As summer kicks into high gear, things are heating up in Port Charles. Will Willow be able to break free of Drew’s hold? Is Sasha being fair to Michael? Will Liz get her groove back and find love? Let’s discuss that and more in this week’s General Hospital commentary for the week ending June 20, 2025.
She’s been made blue. She’s been lied to. When will Liz be loved?
Unlucky in love
Dear readers, Elizabeth Weber is one of my favorite General Hospital characters, but wow, has she been unlucky in love. Consider the fact that the best lover she’s had for decades was a reformed serial killer!
When Lucky came back to Port Charles, I thought we would finally get her endgame love. Her childhood sweetheart, mature and wiser, had finally come home to reclaim the love he lost. But nope, just a pitstop. Then Ric came sniffing around her door when he heard that Lucky left town, but Liz shut him down fast. She probably remembers that he was holding Carly prisoner in their panic room when they were married before. Then I thought, “Hey, maybe this will be the time for Jason and Liz to have their chance.” But now that Britt Westbourne is coming home, I fear the writers will pursue that connection instead.
Leaving Liz, once again, loveless. Color me annoyed.
I am woman, hear me roar
Since Lucky left, I see a glimpse of a new Liz emerging. Or better said, I see the old feisty Liz coming back to life.
I cheered when Liz confronted Kristina about cutting the brakes on what Kristina thought was Ava’s car, and putting Kristina on notice that if Kristina stepped out of line, Liz would turn her in. Liz told Krissy to leave Ava alone. Kristina looked Liz in the eyes and promised to behave but instead hired Cody to seduce Ava. I hate to admit it, but Ava and Cody had a little somethin’ somethin’.
Weeping Willow’s misery
While my charity and compassion for Liz runs deep, my disdain for Willow runs deeper. I have zero compassion for Willow. None. I loved watching her meltdown. I know that’s mean, but this is just a fictional TV character and not a real person, so I can enjoy her misery without shame or guilt. But that having been said, Katelynn McMullen absolutely killed those scenes.
I love the actor even though I’m discouraged with Willow as a character. I’d like to see her spine emerge. It’s time to see her finally break out of the fog and dump Drew. But no, instead, she’s going to marry him due to more false promises of hope. Oh, Willow. I remember back when Nina was played by Michelle Stafford, and she hated Willow when Willow was Charlotte’s teacher. It turns out old Nina was right about Willow all along. Willow is not the innocent waif I once thought she was.
Willow needs therapy. She and Kristina could get a 2-for-1 coupon.
Dawn of Drew
After Willow was freed from Dawn of Day, she didn’t just magically get over the abuse and mind control and everything else she experienced. That’s why the “Drew is Shiloh” theory makes so much sense. Shiloh had a mental hold over Willow, and if Drew is Shiloh, it’s understandable that he would still have the tools to manipulate her. It could explain why Willow continues to believe him instead of her eyes and ears. There is a plague of that these days.
When Willow lost custody of Wiley and Amelia, I thought it might be the wake-up call she needed. But no, she followed Drew back home like a lost little lamb instead of going home with Nina and leaving Drew behind. When Drew went to Jason at General Hospital and asked him to act as a go-between with Michael, I loved it when Jason got up in his face and said, “Quote me.” I rewound and watched it three more times. Have I mentioned lately that I adore Steve Burton? I am ready for him to have a love interest, too.
General Hospital justice — and a soapy twist
I was happy for Michael’s court victory right up until I discovered that Sidwell paid off the judge to rule in Michael’s favor. Why did Sidwell do that? What could his motivation be? Is it to hold something over Sonny’s head? Is it to be used to manipulate Michael later? I don’t know. Sidwell is one of those villains I am on the fence about. Is he redeemable? Is he pure evil? I cannot decide.
Also, Sidwell’s son Marco, I like him and Lucas, but I am fearful for Lucas because all he needs is to get dragged into some mob battle. Wouldn’t it be something if he got into danger and Ms. Wu and Brad had to rescue him? Readers, please don’t hate me, but I have a confession: I love Parry Shen, and I was sad to see Brad go. Maybe when the Britch comes back, Brad will come home to see his bestie, and the two of them will cook up a scheme to get Lucas back.
The Britch returns — will someone else follow?
But if Britt is back — will she still have Huntington’s disease, and how do we account for her rise from the dead? I am eager to see how this all unfolds.
Also, I have noticed a lot of Julian Jerome mentions lately. Is there any chance William DeVry is coming home to Port Charles? If everyone else can come back from the dead, why not Julian?
Family secrets
Lulu wasn’t dead, just mostly dead in a coma for four years. But she’s making up for lost time by causing mayhem everywhere she goes. To be fair, I believe that she didn’t intend to hurt Gio and that she just felt compelled to let Dante know he had a son out there. If I found out my husband had a kid out there in the world, I would tell him. Wouldn’t you?
