KerleyQ

I agree. As it is, I get rage blackouts for most of Michael's scenes, because I'm just so pissed off that they had him run right back to Sonny and Carly so easily. We could have had a long term plot of him getting revenge, maybe aided by people like Monica, Tracy, and Jax (if they could get Ingo back for a story arc). We could have seen Sonny really lose, even if he was going to eventually be built back up. Instead he got what was, essentially, a five minute time out, and then everybody loved him once again. Even after Michael gave in and re-established some relationship with him, it should have been "less" than what they previously had. There should have always been some undercurrent there that Michael does not approve of what Sonny does, that he wants nothing to do with it, because the life Sonny lives is why he thought it was perfectly fine to kill Michael's father. All that aside, seriously, Chad? You're lobbying for a re-do on Mabby? Don't try to undo the wonder that was Off-screen Crane.

Seriously. Finding out your mother slept with your brother under ordinary circumstances would be enough to drive one to drink. Finding out that she slept with him while she's been hiding him at her cabin and he's dealing with amnesia, so she told him they were a married couple? Yikes. Is there enough booze in L.A. for that?

The 30 minute food penalty (compared to, I think, 10 minutes for Mitch/Cory) along with what seemed like a pretty big time difference on the canoes pretty much killed off their lead from the first leg. I agree, I would have loved to see some times, beyond what time penalties they got, but I guess they wanted to make sure no one could figure out who the winner was until TJ announced it. But, that makes for kind of an anti-climactic finish. The first people to finish just have to sit around and wait for everyone else to finish so they can find out who won overall. It makes for a more exciting finish if it's a race to the finish line.

OK, Show, I'd buy Olivia taking up for Lulu when Dante's a dumbass. What I don't buy? Is Carly taking up for her one of her sons' love interests if her son is a dumbass. Carly's obsession with Kiki is just plain fucking weird and out of character.

I don't know. I mean, I wouldn't put it past him to cook up something to have a strong Exes team, but it sounded too like what happened when he was done with Jonna - he just shuts all communication down without warning or explanation. He's not remotely mature enough to actually break up with someone, so he just goes radio silent. Later, if called on it, he'll act like it was her fault.

Right as a scene is about to start: "I bet I can look less interested in being here than you can!" "Oh, I'll take that bet!"

But who's actually blaming KeMo/Sam? It's the writers. They've decided that KeMo/Sam is their "star" and they've, at times, used Liz to prop her stories, to be the "bad guy" to provide angst for her relationship. Yes, they trashed Sam when they were convinced KeMo was leaving. But, once she was sticking around, they built her right back up to the perfect everything. And they've done it a couple times on Liz's back. To contrast, when they ruin Liz, they just let her drift back to scenery for a while, until they need to use her again as a prop for someone else's story. For example - Sam sits by and watches Liz's kid get kidnapped, taunts her that he's probably dead, and then terrorizes her and her kids with some rent-a-thugs. But, of course, she ends up helping save Jake once they decided to build Sam back up, and eventually she gets Jason back and all is good. Does anyone think there is some moment coming where Liz saves Danny somehow? Where she's given the time to make amends to people? Even if Becky does stay, that just won't happen. Again, not KeMo's fault, not Sam's fault (Sam being a fictional character and all who is controlled entirely by the whim of the writing staff), but the writers. People are comparing the way the writers treat the two, not saying that KeMo (who, from all accounts, is pretty good friends with BH) is somehow to blame.

I agree. I think that one of the reasons they want him around is as their Sam love interest back-up in case BM leaves. Maybe he'll be the product of some affair Helena had, so no actual relation to Sam?

When John was going on about how gross it was for CM to use Abe's feelings for her to get farther in the season, I was waiting for a lightning bolt to strike him down (or, at least for Nany or a surprise Camilla to kick him in the nuts). Really, John? Really? Yeah, you totally didn't sleep with multiple girls on different seasons and then continue to string them along to make sure they were on your side, cutting them loose when it was to your benefit. Nope. Not at all. You're a fucking saint. #VinceFail was probably my favorite part of the reunion. Least favorite part? Banana Cam. Just stop. During the end of the finale, I was joking that Cara and Jamie probably said "this is awesome, I love you, now, let's give it six months or so." So when Jenna and Brianna said they hadn't spoken for a couple months, I laughed. I can totally see why they'd feel that way. Yeah, you had fun, at times, and you did well together, but it just seems like you'd also want a break from each other after that. Oh, wait, other favorite part was Aneesa's Cory imitation. And I kind of love that she was so open like "yeah, I knew we were going to get caught, but, screw it, life's short, I was having some fun." She also probably did the best job of owning her shit that any cast member has done in quite a few seasons. I hope Abe and Cara actually got a chance to have that off camera talk and get some closure. I don't know what the hell has gone on in their relationship, but it sounds like it's completely dysfunctional. It also sounds like, to Abe, dysfunctional is just "normal." They were clearly both hurting, though, so I hope that they got a chance to talk privately and try to get some closure. They clearly care about each other, despite whatever has gone down, but it seems like Cara is ready to move on and find something healthier, but she just feels so guilty over how everything went down. I give her points for going over to Abe to apologize before delving into the questions. And I know it ended up coming off shitty, but I can completely understand how she ended up getting off track and bragging "I sent you home and I won, didn't I?" when John was hammering her about her behavior. Yes, that hurt Abe to the point where he ended up agreeing with John. But John was being such an ass. I was so hoping she'd follow through and publicly spill John's dirt when she threatened to. He may have acted like he didn't care, but I'm sure he does not want it so explicitly spelled out on camera like that. (Of course he'd just deny and say she was just lashing out because she was mad at him for blowing her cover). Personally, I wouldn't have blamed any number of people if they had punched him right in the face when he condescendingly lectured Cara to "at least be honest" about whether she gave the guy a hand job or not. Sure, John, as soon as you're "honest" about what happened in the Exile house last season with you and Nany...

