Black Knight

My jaw dropped at that. I'd been prepared by the comments here to see Adrienne apologizing to Abby for the affair...but then that - honestly, I can't even come up with the adjectives to sufficiently describe her - twit "graciously" accepted Adrienne's apology. No, you asshole, you tell her that there is nothing to forgive her for, because your poor decision-making is not her responsibility or fault! Jesus! GW is awful, absolutely awful. I thought I'd been prepared by the comments here for that too, but he was so one-note that it was painful. He had really good material today, and he just wasted it because he has exactly the same expression for everything. I think I know what Will was feeling during those scenes, but that's based on clues like the dialogue and when exactly the camera would cut to him, not because of GW himself, because he sure as hell didn't convey a damn thing to me. I thought AS did a really good job with her half of the scenes, but it takes two, and when you have the other actor tanking in this fashion, it drags down the energy of the scenes. It's akin to trying to play a game of catch with a patch of quicksand, you know? You throw the ball and it just sinks into the quicksand instead of being thrown back to you. That's what this felt like. And it's such a shame because I could see how powerful these scenes could have been if GW weren't so dreadful. I very much liked what Sami said at the end. Her "No, you don't" was exactly on point, of course, but her close of about how she's hurting because he's hurt himself with this? First, it shows that she loves him as much as ever, for her to be thinking about that right now. But second, she's right: Will is going to understand one day exactly what he did, and then he's going to regret it for the rest of his life because it can never be undone. Sami will always love him, always help him and Ari...but with his stupid little snit fit over his asshole cousin, he's still changed his relationship with his mother in a fundamental way that there's no coming back from. It reminds me very much of this classic scene years and years ago on General Hospital, when Bobbie found out that not only was Carly her daughter, but that her brother Luke had known it all along. She confronted him in rather the same subdued manner that Sami had with Will, and she closed by telling Luke something along the lines of, "Years from now, we'll be sitting there celebrating Thanksgiving, and you're going to see me smiling across the table, and you'll think to yourself, 'It's okay now. She's over it.' I'm not." It's like that with Sami and Will. Sami is never going to get over this. She might never speak about it again, continue to be loving to Will...but even so, she'll never get over this, because the betrayal is so fundamental. It means she loves her son but can't trust him. And when Will realizes what he's done, for such stupid reasons - and that realization will probably come when Ari gets older - he is going to regret it. But until that happy day comes, I'll be pretty satisfied with the way the shit hits the fan when the article comes out with Abby named in it a hundred times as EJ's mistress. Hahahahaha! Zoe is my new favorite tertiary character. If only GW could act, because that'll take a lot of fun out of his reaction. But the reactions of Jen, Adrienne, etc. - characters played by capable actors - will certainly not disappoint. And who knows, maybe Will will learn this lesson too: Don't fuck with Sami. If we consider his article another one of those "confrontations" - well, once again Sami's hit back hard enough that it made it not worth it. Telling Jordan about Rafe's cheating, making Adrienne think Justin had cheated on her with Kayla, outing Abby as the mistress in this article...why these fools continue to challenge her is beyond me. I'm sure Abby's going to be really grateful to Will. (And I love that Sami didn't mention the "fact-checking" she and Zoe did. She's just leaving that as a little surprise for Will..)

But Will is in this weird Horton bubble where the fact Sami wants revenge for the affair is this terrible, incomprehensible thing, far worse than the actual affair. I wouldn't expect him to realize most readers would actually evil-giggle.

I guess Will had to explain why his mother would take DE away from her new husband? But yeah, his whole scheme was poorly thought out from start to end. He'll have hurt everybody he said he wanted to protect.

*blink* *blink* I had to reread that first sentence several times before I finally accepted that you didn't accidentally switch the names around. Not that Abby needs to apologize to Adrienne for having an affair with EJ or befriending Sami, Adrienne's not an injured party here - but, seriously? Adrienne blamed herself for this fiasco? For Abby's poor decisionmaking? Is Adrienne related to that friend of Dick Cheney's who apologized for Cheney shooting him in the face? *facepalm*

I really hope now is when she tells him that she found and destroyed the evidence against him. I'm also hoping she slaps him again. Twice for good measure. Ordinarily, I would actually like them to, shockingly, end up having a great conversation where he finally understands her point of view and her hurt and, while she doesn't apologize for all the EVIL <eyeroll> she's done to Abby to date, she promises to exclusively focus her ire on EJ going forward. And then in classic soap fashion, he tries to get the article killed, but it's too late. The Sami fan in me wants that. But that expression he gets on his face just drives me up the wall so much that ultimately, I just want blood, blood and more blood. I am enthralled by Abby's job search. What persistence and drive she's showing! I think she works harder brushing her hair each day than she has on this...

