Betrayals

I wish I meant that a character on GH was betraying another.  What I mean by "betrayals" is the writers and an actor are betraying daytime with their actions this week.

The first betrayal is this awful, horrible, worst storyline ever of Kristina's Mob Princess reality show. Reality shows are the enemy of scripted shows.  They are cheap, often (but not always) trashy, replacements for good writing.  I call them unreality shows.  There absolutely nothing realistic about putting a bunch of people on an island and have them do silly contests to see who can 'survive' the longest or race across the globe to on what is essentially a scavenger hunt or find a mate in a few weeks or live in the same house together with a bunch of people you have never met before, etc, etc.

So bringing 'reality' tv into daytime is a betrayal.  And not only that it is ridiculous to think that people could just walk into Alexis - lawyer Alexis - home and start running cameras.  I truly wanted Alexis to slap Kristina silly today.  If Kristina wants to be treated like an adult that is what she deserved because that is what would have happened to another adult woman who started running her mouth the way she was.  I truly HATE this storyline.

Another betrayal are the promos I've seen for the Chew where Laura Wright is appearing.  Perhaps she is there to talk up daytime but I'd rather she not be associated with the enemy at all.  The Chew and all the replacements ABC, NBC and CBS try out in their former daytime drama time slots are enemies of our programs.  Don't show up on the Chew and pretend to care about what these people are pushing, Laura.

Again what I'm enjoying are the Tracy/Luke scenes.  Luke sure got caught red handed today and there is ample evidence that his real crime is still being in love with Tracy. He was dying for her to use his name as the one she swore her oath on but she picked Lila instead.  This storyline also gives Brandon Brash more opportunities to shine.

I knew what Maxie was up to.  It was a good plan only it keeps Dr. Selfish around a while longer.  And poor Spinelli!  His heart is breaking and he doesn't even have Sam or Jason to go to for support as they are caught up in their own problems and drama.

Season Finales

All the primetime shows I watch have now had their season finales - and a couple of series finales whether planned or not.  Here are some thoughts on the series finales:

Desperate Housewives - I wasn't pleased with the ending.  While I'm glad Bree isn't in jail and Karen taking the blame was unexpected and poignant, the rest didn't seem to fit.  Why would Renee be so desperate to marry the broke Aussie who lied to her?  Tom and Lynette probably deserve each other but if anyone needed to be apart it was them.  They are NOT good together and what it is with Tom telling Lynette she is never happy. Tom, who quit his job to stay home with the kids then start a pizza business then go back to school then go back to the corporate world then be so in love with Jane, is the one who is never happy!

Gabby will never have a happy ending without her biological daughter.  What happened to Bree's son Andrew?  He was one of the best characters they had and wasn't even in the finale or anything leading up to it.

What I most disliked was moving everyone away and them never reuniting again.  Bree nearly went to prison for these women and then it can all be over just like that?

The Firm - Just watched the last one of these.  It is a shame this hasn't been renewed.  I know it got terrible ratings but NBC has so little.  They didn't do enough to promote this and gave it a terrible time slot.  The acting and writing were good and of course the premise is something we all know.  I think that was the issue.  My husband didn't want to watch because he thought it was a repeat of the book which was repeated by the movie.

The season ender which turned into the series finale left everything unsettled.  Tammy had gone off to obtain a divorce she thought she aleady had and wasn't even in the episode at all. Abby was in Kentucky kissing another man.  Mitch was finally being confronted by the mob boss' son who says he doesn't want to kill him but hire him.  There is much story here to tell.  Maybe Grisham will write us another great book and someone will make that into a movie and then a series...

Harry's Law - this is NBC's big mistake for the year canceling Harry's Law.  I read it got 8 million viewers.  They were just older.  Well, sell your ads to companies for products for an older populations.  They may be the only people who actually have money anyway.  This show just kept getting better.  The finale was well done with cases, office romances, and Harry's love for and of her people.

I really liked watching Harry, too and I'll miss it.  NBC could do a lot worse - they ARE doing a lot worse.  I hope they change their minds on this one.

Genuinely shocked

The last time I was genuinely shocked by a storyline was...  I can't remember!  It is still hard to believe that Johnny shot his grandfather.