I like that Gio isn’t mad at Lulu because if BLQ sees Gio having iced teas with Lulu, it will make her head explode, and that will be fun, soapy TV. I love Brooke Lynn, but I am not on board with her trying to blow up Rocco’s life just to get even with Lulu. He’s a kid, and he’s been through a lot lately.
Hey BLQ, fight with Lulu and leave her kid alone.
General Hospital’s summer of romance and adventure
I love the friendship and possible relationship forming between Gio and Emma, but Emma can’t focus on summer romance because she’s keen to flirt her way into Professor Dalton’s lab. I worry for her safety. She has no idea what sort of danger she is walking into, but Joss does. Will she warn Emma? I am rooting for both girls to succeed, but I don’t know how that’s possible. Their snooping will run afoul of one another at some point.
The sad thing is that I have been a fan of Daniel Goddard since his The Young and the Restless days, and I don’t want him to be a bad guy or a sleazeball who preys on teenage girls because I would like him to stay around for a while. However, I fear I won’t get my wish. Professor Dalton is looking like a creep so far.
New family ties
Readers, I could not love Rory Gibson more if I had cast him myself. Every scene he’s in lights me up inside; he has brought such fire and intensity to Michael, and I love that!
I initially understood Sasha’s hesitation to add Michael to Daisy’s birth certificate due to his mob family ties and the controlling Quartermaine family ties, but since it’s now a matter of public record that Michael is Daisy’s father, what is the point of not acknowledging that on paper? Sasha is going to live at the Q house, letting Daisy grow up surrounded by family and letting Michael be part of her baby’s life, but not acknowledging him legally?
To me, that screams hints that the General Hospital writers have some weird twist where Sasha will be kidnapped, and Michael won’t have any legal rights to the baby because Sasha hasn’t changed her will yet, and Micheal will have to fight for custody or something ridiculous like that. I’m already dreading being right. LOL
With friends like these…
Dear readers, we can all agree that Maximista needs some new friends. I am tired of Maxie having to mediate between the screeching battles between Lulu and Brooke Lynn. I want to see a scene with Maxie and Spinelli drinking giant glasses of Pinot Grigio while Maxie rants to him about her two annoying friends and how much they drive her crazy, and he calms her down.
Similarly, Anna had to lock Dante and Chase in a jail cell together to get the two of them to stop attacking each other. I know it’s too soon for Chase to say this, but if Sam had told Dante about a baby she gave up for adoption, wouldn’t Dante have kept her secret? Of course, he would have. He has to understand the position that Chase is in. I am glad the two of them came to an understanding of sorts in order to work together because the Port Charles Police Department only has three cops, and criminal activities abound.
Like all the blackmail, Drew accusing Tracy of drugging him, Ava and Ric blackmailing Alexis, Sidwell vaguely threatening Sonny to give up his piers, and Drew blackmailing Portia and Curtis by extension. The PCPD needs some new recruits just for the blackmail department. Also, who was the female assassin mentioned this week? Has Britt left medicine to become an assassin?
Tracy the wild card
Tracy tried to appeal to Martin, but he declined her deal. Those two are comedic gold together.
Martin to Tracy: “You know where to find me.” Tracy replied, “Standing in line to sell plasma.” Hahaha, I loved watching Tracy rip up Martin’s statement into tiny pieces, and even though she agreed to set up the press conference, I am unconvinced she is going to read it. My bet is that she will out Drew for framing her on live TV. Fingers crossed. I am so sick of him.
PS: Has anyone seen Scout? Drew is so worried about Willow’s kids, but it seems he has forgotten the daughter he once loved and adored. The whole storyline just makes me mad because Drew is so un-Drew like.
A tale of two besties on General Hospital
Joss and Trina are besties, but Joss is winning the summer storyline game.
The General Hospital writers gave Joss the “Sexy Spy Summer” storyline while Trina got stuck with the “Doctor’s Appointments and Depression” storyline. This would be an incredible time for Spencer to come back from the dead, even if it’s a recast.
Why is Trina’s entire story arc about her propping up Kai? She deserves better. Let her study abroad on an art scholarship for the summer and meet a hot Parisian artist.
Now it appears that she will be the designated worrier as Kai becomes Drew’s intern. Tell me how many Congressional college interns are not in Washington D.C. and get to stay home all summer and talk to the congressman’s constituents. Hahaha!
Vaughn who?
Readers, every time I write about Joss’ WSB handler, I have to google his name. Vaughn hasn’t really wormed his way into my memory. Bryce Durfee is cute, and he and Eden McCoy had some great early scenes, but if they want his character to hold and matter to me, I need something more profound than pretend stolen kisses.
If you’re going to pair Joss and Vaughn, let me understand what Joss would see in him after having been with two great guys like Cam and Dex.
Love for Maura West
And now, just a little love note to Maura West.
