General Hospital blog - May, 2025
May 1st, 2025
Brook has a tantrum when Tracy gushes over Lulu's article about Drew. Chase decides to tell Lulu to stop harassing Brook (okay, Chase), but when he goes to her house, Dante's there. He defends Lulu and tries to get Chase to see how unhinged he sounds for complaining that she's writing an article about something that just happens to be related to Brook. Brook apologizes to Tracy for overreacting, but she still thinks she's justified in being mad at Lulu. Tracy thinks Brook feels threatened by Lulu when it should really be the other way around. Brook blurts out that she doesn't feel threatened – she's mad that Lulu knows that she had a baby as a teenager and is holding it over her head. Nina keeps Willow's mind on Drew's alleged behavior as he tries to convince her that he wasn't responsible for his actions. On the plus side (at least for Nina), Willow thinks that Drew's destroyed any chances he might have had to help her keep custody of the kids. On the minus side, she agrees with Drew that his behavior was way too out of character to just accept at face value. He talks her into going to the hospital with him so he can get a blood test and see if he was drugged. Josslyn and Emma seem to be inching toward friendship, as the two of them help Trina avoid having to provide more documentary footage, and Emma invites Josslyn to a bonfire one of their classmates is throwing. Their step forward could end up with them taking lots of steps backward, though, as Josslyn decides that her best option for getting the research position is to sabotage Emma. Vaughn agrees to help her get and corrupt the thumb drive Emma has put her work on, but he's not sure Josslyn's ready to betray a friend. Lulu asks Laura for advice on the Brook/Dante situation without telling her any details about the secret she's keeping. Laura cautions her not to do anything that will disrupt people's lives because she'll be responsible for the fallout. And though Laura has never placed a child for adoption, she knows what it's like to have a child no one knew about pop up out of nowhere, and she doesn't recommend that Lulu bring that kind of chaos into someone else's life. Danny and Rocco get in trouble for not cleaning up after themselves in the boathouse, and Dante threatens to cancel their trip to a baseball game if they don't make it right. Danny doesn't want to go to the game anyway, and he tries to convince Rocco to go to the bonfire. Rocco's hesitant to sneak around, but he gives in. Gio's still torn about his loyalty to Sonny, which disappoints Tracy. She's worried that that loyalty will lead to him getting hurt, as it has so many times for Jason.
Ew, Chase, leave Dante out of this.
Also ew: Brook saying that Tracy sees Lulu as her only remaining connection to Luke, as if Tracy can't love Lulu for who she is separate from him.
Nina was smart not to leave Willow alone with Drew. I think he would have convinced her that something fishy was going on. That's probably what'll end up happening anyway, so Nina's efforts were probably for nothing.
Me after Josslyn and Emma presented a united front for Trina: "I hope this Three Amigos thing continues." Me after Josslyn came up with a plan to sabotage Emma's chances at the research job: "Never mind."
It may be true that 2 to 4 percent of the popular is adopted, but in Port Charles, the number is much higher.
May 2nd, 2025
Dante asks Lulu to drop the adoption article for Brook's sake, which goes over about as well as you would expect. Though Lulu agrees that trying to start a family in a nontraditional way is stressful, she won't give in to what Brook wants at the expense of her career. Somehow, the topic of conversation changes to Dante and Lulu themselves, and Dante reveals that Maxie told him that Lulu was going to go back to him before her coma. They also discuss Sam, and Lulu realizes that that's who she's jealous of, rather than Brook. She confirms that she's still in love with Dante, and she's surprised when he admits that he's still in love with her, too. Tracy respects and supports Brook's decision to place her child for adoption, especially when it was such a difficult decision to make at a young ago. Brook admits that she feels like she took the coward's way out, but Tracy thinks she did the right thing. Though she's nothing but sweet to Brook, her mood quickly changes when she encounters Lois, and she demands to know where her great-grandson is. Amy gives Willow her two cents, which manage to be the right assessment (she shouldn't feel obligated to be with Drew just because she upended her life for him) while simultaneously being inappropriate and annoying. Drew's blood tests show that he has ketamine in his system, and it takes Willow about ten seconds to believe that he was drugged and shouldn't be blamed for his behavior. Drew reports his drugging to Mac, who asks about the last person Drew was with before his memory goes blurry. That would be Tracy. Carly's delighted about what Nina did to Drew until she learns that he was given ketamine, which she correctly guesses Willow will be able to reason away. The problem now is that Nina can't pressure Willow any further to leave Drew because it won't be long before Willow cuts her off and isolates herself with Drew. She thinks it's enough for now that Drew's reputation and career will be damaged, but Carly wants more. Rocco and Danny easily blend in at the bonfire, even though Rocco is nervous and not very talkative. While Danny makes new friends, Rocco drinks and ends up unconscious. Josslyn is easily able to steal Emma's thumb drive, but she doesn't have enough time to corrupt it and return it without being noticed, even with Vaughn's help. Lois admires Maxie for being such a good friend to Brook, and she suspects that Brook is soon going to need the support Maxie offers. Instead, Brook tells Maxie that she needs to stop being neutral and pick a side between her and Lulu. For some reason, Lucy thinks Carly is the person who's most likely to cause chaos at the Nurses' Ball. Maxie and Lois tell her that she's had more antics than Carly has.
Amy has had zero character growth in ten years. She may have actually had character shrinkage.
I would be thrilled if Drew thought Tracy drugged him. What a great twist.
Nina really dropped the ball. She should have called Portia to tell her that Drew was going to the hospital for blood tests. Then Portia could have enlisted Brad to tamper with them.
Rocco's going to be grounded until he's 18, but I'm curious about how Jason, who's never had to discipline a teenager, will punish Danny.
Brook, hon, you sound more and more insane with each episode. Making Maxie choose between you and Lulu is definitely going to backfire on you.
I love how Maxie and Tracy are as sick of hearing about the esplanade as I am.
