Episode Discussion II: The TFGH

[KittyQ]

19 minutes ago, TVbitch said:

Soooo, is Lois staying forever, then? 🥱 ...Doesn't she know the rule about houseguests? 

I think at this point she thinks she's the one who gets to limit the visits of other houseguests. :-)

[tessaray]

1 hour ago, Daisy said:

Brother in law [sam]

Half-brother (Julian) and brother-in-law.  🙂

 

Edited July 2 by tessaray
Yikes! Thought my screen froze. Fixed it.

[GHScorpiosRule]

YES!!! Go Maxie! ( in the previews!).

[Cheyanne11]

5 hours ago, dubbel zout said:

m I supposed to feel sorry for Kristina? I don't. All of her feelings were entirely predictable, and shows how stupid everyone was for not exhaustively talking things through.

All because Molly and TJ had to have a baby asap and couldn't wait for an egg donor.  Not to say Kristina wouldn't have attachment issues if she was a gestational surrogate, but at least there'd be no biological tie for her to point to as her connection to the baby.

In other news, I thought Alexis was overly snotty with Nina today.  First off, stalking Nina to Drew's office and demanding they must talk right that second, even though Nina was in the middle of something.  Then being smug with Drew about how rattled she got Nina when, actually, not so much.  

[Artsda]

What is Ava expecting with this Natalia leak.  Natalia will know who she had the convo with.  She'll be caught plus Nina could also find out. 

Kristina looks 9 months pregnant today. She did a good job breaking down.  She was right too, Alexis doesn't know the 2 parents want Kristina nowhere near the baby after. 

 

 

[Daisy]

1 hour ago, tessaray said:

Half-brother (Julian) and brother-in-law.  🙂

 

oh right. I forgot that! Thanks, Tess!

[KerleyQ]

Am I supposed to feel like Ava is "OMG! So evul!!!" for exposing Natalia's homophobia, her desire to force her daughter into the closet, and her hatred towards Kristina?  Because I loved every freaking minute of that. 

And, Lord, but Natalia is such a joyless, humorless character. Getting her undies in a wad over fans mistakenly assuming Lois was Blaze's mother? Lighten up, already.  Lois isn't trying to take over your daughter. She and Blaze just think it's a silly innocent little mistake. Because they're normal people without sticks up their asses. 

[tessaray]

2 hours ago, KerleyQ said:

Am I supposed to feel like Ava is "OMG! So evul!!!" for exposing Natalia's homophobia, her desire to force her daughter into the closet, and her hatred towards Kristina?  Because I loved every freaking minute of that. 

While I agree with your opinion on Natalia, Ava really screwed up here. Her desire to punish Sonny and Natalia is going to hurt Blaze, who wasn't ready herself to come out to the world for various reasons. Ava had no right to do that to her. 

I generally find Ava entertaining but she really didn't think this one through. 

[ljr]

Did Carly adopt Avery?  How is Avery Joss sister?
What does Ava gain with that recording? Does she think Sonny will ask her to move back?

Why doesn’t Lois have her own place?

Edited July 2 by ljr

[Cheyanne11]

1 hour ago, ljr said:

Did Carly adopt Avery?  How is Avery Joss sister?

No.  Joss just calls Avery her little sister because they were quasi raised together, both living under the same roof for a good chunk of Avery's childhood.

[CeChase]

I think Ava revealing a tape of that bigot, is awesome, but she didn't edit out the parts that out Blaze.  So she has outed a closeted gay person and that is not okay.  

Drew should have kicked Alexis out of his office.  Her behavior was incredibly pushy, arrogant, and Karen.  Of course as always, that makes Nina the bad person.  Go figure. 

[mbluecpa]

2 hours ago, CeChase said:

I think Ava revealing a tape of that bigot, is awesome, but she didn't edit out the parts that out Blaze.  So she has outed a closeted gay person and that is not okay.  

Totally agree. The collateral consequences of outing Blaze and dragging the surrogacy details out in public make me really cringe. That said, it’s classic soap and classic Ava, which I’ve been clamoring for. Be careful what I wish for, I guess.

Maxie really seems to be the voice of reason and truth in most scenes lately, and I’m so here for it. 

