August 15, 2006 

I, Sherry Mercurio, am the proud new owner of a DVR.  No longer will you find me swapping tapes, staring blankly at tapes wondering what might be on them (I never fail to expect the thing to just pipe up and tell me what it holds), searching furiously at 7:58 PM for a blank tape needed for an 8 PM show, etc.  Well, in theory anyway.  At the moment, my DVR only works when it feels like it and only obeys the commands it deems important.  For instance, my great “Return to General Hospital” week (at Katrina's urging) was going along swimmingly until the point where Alexis looked in the window at Ric and Sam AND Jason was driving his merry way over there as well and then *bam*, my new DVR only recorded the first two minutes of Friday’s episode.  Did I realize this over the weekend when SoapNet replays are available?  No.  Did I realize this even on Monday morning when there’s still one more replay available?  No.  I realized this on Monday afternoon, when all hope was lost.  The good (?) news is that I can tell you that the feeling I had when I realized I wasn’t going to see Friday’s episode is a feeling I haven’t had in ages.  It tells me that this time, I actually am interested.  I’ve tried to return to viewing a few times over the last while and as soon as something comes up that offered me an out; I took it without looking back.  This time, I considered hunting down the nearest Comcast installer to use as a …well, let’s not call it “hostage”, more like an “assistant”, to ensure that I get a box that actually, you know, works.  I’ve been told that with persistence, it will eventually be my turn to get one that functions mostly correct (such faith I have).  I’ve also heard horror stories about DVR’s that only record certain shows, in this case it was The View, and God help me if I am afflicted with *that*.  Joy, Meredith, and Lisa Ling are the only past, present, or future View hosts that are anywhere near mature enough to be on a stage.  We might as well throw the rest of them back in the sandbox, along with Barbara who proved herself worthy when she kicked off her pumps and ran right in there, throwing plastic shovels full of sand right back at Star.  And no, adding the biggest, whiniest baby (and I know, because I can whine pretty well myself) of them all to the mix in a few weeks does not help my situation!  Good grief, please Comcast, just give me a DVR that works!  I’m pretty sure I can make a case for mental cruelty; that is if I live through the shock of seeing a list consisting of only “The View”, when I open up my DVR screen.  *Shudder*  

GH column, I know, I’m getting there.  The truth is, there isn’t a lot I can intelligently (or my personal favorite, “witty with just the tiniest hint of intelligence”) say at this point because I pretty much don’t know what the hell is going on.   So why not dive right in, right? 

Alexis prefers her child with Sonny above her child with Ric and is obvious enough about it that Ric and Sam notice?  The hell?  Really?  Well.  My gut tells me that *Ric* brought it up and he can be pretty stupid sometimes.  Sam agreed with him, but I never liked that much anyway.  Besides, this whole new image she’s sporting makes her seem like she’s mildly drugged or something.  This may be a case where, even if it’s true, I didn’t *see* it, so I don’t have to accept it.  Pfft. 

Jason has guns.  Oh yes he does. 

Sonny’s doctor is SMART.  That’s great!  She obviously doesn’t take any crap from him.  I think I love her.   

Someone has to tell me how to tell Robin and Sam apart from behind, because I swear, it’s confusing. 

Lucky is sleeping with Maxie?  So much yuck.  Just …yuck.  Maxie is so manipulative and whore-ish acting too!  It’s unsettling.  However, this may be the absolute perfect time for me to start watching again, because you know I’ve never really been a huge Liz fan.  There were times when she was okay, but many when she drove me nuts with her pseudo-mature holier than thou act.  Well, this time around, I’m feeling Liz.  Rebecca Herbst has turned in some great performances so far, and I expect more.  Liz seems older, wiser, *actually* mature, and I *like* her!  I’d probably feel for anyone whose husband is boinking the younger, blonder, oh-so-energetic connection to his drug source, but this is more than sympathy.  For once, I think Liz did the right thing while acting out of her anger and despair.  Instead of working on ruining someone else, she found comfort – with a teensy bit of revenge on the side.  Healthy revenge too, if you ask me.  I’m happy for her, I think she can now go back and deal with the mess of her marriage with confidence.  The conversation between Liz and Jason was perfect, and I’m thrilled that I didn’t miss it.  Kudos to Steve Burton as well, Jason seemed relaxed, comfortable and peaceful with Liz, something I wasn’t sure would be pulled off.   

Jason, despite the wild rumors about the ‘net, has nipples!  They’re still there!  Rejoice! 