I was happy with the outcome. Cara and Jamie pretty much dominated everything but the puzzle (and, even as a math nerd, I can't imagine having to sit there and think about that puzzle when you're all sleep-deprived, dehydrated, and just plain exhausted). I agree with those who say Cara should probably stay home, at least for a while. She may have finally gotten her win, but this season seemed to break her in a lot of ways, judging by the reunion (I'll get more into that in that thread). The eating challenge didn't seem as bad as some previous eating challenges. I mean, I'm not going to sit down and order any of that for dinner any time soon, but they've had MUCH worse in the past. And, geez, Jenna, it's soup, just tip it back and swallow. If you don't let it hang around in your mouth too long, you won't get too much of the taste. Just chug it back and be done. Jamie was awesome on this one. Everyone else is whining and he's just powering through. Oh, and I don't buy for a second that Jenna didn't know exactly what she was saying when she talked about her lack of gag reflex and swallowing sausages. That standing there overnight is sadistic. I cracked up when the workers came down and were telling TJ they had to leave. I don't know how they didn't just all collapse into a heap on the ground right there in Olympic Stadium, after the results were announced, and take a 12 hour nap.

John's 55 suits cracked me up. Who does that? I go back and forth on Nattie. I think I like her when she's not neck deep in whatever "wacky hijinx" story the show has cooked up for her. I think she genuinely cares about these other girls, especially Brie and Nikki. And I can appreciate her wanting to help Mandy, but not wanting to waste her time if Mandy is just going to be another Eva. Foxy was just a straight up bitch to Rosa (and I generally prefer Foxy to Rosa on this show). Telling Rosa she's being selfish was ridiculous. The whole baby party was about what Foxy and Paige wanted. Throw yourselves a ghost princess Halloween or birthday party, ladies, and try to make this about the guest of honor. Or, if you can't do that, then back out all together, and let someone like Brie throw the damn shower. (You know Brie would be completely into that.)

So much rage watching that scene. So much rage. I still maintain that Morgan's issue is not that he's bipolar, it's that he's a frat-bro douchetool. "Aw, baby, I was just going to sleep with her to make sure I could get it up for you. Isn't it romantic?"

The overly dramatic "Katie Takes a Drink!" music was hilarious. It was like she was grabbing a gun.

Bringing on Liz's mother would be an actual genuine story for Liz, too. Because there are going to be issues there. Her parents dumped her off as a teen to stay with Audrey, and, as far as we can tell, they didn't even bother to make an etiquette based "hey, sorry your kid died" call when Jake was believed dead. There's story to be told there if the show was willing to tell it.

Mo's always seemed very invested in Sonny "winning" to me.

I don't think anyone is saying it's KeMo's fault that there's such a difference. That clearly lies at the feet of the EP and writers who have decided, over the years, to keep building up family for the kidnapping accomplice. But, I think it's only natural to compare the two main female characters in that age range, who seem to be permanently tied together in some way. Add in that both had a parent we had never met, and it's pretty easy to make the comparisons. Basically, the kidnapping accomplice is part of the mob bunch. As such, much like Sonny, she will have characters who exist because they're part of her family unit. I highly doubt NLG would have gotten a love interest with the amount of time devoted to the pairing that she's gotten with Julian if she hadn't been made her mom. She got WdV because the kidnapping accomplice needed her father to be created. (And NLG and WdV had enough chemistry at that point that the writers gave in and went with it.) Since Liz is part of the hospital group, she isn't "important enough" to round out her family. Her importance is solely as a prop to whatever story the show needs some antagonist or victim for. When people look at the two characters - same age range, some of the same shared love interests, similar fan bases, etc... - and they look at the story possibilities that are embraced for one and ignored for the other, they're going to make the comparison. The fault for those differences lies with the show runners, absolutely, but the comparison is pretty natural. It would be like comparing Maxie and Lulu - same age range, tied together over the years.

When Carly mentioned that she donated to Shriner's after Spencer's stay there, I couldn't help wondering how her bond to Spencer exists. Is it because he's Sonny's nephew? Or a lingering bond from that time the beast kidnapped him as a baby by lying about his paternity?

God bless you for including the Johnny Bananas Backpack clip. I don't care how many times I see it, I will enjoy it just as much each and every time.

It's probably just a charitable partnership the show has agreed to with them.

I seem to recall there was at least one instance in the clips John showed where more than one person was trying to vote at the same desk. So, in that case, it didn't seem like it was a situation where one person had asked a colleague to cast a vote for them, but more of them taking advantage of an unmanned desk to cast another vote for "their side."

So you weren't swooning when the hired killer asked his stalker-ish best friend, the mob moll, to watch her fellow mob moll, the kidnapping accomplice, for him? I'm just picturing the staff at Shriners going "another one from GH in Port Charles? The last kid they transferred here was an entitled little asshole." Can it involve her drunkenly informing the local cops a couple towns over from me "I'm famous!"?

They definitely should have gone with Nolan. He would have been so much better.

The only part of that Mo would probably object to is that he didn't get to do it with SBu's Jason.

I assume Sonny admits he was wrong about something.

What a petulant little child. Way to accept your award with dignity, asshat. Does he think TG is sitting somewhere in Amsterdam all "oh, shit, he told me!"?