[dubbel zout]

13 hours ago, Artsda said:

Alexis doesn't know the 2 parents want Kristina nowhere near the baby after. 

I think Kristina is overreacting a bit with this. Molly and TJ don’t want her being a co-parent in any way, but they aren’t going to forbid all contact with the baby. Everyone needs to take a few breaths here.

[ffwbe]

I don’t mind Ava outing Natalia as a bigot but we know she doesn’t do anything altruistically and I don’t see how it benefits her. They’ve moved away from Ava wanting a relationship with Sonny from what I’ve seen and this news coming out really only affects Sonny peripherally and wouldn’t impact a custody trial. Sure, dating a homophobe when you have a bisexual daughter isn’t a good look but the guy being a full on mob boss isn’t even a factor in his custody battles. The best I can gather is Ava is trying to get back at Kristina because her being upset over what Ava did to Alexis is the reason Sonny iced her out but if that’s the case, Ava is for sure going to get raked over the coals by the entire town. 

[YaddaYadda]

15 minutes ago, dubbel zout said:

I think Kristina is overreacting a bit with this. Molly and TJ don’t want her being a co-parent in any way, but they aren’t going to forbid all contact with the baby. Everyone needs to take a few breaths here.

Molly may not want to forbid Kristina contact, but the way TJ has been going, he might. 

[tessabq]

1 hour ago, mbluecpa said:

Totally agree. The collateral consequences of outing Blaze and dragging the surrogacy details out in public make me really cringe. That said, it’s classic soap and classic Ava, which I’ve been clamoring for. Be careful what I wish for, I guess.

Maxie really seems to be the voice of reason and truth in most scenes lately, and I’m so here for it. 

"Maxie really seems to be the voice of reason and truth." I call that the "Being raised by Mac effect."

[GHScorpiosRule]

4 hours ago, CeChase said:

So she has outed a closeted gay person and that is not okay.  

But hasn't Blaze sort of come out? She's seen in public with Kristina-they kiss each other in a way it's clear that they are a couple. Unless Show wants to tell the viewers that Port Charles is so teeny tiny, no one who sees them will notice, yet it has that new skuzzoid at The Invader. And other times, acts as if the town is a metropolitan town.

That said, it totally wasn't okay for completely outing Blaze, but things like that don't bother Ava when she's on a revenge spree.

[ffwbe]

Someone behind the scenes is obsessed with Gio. I don’t get why he’s on so much and the actor isn’t great. If they wanted a bland, good kid for that age range, they might as well have recasted Cam who has more ties to the canvas than some random relative of Lois’ who they are playing as a quasi-Q even though he isn’t part of their family. I also don’t buy that he’s close to Sonny. That man probably hasn’t stepped foot in Bensonhurst once in Gio’s whole life 

[KerleyQ]

9 hours ago, tessaray said:

While I agree with your opinion on Natalia, Ava really screwed up here. Her desire to punish Sonny and Natalia is going to hurt Blaze, who wasn't ready herself to come out to the world for various reasons. Ava had no right to do that to her. 

I generally find Ava entertaining but she really didn't think this one through. 

I agree that outing someone is wrong, absolutely. But I feel like this kind of falls into a gray area there, to the point where, when I usually catch an "outing" and find it to be wrong, I wasn't even keying in on that in this. 

I know that Blaze, early in their relationship, was trying to keep things hidden, but for a while now, she's not been hiding things. She went to a society wedding as Kristina's date. Kristina comes to her recording sessions as the supportive girlfriend. I think she's not "officially" out, but I think she's also just living her life and not caring who notices these days. She hasn't given any interviews acknowledging that she's gay, or anything, because her mother keeps pressuring her to not do that "for your career," but she also seems like she wants it known. (I could be reading that wrong, and, if I am, then I apologize.) 

In this case, I was kind of expecting that Blaze's reaction would be to be pissed at her mother (which looks like what's going on in the preview for today's show) but relieved that it's out there now, and her mother can't keep pushing her to hide her relationship with Kristina. I think she's been past sick of her mother's pressure to keep quiet "for your career," and now she's going to know that her mother's concerns were never really about her career as much as it was just that her mother is a big old homophobe. 