May 5th, 2025
Dante and Lulu's admission of their feelings for each other somehow leads to another fight about Brook. Just as Lulu's saying that Dante wouldn't defend her if she knew what Brook was up to, Carly shows up. She again advises Lulu not to tell Dante about the baby, reminding her of how Robin blew up her, Jason, and Michael's lives when she revealed that A.J. was Michael's father. Lulu notes that A.J. had a right to know, but Carly argues that Robin didn't have the right to tell him. Lulu counters with the point that if Carly and Jason were in her and Dante's position, Carly would have already told Jason everything. Meanwhile, Dante vents to Lois about the Lulu/Brook rivalry and considers just dismissing himself from the whole situation, which would be a terrific move. Danny and Gio get Rocco to the boathouse, where Cody finds them and elects himself to oversee Rocco's care. When Rocco's breathing worsens, Cody gets him to the hospital, where he's treated for what looks like alcohol poisoning. Nina tries to convince Willow that she only believes Drew's story because she's ashamed to admit that he fooled her after she changed her whole life for him. This fails, since Occam's Razor says that Drew's version of events is more likely than him getting high with a stranger and cheating. In the end, Nina and Portia's whole plan was for nothing, as Willow not only believes that Drew was drugged against his will, she thinks Jacinda was the drugger, but only because someone hired her to do it. Tracy thinks that Lois knows where Brook and Dante's child is, and that she purposely excluded the Quartermaines so they wouldn't try to take in the child. She's also not convinced that Brook chose adoption because it was what she really wanted. Lois stands her ground on the decisions the two of them made, refusing to show any signs of being intimidated when Tracy vows to eventually have her run out of town. Josslyn is able to get the corrupted thumb drive to Emma without her being suspicious. Josslyn feels bad about stabbing a friend in the back, but she keeps telling herself that it's for the greater good, along with all the other sacrifices she's making for her new job. Brad easily figures out that the ketamine he got for Portia was what was given to Drew, and he wants hush money. Portia's ready for him and points out that since he got the ketamine, the trail goes back to him. Plus, if it comes down to each of them pointing the finger at the other, everyone will believe her. Brad finds a new angle by offering to tell Drew who was responsible for his drugging, for a price. Lucas and Marco are filler, but they're getting along great and want to go out again.
Literally everyone has told Lulu to keep her mouth shut and she still keeps asking people's advice. She needs an intervention.
When I said I wanted Gio and Rocco to interact, this isn't what I had in mind.
I loved the Tracy/Lois stuff, and we need more scenes where they match up two powerhouse actresses and just let them go. But if the cage match they hinted at comes about, Tracy's winning. Sorry, Lois.
Why is Brad always the worst?
May 6th, 2025
Dante tears into Gio, not believing that Gio didn't know there were teens at the party until Rocco had already gotten drunk. He says he'll hold Gio responsible if Rocco isn't okay (but he is, so calm down, drama queen). Lois stands up for Gio, which just makes angers Dante more and makes him turn on her. Lulu comes across them just as Lois is saying that Dante doesn't know the truth about who Gio is. Rocco's suitably apologetic about drinking, and his parents go easy on him since he's in the hospital and almost died. Still, Rocco can tell that Dante's furious, and he knows that when Lulu and Cody say he's scared, they're covering for him. Carly steps up to handle Danny, calling him out (in an appropriate way) for screwing up and hoping that he'll learn something from his mistakes. She thinks, as Sam did, that he likes adventure, and she advises him to be more discerning about which adventures he chooses to undertake. He was lucky that things didn't turn out worse, so he needs to pay that luck forward. Alexis fills Diane in on the chaos her misplaced paperwork caused, chaos that Diane doesn't think should have occurred, since Kristina should have accepted that her mother would do something in response to her actions against Ava. Alexis reveals that Kristina wasn't the one who told her what she did, and Alexis doesn't want her to know that she knows. Ric chastises Ava for going rogue on getting money out of Alexis, because they're supposed to be evil together, not separately. Then the two of them tell Alexis they're upping their price. Kristina vents to Lucky that Alexis wants to have her committed. He gets her to see that Alexis is just concerned for her mental health and has noticed her struggling over something she allegedly doesn't know about. Brad's happy with Drew's offer of $500,000 and gives up Portia as the person who had him drugged. Drew offers him double if Brad will do something as-yet-specified for him. So far, so good for Kai post-surgery, so he'll probably never accept that Drew isn't the great person Kai believes he is.
I get that they're going for a big dramatic thing between a father and son who don't know they're a father and son, but given that we know that Dante has known Gio for years, why would he think that Gio's the sort of person who would give alcohol to a teenager?
I doubt it'll happen but imagine if, after keeping the secret for 21 years, Lois was the one to low everything up.
Carly did the best parenting of the episode, and it was of a kid who isn't even hers. I think Sam would have said the exact same things she did.
Alexis, please throw the dagger off a bridge.
Uh-huh, and where is Drew going to get a million dollars?
May 7th, 2025
Lois doesn't give away anything about Gio, instead continuing to defend him from Dante's accusations that he's directly responsible for what happened to Rocco. Dante thinks that Lois and Gloria have coddled Rocco his whole life, so he's never had to face any consequences. Lois points out that, for a detective, Dante has come to a conclusion despite not having any evidence that Gio did anything wrong. Lulu allows that Dante is scared and upset about Rocco's condition, but she won't dismiss his mistreatment of Gio. Gio can't dismiss it, either, and he tells Emma that he now feels some responsibility. Emma assures him that Dante went too far and he shouldn't blame himself. Dante's comments about Rocco being coddled pique Lulu's interest, and she asks him and Lois a few follow-up questions. She makes a note for herself to look into where Lois was when Rocco was born. Kristina surprises Ric and Ava by saying that the car crash changed her perspective on things, and she's working on letting go of her negative feelings toward them. She's also ready to put the whole thing with the commitment papers behind her. Molly's still sore about it, but she agrees to call a truce so the Davis women can give Scout the attention she needs right now. Emma confides in Josslyn that her expulsion was due to a lab break-in, not a party. Then she provides some details that Josslyn's very interested in: The lab she broke into was Dalton's, as she suspected that he was doing unauthorized experiments on animals that are supposed to be off-limits. She followed him to PCU and is trying to get the research job so she can continue investigating him. Vaughn expresses his concern to Brennan that Josslyn is too worried about Emma's feelings to be able to do her job. Brennan's more interested in the fact that she saw Anna and Dalton talking, which could mean that Anna's snooping around, too. He tells Josslyn a little more about her assignment, which involves getting the tech that Dalton's working on with whatever animal experimentation he's doing. He also tells her to keep Anna away from her investigation. Brook tells Chase that Tracy now knows about the baby but supports her decisions, both past and present. Chase admits that he got on Lulu's case and had a hard time trying to get Dante on his side without telling him what's really going on. Brook worries that she's burdened Chase with her secret, but he's happy that she opened up to him. Cody's credit card gets mixed up with Ava's black card from the fund she and Ric started to receive Alexis' payments, and Cody looks like he might be a little suspicious. Laura's now involved in the Rocco stuff, but there's not much to say there.
