, and they commiserate over all their Drew problems. Curtis wants to find a way to disarm him, and unfortunately for Nina, he realizes he has the perfect way to do that: the secret that she and Drew had a fling. Tracy asks Jason not to stand in her way as she pushes to get Sonny run out of town. Nina feels responsible for Daisy's apparent safety issues, but Sasha has no hard feelings. In fact, things between them are so good that they both feel like Sasha is Nina's daughter. Jason tells Danny that he's helping Sasha and Daisy relocate, so Danny has a chance to say goodbye, since apparently he and Daisy bonded off-screen and he sees her as an honorary sister. Danny sees Michael giving up Daisy as similar to what Jason had to do when Sam was trying to protect Danny. Kai apologizes to Portia for how things turned out with Drew, but since his actions hurt Trina, she doesn't want to hear it. Stella's more sympathetic (likely because she doesn't know the details). Willow and Isaiah are filler because they still haven't found something interesting for him to do.
"Lying may be second nature for you, but it's not for everyone," Drew says 30 seconds before outlining a scheme to make someone look like an addict.
Portia would be really smart to tell Curtis about Drew's latest scheme so he can find a way to turn it around (and warn Michael). But Portia has learned nothing, so I don't expect that to happen.
For once, Nina's right to make something about her – she's the reason Daisy's paternity became known.
We saw Sasha say goodbye to Danny, but not Felicia or Cody? Whatever.
Yeah, no one cares about this cabin. But if anyone needs to hide someone they've kidnapped, it's probably a great spot.
July 17th, 2025
Josslyn uses Danny to interfere with a hand-off Dalton tries to make with a courier at the pool. She's almost able to put a tracking device in the backpack being handed off, but she doesn't get the chance, so she'll have to try again somewhere else. Rocco meets with Obrecht, who says all sorts of nice stuff about Britt and puts a spin on her misdeeds. I don't know that it actually helps Rocco sort through his conflicting feelings, but Obrecht enjoys the opportunity to talk about her daughter. Sasha thinks that Jason should stop spending so much time worrying about other people and think about what he wants in life, i.e., a girlfriend. Jason's like, "I'm good, thanks." Their trip to her new home goes smoothly, and in a nice surprise, she gets to reunite with her parents. Sonny confronts Nina over her interview about their marriage, which she claims was a nightmare. She wisely tells him that she was forced to say bad things about him because Tracy's blackmailing her. She adds that there's a part 2 coming about his mental health. Nina thinks that Tracy's vendetta has strengthened because of Gio, so Sonny has his work cut out for him. He appreciates that Nina's still in his corner and gave him a heads up. Anna has now figured out that Vaughn is a spy, but she's not sure if he's working with or against Dalton. Felicia reminds her that the WSB has no obligation to tell her anything about their work, and she needs to drop her new Vaughn fixation and let Brennan handle things. She also suspects that at least part of Anna's interest in all this stems from her animosity toward Brennan. Anna can't let it go, and she enlists Dante to help her look into things. Lulu can't stop talking about Brook for even a single episode, and she advises Dante to throw her under the bus so he can develop a relationship with Gio. Dante won't do it, and he thinks Lulu should go easier on Brook for being willing to sacrifice her own relationship with their son so Dante could have one. Lulu also urges Sonny to sell his piers and take them out of the equation for the referendum. That goes over as well as it has with every other person who's weighed in on the situation.
Sasha listened to me and went to see Robert and Holly! Yay, Sasha!
Sheesh, just put a neon sign that says "JASON'S NEXT LOVE INTEREST IS WHOEVER KELLY THIEBAUD IS PLAYING" in the corner of the screen.
I like this new trend of people who are being blackmailed to hurt others telling those other people what's going on. Portia should keep it up by telling Michael what Drew is cooking up.
"Drew and Willow could work out." HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA. Hold on, I can't breathe. Okay, I'm good. HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA.