I guess they think that after the video was played...twice!...in a church, with pretty much all of Salem including Eric's own family watching, there's no need to bother being sensitive now. I still can't quite believe that happened. Kristen certainly had her own selfish motives for saying the video shouldn't be replayed in "a house of God," but really. Hope could have just taken the stupid laptop outside to rewatch the video on her own, and then gone back to advise everyone on whether the video was real or doctored. And yes, I also remember that Sami thought for a very long time that Austin was Will's father. Certainly she was in denial, but that was in line with her crazypants-obsessed-with-Austin mindset. Lucas was just the same, since at that time he was nearly as obsessed with getting Carrie; Sami being pregnant by Austin fit in too perfectly with Lucas's own schemes. And Sami and Austin's interrupted wedding...eesh, that "day" went on forever, even by Reilly's standards of month-days. I remember reading that the only reason it finally came to an end was because Reilly got a call from the set telling him that Sami's wedding dress was falling apart.

If Sami cared that much about the Dimera money and power, she wouldn't have kept staying with blue-collar cop Rafe when she could've had EJ. It's Kate who keeps saying how fabulous it'll be to have the money from their plan. Sami talks about the money in context of getting revenge on EJ - that's what it's really about for her, hurting him. Yes, she was in a bad place financially when she and Rafe split, but that's really not true anymore. She has the Countess Wilhelmina success on her resume now and I'm sure saved plenty of money from her tenure at CW as well as what she's making now as co-CEO. And the co-CEO experience can go on her resume as well. So she can easily afford a home and get a job if she needed.

Bo and Hope were among the very few family members who bothered to show up at Grace's funeral. Granted, that's more because of other actors in the Brady family not being on the show at the time, but still, that's what the story ended up being as a result. I agree that I've never seen them and Sami be particularly close, but they've never been on bad terms either that I recall. I associate Beth/Phillip more with Beth Chamberlin's Beth than I do JE's Beth - I know they started out with JE in the role, but she left pretty quickly after they got together after Beth moved on from Lujack's death. All the marriages, kids etc. came with BC. JE's Beth is associated more with Lujack; if you just mention JE in context with a popular GL pairing, it's Beth/Lujack that people think of first. As for Paulina/Joe on AW, they were never close to being a supercouple (nor were her pairings with Grant and Ian). There's more of an argument to be made for Beth/Phillip (especially if you add in the Four Musketeers factor) than for Paulina/Joe.

Yes, and see, that's the sort of reaction that would have made sense to me, given the status of Will and Sami's relationship up to the point of EJabby being revealed. I don't expect him to think Sami is right in what she's doing, but given that she's his mother who's spent a lot of time and effort the last couple of years trying to help him while Abby's just a cousin (whatever the show claims about their oh-so-special relationship) who hasn't done anything much for him, and that Will and Sami's relationship had become pretty good, a logical reaction would have been more along the lines of Caroline. And even if Sami refused the appeal, still support her without supporting what she's doing. Not this scorched-earth approach where he's putting out an article that will hurt her, his grandmother, EJ, and oh yeah, the cousin who he's supposedly so interested in protecting in the first place. The only way the scorched-earth approach makes sense is if I take it for granted that his indignation over Sami's treatment of Abby is just an excuse so he can get revenge on his mother for past wrongs. But if that's what it's supposed to be, the writers set it up poorly because Will and Sami had worked through some of their stuff (not all, but some) and were on good terms, and so this comes out of nowhere. What's the catalyst? Not Sami being mad at Abby, because that's so obviously not enough in itself that as I said, it only makes sense if I assume it's just an excuse for Will. So what's the real catalyst? If this were coming after Will saw Sami cheating on Rafe, that would have made sense as a catalyst. If this were coming after Sami was less than immediately accepting of Will's sexuality, that would have made sense as a catalyst. But these are the most recent events I can come up with, and they're years in the past, and have been addressed: Sami's become very supportive of Will and Sonny's relationship, and she worked things out with Rafe. And ironically, the reason Sami and Rafe finally broke up for good was because Sami stuck up for Will after it was revealed that he was the father of Gabi's baby. So. Nothing about Will's actions here make sense to me. I need a reason for him to go scorched-earth on his mother; I can't buy that Abby's the reason, and while he certainly has past resentments, those past resentments need a catalyst, which I haven't seen, to bring them to the forefront after the past couple of years and make him willing to go this far to hurt his mother.

That would be pretty funny. Heck, all of Salem would probably be able to agree on this one thing: Will's article is a shitty thing to do. I mean, you have four people who will be directly hurt by the article - Sami, Kate, EJ and Abby - and those four pretty much cover all the sides of this issue, so pretty much everyone in Salem agrees with at least one of them and will be offended on their behalf by the article. Pretty much the only exception I can think of is Nicole, since she hates three of them but is unlikely to be sympathetic to Abby, given that Nicole dumped EJ herself for cheating on her.

