**The Week in Review: July 21 - 25**

I. Jax and Officer A.

Jax:  "What does that stand for, anyway.  Is it...is it Veronica?  Um, Virginia?"
V.:  "I'll let you know as soon as we're in the air again."
Jax:  "Well, no, I'm not that curious."

At the beginning of Monday's episode, Jax called Officer A's bluff about the weapon and took off anyway.  His plan was to fly down to the keys, strand her on an atoll, and go to Brenda's rescue.  But that darn lightning struck the plane after it landed and they were both stuck.  Now, this whole thing was as stupid as dirt in my opinion (no offense to dirt), and merely a way to suspend Jax's plotline while tptb tied up some Sonny and Brenda stuff before the big confrontation with whoever's behind their troubles.  So I don't have much to say about it, and in the spirit of catching up I'm not going to cover the details.

Suffice it to say Jax teased V. several times, they talked about family, and she got overly offended way too much for my taste.  It went on all this week and all the next.  There were some nice moments between Jax and V. (I particularly liked the star watching), but nothing that couldn't have come out in a less contrived situation.  Finally, I can't see V. as a real possibility for Jax because they've written her to be such a caricature.  Maybe over time we'll get to know her, but right now the only reason she's there, in my opinion, is to give Jax something to do.  That's not to say I dislike her.  She's not my favorite, but there's something very likable about her.

II. Jason and Robin

A. Jason's Fall

Monday found Jason in the floor bleeding, while Emily looked on, terrified.  Robin showed up and they got him back in the bed and called a nurse, but I couldn't help being irritated with Jason for dragging Emily into this.  Even if he thought he would be alright, he could have asked Carly instead of Emily.  Robin knew he was trying to leave, but tried to comfort Emily.

Robin told Jason to let himself heal and trust that Sonny could take care of himself (so to speak), but Jason was very concerned about Sonny and said he needed backup.  He also complained about the drugs and the visitors, and Robin moved to leave but he stopped her.  He wanted to go sleep at his room, but Robin insisted he had to stay.  He promised.


B. Robin and Bobbie

Robin:  "I'm afraid I'm hurting him."

Bobbie:  "Don't be like me.  Be smart."

Even though we've had some slow going recently (sprinkled with some incredible moments), there's been a lot of attention to history.  The exchange between Bobbie and Robin, where Bobbie told her about her marriage to someone in Jason's line of work, was just such a moment (and she also mentioned Luke and Laura's break up from a couple of years ago).  Robin spoke of keeping quiet, and how that silence wasn't protecting Jason.  She spoke again of Jason having no sense of danger, but I don't think that she understands why he works for Sonny.  I think it's partly the danger, but partly other things...but Jason would describe those things himself in the days to come.  Robin said she didn't want to change him, but I think she's got to face the fact that she does.  She's at least got to be able to talk to him, as Bobbie told her.  And boy, did they talk....  But I'm getting ahead.

C. Jason and the Quartermaines

At the beginning of Tuesday, Jason woke up to find Robin holding his hand.  He startled her when he spoke--too cute.  She worried and he comforted.  They were a bit mushy, and then she made him promise that he would always be careful.  Jason sent the last batch of flowers home with Robin; he only kept them because they were from Lila.  They were in a silver bowl, an heirloom.  He told the story about Edward calling the cops after him and admitted that he was afraid the Quartermaines would have put him in an institution at some point back then.  Robin said they were just scared for him and wanted to keep him safe.  Jason told her he would stay in the hospital as long as he could.

Jason:  "You may be my father but I'm not your son."

The phone rang; it was Joseph (I love Joseph) signing in about tracking down the dry cleaner.  But just as he admitted he shouldn't have gotten up, Alan showed up.  He asked Robin to leave them alone (Alan recognized the bowl leaving the room) and he asked Alan about her condition.  That was all he wanted, and Alan must have been disappointed.  Alan insisted that Jason couldn't keep taking these chances and made the mistake of bad-mouthing Sonny.  Jason wasn't going to hear anything after that, but Alan continued.  Finally, Jason made him stop and told him he was merely Robin's doctor, and nothing else.  He actually said he didn't want enjoy hurting Alan or the family, and Alan simply asked him not to hurt Emily by trying to get up again for a few days.  Then he went outside and popped a pill while Jason tried to call Sonny.

