Volume I, Issue v

January 1999

GH in Review by Amy McWilliams

View a section by clicking on the links below, or read the entire review by scrolling down. The review takes up 8 separate pages, but the navigation at the top and bottom of each remains consistent.

General Hospital

The Quartermaines

Carly/Jason/Robin

Mac and Felicia

The Spencers

Bobbie

Lucky and Elizabeth

Luke

The Cassadines

Jax

Sonny

Carly/Jason/Robin

• Carly tells Bobbie that she's sure Jason will move her and Michael back to the penthouse soon--without Robin--but Bobbie cautions her not to try and break them up. (12/1)
• Johnny tells Jason that Moreno's causing trouble with his restaurant, and Jason plans to visit Moreno even though Mike is against it. Later, as Jason and Carly prepare to take Michael on a hike, Justus visits the cottage with a message from Moreno; he won't meet with Jason. Jason says that he won't back off; he'll protect his people. Afterwards, Jason takes a gun out of the drawer, contemplating retaliation. Carly tries to convince Jason that he was happier in the organization, and he seems willing to concede the fact. He insists that he did the right thing for Michael, however. (12/1)
• Moreno tells the drug dealer to try again to bring Felicia to him. He then meets with Justus and tells him that if Jason won't stay out of his way, he'll be removed. (12/1)
• Jason prepares to leave Carly and Michael in the park alone together for a half-hour, but Carly is nervous. Jason reassures her and goes to the bike shop where he talks to Mike about his situation, while an awkward Carly talks to Michael. Later, she puts Michael in the swing and turns to see Helena in a mink coat. She asks about the garment, and turns back to Michael only to see Tony hovering over him. She screams at Tony as Helena walks on, but Tony threatens to tell Jason about her poor parenting skills. Jason arrives to ask what's going on. Carly covers, and, after Tony leaves, promises Jason that she will never do anything to hurt Michael, or let Tony do anything to him. (12/3)
• Jason and Carly wallpaper Michael's nursery at the cottage. Carly says that if Michael's not ready, she doesn't think they should move out according to plan, and Jason grudgingly agrees. Jason goes to get more paste out of the car and Carly answers a phone call from Robin. She doesn't take the message and doesn't tell Jason that she called. Instead, she falls off the ladder on purpose, spraining her ankle. (12/4)
• Jax uses his key to let himself into the cottage when nobody answers his knock. He hears Carly moaning because of Jason's treatment of her ankle, and he mistakes the sounds for those of sex. Jason comes down and doesn't set him straight. Jax goes up to retrieve a necklace of Brenda's and finds Carly in the bed. Afterwards, Carly points out to Jason that Jax had misunderstood and Jason tells her that it doesn't matter and that Robin knows that he'll never sleep with Carly. Carly still milked her injury for all it was worth. (12/7)
• Jason says that Robin has called again to say that she'll be home in a week, and Carly has to admit that she didn't tell him about the last call. Jason tells her that he knows that she lies and accepts it, but warns her never to use Michael. He leaves to meet Johnny, and AJ arrives soon after. AJ tells her about Alan's arrest and tells her that the Quartermaines have no grounds for a custody suit now. Carly's still suspicious. Jason returns; AJ leaves. Jason tells Carly that Moreno's men have beaten Johnny, but that he can't retaliate because it would put Michael in danger. (12/9)
• Felicia visits Jason to ask about Moreno. She tells him about Alan's situation and Jason says that Moreno's trying to get at him through Robin's family. Moreno will try again. Carly arrives in her new sable coat and Felicia reminds her that Robin will be home soon and offers to help her house hunt. When she leaves, Carly asks Jason to go to Jake's with her. (12/10)
• At Jake's, Carly does everything she can to make Jason jealous and/or interested, but Jason falls for none of it. He does, however, agree to a game of pool and then a dance--even though Carly lost the bet. Carly says that they should go upstairs and have sex the way they used to do. (12/11)
• Jason refuses, of course, and Carly continues to flirt with other men and convince him that they would make a better couple than him and Robin. They arrive at home, teasing each other and with him carrying her because her foot hurts. As she says her foot hurts and that he could take her to his bed instead of hers, they see Robin standing there. (12/14)
• Carly tells Robin that she isn't gone because Michael isn't ready. Jason asks her to leave them alone, and he tells Robin that he loves her, but Robin remains apprehensive. They talk about their relationship, Carly, and Moreno. (12/15)
• Carly and Robin fight over who's manipulating Jason. When Jason arrives to stop them, Carly says that she's leaving with Michael. Jason disagrees, saying Michael's not ready. The phone rings, and Jason learns that Sonny's depressed and violent. He makes the two women promise to get along for Michael's sake while he's gone and leaves for Puerto Rico. (12/17)
• He calls Carly later and tells her that he'll be staying with Sonny as long as Sonny needs him. (12/18)
• At The Outback, Robin hints to Bobbie that Jason's business is with The Business again. (12/18)
• Robin calls Carly to let her know what happened to Mac and to warn her to be careful because Moreno might strike again. (12/21)
• Robin tells Mike that Jason is with Sonny. When Jason returns, he sends Mike to stay with his son. He announces that they'll be moving back to the penthouse for security reasons, and Carly is thrilled. Robin tells Jason later that she will support his return to the organization, but Carly tells Michael that Robin will soon be out of their lives. (12/23)
• Carly begs Jason to let them take Michael to the GH Christmas party. He finally agrees, but is not happy when Edward-as-Santa scares Michael. (12/24)