July 18th, 2025
Robert thanks Jason for looking after his daughters over the years, and Sasha echoes his gratitude for getting her and Daisy to safety. Whatever, this is it for Sasha, let's move on. Waiting for his flight home, Jason sees someone who looks exactly like Britt. Drew's latest demand is a bridge too far for Portia, who decides to turn herself in for altering Heather's records and face whatever consequences might follow. Curtis warns that there will also be consequences for Trina, but Portia isn't willing to compromise her character to spare her daughter, especially if it means Drew wins. Josslyn and Vaughn manage to put a tracker in the courier's bag before she leaves for Paris. Anna expresses concern to Carly that Vaughn is pitting Josslyn and Emma against each other (as if they wouldn't just find something or someone else to fight over). Carly isn't worried, and even if she were, she wouldn't say anything, since Josslyn's an adult and can make her own decisions. Plus, maybe she just needs to date someone who's totally wrong for her as part of her grieving process. Anna brings up Josslyn's previous obsession with taking down Cyrus, something Carly hadn't heard about. When she tells Anna about Josslyn's trip to Easter Island and subsequent revitalization, Anna starts putting together what's going on. Dante spends the episode surveilling Josslyn and Vaughn at the airport, which allows him to confirm Anna's suspicion that Vaughn is with the WSB. She guesses before he can tell her that Josslyn is working with him. Obrecht disapproves of Willow's actions over the past year and won't let her get away with blaming Michael for her custody issues. When Nina reveals that Sasha and Daisy are leaving town, Obrecht notices that Willow's happy, which makes her realize that Willow has completely changed. It's not clear how long she'll be in town, but while she is, she's going to help Nina find a way to take Drew down. Willow calls Michael, seemingly to express sympathy over having to say goodbye to Daisy, but really to be like, "See how it feels to not be able to see your kids? Now have pity on me."
Okay, 'bye, Sasha! I don't really care!
Jason recognized Britt (or whoever) from behind, with a different hairstyle? Come on! Also, they happened to be at the same gate at the same airport at the same time, AND it's the same airport Dalton's courier is flying into? COME ON!
Portia's on the road to winning me back over and Obrecht has my respect. Did Hell freeze over??
If Portia's going to fall on her sword, she needs to take Drew down with her. She needs to record him the next time she talks to him, then expose him.
This should (emphasis on should) be a big wake-up call for Willow – even Obrecht thinks she's gone too far.
Hey, are we finally going to go back to that whole thing where Josslyn killed Cyrus? You know, how she took someone's life and got over it in, like, 30 seconds?
July 21st, 2025
Anna is close to putting everything together about Josslyn – she's guessed that Josslyn is a WSB newbie and that her recruitment had something to do with Cyrus, but not that Josslyn had anything to do with his, uh, disappearance. She and Dante aren't sure if Carly's relationship with Brennan is related to the fact that he's secretly employing her daughter. Anna plans to keep everything quiet so they don't risk blowing Josslyn's cover, even if it means Carly stays in the dark about possibly being used. Plus, if the WSB is investigating Dalton, he must be into something big, and they're the best people to bring him down. Dante wonders if Anna would have wanted a heads up about what she was getting into when she was a young recruit like Josslyn. Lucy blindsides Brook with a surprise appearance from Lois on Home & Heart. Brook looks like she's going to set the whole place on fire, but she pushes her feelings aside and she and Lois smash the segment. Lucy hopes that this will be the end of Brook and Lois' issues, but despite missing her mother, Brook fires her. Jason is unable to get to Britt (or whoever she is) before her plane takes off, so he just reminisces about her on his way home. Whoever she is, it looks like she may have something to do with Dalton, because she and his courier both wind up in the same city in Croatia. Josslyn vents to Vaughn about how her boss is dating her mother, which she doubts is something the WSB really approves of. Vaughn is very pro-Brennan and warns Josslyn not to do anything that could cause trouble for him. He also urges her to focus on their job, since it's only going to get more difficult from here. Carly and Brennan are filler.
It's nice that Dante referred to Josslyn as his sister. It's more recognition than he ever gives his actual sisters.