D. Robin and Mac

Robin:  "You can't say to him, 'Jason, you'll hurt yourself,' because he doesn't care if he gets hurt.  And you can't say, 'Jason, don't go after Sonny,' because he doesn't care if he dies.  I care."

Meanwhile, Robin went home to see her Uncle Mac.  She started venting some of her frustration, even as she explained his stubbornness, but she still insisted that she didn't want to control or change him.  She's just terrified he's going to die.  She asked Mac not to try to fix anything.  Mac headed off to cover Jax's travel permit, telling Robin he had gone after Brenda.

E. Robin and Katherine

At the beginning of Wednesday's show, Katherine showed up to talk to Robin.  They shared some small talk about Katherine's walking again and about Jason, then Katherine became serious, saying everything was awful.  She never said his name, and Robin never asked.  Robin pointed out the difference between understanding and acceptance and talked about Jason and her dislike of his choices.  In the end, Katherine talked of cutting her losses.  And she noticed a letter from the Sorbonne, where Robin had won a year scholarship.  She said she wasn't going, that she had only dreamed of going the next year and taking Jason with her.  They both headed to the hospital.

F. The Confrontation Begins

Robin:  "I washed my hair."
Jason:  "Um.  Didn't look dirty."
Robin:  "It wasn't.  It's just what you do; you wash your hair."

I loved Jason's "hello" at this point when Robin returned (reminiscent of the Warner's "hello nurse" on Animaniacs, wasn't it).  Jason asked her what she had done while she was gone and made her recite all the details.  She wondered why he was being a model patient and he told her he didn't want to worry her.

Robin:  "It's ok.  I was just playing teddy bear."
Mike:  "Oh.  Well is that what they call it now."

Cute!  Robin went to get another version of dinner when Mike came to check in with Jason.  They debated why Sonny couldn't or wouldn't call and why the cell phone was off line.  And as Robin walked back in the room, he told Mike he would leave on a moment's notice on word from Sonny.

On Friday, Jason told Robin to keep the visitors away.  He was frustrated and edgy.  She asked him if she was going to get a warning before he left to help Sonny.  She backed off, but he was angry about where he was, his vulnerability, the visitors, and the situation.  Robin started apologizing but Jason wouldn't calm down.  He ranted about the Quartermaines, and then he said he didn't know what to say in the face of her anger and was angry about that.  He calmed down and told her that he wouldn't disappear, that he would let her know before he left.  She told him again that Sonny didn't want him.

At that point Mac showed up.  He asked about Sonny and Brenda to no avail and filled Jason in on Jax.  Monica, who brought the note from Emily, interrupted them.  After she left, Jason called someone about finding Jax and he said he would come to him.

When Robin returned, the doctor was seeing Jason.  She offered to go to Jake's with him, and he responded by asking for his jeans.  When she realized he was getting ready to leave, she slammed the dinner she had brought him across the room.  That got his attention.

I have to say that I really like the way this has played out so far and find it very believable.  I think their distance from each other has allowed them to string along some things that were destined to become big issues between them, and the shooting, while fitting nicely into the S&B storyline, served as a perfect means to bring those issues to the forefront.  I think that Robin is drawn to this kind of man because of her history, but I'm glad to see she's not blind about the way this relationship is affecting her.  Finally, she has to protect herself now...has to at least be able to speak her mind and clear the air...or they'll never make it.

III. The Quartermaines

A. At the Hospital

Monica filled Ned in and intended to take Emily home.  Their little pow-wows were becoming repetitive at this point, and I felt like we were treading water until the next breakthrough.  Actually, I felt like that most of this week.

Monica:  "What was it like before Dorman?  I can hardly remember."

