Grey's Anatomy Season 12: Can We Mend Japril's Broken Hearts?

     I loved this week's Jackson (Jesse Williams) and April (Sarah Drew) centered episode of Grey's Anatomy. I have really been digging some of these more intimate episodes that focus on a few characters and their one through-line story, and this was a doozy. Jackson (Avery) and Meredith are supposed to to Montana to operate on a little girl at the Avery Hospital there. Of course, Jackson's overbearing mother (the lovely Debbie Allen) changes plans at the last moment and sends her favorite ex-daughter-in-law (April) instead. It's weird enough that the two got divorced while April was pregnant, and they live together, but now they're taking work trips to a Podunk town? That's the definition of awkward turtle.

     As I had hoped, Jackson took this opportunity for more than just helping a cute, sick girl get her voice back. (He did get her get her voice back from a very threatening tumor in her throat, but I knew they would pull that off.) Jackson came to this town to spy on his deadbeat dad, the infamous Dr. Robert Avery. As the legend goes, the Sr. Dr. Avery met the voracious Catherine, and she rose to the challenge of running a large Avery (family medical) Foundation, and he peaced out from his family to find a simpler life. Robert quit medicine, moved to Montana and opened a diner, which really looked more like a bar that served food. Jackson gets drunk at the bar, he studies his books, and he cannot even speak to this man. What does someone say to the parent that abandoned them as a baby?

     Much to Robert's credit, he is warm and friendly to Jackson. He hugs him and asks about his life and Mommie Dearest when Jackson gets the guts to confess who he really is. What is Jackson really after? Is it closure, is it proving that he turned out to be a pretty great guy despite not having a real role model? Is it to show that his recent stepfather Richard is more of a father than this sperm donor ever was? I don't think Jackson particularly knows why, which is why he can't tell April what happened at first. April has a great tight-knit family. Sure they're a little judgey in a Christian way, but the Kebner clan have been there for April when she needed them  and they care about her happiness. The couple themselves have really been through some deep stuff.

• Seattle Grace and Marcy West merged. Their friend was shot and died like the first week, 
• April lost her virginity to Jackson during medical boards and lost her cool in the verbal exam
• April pulled a Runaway Bride at her wedding to the paramedic to run away with Jackson
• Their first baby was  delivered pre-term with a life-threatening condition, living an hour 
• She coped with the baby by leaving Seattle to work in the army medical corps 
• Their bitter divorce and goodbye sex that led to baby Harriet

     They couple are now partners in raising little Harriet (and possible the longest running ship still on Grey's) and their parenthood is really motivated by their solid friendship. In conclusion, there should be nothing they can't say to each other.

     This became such an emotionally charged episode, and at the root of it all, it brought Japril closer together than they have been in a long time. They were originally such great friends before their romance and it's my greatest hope would be to see these two crazy kids back together. Jackson got so drunk, he almost blew figuring out how to do the surgery safely. He brought up their dead baby in front of April (who did not take it well considering she took off to be a an army medic after that situation ended). They fought about how to safely complete the surgery, but when the right idea clicked, there as an electrical pulse between the couple. April also convinced Jackson to go back and see his father. He told Robert he did not want a relationship, he did not want his daughter to meet him, and to have a nice life. It's not the warm and fuzzy parental relationships we hope the Grey's kids will have, but in this case, it was best for Jackson. He could finally get closure on this part of his life. Jackson and April celebrated the surgery by face-timing their baby goodnight and having a hotel sleep-over. Is this meant to be closure on Jackson and April? I certainly hope not because even the actors are pulling for this long-suffering couple.

     In related news, I am completely uninterested in Meredith and Riggs (although I love Meredith dearly).  This "will they or won't they" often ends in won't and Meredith has a lot of damn baggage, so Riggs should stop this 2+ year pursuit. Now it's just annoying.

Nashville '16-'17: Where Are We Going?