Of course, this all would have been cleaner if Ava had just sent that recording to Kristina and Blaze. But Ava has always been the kind to go with a bulldozer when a gentle nudge would suffice. 

[tessaray]

51 minutes ago, KerleyQ said:

 

I know that Blaze, early in their relationship, was trying to keep things hidden, but for a while now, she's not been hiding things. She went to a society wedding as Kristina's date. Kristina comes to her recording sessions as the supportive girlfriend. I think she's not "officially" out, but I think she's also just living her life and not caring who notices these days. S

True. But I thought the main reason Allison gave in to her mom was the grandmother and super conservative folks back home? 

Honestly,  I don't see Ava as the kind of person who would out someone intentionally. Most of the time anyway. But it is another potential motive if Ava is ever attacked. 

[DanaK]

7 hours ago, ljr said:

Did Carly adopt Avery?  How is Avery Joss sister?
What does Ava gain with that recording? Does she think Sonny will ask her to move back?

Why doesn’t Lois have her own place?

 

6 hours ago, Cheyanne11 said:

No.  Joss just calls Avery her little sister because they were quasi raised together, both living under the same roof for a good chunk of Avery's childhood.

I believe they were stepsisters when Carley and Sonny were married and Joss was Sonny's stepdaughter; now I guess with Sonny and Carly divorced, they are ex-stepsisters, but Joss loves her so is still in her life and they still have a sisterly bond

Edited July 2 by DanaK

[perkie1968]

Quote

 I don’t get why he’s on so much and the actor isn’t great.

the kid is a child violin prodigy and they must have paid a fortune for him.  So like anything else that they pay money for, they are going to use him as much as they can.  Like a few years ago when they built the gazebo set and then suddenly everybody and their uncle was hanging around the gazebo.  Or Perks coffee stand.  Or Rice Plaza.  You pay tons of money, you gotta get yuor money's worth.  So Gio becomes the Yoda of Port charles.  

[GHScorpiosRule]

Well???!!!!

What was bigoted homophobic Natalia's reaction to Maxie's (FINALLY) putting her foot down about what the expectations are from Blaze?

Edited July 2 by GHScorpiosRule

[tessaray]

42 minutes ago, GHScorpiosRule said:

Well???!!!!

What was bigoted homophobic Natalia's reaction to Maxie's (FINALLY) putting her foot down about what the expectations are from Blaze?

I'm still watching but all the scenes are first rate so far. Natalia is still clueless and stubborn.

Eta: I didn't expect how quickly Ava is getting exposed. I'm here for it but hope we're not in for the same runaway train they put Finn on. 

Edited July 2 by tessaray

[dubbel zout]

Blaze should have fired Natalia as her manager on the spot. 

[KittyQ]

Diane says to Sonny that some people are good keeping their ugliness hidden.  Sonny agrees. Isn't this a pot calling the kettle black kind of thing? Aren't these two kettles engaged in things that are just as ugly? Sonny and Diane shouldn't be so smug about not being homophobic when they have been deeply involved in or defending criminal activity, including murder. 

[DanaK]

17 minutes ago, tessaray said:

I'm still watching but all the scenes are first rate so far. Natalia is still clueless and stubborn.

Eta: I didn't expect how quickly Ava is getting exposed. I'm here for it but hope we're not in for the same runaway train they put Finn on. 

Such good scenes at Deception. Blaze should have dropped her mom as her business manager ages ago and definitely should do it now

2 minutes ago, KittyQ said:

Diane says to Sonny that some people are good keeping their ugliness hidden.  Sonny agrees. Isn't this a pot calling the kettle black kind of thing? Aren't these two kettles engaged in things that are just as ugly? Sonny and Diane shouldn't be so smug about not being homophobic when they have been deeply involved in or defending criminal activity, including murder. 

Sure. Try telling the show or showrunner that lol

[YaddaYadda]

So here are the two things that bug me. Everyone and their cow is going to be so pissed at Ava that they'll forget what an unapologetic bigot asshole Natalia is. This mofo ran to Sonny instead of going after her daughter.