Monica looked over Jason's charts and said he'd be fine, then took Emily with her to the cafeteria leaving Robin and Jason alone.  Out in the hall, Emily said she didn't want to go home and cried over the blood on Jason's bandages.  Bobbie showed up to check in and smoothed things over with Emily by passing Jason's behavior off as a normal guy thing.  Emily and Bobbie went in to see that he was alright.  Robin thanked Monica for being there for Emily; Monica said Bobbie was the one who helped.  Bobbie and Monica exchanged a few words and Robin invited Emily for a movie.

B. Alan and Mac

On Tuesday, Alan went over to talk to Mac about Jax.  This was a nice exchange, one of the best moments of the week for my money, primarily because it was unexpected and a pairing not along the lines of family or romance--almost always my favorite.  Mac filled Alan in on the details.  Mac pointed out that Jason saved Robin's life by getting her away from him against the normal instinct to shelter her; Jason made himself a target to save Robin's life, and Mac didn't think she even knew.

 But Alan couldn't praise Jason for that when he could only see that Jason wouldn't get them both away from Sonny.  He caught Mac up on Jason's attempt to leave the hospital for Sonny, saying that Jason would have been in physical agony.  He asked Mac not to tell Jason where Sonny was if Mac found out.  Mac agreed, but said he couldn't guarantee that Sonny wouldn't call or that Jason wouldn't go anyway.  And Alan asked him to have Robin ask him.  Then Alan got a call from his secretary that Jason had called for him and he headed off to the hospital.

C. Visiting Jason

On Wednesday, Jason asked Monica what she meant when she had said, "It's all my fault."  She tried to write it off as the bond of parent and child (which he didn't buy).  Ned joined them and started playing "what if."  Jason doesn't play that game.  Jason pointed out that Emily was upset too, but Monica was off the hook when A.J. arrived.

A.J.:  "You know, I uh, I haven't been the greatest brother, but I think I could maybe be a good friend to ya."
Jason:  "Ya, I can...I can handle that."

A.J. had just come by to bring Jason a magazine, but this was a sweet moment.

Meanwhile, Ned and Monica conferenced yet again out in the hall and Monica insisted that Jason was looking for information.  And yet again, Ned reassured her.  They were interrupted by Robin's return.

On Friday, A.J. returned and told Jason about Keesha and Carly.  He didn't mention Carly's name at first, but Jason figured it out, since they know so few of the same people.  He rattled on and on, and Jason just looked like he wished he hadn't agreed to be friends.

D. Alan

Alan:  "Well, I am going home now, and I am going to be a family man for the rest of the day.  I'm gonna tell my father off.  I'm gonna badger my wife.  I'm going to bore my daughter to tears.  You know, that sort of thing."

Too cute.  Alan was greeted by his family at the hospital, though, before he had a chance to get home.  In the face of Ned and Monica's behavior, he invited Emily out to dinner with him, just the two of them.  Monica and Ned tried to tag along, but Alan told them they weren't invited.  Monica objected, and Alan went on a rant.  I love him when he goes off.  He told off Ned and told Monica that she wasn't helping Emily and he wanted to get Emily away from her.  He's determined to do things right with Emily where he couldn't with Jason.

They went to the Outback and Alan managed to get Emily to laugh a bit with his best Cowardly Lion impression.  :)  But when he mentioned Monica, he noted her look and asked her about it.  He was good with her, though, not demanding but very sweet.  Emily didn't want to admit her suspicions, but finally she decided he was the one person she could tell.  She told him that Monica killed Dorman.

E. Monica

Ned:  "Sometimes I think you're a lot closer than Emily to going off the deep end."

Monica:  "I'm sorry."
Jason:  "You people say that like it means hello."

Ned and Monica had yet another conversation about Emily's memory after Alan and Emily left and then they set off to find Alan's car.  First, though, she dropped off Emily's note to Jason.  Jason wasn't cordial with Monica, and he quizzed her again about Emily, asking if she was sorry for that.  He said that all he knew was that Emily was lying all the time and she didn't want to be.  Monica dodged, then went out to report to Ned.

These scenes with Monica and Ned were one of the things that seemed so repetitive over the past weeks, and I hope that Emily's confession to Alan will bring things to a new stage soon.