From Change.org E-mail

     As much as I hate to see T.V. shows end, I hate it even more when they end without a valid wrap-up of their story lines, like The Mindy Project. This also was the case with ABC's Nashville. It came down to the last two cancellation-doomed episodes for fans to put out a public outcry to give the show a 5th season. In the last week, I joined almost 175,000 fans in signing a change.org petition to bring the show back. That's got to be at least a good chunk of their average viewership. Rest easy, Tennessee Titans, the show will be coming back for a season 5! The show's Lionsgate production company has cemented a deal with Country Music Television (CMT) for a new season. If you don't have CMT (like me), you can catch episodes the next day on Hulu, which is the new home of The Mindy Project (since FOX gave it the boot last season). The best news of all is that the show has been ordered for 22 full episodes for the season. Keep in mind, that's 22 episodes for a show that does not film in L.A. and it's gone from a network budget to a cable budget. I see big changes ahead!

 

Downtown Nashville (c)PipPepPop

   The 22 episodes will give us enough berth to get things in Nashville back to normal. But the new questions becomes, what is normal? With so many plots, actors, and guest stars, something may have to give. We left off season 4 with some major resolutions. Finally, Rayna and Deacon reunited with their angsty, emancipated teen daughter, Maddie. Then, the on-again, off-again band "The Exes", Gunnar and Scarlett shared a kiss while performing, and Will became a crusader for gay rights while patching things up with his ex, Kevin. Even Luke Wheeler, who has had a rough time these few years (his teen son joining the army, his daughter running off to boarding school, Rayna leaving him at the altar, and almost going bankrupt), managed to make a positive change in the country community and reach out to his ex-wife. Justly deserved, the wicked ingenue Layala was left all alone as her record exploded on the charts. Her desperate attempts to ruin Juliet's life blew up as Juliet opened up to the press about her struggles with suicide, depression, marriage troubles and her manege'rs resulting accidental death. Win for Juliet as she reconciled with her manager Glenn and rushed home to meet estranged husband Avery and their baby, Cadence. Where are we headed now? It's definitely a shocker!

     It's time to find out if Juliet's plane has crashed! The last scene showed Avery at the airstrip, receiving news that Juliet's jet lost contact with air traffic control. This plays heavily into the plans for season 5. Hayden Panettiere (Juliet) missed about 1/4 of the last season as she recovered from postpartum depression. The good news is that both Panettiere and Connie Britton (Rayna) have confirmed they will be back for the next season. With new showrunners moving into place, I'm hoping for a season that drags less. I felt that Luke didn't have much to go on this season, and at the same time Will was stuck in the same story lines over and over again. With tighter budgets looming, I hope to see some fresh stories. If there's one thign for sure, I can guarantee that all this hype will bring a 2017 Stars of Nashville tour. With Rayna and Juliet now longtime friends instead of  the warring divas they began the show as, I hope we can focus on the music again.

Hello Nurse: GH Hosts the 2016 Nurses' Ball

     It's hard to top an event when it's been done for the better part of 20 years, but General Hospital piqued my interest for this year's Nurses' Ball. The show has had it's share of dramatic moments over the last 50+ years and it did not disappoint. All you need to know (outside from the very obvious intricate relationships between characters that are made very clear) is that the NB is an event to raise money for GH for the cause of fighting HIV/AIDS. There are disasters, lots of musical numbers (everyone in this tiny NY/Canada border town is a showboater), and hostess Lucy Coe (Lynn Herring) usually ends up with her clothes falling off (but not this year). Nobody thoguht last year's ball could be topped. We discovered Jake Doe was really Jason Morgan (see more below) and we saw this unravel Elizabeth (who knew the truth and kept Jason away from his family). Plus, Ric Lasing proposed to ex-wife Elizabeth and got turned down, humiliated and had all of his evil plans exposed.

Lucy Coe and Richard Simmons  at the Nurses' Ball of Yesteryear (GH Wiki)

Here are the 10 moments that topped 2015:

Image from General Hospital Wiki

10. MURDERER BEFRIENDS KID

     Someone let goofy (murdering) Franco Baldwin (Roger Howarth) near children for art therapy? This might have worked when James Franco played the character, because James Franco is soap opera hot, but let's think about this. This guy murdered multiple people for his "art" including the beloved Emily Quartermain. Elizabeth seems to be way too relenting about this whole arrangement of her kid hanging out with Franco, the guy who murdered her best friend!