Jason: "This is what I chose."
Carly: "Only because you're worried about me and Michael and Robin. But you got to think about yourself, too, Jason. You're a great mechanic--you really are--but that's never going to give you the thrill that you want. It's funny--you know, we're great friends and we're completely opposite, right, because I'm always pretending to be something that I'm not and you're never pretending to be anything but who you are--until right now."
Jason: "What do you mean?"
Carly: "I mean you're pretending that you're happy, and I know you're not. I know you're not. Now, look, you're always telling Michael he can grow up and he can be whatever he wants, right? He makes his own choices. Why don't you start listening to your own advice?"
Jason: "If we're going to hike, we need to go. It's getting late."

Carly: "Do you know what the best thing about being a decorator is?"
Jason: "What's that?"
Carly: "I get to charge by the hour and I get a percentage of every piece of furniture that I buy."
Jason: "Well, I can see where you'd like that a lot."
Carly: "It's not just the money, Jason. It's the--it's the stuff--you know, being around all that beautiful stuff. Look, when you grow up in a rented house with used furniture, you can't help but dream those dreams. Just the way it is."
Jason: "Mm-hmm."
Carly: "What do you think of this chair?"
Jason: "Buy it if you want."
Carly: "What I want is your opinion. Now look."
Jason: "Carly, you know I can't see it."
Carly: "Jason, you're not blind. You must see something."
Jason: "Doesn't look real to me. Carly, you know this. I can't draw a map because I can't take something real and turn it into something flat. And I don't look at pictures, either, because it doesn't work the other way. Ok, I can't take something flat and turn it into something real inside my head."
Carly: "Ok, you know what's really weird about that?"
Jason: "What?"
Carly: "Babies can't, either. No, I'm serious. I read that in this childhood development book at Ferncliff in the library. Babies have to learn how to see things in perspective."
Jason: "Well, I guess you can teach Michael."
Carly: "Yeah, well, so can you if you learn how."
Jason: "Can't."
Carly: "How do you know? Have you ever tried?"
Jason: "Yeah, you know what? I have tried. Sonny was trapped in a cave once, and they wanted me to draw a map to help get him out, and I couldn't. And then that time when Dr. Jones kidnapped Michael and the police artist wanted me to look at that picture of Michael, you had to tell him when it looked like Michael."
Carly: "Ok, first of all, police sketches don't look like anyone, and second of all, why would you think that you could draw a map the first time that you tried? Have you ever tried since?"
Jason: "Can you forget about this?"
Carly: "No! Look, Jason, you may not remember who you were when I met you, but I do. Look at me."
Jason: "Yeah."
Carly: "Great in bed, but severely lacking in social skills."
Jason: "What does that have to do with anything? Thank you."
Carly: "You learned, ok? You learned. You've changed. And if Sonny taught you how to run a business and how to read people, don't you think I could teach you how to see pictures?"
Jason: "No."
Carly: "Will you at least let me try, for Michael? Look at this now. What's on the page?"
Jason: "Two chairs."
Carly: "Very good. What's the difference?"
Jason: "One's straight and the other one's curved."
Carly: "Thank you very much. Congratulations. You just defined the difference between craftsman style and Louis XVI. Come on. Here, here, here. What's on this page?"
Jason: "Something way too expensive."
Carly: "Jason, come on. What is it?"
Jason: "Oh. First of all, it's really ugly, you know, to tell you the truth right now. I hope you're not even planning on buying that."
Carly: "Shut up. What is it? You don't even know what it is."
Jason: "I'm not going
Even tell you because it's so ugly."
Carly: "You're impossible. Come on!"
Jason: "Will you let me do this, ok?"
Carly: "What is on the page?"
Jason: "It's a couch and a love seat."
Carly: "Ok. And what's the difference between those?"
Jason: "One's bigger than the other one."

Carly: "Jason, look at this chair."
Jason: "No, forget it. School's over. No."
Carly: "No, look at this chair. It's so beautiful. Oh, no. Come on, look. I could just see this. I would--I would put it up against, you know, like, paneled walls, and then I would--I would upholster it in something neutral and I'd bring in colors with, like, little pillows and a throw."
Jason: "Uh-huh. Whatever."
Carly: "You know where it would look really good? The penthouse."
Jason: "No one's living in the penthouse."
Carly: "Well, I know, but, you know, we might be someday. If you came out of retirement, then we'd have to move back there, wouldn't we?"
Jason: "Don't."
Carly: "Just a suggestion. [Carly hums]"

It may seem an odd choice for me to include a conversation that seems to be only so much filler. On second look, however, this was one of the best scenes we'd had in a while. It was subtle and quiet, not a simple repetition of a fight we'd seen a hundred times before, and it was a lovely study in character. From Carly's visit with Bobbie (I loved that Carly pointed out that Bobbie invited Jerry to Thanksgiving (I hate that we missed that episode, even as much as I love having a good, clean copy of the L&L wedding) to show that her mother loves despite the consequences as well, though Bobbie was also to point out the differences in their situations) to her conversations with Jason, we saw that she is still doing what she's always done; she's constructing a story of "family" where there isn't one, refusing to see the real consequences or effects of what she desires, and blindly storming ahead to get what she wants when she will indubitably fail. The difference now is that she has a mother; Bobbie speaks the truth to her and loves her, but Carly doesn't or can't believe that to be enough. She wants Jason; she wants the life they had when Robin was away; she wants to be a true family. That she will get her wish, at least in the short run, seemed obvious as the threat of Moreno came closer. That once again she will be disappointed seems certain. For Carly wants what she can't have, at least from Jason, and she's chasing love that isn't there. It's as if, believing herself to be unloved her whole life, she latches onto relationships that are doomed to fail--a vicious circle of rejection and insecurity. And it's familial love, rather than romantic, that will break her out of that cycle, I hope. It's the love of her mother and her son that stands a chance of proving to Carly that she is loved.