IV. The Cassadines

A. Alexis

On Monday, Alexis asked Sarah again if she knew where Nikolas was, telling her that she used to run away herself.  She assured Sarah she didn't want her to break a confidence but that she wanted Nikolas to know she was worried about him.  Sarah did know one place Nik might be, and, without telling Alexis, she headed off to the chapel ruins.  She didn't find him, since he was at Katherine's confronting Stefan.

Ned:  "Ask me.  I know everything."
Alexis:  "And reveal nothing."

Alexis:  "To understanding.  What exactly are we understanding?"

After speaking to Sarah, Alexis met Ned in the halls.  He asked her to leave with him, but she said she needed to ask Katherine some questions.  He said he knew the answers, and they headed off to the Port Charles Grill (a set we don't see very often lately).  They flirted and chatted, and he mentioned that Christmas Eve night in that very bar.  Alexis deftly turned the subject to Katherine with a compliment.  Ned answered briefly, then asked why she was interested.  She dodged.

B. Katherine

Bobbie continued her conversation/confrontation with Katherine on Monday.  I don't know why she thought Katherine would listen to her; she never listened to anybody, after all, and she had her own brother trying to fill her in.  But she warned Katherine that Stefan could turn on her in a heartbeat, and the stage was set.  I think the only thing Bobbie has wrong is that Stefan doesn't love Nikolas.  I still can't doubt that love.

C. Stefan and Nikolas

Nik:  "You don't know me any better than I know you."

Nikolas declared that he wouldn't go back to Wyndemere with Stefan and that he was independent; if Stefan got his "precious privacy" then so did he.  Stefan tried to explain, but Nikolas wouldn't listen.  He brought up the mountain and actually told Stefan that he wouldn't believe anything he said, even about Bobbie and Laura (that actually took me by surprise, since I thought Nik had good reason to be angry with Bobbie no matter what had gone on).  And in the face of Stefan's protestations of love he showed only skepticism.  Stefan asked him how he could convince him; Nikolas said he wanted to be away from Stefan.  Stefan fell back on his position as guardian and made the mistake of asking whether the Spencers were behind this latest attitude.  Then Stefan said Nikolas wasn't ready to be on his own or he wouldn't be depending on Katherine.  Strike two.  Nikolas screamed in frustration, declared that he wouldn't return to Wyndemere and that Katherine had invited him to stay.

That raised the stakes a bit.  It was as if Stefan stopped pleading at that point, as if something inside of him turned cold.  Nikolas said he had money and could stay there; Stefan laid a guilt trip on him for imposing on Katherine.  Nikolas said she was honest with him and would tell him if she needed him to leave.  And as Stefan yelled about having the final word, Katherine returned home to hear it.

D. Stefan and Katherine

Stefan:  "Is it possible that I misjudged you?"
Katherine:  "Is it possible that you don't know who your real friends are?"

Nikolas left, leaving Katherine and Stefan.  He was irate with her for not calling him immediately.  For him, this was betrayal, pure and simple, and with this confrontation he drew a clear line between him and Nikolas and forced Katherine to choose.  I've waded through this entire storyline, complaining about character assassination, poor pacing, imbalance, unbelievability, etc.  I'm hoping that now all the static time we've had with Stefan and Katherine will continue to be turned into something dynamic.  Their true characters are coming out in this--things they hid from each other before.  And I don't think they can be a truly interesting couple until we can see all sides of them with each other, not some watered down versions of their characters.  I applauded this confrontation and this turn of events and that's been a long time coming.

Katherine believed she had helped Nikolas by giving him a place to stay that was safe.  Stefan could only see that she hadn't informed him.  She said she hadn't wanted to hurt him and that she cared about him; he said he didn't believe her.  He declared it was not her place to make any decisions about Nikolas.  He proclaimed that she should help him without question.  She didn't accept his terms and said she would continue to help Nikolas until he decided what he wanted.