On top of everything else, this just feels like a very poor story arc for Will. Sami just spent the better part of the last couple years helping Will. Their relationship was on pretty good footing. Then she gets mad at Abby, because Abby slept with her fiance, and just her going over to Abby's house to confront her is all it takes for Will to immediately decide his mother needs to be put in her place? And sell his grandmother, who has also spent a good portion of the last couple years helping Will, down the river too? Would it have killed the writers to work up to this a little better? I know Will has valid reasons to resent his mother, stemming from when he was younger. That's fine, and I wouldn't mind an exploration of that (although I don't think this actor is up to it). But the timing of it all is just bizarre. If they had just had Will and Sami's relationship hitting a rough spot over something or other first, then his using the Abby thing as an excuse to start getting revenge for past wrongs would make more sense. But Will had a beautiful wedding just a few months ago that Sami was a big part of, with really nice moments between them, and that was followed by all the Nick drama where Sami ran around tying herself into knots trying to keep Will from losing custody of his daughter. And then he was part of her wedding to EJ. All was good...and then boom! Sami gets mad at the woman who slept with her fiance, so he's doing this article! Huh?? It doesn't at all feel like a proportionate reaction given where Will and Sami's relationship was at this point. The writers could have set this up better so that it doesn't feel like Will just turned overnight. The Will actor isn't helping, but it's not all his fault - it's just kind of nonsensical writing.

I still have some hope that Sami's not going to end up with EJ, since it was the network who insisted on them being put together, not Corday. But with both AS and JS leaving, I don't see why NBC would care if EJami did not leave as a couple. They're obviously building up to EJ getting into trouble now that he's gotten back into the drug ring or whatever that is - Victor warned him about the dangers. Now, it's possible that's setup for EJami going on the run together. But there are a couple of problems with that. First, AS has said that she will return for the anniversary and Christmases, and the show wants that too. Second, one of Sami's minor children is Lucas's, not EJ's. Third, leaving the second issue aside, Sami has minor children. Going on the run with them because her idiot husband is a mobster who cranked up his illegal activity again but for some reason she has reconciled with him would just be awful. So I don't think it's out of the realm of possibility that EJ gets killed off and Sami decides she needs a change of scenery.

What happened to Bonnie Lockhart, anyway? I liked her, and one of the cool things about her was that she was pretty much the same way JE comes across in real life. Adrienne...ugh. I think we're supposed to like her - god help us - but this is an example of a mistake that soaps make sometimes: They can put too much faith in the idea that decades of history will be enough to make an audience always like a character. Adrienne and Justin were once just a tier below the supercouples of the '80s, so there's naturally a built-in advantage there. But seriously, it can still be pushed too far, and they certainly have pushed it too far with Adrienne for me. I just want to find some of that Marcel toilet paper and stuff her mouth with it. (Hmmm, finally Dr. Dan might be useful.) But it's so sad. Judi Evans has pulled off a pretty rare feat, that of being one-half of three very successful couples in soap history on three different soaps playing three different characters. I'm not entirely sure that can be said about any other soap actor, actually...I'll have to think about it. I can think of other actors who have done two, but three? Hmmm. And I definitely don't think anyone has managed four. Point is, JE is a terrific actress who can generate some special chemistry with costars. And they're just wasting her. She got to show off, for a minute in her scene with Sami, what a powerhouse she still is, if only anybody would write anything substantial for her.

The only time I ever thought Jen was sexual was with Peter. We all know what happened there. Well, they didn't exactly "rush" over...it was more a leisurely stroll, after they finished their meal and whatnot. But more importantly, when they did arrive, Roman said nothing at all while Marlena just asked to see the grandkids, so that she could spend time with them. They did not actually offer Sami any support or comfort, not even a hug. It was more like they came because they didn't have anything better to do just then. (And Hope rather hilariously burned them when she arrived at the house herself and commented that she was surprised to see them there.) Now John's in his coma, so of course Marlena can't think about Sami. But at least I know where she is - Roman, I don't even know where the hell Roman is.

Maybe MR bribed the wardrobe department, or apologized to them on bended knee for whatever she did to piss them off, after seeing the clown outfits they were putting her in.

They did sleep together once, after they got engaged. Nicole was making her first attempt at telling Eric the truth after Daniel found out and insisted, and in classic soap opera fashion he misinterpreted what she was saying and started kissing her to comfort her or show her how much he loves her or some such. I forget. But they ended up having RHMS, and Nicole decided after that that there was no way she was going to tell Eric the truth.