Ava has chemistry with every person in Port Charles. Cody? Check. Nina? Check. Trina? Check. Even Sonny. If Maura is on screen, I never fast-forward. She’s a delight.
What will happen tomorrow, dear readers?
Will Willow see a random SpongeBob t-shirt at the beach and assume it’s Wiley’s? Will Outback find his real owner, or has General Hospital just acquired a puppy? Is Gio destined for a new career when he becomes the star player for Corinthos Coffee, or is Jason going to take off the leather jacket and suit up in baseball gear?
Will Danny grieve Sam on the ballfield, or are we supposed to forget she existed? What will Tracy do? Will she read Martin’s “poorly written statement” at the press conference, or will she go rogue? Can ADA Turner resist Sonny’s dimples and charm, or will she be stronger than the parade of previous lady law enforcers who have succumbed to his charms?
Will anyone ever put more water in that shallow Metro Court pool before someone breaks their neck trying to dive in? Isn’t that the same pool Cody skydived into? Was it deeper, then? Will Molly take back all of her sundresses since Cody didn’t even notice how gorgeous she looked? Will Jordan decide to make a move on her ex since she knows things are rocky between Curtis and Portia? (I hope so.) PS: The original Jordan, Vinessa Antoine, can currently be seen in this season of Ginny & Georgia on Netflix.
Will Robert and Holly ever come home and meet their new granddaughter? Will missing baby Ace be SORAS’d and turn up in September as a 17-year-old Doogie Howser genius student at PCU?
Only tomorrow knows, dear readers, and I will tune in tomorrow as long as there are tomorrows.
Tamilu
If you’re a fan of Beyond the Gates, don’t forget to check out Dan J Kroll’s latest commentary, Rest assured we’re going somewhere.
![Skip to main contentSkip to toolbar About WordPress Dan J Kroll 11 update available 11 Comment in moderation New View Post Site Kit LLAR Duplicate Post Howdy, Dan J Kroll Edit Post My View From Beyond the Gates: Rest assured we’re going somewhere · Post Ctrl+K Save My View From Beyond the Gates: Rest assured we’re going somewhere I'm not sure when it happened, but sometime this century fans decided that the writers of television programs and movies have to give them everything they want, when they want it. If they don't, the show/movie the writers either hate the fans or don't know what they are doing. As such, the show/movie is trash. Well, Beyond the Gates honcho Michele Val Jean and I are here to tell you that is not the case. It has always been perversely fascinating to be on the frontline of watching how a wildly passionate fanbase behaves. I, myself, am not someone who has a fanaticism gene. I’ve never given money, for example, to have a banner-toting airplane fly over a television studio to protest an actor’s firing. I have never wanted to burn things or flip cars when my favorite sports team has won (or lost) a big game. I’ve never wanted to camp outside a movie theater for a week to be first in line to get tickets for the big blockbuster movie that’s coming out. For more than 30 years, though, I’ve gotten to see how soap opera fans interact with their favorite shows, the stars of those shows, and the creatives that bring the shows to life. When I started Soap Central back in the 1990s, the Internet was in its infancy and decorum was at its peak. It wasn’t until the Internet became more mainstream more than a decade later that things really start going off the rails. There are plenty of specific events that I could point to, many of which will be in my memoir that I’ll probably never write. There is a more recent one – one that popped up in just the past week – that made me take this weird saunter down the garden path. Beyond the Gates creator, head writer, executive producer, cat wrangler, big cheese, and many-other-hat-wearer Michele Van Jean took to social media to address some uncited comments from viewers that seemed to question how the show comes together. “I love how some of y’all think we don’t plan this shit out. Like we’re flying blind,” Val Jean wrote. “You might not like where we’re going? But rest assured we’re going somewhere.” Not flying blind This column is going somewhere, too, but I’ll ask for a little indulgence as I build to talking about everything that happened over the past week. To be fair, I’ve seen my fair share of soap opera storylines over the years that most definitely seemed like they were not planned out. It was as if they went to an Improv show where members of the audience just yell out random words and phrases and – bam! – story was born. I’ve yet to feel like this has been the case with Beyond the Gates. I think the main reason I feel that way is because the show is brand new. If the reported timeline is to be believed, there was a two-year lead up from the time the show as conceived until it hit the airwaves. That means the creative team, Val Jean included, had ample time to craft the characters, figure out where they wanted them to end up, and how to get them there. That doesn’t necessarily mean that the path would be – or even needed to be – a direct A to Z route. Soaps that have been on the air for decades have a bit more of a challenge. There is no down time for the writers to be able to take that breather, step away from the material, and spit out new ideas and content. Writing five episodes of a show each week is a lot of work. I don’t expect every episode to be perfection. Maybe that’s just me. Professional baseball players are paid squillions of dollars to maybe, hopefully hit a ball one out of every three times they are