dubbel zout

Abortion is an issue that could sidetrack the case, and the prosecution didn't need more debate like that. Can the prosecution appeal a verdict? If so, I'm surprised we never had an episode where this happened, especially pre-reboot. What is "saving" anyway? What would her quality of life have been? She had metastatic breast cancer; her life expectancy likely wasn't going to be that long even with the experimental drug. I know these issues are outside the immediate scope of the case, but would the son want his mother to have another six months and be doped to the gills to counteract the side effects? I doubt it. The author of that book was ridiculous. Giving people medication isn't a guarantee they won't die sooner rather than later, so for him to say that if the insurance company had approved those claims they'd have saved the same number of lives they'd supposedly kill by refusing the claims is ridiculous. I'm a bit surprised Nolan didn't dig a little deeper there. And then there's the fact that the guy admitted on the stand that he killed the insurance guy and he was ready to face the consequences. Why was that not made a bigger deal of?

Laila Robins! One of Jack's former assistants and paramours. She once had a nicely barbed scene with Claire where she pitied Claire for her feelings for Jack. I laughed out loud when Nolan thought the case was a slam dunk. Pride goeth before a fall, especially for Manhattan ADAs. I thought the defense was an interesting application of the law, but then the show wrecked it by having a way-too-biased judge. I like how Baxter always has Nolan's back, even when he thinks Nolan has been an idealistic dumbass.

Ugh, they were awful. It's so stupid no one is allowed to dislike Sonny for more than a minute, regardless of how justified eternal hate would be (e.g., Sonny, Wagger, to name two). We're supposed to believe Sonny is taking stock of his life and he's trying to be a better man? The same guy who sent Jason to make sure Valentin got killed? The same guy who is still in the mob? Spare me.

My hero! My other hero! Sonny is such a turd. He accepts Laura's good wishes and spews a bunch of crap but fails to mention to that he's okay with not shooting Valentin at the house because Sonny sent Jason after him to finish the job. I liked the Lois/BL talk, especially when BL wondered if Lois and Gloria had influenced BL's decision to give the baby up. I think it was absolutely the right choice, but I get why BL is angry with Lois and Gloria. Of course, we know that Lois, at least, did have more to do with the adoption than BL realizes. Lulu, just because Martin is your uncle doesn't mean it's okay to break into his hotel room and rifle through his professional papers. WTF reason was that?

Drew has given up on doing anything this first time around.

After the character was introduced, it became difficult to imagine that even Helena was afraid of Valentin. Stephan was much scarier, IMO. Ace is scarier than Valentin. Talk about overselling a character before he appears on the show. Anyone with a teenage hunchback history is not going to inspire fear, IMO.

Carly was unconscious for less than half an episode. Even knowing she wouldn't die, there's no drama in that. Food poisoning would have been longer lasting. Carly as a weak little kitten in a hospital bed does not track for me. For someone who claims custody battles never end well, Sonny sure keeps bringing them. The only reason he settled with Ava this time is because of his dumb heart problem that has gone nowhere. Show, the nickname "Congressman Cutthroat" is not the terrible slur you think it is. I hate that they're writing Ava as a dizzy dame with finances. For someone who's supposed to be a sharp businesswoman, she should have a much better handle on her spending.

The problem with that is that he might feel he has to live with Lulu because they missed four years together. Poor Rocco. He's really stuck between a rock and a hard place, and despite what his mother says, he's still not an equal priority for her. I feel like Joss was coerced into this. Brennan told her he'd never tell anyone she killed Cyrus, but the threat is always there. Jack sold her a decent story about saving the world and serving her country and all of that, but it's all OOC for Joss. It's also ridiculous that Joss can't get her undergrad degree at the same time, but I guess the WSB wants them dumb and stupid so they can mold them into emotionless robots. No wonder Brennan was so hot to keep Jason on the payroll.

Because they're training to be secret agents.

Good for Dante for correcting Lulu's "I have my kids with me" to "you mean ours?" Sasha needs to read up on custody laws at the same time. Sole custody is not granted just because a spouse has had an affair or a kid with someone else. I hate how the show so regularly falls back on pregnancy/baby/custody stories. It's so lazy and boring, and ultimately makes no difference. "You had to hear that from Lulu? Can't she keep her mouth shut about anything?" Right on, Chase. Right on. Whenever Lulu mentions Rocco, it sounds like an afterthought. I hope JPS's mustache is for another role, because it's awful. A teary bedside confession to Carly from Brennan? No, just no.

