Jax and Chloe, Ned and Alexis

The Quartermaines

Sonny and Carly

Roy and Hannah

The Scorpios

The Cassadines

The Spencers

Elizabeth Webber

Jax and Chloe, Ned and Alexis:

• Though Tony says that Chloe needs to stay in the hospital for a few more days, Jax, Edward, Ned, and Alexis are all just as happy as Chloe about her regaining her sight. She sends Ned and Alexis away to celebrate outside of the hospital as Jax remains with her. He brings her a bouquet of flowers in every color so she can see them. (3/1)
• Alexis is helping Chloe, who is thrilled to be going home. Chloe notices Alexis's ring, and Alexis explains it's a symbol of their love--not an engagement ring. Jax and Chloe plan to spend the night together, and send Ned and Alexis away. Chloe takes her final cat scan, and Jax tells her that he's planned an evening for them in the park, just like they imagined. Before they can leave, Tony brings more bad news. (3/6)
• Tony tells Chloe that she has a brain tumor. Chloe tries to remain positive, and tells Jax that she is going to live her life as fully as she can. (3/7)
• Meanwhile, Ned tells Edward that he will not return to ELQ. (3/7)
• While Ned and Chloe share lunch at Kelly's, Jax and Alexis admit to John and Lady Jane that they were never really married, that it was part of a scheme. They take the news very well, and assure Alexis that she will always be a part of the Jacks family. But when his parents hear that Chloe may have a terminal illness, Jane asks Alexis to support Jax. Jax, however, will not admit that Chloe could die from her condition. (3/10)
• After meeting with Stefan and agreeing to cover for him while he's out of town looking for Lucky, Alexis meets Ned back at her hotel room. He says that he's tempted to step in and help at ELQ, but he's standing firm. Alexis has to admit that she's helping Stefan because Lucky is alive. Though Ned's doubtful, he doesn't protest too much. When he then notices that she's taken off Jax's wedding ring, he asks her if she wants to move the ring he gave her to her left hand. She agrees, and they agree consider themselves engaged. (3/14)
• Jax becomes angry when he overhears his mother trying to convince Chloe that it would be for the best if she left Jax. Chloe says that she agrees, but Jax refuses to let her go, despite the risk of losing her to her illness or the prospect of hard times ahead. (3/16)
• Tony says that he has the results of Chloe's biopsy. (3/17)
• The news is fairly good; Chloe won't die. Tony says that medication will be the best way to begin to try to save her sight, and Jax and Chloe reassure themselves that they can fight this thing and win. But there are side effects, and Chloe later has a terrible nightmare later about her hit and run. (3/20)
• After Ned has a run-in with AJ, he checks in with Alexis. He's worried about AJ but is trying to stay out of things; she's worried because Stefan has left town even though Mac told him not to. They clash over Sonny, but get the news from Chloe and are happy to hear that there's hope. (3/20)
• Chloe tells Jax about her dream. Later, he asks her to move in with him at the penthouse. (3/21)
• L&B's not pulling any money in, and Chloe's losing clients, probably thanks to Aunt Gertrude. Alexis and Nikolas tell Ned that he should revive Eddie Maine to make some money for L&B. He refuses. (3/22)
• Chloe moves in, and Alexis comes bearing divorce papers. Alexis has doubts about his plan to move in with Chloe, and talks to Jax about them. He tells her that he loves Chloe and wants to be with her. (3/23)
• The mixed marrieds share one last evening as husbands and wives. Alexis talks to Jax about her fear of commitment, while Ned and Chloe have dinner. They run into Tony and, unfortunately, AJ. (3/28)
• Alexis and Chloe prepare for Chloe to get some work done during the current fashion season; they're determined to save L&B. Jax blows up on the phone over a business deal and goes for a run, and Alexis and Chloe talk about how Chloe should deal with him. Meanwhile, Ned tells Emily and Juan that L&B has no money with which to support new talent. Nikolas suggests that Eddie Maine come back to bail out L&B, but Ned refuses. Later, Alexis tells Ned that she's worried they'll screw this up, while Jax comes back to the penthouse and Chloe. (3/29)
• Jax and Ned surprise Chloe with the news that they've set up somebody to raid her company away from Gertrude; she'll be able to design under her own name now. Chloe takes her medication and a nap while Jax goes out on business. She has a nightmare about a music box in the middle of a jungle. (3/30)

I. Good to See You (3/1)

Chloe: "Even this hospital room looks beautiful to me."
Ned: "I guess the painkillers are kicking in."