"All we have is Gio's word." If only there were two other people there who could confirm his story. Dante, just ask Rocco if he's telling the truth.
It would be interesting if Lulu got proof that Gio is Dante and Brook's son and wound up being the one to tell Brook. I think Brook might soften toward her a little.
Heh. Dolos was the Greek god of "trickery, cunning deception, craftiness, treachery and guile." That's Ric and Ava all right. It's disturbing how quickly and easily they can come up with lies.
It says a lot that Brook only felt sympathy for Lulu when she found out what happened to Rocco. I doubt it'll last, though.
May 8th, 2025
Danny feels like everyone's too disappointed in him to treat him normally, so he appreciates it when Sasha gives him the chance to avoid talking about Rocco. He doesn't take it, so she gives him some good input on choices and learning lessons and how making a mistake doesn't mean he's a bad person. Jason says equally good things to him about how he needs to be more responsible and careful, but Jason trusts him to try to do the right thing. Dante continues blaming Danny and Gio for what happened to Rocco, and complains again, this time to Sonny, that Lois has always sheltered Gio from facing any consequences. Sonny thinks he's overreacting and notes that Dante made plenty of mistakes as a teenager. Dante brushes that off and picks on Jason for not being a present enough father and not giving Danny any punishment other than a talking-to. Drew releases his medical records to show that he was drugged, and with Willow standing by her man, all of Nina's efforts were officially for nothing. While she's venting to Curtis, they notice Tracy, Jordan, Sidwell, and Marco together and guess that they're teaming up to bring down Sonny. Curtis has decided that Aurora will throw its support behind Laura, which means that, in a way, he's going to have to be pro-Sonny. It's bad timing, as Drew orders Portia to get Curtis to publish nice things about him and endorse Ezra to take Laura's job. The Anti-Sonny Brigade hopes that Drew's shenanigans won't hurt their plans, but since he's bouncing back pretty well, it doesn't look like there's too much to worry about. Drew joins them long enough to drops hints that he's suspicious of Tracy, who doesn't catch on (since, you know, she had nothing to do with his drugging). She calls him arrogant, but Jordan thinks that could work in their favor. Tracy tells Marco that she's still not a fan of his father's, but if he can take down Sonny, she'll be in his debt. Portia gets way too unprofessional while talking to Willow about Drew, not to mention wastes her time when Willow is fully convinced that Drew was drugged. But she does confide to Isaiah that she's still worried about losing custody of her kids if Drew can't get some kind of official ruling that he didn't do anything wrong. Brad resigns from GH and tells Lucas that he's leaving town. He seems to have decided to set aside the dirt he has on Portia, though he gives something to Drew that will help him continue to mess with her. Lucas and Elizabeth figure that the heat is off of them to try to help Portia keep her job.
Why is so much of this being put on Danny? Yes, going to the party was his idea, but Rocco still went willingly. He drank willingly. Danny's not a monster for going off and doing his own thing. Rocco doesn't need a babysitter. They both made bad decisions, and Dante doesn't get to put all the blame on other people.
Dante's right that Danny should be punished in some way, but he's being such a jerk about it that I kind of want Jason to ignore him.
I still don't think that Asher Antonyzyn is quite at the level of Finn Carr, but he's been great in this storyline. He makes me want to keep giving Danny hugs.
I enjoyed Sidwell's glee over watching Drew and Tracy bicker. From the outside, it is pretty entertaining.
Tracy/Jordan/Sidwell/Drew is such a weird combo.
May 9th, 2025
Danny goes to Lulu's to see Rocco, and Lulu expresses her displeasure with what happened but doesn't go too hard on him. Rocco's been sentenced to cleaning her entire house, and Danny offers to help. Rocco asks Dante not to focus all his anger on Danny, since Rocco made his own decisions and deserves some of the blame. After hearing the two of them talking about reearning their parents' trust and hoping they can atone for their mistakes, Dante finally softens. He even supports the teens continuing to hang out, since siblings need to have each other's backs. He and Lois make up, and when he comments that Gio will always have Lois and Gloria on his side, he means it in a good way. Tracy wants Ned to put his money (well, his endorsement) where his mouth is when it comes to hating Sonny and throw his support behind Ezra. Ned doesn't love the idea of taking a stance against someone his wife, daughter, and ex-wife are close with. When Lulu asks Ned to endorse Laura, he agrees, since – Sonny or no Sonny – he thinks she's doing a great job. So Mother's Day is going to be a little awkward for Ned and Tracy this year. Lulu smoothly segues into a conversation about Ned's past as a rock star, which allows her to ask questions about the time Lois spent on tour. Ned cluelessly tells her that Lois even pulled Brook out of high school for months to go on tour. Drew continues putting pressure on Portia about Curtis, like, how many times do we have to listen to this conversation? But he's definitely getting impatient, and Brad gave him something in a vial that makes me think Portia should be very careful about what she eats and drinks for a while. Willow thanks Curtis for only printing facts about Drew's fiasco and not painting him as a screw-up the way other papers did. She's not so appreciative when he tells her that he'll print Drew's statement that he was drugged, but he won't offer any kind of editorial opinion about whether he's telling the truth. Sidwell wants to buy Sonny's piers, expecting that once he's no longer a factor in the referendum, everyone will vote to keep the esplanade in the original location. Sonny tells Jason that he's considering the deal, since it would allow him the out he's looking for. Willow and Sasha fight again about Michael, and Sasha criticizes her ex-friend for not doing more to maintain his relationship with his kids. She's surprised to hear that Michael refused to talk to Willow when she went to Germany, which she shares with Jason. Jason thinks Dante's right about him not being a good father, but Lois assures him that he has nothing to worry about. That said, he didn't know that Rocco has a tendency to do whatever Danny has decided they should do, so he definitely needs to pay more attention. Brook and Chase meet with Alexis to discuss the process of adopting a child.