I'm not going to be 4 for 4 either - on identifying the culprit.  Johnny shot out Anthony's tires and got Connie to take the blame.  Quite a piece of writing.  It is even more surprising that they put this on a Monday/Tuesday. When we had the cliffhanger Friday, I just assumed Johnny was lying.  I never dreamed it would go this way.

I'll certainly miss Anthony.  Yes, he was a killer.  He would do anything to protect himself or Johnny.  He even 'took care of' Maxie's problem for her to repay his debt.  But he was so much fun to watch.  I suppose this will take care of the last loose end of Maxie's case.  I wondered how they were going to get her off of conspiring with Anthony to kill the first mate.  Now she can just blame it all on him.

I assume that Johnny's timing has a lot to do with opportunity.  He knows that Tracy was trying to kill Anthony so he has the perfect one to frame. Luke is getting caught up in this for sure.

On the other side of town, Tea is the latest beautiful woman to use John McBain for a sounding board.  I do wish costume burns that awful maternity getup they have her in.  And would someone please give her a proper pregnancy pad so she doesn't have to hang onto it like a kid clutching a basketball.  I guess she is afraid it is going to fall out.

I know I'm supposed to be mad at Jason but I can't help but see his point of view.  No, I don't think he should suggest to Sam that they give this baby up for adoption and just make another one.  He gave away one child and then later regretted it.  But I do see how it is going to be hard for him to raise Franco's child.  And of course we have Nurse Nosy on hand to stick her two cents in and be his shoulder to cry on.

So who is Shawn dating or does it matter?  Apparently they decided against a Carly/Shawn pairing.  Is this racial or do they think Shawn is just too good a guy for Carly?  Todd sure isn't so I guess that is her next one.

Great writing

The storylines are superb these days!  I think the tie in's with OLTL are very good.  Even though I never watched the show, it is obvious that Kate/Connie DID story is written with these fans in mind.  Even though I don't know the OLTL characters, I'm getting into their stories very easily.

Kelli Sullivan should get an Emmy for her fantastic performance as Kate/Connie.  She finally has Sonny believing her.  While I think it was beyond insensitive for Sonny to not even listen to everyone telling him what was going on with Kate, I don't think they should get back together.  If Kate is so afraid of a life with Sonny that she had to develop another personality to deal with it, there is really no hope for these characters.  Ewan told Kate that they personalities would have to merge.

And I got another one right!  Not that they made it too hard for me.  Dr. Hunter is Lisa Niles' murderer.  Another case of good writing here as most of us had long ago lost interest in Dr. Niles or who killed her.  To resurrect this storyline and make it attention grabbing took talent. I'd always hoped it would be Matt so we could be rid of this character.  I have nothing against the actor and am glad he found other work.  I just find the character of Matt incredibly self-absorbed and unnecssary.  Yes, this will be a blow to Patrick but it is definitely time to move Dr. Hunter along and get Maxie out of prison before we have to see more of her in that hideous orange complete with black eye.

There is still too much murder going on or attempted murder.  Friday left us with wondering who is telling the truth - Johnny or Connie in their confessions of who shot out Anthony's tires.  Johnny has an alibi; it's Kate I'm sure.  I've thought it was her all along. Hey, I'm 3 for 3 already.

Anthony is right about one thing, the Mrs. is trying to kill him.  I laughed at Tracy's constant complaint that Luke didn't have a plan.  And she does??? Tracy is being very sloppy about this.  I don't think Luke is going to murder Anthony so I'm particularly anxious to see what he has in mind and to see more of three of my favorite characters.

Speaking of favs, we are seeing lots of Alexis these days and Molly is back on screen.  The Molly and TJ romance is a bit hard to buy as we didn't see the lead in for this.

The only sour note is Jason and his poor treatment of his wife.  I can see why he is having trouble accepting this baby but I can't see why he is pushing Sam away and totally ignoring her feelings about the baby.