II. There's a Bard in My Bed (3/1)

Alexis: "Oh, my god. There's a bard in my bed."
Ned: "I was just thinking what a long, strange trip it's been."
Alexis: "That's not Shakespeare."

Alexis: "Honey? How many metaphors are you going to mix?"
Ned: "I thought you liked a man who could mix his metaphors."
Alexis: "Among other things."

Alexis: "You know, when Chloe married you, I said that we were all in this to win."
Ned: "And we did."
Alexis: "Just not the way we thought."

Alexis: "I think it's very unnerving that it's not just me anymore. I mean, now it's me and it's you."
Ned: "Is that a bad thing?"
Alexis: "And I said it was unnerving."
Ned: "Oh. Well, how do you think I feel?"
Alexis: "I don't know. I think you feel pretty good."
Ned: "Oh, you do, do you? I like how you feel, too."

III. The String of Bad News Continues (3/6, 3/7)

Chloe: "This looks a lot like an engagement ring."
Alexis: "Really?"
Chloe: "Mm-hmm."
Alexis: "Well, it's not an engagement ring. What it is is a symbol of how much Ned and I love each other."
Chloe: "So it's really more of a commitment ring."
Alexis: "I don't know that I would use the word 'commitment.' I--well, we can't because we're married to other people, and Ned is as adamant about not divorcing you."

Chloe: "Oh, please not more chocolate. I mean, I love it, but I'm going to get out of here and weigh 1,000 pounds."
Ned: "Which is why I brought you grapes."

I did enjoy the riff with the grapes, Jax's mouth being full as Chloe instructed him not to eat them all.

Jax: "Whew. One way to get rid of them."
Chloe: "I feel kind of guilty. The poor things are terrified."
Jax: "Of what?"
Chloe: "Commitment. I mean, I can't blame them. It is pretty scary."
Jax: "Not always."

Chloe: "I don't believe this."
Jax: "Not what you expected?"
Chloe: "That night we imagined ourselves dancing in the park--this is the dress that I pictured."
Jax: "It's a little chilly out there, but right now as we speak, a very nice man by the name of Mr. Foxwood is setting up heaters in the park. And he assured me that we can pretty much dance out there all night and not get cold."
Chloe: "I have to warn you."
Jax: "What?"
Chloe: "I pictured you in a tuxedo in my dream."
Jax: "It's taken care of."
Chloe: "You think of everything."
Jax: "Well, you inspire me. You inspire me."

And on the next day:

Chloe: "Bad news, as in there's some slight delay and I won't be going home tonight after all?"

Tony: "We think it may be a tumor."

Tony: "A biopsy is just a test to clarify what we're dealing with. This could be a cyst, you know, a benign mass. What I'm concerned about is if the reason that we didn't see it two weeks ago was because it didn't exist, that means it's growing fast."

Jax: "I'll do anything in my power if you need it. You know that, don't you?"
Chloe: "I don't want to think about the 'what ifs.' I just want to live in the moment and appreciate everything I have."
Jax: "Well, I intend to live a full life with you for a very, very long time. Nothing's going to happen to you, Chloe. Ok?"

Arda: "The show's been great. With the exception of the sappy Chloe/Jax stuff. So now she might have a brain tumor. I still don't give a shit."

Terry: "Me, neither. But I keep wondering why not. I really liked Chloe when she first came on, and saw this as a chance to jumpstart Jax, too. Now they just annoy the shit out of me. And when I stop to think about it, I can't figure why Ned and Alexis would be so palsy-walsy with Chloe and Jax, either. They seem more like loners in their natural states."

Amy: "But we were immediately asked to cheer for her against Aunt Gertrude. And though Ned, Alexis, and Jax told us she was wonderful, we weren't really shown that. Potential, yes, but we have no reason to be attached to her. Not really. Or at least I don't. And now she's just a victim--of Helena, of Gertrude, of chance, etc. And when, instead of lashing out at Gertrude, she preached the gospel of blindness and love, I just wretched."

