Bringonthedrama

Seems like GF is doing a great job in her scenes. I liked her lines to Holly. She doesn't have any illusions about her past with Luke; she acknowledged that she loved him and survived him. True. I like that she doesn't have some big, on-going resentment toward Holly because Luke is the betrayer. Any confrontation about the ONS w/Holly, and Ethan's existence should be from Laura to Luke. But that won't happen because Luke would say it's ancient history not worth fighting over, and gently or not-so-gently tell her she has no room to criticize him about cheating on her and then withholding that info. since she withheld the info. about her first son, Nikolas, for so many years. What I did not like about these scenes and lines is the implication that Laura's love for/relationship with Lucky is equal to Holly's relationship with Ethan. Laura raised Lucky and he adored his parents until about age 14, and still had a relationship with his parents as an adult. whereas Holly gave up Ethan as a newborn, than met him when he was an adult, and hasn't spent a lot of time with him since meeting him from what we've been told. Holly's relationship with Luke was in no way comparable to L&L either. It seemed like everything coming from/about Holly was total b.s. JE was fun to watch when Tracy was rightly giving Denise-Ava attitude and trying to kick her out. Jakeson blasting Nikolas for taking over ELQ and offering him a job was the most interesting the character has been since Jason got recast. I think he talked more in that episode (between his exchange with Nik and then the conversation with Michael) than SBu's Jason spoke in the last 5 years he was on the show. I kinda loved how shocked Liz was because yes, Jason never showed that much life and personality in many years.

I agree with dubbel zout. This seems like a plot point, a reason for Avery to be with Sonny for a certain amount of time (hour-days) so Ava will be furious and out herself as NOT!Denise in a move to rescue her daughter from S&C. A showdown between Sonny and Ava, with Michael saving Avery from them both, seems much more likely IMO. I anticipate more conflict between Michael and Morgan, too. But a guy who couldn't figure out that a bag of flour was not a baby is not fit to raise a child.

This. Michael just had to leave his office and is feeling like so much has gone wrong when he's tried to take his life in a different direction since AJ was murdered. It's not shocking that he would miss a sense of belonging with the people who had been his family his entire life - even if they are selfish and morally bankrupt. Recall that AJ had another ONS with Carly when he was feeling upset and full of self-doubt. Seems like this is Michael's self-destructive thinking. (Yes, I know he had a ONS with Rosalie, but that was a reaction to finding out Kiki had been lying to him ... not a reaction to *life*).

Just watched the Sabrina-Michael scene. I think he's feeling like crap because Nikolas took ELQ away from him (so he's 'let down' his dad, great grandfather, etc.) and Lucy, who has a history with the Qs, turned on him. He wants to continue shutting out Sonny and Carly because of what they did to AJ, but is feeling kind of alone at the moment ... it seems like Grandma Monica is off-screen indefinitely, and Ned has let them down because of wanting to 'save' Olivia, and left town. All he has is Great Aunt Tracy. (Dillon doesn't count, IMO.) For some time, Monica took Carly's place in Michael's life, except Monica was genuinely loving and supportive instead of lying to him. I thought Sabrina was right to tell Michael AJ would have wanted him to be happy, and asked if he is. After that line, not so much...

