observations thru Feb 7 2024

[Marika]

Heather (Alley Mills) is being praised for her performance at Esme’s grave.

Heather is an over the top character, and this death was going to make her
more so.

Her reactions confused me tho. Her reaction to Liz was strange but not out
of character.

I had a hard time understanding what she was saying to Kevin. Was it just
loony? Or was there something rational there?

Nik oddly not at the funeral. He could not have made bail, what with being
a flight risk.

If Heather got let out for the funeral, why not Nik.

As for Carly, she has been mostly absent this week. One thing I have
asked myself about the editorship:

Isn’t she on probation for the SEC violation? She took over Bobbie’s
because she needed a source of income to help pay off the fine. Neither
Drew nor Michael were allowed to help her financially, because it would
somehow muck up the probation deal.

I don’t think Drew was pardoned. They left it murky. He just showed up at
Carly’s in the middle of the night..Maybe he was pardoned, but I thought it
was only a commutation of his sentence. Assuming nothing has changed in
Carly’s plea and probation, wouldn’t Drew giving her that job raise some
eyebrows in the SEC?

[Kaitlin]

Marika wrote in <hV4xN.205645$yEgf....@fx09.iad>:

> Heather (Alley Mills) is being praised for her performance at Esme’s
> grave.
>
> Heather is an over the top character, and this death was going to make
> her more so.
>
> Her reactions confused me tho. Her reaction to Liz was strange but
> not out of character.

I don't have any recollection of Heather's prior opinion of Liz's part
in Esme's imprisonment. Heather's reaction to Liz at the cemetery was
new to me! Sounds like someone gave her the details of what went on
between Nik and Liz during the time he was holding Esme prisoner, tho
how she would have come by that info I have no idea.

>
> I had a hard time understanding what she was saying to Kevin. Was it
> just loony? Or was there something rational there?

Loony *and* irrational. Apparently, she blames Kevin for allowing Ryan
access to Esme, and that it was Ryan who turned Esme into a raging
psycho. That's really rich, considering that at one point Heather was
plotting with Ryan to escape the loony bin and ride off into the sunset
with their daughter to live loonily ever after as a family unit.

>
> Nik oddly not at the funeral. He could not have made bail, what with
> being a flight risk.
>
> If Heather got let out for the funeral, why not Nik.

I wondered the same thing. Maybe the actor already had maximized his
allotted screen time for the week.

Just an aside about the cemetery...why were graves dug when there were
no bodies to bury? Did they actually bury empty coffins? Or did the
cemetery people who placed Spencer's headstone and Esme's placard just
sprinkle some soil there for appearances' sake and for the
uselessly-shackled Heather to wallow around in for dramatic effect?
(Those shackles were so loose they were practically useless as
restraints and actually would have served as a pretty effective
garrote.)

And Kevin said he arranged for Esme's "burial" and placard, so why
wouldn't he also have sprung for a proper headstone? If he paid for a
cemetery plot and an empty coffin to bury in it, why not a permanent
marker of some sort? It wouldn't have to be an elaborate headstone, just
something to mark the grave. Not that any of this matters, because
Spencer and Esme aren't dead, but the PC people don't know that yet. So
that cemetery set gets a huge F from me. F minus, taking into account
the visible edges of the grass mats.

>
> As for Carly, she has been mostly absent this week. One thing I have
> asked myself about the editorship:
>
> Isn’t she on probation for the SEC violation? She took over Bobbie’s
> because she needed a source of income to help pay off the fine.
> Neither Drew nor Michael were allowed to help her financially, because
> it would somehow muck up the probation deal.
>
> I don’t think Drew was pardoned. They left it murky. He just showed
> up at Carly’s in the middle of the night..Maybe he was pardoned, but I
> thought it was only a commutation of his sentence.

He wasn't pardoned, he was given early release because the sentencing
judge's corruption was exposed by Alexis, who blackmailed him into
ordering it.

> Assuming nothing has changed in Carly’s plea and probation, wouldn’t
> Drew giving her that job raise some eyebrows in the SEC?