Arda: "Even if we were shown how nice she is, I'd still find her utterly boring. The problem with Chloe is that she's only nice. She has no other dimension that I can think of. And yes, that scene about blindness and love was just dreadful. That's when I decided I liked Gertrude better. (Not that Gertrude is well developed. But 'bad' people make you want to know why they're bad. Nice people are just boring.)"

Amy: "Agreed. We've lost the businesswoman side of her completely. We only saw it, kind of, in that very first scene with Felicia. Since then, she's had to learn to wrangle and be tough from Jax, which I didn't buy at all."

"It doesn't help that we should have had complications in this storyline, that we should have had some race up to the last minutes of the must-be-a-year marriage to beat Gertrude, etc. Maybe the whole ending is just too much sweetness and light. But I found myself hoping that she would just stay unconscious for a little while."

Arda: "Crack me up! The ending was just too anticlimactic. The mixed marrieds have been supposedly battling Aunt Gertrude for a year. So we get a bunch of scenes of them being almost caught and a bunch of scenes of the agony of being separated from the one you love and then they all just give up and turn the company over to Gertrude. Sure, it could happen that Aunt Gertrude would catch Jax and Chloe in real life--assuming in real life you'd have something like Uncle Herbert's will and the mixed marrieds--but the writers shouldn't have allowed it to happen as it did."

Amy: "When Jax said, 'You won't have it for long because I'm a corporate
raider,' I really wondered why they didn't just let her take it earlier, when the deadline for marrying was up, and then have Jax and Ned take it back."

Arda: "I'm reading an excellent book by Robert McKee (I think that's his name--not sure) about the art of screenwriting called simply Story. In it he states that the conclusion of a story should be such that the audience feels it's the only inevitable conclusion. I think it's a valid argument and at least part of the reason we feel disenchanted. Just the fact that we discuss alternative conclusions indicates that the story we were told was not satisfying."

Amy: "Which of course is about more than the conclusion. It's about everything before then leading up to the conclusion. At the same time, we've been complaining about Guza limiting the possibilities too much. The trouble is, he's not guiding us towards a feeling of 'this is the only conclusion,' he's just getting rid of the better scenarios we can think up. *g*"

"And Jax and Chloe are not only completely isolated now from any plot point for anybody else--and really from any other characters, when you think of it--the tone and themes of their story doesn't match anything else on the screen, which is all about families coming apart and coming together. Blech."

Joan: "Double blech. How considerate of GH to give Chloe the kind of tumor that old Hollywood movie stars used to get. No surgery, no unsightly bandages, minimal symptoms to interfere with Jax's overly attentive attentions. What I wouldn't give to have her back in that coma."

IV. Lunch with Ned (3/10)

Ned: "All right, if you don't take at least one bite of this cake, I'm going to start worrying about you."

Ned: "When you get scared, I want you to stay focused on the good things in your life. Don't even think about the future. Don't think about losing it. Just stay in the moment and enjoy what you have right now."
Chloe: "Words of wisdom. I do want to savor every minute and live life to the fullest while I still have a chance."
Ned: "In that case, what would you like to do next?"
Chloe: "Um--go for a drive."
Ned: "Perfect."

From Terry's ratsa update for this episode: "Kelly's: Two musketeers are at Kelly's, Ned having sprung Chloe from the hospital early. Chloe is sunny in a yellow turtleneck, Ned adorable in a v-neck sweater with no shirt beneath. Chloe's test results are due in a few days."

"When we return, Ned & Chloe are still drinking coffee. He advises her to 'stay in the moment' and to 'savor life' while she can. It was not a well-written scene, to tell you the truth. Pedestrian sentiments, no subtext or cleverness. They head out of the diner, passing Mike on his way in."

V. Breaking it to the In-Laws (3/10)

Jax: "This is it, right?"
Alexis: "Ah, no, I've got a couple more bags back there."
Jax: "You're kidding."
Alexis: "I know, it's hard to believe, isn't it, that I don't have more things? I tried to keep my clutter down to a minimum for our marriage."
Jax: "You know, Alexis, you're a wonderful woman and you've been a terrific wife, but in the eight months that we've been married, you've acquired 10 years worth of clutter."
Alexis: "You're going to miss me when I'm gone, big guy."