The other thing is how this whole thing played out. Ava shouldn't have scrubbed her side of the conversation from the recording and submitted the whole thing to the anonymous tip line. She actually defended Kristina. She could have claimed that someone stole the recording, played the whole thing that she was recording notes when Natalia showed up and left her phone on the table.

Anyway, Maxie telling Natalia to kick rocks was beautiful.

[norahs99]

I decided to wait until today to say this but everything that's been going on with Ava lately makes no sense.  Ava is a lot of things, but dumb isn't one of them. The Ava we've been watching for years on this show is too smart to have used the tape this way. Of course she would understand that Natalia would remember that she had this conversation with Ava. Nor would Ava have approached Trina so ham-handedly about getting intel on Sonny.  She would have approached Trina much more subtly and indirectly.  Speaking of Trina, Ava would never have ranted about Sonny the way she did to Trina.  Again, she's too smart for that, knowing Trina's relationship with Jocelyn.  Look, I'm thrilled that scheming Ava is back. I just didn't expect that she'd leave her brain behind in Sonny's penthouse.

[GHScorpiosRule]

29 minutes ago, YaddaYadda said:

Maxie telling Natalia to kick rocks was beautiful.

It really was. And that Natalia was scrambling to remember who she said those words to, was just eye roll worthy. Like Blaze said, has she said it to so many people that it's difficult for her to remember who the person was?

And before leaving, Blaze absolutely should have fired her mother's ass.

[JMO]

Have to give credit where it's due.  Even given how predictable it was that Kristina would struggle about being merely a surrogate, NLG and especially KM were stellar in those scenes, and KM was heartbreaking.

Re: Blaze---I have been so unengaged in her story that I had to look up the actress' name (and initials), but JGL impressed me today.  The scenes at both Deception and the apartment were beautifully done. 

Nothing about either of these storylines has gained my much of my attention before, but they managed to rivet me yesterday and today.  Timely (even if they missed June), topical and extremely well executed.  Even all of the dialogue was spot on.

And I hadn't even seen it coming that Ava could find a way to hurt two of the people she hates, Sonny and Alexis, with one evil act.  So soapy.

 

[jqdeco]

Did Ava not know that the Invader had an anonymous tip line? It would have been better for her to just submit the tape, with never contacting the publisher. That way the story could have been more drawn out.  I’m seriously worried MW is on her way out. Or the writers are idiots. Probably both.

[ffwbe]

This SL is so tone deaf. You have Sonny out here acting like leaking that audio is worse than what Natalia actually said and Maxie/Lucy and co thinking that Blaze being in the closet is a career killer. Not everyone is comfortable coming out publicly or needs time to do so. All she has to do is put out a statement explaining that she doesn’t agree with or condone or mother’s views and wasn’t in a place in her life where she was comfortable coming out yet. Same with Kristina. Like she’s the first LGBT person to date someone who isn’t out of the closet. All she has to say is it’s not her place to out someone else and it’s up to them to come out at their own time. 

[jsbt]

For me, the primary issue with Natalia is not Eva LaRue's performance. Frankly ELR is very good at playing a very specific type of type-A, hypercontrolling bigoted modern woman of a certain age. She is playing it to the hilt and I credit her for it. That's what makes people so uncomfortable with Natalia and why they're so irritated with her, me included.

The other issue though is systemic and story-wise - she is so obnoxious, unctuous and overbearing as well as bigoted, but Natalia doesn't actually do anything but chemistry test with Sonny. If Natalia was actively scheming and doing stuff, not just mean mugging with Deception and Kristina, that would be good soap for awhile and then she gets her comeuppance, leaves the show and that's all fine, good drama. But GH wants it both ways. Mark Teschner told us Frank Valentini explicitly sought out ELR for this role. That to me indicates he just wants yet another feather in his cap for the show, another soap or primetime name that does very little but who he can say is in the cast - something he's done over and over. Which has led to the ensemble becoming so bloated and tired between names and nobodies. But it also means the show and FV want Natalia to be 'good' enough to remain on canvas vs. being a villain or a full-out bigot. Except a bigot is what they have written. So now we're going to see them try to blame Ava for Natalia's own toxic beliefs, and I expect them to try to keep ELR around for at least another six months so Frank can keep playing Soap Star Beanie Babies. Were this a couple years ago we might see her last a contract term or more. I hope we don't have to deal with that here.