So I've been away on vacation and return to ... Some attractive woman who looks at least 15 years younger than actor TG, desperate to sex up Luke. Blech, WTF, etc. A highly contrived Lulu/Dillon/Dante/Val situation. Also, it's odd seeing Dillon/young Paul (that's who I see when I look at nuDillon) asserting himself to Nikolas. Had they ever even met before when SC was in the role? I 'Jake' and Sam appearing to like each other so much they would barely notice if Patrick and Liz disappeared. That makes me laugh. Nik going full-on Cassadine. Interesting to watch his Stavros-like moment in the ELQ office chair. I thought it was deliberately vague when he said "you" about not accepting, yada yada Emily - it seemed like he was talking about Tracy's treatment of Emily specifically ... not necessarily the whole Q Family. There's some truth in that, as Tracy admitted to Monica after Em was murdered that she had resented Em getting compared to Lila. Lucy being a stupid, ridiculous, incredibly irritating tool. I liked what Tracy said to her but for once I would have liked Tracy to be harsher with someone, as Lucy more than deserved it. Sonny being Sonny. Run TJ, run. I missed Nik's reaction to his mother's return. How'd that go? And does he have any idea that Lucky is in trouble? He didn't even seem to react to Lucy's comment about Luke leaving Tracy for Laura. Makes me wonder if there will be a slight re-hash of the favored son resentment, since she's gone off on an adventure with her ex to save Lucky. I agree that the "Vote" looked absurd. The only Qs on-screen to vote are Tracy, Michael, and the recently returned Dillon. Seeing Dillon in the Q office made me roll my eyes and really miss Ned. I would have enjoyed Ned tearing Nik's head off.

I agree. Sam fans should watch today's show. That's the most entertaining I've seen her be since she told Patrick while they were in bed that he had successfully made her forget/distracted her for "a few minutes." The only times I've liked the Sam character in the past were when when she was being a sweet, supportive sister to Kristina and/or Molly. If she continues to mess with Nina or Rosalie, I could become a fan. I liked that Sabrina's reaction to Rosalie was basically rolling her eyes and calling it a lame insult. If someone said that to Carly, they'd get a snarl and bearing of teeth inches from their face. Elizabeth would do the bitchface. Lulu would do her wide-eyed "How DARE you" look...etc.

KeMo did great - so funny in dealing with The Nina, she knows the cray cray is still ever-present. The look on Sam's face when The Nina said "future family gatherings with my stepdaughter" - LOL!! TJ in handcuffs in the interrogation room because he knocked over a cop in his determination to visit Shawn at Pentonville. Um, that cop wasn't wrong. Look how TJ disrespects his police commissioner mother but feels loyalty to Shawn and Sonny. Blech. Kinda glad that TJ will be sitting in a cell for acting like a hot head. Jordan should not be apologizing to her son for his own stupidity resulting in consequences. The Michael/Jakeson talk about him, and Danny, and Edward and Danny, made me roll my eyes. Yes, irony, so brilliant Ron. Elizabeth is now acting re: her deception, like she did when she was having an affair with Nik. So. Tedious. Yes, you're being a terrible person and your best friend is a douche. Sabrina's hair looks fantastic. And she held her own with Rosalie.

1) I don't agree about Laura being responsible, so we can agree to disagree. 2) I do agree about the general idea though, i.e. the Boston marathon bomber and the people who were injured and killed. 3) We don't actually know what Laura said to Luke in private. What she told Tracy is that she wants to know who Luke is now. Dillon thought that was vague -it is - and asked for clarification. As far as we know right now, it was Luke who decided to say he was leaving Tracy for "love" (the way he delivered that made me almost positive he meant love of Lucky). 4) Everyone else's excuse is plot point stupidity. Remember, Lulu didn't figure out there was something major amiss with Maxie's behavior v. what she was saying while she was pregnant/after she gave birth to baby Georgie ... despite the enormous red flags waving in her face. Lulu also didn't get something was wrong with Luke when he couldn't remember Dante's name and then said oh, I knew it was something Italian. Dante barely knows Laura, and knows their history from what he's been told. Val just recently met Luke and has never met Laura. Dillon has not been a witness to Tracy and Luke's relationship in some years, and all he really knows about Luke and Laura is what he's been told - mostly by Tracy I assume. The ONLY people in that room who really know Luke and Laura and their history are Bobbie and Scott, who I believe left along with Sonny and Carly.