I want Jason's memory of the chariot card to be significant. That was the card that activated and deactivated Drew. I've thought for a long time that Drew's sudden change in personality was because of whatever Victor did to him. Was that scene a hint?
I kept waiting for the guy next to Jason on the plane to ask him, "So are you just going to stare into space for the whole flight, or...?"
"So you're telling me Brennan can do whatever he wants and get away with it." Well, he's a powerful white man, so...yes.
I think I speak for everyone when I say NO ONE CARES ABOUT CARLY AND BRENNAN.
July 22nd, 2025
Sidwell announces to Drew and Jordan that he has to pull his support and funding for the measure against Sonny in order to save Marco. They brainstorm a way around that, but Sidwell is willing to make the sacrifice. Lucas tells Chase that Marco's been MIA for 24 hours and may have been kidnapped by Sonny. Chase doesn't think there's enough evidence to back that up, but Turner jumps at the chance to investigate. She calls Sonny in for questioning, but he knows there's nothing tying him to the abduction, and he teases that Turner just wanted to spend time with him. She warns that if Marco doesn't turn up by that night, she'll arrest him. Meanwhile, someone delivers an address and a key to Lucas. Portia's already packing up her office in anticipation of being fired after she reveals her crimes. Isaiah urges her to go out swinging, which she already plans to do. Willow is all, "My wedding day is going to be wonderful and magical, even though my kids won't be there and you'll be able to count all the guests on two hands!" Elizabeth is going, but Portia decides to skip it and give Willow an early present: the revelation that Drew is blackmailing her to make Michael look like he's addicted to painkillers. Sonny advises Laura to publicly denounce him, at least for now, but she continues refusing to worry that their friendship will harm her career. He tells her that he thinks Sidwell's anti-Sonny campaign will end pretty soon. Laura isn't sure how he could know that until Jordan informs her that Sidwell accused Sonny of kidnapping Marco to force him to back off. Martin tells Tracy that, with Sidwell backing out, she'll need to fund any further Anti-Sonny Brigade activities. Brook is upset about the lengths Tracy's willing to go to in order to get Sonny out of town, but Tracy thinks that she should want the same because of the threat he poses to Gio. Lois basically spends the episode recapping the Gio plotline to Flora, who thinks she should blame Gloria for everything. She also thinks that, sooner or later, Brook will need her mother and will get past her anger. Brook confides to Tracy that she was starting to soften toward Lois before the Home & Heart appearance, but after firing her, they're probably not going to mend things any time soon. Martin finds a letter to Monica under a chair at Drew's house and reads something in it that shocks him.
Turner doesn't seem worried that Sonny will go after Lucas.
"Did you call me here because you missed me?" I mean, right? Every scene between Sonny and Turner seems like it's going to end with a makeout session.
There are going to be, like, eight people at this wedding, including the bride and groom.
You're wasting your time, Portia. She's never going to believe you.
Nothing says "I like and respect my boss" like giving her a wedding invitation the day before the ceremony.
They had NOTHING they could have aired today instead of Lois and Flora's scenes?
July 23rd, 2025
Sidwell practically has Turner dancing with joy when he goes to the police station to accuse Sonny of kidnapping Marco. Sonny continues playing it cool, knowing there's nothing connecting him to it. Lucas frees Marco, who shows up at the police station before Sonny can be arrested. He lies that he got lost on a walk, then got a flat tire and didn't have a cell signal, so his 24-hour disappearance was completely innocent. Turner doesn't buy the story, but without evidence or testimony against Sonny, there's nothing she can do. Nina thinks that Drew was the one who was messing with Daisy, an accusation he finds outrageous. At first he figures that one of Sonny's enemies is to blame, but later he realizes that Willow had both the motive and ability to pull it off. Spinelli lets Lulu know that Obrecht is back, and she in turn alerts Dante, worried that she'll approach Rocco. She already has, and when Dante and Lulu find them chatting, they're both furious. Lulu orders Obrecht to stay away from Rocco, and Obrecht gleefully reminds her that he wouldn't exist without Britt. Rocco's not happy about any of it, since he still thinks Britt was a much better person than his parents believe. In the first of two big surprises, Willow doesn't think that Portia is lying about what Drew wants her to do to Michael. In the second, she's fine with it if it means she gets her kids back. Portia immediately tells Nina what's going on and expresses concern that Willow has completely changed. Lucas is frustrated that Carly won't admit that Sonny was behind Marco's disappearance, and instead just blames Sidwell for putting his own son in danger. She also doesn't think that Lucas should trust Marco as much as he does, considering how little they know each other. That doesn't deter him, and as soon as Marco is done saving Sonny from police custody, he and Lucas have sex. Jason isn't sure if he thinks he saw Britt because Rocco's questions have him thinking of her or because she's actually alive. Carly doubts it's the latter, but Jason's smart enough to know that in Port Charles, the word "dead" doesn't always mean what it means in other places. It may be a huge coincidence that Obrecht is suddenly back in town, but for Jason, it's also convenient, since she was supposedly the last person to see Britt alive.