9. A BUNCH OF OLD CHARACTERS GO TO THE BALL TOGETHER?

Image from Biography.com

     Laura Spencer has had quite the 30 year career on this show, and the first real "ship" couple, Luke and Laura. With Luke (Tony Geary) finally leaving the show last summer, Laura (Genie Francis) has been kicking around trying to save her dumb, adult children from completely ruining their lives. She has mostly been failing at this. They have a small brood of unruly children, and her son Lucky (Jonathan Jackson) bailed out on his wife. Son Nikolas's life fails are outline below. Even her daughter Lulu has made some stupid choices...

    I think we haven't seen the last of Luke yet, but in the meantime, Laura showed up with no ticket, and was able to score an armed escort with psychiatrist Dr. Kevin Collins (John Lindstorm). So hello 90's, what end of the hospital has he been working in all this time?




8. EVERYONE'S STILL TALKING ABOUT CARLOS RIVERA

Image from GeneralHospitalBlog.com

    What is the big deal with this guy? At last year's Nurses' Ball, Carlos was on the run for something bad Then he murdered Duke Lavery after the ball. Now, everyone is trying to figure out who shot Carlos. (It was... oh who cares?) Now Carlos is gone. There have been a lot of murders and deaths in this town that people have made less of a deal about.
   
As far as I'm concerned, he  can get his own spinoff entitled:
 Were In The World Is Carlos Rivera... And Does Anyone Really Want to Find Him?"

7. THE OLD CARLY IS BACK! (NOT LITERALLY) 

Image from Giphy

     Carly Too-Many-Last-Names* (Laura Wright) is finally back to her evil tricks. She cat fights in the bathroom moments before her brother is supposed to get married and she wins! Carly walks out with enough dirt on her husband's baby mama Ava to keep Ava's child away from her forever.

* Her Full name with marriages is something like:
Caroline Leigh Benson Roberts Quartermain Corinthos Alcazar Jacks Corthinos




6. NED ASHTON STILL THINKS HE IS A ROCK STAR
     One of Port Charles' favorite rock stars (there are two, and the other one is played by Rick Springfield) made a rare appearance to duet on Don't Go Breaking My Heart with his dead sister-in-law's cousin's kid. All hail Eddie Main!

5. ROBIN'S BACK AGAIN!

Image from GeneralHospitalBlog.com

     Fan favorite Kimberly McCullogh played Dr. Robin Scorpio Drake from 1985-2001 as a child/teen and has been on and off since 2004. She is the hart of the nurses' ball and is a character living with HIV. Long story short, Robin was presumed dead for a while (She was kidnapped on one of the Cassadine Islands, as most of the people on this list were), but she came back. Nobody is really surprised when she pops back into town at this point.



4. THE GAY WEDDING GOT CALLED OFF DUE TO... NEEDLES?

Image from Soaps.sheknows.com

     First the mother of a groom, Bobbie Spencer (Jackie Zeman) collapses. She got injected with something backstage (and this is the least that has happened to Bobbie). When her son Dr. Lucas Jones (Ryan Carnes) arrives with her at the hospital, he was also stuck with a needle. Who's to blame, and is this a hate crime?  It looks like Dr. Liesl Obrecht is mad that nobody wants to see her perform. I'm not sure if this performance denial is her motivation for needling people, or something to do with Carlos Rivera being her grandkid's baby daddy. Can someone on this crack detective squad solve a crime correctly for once? Why hasn't Lisel tried to pick up said grandchild from the clutches of Tracey Quartermain while her daughter Sabrina is AWOL? Why did Sabrina leave her baby with the Quartermains, only to ditch her reunion with her kid to sing the last song of the ball? Please, PCPD, solve any one of these questions!

