JMO

Gio, Gio, Gio. You disappoint me. Here, I thought you were smart, and now, of all of the people with whom you could have chosen to bond---including the chief of police with whom you live---you chose the murderous mobster. I do give Kai points for being honest with both Curtis and Drew, but he's still boring. Daniel Cosgrove is great at being slimy. Marco is a good addition to the show. I can foresee a time when he and his father will have a great conflagration, and I look forward to it, because both actors have the chops for a good dramatic scene.

I haven't liked how Liz has been written for some time now. She went through the drama of Finn's relapse and resulting departure from her life, which took place just after she had committed to a future with him and Violet. As soon as he was off-screen, Liz was fully recovered. Nary a mention of either of them, no wistful looks, no sad memories, no asking after either of them with Chase. Nothing. We know the show was just making room for Lucky, but Liz shouldn't have known it. Then she fell back into whatever that was supposed to have been with Lucky, later to make what should have been a difficult decision to let him go, and already she's feeling flattered by Rick's attention (which began while Lucky was still there, even). I'm a Liz fan from the beginning, but I haven't liked or understood her much in recent years. I really only enjoy her with Lucas at the moment. I would like my Liz back. Along with my Anna.

That's what I'd expected their conversation to be about, when it was shown in the previews. But then I realized that they didn't even know each other yet, and had never spoken. Now that the ice is broken, maybe they'll get around to her adoption experience. That conversation took place about two minutes after Carly had sent Joss over to talk to Vaughn, whom Carly had obviously pegged as Joss's new boyfriend. I was surprised when she didn't react to the loud argument between the two, since she was only about 10 feet away. Another one of the oddities of the MC pool.

I don't know if anyone is more inclined than I am to find his early scenes, but I'm pretty sure Gio described his life in Bensonhurst as happy, marred by the death of his mother of course, but still filled with music and extended family. Mostly I think Gio's ongoing anger over finding out about his origin is due to a lack of depth in writing for the character. Of course his world was rocked, and of course there would have been some anger about none of the adults in his life having told him the truth. But, prior to the revelation, Gio was written as a more mature young adult, who even dispensed wisdom to Tracy. Suddenly it's all gone, and it doesn't make sense. In contrast, I think Rocco's scenes have been very well written, and Finn Carr has been excellent in them. He actually listened to what his parents had to say and actively sought more information. His conversation with Jason today was insightful, with most of the insight coming from Rocco. It even made Jason more likeable. I was really hoping it was Monica, secretly improved in her ambulation, and wanting to spend some time with her great granddaughter. Sigh. Nice sightings of Mac, Felicia, Cody. More, please. Still waiting for a hint of personality from nuMichael.

Glad for Kirsten if she’s making a move that is best for her and her daughter, but sad at the thought of not seeing her on screen for six months. If the handling of JJ’s commute is any indication, things don’t look promising for Maxie.

I meant the part about Rocco believing that he wouldn't have been born, if not for Britt. It sounded like he accepted Lulu and Dante's assurances on that. But I don't think he's done working through the rest of it, and he probably knows from Danny that Jason had a relationship with Britt. It's so weird to me that they put Gio directly into the path of an adult he obviously trusts enough to live with, and we've seen precisely zero conversations between them. Which is only a few less than the number of conversations we've seen between Anna and her granddaughter. Even if Anna was trying to give Gio some space, I'd have expected her to talk to Emma about it.

No, it's already been sorted out between Rocco and his parents. I just enjoyed the fact that the writers came up with an angle I hadn't thought about.

I was pleasantly surprised when Rocco made the accusation that he wouldn't exist if it had been left up to his parents, mostly because it was an angle the writers thought of that I hadn't. It was over with a minute later, but I appreciated the idea. I was surprised they got so far into the conversation before Rocco's finding the folder came out. Where did they think he'd encountered the information before he told them that? Dante was probably as angry with Brook Lynn as Lulu, but he was mature enough to realize that Rocco might need his parents to be in the house. Carly made it sound like Sonny "used to do" things that were appalling, as though he wasn't still actively engaged in his mobster life. Gio, please listen to Tracy. You're never going to get the truth from the mobster's moll. Why does it feel like the writers aren't really sure what to do with Emma? Is she going to have a romance with Gio? Seduce her professor? Steal Joss's fake/real boyfriend? It seems like they're going to stick with the animal cruelty thing, but I was secretly hoping to find out that she was also undercover with the WSB, who it turns out are on to Brennan, don't trust him after Pikeman, and are icing him out of a big case.

Yes, to all of this. Beyond anything else, since he didn't get there on his own, Gio needs to talk this through with an adult (who is not a mobster). Emma can try to lead him to the right mindset, but he needs to hear from a voice with more life experience. The fact that he lives with Anna while we've yet to see an exchange between them, is disappointing. The fact that previews seemed to show him talking with Carly, even though she has life experience in common with his, is even more disappointing.

I believe it was her original plan, but it was only accidentally carried out. I think she left hurriedly, and didn't realize it was in the pile, nor that the boys would find it. By the time she realized how wrong her plan was, the deed had been done---though I don't think she realizes it.

Looks like we'll have tempMaxi for the next month or so. Per this article, KS returns on August 18. https://soaps.sheknows.com/general-hospital/comings-and-goings/788616/why-recast-maxie-when-kirsten-storms-return/

Yikes. I'm not familiar with his humor, but I sure hope this was a sample.

When Rocco had his alcohol poisoning, there was an implication that Danny was older than he, but I don't know how much. I really don't have a memory of any of them as kids, so I don't know how they fit together. Is Charlotte supposed to be older or younger than Rocco? What is Aiden's age relative to Rocco and Danny?

Re: Rocco. He felt bad for both Gio and Dante, because there was an important aspect of their lives that had been kept from them. Now, he finds out that there's an important part of his own life that has been kept from him. It's not surprising to me that he would react to that. And especially not surprising to me that a teen wouldn't be parsing whether the two situations were the same. Teens are just a pile of emotions wrapped in flesh. Per Lulu's statement when she first returned, Rocco is 15 now. He would have been 11 when she went into the coma. Was he mature enough to have heard his origin story before that? I don't know--wasn't watching. If not, then Lulu is off the hook. But since no one expected Lulu to recover, one might have expected one of the other important adults in his life--perhaps Dante, Laura or even Sam--- to have told him at some point in the past few years.

No scars, but terrible pain.