John: "Oh, looks like you're going on a trip as well, hmm?"
Alexis: "Actually, I'm moving out."
Jane: "Oh, nonsense. I don't believe it."
John: "You're breaking up? Why?"
Jax: "Dad, Alexis and I, we were never really together to begin with. Our marriage was a fraud."

From Terry's update: "Jax's apartment: Alexis is moving out; a huge collection of luggage is parked in the living room. Mention is made of their 8 months of marriage, causing the updater to bemoan once again the abrupt end to this mixed marrieds storyline. Why not hold out until the end of the summer and have a clock-is-ticking-will-they-fool-Gertrude ending? Alexis looks fabulous in a black pantsuit with a long jacket."

"There's a knock on the door--it's not the expected bellboy but the senior Jackses, who have dropped in on their way to Europe. OOPS. Alexis tells them she's moving out and Jax breaks the news that the marriage was a sham."

Alexis: "I'm sorry if I disappointed you."
John: "Disappointed? Actually, I'm in awe."
Jane: "And touched--that you would actually stay married for our sake? Although, I must admit I think the two of you did take family devotion a bit too far."

John: "We're flattered our happiness means so much to Jax, but what we're really upset about is missing your wedding."
Jane: "Oh, I would have paid good money to see the look on your face when you realized that you had to marry Jax."

Alexis: "But it had an excellent fringe benefit because I got temporary membership into the Jax family."
John: "Ah, ah, ah, don't consider it temporary, my dear."
Jane: "Whatever happens, dear, you will always have a place in our hearts."
Alexis: "And yours in mine."

Jax: "Chloe Morgan for me. I'm sure that you will like her better when you get to know her."
Jane: "Well, we can certainly try."

Jax: "There are other complications. So I'm going to need your support just as much as Chloe needs mine. Please don't make me have to fight you for it."

Terry's update continues: "Jax and Alexis tell the Jacks the whole story and rather than being upset, his parents are amused. Jax tells them his true love is Chloe, and they are less pleased, but he tells them she needs their support."

John: "I don't think you do, son. It's true your mother and I weren't crazy about Chloe, but we didn't really know her well. You say you love her. That's good enough for me. We'll do whatever it takes to help you both."

Jane: "Your marriage may not have been real, but you've helped him."
Alexis: "We've helped each other."
Jane: "Well, I'm sure you did, but Jax is going to need your support now as well as ours. You will stand by him, won't you?"
Alexis: "Of course I will. He may not have been my husband in the--well, in every sense of the word, but he is my truest friend."
Jane: "Phony marriage or not, you are everything a mother would want in a daughter-in-law."

Terry's update: "Jax is talking about biopsies and loving Chloe. He and his dad move out to the hall to talk and Alexis tells his mom that Jax is her truest friend."

I loved Alexis's response to Lady Jane's words. She put both hands to her heart, looking very touched, and hugged her ex-mother-in-law.

Chloe: "Miss me?"
Jax: "Was I supposed to?"
Alexis: "He was worried sick about you."

Jax: "Ok, well, next time you decide to kidnap Chloe, would you let me know about it?"
Ned: "Don't you ever check your voice mail?"
Alexis: "He was very distracted and I think maybe a little depressed about me moving out. But I am looking for a volunteer to take me out on a date."
Ned: "I'll volunteer."

Alexis: "So you think you can manage here without me?"
Jax: "Well, it'll be difficult, but we'll manage."
Alexis: "That was a very diplomatic answer."

Chloe: "Well, you're smiling. I thought that would break their hearts."
Jax: "So did I. But not only were they happy, they congratulated us, Alexis and I, on our ingenuity."
Chloe: "That's great. Really?"
Jax: "I take it as a sign that the worst doesn't always have to happen. And things work out."

Like Felicia raising her hand as she volunteered to sit with Luke on the park bench some time ago, Ned raised his hand to volunteer for dating duty. Cute! Alexis took it. I noticed in these scenes early in the month that the mixed marrieds were still very chummy--slapping backs, kissing, hugging--and I wondered how long they would remain "best friends for ever." Chloe and Jax would become more isolated, even from Ned and Alexis, in the weeks ahead.

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