The matter has been litigated, so in terms of this case, the SEC is out
of the picture. But even if it did have an interest in how Carly paid
her court-ordered fine, nothing hinky is going on. Drew hasn't given
Carly a fake job--she'll be working for her pay.
--
K

[SteveR]

On Saturday, February 10, 2024 at 3:43:52 PM UTC-5, Kaitlin wrote:

> Marika wrote in <hV4xN.205645$yEgf....@fx09.>:
>
> > Heather (Alley Mills) is being praised for her performance at Esme’s
> > grave.
> >
> > Heather is an over the top character, and this death was going to make
> > her more so.
> >
> > Her reactions confused me tho. Her reaction to Liz was strange but
> > not out of character.
> I don't have any recollection of Heather's prior opinion of Liz's part
> in Esme's imprisonment. Heather's reaction to Liz at the cemetery was
> new to me! Sounds like someone gave her the details of what went on
> between Nik and Liz during the time he was holding Esme prisoner, tho
> how she would have come by that info I have no idea.

I don't remember Heather previously having been shown giving an opinion on Liz's part in the imprisonment. The actress does a very good job of portraying Heather's lunacy including her fractured thinking. Liz made a detailed confession to the police and was given a plea deal if I remember correctly. So those details could have been in any reporting on Liz's conviction. Or maybe Esme told her in an off-screen moment.

> >
> > I had a hard time understanding what she was saying to Kevin. Was it
> > just loony? Or was there something rational there?
> Loony *and* irrational. Apparently, she blames Kevin for allowing Ryan
> access to Esme, and that it was Ryan who turned Esme into a raging
> psycho. That's really rich, considering that at one point Heather was
> plotting with Ryan to escape the loony bin and ride off into the sunset
> with their daughter to live loonily ever after as a family unit.

Yes, it was classic Heather blame-game material. She also skewered Kevin for daring to try treating Ryan. Which may be a valid criticism considering a twin is probably too close to such a situation to be objective, and it allowed Ryan to escape at least once by switching places with Kevin. However, that has nothing to do with Esme's death, objectively, because Kevin did not even know she existed at that time.

> >
> > Nik oddly not at the funeral. He could not have made bail, what with
> > being a flight risk.
> >
> > If Heather got let out for the funeral, why not Nik.
> I wondered the same thing. Maybe the actor already had maximized his
> allotted screen time for the week.

That was a bit odd, but I suppose having faked his own death and having fled the country at least twice, Nikolas was denied attendance at Spencer's funeral. Of course, Heather has escaped from custody how many times? Yet she was allowed to visit Esme's grave.

>
> Just an aside about the cemetery...why were graves dug when there were
> no bodies to bury? Did they actually bury empty coffins? Or did the
> cemetery people who placed Spencer's headstone and Esme's placard just
> sprinkle some soil there for appearances' sake and for the
> uselessly-shackled Heather to wallow around in for dramatic effect?
> (Those shackles were so loose they were practically useless as
> restraints and actually would have served as a pretty effective
> garrote.)

Again, a bit odd given there were no bodies to bury. But I seem to recall that in real life people do sometimes bury empty coffins in such situations, perhaps containing mementos of the dead.

>
> And Kevin said he arranged for Esme's "burial" and placard, so why
> wouldn't he also have sprung for a proper headstone? If he paid for a
> cemetery plot and an empty coffin to bury in it, why not a permanent
> marker of some sort? It wouldn't have to be an elaborate headstone, just
> something to mark the grave. Not that any of this matters, because
> Spencer and Esme aren't dead, but the PC people don't know that yet. So
> that cemetery set gets a huge F from me. F minus, taking into account
> the visible edges of the grass mats.