Lulu is deluded

I got a good laugh out of Lulu this week.  She told Luke that she could think and act under pressure.  That she was good at it. Huh?  The way I saw it, Sam was the one who suggested to Ronnie the Haunted Star and dropped the matchbook.  It was Sam who untied them.  It was Lulu who got herself shot and Sam who avoided getting shot by faking a fainting spell.  Lulu did figure out it was Ronnie but then my her own admission, turned her back on him and got herself kidnapped.  Lulu isn't going to last 10 minutes if she gets herself into any more adventures particularly if Dante, Luke or John or all three aren't hot on her trail.

Tea arrived this week.  I like her so far.  I'd love to know what she and Padilla were saying about Johnny in Spanish.  Todd is back and so far he is interesting and not too annoying.  He is frank about his past which I appreciate.

It is going to be hard to get past what all Johnny has done lately but I can't help but want Carly to forgive him.  I know Johnny isn't all bad but his actions are saying otherwise.

Ronnie is gone.  Matt is on his way out.  Both of these I've wanted rid of.  Now, if we could get rid of Heather, all the aggravating characters would be gone.  Maggie was also written out.  I didn't have an opinion one way or another.

I wonder of Connie will reappear and bust out of jail.  I kind of hope so I'm not anxious for this storyline to end.

Jason is a jerk!

I'm so disgusted with Jason.  His only redeeming quality right now is that he has figured out Kate's dual personality.  I swear I thought someone was going to have to draw Carly a map.  She reads a medical file with a term she doesn't understand and she rushes over to Johnny's.  She doesn't at least Google it?

Back to Jason.  Your wife is pregnant after being raped by a maniac and all you can worry about are her conversations with another guy - a guy who has been supportive.  Jason is just a jerk in this entire scenario.  I get that this affects him too.  I can see why he wonders if he can raise this baby as his own.  But he has done that before with Michael.  He saw Lucky do that with Jake.  The least he can do is support Sam until he figures out what he is going to do.

I see a lot of criticism of Starr Manning's character. I have no prior history with this character.  It is easy to see why she can't let the death of her child and boyfriend go.  It is easy to see why she thinks Sonny is really guilty.  He's skated by before. Everything really pointed to him.  So I get her anger and can put up with her ranting for awhile.  However, if they pulled the character tomorrow, I wouldn't miss her.

The OLTL crossover I do love is John McBain.  He and Alexis are the only people in town who make any sense.  I wish he were unattached so he could hook up with Alexis and then there is all that chemistry with Sam.  But they keep going to great lengths to talk about his family, for him to have conversations albeit brief with his wife.  Surely at some point he will be free romantically or he will cheat.  I'd hate to see him cheat. He really does seem like a good guy for a change.

And speaking of 'good guys' and change.  Johnny who was always trying to escape his upbringing then swung over to the dark side is trying to swing back.  I hope he makes it.  It's hard to root for Johnny with all he is into.

Will Tracy knock off her hubby?  I doubt it, but the scenes with her, Luke and Anthony were predictably priceless.  I mean if you tell me those three are going to be in a scene together, I know I'm going to laugh and love it.  But Tracy, dear, Luke is not smitten enough to try to kill Anthony.  First of all, Anthony has more lives than a cat and he has a gangster son or grandson who no matter how much he protests is still blood.  You don't mess with these people and Luke knows it.  Then there are the instructions Anthony supposedly left with his attorney to expose Tracy should he die.  No, Tracy you are stuck for the time being.   What a treat for us.

Two things I predicted are coming true and I'm happy about both. Ronnie is the abuser and is surely going down.  Not a minute too soon.  I've been wanting rid of this annoying character for months.  Matt is Lisa's killer. It explains Maxie's behavior to a point.  I still can't believe she would go to these lengths to cover for her.  If Max wanted to change Maxie's mind, he should have had her sent to prison prior to sentencing to see what it was really like.  I think that might have done more to persuade her that she was taking her guilt over Robin's death too far.

Back to Kate, again I'm riveted everytime this story is on the screen.  The writing and acting are fantastic. I certainly understand the recast.  I just can't see Megan Ward with her hair down like Connie - even if she had long hair.

The only dark spot for me storywise is Heather. I still hate this character.  The idea that Maggie would fall for her act is silly.  Is this a way to write out Maggie?  I'm not crazy about the character but we didn't need to kill her off.  Although if it gets Heather off my screen sooner, I'll take it.