That's not to say that I don't think Carly and Jason wouldn't be an interesting couple on down the road. *G* She does speak the truth to him, even if it is out of selfish motives, and she's right about his job. We've seen the look on his face at various times that shows us this is not what he would choose for himself. To his credit, he's made the choice that would make Robin happy and her and Michael safe--he thought. In his own way, he was building an ideal family (Carly notwithstanding) as best he could as well. And, like Carly, his image can't stand up to reality. What I hoped most at this point is that Jason and Robin would realize the illusions they've been living under all this time--about his work and their relationship. Robin was right to leave him, and we've not seen her face the reasons she came back to my satisfaction. She can't bear to lose anybody, especially somebody she loves so much, so she's settled and rationalized and put up with a lot, all the while telling herself that love is enough. There are, however, inherent problems in her relationship with Jason. She can't make him into what she wants him to be, as much as she tries. She too, builds images, and of all three, her realization is perhaps the one I most want to see.

Carly: "What if he freaks?"
Jason: "He won't. He knows when he's with someone who loves him."
Carly: "What if I freak?"
Jason: "Ok. Michael, if Carly panics, the best thing to do is just let her be, just let her get it out of her system, ok?"

Carly: "Hi, Michael. Ooh, gee, this is fun, huh? Yeah. So what do you want to do first, hmm? Sandbox? No. The sand's all cold and icky, and it gets little grains all over you. Teeter-totter? That will work in a few years. Ok. It's too soon for lunch, so--look, Michael, we have to be having fun by the time daddy gets back so he'll be proud of us and see what a good job mommy did taking care of you all by herself. So--I sure wish you were old enough to shop."

For me, the day in the park served to prove the thing I've thought all along: Carly uses Michael to stay close to Jason, but she also needs Jason to stick close because she is genuinely scared that she will hurt her son. It's what drove her away after he was born, and it's what makes it hard, I think, for her to truly and passionately love him. She wants to love him, and she does love him, I think, but not with abandon and not to the point that she doesn't also see him as a way to guarantee her own place in Jason's life. That makes sense, given her history, and seeing her want to do right by her son, wanting to be a mother yet fearful she will fail, goes a long way to making up for the repetitive scenes at that blasted cottage with her and Robin fighting the same fight and never addressing what's really the problem.

Jason: "It's better. I mean, since Robin left. Not for me, because I miss her a lot. But Carly and Robin hate each other, and it's tough for Michael to be around. Man, he's a smart little kid, mike. I mean, he can tell when people are mad even when they're smiling, you know, and it scares him. It doesn't seem right because--I mean, he's feeling one thing--the anger in the room. And he's hearing something else and he's seeing something else. And then he gets scared, and then I try to explain it to him. It's two people who Michael loves, two of the most important people to him and me--can't stand each other?"
Mike: "What happened to the idea of Carly and Michael getting a place of their own?"
Jason: "That's what we're supposed to be doing right now. Now, the problem is with that that I told Robin by the time she got back, Carly would be moved out. Michael's not ready. Neither is Carly."
Mike: "Well, is there any chance that maybe Carly doesn't want to be ready?"
Jason: "Oh, I know she's working it. But she's also afraid. When she shot Dr. Jones, Michael wasn't even eating solid food yet, and now he's walking. Carly missed a lot, you know. And she's nervous around Michael, and he can feel it. So we're just trying to take things slow, and--I left them at the house alone together a couple times. And today it's the park. Now, if Carly can manage not to panic if Michael cries, then next time I'll leave them alone a little longer. But this is taking way too much time, way more time than I even thought."
Mike: "Hey, come on. You're talking about your kid here, Jason. I mean, take as much time as he needs. I'm sure that--I'm sure Robin will understand."
Jason: "And if she doesn't? Mike, I have no idea what I'm going to do."
Mike: "You know, for once, I'm going to send some of your own advice right back at you. Worry about it when it happens."

Jason, too, is torn by the relationship with Carly and Michael. He has her number; he knows that she will press this situation to her own advantage. He also knows that right now her advantage is Michael's advantage too. The bottom line is that he doesn't want Michael to go, but will not/cannot say so to Robin. He, like the girls, is not speaking the bottom line truth.

Carly: "Oh, Michael. Hold on a minute, ok, honey? Mommy just fell in love. Do you see that? I'll be right back, ok? Stay right here. Excuse me. That's a beautiful fur. Do you mind if I ask what kind it is?"
Helena: "Yes, it's a Russian sable."
Carly: "Russian sable. Is that like a long-haired mink or --"
Helena: "No, it's more like a weasel, actually."
Carly: "Get away from him! I said, back off."