Edited July 3 by jsbt

[DanaK]

3 hours ago, YaddaYadda said:

Anyway, Maxie telling Natalia to kick rocks was beautiful.

Along with giving her great stink eye 

[Cheyanne11]

13 minutes ago, ffwbe said:

You have Sonny out here acting like leaking that audio is worse than what Natalia actually said

I believe that's called the Nina Reeves Reporting a Crime is Worse than the Crime statute.  

[Daisy]

So the clip of the day was the audio clip. but i have to ask - why does it matter if Blaze is gay? is she a conservative Christian music star or something? it's very confusing.

[Artsda]

Everyone in PC knows Blaze is publicly dating Kristina. Attending wedding together and out in public walking around and dates in public restaurants. If Blaze was supposed to be such a star wouldn't she have been caught before now?

Ava now realizes what she did, but too late.  She created a hate verbal abuse against 2 innocent people including her daughter's sister. 

Ava didn't even go an episode without being found out she gave the recording. Opposite of the long time Nina turning in Carly and Drew took to come out. They seem rushed with this. 

If the contract wasn't finalized then they can easily rip it up. Good for Maxie telling kick rocks. Lois can shut up with all the "we" she has no place speaking.  

 

[DanaK]

24 minutes ago, Daisy said:

So the clip of the day was the audio clip. but i have to ask - why does it matter if Blaze is gay? is she a conservative Christian music star or something? it's very confusing.

Based on some of the social media comments some characters commented on, the problem could be Blaze was in the closet, indicating she might be ashamed of being gay. And Kristina indicated comments were saying she shouldn’t run her center because she was dating someone in the closet and could possibly be ashamed of being gay herself

[ffwbe]

25 minutes ago, Daisy said:

So the clip of the day was the audio clip. but i have to ask - why does it matter if Blaze is gay? is she a conservative Christian music star or something? it's very confusing.

I said this when the SL started. Her being LGBT would maybe be an issue if she was a country singer or Christian like you said since they are know for having more conservative fanbases. There’s so many LGBT pop singers who’ve found success that them trying to say it’s a deterrent in her career doesn’t make a whole lot of sense in this day and age. 

[DanaK]

Just now, ffwbe said:

I said this when the SL started. Her being LGBT would maybe be an issue if she was a country singer or Christian like you said since they are know for having more conservative fanbases. There’s so many LGBT pop singers who’ve found success that them trying to say it’s a deterrent in her career doesn’t make a whole lot of sense in this day and age. 

It’s not coming out that seems to be a problem. As the Deception crew spelled out, many of their clients are LGBTQ+ and they won’t like that someone representing the company is hiding in the closet and clearly has a homophobic mom. It seems to be more about appearances than anything else

[ffwbe]

1 minute ago, DanaK said:

Based on some of the social media comments some characters commented on, the problem could be Blaze was in the closet, indicating she might be ashamed of being gay.

They brought that angle up today but when her and Kristina first got together, Blaze also stated one of the reasons she wasn’t publicly out yet was she thought it would negatively impact her career. 

[DanaK]

Just now, ffwbe said:

They brought that angle up today but when her and Kristina first got together, Blaze also stated one of the reasons she wasn’t publicly out yet was she thought it would negatively impact her career. 

I think it’s still a fear of some singers, even in the pop world

[jsbt]

There are absolutely still closeted pop stars.

[Daisy]

19 minutes ago, DanaK said:

It’s not coming out that seems to be a problem. As the Deception crew spelled out, many of their clients are LGBTQ+ and they won’t like that someone representing the company is hiding in the closet and clearly has a homophobic mom. It seems to be more about appearances than anything else

which i think is dumb.  I mean, it's Blaze's choice if or when she choses to disclose her sexuality and i don't think my buying makeup is dependent on the "face of Deception" being out or not.

at first when i was hearing y'all talk about her mom, admittedly i was wondering if she was just finding it hard to accept Blaze as gay (which i would defend if she was still nice and all because i know for some it isn't a natural "oh okay." you need time to get your head wrapped around it). but after seeing the CotD - it's clearly homophobic attitudes this woman has.

anyhoo thanks you guys :)

[Cheyanne11]

58 minutes ago, DanaK said:

t’s not coming out that seems to be a problem. As the Deception crew spelled out, many of their clients are LGBTQ+ and they won’t like that someone representing the company is hiding in the closet and clearly has a homophobic mom. It seems to be more about appearances than anything else

A couple of the comments on the article specifically said they would stop being Blaze's fan because she was gay, though, not because she was in the closet.