A “watch Sherry’s thought process” moment:

“Hey!  It’s Benny!  How cool!  Uh …waitaminute?  Heart attack …or something.  Yeah, yeah, Faith lap danced – wait, did the lap dance kill him?  Why can’t I remember that?  There’s no way!  What the heck?  *hits closed captioning button*  BERnie?  Bernie?  Ummmm, okay.  Long lost twin?  Who has always dreamed of being a mob assistant but his brother got there first?  Or maybe it’s just supposed to have been long enough that we don’t remember Bernie looks just like Benny did?  OR maybe, Sonny had Benny cloned?  Helena had Benny cloned and sent “Bernie” to infiltrate the mob in case she wants to take over some day?  Helena’s still alive right?” 

So, Carly luvs Jax, huh?  That is very interesting indeed.  I should start with Laura Wright.  I love her.  I loved her on Loving, I had hopes for her as Carly when I heard the news, and after viewing her I have to say she has exceeded those hopes.  Is Carly different?  Of course!  The difference between this “different” and some other version of “different Carly” is that this progression makes sense to me.  She’s older, she’s more mature, and she’s more self-confident.  I missed Sonny’s breakdown, but I really hope some of that confidence comes with finally being able to have a hand in helping Sonny.  It’s what Carly’s been twisting herself up in a pretzel trying to do for years.  It wasn’t healthy for her, or her kids, but she wasn’t going to let it go.  I’ll never be the idiot who proclaims that Carly and Sonny are over forever, because that’s a losing bet.  However, at the moment, she seems at peace with Sonny and more importantly, herself.  I adored the conversation between Jane and Carly, and I’m sorry, but that conversation would have never played true while Tamara Braun was Carly (I missed most of Bransford, so can’t comment).  Carly was completely unable to be comfortable enough in her own skin to carry on conversations about what she was afraid of, nor did she have the confidence at the time to stand up for herself believably.  It was always a big huffy put-on.  I’m not solely blaming the actress – the character has obviously progressed as well.  Carly will always make rash decisions, she will always fail to fully consider the ramifications of her actions on others, and she will always need rescuing at some point or other, it’s just who Carly is.  It was wonderful though, to see her accept how nice it might feel to be able to help and even be *thanked* for her help (at least by Jane).  For Carly to realize that there are relationships out there that might work *with* her personality instead of constantly seeking relationships that fight to dampen it.  I’m excited to see where it goes.  I also really loved her conversation with Jason this week.  That friendship has always been key to the essence of Carly for me, and I’m glad to see it’s still strong, in its own way. 

Sonny had a breakdown, I hear.  Wish I hadn’t missed it.  So far it looks to me like maybe you all thought it was a breakdown but really he just went out and shook down Dr. Phil for all his Phil-ism’s and now he’s sprinkling those around town.  It’s interesting.  No complaints from me so far. 

Alexis!  Is it tuberculosis?  Can’t be, they’d quarantine you, right?  Whatever it is, you can still dress better than this.  A haircut will only take like 30 minutes out of whatever time you have left.  It’s worth it, for the children.  Talk about setting an example.  I’m completely lost on how the mother/daughter thing is going with Sam (though it doesn’t appear to be going well, lol) and I’ve no idea who that guy in your office is nor why you’d hug him since you’re not the touchy/feely type, but seriously, I hope you don’t get addicted to cough syrup.  Oh, and I also hope you aren’t dying, of course! 

Sam looked completely pathetic after sleeping with Ric.  I was on his side, looking at her like she was insane.  I’ve obviously missed more Ric/Jason/Sonny jockeying, so I should probably just stay out of it, but I will say that not knowing background at the moment, and knowing that Jason was off sleeping with Liz?  She just looked pathetic.  Yelling about Jason killing Ric and stuff, lol.  Uh, yeah, just let him pull up his pants first Sam, ‘kay?  Then he’ll get right on that killing that guy for touching you thing.  He’d go right this very minute, but Elizabeth needs another bottle of water and he’s busy fetching it.  It was very odd, the way she flipped out and made it Ric’s fault.  I obviously have a little to learn there.  The scene where Jason relived Sam’s shooting was poignant though. 

Wonderful to see John Ingle back, the scene at the restaurant with Jason was great. 

Tracy also needs something done with the hair, pronto. 

Julie Marie Berman is such a find.  Most of her scenes last week were alone, or against the broom with the wig that’s supposed to be Laura.  Even without someone to interact with, she pulls off her scenes.  She’s very expressive, she’s likeable, and her scenes feel completely authentic.   

I’m sure there was more to say, but duty calls around here.  I’m looking forward to watching more, DVR willing.  As always I’d love to hear what everyone is feeling about the show.  Email me anytime!  Hopefully I’ll be back in this space again soon, and you can also find me at my off-topic page, Sherry's Jubilee.         
      
 

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