I don't see how Laura can be equally responsible when she's never had a relationship with Tracy (other than that they both have maternal love for Lulu+grandkid) and didn't set up that party. Tracy thinks it's all deliberate because she's not thinking logically, just reacting based on her deep-seated jealousy upon seeing Laura, and knowing that Luke has not treated her with the love and respect she desperately wants thru their on-again, off-again relationship. JE did a great job with Tracy's longing/jealous eyes to Laura briefly talking about reflecting on the life and home she had with Luke. I assume that's because she's thinking she's never truly had a life or house/home with Luke where she felt valued and like a true partner ... Luke consistently taking her $$, as well as watching him stroll into the Q home like he owns the place and swallow her family's liquor does not count, in my opinion. I think hearing Laura speak of the LnL years, and comparing it to what she's had with Luke over the years, provoked the "he never loved me" line to Dillon. Tracy's jealousy and insecurity has always been right there, or just under the surface. I still remember a scene where it clearly pained her to acknowledge Laura and Lulu's loving mother-daughter relationship. That was just sad. Now Luke is lying to her face, I guess due to her anger she doesn't seem to be picking up on that (for someone who thinks she knows Luke best), and has decided that Laura came all the way from France to steal Luke/ruin an engagement party that she couldn't have known about.

My point was Laura didn't do anything to Tracy. The ship obviously wasn't locked, with a sign saying "Closed for Private Party." The place wasn't decorated to look like a big-deal party atmosphere. She entered the Haunted Star, a business that was owned by either Luke or Lulu, NOT Tracy (I can't remember which) the last time she was in Port Charles, and came down the steps to talk to Luke about something. Yeah, it was bad timing that she came in during Luke's speech to Tracy. But I believe this assumption that she went in because she's DB, thinks she's supremely important and didn't care about humiliating Tracy is incorrect. If that was the case, she would have made a Carly-esque entrance, dressed up and looking gorgeous/come-hither, happy to see him and their daughter. Instead, she looked tense and sad, and said to Tracy, "Thanks for spelling that out" in a tone that said to me okay, I hear you, but this is important. We have no idea why she didn't send a generic text. Heck, I have an aunt who, until recently, would not text people at all. My point is also that it was LUKE who told Tracy in front of their guests that the engagement is off. It was LUKE giving Tracy bullshit responses in front of the guests. Luke and Tracy chose to make this a public spectacle. Yes, Laura offered Tracy a b.s. reason for her private conversation with Luke, after Dillon and Lulu loudly started demanding answers right then and there. But she didn't walk into the Haunted Star declaring to the guests, "Luke and I are the loves of each other's lives, we belong together, you all should go home."

I think Tracy now truly feels that none of those things were ever true because Luke has a long pattern of behavior of using her and then feeding her ego to smooth things over. Laura showed up unexpectedly to the Haunted Star, but Dillon himself confirmed that that his conversation with Luke took place a few hours ago. That means Laura was already on her way to Port Charles. This party was very spur of the moment - so Laura wasn't deliberately party crashing unless she had just talked to her family or her ex in recent hours. It's been clarified that she has not talked to them. Tracy really didn't give her a chance to say a thing - her attitude was 'You're here to steal my fiance - get out! You're not wanted! Go back to France!" Both Luke and Tracy handled the situation very poorly; things didn't have to be horrible/awkward. Laura owes Tracy nothing, except perhaps a thanks for being there for Lulu - and I believe she thanked Tracy for that the last time she was in PC. All of Tracy's insecurities and issues about Luke and her relationship with him are because of the way Luke has behaved toward her, how he's neglected her and abandoned her. I recall Luke and Laura having their faux anniversary vow renewal on Q property (with Tracy as a guest) - wasn't that Luke's idea? Or maybe Edward's. That's why I got annoyed that Dillon told Lulu the situation isn't her fault - it's her parents' fault. NO, it's her father's fault, and possibly also his mother's for not listening to him (or anyone for that matter).

I did the same thing! Ha! I prefer Nancy/Alexis on-screen to Morgan, Kiki, NotTodd!Franco, Sonny, Carly, The Nina, Luke, Sloan, Dr. O, Brad, Maxie, and others.