Thanks, oceanblue, for helping us out! I'm still so confused, but that's not your fault - it's clearly a nonsensical plot written by crack monkeys. Except when Sami destroyed incriminating evidence as soon as she found it. No inexplicably holding onto it, stashing it away in a "safe" place, for her. Other than that? I got nothing. I guess it's the exception that proves the rule.

Game of Thrones, Walder Frey. When threatened with the murder of his wife, he responded, "I'll find another." I think Stahma really screwed up when she not only didn't reassure her henchman, she threatened him. She's getting a little too power-drunk, and it's making her not as careful as she has been up to now. Kenya definitely feels off to me. Something about her behavior here, although I suppose that could be written off as shock, but also the Stahma factor: If this really is Kenya, Stahma did her no favors by sparing her life. If Stahma cared enough about Kenya to refuse to kill her, you'd think she'd also take some minimal measures to give the spared Kenya a slightly better life than being held hostage, mistreated and beaten up by thugs. If she didn't care enough to ensure Kenya would be okay, she wouldn't care enough to spare her life in the first place. I think the real Kenya is dead.

I second that. Why is he not, y'know, escaping? Maybe everyone is FFing the scenes? If so, I propose that we hold a (virtual) round of choosing straws, and one "lucky" person will have to watch the scenes so that s/he can explain them to the rest of us.

I'm thinking that Kristen and Daniel will have sort of a Jan/Shawn-in-the-cage thing while Eric, in order to avoid Nicole, turns to Jen. Kate knows she can get men. And just look at her - of course she can get a man. She's more attractive than many of the younger women.

How ironic that at the moment he's left the priesthood (well, decided not to re-enter it, I guess) he appears to be buying into the more reactionary wing of said priesthood. Namely, it's all Nicole's fault that she's an attractive woman who makes Eric want her so much that he can't stay a priest even though he really wants to. The only reason he's not actually saying, "Get thee behind me, Eve!" is because there's already an Evil Eve in Salem.

Kayla probably realizes Marlena doesn't care that much. I mean, sure, she's happy to lecture Sami, but only when she doesn't have something else going on. Notice I didn't write "something more important" going on, because everything is more important to Marlena than Sami.

Ha! And sadly, the fake tree is more sentient than Rafe...

GV is looking so good right now in that suit. How can Eric be such a bore?! Well... <desperately searching for a silver lining> ... maybe now that he's been cleared and has turned down the priesthood of his own free will, maybe, just maybe, we can finally move along to something more interesting to watch? Or will we just have 87 more rounds of Nicole begging him to take her back and him resisting even though he wants her? Zzzzz... Good lord, Rafe is dumb. I know that's not breaking news or anything, but Jordan connected all the dots for him (and called him "naive" to boot) and he still just blinked and mumbled his way through a defense of Kate. The dude was married to Sami for quite a while - shouldn't he be just a little faster to pick up on when a woman is scheming merrily away? Kate, seriously, what does she see in this guy? I know he's very, very pretty, but Kate strikes me as the sort of woman who would like to be able to have an intelligent conversation with her partner every now and again. Speaking of... Yes, it is hilarious. I cracked up when Kate said to EJ that Samantha is living with her now. And in context, it was really kind of a strange thing for her to say since she and Sami are just platonic frenemies/partners in crime - they're not living together living together. I think one of the writers is bored/annoyed by having to write Sami as in love with EJ and Kate as in love with Rafe - two worthless, pointless men who are nowhere near the awesomeness of either woman - and so is having a little fun. And thanks to that writer, as well, for Kate's speech where she talked sense into Sami. When she pointed out how pathetic Sami would be if she took EJ back, I cheered. Just because she has her own ulterior motives doesn't make what she said incorrect. I loved how mad EJ got at her.

Emily's utter hatred of Jenna, the way she goes psycho over anything Jenna-related, never fails to crack me up. And, since Ali was asking Jenna earlier in the show how she'd managed to win Shana over to her side...I can't help it, it renewed my hopes for some Emily/Jenna HateSex (I know we're supposed to think Emily hates Jenna because of Toby, but I've always thought it's more complicated than that, that it has to do with being attracted to Jenna when she really doesn't want to be), which Ali finds out about and absolutely freaks thinking this means she's lost Emily to Jenna. I really liked Ella/Zach and I'm very grumpy that PLL threw them away for a two-episode storyline. Byron was sweet at the end, but he cheated on Ella too, so I don't want to see Ella go back to him after she's been cheated on by a second man. Why couldn't the show just let Ella be happy with Zach? Sigh. The four brunettes with their sunglasses was everything. I was disappointed Emily took hers off. I don't care that it made sense for her to take her sunglasses off, that whole scene should've been them with their sunglasses.