up to bat. An avenging angel Over the past four months, I’ve had varying thoughts on the Martin’s mystery storyline. When we first learned that Martin was having nightmares because something bad happened, I was incredibly intrigued. My mind started conjuring up as many soap opera tragedies that it could. The more ideas I came up with, the more intrigued I was. Then, there was a switch. Back in early April, I wrote, “We’ve almost gotten to the point where the cloak and dagger teasing runs the risk of overhyping the secret. I think it’s safe to say that a good portion of the audience is yelling, ‘Tell us what the secret is already!’” Never in my grumbly grumbling did I think that the writers had no idea what they were doing with the story. To sidestep a bit, more recently I had noticed that Detective Malone seemed to vanish and the entire corrupt storyline seemed to evaporate with him. I had wondered if the show decided to pivot from that story for various reasons. The following week Malone popped up in story and now we’ve learned that Malone’s apparent corruption might have a whole different spin to it. Everything seems to be colliding together and I am wondering if we’ve been led astray. Will they or won't they? I wondered if Beyond the Gates would feature any storylines dealing with racism and intolerance. It seemed, at least to me, that it would have to be addressed at some point, but I also wondered if recent attacks on diversity, American history, and even a federal holiday might have CBS stepping in to offer “creative suggestions” the way they have with their news division. Creepy McBusboy made it clear that we were going there when he said that he couldn’t be sure if he’d seen Vernon or Martin before because “so many of your people [look] alike.” He made a later remark that, “Black royalty don’t live like the rest of us.” There is also the "what color's your money" line, which I have always assumed had racist undertones. We still don’t know exactly what went down and what Martin’s secret is, but I’m no longer upset about. The storyline has moved at breakneck speed this past week and I’m content to wait a little longer to get all the details. The secret is still a secret... and I'm okay with that But between us, I’ve come up with my latest theory. We’ve learned that Creepy McBusboy is the brother of the person involved in Martin’s secret. There have been several mentions to a tire iron. I’m thinking that Creepy’s brother probably got into some sort of racist road rage incident that ended with a “FAFO” moment. Perhaps Martin got run off the road and got a flat tire. The brother circled back while Martin was trying to fix his flat… a scuffle ensued… and Martin clobbered the brother with the tire iron. I’ll assume that Martin called his grandfather, who then reached out to Police Chief Elon Hawthorne. Jumping to the next conclusion, I’ll assume that Elon roped in Marcel Malone. As a thank you for… whatever happened next… Malone was gifted a cool $500,000. I haven’t figured out yet how, and if, Joey Armstrong is involved. Maybe Joey ponied up the cash so that there wasn’t a large chunk of money suddenly missing from the Dupree family bank account? Possible spoiler alert: The previews for next week reveal that Ted knows about Martin’s secret, something that Martin apparently did not know. That means that nearly every male adult character on the canvas is somehow tied into this storyline. Poor Doug will have to sit this one out. And while Jacob and Smitty weren’t directly involved in the past, they are both currently involved through Smitty’s investigation. This is kind of an unprecedented daytime moment. Alive and kicking ass A week or so ago I was worried that Vernon might be on his way out because of his constant “I’ll always be here” throwaway lines. Now, based on his fiery rhetoric, I am more concerned that he might off somebody. FUNNY ASIDE: I like that in the midst of all the drama, Beyond the Gates finds ways to inject humor. Let’s face it, that’s often how life is. I got a chuckle when Anita called Vernon and told him that she wanted to know everything that was happening while she’d been away. “No, you don’t!” My secret first-time soap watcher and I yelled at the same time. The daddy gauntlet I love love. There never seems to be enough love in the world, so when love does show its pretty little head… I’m happy. Well, usually. I cannot for the life of me figure out how Chelsea and Madison have decided that they are madly in love after knowing each other for 3.5 minutes. I mean, they are the epitome of an old stereotype about women who love women. I’m not discounting their passion for each other – I totally get that. Chadison/Madsea (or whatever their smooshed name is) are hot. But these two are practically talking about getting married and they don’t even know what each other’s favorite Febreze scent is. Not that I want to Doomsoap their love, but I feel like there is more to Madison than meets the eye. She is just a little too perfect. I haven’t figured out what her shifty, sneaky side might be, though. The best I have come up with so far is that she’ll somehow be related to the owner of a rival handbag company… and that’s not exactly compelling drama. Don’t Sissy me As an only child I rely on television and second-hand stories to help me know what it is like to have a sibling. Dani and Nicole’s relationship seems like #siblinggoals – even when they are disagreeing. I understand why Nicole is upset about Dani and Andre sleeping together, even if I don’t think that all of her reasons are sound. I think in Nicole’s heightened emotional state, she