I totally agree with you all about Lulu - today she was acting like she owed all her loyalty to Tracy, and how could he do this after she put together this party because Luke wanted to do something special for the woman he loves. Dante holding Lulu back from lashing out just makes me roll my eyes. Luke's hollow line about taking Laura back, blech. I think TG and GF did a good job though of acting that this is a cover story - I'm almost positive it's because they're afraid for Lucky. Kudos to GF for the sad smile when he said "Love" and the "Is she buying it?" eyes/expression when Luke and Tracy were talking. I have to wonder though if Dillon's lines were meant for Ned, but Wally Kurth left so then the TPTP gave them to her other son. NuDillon is being defensive and protective of Tracy like they have a strong relationship and he hasn't been away from her for years. Kudos also to JE for owning her scenes today - she was great toward both GF and TG. I liked that Tracy acknowledged it's not on Laura, it's on Luke. Although her saying she's the best thing to ever happen to Luke - in front of her beloved Lulu - is disgusting. I'm sure Lucky would so appreciate that sentiment as well, Tracy. Ugh. But Lulu crying like she'd just seen one of her parents get shot was OTT. Grandma Lesley, not Tracy, raised her. Or maybe she's crying from realizing Tracy and Luke never had a great love. Her words to Laura had no warmth whatsoever. How nice of Nikolas to gossip to Rosalie about Lulu and Dillon's past. Seems like he's going to push Lulu to cheat on Dante with Dillon to get at the ELQ shares. LOVED Dillon's line to Lulu, so true, except for the "your mother-she deserves him" part. NO Dillon, she doesn't. STFU. JE was also awesome in her scene with nuDillon. Bravo. Morgan explaining to Ava/Denise that kissing her was not cheating on Kiki. Wow, he is SO Sonny's son. Such a POS. Maxie, Nathan, Franco, etc.blech. Re: the preview - Nina telling Molly to call her "mom" and Molly's face = HILARIOUS.

They did indeed. I hated Sonny referencing himself re: the Carly and Franco engagement as if it's a correct analogy to this Laura/Luke/Tracy scene. Bleh. Sonny isn't fit to lick Laura's shoes, and on her most hateful day, Tracy is still 1,000 better than Psycho NotTodd!Franco. Although Luke as Carly in this situation is not an off-the-wall comparison, given the uncle and niece's awful personalities and values. It was just Carly saying "You're right, my life is so much better without Franco" and kissing Sonny that made me feel stabby.

The first "game" is what caused that woman to fall and get injured, I believe. This "game" of accessing an off-limits site is dangerous because Wes got in trouble, and printing that contractor document/map I assume is leading up to something dangerous. I'm thinking Drill possibly told Sean to disable the transponder, and that moving blob from the crash site was Drill or the main Drill entity attached to Sean, which is messing with his brain. I was starting to think that after the little girl ran into Sean's room in the hospital and said "you know where my friend is, don't you," and I'm even more convinced after he collapsed in the shower ... like something in his brain was screaming. I also recognized actor MV in that sketch, so I'm not surprised Claire was like OMG, Sean! Minx knows her father did something, that her mom is angry and hurt, and the relationship between her parents has been strained. She's crying because she feels guilty that this time, they're fighting about something she's done (without knowing it was her). So she confesses because she wants their anger/pain toward each other to stop. Claire knows that Sean has been around that doctor, that he disappeared, and then the doctor tells Claire her wallet and keys are missing. It's really not a stretch to assume that he took them because he wants to get into her house. Wes was driving and got a call that the tail followed Claire to the doc's house, and entered with a gun. I assumed Sean disabled the doctor's car after he took her house keys, to give him more time to shower and whatever else in her home. That's why he was in hiding as the repair guy left the parking lot. He knew where her car was, and got into her back seat with a gun while she was distracted with her cell phone.