[Artsda]

41 minutes ago, Daisy said:

which i think is dumb.  I mean, it's Blaze's choice if or when she choses to disclose her sexuality and i don't think my buying makeup is dependent on the "face of Deception" being out or not.

Celebrities lose endorsement deals for things they say all the time in reality.  Blaze losing this because she's cancelled would actually be logical writing. 

[KerleyQ]

9 hours ago, tessaray said:

True. But I thought the main reason Allison gave in to her mom was the grandmother and super conservative folks back home? 

Honestly,  I don't see Ava as the kind of person who would out someone intentionally. Most of the time anyway. But it is another potential motive if Ava is ever attacked. 

I think that Ava asking for the recording to pulled from the site was supposed to be her realizing "oh, shit, did I just out someone? Was she not out?" I can see that being confusing for her, since, as discussed, Kristina and Blaze are pretty openly a couple around town, so she may not have realized when she initially did this that she was outing anyone. 

2 hours ago, ffwbe said:

I said this when the SL started. Her being LGBT would maybe be an issue if she was a country singer or Christian like you said since they are know for having more conservative fanbases. There’s so many LGBT pop singers who’ve found success that them trying to say it’s a deterrent in her career doesn’t make a whole lot of sense in this day and age. 

I think that her mother worked overtime to convince her that it would be a detriment to her career, and she didn't fully realize that it was largely just her mother manipulating her into staying in the closet by telling her it would ruin her career. One of the potential pitfalls of having a "momager" is that the kid, even after they become an adult, can become so used to relying on their parent and trusting them that they don't realize when they've manipulated them or lied to them. 

Lois was clearly being too gracious to Natalia when she said they should all let her go so she could go after her daughter. Because instead of going to find Blaze (and Kristina) to apologize, she went running to Sonny to tattle on Ava. And, I swear if this show has Ava lose a custody battle to the known mob boss, including not even getting any visitation, over her recording a homophobe and making her comments public...  Even if Alexis can successfully argue in court that Natalia isn't a public figure (although the momager of a popular singer seems a bit of a stretch to not be any level of public figure these days), the paper would be the ones who were in the wrong by publishing the audio. Ava wasn't committing a crime when she recorded it. And certainly not the level of wrongdoing that would make her an unfit parent. 

[30 Helens]

12 hours ago, tessaray said:

I didn't expect how quickly Ava is getting exposed. I'm here for it but hope we're not in for the same runaway train they put Finn on. 

I was just coming here to say I feel a strong sense of deja vu.

First we have months of Ava cozying up to Sonny while plotting behind his back (for what? Did they ever say?), discovering his meds were being tampered with but not doing anything about it, and just generally being mysteriously shady with no payoff and no real forward motion.

Then bam! In less than a week, Sonny snaps and throws her out, talk of a custody battle ramps up, Ava concocts a plot against Natalia* and carries it out, frantically tries to cover her tracks, gets caught before the day's over, is REALLY on Sonny's bad side now, and now what is she going to do?? Get shot, I expect. With Sonny standing over her and sneering "This is for Connie."  As much as I love Ava and adore Maura West, I really think she's getting Finn-ed here.

*I can't decide who the target of Ava's half-baked scheme really was. Natalia, to get her out of Sonny's orbit so Ava could slide back in? Or Sonny, thinking that his name would be tarnished by association and thereby giving Ava an edge in the custody battle? I don't know, and I'm not sure it really matters.

Also, how does Ava have a room overlooking the pool? I thought it was a rooftop pool?

[DanaK]

7 hours ago, Cheyanne11 said:

A couple of the comments on the article specifically said they would stop being Blaze's fan because she was gay, though, not because she was in the closet.

Well, it doesn’t surprise me that some of her fans are homophobic, as even some pop fans are homophobic.