sees Dani’s lying about the relationship in a totally different way than she would have had Ted’s affair never come to light. Now Nicole feels like everyone is lying to her and every lie is going to be magnified tenfold. One the other hand, I also understand that with her world upside-down, Nicole feels that she doesn’t have that many people that she can trust. Pushing the lie aside, if Dani and Andre were to have an unamicable breakup, Nicole might justifiably be worried that the relationship that special bond she shares with her nephew could also break. Joy and pain Nicole’s anger did result in a few good zingers. Nicole quipped that Andre is young enough to be Dani’s son. Ouch. With the way that Beyond the Gates plays fast and loose with ages, I have no idea exactly how old Andre is… but I can’t see him being 20ish years younger than Dani. Sean Freeman, the actor who plays Andre, might be the only person on the entire Internet who doesn’t have an age – accurate or fabricated – attached to his Wikipedia page. In fact, he doesn’t even have a Wikipedia page. Another funny moment came when Dani asked if Nicole was jealous of Dani’s sexual relationship with Andre. “Yes, that’s it, Dani. I’m jealous,” Nicole fired back. “I wish I was sleeping with my nephew.” If this is was having a sibling is like, it sounds amazing. However, unless there is some sort of soapy twist in my future, I will still be quiet happy to go through life as an only child. FUNNY ASIDE: I laughed and laughed when Nicole sashayed into the Meet Madison meeting, spotted Madison, and asked, “Is everyone okay? Why is there a neurologist here?” As a teenager, I went to visit a neighbor and was gobsmacked when I saw the priest that I had recently given Confession to sitting on their front porch. I did a quick 180 and tried to scurry away. Your wife is putting the screws to me Vanessa McBride surprised me this week. I never assumed that she wasn’t an intelligent woman. I’ve also never faulted her for having a strong sexual appetite. What I didn’t expect was that she would be as ballsy as she apparently is. The way she conducted business with Joey Armstrong was something of a master class. For weeks and weeks we’ve been led to believe that Joey was the person who, if you’ll pardon the pun, held all the cards. Hapless Doug has done little to prove otherwise. But when Joey sat Vanessa down in the backroom of his casino and shared his vision for how their “business” relationship would go, Vanessa was not having it. None if it. Not even a small piece of it. “There’s nothing in it for me,” Vanessa pushed back. She then turned the tables to demand that Joey drop the “bogus” debt he was holding over Doug and she also demanded a pretty hefty commission from every transaction for both her and Doug. When Joey asked why Doug deserved a cut, Vanessa deadpanned, “I’m unfaithful, Joey, not disloyal.” By the way, that commission she negotiated? Joey offered three-percent. Vanessa insisted it would be six-percent – for Doug – and twelve-percent for her. That was later adjusted to a rounder, prettier to look at 20-percent. That table's not exactly memory foam Things are getting interesting between Doug and Vanessa. Suddenly, Doug has a sassy mouth. Vanessa assured her hubby that she wouldn’t end up in any legal trouble and promised to cover her “sweet derriere.” Doug replied, “I thought you worked better with it uncovered.” Earlier, when Vanessa explained that she and Joey would have their business meetings in empty houses, he grumbled, “Remember to leave the bedroom like you found it.” Doug is very hard to root for. He's wishy washy and a little bland. I don't know if his sudden growth of backbone will be enough to draw me in. Meanwhile, Joey's double entendres are the absolute best. They are made even more entendre-y by the delicious delivery from Jon Lindstrom. The fact that Joey could say to Doug, "Your wife is putting the screws to me" -- with a straight face, no less -- should earn him some sort of award. This diamond ring doesn't shine for me any more I didn’t have this on my bingo card, but I’m actually siding with Derek in his whatever it is with Ashley. Ashley has become unhinged. Her reactions to everything are completely over the top and it’s not a good look. Ashley tore into Naomi – her best friend – and accused her of buying the engagement ring that Derek proposed with. Seriously?! In what universe does that even make sense? Ashley’s reaction to the proposal also still bugs me. I’m fine that she didn’t accept. Accepting a marriage proposal out of some sense of obligation is never a good thing. Is Ashley trying to deny that she has feelings for Andre? Okay, you had a sex dream about Andre. Who hasn't? There is a big difference between finding someone attractive and wanting that person as a life partner. I don't find Derek particularly interesting, but that doesn't mean that he is not absolutely perfect for Ashley. Is she willing to McBride away (that's Beyond the Gates speak for gamble) relationship because she wants a little (or a lot, according to Dani) of Andre? Redrawing the paperwork As I said earlier in the column, I know that Nicole is hurting. I know that Nicole feelings betrayed. She feels betrayed because she was betrayed. And I am not going to tell Nicole how she should feel... so I will circumvent the hypocrisy that by telling her how she should not feel. It hasn't been all that long since the anniversary party that shall live in infamy. It feels to me that Nicole is rushing into making major life changes, something she would probably advise her clients not to do. Thankfully, she hasn't