Despite my seeming irritation with Stefan in all of this, let's remember that he's being painted as the bad guy at this point to develop the much-needed friction between Stefan and Katherine.  Actually, I find his reactions very understandable, given his strong feelings about both Nikolas and Katherine.  And everything he's done in the situation has been in keeping with his character.

E. Nikolas and Sarah

Nik:  "My family's always had plans for me.  Now I have plans for myself."

Nikolas did go to the chapel.  Sarah told him about Alexis; he told her he had quit his family.  He didn't explain much, but Sarah was sympathetic.  He assured her he was alright and she went home.

On Tuesday, Nik went in to work and saw Sarah in the playroom.  They spoke about Lulu again, and Nik alluded to the "unsuitable" present he gave her last year.  More mushy stuff and more talk about Lulu.  Then Sarah mentioned next Friday's BBQ, and Nik said he wasn't going.

F. Alexis

Alexis checked in with Stefan at the beginning of Wednesday's show.  After some veiled references, he let her know that Nikolas was staying with Katherine.  He tried to send her home, but she was agitated and insisted on details, which he gave.  She was irate with Katherine, and I was glad to see it because I can't wait for those two to get into it and good.

Ned:  "Tell you what a great time I had last night."
Alexis:  "Oh, well I'm way ahead of you.  I called your machine and made a similar comment plus a suggestion that we do it again very soon.  Am I a 90s woman or what?"
Ned:  "I'm all for that.  So when are you free?"
Alexis:  "This where I'm supposed to act coy?"
Ned:  "I'm willing to skip that part if you are."

After this exchange, Stefan glowered by.  I'm eagerly awaiting his response to Ned and Alexis's growing relationship.  I can't decide if he'll pass it off as simply a diversion or if he'll warn her about letting a Quartermaine in too close or what.  He asked about the below exchange between Stefan and Katherine and she dodged.

Stefan faulted her for her schedule when Katherine showed up, saying she wasn't available that day.  She spoke out for independence.  Stefan pointed out again that Nikolas wasn't independent, he was depending on Katherine.  I can't decide if I agree with that or not.  Would Nikolas have left Wyndemere so easily if he hadn't known he could stay with Katherine close by?  Katherine, for her part, claimed she had completely misjudged him.

When Alexis told Stefan she hoped he had given Katherine hell, he cut her off rudely, saying it wasn't a legal matter.  While I understand his frustration and his wish for her not to throw this up in his face (that was his perception, perhaps, but not her intent), this schizophrenic interaction of his with Alexis wears thin with me.  He goes from telling her she's the only person he can trust to brushing her off brusquely.  I don't like it, and I'm sure it bothers her as well.  I hope at some point we get to see this come to a head and see some real friction between these two cousins.

After Stefan walked away from her, she placed a call to someone about a package that would be delivered, saying that she was the only one to sign for it.  Curiouser and curiouser....

G. Nikolas and Katherine

Nik:  "You had that...that look on your face."
Katherine:  "And what look is that?"
Nik:  "The I-just-spoke-to-Stefan-Cassadine-and-boy-does-my-head-hurt look."

Katherine:  "Have you ever been to a party like this before?"
Nik:  "Well, I did...I did once go to the coronation of a Maltese princess once."

Katherine got home on Thursday's and Nik quizzed her about her meeting with Stefan.  She admitted that it went poorly but insisted that she wouldn't fight with Stefan anymore and that she wasn't scared of him.  Nikolas thought the whole thing was unfair and headed off to pack.  Katherine stopped him...again...and convinced him to stay no matter what Stefan did or said until he found his own place.  She started hounding him about the BBQ when he said he wasn't going, in part because he didn't want to run into Stefan.  She said he should take someone, so of course we knew where this was going--cut to Lucky and Sarah.

H. Nik and Sarah

And after Lucky left, Nikolas showed up to invite Sarah to the same BBQ.  She tired to bow out graciously, but Audrey came in and asked what Lucky had forgotten, so Gatsby was out of the bag, so to speak.  They both looked disappointed, so we knew she would really rather go with Nik, if we didn't already.