Danny and Rocco are handling all this better than anyone else. I love that they were the ones who got Dante to realize that he was going about things the wrong way.
"You have a decision to make: Mom or mob." That was nice. This is why the audience loves Tracy.
I thought Lulu was going to interview Ned for her article, which would have been like begging Brook to fight her.
I assume we'll get follow-up in a few episodes where Jason actually addresses the fact that Michael wouldn't see Willow. He should be able to clear things up pretty quickly.
No matter how many times Alexis or anyone else says that the adoption process could take a long time, there's no way it will.
May 12th, 2025
Tracy asks Lulu to have more compassion for Brook, aware that Lulu knows that Brook gave up a child when she was younger. Lulu defends her decision to write about adoption, swearing that it had nothing to do with Brook, but Tracy wears her down and she agrees to try to switch topics. Lulu then runs to Carly to tell her that things aren't adding up and someone may be lying about the baby. Meanwhile, Tracy asks Jason to track down Brook's son. Sonny thinks that any move other than giving his territory to Sidwell will lead to a mob war, and this could be his and Jason's only chance to get out. Jason is skeptical about trusting Sidwell, but he defers to Sonny's judgment. Sonny's top priority is finding out whether Sidwell is the bomber before they make a deal. But he seems to think it'll work out, because he tells Laura that he might have a solution to both of their problems. Josslyn's plan worked, and Emma's corrupted work loses her the research position. Gio encourages her to work on a previous draft and try to get it in shape in hopes that Dalton will rethink his decision. But Dalton has already rewarded the job to Josslyn, which just adds insult to injury for Emma. Jordan tells Laura about the Anti-Sonny Brigade and how Tracy is working against her, which Laura is hurt by. Jordan adds that Sidwell wants to buy Sonny's piers, which Laura thinks is a bad idea, because Sonny's the devil they know. Jordan points out that she'll be right there to keep an eye on Sidwell and raise an alarm if he does anything illegal. It takes a lot of work, but Portia finally manages to talk Curtis out of running an op-ed on Drew, using the rationale that tension between them will cause workplace tension between her and Willow. Curtis immediately goes to Jordan and confides that he thinks Portia's lying to him. Brook apologizes to Maxie for asking her to choose between her and Lulu, which Maxie was never going to do in the first place. Gio is still down about the whole thing with Rocco, but spending time with Brook and Chase helps. Carly is surprised and touched that Brennan sees her as such an important part of his life.
Secret, lie, potato, potahto – it's still not your business, Lulu.
Does Lulu think that Brook is pretending not to know that Gio is her son? That makes no sense.
Tracy may have pulled off a miracle.
Josslyn might have to kidnap Emma and keep her locked up somewhere to get through this mission.
Yay, Brook, for being mature!
May 13th, 2025
Lulu shares her theory with Carly that Gio is Brook and Dante's son. Carly still doesn't think that's a reason to tell Dante anything against Brook's wishes, but she allows that if Lulu can prove her theory, she might be able to rationalize saying something. Lulu thinks she knows where to turn to get proof. Laura objects to the possibility that Sonny will sell his piers to Sidwell, sure that they can't trust him. She guesses that Sonny's only considering the deal because he wants out of the mob. When he points out that it's not his job to keep Sidwell from breaking the law, Laura realizes that he's making the decision that's best for his family and she needs to support him. Emma is furious that Josslyn got the job she thought she had all sewn up, and she finds it shady that Josslyn never mentioned wanting it. Emma jumps to the correct conclusion that Josslyn sabotaged her and stole her work. Anna warns her not to make an accusation without any proof, and she urges Emma to let it go. Josslyn has to brush off Emma's anger and do her job, which starts with searching Dalton's office. Vaughn lends a hand and everything goes smoothly, but they don't expect to find anything incriminating there. Next stop: the lab. Not only does Curtis find it suspicious that Portia has become a pro-Drew advocate, he thinks it's because Drew is blackmailing her. Jordan advises him to talk to his wife, like, he didn't come to you for rational guidance, Jordan. Portia is totally clueless that Curtis knows something's going on, and she tells Trina that she's pretty sure she succeeded in talking him into calling a true with Drew. Jason won't do anything to find Brook's child since Tracy's the one making the request rather than Brook herself. Even when Tracy offers to throw her support behind Sonny to keep his piers, Jason says he's staying out of it. Lucy's all, "You are a hero for funding the ball, Jens," and Sidwell's all, "I'll admit, part of my motive was trying to make people like me," and I'm all, "You two are so boring."
I've started to lose track of who doesn't know about Brook's son. The number of people who know is starting to exceed the number of people who don't.
Good news, Laura – you don't have to keep Sidwell in line, either. That's Anna's job.
Jason should remind Tracy that not every discovery of a long-lost Quartermaine turns out well. Case in point: Drew.
The award for smartest character in this episode has to be shared by Emma and Curtis. I'm impressed with both of them.
I'm even less interested in pre-Nurses' Ball stuff than I am in actual Nurses' Ball stuff.