I'm still in agreement. Neither is dead. Not a hint this week as to their survival though. I had guessed we'd get one on Friday.
> >
<snip>

SteveR

[Kaitlin]

Kaitlin wrote in <b5efsilokjis4jdfo...@4ax.com>:

>> And Kevin said he arranged for Esme's "burial" and placard, so why
>> wouldn't he also have sprung for a proper headstone? If he paid
>> for a cemetery plot and an empty coffin to bury in it, why not a
>> permanent marker of some sort? It wouldn't have to be an elaborate
>> headstone, just something to mark the grave. Not that any of this
>> matters, because Spencer and Esme aren't dead, but the PC people
>> don't know that yet. So that cemetery set gets a huge F from me.
>> F minus, taking into account the visible edges of the grass mats.

am.n...@cox.not.invalid wrote in <uqal34$10elt$1...@dont-email.me>:

> I'm far behind so I haven't seen this yet. And it's more likely to be
> accidental than intentional on the part of the writers. However...
> Headstones are not something you can buy off the shelf in Cemetery
> Depot. Engravers do stock "blanks", but at the very least, the family
> has to choose the stone's shape, size, and color, and then the
> person's name and dates have to be cut into the stone.

> It can take weeks or months to engrave a headstone - depends on how
> much and how complex the work is. Carving takes even longer (such as
> an unusually shaped stone, or "fancy" elements like embossed flowers
> or scrolls). It is typical for a temporary marker to be placed on a
> new grave, and for the stone to be placed quite a long time
> afterwards.

All true!

Sorry, I probably should have gone through the entire list of errors
that inspired that F minus, and not assumed everyone had seen the ep.

Spencer's grave was only a few feet away from Esme's, and it had a
headstone engraved with his full name along with birth and death dates.
For all the reasons you give, that there was headstone was just
ridiculous. But the PC people are notorious for sticking up gravestones
practically before a body goes cold, so no surprise that Spencer's was
already in place. What was odd (to say the least) was that Esme was
given a paper sign on a stick with only her first and last name, but
Spencer had an engraved headstone with his full name and etc. So, since
there *is* apparently a place in PC called Cemetery Depot that sells and
engraves blank headstones like they sell and cut blank keys, it makes no
sense that Kevin would buy a cemetery plot and a coffin for Esme, and
not a grave marker. But then, nothing about that set made sense, and
neither did the scenes that took place there, IMO.

How was it that Spencer's burial had happened before the funeral
attendees arrived at the cemetery following the service? In my
experience, when funeral services are followed by a trip to the burial
site, the attendees accompany the casket and are present when it is
buried. Not this time! The empty coffin had been buried before the
service-goers arrived at the cemetery. (Apparently, Esme didn't have a
funeral, so her empty coffin could have been buried any old time.)

Why was Spencer put in the PC cemetery with all of the unwashed townies?
Don't the Cassadines have their own crypt or mausoleum where they stick
their dead and undead? Pretty sure they do. It's where Stavros, Mikkos,
Tony and etc, as well as the undead Helena and Vic, are interred. If
Laura and Nik didn't want to put him in the family crypt with all of the
psychos, why, then, was his psycho murderer put only a few feet away
from him in the townie cemetery?

And as Marika pointed out, Nik wasn't allowed to go to the service and
burial, but his wasn't the only unexplained absence. Where was Val, or
for that matter, Marty? Cyrus showed up and caused his usual stink,
claiming to be there for Laura, but Marty was a no show. Too busy
dumping Lucy, I suppose. And Val was probably too busy scheming how to
keep his odd little daughter out of her undead grandfather's clutches.

I could rant on, but everyone has probably nodded off by now, so....
--
K

[Kaitlin]

SteveR wrote in
<56ab252b-a073-439a...@googlegroups.com>:

> On Saturday, February 10, 2024 at 3:43:52?PM UTC-5, Kaitlin wrote:

>> Marika wrote in <hV4xN.205645$yEgf....@fx09.iad>:
>>
>> > Heather (Alley Mills) is being praised for her performance at Esme’s
>> > grave.
>> >
>> > Heather is an over the top character, and this death was going to
>> > make her more so.
>> >
>> > Her reactions confused me tho. Her reaction to Liz was strange but
>> > not out of character.