While this setup came out of the blue and served only to remind me how tired I am of Tony Jones's one note, repetitious scenes, I also realized that I want very much to see more of Carly and Helena. Crack me up.

Carly: "Why don't I just shoot you again?"
Tony: "Well, you might. Your track record is to always do the wrong thing."

Carly: "Ok. I'm not going to let anything happen to him. And I'm also not going to do anything crazy that gets my name plastered all over the newspapers again, because I've got this little boy to think about. And we had a lot of fun today. Didn't we? Didn't we, huh?"
Jason: "You ready to go?"
Carly: "Yeah, I am. It's starting to get cold."
Jason: "Why don't you get yourself a new coat?"
Carly: "It's funny you should mention it, actually. I've been thinking that I--I really like Russian sable."

I don't know that anything will ever come from this scene. I think it was merely another example of Tony lauding his perceived progress to the women who have wronged him. Carly, however, demonstrated again her own fear of failing Michael and Jason, which gives Tony a foothold, perhaps, for the future. The terror Carly showed here told me that she's not afraid of Tony--she's afraid Tony's right about her. That she would avoid the mention of her short attention span, as Tony called it, and then turn right around and request a sable coat suggests that she's using money and power to reassure herself that this family and home she's imagined for herself is real. She longs for the signs of love, power, success, family, home--the tactile objects of the intangible things she really wants. And in a moment that things are shaky, she grabs wholeheartedly onto the thought of shopping.

Jason: "Why don't you just hire people like you usually do?"
Carly: "Because, you know--look, so far everything I've done for Michael has been with your money. You know, wallpapering his room is--is something that his mother is going to do just for him."
Jason: "I'll tell him that."
Carly: "When he wakes up?"
Jason: "No, when he's old enough to understand."

While I applaud (and believe) Carly's sentiment about Michael, I'm not blinded to the fact that she's again using the visible and tactile to represent the intangible. She's redecorating a room in Robin's house as if staking a claim or making a statement that Michael will always be there...and so she will be too. It's not lost on Jason, either, or Robin. What amused me about the above was Carly's insistence on instant praise and gratification and Jason's common sense refusal to give it.

Jax: "You know, I went along with you and Robin living here together because Robin and Brenda were best friends. I didn't agree to any other arrangement."
Carly: "It's funny. I didn't know it was up to you. Do you pay the rent here or something?"
Jason: "No. Brenda lived here, Jax. She doesn't anymore. Her name's not on the lease, and neither is yours, so you don't get to decide who lives here. You got what you came for, now get out."

The whole thing with Jax coming to the house was contrived and silly. So we see one more example of Carly's manipulation, we see Jax angry with her and with Jason, what? We learned nothing new, and the payoff of a fight wasn't even there. The whole exchange was worthless, and came to nothing in later episodes except for Jax expressing his opinion of Jason to Robin, which he would have done anyway. Ick.

Carly: "I did. And after that, I told you that you didn't belong in her world, that you didn't fit in. Remember? You still don't. You know, this is--this is Robin's house. Jax is her friend. You don't belong here."
Jason: "You don't get to decide that."
Carly: "Ok. Believe it or not, I don't want you to get hurt."
Jason: "I believe it. You just have a weird way of showing it."

Carly: "Look, maybe we should just ask Leticia to take Michael upstairs."
Jason: "No, Michael's fine where he is."
Carly: "Well, I don't want him to hear us yelling."
Jason: "Then don't yell."

Jason: "I'm so used to your games, Carly. And Robin will get used to them, too. I don't understand why you keep playing them, because they cost you more than they get you. Like your accident with the ladder."
Carly: "You knew?"
Jason: "See, the problem is Michael is too little to understand what you're doing. Now, I've said it before, and I'm going to keep on saying it because you need to be clear. If you mess with Michael's head or his safety or his life in a negative way, I will get angry, Carly, and I will come at you. You got it?"
Carly: "I love Michael as much as you do, ok? And why didn't you say something about the ladder?"
Jason: "If you want to sprain your ankle on purpose, it's your business."

Carly: "Michael. Michael, do you know what the best thing in the whole world is? Unconditional love, baby. That's when somebody knows exactly who you are, and they like you anyway. Now, it doesn't happen very often--like almost never for mommy. But your daddy is one big, huge exception. He's not put off by my little flaws. Unless of course mommy does something really stupid like turn my back on you in the park. Which is why we can't ever let daddy know about Tony pushing you on the swing, ok?"

Carly doesn't really hear Jason when he tells her these things. She continues to play on Jason's love for Michael to get what she wants, not recognizing that she isn't getting what she really wants. She's not getting Jason; she's not beating Robin. She's getting only another image of family for herself, one that will most certainly crumble at some point. At the same time, while it isn't unconditional romantic love that Jason has for her, I wonder sometimes if he'd ever turn his back on her, Michael or no Michael. That he'll be angry with her at some point for something seems unavoidable. I think, though, that there's something about her that he likes and needs, though maybe not in anything resembling romantic or sexual attraction. I suspect that it's the ways she's not like Robin that attract him, actually.