May 14th, 2025
Diane tells Carly and Jason that the custody hearing has been scheduled for the beginning of June, which is way too soon for Michael to be ready. Carly decides to fight for the kids on his behalf, with the argument that living with Drew is unsafe for them. Diane warns that the judge could give custody to Nina, but it's a chance Carly's willing to take if it means Willow and Drew don't get to keep the kids. Willow panics when she learns that the custody hearing is approaching, and it doesn't help that Martin is still MIA. Drew brings in Ric to represent her, and he's optimistic that they'll be able to stick it to Michael. It's Drew who comes up with a strategy, though: Paint Michael as a deadbeat because he left the country when he didn't have to and hasn't done much to reach out to his kids. Lulu tells Laura that she's not going to continue the adoption story because she's not sure she's ready for the possible consequences. Ezra interrupts just to be annoying, and Laura tells him off, which may not be a good look for a mayor but is definitely fun. Lulu jumps in to defend her, and Ezra throws Rocco's alcohol poisoning in her face. In response, Laura throws a drink in his. Elizabeth remembers that Ric mentioned the brakes failing just before the car crash. He lies that black ice was really the problem, and she doesn't press the subject. She does mention it to Lucky, though, and he's surprised to hear that, according to Ric, his insurance company took possession of the car. Kai has been working hard to get out of the hospital by the Nurses' Ball so he can walk with Trina on the red carpet. Stella admires his work ethic and motivation. Trina has Kai on her mind as well, and she tells Josslyn she's going to skip any Nurses' Ball after-parties so she can be with him. Alexis hires Spinelli to find said car, and to no one's surprise, he's able to tie Ava to its post-crash location. Kristina tells Dante about Alexis' commitment papers and her fear that their relationship will never be the same again. When they start discussing Ric and Elizabeth's car accident, Kristina slips up and mentions that she saw the car after the crash. Ezra thinks that Jacinda left town because Drew paid her to, so I guess that tells us what kind of person Ezra sees Drew as.
You think there are no more lines for Drew to cross, and then...
Ezra wasn't exactly secretive about spending time with Jacinda. Lulu should be able to use that against him.
Heh, people keep playing with the gavel in Alexis and Diane's office. Why do they even have one?
Why do people keep hanging out at Lulu's house when she's not there?
May 15th, 2025
It's Gio's birthday (though he thinks it's three weeks later), and Brook wishes she could meet her son, but only if it's something he wants. Little does she know that she's right next to him at Nurses' Ball rehearsals. Lois is no longer sure that she made the right decisions all those years ago. Chase encourages her to live in the present and look to the future instead of dwelling on the past. Apparently Cody always thought that Brook had an abortion, so he's surprised when Lulu tells him that she's looking into the adoption agency she used 22 years ago. Now that Cody knows that Dante has a child out there he doesn't know about, he agrees with Lulu that Dante should be told. Lulu learns that the adoption agency closed years before Brook could have used it, which just fuels her theory that Brook is lying about not knowing who and where her son is. She's also more convinced than ever that that son is Gio. Kristina spins a believable lie about seeing the scene of the crash before she knew who was involved, and Dante buys it. She runs off to try to get in touch with Lucky, who's followed the trail of Ric's car and learned that he was lied to about it being crushed. He shows up at the storage unit where Ava's been keeping it just as Alexis discovers it empty except for a note addressed to her that says, "Looking for something?" Alexis and Lucky end up revealing that they both know what Kristina did. Alexis also shares that Ric and Ava know and are using the info to blackmail her. Elizabeth confides to Lucas that she wants to make things work with Lucky, but she doesn't trust that he'll stick around. Lucas thinks he's committed to her and will make himself stay, which Elizabeth doesn't want if that's not what he wants for himself. Dante continues blaming Gio for what happened to Rocco, even after Rocco insists that he was barely involved. Meanwhile, Sonny tries to convince Gio not to let Dante get to him.
All these months this storyline has been going on and Cody never put together that Brook had the baby? Come on!
"I tried to stay out of it." Did you, Lulu? Did you really?
Getting a little cocky there, aren't we, Ric and Ava?
Let's talk about how Donna is Gio's aunt.
May 16th, 2025
Sonny objects to Carly's plan to fight for Michael's kids on his behalf, warning that if it doesn't work out, Michael will be furious with her. He secretly goes to Willow on his own, hoping that the two of them can work something out and avert a fiasco in court. Brook is annoyed that Lulu isn't more forgiving of Gio for what happened to Rocco, though if she were, Brook would still find something to complain about. She's much happier when Rocco makes it clear that he doesn't blame Gio in any way and disapproves of Dante's treatment of him. She's also thrilled to learn from Tracy that Lulu's not going to keep working on her story about adoption. Lulu digs into birth records to try to prove that Brook's child and Gio are the same person. She can't find any records for Gio, so she thinks the next step is to find out where his adoptive mother was when he was born. Willow tells Isaiah a little about her custody issues and tells him that her ideal solution is that she gets full custody. Isaiah obviously thinks that's unfair but doesn't want to say it. He just tells her that from what he's seen of her, she has a good heart, so she should follow it. Drew and Tracy may agree that Sonny needs to go, but they don't see eye to eye on what should happen to Laura – Tracy wants her to keep her office, but Drew wants her gone, too. He increases his demands for getting rid of Sonny, asking for access to the Quartermaines' property on top of getting the name back. Ava's news that Drew is "forcing" Trina to participate in Kai's documentary pushes Portia to her absolute limits about him, but it's still not enough for her to tell Curtis what's going on. Instead, she complains to Ava loudly enough for Isaiah to overhear. Meanwhile, Curtis straight out accuses Drew of blackmailing his wife. Nina doesn't get why Portia is suddenly pro-Drew, so Curtis tells her that he's blackmailing her. Nina's like, "Well, I don't know anything about that." She's frustrated that Willow is still under Drew's thrall and could lose her children because of it.
I'm very much looking forward to Carly having to go up against Willow's new lawyer in court.
Who decided Gio's birthday should be May 15th, which happens to be Brook and Chase's wedding anniversary (which no one has brought up)?
I'm glad Gio mentioned Olivia. She should really be part of his storyline.
Someone save Isaiah from all the conversations he has to have with Willow.
Camilla isn't "the key," Lulu. Just do a DNA test.
Why does Drew want access to the Quartermaines' property again? Everyone who lives there hates him.
I have no sympathy for Portia. Curtis deserves better. End this already.