moved on to divorce papers yet, but it certainly feels like that isn't that far off. Nicole should not feel like her entire marriage was a lie. Part of it was, but I think that when Ted moved on from his relationship with LSD (Leslie/Sherry/Dana), he truly moved on from that relationship. It seems like Ted has been tenaciously devoted to his family ever since... and his involvement in the Martin secret will probably prove that. I just hope that if and when Nicole learns about Ted's involvement, she doesn't hold that against him and run straight back to her attorney's office for divorce papers. Beyond the Gates Speed Round Here are some rapid fire thoughts about some of the other action from the week gone by. Smitty finitty? There has been a lot of online chatter that Mike Manning, who plays Smitty, is on the way out. I suspect it started because Smitty has been getting nosy and someone used that to speculate that Smitty might be killed off. Manning took to social media to shoot down the rumor that he's exiting Beyond the Gates and to ask that supposedly sites claiming to be legit stop with the making stuff up. All I've got is a photograph I'm still in my June Gloom phase with June, but the actress playing June is absolutely killing it. She's equal parts neurotic, funny, and heartbreaking. It could all be a red herring, but I am more convinced than ever that she is Samantha and Tyrell's biological mother. Why? That photo that she cases so much about is a photograph of two children. The photo was shown briefly, but it appeared that the faces of the children in the image were rubbed off. That would explain why neither Naomi nor Jacob had any reaction when they saw the photo. Vegetables and vagina Just days after trying to kill post-stroke Bill with her good-good, Hayley is now serving Bill a breakfast that even my rabbit wouldn't want to eat. I am mildly amused that Bill's daughters are slowly warming back up to him... while still giving Hayley a hard time. Dani, to a lesser degree, also falls under that category. When Andre rhetorically asked if Dani wanted him to sleep with Hayley, Dani replied with an emphatic no before asking, "What would you want with that trashy, pregnant ho anyway?" Lines of the week The Beyond the Gates writing team is once again having a little too much fun. Here are some of the lines of dialogue that tickled my funny bone over the past week. "It makes me dance when you speak of Bill with loathing" -- Dani "Cards are life. We gamble as we live." -- Joey "And who are you? The Gambling Buddha?" -- Marcel Jacob seems to be getting a lot of funny lines of late. As Smitty tried to link Marcel and Joey together in criminal enterprise via their shared yacht club membership, Jacob noted, "[It's] a long way from sailing together to doing crime together." Tasked with having to act like he doesn't know something might be awry, "I'm not sure Denzel could do all that [acting] and make it believable." Closing the gates That's all I have for this week's My View From Beyond the Gates column. I have to go find a way to get involved in Martin's secret. I don't want to be sitting on the bench with Doug. Of course, I could probably take him for whatever petty cash he carries around in his wallet... so maybe that's not a bad Plan B. I'll be tuning in and I'll continue to share my thoughts on Beyond the Gates as long as you're interested in reading them. Thank you for reading and, as always, please feel free to share your thoughts on my column or Beyond the Gates in the Comments section below. Follow my Random Acts of Dan If you've enjoyed my column this week and want to see what I have written about Beyond the Gates in previous weeks, you can check those out in the My View From Beyond the Gates archive. Have a penchant for gardening, interior design, or fixing up old houses? Check out my Manor Makeover series where I write about all of the things I've been up to here at Kroll Manor in Allentown, PA, over the past decade. To keep up with all of the shenanigans I engage in on social media, please consider giving my a follow on Bluesky, Instagram, Threads, Facebook, and TwitterX. Life outside the gates Block contains unexpected or invalid content. 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Sasha is being so unfair to Michael. I’m so sick of him being mistreated and taken for granted.
One thing you forgot to mention where the heck is a Charlotte. An entire storyline brought her home and the. She disappeared. At least she got a mention this week.
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Great column Tamilu! Agree, agree, agree, and will add…can’t these writers think of anything else than to write Sasha as stoopid as Willow? It makes zero sense not to have Michael’s name on the birth certificate, even if they agree that Sasha will have sole physical custody. She’s already saying she wants Michael in Daisy’s life as her dad. Has she learned nothing by watching Gio agonize about feeling unwanted/unacknowledged — even when it’s not true?
Between that and how dumb Portia is written, how annoying and selfish and determinedly idiotic both Nina and Kristina are, how they’ve removed any sense from Alexis, how boring they’ve made Trina’s life, and how screechy Lulu is I’d love for more screen time to be given to Elizabeth, and Maxie, and Molly, and Diane and the women who can reason their way out of a paper bag (and entertain us to boot!)
Please, writers, we need more female characters to be written as if they have a brain in their head (we know you can do it because we see you do it for Tracy and Stella and — mostly — Carly and Ava all the time.)