A.J.: "You ever think about that night at Jake's?"
Carly: "No. Never."
A.J.: "I do. You and I were rock bottom. I got to hand it to you, Carly, you--you have more bounce than anyone I know."
Carly: "And you are incredibly transparent. Why don't you just tell me what you want."
A.J.: "Maybe--maybe a little inspiration."
Carly: "Oh, yeah, you want inspiration from me?"
A.J.: "Yeah. That's right. You don't--you don't give up. You don't give in. Your back's against the wall, and you fight your way out. That is a quality that I really admire. I wish I had more of it. I managed to quit drinking, and after that, I froze. Here I am back at Quartermaine central--not exactly a fount of personal growth."

AJ lies, but he speaks the truth as well. Sure, he wants to buy Carly's trust, or at least her agreement to something. He knows what to say; she knows that he knows. At the same time, I think that he's attracted to her still, and for the reasons that he gives here. I was excited to see him acknowledge that he's fallen back into the Q family from where he once was, independent of them, and I actually hope that after the fallout from the paternity revelation calms down we could see these two forming some kind of relationship in the midst of or against the Qs.

Carly: "Jase, you always know when I'm lying, right?"
Jason: "Yeah, always."
Carly: "Ok. Then you should know when I'm being completely honest--which is right now--when I say that I want to help you. Ok? Whatever you need. You know, I can listen, or I can go."
Jason: "Moreno went after Johnny to see how I'd react. If I do nothing, I'm retired. If I strike back, that means I'm back in the business for good."
Carly: "And you want to fight back?"
Jason: "My priority is protecting Michael."
Carly: "Michael was always safe with you. Ok? I mean, look, Jason, you are who you are. You don't apologize. That's the one thing that we have in common--you can try and I can try, but we can't be somebody else."
Jason: "Who I am is Michael's father. My job is to keep him safe."
Carly: "There are lots of ways to be safe in the world and a million ways to get hurt--if your parents are unhappy, if you're raised by a frustrated dad. Whatever you want, ok, that's what I want."

Some people faulted Carly for this. They would say that she's not considering Michael's safety, or that she's ignoring the danger to grab for the power and money that the mob brings. I wouldn't disagree with either of those, but I would add to that the belief that she does see that Jason isn't happy, and that this isn't the life he would choose for himself.

Robin persistently asked Jason to get out of the business, even going so far as to ask Sonny to fire him. Carly asks him repeatedly to return to the business. I'm tempted to say that Carly sees Jason more clearly, or, rather, that Robin has her own image of family that she's trying to believe in despite reality. I will say that both women want him to make their choice for selfish reasons, while at the same time they want what's best for Jason. It's only luck that makes Carly's choice and her support of Jason seem right at this point, perhaps, but I do think that Robin never accepted that Jason could make his own choice about the mob. She wrote it off as loyalty to Sonny, rather than ever facing the fact that Jason was a criminal by choice, because he loved it. She wanted to love him and teach him out of that life, not realizing that he was past being taught by her. I believe all of that, but I also think it's a shame that Carly gets to seem right about Jason all the time these days and Robin gets only to seem selfish, blind, and wrong. It's a plot device, sure, and it all seems to be in character, both for good and for bad. It's sad, though, that Robin and Jason's relationship has to fall apart so completely as they face their problems while Carly gets to succeed by default, even if it's only for the time being.

Felicia: "Present?"
Jason: "Yeah, she gets cold."

I'd love to see more of Felicia and Carly. These scenes in the garage with the fur were hysterical.

Fuzzy: "Might I say, little mama, you are looking particularly fine tonight?"
Carly: "You may if you say it again louder."
Jason: "No, no, no. I don't need to hear it again."
Carly: "Well, then I guess you're excused."

Carly: "Oh, why is that?" Because, you know, you're over there hearing these fascinating travel facts from fuzzy. Meanwhile that guy's got his hands all over me. Or did you even notice?"
Jason: "Yeah, I noticed. But I thought that's where you wanted them since you put them right there."
Carly: "What's the use? You know what, I think I could strip and roll around in whipped cream and cherries, and you'd just stand at the door and hand out dessert spoons."
Jason: "What do you want me to do, Carly? Get mad?"
Carly: "Yes!"
Jason: "I mean, if you're with a guy, you want to get with him, who likes you, who's decent, why should that bother me? Just remember, you got in trouble here before."
Carly: "Yeah. And if history is going to repeat itself, why doesn't it repeat the night I got into trouble with you?"

Carly: "I can't eat this."
Jason: "Why?"
Carly: "I mean, it's just--it's so insulting. It's like you have no idea how to have an ex, ok? Granted, I'm your first, and it's not entirely your fault. So, I'm going to have mercy on you and I'm going to explain it. Ok?"
Jason: "Oh, great."
Carly: "Ok."
Jason: "Yeah."
Carly: "Ex-lovers 101. See, the thing is, Jason, when you've had a relationship with somebody, you--you feel certain things."
Jason: "Felt."
Carly: "Feel. In the present. Look, it's like you want the other person to be happy, and you want them to find somebody else, but--I don't know, there's part of you that--that can't help think about how it was, you know, and how it still could be if things were just slightly different. Anyway, the thing is, when you see me dancing with some other guy, what you're actually feeling is, you know, 'She should want to dance with me.'"
Jason: "Ok?"
Carly: "Ok, and I do. I mean, I do want to. You know, because I feel it, too."
Jason: "Feel what?"
Carly: "Uh--the second thing is, when you've had a relationship with someone, you always have an attraction to that person. Always. Just as a member of the opposite sex, you know. Unless, maybe, you know, if they got fat or old or gross or had a disease or something, which hasn't happened to you or me. Or has it--while I was locked up at Ferncliff being force-fed starch?"
Jason: "No, you look better than you did before."
Carly: "Thanks. Now let's dance."
Jason: "Uh-uh. Let's play some pool."
Carly: "Ok, listen--let's play pool, and if I win, we dance."
Jason: "Deal."
Carly: "You are a lot of hard work, you know that?"
Jason: "Yeah. Mm-hmm."