May 19th, 2025
Carly's done with Nina's weak attempts to break up Drew and Willow, and she reveals that she's going to try to get custody of the kids. Nina accuses her of planning that all along and only pretending she wanted to work with Nina. Things get physical and Josslyn has to break up their fight. She urges Carly to tell Michael that the hearing is coming up, but Carly still refuses. At least she has the good sense to admit that she might have ruined Michael's chances of getting the kids. Sonny finally tells Willow that Michael never wanted full custody and only requested it as a negotiation tactic. She's confused, since he wouldn't see her in Germany, which Sonny says isn't like him. He comes really close to convincing Willow to ask for a postponement for the custody hearing until Michael can come home and speak for himself. Then Nina shows up ranting about Carly, and Willow realizes that with her involved, she'll never get what she wants, so the hearing date stands. Brook rallies Tracy, Lois, Ned, Olivia, and Jason in support of Gio, which isn't that hard, since they all think Dante's been overreacting. Gio's accepted that he and Dante probably aren't ever going to be on good terms again, but he appreciates Lois and Olivia's support. Drew practically spells out to Curtis everything he's holding over Portia's head. Curtis doesn't think Drew will be able to get anyone to listen to his allegations after the hit his reputation has taken, but it looks like Drew's about to try to get Portia arrested for drugging him, so Drew's reputation is the least of Curtis' problems right now. Lulu gets definitive proof that Camilla wasn't pregnant around the time Gio was born. Dante continues being annoying about Gio, and he adds to the jerkiness by criticizing Jason's parenting skills to Sasha. Sasha gets a subpoena to testify on Willow's behalf at the custody hearing.
Nina could probably seal custody for Willow right now by having Carly arrested for assault.
Of course the downfall of Nina and Carly's alliance was Carly and Nina themselves. None of us should be surprised.
Thanks for waiting so long to reveal that Michael doesn't actually want full custody, Sonny. That was really helpful.
The thing about Dante being mad at Gio is he's blamed him a dozen times now, and everyone has heard his opinion. Someone needs to tell him that he can hold the grudge all he wants, but he needs to shut up about it.
Why would Ric call someone who hates his client to testify on her behalf?
May 20th, 2025
Drew and Nina have to co-host the Nurses' Ball red carpet together, and they barely mask how much they hate it. Then again, the participants barely mask how much they hate the co-hosts, especially Drew. Willow is the last to arrive, and she and Drew kiss on camera while someone watches the livestream from a private plane. Not only does Chase have to miss out on walking the carpet with Brook, but it's because Mac has called to tell him to arrest Tracy for drugging Drew. Tracy denies it, and when Mac tells her that ketamine was found in her car, she realizes that Drew set her up. Ric is at Alexis' house, being his usual annoying self, when Kristina comes by to meet up for the ball, so she takes the opportunity to get in some digs. Alexis tells her to play nice, and not just for Molly's sake. Kristina brings up the whole commitment thing, still mad about it, and things get heated. Eventually, Alexis reveals that she knows that Kristina tried to kill Ava. Because Alexis and Kristina are distracted, Molly has no one to walk the carpet with, so Cody plays her knight in shining armor. Kai makes it to the red carpet and surprises Trina, but it's kind of overshadowed by everything else going on.
Some day, someone will explain why there's always a llama at the ball. Some day...
Other than the shoulder ruffle, Olivia's dress was my favorite. And though Carly's was a little too understated for the event, I loved the color.
I thought the Nina/Drew stuff would get old by the end of the episode, but it turned out to be pretty good.
New Michael? Do I have to give up my dream of them poaching Leo Howard from Days of Our Lives?
Chase would absolutely not arrest Tracy (or anyone, actually) on camera.
I love how Ned didn't say that Tracy wouldn't drug Drew, just that if she did, she wouldn't get caught.
Poor Mac is Cinderella. He doesn't get to go to the ball.
May 21st, 2025
The nurses (and Isaiah) open the show with "Holiday," and let's all just be happy that we don't have to listen to three days of unknown songs again. Gio gives a great performance that even Dante has to begrudgingly appreciate. Anna, Felicia, and Lucy were supposed to back up Tracy on "These Boots Are Made for Walkin'," but since she's still at the police station, they swap in Spinelli. Watching Lois watch Gio's performance convinces Lulu that she's Gio's grandmother, and she decides she can't wait another second to confirm her suspicions. Curtis finally confronts Portia for her secrets, and she admits that Brad and Drew have been blackmailing her. She tries to downplay everything, saying over and over that she kept Brad's extortion a secret because it was a hospital matter, but that doesn't fly with Curtis. He's furious that she learned nothing from the last time she kept something so huge from him, and that she's put them in a difficult position and is risking her medical license and freedom. Alexis tells Kristina that not only does she know what Kristina did, but so do Ric and Ava. Kristina feels horrible that they've been blackmailing her mother, and that Alexis is stealing from Ace to keep it all under wraps. She wants to get Sonny involved, but Alexis objects, figuring that Ric and Ava have a contingency plan in place if something happens to them. Kristina agrees to let Alexis keep covering up what she did, because what else is she going to do, admit that she tried to kill someone and face the consequences? Come on! Josslyn entertains herself (and me) by bugging Willow, then taunting her when Drew comes to her rescue.
One of the (few) things I still enjoy about the ball is how much fun the audience has during the performances.
I demand to be there when Tracy finds out that Spinelli subbed for her.
Freaking A, Lulu, why do you think you have to do this right now?
Whoever Curtis is with next needs to be super-awesome to make up for how bleh his relationship with Portia has been.
"The guy's trash with abs." Cody, come sit with me.
May 22nd, 2025
Chase hams up a performance of "The Look of Love" with Dante, Cody, and Isaiah as his Pips, basically. Then some singer named Yde does some song I've already forgotten about. Those are the only acts we get to see because before Chase and Anna can tango, things get chaotic. Gio overhears Lois and Lulu talking about his true paternity and is enraged over the fact that he's been lied to his entire life. While Lulu tells Cody that she pulled the trigger and is forcing Lois to come clean (or Lulu herself will), Lois tries to rush Brook out of the ball. Brook won't go, since Gio is about to accompany Anna and Chase. Emma finds Gio off brooding by himself and can instantly tell that something's wrong. Gio goes to perform anyway, though he stops a few bars in. He announces that he's dedicating his performance to his parents, then exposes the entire paternity secret, revealing himself as Brook and Dante's son who they gave away because they didn't want him. Curtis seems pretty much done with Portia, but he doesn't want to ruin Trina's night, and he especially doesn't want Drew to catch on that anything's wrong, so he decides to pretend that nothing's off. Nina officially cuts off her alliance with Carly and recommits her support behind Willow and Drew. Josslyn's eager to watch Carly take the kids away from Willow, clueless that by the end of tomorrow's episode, everything will be upended again. Ned confronts Drew for having Tracy arrested, which is just another opportunity for Drew to let Willow see him as an innocent victim. For the first time, he suggests that they might end up living in D.C.