I disagree Britt is not playing Britt Jason has grown alot this time they are a chance
Sasha doesn’t have to look as far as Gio. She can look to her own paternity and wonder what she’s going to tell a grown up Daisy when she sees her birth certificate & the father’s name is blank. I think it would be helpful if someone gently pointed out the parallels. Her stance is not going to do Daisy any favors
But it’s still early days. I’m fairly certain Sasha will relent and stop holding Michael at arms length. I am curious what last name she’s giving the baby though. There’s no reason to use Corbin. Gilmore is out there but I don’t think we even know where that name comes from. It may never be specified until someone calls her Daisy Corinthos a couple of years down the line
Good point Kathie, about Sasha’s own experience!
I think the female assassin mentioned this week is the woman who tried to kill Sonny in LA that Brick ended up shooting. Brennan told Anna the guy who set the bomb in Sonny’s penthouse and the woman who tried to kill Sonny when he had heart surgery are well known international assassins who have been on the WSB watch list.
You could hear the huge cheer that resounded across GHfandomland when Michael was granted full custody of Amelia (isn’t she a darling?!) and Wiley, and then the huge sigh of disappointment when it was revealed that Sidwell bribed the judge. How to ruin a feel-good, totally deserved victory for the fans. I was very disappointed.
So was I!!!
I really don’t have much to say this week.
Wait.
I lied.
This Week on “The Carly and Droopy Dawg Show”.
As of Monday, ShrewLu STLL hasn’t made the Opening Credits.
I still want to Smack her Smug Face into Next Week.
I really wish Someone Would.
Same with Dante.
He needs a Good Swift Kick.
And EwDrew.
I’m still hoping that Acme Anvil will come Falling out of the Sky and land right on top of his Giant Flat Head.
I see Agents Barbie and Ken are still at it, though I have No Idea what they’re trying to do.
If they hadn’t found anything in The Nutty Professor’s Office last week, why are they in there snooping this week?
Wouldn’t they be better off finding out what he had in the Silver Case he brought to the Lab??
(Flubber??)
And where is HIS lab?
~~~
Gio!! Kiss the Anti-Emma already!!
Fer the Love of All Things Soapy.
Kiss the Girl!
You know you’ve wanted to since Christmas.
~~~
Another Great Tracy Line.
Marty: “You know Where to Find Me!”
Tracy:
“In Line to Sell your Plasma!”
HA!!
~~~
Who else yelled “YES!” when BLQ slugged ShrewLu ?
I was hoping Brooky would go for her Solar Plexus next.
Maxi did Rip Lulu a New One after BLQ left, but that wasn’t nearly as Satisfying.
~~~
So. Was BLQ planning to bring Britt Back to Life?
Are we going to discover that Frau Obrecht has had her Britta Cryogenically Preserved this whole time so she could discover the Cure for Huntington’s Disease?
I sure hope so!
~~~
I cannot WAIT for EwDrew to get what’s coming to him.
I’m still hoping for the Giant Anvil to come Crashing Down from the Great Beyond and Flatten the Conniving Congressman.
Telling Ninny and Porthole , “Clearly you’ve Forgotten Who’s In Charge!”
Ninny and Porthole need to Call his Bluff.
A good Swift Roundhouse Kick to the Gut would be pretty entertaining.
When Mikey said to Curtis, “Do whatever you have to do to save your Family. I Got Your Back.”
I said YES!!
First, we need to get Drew into Solitary Confinement, get him hypnotized, and find out WHO He Really Is.
Was Faison’s Brain transplanted into Drew’s head?
No, even Faison had More Integrity than EwDrew.
I’m going with a Shiloh Brain Cell Infusion.
That’s MY Theory.
For now.
~~~~
So, what was that Brief Baby Stalk/Swap Thing about?
Am I the only one expecting a BabyNapping in the Near Future??
Where’s that Nanny Cam??
Sasha should be able to see who was in there, no?
But that would make way too much sense.,
And WHAT the Actual… with Skidwell bribing the Judge??
As if the Judge would have Ruled Otherwise?
Can we Really Not Have Nice Things??
“Trina Kai Football Blah Blah Blah….”
SHADDAAAAPPPP!
Y’All are Boring me to Death.
Next??
Where’s Frau Blücher!!!
Bring Liesel Back!!
This whole idea of EwDrew and Brillo getting married is STUPID, which is exactly why Brillo the Airhead agreed to it.
And Jordan??
Step Awaaayy from Curtis.
It didn’t work before.
It won’t work now.
He’ll NEVER be happy.
He and Porthole deserve each other.
I tell you one thing, I am Surely Looking Forward to Tracy’s “Press Conference!”
Can Anna even have a Dog in her Apartment? You know, the Apartment that used to be Sasha’s and Kim Nero’s and her Dead Son Oscar (Joss’s FIRST Dead Boyfriend) and let’s see, who else lived there?
Especially a Beagle.
Beagles have THE most Obnoxious Bark/Yodel/Howl.
And they Bark/Yodel/Howl at EVERYTHING.
So, good luck with that Doggo in that Apartment.
Though I do love seeing Critters on GH.
More Critters!!
Less Sleazy Politicians!!