3. SAM MCCALL-MORGAN IS THIS TOWN'S DA VINCI

Image from Giphy

     Kelly Monaco's Sam came to town as a salvage boat captain after playing Dr. Collins' daughter Livie on Port Charles. She charmed Jasper Jax and ended up in the protection of Sonny and Jason. I honestly cannot pinpoint a job this woman has had since she became involved with the mob guys, but in this one ball, she danced in a salsa number and served as a best man to  a wedding that didn't happen. Plus, she is gaining back the trust of Jason.



2. JASON MORGAN'S ACCIDENT GOT HIS MEMORIES BACK

Image from General Hilarity Blog

     Jason (Morgan) Quartermain (currently played by Billy Miller)  used to be a rich prepster. He lost his memory in a car accident caused by his brother, A.J. Then Jason got amnesia and became the right hand of a "coffee importer", mob boss Sonny Corinthos.  A lot of other stuff happened! Jason's nephew Michael became sonny's stepson, and  everyone had some more kids. Plus, he lost his memory for about 6 months  and thought his name was Jake last year. A few weeks ago, Jason got in a car accident, saved one of Sonny's other sons, Dante, in the crash. Now Jason has old memories and new memories. He is now trying to reconcile with his wife, Sam, as Jason 2.0, Jason is stuck between a rock and a hard place. He has connections to his past and the ability to feel emotions again, which may make him a terrible mob enforcer, but it's all he's known for so many years.

1. NIKOLAS CASSADINE IS A BADDIE... AND POSSIBLY DEAD?

Image from HighlightHollywood.com

     I'm not sure I followed the whole Nikolas (Tyler Christopher) blackmailing and sham marriage to Hayden and stolen diamonds bit, but I know one thing for sure. Nikolas wanted Elizabeth (Rebecca Herbst) all to himself last year, and he let her unravel by revealing Jason's true identity and made her go all Fatal Attraction on Jason/Jake (see #2).  Also, his nutso grandmother (R.I.P Helena) was the one who kidnapped and sometime brainwashed half the town (usually when they're presumed dead). Nikolas always wanted to circumvent his wild Russian royal family and their blackmailing, murder and kidnapping. Way to parent this guy, Laura Spencer. But when Jason (who is Nik's cousin's husband) confronted him after the ball, it looks like Nik landed at the bottom of a cliff. Now, Nikolas is missing. Who is watching little Spencer? His Aunt Elizabeth is a hot mess, his Uncle Lucky split because he is a terrible father to a his brood of children from other daddies, his grandma Laura is out picking up anyone left at the hospital, and his Aunt Lulu is making dagger eyes at her stepbrother Dylan's new girlfriend and nursing her injured husband Dante back to health after the Jason accident. Yes, everyone in this town is over-related. It's really gross when you think about it, so don't. I don't even want to point out Spencer's mom Courtney used to be married to Jason, who then married Nikolas's cousin Sam, and they are suspects in Nik's disappearance.

     Which brings me to the most  important question. How do people get out to Nikolas' Wyndamere/Spoon Island so quickly? Is there a speedboat I'm unaware of? It's an island and these people are walking there minutes after announcing they are off to the island.

UPDATED JUNE 3rd

New Girls Turns 100!

     Thank the baby cheeses that Jess (Zooey Deschanel) is back to New Girl this week. It's been a long-suffering number of weeks while she was on maternity leave from the show. In the meantime, we were left with Megan Fox playing a new, moody, and temporary roommate Reagan staying in Jess's room. Not a moment too soon, Jess's jury duty has ended for this 100th episode. Jess was part of a sequestered jury. Jess's ex, Nick, likes Reagan and came close to making a real connection with her. I apologize if you like Meagan Fox, but I really have a low tolerance for her. She always looks distressed in some way. This character was only staying in the loft for a month. Nick now has to say goodbye to her and find his "Goosebumps Walkaway", a movie-ending scene stealing quote that is not "Bad Bye."