Hoooooo boy. I knew the Gio stuff would inevitably blow up, but I never expected this. Who could have predicted that Gio himself would be the one to expose everything?
I think it's fair for Lulu to be mad at Lois for keeping the big secret from Brook, but not Gio. Brook wanted a closed adoption, so Lois was right not to tell him anything.
Why didn't Nina warn Portia earlier that Curtis was on to her?
Some year, I'd like them to shell out the money for Chase to sing some Bowie. I think he could crush it.
May 23rd, 2025
Drew and Willow approach Carly about working out a deal, but since they won't agree to shared custody, Carly isn't interested. The idea of them taking the kids and moving to D.C. just fuels her desire to get custody. Drew mocks that when she loses the battle, Michael will blame her. Fortunately, he's wrong. Just after Georgie, James, Scout, Donna, and Wiley close out the ball with a performance of "I'll Be There," Wiley spots someone unexpected in the audience. Michael's back, and he looks more than capable of standing up for himself in court. Gio, Brook, and Lois all disappear after Gio drops his bombshell, and the rest of the family is left trying to decide if what he said is true. Chase confirms to Sonny, Ned, and Olivia that their kids had a child together, though he wasn't aware that that child was Gio. Sonny guesses that Lois has answers to all their questions, an idea that hurts Olivia, since this means one of her best friends has lied to her for 22 years. Sonny tells everyone to keep their distance from Brook and Dante for now, since they need to work things out themselves. Cody doesn't get that memo, and he ends up being the one to tell Dante that, yes, Brook secretly got pregnant and had his child when they were teenagers. Lulu wants to jump in the middle of the Gio/Dante/Brook mess, but Carly advises her to lie low, since she's the one who set everything in motion. Josslyn and Trina take the stage earlier than planned but don't let it show in their duet. Lucas joins Elizabeth for a post-work ball viewing, and they note how much things have changed since past memorable balls.
[Insert joke here about how the German clinic is so good at healing burns, they gave Michael a whole new face]
The look on Drew's face when he realized Michael was there was the highlight of my week.
I assume someone called Michael to tell him what was going on with Drew and Willow. Judging from the way Jason answered his phone, my money's on him.
Ned had the perfect reaction to the news that he's a grandfather – understandably hurt that his daughter never told him she had a baby (but not really mad, just confused about why she wouldn't confide in him), and sorry that she went through something so difficult at a young age.
Why is everyone listening to Sonny about not checking on Dante and Brook? Shut up, Sonny.
Josslyn and Trina sounded so much better this time than the last time they sang together.
I'm sad that Maxie wasn't there to see her kids shine. They were both great.
May 27th, 2025
Dante's appropriately upset with Brook for never telling him about their child, but he wants to keep his focus on Gio. Brook, meanwhile, is furious with Lois for lying to both her and Gio for 22 years, a move she finds unforgivable. Gio's reaction to the big paternity news is to run away, a decision Emma fully supports. Tracy tries to stop him by playing the family card, which won't work when he just associates all the Quartermaines with lies. Michael takes off with Wiley, and Jason – who's already collected Amelia and put her in Sasha's care at Carly's house – tells Drew and Willow not to go after them. Michael pretty much ignores what's going on with his ex and her new boyfriend so he can enjoy reuniting with his kids. He also tells Sasha that their arrangement won't change, and he'll continue to let her make all the decisions for their child. While everyone else in town is angsting, Kai and Trina are having sex. Lulu is either oblivious or completely in denial about how much damage her actions have caused, and how dramatically she's affected Gio's life. She thinks it's all for the best anyway, since it's better that the truth is out even if everyone's upset. Cody, like Carly, suggests that he lie low for a while. Nina begs Sonny to talk to Michael about custody, like, Sonny has two major family things going on right now; this isn't the time, Nina.
Giovanni Mazza really exceeded my expectations today. His performance made it seem like he has a lot more acting experience than he does.
Kind of weird that Jason tossed Sasha in the middle of everything.
Kai, who just got out of the hospital after having spinal surgery, is well enough to have sex? OKAY.
Interesting that Cody feels so guilty. I don't think he did anything wrong. He didn't know about the baby until a couple days ago, and he had no proof that it was Gio. Dante will probably give him a pass.
Lulu, it's time to stop talking.
May 28th, 2025
Lois is in the hot seat with Ned, Olivia, and Sonny, all of whom are mad at her for keeping multiple secrets for 22 years. Sonny, at least, understands why she did what she did, and he appreciates that she helped him maintain a connection to his grandson. Dante's also mad, since Brook made a huge decision without consulting him, and since Chase has known for months and didn't say anything. Tracy tries to get him to direct his anger at Lois. Gio isn't sure what he wants to do next, just that he wants to get far away from his family. Emma remains fully supportive and sympathetic. Willow and Drew try to get Mac to arrest Jason for kidnapping, since he took Amelia without Willow's permission. Mac sees no urgency in the situation, since Amelia's now with her father, and after checking on the kids at Carly's, he's sure no crime has been committed. Add to that a court order giving Michael custody until the trial and Willow is completely out of luck. In contrast, Michael's loved ones are thrilled that he's healthy and back home in time to fight for his kids (thanks to a tip-off from Diane). He's equally happy and isn't even upset with Carly for the way she handled things. Nina considers telling Willow about her...whatever that was with Drew, but she's worried that Willow will cut both of them off. Talk of the custody trial and all of Michael's allies leads to a conversation about Sasha's pregnancy and the baby's alleged father. Maxie tells her about Sasha's original claim that she had a drunken one-night stand with a stranger, then mentions that Ric subpoenaed Sasha for the custody trial. Nina starts putting the pieces together, after talking to a bartender who served Sasha the baby was conceived, she gets confirmation that Sasha got drunk with Michael.