I can't believe they waited until it was actually relevant to a storyline to put Carlo Rota and Nazneen Contractor in a scene together.
I look forward to Marco using the way he just saved Sonny's butt to leverage a favor of some kind.
"My sister Sam taught me how to pick a lock." ♥ Her legacy shall live on forever.
On top of telling Carly to never defend Sonny and Jason to him again, Lucas should tell her to never comment on his relationship with Marco again. "You barely know him." Yeah, well, you barely know Brennan, so...
The number of times Maxie has been mentioned in the past five episodes exceeds the minutes of screentime she's gotten in the past month.
James is the last person on this show who should be given an axe.
July 24th, 2025
Curtis asks Portia to hold off on resigning or telling Trina what she's done until he's put his hail Mary plan in action. She doesn't want him to risk a friendship or compromise himself to rescue her, but Curtis is resigned to take one for the team. His plan is simple, and he deploys it right before Drew and Willow's wedding: He just goes into the room where Willow's getting ready and tells her about Drew and Nina's fling. Carly's pleased to hear that Marco is back safe and sound, and it looks like there won't be a war with Sidwell. Sonny's ticked that Lucas ratted him out to the police, and Carly tells her brother not to get involved in situations he doesn't understand. Lucas can't believe that she's okay with what Sonny did, especially after suffering the horrible consequences of his actions in the past. A small hint from Obrecht helps Nina realize that Willow was probably the one who was messing with Daisy. This is the final straw for Nina, who indicates to Ava that she's really going to do something to end things between Drew and Willow. Seriously! For real this time! Drew, meanwhile, seems to think that a honeymoon and some relaxation are what Willow needs to reset and stop doing out-of-character things. Kai and Trina run into each other for the first time since their breakup, but nothing's changed for her, so it's not a happy encounter. Portia and Curtis offer their support, and Portia tells Trina to feel however she wants to feel, not the way she thinks she should. Also, sometimes people disappoint us despite their best efforts, not that Portia's talking about herself or anything she's covering up having done, ha ha ha, this is all just general advice! Alexis convinces Drew not to tell Scout anything about his plans to move the newly joined family to D.C. until he's sure it's going to happen. For now, Scout just thinks her dad is marrying a really nice woman and is going to be happy, which she fully supports. Kai basically doubles down on thinking he was right to choose Drew over Trina's family, admitting to Drew that he feels bad about hesitating to tell him. Wiley learns about Drew and Willow's wedding and feels the same about it as the audience does.
For sacrificing a friendship, for finally pulling a trigger that should have been pulled a year ago, for possibly ending a relationship absolutely no one likes, Curtis Ashford, we salute you.
Normally I would complain about Obrecht wearing black to a wedding, but considering the circumstances here, I'll allow it.
Who chose Nina's dress? The bride is not supposed to be overshadowed by her mother's cleaveage!
If Willow had said yes, she wants Scout to call her "Mom," we would have seen the first ever instance of fans murderering a fictional character.
