dubbel zout

I didn't flip to CBS, but I totally zoned out. If I want to see a dog love story, I'll watch Lady and the Tramp, thanks.

The dialogue isn't helping: He actually says "dastardly deeds," and we're supposed to find that amusing. I can't, and I'm someone who will totally embrace the cheese. It just isn't working here, though. I also thought it was really dumb of Laura and Anna to completely show their hand for what it is—utterly ineffectual. No charges can be brought for the Africa nonsense, and they have nothing they can use for Sasha's kidnapping, yet Laura and Anna are all "We know you're evil/we're watching you/you'll never do business in this town"? That guarantees that Sidwell will do business in this town. They could have played that aspect with a bit more circumspection. Good grief.

Which was dumb. From the moment he was killed, the tabloids would have had a field day. You can't libel the dead, so all of the rumors and tips they had to sit on could finally be printed. They'd probably already done a bunch of blind items/vague insinuations. I always loved it when Green was the defense attorney. She got under Stone's skin in a way few others did and was so effective in puncturing his self-righteousness.

No one knows yet about Michael and Sasha sleeping together. He'll skate the blame anyway, especially since he's been burned and isn't in town, but Sasha should be in for some scolding. But for now, Willow (and Drew, but who cares) is Jezebel.

Did Carly cry on the plane the entire way to Germany? I once cried the whole time on a flight, but it was only two hours long, not six or seven. And that pretty much dried out my tear ducts. I'm glad Carly stopped herself before she threw the water. It looked like a glass bottle. The hotel she's staying at doesn't deserve to take her anger. LOL that the German hotel room is nicer than any MetroCourt room. Everything Maxie said to Lulu about why she'd be unhappy at Deception was accurate. And BL is entirely right to not want her to work for her because it would be uncomfortable. Lulu is an idiot to think none of that matters and she can put it aside. Also: WHAT ABOUT ROCCO? Her complete lack of attention to him is approaching Drew/Jason levels of parenting. BL needs to have a serious talk with Tracy interfering in hiring decisions that don't affect Tracy. Forget everything else, Curtis should be leery of a stock sale with Drew because the last one resulted in insider trading charges. Who'd've thought Kai wouldn't play football again? I am shocked, shocked!

And after all they've done for her!

Diddy was the McGuffin more than anything. I felt like the show was trying to have it both ways by having a music-world predator be the victim. Same. I also expected the wife to have a bigger part in the case than she did. Since she didn't, that role could have been played by anyone, really. (Not that it wasn't a treat to see Saum.)

Hee. Luckily, the Germans are made of stern stuff. I'd give anything to see a few scenes where the doctors immediately shut her down and tell her to go away and let them work. I'm not sure I'll explain this properly, but here goes: This is why Ava has trouble getting custody of Avery back. She legit tries to keep Avery safe, and that isn't a problem. It's how she tries to keep Avery safe. Giving her to Carly is tantamount to giving up custody completely. I don't care that Donna and Avery are BFFs and Carly's house is a familiar place. Once Carly gets her hooks into a kid, she doesn't let go. Ava should know this by now. Letting Avery live with Sonny semipermanently is just as bad, if not worse, given he's always a target for someone. A big part of the problem is baked in: Ava has few to no friends and no family that she can park Avery with, so her options are limited.

I get what the fiscal does, and why we see them, but they're always such a buzzkill. "No, there isn't enough evidence." "No, you can't do that." "No, I can't get you a warrant." Heh. I loved that too. I liked Ruth's whole relationship with Noah, although it annoyed me that the show went with the cliché of the woman who isn't too fond of children ends up being the child whisperer. Oh, look, she has maternal instincts after all! Ugh.

Someone needed his minimum met.

Jinx! You owe me a Coke, @nilyank!

It cracks me up that Sonny thinks that going to the hospital will show everyone he's weak. The longer he doesn't get real treatment, the weaker he will get. It's too much to ask that he'll drop dead at a meeting of the Five Families, but I'll take him collapsing in the MetroCourt or some other extremely public, populated place. Good grief, could Cody be a bigger self-pitying whiner? Some of us suffered through Morgan, Show. No need to recycle those scripts now. (Though we can recycle Dante telling Cody he can't whine his way out of trouble.) The big change Kristina made to Charlie's seems to be different music and blue lights. Way to shake things up! Yes, Ric is a terrible person for wanting Ava to pay him what he's owed. I'm pretty sure Ava wouldn't show as much patience as he has if someone didn't pay her for a painting. if Brick were as smart as everybody thinks he is, he'd have found the best cardiologist in Europe, so Sonny could say he's going to visit Michael in Germany. And I know this was taped weeks before the LA fires, but oof. The last thing that city needs is a visit from Sonny Corinthos.

I think Tracy did say something along those lines to Drew when he was huffing about whatever he huffs about. Of course he's one of the good Qs, don'tcha know.

Maybe she has issues with her forehead. At any rate, it's a trademark of hers, so I don't see her getting rid of them.

Unlikely. She'll pretend she's in charge, but it will be Drew doing all of the puppeteering. She moves from one manipulator to another. For a minute there she seemed to recognize that, but it certainly didn't change anything.