V. Sonny and Brenda

Tuesday found Sonny and Brenda in the back of the truck headed into Florida.  Sonny still didn't have a fix on who was behind this, but he was weighing the options.  Brenda noted the high number of people who hate him, then assured him that she could handle knowing it all.  But she woke up next from a nightmare about being shot at in the shower (like I said, lots of character history going on this week even though it was slow).  She insisted she was ok.

They hid as the truckers opened the doors, and when the men headed off to check about unloading, Sonny and Brenda headed off down the road.  Brenda sang a pitiful rendition of "Buffalo Gals" while hanging onto Sonny which had me laughing, and when Sonny asked her about her ankle and she admitted it hurt they stopped to hitchhike.  Cute bit about how long it would take her to stop someone, with Sonny saying they'd just think he was her brother, then the first car did pull over.  It was the cops.

Sonny:  "These jerks wouldn't know culture if it bit 'em in the butt."

On Wednesday, Brenda spun a story about being dumped by some friends of theirs because of her singing and wrangled a ride into the nearest town--Tiger Key.  The most entertaining moment was when Sonny thought he'd have to "take care of" the cop with a big rock and then got caught with the rock...and pretended he was killing a snake.  Crack me up.

They got to the hotel and missed the origami animal in the floor of the lobby.  He congratulated her on her story and told her they would look around town tomorrow.  On Friday, they started hunting for the bar from the matchbook.  There were a ton of bars in the book and the hotel guy wasn't much help.  Brenda started whining again about not knowing what they were doing there, but then Sonny found the origami animal.

Brenda got edgy, but Sonny knew that if the Tin Man wanted them dead he would have killed them a long time ago.  He pointed out the pattern of the animal names and objects and Brenda zeroed in on the name of a bar...the Zoo Bar.  In the meantime, the Tin Man showed up at the Zoo bar and made arrangements with the bartender and the boss man listened to some opera.  And at the end of Friday's episode, Sonny and Brenda arrived, checked the matchbook, and were greeted by the Tin Man himself posing as a bartender.

I have to admit I'm enjoying this storyline more now that I've gotten over the disappointment that the Qs didn't take care of Dorman.  We've still had some promise of some Q developments from it, and the S&B on the run stuff hasn't all been a wash.  I still think that the stuff we've had over last week, this week, and the following week was about two weeks worth of stuff stretched out to three on the show as a whole.

VI. Carly and Tony

At the beginning of Wednesday's show, Tony called from the airport and Carly told him she had invited Keesha over for a drink.  She played innocent, but of course she was up to something.  She poured Ocean Spray into her glass and managed to get Keesha to drink over half the bottle.  After a bit of mushy girl talk about Tony (I was amused with Carly trying to come up with things they had in common), Carly faked a call to the cab company and convinced A.J. to drive an inebriated Keesha home.  A.J. was suspicious, but didn't seem to mind very much when Keesha flirted with him.

He did mind, though, after he took Keesha home and she told him Carly had said he still loved her.  A.J. went back to confront Carly on Thursday's show.  He demanded the truth, yet again, and she dodged, yet again, by telling him that when he was drunk that night at Jake's he had admitted how much he still loved Keesha.  She said she was just trying to help him get what he wanted and needed.  He left, with another mention of his determination that he would remember everything.

I find this storyline increasingly repetitive, especially with the scenes with A.J. and Carly over and over discussing this.  While I'm hoping that they're putting off the big Carly secret coming out until Luke comes back from Switzerland, they've got to find a better way to keep up the pace of things without this sense of déjà vu.  (Obviously Friday's show is going to heat things up with Bobbie, but that may or may not help the A.J. stuff.)

Tony got home and asked her how things had gone with Keesha.  She told him this was the last time she would try to play matchmaker.  I don't believe her.  :)  He had brought home the instrument that would let them hear the baby's heartbeat.  He told her he didn't want this to be a secret any more, but she was nervous about people's reactions.

On Friday, Carly wasn't feeling well.  Tony told her he'd fix her some dinner before he left to tell Bobbie, making it pretty clear he wasn't intending her to go with him, rambling on about Bobbie's reaction.  Carly pretended not to get that, though, and prepared to go with him.  He told her he needed to see Bobbie on his own (in part because of Lucas) and asked her to stay at home.