July 25th, 2025
Willow gets Nina to admit that she was sleeping with Drew up until he and Willow started falling for each other (and for a little big after that). While Willow's devastated that the guy she trusted so completely has spent the past year keeping a huge secret, she's more upset with Nina for not telling her anything. She now understands that the decisions she made because of Drew lost her custody of her kids, and she feels totally alone. But she also knows that marrying Drew might be the best path to getting her kids back, so when the wedding starts, she's ready to walk down the aisle. Sonny tells Marco that he won't need to worry about his safety as long as he stays out of the illegal parts of his father's business. Also, he would be wise to move back to Miami. Then all of a sudden they're talking about Natalia, and it's like Marco's forgotten that he's standing in front of a guy who had him tied to a chair 24 hours ago. But then he gets his spine back and tells Sidwell that he's no longer confining himself to the legitimate business stuff if illegal actions will get rid of Sonny. Carly is in full-on denial that Sonny did anything wrong by kidnapping Marco, and she places all the blame for what happened on Sidwell. She's hoping that being on opposite sides of the issue won't ruin her relationship with Lucas, but he's decided to move out of her house, so things aren't looking good there. Kristina sees Molly and Cody hanging out together and thinks their growing friendship will ruin what she and Cody are working on. She gets Michael to distract Cody, then tries to convince Molly that Cody isn't a good guy to be around because of his past schemes. Molly says she's not worried, but now she can't shake the feeling that Kristina's right. Kristina would probably calm down if she knew that, thanks to Elizabeth, Ava and Ric are barely speaking. Even better, Ava wants to meet with Alexis alone to discuss "business." Lucy and Sidwell are filler.
While I, of course, was hoping this would be the end of Drew and Willow, I don't mind that things are going in the direction they're going. I like the idea of her marrying him in hopes of getting the kids back, while keeping quiet about what she learned. But I wonder if it might have been more interesting if we hadn't been given that glimpse into her motives, and we'd seen her show up for the ceremony without knowing why she decided to go through with the wedding.
I'm also surprised that Willow believed Curtis' claim. He doesn't have any proof, and it would be reasonable for her to not believe that her fiancé and mother hooked up, so I wonder why this was what got through to her.
Why didn't Sonny ask Marco why he didn't tell the police the truth? Sonny has a lot less power here than he thinks he does. Marco could ruin his life in five seconds.
"All he did was detain him." That's a funny way to describe a kidnapping. Carly might be as brainwashed as Willow was.
Michael, instead of calling your nanny or whoever and asking her to let you know if your kids are sad, why don't you go spend time with your kids?
July 28th, 2025
Just as Nina realizes that Willow's going to marry Drew in an attempt to get back custody of the kids, Willow tosses out her vows and instead asks if Drew slept with her mother. He admits it, and she tears into him for spending the past year driving a wedge between her and Michael, making decisions that lost her everything, and just generally ruining her life. As she runs off to go see her kids, Nina delays Drew by tearing into him herself. He announces that she was behind his drugging, but Nina doubts that anyone will believe him. She's not happy about the way her relationship with Willow has been destroyed, but at least she gets to be happy that his relationship with Willow is over forever. Kristina tells Michael all about how she tried to kill Ava, she almost killed Ric and Elizabeth instead, and now Ric and Ava are blackmailing Alexis. Michael basically ignores the part where his sister attempted to murder someone and offers his help however it can be used. What Kristina said to Cody got to Molly, who calls him out for trying to flirt. It's awkward, and then it gets even more awkward when he discovers that, instead of War and Peace, she's been reading a romance novel (she claims it's research because she might add a third to her romance duology). Brennan wants to be sure that Josslyn is ready for a potentially months-long fake relationship with Vaughn, and that she won't develop real feelings for him. Josslyn's aware, but when Brennan says that Vaughn's also faking the whole thing, the audience goes, "Yeah, sure." Carly and Jason are mostly filler, and they take a contrived route to get to a conversation about Britt. He's interested in learning whether she's really alive and what happened to her body if she isn't. For answers, he'll have to turn to Obrecht. In case anyone needed it spelled out for them that Britt is part of Dalton's plot, she's the person the courier takes her package to.