Carly: "Ah! That is the second time that you ran the table, ok?"
Jason: "Yeah. So how many games you want to lose?"
Carly: "How desperate are you, like, not to dance with me? Can I get a shot here? I mean, like, just one?"
Jason: "All right, look--this time you can break, ok? Carly, why don't you take that coat off."
Carly: "No. No. This is my--my good luck charm. I'm wearing it for luck, ok? Why? Is everybody, like, staring at me?"
Jason: "Well, they're looking over here for some reason."
Carly: "Uh-huh. I see. Well, how do I look?"
Jason: "Hot. I mean, is that jacket, like, warmer than a parka? Carly, I don't wear fur. How am I supposed to know?"
Carly: "Oh, God. You are hopeless."
Jason: "You know, let's just dance."
Carly: "No."
Jason: "Yeah."
Carly: "No. Because you don't want to. It's like a fate worse than death."
Jason: "I wouldn't mind that much."
Carly: "I'm not a charity case, ok, Jase? You're bound to lose a game eventually."
Jason: "Let's dance."
Carly: "No. Forget it. Ok! If you insist. Yeah, well, you better watch out because I'm hot, baby. I'm hotter than, like, a parka. Come here!"

Carly: "So--you going to answer me?"
Jason: "Carly."
Carly: "What?"
Jason: "You know the answer."
Carly: "I know what you think you're supposed to say. 'Thanks for the offer, Carly, but I'm saving myself for my beloved.' That's not what you want to say, Jason. Come on, you know it as much as I do. We were good together. Right? So let's go upstairs and be good together."

For all that Carly sees clearly about Jason, she fails to understand that Jason has progressed and learned just like Robin does. It cracked me up when she proceeded to teach him something, in this parodic version of past scenes with Jason and Robin. Actually, teach him something again, since she already taught him how to see the pages on the magazine. Her tone, in both scenes, was light, and she assumed that he would get it faster than he did--or, in this latter case, that he got it but didn't agree. Her scenes of teaching are somehow more positive, perhaps because they're conscious efforts on her part (for good or bad intentions), where Robin's are automatic. Robin teaches Jason without thinking. These scenes sparkled, though, even though she was destined to fail, and the lines about the parkas cracked me up. At the same time, she may not have gotten Jason to go upstairs with her, but I suspect that she didn't expect she would. She wanted, perhaps, only to remind him of how good they were together--without Robin. And maybe she did, in some small way.

Jason: "Carly, I love Robin. And besides, we would just start fighting right afterwards. You know, when we were having sex, you didn't like me that much except for when we were in bed."
Carly: "I liked you. I just hated it that you didn't like me."
Jason: "So you want to go, or you want to shoot another game?"
Carly: "I want another beer. I want to look at you, and I want to remember who you used to be before somebody convinced you that everything that was great about you was wrong."

Carly: "Thank you."
Jason: "For doing what you wanted me to do?"
Carly: "You're so irritating, you know. You never act like you're supposed to."
Jason: "You mean, the way you planned? Does anyone?"
Carly: "Yeah, actually, most people do. Look, I got Bobbie to like me. I got Tony to like me for longer than that. I even got Robin to think I was ok that first summer."
Jason: "And why is that?"
Carly: "I don't know. I wanted to know why you care about her so much, I guess. At the nurses ball, the look on your face when you carried her off the stage? I never forgot it. It was like--it was like she was the only person in the whole world. There was a room full of people there, but Robin was the only one you saw. I guess I never understood why you cared about her, you know, what she could have done to deserve that. I still don't."

Carly: "Ok, well, maybe I could accept you and Robin together if I understood why you guys were together. I mean, boggles my mind. You say that you love her --"
Jason: "Mm-hmm."
Carly: "But you never say why. And even, you know, the first summer, it was totally obvious that you had nothing in common, and now you have even less."
Jason: "Carly, Robin and I have a great life together. You know, most of what I know--all right. The words for what I feel are words she taught me. Ok, all right, let me explain a few things, ok? Now, I'm going to start with you. When we first started, what I liked--well, aside from the sex--was--yeah, ok--was that you didn't think there was anything wrong with me, ok? Now, I could tell sometimes you thought I was dumb or you said I was strange, ok, but you never looked at me and thought, 'Hey, this guy is brain damaged. I have to accept him for his limitations.' Right? Ok. Carly, with you, I could tell what it was like to be normal. Now, Sonny and Robin were different. They both knew I had an accident. They both knew I was damaged, but they never treated me that way. They didn't talk down to me. They didn't act like I was stupid. They waited for me to ask questions, and then they answered. Got it? Now, Sonny, ok? Sonny taught me the business. He taught me what things were worth dying for and what things weren't. He taught me what it was to be a friend and what it means to be a friend. Robin--she taught me to love. Carly, I met her on a bridge one night when I was totally alone, and I hated the world and everyone in it, and all I could feel was anger. And she was there. There she was. I saw her. She was crying. You know, I said something that made her smile, and then--that was it. We helped each other. We fell in love. You can't understand it because you weren't on that bridge."
Carly: "It's not that, Jason. Look, the guy that Robin fell in love with on the bridge, he doesn't exist--not anymore. And even if you don't know that, I do."