Now, I understand why Tony asked her to stay behind.  He was trying to avoid a scene.  But if he had taken her with him, it would have been clear to Bobbie immediately that this was going to be about Carly and Tony.  Of course, Tony had no way of knowing that Bobbie was expecting anything.  Finally, I don't think there was a right way to actually tell her; I just think he shouldn't have built it up into such a big deal to begin with.  But I also understand why Carly followed.  First, she had every right to be there, I think, but I do think she simply wanted to go to see Bobbie's reaction.  She knew this would hurt Bobbie, and she wanted to see it.  I won't defend her in this because I can't believe that her motives were anything other than spite.  At the same time, I don't believe that she planned what happened.

But she couldn't follow right away because A.J. was at the door again.  More fighting and pleading, then she stormed out and A.J. followed.

Carly showed up at the Outback, felt sick at the sight of food, and went to the bathroom.  One of the waitresses, recognizing Bobbie as a nurse (we guess), asked for her help (while Tony greeted A.J.).  As Bobbie entered and asked after the woman in the stall, Carly responded that she was fine...just pregnant.  Fur would fly, I was confident.

VII. The Spencers

(I was getting worried they wouldn't make a showing this week!)

A. Lucky

At the beginning of Thursday's show we had a bit of family time with Audrey and Sarah.  Sarah teased her about a letter she wrote to her parents.  And Sarah reassured Audrey that she was having a good time.  They spoke of the BBQ, and Lucky conveniently showed up at that moment to invite Sarah while, inconveniently, Sarah was thinking only of Nik (gratuitous flashback alert).

They spoke of Switzerland and Lesley's progress and Lucky told her again that this was his choice to stay behind.  It was good to hear about the Spencer women since we've been so long without them.

Now, I can't decide if I fault Sarah or the writers for this one.  We haven't seen any sign of her being interested in Lucky as anything more than a friend and distant relative, but she agreed to go to the BBQ with him and didn't say anything about it being as friends.  While that might be an uncomfortable line to draw for a teenager, I think she was leading Lucky on at that moment, pure and simple.  Of course, there's the other argument that it didn't even cross her mind that Lucky would intend his invitation romantically, but I'm not convinced of that.  Frankly, it was left unclear how she perceived Lucky's invitation, and that was a mistake, I think.

Lucky headed up to the hospital to charm his aunts and give them the update from Switzerland...and pictures drawn by Lulu.  He pleaded patriotism and love for them was the reason he came back, but they knew better as did we.

B. Bobbie

On Thursday, Bobbie ran into Tony at the hospital.  She was trying to be light about things when Tony offered to talk to her about anything, and then Tony told her that he needed to tell her something very important about him and Carly that she shouldn't hear from anybody else.  She said she wasn't ready to hear about Tony and Carly's problems and he told her it was the opposite...and then he was called off to see a patient.

When he got back, he asked her to dinner the next night, telling her this was very important and that Lucas would love it.  Bad move on Tony's part, I think, building this up into something so big.  I know it's in part because he's scared of Bobbie's reaction, part because he's putting it off, but this didn't help.  The bottom line is that he still values Bobbie's opinion of things and still respects her feelings.  Not bad things, but in his confusion and denial over what he feels for her, he's making things worse when he certainly doesn't intend to.

As Bobbie left, Amy told her she was sure that Tony was going to tell her that he was breaking up with Carly.  Bobbie said she didn't believe her, but the look on her face gave her away; that's what she was hoping for.  On Friday, Amy repeated her convictions and Bobbie again denied them.  But Amy was right to point out that she had certainly dressed up for the occasion.

Bobbie's giddy eye-widening once they got to the Outback and Tony said he'd requested a table with some privacy told me we were in for a big blow out.  Funny story about Lucas trying to do his hair like Lucky's with the toothpaste, though.  Tony hedged around the subject by talking about the extended Spencer family (nice mention by her of Nikolas) and the way he hoped Bobbie would find a way to feel happiness for him.