I like how Katelyn MacMullen played the confrontation scenes, trying to maintain eye contact with Cameron Mathison to show that Willow wasn't going to stop until he was honest with her.
I noticed "Five Poppies" (the name of the resort they tracked the courier to) on Britt's bag at the airport and wondered if it was significant. I could be a spy!
Shout-out to whoever decided that Molly should be reading not just any romance novel, but one that features a cowboy.
Apparently no one ever explained divorce to Wiley before.
July 29th, 2025
Willow tries to see Wiley, but Michael and Carly shield him, since she's a little crazed and in no shape to be around children. Willow doesn't get why Michael won't let her see the kids now that he's gotten what he wanted. She ends up half-rational at Elizabeth's house, focused on picking up the pieces of her life while Michael vows to stick to the court order and keep his children from the fallout of their mother's horrible decisions. Nina is surprisingly forgiving of Curtis for telling Willow about her fling with Drew; she's just sorry she didn't come clean herself earlier. Curtis hopes that now that Drew's single, he'll have less of an incentive to make Portia do his bidding, Plus, without Willow, he'll have to confront the kind of person he's become. Drew makes Martin sneak onto the Quartermaines' property with him, for some reason thinking that'll keep him from getting in trouble for being there. Tracy and Cody are thrilled that he got dumped at the altar and that Willow has finally come to her senses. Drew is determined to win her back, telling Martin that he's all she has. Obrecht doesn't quite seem to get that Jason thinks he saw Britt for real, and he doesn't press the issue, since her loss weighs on her so much. Whatever Britt's doing now, it comes with some nice perks, like a masseuse (who sometimes provides, ahem, further services) and a stay at a nice resort. But she's mostly alone and apparently still needs medication, so it's not all sunshine and rainbows. Alexis thinks that Kristina's plot against Ava and Ric might be working, though she's sorry that it might be at Molly's expense. Kristina's pretty sure that Molly will lose any interest she had in Cody quickly, so there's nothing to worry about. Molly's original character description for the hero in her new novel sounds an awful lot like Cody, but she demotes him to dumb sidekick and opts for a hero who's his total opposite. Martin tries to get information out of Yuri about visitors Monica has or hasn't received, and what Yuri knows about Monica's life pre-Port Charles.
I don't think losing Willow is going to have the effect on Drew that Curtis thinks it will. It's probably going to make him demand more from Portia because now he'll feel desperate. Little does he know that she still has an ace up her sleeve to really knock him down.
I can't believe Tracy didn't have both Drew and Martin arrested for trespassing. Imagine capping off Drew's humiliating day with a cot in a jail cell.
I can't decide if Obrecht knows that Britt's alive. A lot of her answers were vague, like she wasn't lying outright (example: She said Britt wanted to be cremated, but she never actually said that's what happened).
They should have retconned Britt's Huntington's. Just say the test that said she had it was wrong. I mean, it worked with Brenda.