AFAIC, Sasha can miss me with her mess because it's none of her business, whether she slept with Michael or not. I couldn't believe her telling Felicia that Willow threw away such a good man in Michael, who gave her everything. Uh, he was a manipulative control freak who can't recognize his own patterns of behavior but is plenty willing to slag other people's. Yes, what a perfect life to walk away from. Not that running directly to Drew is any better, but Felicia was right: No one knows what goes in a marriage except the two people in it (and maybe not even them). So shut up and think about how you're going to deal with the fallout when everyone hears you and Michael fucked and now you're pregnant. Ugh, the unearned self-righteousness characters on this show have is beyond aggravating. I almost prefer that Michael will be out of town for an unspecified period of time instead of dead, because I do NOT need to hear Sonny and Carly grieve their SLS of a son. Or anyone else grieve him, for that matter. At least with Michael in Germany he can improve and it (hopefully) won't suck up more airtime once he's been settled.

For such an animated couch, I thought the show dragged, and there was a bit too much "I love your work/you're so amazing." Claudia Winkleman is going to fill in for Graham for a show in February as he does something in Australia, I think. It's always interesting to me to see the switch between being a host and being a guest. I'm sure Winkleman will be fine—Graham wouldn't leave things to someone who isn't capable.

Drew is so, so creepy, immediately speaking for Willow and barely allowing her a word in edgewise. But his attitude toward Willow getting her kids back is entirely in character with his complete lack of parenting of his own daughter. "You're willing to sacrifice yourself for your kids? Of course you are. I get it." Do you, Drew? Any sacrifices you've made have been for someone else's kids. Shut up. Felicia is the only one showing any sense in this whole Drew/Willow/kids situation. Sorry, Show, but having Noted Bigot Natalia save Sonny doesn't redeem her; in fact, it's another mark in the "needs to go immediately and this is why" column. LOL at Lulu, of all people, explaining how if Tracy is pushed she'll dig in harder. When has Lulu ever compromised? She just goes ahead and does what she wants, consequences be damned. Ugh, Brick is still oozing around Jordan. And really? "Our resident man of mystery"? Sonny, everyone knows you take medication for your bipolar condition. I doubt Ava seeing you pop another one is going to set off alarm bells. Tell her your schedule changed. Good lord, Sonny is so dumb.

Michael barely seems stable. I don't get why they didn't have him go to Johns Hopkins first, then the German clinic for followup treatment. What's the big rush? He'd still be offscreen, Carly could still be with him every second (as if), and the possibility of Michael getting a new face remains.

The only good thing about that is Tracy ragging on Drew, and then his ultra lame parting shot that @mostlylurking mentioned upthread. I'm sure that cut her to the quick. This cracks me up to no end. You'd think Lucy would be running around town crowing about her superrich new client, Jens Sidwell, but now is when she decides to keep her mouth shut? Yeah, but Willow agreed to it. The consequences are pretty predictable. LOL. Martin didn't think of it either. Nor did Jason, who is supposed to be the cooler head prevailing here.

"No one wants Michael to suffer," his family agrees, as he writhes in agony. No one suggested they pay the doctor at the German clinic to treat Michael at GH. That would be a decent compromise, but we know CD is leaving. And LOL that Michael would be in better shape if Willow wasn't talking to Michael, when they're waiting for Jason to find Sasha before they put him under again. And of course he codes while Willow is in there, so Carly can yell at her for yet another reason. Ugh. Anna, if you're so tired of other people getting caught in traps set for Sonny, do your job and arrest him. You still have Cyrus's statement about Sonny beating him up. Use it. Calling Jason for help with Q problems? Oh, Anna. "You didn't know Carly and Sonny were manipulating you." And Willow doesn't know that Drew is also manipulating Willow. Who's going to take care of Donna and Avery while Carly is in Germany? That should get Ava custody of Avery.

If he's lucky. More typical would be some sort of groveling sub-boss. No, thanks.

RC seems to do pretty well with a strong HW/EP, but it will probably come down to temperament and personality. I think he's capable of doing quite good work when he's reined in properly. We'll see, though. Guza has his own ego and issues.

It's always this, first and foremost, definitely. That nearly sank him, IMO, but someone realized Lucas had other ties besides Carly and the ship has been righted, thank Jasus. I also appreciate that they are reviving Lucas's relationship with Ava in what so far is a fairly meaningful way. He sees her for who she is, but he's also aware of her vulnerabilities and doesn't automatically dump on her the way others do.

Even if LC were still with us, using Monica to manipulate story is gross. As you wrote, @30 Helens, Monica would want her great-grandchildren to be in the best situation for them. Willow hasn't ever shown that she wouldn't let the Qs see the kids as often as possible. It's so idiotic that wanting her kids to be with her while their father is gravely ill in a burn unit is somehow OMG TEH EVUL!1! Ugh. Spare me. What always amazes me is that making everyone related to someone else doesn't make the character any more solid. I feel like Isaiah is more established than Gio, and Isaiah hasn't been crammed down our throats the way Gio has. This fakakta show.