That's what happens when you hire a friend instead of someone from an agency. Ill-timed for whom? Certainly not this viewer, heh. This reminds me too much of Carly's "high-risk" pregnancy with Donna: She could stroke out at any moment, but she wasn't even mildly woozy once. Don't give people these things if you can't follow through, Show. We all know Sonny won't die, but at least do more than have him clutch his chest and force poor Isaiah to sekritly minister to him. As I understand it, Martin gets a piece of the sale proceeds as his fee or whatever, so that would be considered income. He wasn't acting as a neutral third party who's holding the funds until things clear.

I understand why Trina doesn't want to give Esmé any benefit of the doubt, but her upbringing was as chaotic in its own way as Spencer's. And it's not as if Nik reluctantly slept with Esmé. LOL at far how down Kai had to bend to kiss Trina. POLONIUM POISONING?????? Oh, Show.

Why did Tracy bellow for tea if she wasn't going to drink it? I really wish they'd stop writing her as such a rude person. Given how Brennan was macking on Carly after she drank the poisoned champagne, shouldn't he be feeling at least a little woozy? LOL that Sonny thinks the intelligence community wants to take him out. He's not that important! No. The court would slap a lien on his finances or something like that. I wish Tracy would save her shenanigans for Drew and Drew alone.

She's probably still in shock finding out that Lulu knows about the baby and is threatening to tell Dante, that the baby is a boy, and that Lois and Gloria have been in cahoots for 20 years.

This is the sort of retconning I really hate. It makes the SORASing that much more problematic, as has been mentioned earlier. I usually just roll my eyes at SORASing—it's inevitable when you don't want to/can't wait for the real age to catch up with how old you want the character to be—but stop and think about how it affects other characters. GH writes these stories that are age-specific and they don't consider if the retcon makes any sense. This mess is also what happens when everyone is related/knows each other/have intertwined lives.

SameI I though we'd find out Riley didn't like dogs or was scared of them.

How many times do we hear about arrests being made because the perps boasted about their crimes on social media? A lot of criminals are dumb! Heh.

Did the kill squad follow Anna and Jason? Or did they track down Valentin via the text? At any rate, the team is after Valentin, not Charlotte, and while they probably wouldn't hesitate to shoot a kid, it complicates things when they don't have to be. Lulu also grossly invaded Valentin and Martin's privacy. Or Monica needed him upstairs for something. The reasoning didn't have to be so tortured. Because I hate this story, I was thinking of how I want the reveal to go, and I want Gio to overhear Lois and Gloria yakking about it. They're the ones who decided he should be adopted by the family friend and have everything be kept a secret. I want him to be absolutely furious with them and show BL compassion, since she didn't even know the baby was a boy until Lulu made her threats. I want Lulu taken out of the reveal completely.

I'm sure we were supposed to find Gloria bringing all of her bingo gear from Bensonhurst hi-larious, but I found it so stupid, as well as more of the gross stereotyping the show does with everyone from Bensonhurst.

To keep her safe. It's easier to slink back into town alone than drag along a teenager.

I realized that after I posted, @TVbitch, and decided to let it be so people might find some amusement.

They didn't even mention Taggart. Ugh. How did Kai get to the party before Trina? Express wormhole, I guess. I'd have laughed so hard if a dripping-wet Spencer showed up at the gallery. Jack wasn't nearly hard enough on Carly for her about-face. It's a shame Valentin didn't shoot Carly when she opened the door.

They'll move into the Q mansion so Charlotte can be with her brothers. And Lulu can continue to berate BL for her choices 20 years ago that have nothing to do with Lulu whatsoever. If any home in Port Charles has limitless space, it's the Q mansion.

She should move to the restorative justice group. I wonder if Mehcad Brooks got sick/had a personal obligation/another gig of some sort? It was nice that it allowed Connie Shi to do more than sit in front of a computer screen. Who was the woman interviewed in the makeup chair, an ex of the victim's? I missed the context there, so it seemed very random.

A lot of the locations of this episode were shot in my neighborhood, so that was fun. I often eat at the diner where Baxter and Price met. To meet in Riverside Park around 9 at night is "in public," but the park isn't exactly teeming with people. For Baxter and Kate to continue to see each other during the case was ridiculous, A DA and a defense attorney dating is a bad idea, given the obvious conflict of interest that can arise.