July 30th, 2025
Michael's surprised when Drew appeals to him to let Willow see the kids, even though obviously Drew won't get anything out of it. Michael doesn't think it's a good time, and he's not planning to make any moves to have the visitation hearing moved back up. P.S. He figured out that Drew is the reason Willow wasn't able to see him in Germany. Nina asks Ric to keep representing Willow, either on the record if Willow agrees to let Nina pay his fees or off the record if she doesn't. Elizabeth thinks that Willow might come to understand that Nina kept secrets from her to protect her, but if she's right, it's not going to happen any time soon, as Willow will barely speak to her mother right now. That leads Ric to offer to keep helping Willow pro bono while Nina pays him under the table. Ric advises her to keep following the judge's orders because they may be able to convince her that Willow's meltdowns were anomalies and she shouldn't be denied custody. Willow immediately goes to Michael and asks him to help her so she doesn't have to wait until the visitation hearing. Curtis and Isaiah both think Portia would be making a mistake if she resigned before hearing what the board has to say about her actions. Curtis is optimistic that they can come out of this clean if Drew moves to D.C. without knowing Curtis' role in the end of his relationship. Meanwhile, Elizabeth accidentally clues Drew in that Willow heard about his fling with Nina from Curtis. Rocco asks Laura to help him talk to his parents about his desire to have further conversations with Obrecht. Laura warns that they won't like that, but she acknowledges that Obrecht might have changed over the years, and meeting with her might be okay. She addresses the possibility with Lulu, warning that if she gets too strict about things, it'll backfire. Curtis doesn't want Kai and Trina's relationship to have ended because of him and Portia, so he encourages Trina to determine whether Kai deserves a second chance. Josslyn has already decided that he doesn't, since he considers his principles the most important part of this whole mess, and since he stuck to them, he stands by what he did. It takes Trina only a few seconds to realize that he's not going to say anything she wants to hear. Maxie continues to fail to get Brook and Lulu to speak to each other like they don't want to tear each other's hair out, and I don't get why she thinks anything will change. Even worse (for Lulu, at least), Rocco has no hard feelings against Brook because without her meddling, he wouldn't have learned about his connection to Britt. Nina catches up with Maxie, who's like, "I don't want to literally say 'I told you so' about the fact that you could have ended the Drew/Willow saga months ago by revealing your fling, but just know that I'm thinking it." Nina admits that she was going to pull the trigger before Curtis did because she wanted to stop Willow from further decline, since she's already done something that could lose her custody of her kids for good.
How convenient that Ric gets to pretend he's going to help Willow pro bono right in front of Elizabeth!
Rocco is going to be vice president of the But [X] Has Always Been Nice to Meeeeee club. (Kai is president.)
Clearly Laura learned nothing from Cyrus about horrible people's capacity to change.
Maxie's a lot more patient than I am. I would have already forbidden Brook and Lulu from talking to me about each other.
July 31st, 2025
Drew complains to Martin that Curtis broke Willow to get revenge on him. He tells Curtis he wants a truce, though he won't hand over his dirt on Portia until he's sure that Curtis won't back-stab him. It's all an act, as Drew confides to Martin, which means he still has leverage over Portia – and now, thanks to Martin, he also knows that Stella recently committed insurance fraud. Willow stays stable for long enough to ask Michael to work with her to decide what's best for the kids, but when he doesn't give her what she wants, she starts falling apart again. He tells her she needs to take the time to heal, and until she does, he can't let her be around the kids. Willow's determined to show that she's ready to be a mother again, though it seems like that doesn't necessarily mean she'll do the work for that, just make it look like she did. With help from Elizabeth, Jason finds out where Britt's body was taken after it was processed through the hospital morgue. He learns that she was cremated, but her records are missing the confirmation that that actually happened. Carly questions whether Vaughn is a good choice for Josslyn, who dismisses her concerns. She thinks she has a handle on that, but she warns Vaughn that Anna won't be as easily deterred. He thinks that might be why Brennan has decided to remove them from their mission. Dante goes to Anna's while Gio's still there, and it's one of the most awkward situations I've ever observed in my life. Dante tells Anna about the Rocco/Obrecht stuff, and she notes that both of his sons are trying to figure out who they are. He's more than happy to agree to help her look into Dalton, both because it's a good distraction and because he wants to make sure Emma doesn't stumble into anything that could put her in danger. Speaking of Emma, she's not thrilled to run into Vaughn at the pool, but Gio notices that she isn't too bothered when she sees him and Josslyn together. She reveals that she snagged Vaughn's keys and can now access Dalton's lab. Stella bugs Curtis to tell her why Trina and Kai broke up, since she can't think of anything major enough to explain it. Curtis won't tell her anything, so she considers playing matchmaker.
Oh, CURTIS. Why would you suddenly start trusting the guy you haven't been able to trust for a year?
Willow. Therapy. Now.
Age gaps have never been an issue on this show (aside from Ava and Morgan), so why do people keep bringing it up for Josslyn and Vaughn?
Vaughn still doesn't know his keys are missing??
By granting Outback "special pool privileges," Olivia is one step closer to realizing her dream of a hotel for dogs.