Jason: "You never hear anything but what you want to hear."
Carly: "All right, look--you were alone, and you hated everyone and everything, right? And Robin saved you. Ok. What do you need saving from now? What do you need explained to you? I mean, it's obvious that Robin thinks she's your teacher. It comes off every time she tells you what to do and orders you around. Look, maybe she used to tell you the words for how you felt, but, Jason, now she tells you what to feel."
Jason: "You're the one telling me I'm miserable."
Carly: "You're the one who's miserable. I'm just telling you. Look, I understand why you can't admit it. It's all right. I mean, you are the most loyal person I've ever met. And that's why I'm going to tell you this. Jason, Robin does not love you. She doesn't. She just loves who you used to be. So for her sake, you're faking it, and it's not working, and Robin knows that, and that's why she left."
Jason: "Come on, come on. Carly, I thought you said she left to punish me."
Carly: "That, too."
Jason: "Oh, ok. So, basically, Robin leaves for reasons that make her look bad and Carly look good."
Carly: "I'm serious, ok?"
Jason: "Yeah, so am I. You don't have to do this. Me loving Robin isn't going to change anything I do for you or Michael."
Carly: "Why can't you just understand that I want you to be happy?"
Jason: "Why can't you understand that I am happy?"
Carly: "Because I happen to know that I can make you a whole lot happier. You got some money?"
Jason: "What do you need?"
Carly: "20 bucks. One more game. I break. You win, you get to keep your 20. I win, we go to bed together."
Jason: "If you win, you get to keep the 20."
Carly: "Fine. Suit yourself. At least you know what you're missing."

Jason: "You know, Carly said that tonight. Yeah, she was--she was talking about the Nurses' Ball, when I carried you offstage. She said I looked at you like you were the only person in the world. You were then. You and Sonny were real to me. Everybody else was just noise."
Robin: "How did my name come up?"
Jason: "She didn't know why we were together. And I've been trying to explain, but, you know, that's pointless. You know, I can--I can tell someone that I met you on a bridge. And I can name everything you ever taught me. And I could say, "I love you." It's just words, Robin. No one knows what it means to me except for you, because you taught me what love was. I missed you the whole time you were gone."
Jason: "Uh--I haven't been able to fix things with Carly and Michael the way I thought I could. Now, if that means you have to leave, I'll hate it, but I'll understand."
Robin: "Whoo. I don't--I don't know why I ever leave you. I mean, it never fixes anything. I never love you any less or think of you any less. And no problem ever got solved from me running away from it. I do not like living with Carly, but I think that I can stand it for a while longer, if that's what you need."
Jason: "Thank you."

Robin: "So what happened while I was gone? Besides Carly spraining her ankle, redecorating my house, and conning you into buying her a fur coat. I swear, I will never understand your relationship. As far as I can tell, she sees you as nothing more than a blank check."
Jason: "Yeah. Well, she likes to buy things. Don't ask me why. It's not like I don't have enough money, so why shouldn't I just let her buy what she wants?"
Robin: "Well, I could give you a million reasons why. But since they would only matter to me, there's really no point."
Jason: "Do you want a fur coat?"
Robin: "No. Well, maybe I should let you buy me one anyway just to drive her crazy. I'd have to hide it from Felicia, though. She's anti-fur."
Jason: "I thought she was anti-Carly."

These successive conversations about Jason's relationship with Robin were intriguing to me. Yes, Carly sees their relationship in a certain negative way because she wants the chance to do better. She's also jealous, and has been since she realized that Jason had "chosen" Robin over her. She glosses over other facts from that time (which Jason remembers, crack me up), to get to the scene she remembers most. Tellingly, it is the scene of Jason carrying Robin from the Nurses' Ball. Not only does that moment have the loyalty and love that Carly wants, it's also a moment of spectacle--of all approving eyes (at least in Carly's mind) on Jason and Robin. Ironically, that's what Carly can never have, I think. She's too much of a fighter--too strong and cocky to ever be vulnerable enough for Jason to carry her off any stage. She's jealous of Robin not only because Jason loves her, but also because Robin is who Carly would like to be, at least part of the time. That is the primary reason, I think, that Carly dislikes Robin so much.

Notable too is that the scene is one where Jason "saved" Robin. His definition of their love is that they help each other. That was true then, but it's become less and less true with the addition of Michael into Jason's life. Before Michael, Jason had work in one sphere and Robin the other; it was easy for him to make her his number one priority in the part of his life that she saw. That's not to say that work wasn't an equal priority for him even then; I think it was, and I think that's the reason she left him and went to Paris. He wouldn't choose her over work--wouldn't give up work for her. She could backtrack on that one, because she didn't have to share her private life with his work, even with all the bodyguards, etc. With Michael, however, Jason's attention was split, and she had to realize that she wasn't his main priority--perhaps had never been, for all their protestations of love. Jason could compartmentalize then, and now he can't. Also, he has a new "teacher" in Michael. He's realized that he can feel things and learn things and make sense of things without her, and with the help of other people (Carly, Bobbie), in the private life that once belonged only to her. Finally, I think it's important that he told Carly of the trouble with Moreno before Robin, both because she's Michael's mother and because he's not trying to protect her emotions and keep her from leaving. That he didn't tell Robin says to me that they're communicating and that she's not his priority, even though he still loves her.