Laura was not "finely dressed" - she was wearing dark clothing instead of a fancy dress or expensive-looking suit, had regular makeup, and no fancy hair style. It didn't seem like she was intentionally crashing a party. I believe the last she knew, either Lulu or Luke owned the Haunted Star. She clearly has not been in touch with Lulu and Dante or Luke, so it seems very unlikely she found out about party and decided to show up specifically to steal Tracy's 'big moment'. I thought Laura's faint smile was because he's willing to give her the respect of speaking with her, due to all their history and two shared children ... that he's unwilling to order her out without a word explaining why she's there just so Tracy will feel superior about his love and ultra secure that he sees Laura as Tracy feels Laura *should* be seen - a weak loser from Luke's past who happens to be the mother of two of his children. Laura has no need to play games. Also, Laura is more or less the opposite of Tracy: she's still an attractive, relatively young woman with positive aspects in her personality, and has some professional history that is not tied to a family business. She could do a helluva lot better than Luke. Tracy acting like Luke is some grand prize that she wants to stomp Laura to keep just makes Tracy look pathetic.

Correct. GF played it like Laura was nervous and feeling a bit emotional at seeing and talking to Luke (like going to him due to serious trouble for either herself or Lucky) and then Tracy blocks Laura and starts acting like a nasty shrew in Laura's face - assuming Laura wants to "suck" Luke back into her mess/drama and get back together with him. She did everything except actually snarl and try to bite. Laura shed a tear or two during Tracy's tirade and was like yeah, I get it, thanks for spelling that out. Let Luke speak for himself, please. They went into that room where Levi had attacked Nathan, and then we didn't get to hear the conversation. Then they returned to the "party" looking like they both knew about something very sad or dangerous going on.

It's sad, or maybe horrifying, when Sonny of all people makes a correct point about Tracy (re: Laura). Also, that eye makeup on Tracy did indeed make her come off extra harsh. PS - STFU, Carly! You didn't give a damn about Luke and you don't get to say one word against Laura. Their kiss/behaving like they're oh-so-in-love was gross, too. I have no use for Luke, but I acknowledge it's good writing that he told Tracy if the positions were reversed, he feels Laura would do him the courtesy so he's going to talk to her. Of course Tracy gives him appalled eyes for allowing Laura to speak to him. I rolled my eyes that she's all "I'm going to give Luke a chance to keep his word." Side note: Dillon really looked and sounded like his father today. Tracy, I doubt Laura thinks enough of you/about you to hope you'll lose it and act out. The look on Luke's face made me think he was going to say he and Laura needed to leave immediately due to Lucky's life being in danger, or something similar. I was genuinely surprised he called off their engagement in front of everyone. Loved Scott saying "Laura never could stay away from trouble" in response to Bobbie's bitchy comment about Laura. STFU Bobbie. Your brother is NO prize. I like Michael, but he is dumb (today, anyway). I liked baby AJ squealing for/reaching toward Michael (in protest??) when Ava was holding her and he stepped out of the room. So disappointed that Michael wasn't suspicious about Ava's "I Love yous" and tears. Now, Morgan being a dumbass is totally believable. However, him initiating a kiss shocked me. Kiki walking in at the moment would have been perfect - so of course she's out looking for Denise. Sloane acting like he and Anna are or should be in a relationship is creepy...Ewewewewew. Begging to be her friend and sheepishly giving up the idea that they'd be together just makes him look pathetic.

Yes; I wonder if Dillon will push Tracy to reject Luke, when he sees how Luke reacts (as always) to seeing Laura. Dillon was a baby and so he didn't actually see the way Paul used to look at Jenny - but I would think he must know some things about the past. I'll assume Paul never admitted to Dillon that he insisted on Jenny being Dillon's godmother, that he kissed Jenny, declared his love to her ... while married to Tracy. A few years back, Luke kissed Laura before she got on that plane to France (the time Scott stowed away). It would be a cool - and shocking - use of history if someone actually said to Tracy, "You're being just as foolish and blind about love regarding Luke as when you were with Paul. Don't put yourself through that kind of pain yet again." On a semi-related note, the casting for nuDillon was well done in terms of looks and build. He is believable as both a Q and the son of Paul. I would buy that he's related to Michael and the late AJ, for example.