     Now that Jess is back (and good news, she found the defendant guilty on all four counts and made-up T-shirts proclaiming so), she wants to find a cute juror that she only knows by his jury number (Juror 237B). Reagan agrees to help him, and they begin an adventure that involved Winston pulling police records to learn his name is Gary. Nick is very uncomfortable and full of anxiety that his ex and his new crush  have a) lived in the same room and b) are becoming friendly. Reagan is very uncomfortable with Jess's "Jess-ness," but she admits to having feelings for Schmidt. With Jess's encouragement and valuable,e advice about Nick, Reagan finds her own way to tell Nick she will miss him, and they leave things unresolved by friendly. Jess finds Gary when they both get interviewed by the news about the case. Despite the dark lighting and voice alterations to protect the members of the jury, they share all their personal information to arrange a meetup. At the meeting, they find they have nothing in common, it was all the anticipation of the case.

     Meanwhile, Winston brings Cece and Schmidt to a "dance gathering", where they hope to practice their first dance moves for their wedding. Schmidt admits to being bullied into always learning a dance correctly from an embarrassing childhood talent show. The episode ends with the gang (Jess, Nick, Cece, Schmidt and Winston all purposely free-styling dance moves for "The Hustle." Ah, things finally seem right with the world again.

Poor Meredith Grey

     As the leading lady of Grey's Anatomy, Meredith Grey has been through a lot of terrible situations. When we first met the grumpy, friendless, brilliant, makes-bad-decisions while drunk surgeon in 2005, she was simply trying to get her Alzheimer's afflicted mother to sign over power of attorney. Compared to that piece of cake, Meredith has faced a significantly greater  hardship. On Thursday's episode, she got beat up by a patient that was in a fugue state from sedation. Mer had broken bones, a broken jaw, and hearing loss, among other problems (Season 12, Episode 9). She was watched over and cared for by her dear friend Alex, and at this point I think he should just be her new husband. They both have some pretty serious relationship issues and understand each other on a deep level. (Plus, in a weird alternate flash forward, Meredith was engaged to Alex, so I could see it working).  Here are Meredith's 35 greatest hits and struggles that led her to this moment:

1. Meredith gets caught caught having car sex with her boss's boss. (Season 1, Episode 5)
2. Meredith finds out her boyfriend's ex-wife is back in the picture. (Season 1, Episode 9)
3. Everyone at the hospital find out Meredith's mom has Alzheimer's. (Season 2, Episode 3)
4. Her one-night stand ends up in the E.R. with a sex injury. (Season 2, Episode 10)
5. Meredith has to hold a live bomb in a patient during surgery. (Season 2, Episode 16)
6. She has sex with her roommate George and feel terrible about it. (Season 2, Episode 19)
7. McDog is put down and Meredith must choose McDreamy or McVet. (Season 2, Episode 27)
8. Meredith's half-sister is admitted to the hospital. Family drama! (Season 3, Episode 10)
9. Meredith drowns and almost dies while rescuing ferry boat accident victims and her mom dies (Season 3, Episode 17)
10. Meredith gets a group of residents and meets another of her half-sisters, Lexie. (Season 4, Episode 1)
11. Mer and McDreamy's clinical trial succeeds, they get back together, and she makes breakthroughs in therapy. (Season 4, Episode 17)
12. Mer and McDreamy cancel their dream wedding to let Alex and dying Izzie (not really) get married. They sign a post-it note and call themselves wedded. (Season 5, Episode 22)
13. George gets hit by a car and dies. (Season 6, Episode 1)
14. Meredith's  no-good father comes into the hospital needing a liver transplant and she is the only match. (Season 6, Episode 4)
15. Meredith watches Derek get shot at the hospital and loses her baby. (Season 6, Episode 24)
16. Meredith discovers fertility problems, gets on Derek's Alzheimer's clinical trial, and her dad comes into the hospital again with a girlfriend younger than her. (Season 7, Episodes 14-16)
17. McDreamy and Mer adopt African orphan, Zola. (Season 8)
18. Alex and Meredith are in an ambulance saving a newborn baby when they get into an accident. (Season 8, Episodes 9-10)
19. Mer, McDreamy and most of the gang are in a plane crash. (Season 8, Episode 24)
20. Everyone is messed up (Derek, Arizona, Meredith, Cristina) or dead (Lexie, Mark) from the plane crash, but they get offered a lot of money from the hospital and end up becoming the new board of directors. (Season 9, Episode 3, 11, 15, 16)
21. Meredith finds out she is pregnant. (Season 9, Episode 9)
22. Meredith has to get back on a plane. (Season 9, Episode 17)
23. Meredith gives birth to Bailey in the middle of a blackout. (Season 9 Episode 24)
24. A 3-D printer becomes available for Meredith's clinical trial to make fake organs. (Season 10, Episode 8)
25. McDreamy takes a job in D.C. advising the president, and Meredith is not consulted. (Season 10, Episode 18)
26. Meredith says goodbye to bestie Cristina and discovers another half-sister (Maggie) that is working at the hospital. (Season 10, Episode 24)
27. McDreamy agrees to quit his new brain mapping job and come home to Meredith, and she convinces him they can make it work. (Season 11, Episode 1)
28. Meredith has flashbacks to her mother giving birth to Maggie and attempting to kill herself during the same time, which makes it pretty difficult for Meredith to let this go. (Season 11)
29. Meredith goes to visit McDreamy in D.C.  and chickens out. (Season 11, Episode 12)
30. Meredith calls McDreamy after an earthquake and some woman answers his phone. (Season 11, Episode 15).
31. Meredith and McDreamy patch things up. (Season 11, Episode 17)
32. Meredith freaks out after a plane crash in town and she can't confirm McDreamy made it back to D.C. for his final meeting to resign his job. (Season 11, Episode 20)
33. McDreamy dies...... and Meredith is relatively emotionally solid. (Season 11, Episode 21)
34. Meredith falls apart, disappearing for a year, having a baby, and avoiding contact with all of her friends. Alex finally lures her home and gives her back the deed to her house, which he bought back when she moved in with McDreamy. (Season 11, Episodes 22, 23)
35. Meredith is named Chief of General Surgery. (Season 12, Episode 2)

A Note: I Can't Quit You, Grey

The Grey I'm referring to is not Meredith Grey, but the elusive "50 Shades of..." Christian Grey, a fictional sadist that I cannot get out of my mind. It took me 8 days to plow through 50 Shades of Grey often dropping E.L. James' 400+ whopper on the floor next to me bed as my eyes drooped shut. It took me 7 of those 8 days to realize the front cover of the book is a Gray tie.

Nonetheless, I've had a little over a week to rest and recuperate from my experience with the elusive billionaire playboy CEO, and I ended up walking out of Target with book 2: Fifty Shades Darker. It nearly called to me as I walked by the book section, and with the attractive price of 12 fifty-something, (this week only), I'll soon be back in the land of mental torment.

Don't mistake me, I liked 50 shades, but I have a few thoughts. First of all, I want to shake Anastasia and tell her (and her Inner Goddess) that this relationship is neither healthy or normal. Also, the girl needs to lay off her English Breakfast Tea a bit.... the amount of caffeine she must have coursing through her veins at all times would make it impossible to function.

I also want to thank my friend for likening me to Katherine Kavanaugh the other night. Katherine, while being a devoted friend and complete busybody, needs to take a chill pill. And as for Grey, he's hot and a genius, but he's cray-cray. And can anyone explain how Anastasia attends Washington State University in Portland? Is there a Portland, WA, I don't know about?

To be continued.......