Jason loves Robin. Robin loves Jason. That love, however, happened when they were both different people, and at the same time happened when they could label things in easy categories, I think. Michael changed all that. He changed Jason. And Robin's left wishing for a time that's gone, but she can't see that yet.

Robin can't bear to leave Jason again because she's lost too many people in her life. Because of that, she's putting up with things and hiding things and holding opinions that she would never have held in months past. She's bending as much as she can so that she doesn't lose Jason, but in the next month she would come to the point where she would choose either to break or to stop bending. While we've been left to read that into the writing a little too much (the repetition of cat-fights in the cottage makes it easy to assume that the writers have simply made the complex characters into types), the story of survivor guilt and of a woman trying desperately not to lose somebody else that she loves is a moving one, finally, here as we approach the end. Again, the ending is good stuff. I only wish the middle part could have been as strong.

For now, she continued to blame everything bad in her life on Carly, thus giving Carly the power over her life that she wouldn't have had otherwise.

Carly: "Look, I'm trying not to panic here, but this place is so vulnerable."
Robin: "Look, I'm going to the hospital. Listen to Johnny and do whatever he says."
Carly: "Is Mac going to be ok?"

Some were amazed that Carly asked about Mac's condition. Perhaps Robin was too. I took it at a sign that if these two could ever focus on something outside their own conflict, they might each see that the other wasn't an angel of darkness. These are not bad people. We know that about Robin; we've seen it time and time again. Carly isn't a bad person either, I believe, despite the number of times people tell me I'm wrong. *G* We've had precious little evidence of that in recent weeks, however, because of this repetitious cottage-sniping, but I was pleased to see it here, when it definitely counted.

The other thing of interest here was that Carly, for all her talk about being suited for and happy in mob life (and I actually think that she'd be a good mob moll, myself), it was Robin who knew what to do and how to stay cool. It's sad to think what she's had to learn to deal with over the years.

Jason: "Ok, good, good. Carly, now, you have to listen to me, ok? You have to stay cool. You have to. That's what I need from you. No panicking, no flipping out. You and Michael will be fine until I get back. He needs you to be solid. You can lose it all you want when I get home."
Carly: "Trust me, I plan to lose it big time--bigger than you've ever seen--but not until you're standing in front of me."

People also tell me that Carly only uses Jason for his money, only wants him for sex or what he can do for her, or that she would never care about him if he weren't powerful and rich. I've never bought that, because she liked and wanted Jason way before he was rich or powerful. This is the best friend she's ever had, and she depends on him, especially for the safety of her son. She is strong; she just doesn't know it. So she needs Jason to help her feel strong.

Carly: "All right. Are we going to where Sonny is?"
Jason: "No. But we can't stay here. It's not safe. So we're moving back to the penthouse."
Carly: "Well, it's about time."

Jason: "Carly, things are going to change. And you need to know how because it affects you and it affects Michael. Sonny has to come back to Port Charles. He needs to be around people who get him. He needs work that he knows how to do."
Carly: ""work"? You mean the work you used to do?"
Jason: "How it will fall out, I don't know exactly, but, yeah, I'll be helping. There's nobody else to help, and I'm the reason there's nobody else."
Carly: "And you love him--like a brother, I mean. Ok, so, whatever you need done, I'll do."
Jason: "You know, we're going to have bodyguards, and this means bulletproof glass again."
Carly: "Yeah. Did I ever complain about having somebody carry my shopping bag? Look, I know the drill, ok? I'll be fine."
Jason: "Thank you. You're good in a crisis."
Carly: "When I'm not causing one. Now, go. I have things to do. Do your suits need dry-cleaning or--never mind. I'll take care of it. Go. Leticia? We're going home!"

Once again, Carly hears only what she wants to hear. She was very excited to be going back to the penthouse, of course. She wasn't thinking, though, about what Sonny's return would really mean for her life. It amused me (while perhaps it should have angered me) that Jason would move out of the penthouse again because of Sonny more quickly than he ever moved out for Robin, and that Carly assumed she was going "home" to stay, not understanding that this was Sonny's penthouse and he wouldn't want her there. I looked forward to that meeting, and was not to be disappointed.

Jason: "I have a lot to tell you. I've had to make some decisions."
Robin: "I thought you might."

Jason: "When he comes home, he'll need me. I'm all that's left of what life he walked away from."
Robin: "I wish--hmm. I guess it doesn't matter what I wish. We need a solution, and this is the best one."

Jason: "Yeah. She likes the penthouse. But I can't see her and Sonny getting along as roommates. Can you?"
Robin: "I guess every cloud does have a silver lining."

Perhaps Robin accepted this because she knew they were nearing the end. The moment she stopped believing that they could escape mob life and could live in that cottage was the moment she started her long hard look at reality. She wasn't ready to see the full picture yet, but she would as the month ended and January began. It would be a hard New Year for Robin, but at least her story was coming together finally--sadly, it was to be just as it ended.