That's accurate; I remember that Paul was pining for Jenny - Ned's wife at the time - while Tracy was pregnant with Dillon and after Dillon's birth as well. I can't recall if he ever actually said, "I don't want this kid" or "I don't want to have children with Tracy." His behavior showed that he didn't want to be married to Tracy and that he was not happy or excited about becoming a father. Perhaps he wanted to be a father at some point, but was unenthusiastic about parenthood in the context of Tracy being his child's mother.

I thought it was obvious that she's supposed to look young (er) and beautiful/sexy in that outfit in contrast to Tracy appearing old/matronly in that Gone With the Wind-esque skirt. Also, I think it's supposed to serve as a reminder to the audience that she is the mother of Luke's young, beautiful daughter (currently the only child of his in Port Charles). I know GF is a lot younger than TG in real life; not sure about JE. I assume Lulu will be overjoyed to see her mom, in contrast to Tracy appearing to barely restrain herself from attempting to scratch Laura's eyes out for returning at this time. For reasons I'll never understand, Tracy has this on-going desperation to be seen as the great love of Luke's life (rather than Laura). It has seemed like the one reason Tracy has never flat-out hated Laura was because she deeply cares for Lulu, and felt that would show an insensitivity toward Lulu's feelings/make things awkward for her.

Quote from Elizabeth, indicating that Lucky is not an involved father: "I want him so badly to have a man in his life. Lucky isn't here; I don't hold it against him - I know there are reasons he stays away." There's more... if you're curious, the entire conversation is in this clip. It is lazy writing, and character assassination, which is pretty common on the show now.

Melgaypet - I agree, and it seems like it's a variation of Robin-as-deadbeat-mother writing. I don't believe Robin would ever just give up to Helena, say "You win" and walk away from her daughter without a fight. At the very least, she would find a way to let her mother know hey, I'm in trouble here. I do want to be an active mom to my child. For Lucky to go from "Those boys are my sons, and they are perfect just the way they are" in an angry conversation with Luke to never seeing or speaking to his sons because he's living in Africa taking care of orphans is indeed character assassination.

I agree. I think Show's point was Elizabeth blames herself for Lucky abandoning their sons (and also, with all the TG worship, there's no way Show would have allowed for a blatant statement like Lucky just has to get away from Luke's attitude about having killed Jake and the you-can't-be-Elizabeth's-crutch attitude aside from the lingering pain of Elizabeth's betrayal and fear that she would break his heart again/they would be destructive if they got back together). Because she blames herself for Lucky not being there for their boys, she doesn't voice resentment about his abandonment. She talked about the state of her life while "Jake" was asleep in his hospital room last year, and recently has talked about being determined to be happy with Jake, BUT never specifically says, "It's so hard being a single parent." I think Show's official attitude about Lucky leaving was that he just couldn't deal with Liz anymore, because little Braden's Cam yelled at her that Christmas (days? after JJ's departure) something like You're a liar, that's why Dad left.

When Elizabeth was on a 4th of July date with AJ, and when Laura returned the last time and visited Elizabeth and the kids. Liz has never stated in an accusatory tone "Lucky abandoned our boys." She told AJ that Aiden (or maybe it was Cam? or both) were craving time with a dad/adult father figure type because Lucky left town after she hurt him so badly by betraying him. AJ had just given Aiden instructions about collecting sticks for marshmallow roasting. Liz looked sad/wistful about her boys when Laura returned the last time, visited Liz's home, and mentioned she got to spend time with Lucky a while ago. Elizabeth said she hoped Lucky would find what he needed/was searching for. It was pretty clear that Lucky was not visiting his sons, calling, etc. Whenever Liz mentions her kids being with family, it's always Gram or Grandma Lesley. Recently, Cam has gone to Ric as a father-figure and even asked both of them to get back together.