>> I don't have any recollection of Heather's prior opinion of Liz's part
>> in Esme's imprisonment. Heather's reaction to Liz at the cemetery was
>> new to me! Sounds like someone gave her the details of what went on
>> between Nik and Liz during the time he was holding Esme prisoner, tho
>> how she would have come by that info I have no idea.
>
> I don't remember Heather previously having been shown giving an opinion
> on Liz's part in the imprisonment. The actress does a very good job of
> portraying Heather's lunacy including her fractured thinking. Liz made
> a detailed confession to the police and was given a plea deal if I
> remember correctly. So those details could have been in any reporting
> on Liz's conviction.

Unless it was under seal for some reason, such as the possibility that
its publication would put Nik or Liz or someone else in danger of
retaliation from aggrieved parties. But that's just adding speculation
to speculation, which usually never ends in the right place.

> Or maybe Esme told her in an off-screen moment.

Possibly. But as long as we're having to fill in the blanks, I'd venture
to say that if Esme had told Heather what went on between Liz and Nik
during her imprisonment, then Esme's memory wasn't as impaired as she
claimed. But then, I've said that all along, so that's not exactly an
unbiased speculation. :D

<snip>

>> > Nik oddly not at the funeral. He could not have made bail, what
>> > with being a flight risk.
>> >
>> > If Heather got let out for the funeral, why not Nik.

>> I wondered the same thing. Maybe the actor already had maximized his
>> allotted screen time for the week.
>
> That was a bit odd, but I suppose having faked his own death and having
> fled the country at least twice, Nikolas was denied attendance at
> Spencer's funeral. Of course, Heather has escaped from custody how many
> times? Yet she was allowed to visit Esme's grave.

Maybe Nik was too busy trying to adjust to his less than luxurious bed
and board. Life in the PC jail would probably put off most royal
personages from doing anything more than wallow in self pity.

>>
>> Just an aside about the cemetery...why were graves dug when there were
>> no bodies to bury? Did they actually bury empty coffins? Or did the
>> cemetery people who placed Spencer's headstone and Esme's placard just
>> sprinkle some soil there for appearances' sake and for the
>> uselessly-shackled Heather to wallow around in for dramatic effect?
>> (Those shackles were so loose they were practically useless as
>> restraints and actually would have served as a pretty effective
>> garrote.)

> Again, a bit odd given there were no bodies to bury. But I seem to
> recall that in real life people do sometimes bury empty coffins in such
> situations, perhaps containing mementos of the dead.

It would have been nice for Laura or Alexis to have mentioned that, but
it's the best explanation we have, so I'll go with it!

<snip>

>> Not that any of this matters, because Spencer and Esme aren't dead,
>> but the PC people don't know that yet.

<snip>

> I'm still in agreement. Neither is dead. Not a hint this week as to
> their survival though. I had guessed we'd get one on Friday.

I would have been surprised if they'd turned up this past week, and will
be surprised if they turn up within the next few weeks. (By "turn up" I
mean are shown to be alive, not necessarily show up in PC to everyone's
shock and surprise.) Anything goes, but the reason I think it might be
awhile is that they're busily developing other storylines, such as
Sonny's attempted assassination and Carly's takeover of Crimson, etc.
They could easily put Spencer and Esme on a back burner for weeks or
even months. OTOH, your time frame could be closer to reality than mine
and the two could just as easily show up in PC next week.

--
K

[Marika]

I think it will be a while before Spence reappears because Chavez is busy
filming the Menendez story. I think they timed this death to fit the
filming schedule.

As for Val, he drops in and out of GH, because Stuart has another show,
called “Villains of Valley View”. It is Disney Channel product. I haven’t
seen it, but his role is described as substantial, so he disappears a lot.

Speaking of which, I do not think I saw Charlotte at the funeral either.

I am waiting for the day she whips out her tarot cards in front of Drew and
he goes bonkers.

[Kaitlin]

Marika wrote in <XdgyN.357019$xHn7....@fx14.iad>:

<snip>

> I do not think I saw Charlotte at the funeral either.
>
> I am waiting for the day she whips out her tarot cards in front of
> Drew and he goes bonkers.

Considering how out of character he's behaving lately, she may have done
already.
--
K