Lulu stuck her nose where it didn’t belong to hurt BL and didn’t care whet it did to Gio. I hate she isn’t treated like a pariah.
Cody is the last guy I’d choose to seduce Ava. He doesn’t have any money and he can’t do any thing for Ava so he is of no use to her.
Tracy hit the nail on the head. No one saw her drug Drew and her prints were not on the the vile of ketamine. There isn’t any solid evidence but in true GH fashion, right after Tracy makes these remarks we’re told that the case against her is strong.
I don’t think that Drew is Shiloh and I don’t want to see the writers go that route. Been there, done that!! Drew seems consumed and enraged with not growing up a Quartermain and being the twin that wound up with Betsy Frank while Jason was raised by Alan and Monica.
While Ava likes the shiniest objects (=richest, most prestigious), what she’s really looking for in a man is flattery and validation. Someone who acts like she’s irresistibly attractive and worthy of love. That’s all she got out of Morgan and that was probably her longest relationship on the show. Once she fully realizes Elizabeth is Ric’s ideal woman & Ava is just his bed warmer, Ava’s going to be looking for an ego boost. So a younger, good looking man giving her attention…yeah, I can see Ava sleeping with Cody. Her standards are that loose
I am so with you on Drew-Shiloh. I just want Drew GONE, never to be heard from again. I have no interest in a convoluted story that leaves open the possibility of bringing the character back in a different form
Great column again this week, Tamilu! Wouldn’t it be so much soapilicious fun to have an old fashioned multiple personality disorder storyline for Willow? The character has been through more than enough tragedy, trauma and abuse to qualify. Maybe it’s happening now and she’s the one stalking baby Daisy.
In all honesty, how much longer do we have to put up with Drew? Sometimes I feel like GH draws out their villain characters way too long. They did it with Shiloh, they did it with Peter, and they did it with Nelle. At least out of that group, Nelle was the most interesting. And I’m not even sure Drew is worthy of the villain title, he is just downright annoying. As for Willow and Drew, they first kissed almost a year ago and he was sleeping with Nina way before then. When is the secret going to come out? And like Ava said, when it does come out will it even matter? Willow has clearly lost it but she seems to have these brief (emphasis on brief) moments where she is regaining some of her common sense. So I truly don’t know if she would believe Nina or it would make her finally open her eyes to Drew.
Does anyone know what Drew wants with Kai? That is one thing I can’t figure out. I too, am also unsure how I feel about Sidwell. I can’t get a good read on him, and with Drew sucking up all the air it feels like Sidwell is somewhat sliding under the radar.
I know I am in the minority here, but I have been done with Liz and Lucky since he thought she was having an affair with Patrick Drake. I remember he was so whiny and paranoid during that time and I don’t think he was fully addicted to pills yet either. It really didn’t matter to me who was playing Lucky, I just thought they should not be together. And I thought their relationship was really over after the Niz stuff, but that wasn’t the case either. I will always say I never understood why Liz and Nikolas lied about how they felt about each other at that time, because when all of that started, Liz and Lucky were not back together yet but that’s a different topic for a different day. So when Lucky came back this past time I was not interested in him rekindling his relationship with Liz.
Drew wants acolytes. Probably the idea with Kai was for the surgery to be resounding success and the documentary a publicity piece to make Drew look good. But if all Drew gets out a Kai is a loyal follower, that’s OK with him too.
You are not alone on Elizabeth and Lucky. They once had a powerful relationship, but it was of a specific time and required Elizabeth to be the innocent waif and Lucky her noble hero. Though they both had a difficult time breaking free of that history, it was not a relationship that was consistently able to keep up with their evolution and growth over time. This most recent go around, Elizabeth seemed to have her head on straight, but Lucky was still stuck on recapturing the past.
I agree with Tamilu that Elizabeth’s strongest relationship–as an adult at least–was with Franco. Notably, it was one looking forward, grounded in the realities of that time. And Elizabeth has been a stronger, more stable person (with the understandable exception of some shakiness when dealing with trauma from her youth) ever since. There’s a lesson to take from that. Unfortunately, I don’t see any obvious new men available on the show for her and suspect she’s going to get wrapped up in Ric’s drama. After which we may very well only see her at the nurse’s station or giving advice to the younger people on the show. As tends to happen with longstanding female characters once they reach a certain age.
Bring back Franco!
I always found it interesting that time early in Sasha’s pregnancy when she was in the church talking about being pregnant, and we saw Sidwell hiding in the back pews eavesdropping. Nothing seemed to come of it, but I always had a feeling he would use it to his advantage in some way. I don’t know what his reason would be for taking Sasha’s child other than another way to get back at Holly, or as a means to keep Sonny in line since it is his grandchild. But I have no doubt that he’s involved in Sasha’s baby getting switched at the hospital, and is connected to whomever is now clearly watching her child and likely getting ready to kidnap her