New rule: No one gets to be mad that Brook chose adoption.
Where was Sonny for the first three-quarters of the episode? It was like he thought, "Both of my sons are in the middle of big messes, and I don't want to choose which one to help, so I'll choose neither."
"He terrorized the babysitter." Oh, go sit down, drama queen.
I see having your kids taken away isn't so fun from the other side, is it, Willow?
NINA, NOOOOOO!
Nina had to look up a picture of Sasha on the Internet? She doesn't have a picture of on her phone of the woman who's basically a daughter to her (and who, by the way, she'll be screwing over for her actual daughter)?
I'm not convinced that Willow would ditch Drew if she knew he slept with Nina. He'd probably find a way to spin it so it didn't seem so bad. Or he'd just straight up deny it and she would believe him.
May 29th, 2025
Michael tells Willow that he'll only give her access to the kids if she cuts all ties to Drew. Drew convinces her not to give in before they even go to court, because there's a chance they'll be able to dig up something on Michael and turn things around. Dante confronts Lulu for not telling him about Gio, somehow blaming her for the way things came out. He thinks she wanted to be the big hero who reunited him with his son in hopes of winning Dante back. He also thinks that she made the decisions she made to get revenge on Brook. They have a big fight and ultimately say that they'll never be getting back together and won't even interact if Rocco isn't involved. Ned again handles things perfectly, assuring Brook that he understands why she never told him about her pregnancy and offering her comfort. She's worried that Gio will never get over his anger and let her love him, but Ned doesn't see how he couldn't. Surprisingly, Olivia is also fine with the fact that Brook kept such a big secret for so long, since she's been in the same position. Gio and Emma both believe that Dante really didn't know anything about his son, but Gio doesn't expect them to develop a good relationship, since Dante's recent attitude toward him indicates that he's not a fan. Emma continues being supportive and convinces Gio to spend the night at her and Anna's apartment. Cody still thinks the Gio stuff has anything to do with him, and Sasha has to talk him down. She believes that the secrets parents keep from their children should be respected and not interfered with by anyone else, cough cough, not that she's keeping any secrets. Michael talks things over with Jason, who'd love it if he and Willow could compromise but gets Michael's motives for separating the kids from their mother. Tracy shifts from listening while Olivia's lamenting the way things fell apart to complaining about Sonny in about 30 seconds.
No one is a bigger hypocrite right now than Willow. Michael's just doing the same thing to her that she tried to do to him. "He's not the same person he used to be" – yeah, neither are you!
I really hope it comes out that Willow was going to argue that Michael abandoned his kids. I need people to know that about her.
Between this and blaming Gio for what happened to Rocco, Dante has become the king of misplaced anger.
Lulu absolutely does NOT get to judge Brook for choosing adoption. Someone who terminated a pregnancy that resulted from a teenage fling has no leg to stand on. At least Brook didn't get pregnant breaking up a couple.
How adorable that Cody thinks he could have gotten Lulu to keep her mouth shut.
Ooh, a mention of that never-explained storyline where Olivia was psychic!
May 30th, 2025
Nina tells Ava what she's learned about Michael and Sasha, but she's not sure if she wants to spread that around. She suspects that if Willow gets full custody of the kids, she'll move to D.C., and Nina might never see her or the kids again. If, however, Michael gets full custody, Willow will likely stay in town to be near them. Plus, if her relationship with Drew costs her her children, she'll probably leave him eventually. So to sum up, Michael might get custody because of Nina. Emma tries to help Gio see that, biology aside, Camilla was his mother and he doesn't have to deny that. Gio's not eager to consider the Quartermaines his family, but he knows he can't avoid them forever, so he decides to go face his new reality head on. Brook now believes that she only chose adoption because Lois pressured her to, not because it was what she actually wanted. Lois tries to convince her that it would have been a mistake to tell her the truth when Camilla died, because Brook would have sidelined her entire life to take care of Gio, and she wouldn't have become the person she is now. Brook is still too hurt to listen to her, but Gloria, who makes a surprise return, looks like she's prepared to take all the blame. Alexis meets with Lucky and Kristina to go over details of the day of the crash to see if anyone might tie Kristina to it. She thinks the car is the only real smoking gun, but as long as she can't find it, she can't do anything about it. Her only other option as she sees it is to drive a wedge between Ric and Ava. Carly asks Curtis to use Aurora to defame Drew in hopes that it'll hurt Willow in court. Curtis notes that since Michael is the majority shareholder, Drew will come off looking like a victim. Curtis is annoyed because the real reason he can't trash Drew via Aurora is that he's blackmailing Portia. Portia can't figure out how Tracy got arrested for something she had nothing to do with, but Curtis correctly guesses that Drew framed her. He's decided that the best way to get everything sorted out is to find Jacinda. Laura disapproves of Ric and Elizabeth's continued friendship as much as the rest of us do. Also, apparently Elizabeth is only allowed to talk to people about where things stand with Lucky and her skepticism that they'll be able to make things work this time. But she might have something else to think about soon, as it looks like Lucky might tell her the truth about the accident. Michael and Sasha try not to worry too much about the fact that Ric wants her to testify at the custody trial. She thinks she could have headed this all off by telling Michael as soon as she saw Drew and Willow kissing, like, what is it with her and Cody blaming themselves for things they had nothing to do with? Laura has done the exact thing Alexis has hoped no one would: She's noticed that Ace's inheritance is $10 million short.
Friggin' A, Nina, why would you tell Ava anything?
Oooh, I want to see Alexis make Ric and Ava turn on each other.
Why try to make Drew look bad this late in the game, especially when he's already done that well enough on his own? Carly should be looking for dirt on Willow.
Curtis, finding Jacinda is the last thing you want to do.
It's weird that Sonny hasn't gone to see Michael yet, right?