A Note: Debutantes, Declarations & Daddy Issues (Gossip Girl)

Dear Gossip Girl,

How are you? I know you've been here for a while, but we haven't really connected. You've been saying some crazy things plot-wise and I think for a while, you might have lost your way. Glad to see you back on the right path. I know you standard weekly plot all too well:
1. Serena pouts and makes bad decisions
2.Blair plots evil deeds and feels bad about it later
2a. Mention a bunch of fancy designers and A-listers
3. Dorota says snappy things "in thick Russian Accent"
4. cool dresses
5. gossip girl blast
6. moment of family support
7. plan for sabotage
8. big fancy event
9. more cool dresses
10. gossip girl blast
11. Love triangle (or other applicable shape)
12." ..But you told me to meet you here, right?"
13. Dan gets emo
14. Rufus shines as a trophy husband
15. moment of scandal that threatens the balance of life in the upper east side
(usually in conjunction with gossip girl blast)
16. family secrets are revealed
17. some things get resolved while others get worse

But tonight broke the mold. It tapped into something- the old guard Gossip Girl, back in the days of high school, when things made a little more sense to us, the little people. The days when the biggest scandal was Serena making out with Nate while he was dutifully dating Blair (water under the bridge). Although I had a tragic flashback to seeing Tripp and a car crash in the same episode (December, two years ago I believe, or was it just last year?), it had punch. Here's what I loved and loathed:

LOVE:
1. Blair's in love with Chuck, who is also in love with Blair (but he knows Dan and Louis love Blair, so he backs away), but Dan is in love with Blair, and Serena is once again (wow what a selfish bee-yotch) in love with Dan.
2. Blair and Chuck pulling a Diana (as in Princess)
3. Dan picking up pizza and Evian for his houseguest, Blair
4. Cray cray Charlie/Ivy almost getting exposed
5. Nate fighting Grandpa but sucking it up to be the golden grandson (very Kennedy)
6. Dan arranging a secret meeting between Blair and Chuck
7. FINALLY- they make it 100% obvious that Elizabeth Hurley (Diana) is Chuck's mum.
8. Serena and Nate's commitment to take down Gossip Girl with their little website.

HATE:
1. The entire car accident scene. Train wreck. First, why was Nate's car following Blair and Chuck? Why did his driver not know to take him to the airport in Westchester?And furthermore, what creepy deserted forest that they drove for miles and miles through was supposed to be passed off as Central Park?
2. Charlie's such a weakling. One little car accident and she flees?
3. Dan moping.
4. Serena liking Dan when it's convenient for her

PREDICTIONS:
1. Blair's losing that baby.
2. Chuck's gonna live but this whole mama/baby drama's going to mindwarp him
3. Chuck's finally going to meet his mama
4. Serena's still gonna be a beey-otch.
5. Unsure about weddings.........
6. Louis's not going away without a fight

A Note About Re-Watching TV Shows

I have a lot of shows I like on DVD. I also have a lot of shows I used to like on DVD. I just got BOY MEETS WORLD season 1 on DVD now. One of the most important things I've realized is that like a song you listen to over and over again, a show you watched growing up means different things to you as you age.

FOR EXAMPLE: Season 6 of Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
Season 6 was very dark. Although the first few episodes brought great comedy: "Flooded," (Buffy beat up a demon in a bank and asked for a loan), "All the Way" (Halloween, Xander and Anya's engagement), "Life Serial" (Buffy trying to find a job) "Tabula Rasa" (group memory loss) and the critically acclaimed and groundbreaking musical episode, "Once More, With Feeling," it got pretty dark.

At the time, I wasn't a fan of the dark parts. I was in high school, and i naturally related to the earlier seasons (read- the seasons before Buffy died and switched to UPN). As I've been re-watching season 6, I've found love for many other episodes for one simple reason: I get it! Season 6 wasn't about darkness. Well, to some extent it was about darkness- (I mean, Willow did almost destroy the world and all).

But with my life establishing in my twenties, I can appreciate season 6 and recognize the simplicity of it. Season 6 was about growing up, trying to fix your life, find your life, and be an adult. Giles left, the kids had to grow up. Everyone made some bad decisions. Tara was killed. Life is hard, and season 6 was all about that. Sometimes people make mistakes (Buffy's whole relationship with Spike). Sometimes you have ato take a job you hate (at the Doublemeat Palace), and soemtimes you're not as ready to be as grown up as you think (Xander leaving Anya at the altar). But in the end, you have your friend that remembers you being upset about your broken crayon, and you know it will all be okay in the end.