Jax and Chloe, Ned and Alexis: (cont.)

Chloe: "Ok, I don't understand. You go to enormous lengths to import strudel from Stuttgart, but you won't boil water in your own kitchen."
Jax: "What can I say. I have a mental block against cooking."

Chloe: "Hey, and--ooh--what's with all the microwave popcorn?"
Jax: "Oh."
Chloe: "It looks like you won a year's supply on a game show."

Alexis: "I just needed you to look over these documents."
Jax: "What are they?"
Alexis: "A reminder that I don't live here anymore."

Alexis: "It's really straightforward. I'm not going to be bitter about it. No property--just the microwave. No alimony--just the popcorn. And all you have to do is file."
Jax: "Out of the question."
Alexis: "All right, just the popcorn."
Jax: "You can have the microwave as well. I'm just not going to sign these papers unless you file it against me."

Alexis: "You know that I have your best interests at heart."
Jax: "Of course."
Alexis: "So if I give you my opinion or I just make a little observation--"
Jax: "Alexis. Please."
Alexis: "I know that you want to help Chloe through this medical crisis. But don't you think you're moving her in here a little too quickly?"

Jax: "Because it sounds like you've been talking to my mother."
Alexis: "I have. Does that bother you?"
Jax: "Well, I'm not thrilled about it."

Alexis: "Can we start this conversation over? I'm not comfortable with where it's headed."
Jax: "I would rather not even have this conversation."
Alexis: "I think it's important."
Jax: "Ok, go ahead."

Alexis: "I have some concerns of my own."
Jax: "Are you sure I need to hear them?"
Alexis: "Yes, I am because I don't want anything said or not said between us to ever stand between us."
Jax: "Well, neither do I."
Alexis: "Our marriage may not be real, but our friendship sure is. And I know you, Jax. I know how you care about people. I know how much you love people. I know how deeply you love them. And then when something goes wrong--and they do--i.e. Brenda, your father, jerry--you take it all on yourself, and you suffer. You've been suffering for a long time, and now you're suffering. You're suffering with Chloe. And I care about Chloe. She's a good friend of mine, and I want what's best for her. But you count, too. And I'm worried that if you don't take time to refuel, there'll be nothing left. So if Chloe moves in here--"
Jax: "Chloe's here."
Alexis: "It's just so quick."
Jax: "Alexis, she's here. That's a given. Ok, she needs me. I'm not going to turn my back on her."
Alexis: "I'm not asking you to. I'm just asking you to pay attention to your own health and your own happiness."
Jax: "Being with Chloe is taking care of me. The thought of leaving her doesn't even enter my mind."
Alexis: "Ok. So I wasted my breath."
Jax: "No, Alexis, you didn't--no, I--it's very nice that you worry about me. I mean--"
Alexis: "What do you expect? I mean, I may be on my way out as your wife, but I plan to be your friend forever."
Jax: "Same here."

Alexis: "I'm going to miss this place."
Jax: "What, the furniture? The great view? My bad habit of ordering food all hours of the night?"
Alexis: "I'm going to miss you."
Jax: "Oh."

Jax: "So, are you ready for the real thing?"
Alexis: "What? Oh, me? Marriage? Not yet. But I am much closer to getting there because of you. Now it isn't as constricting, as suffocating, as terrifying as it was before."
Jax: "So now all you have to do is get rid of Ned somehow and find someone who deserves you. You know I'm all for it."
Alexis: "I couldn't have done any of this without you, you know."
Jax: "And I couldn't have done it without you more, so thank you."
Alexis: "You're not going to get any more microwave popcorn, you know."
Jax: "Well, how can I? I mean, you're taking it all, right?"

Alexis: "Good-bye, husband."
Jax: "Good-bye, wife."

Alexis comes down the stairs just as Jax and Chloe did earlier in the episode. He takes her hand on "I'm all for it," and she pauses for a moment. She says goodbye when she gets to the door, kissing her finger afterwards. Outside the door she pauses again, teary-eyed. Jax looks at his wedding ring and puts it in his shirt pocket, going the same stairs. Later, when Chloe returned, he'd toss it to her, and I was struck by the difference between that gesture and 1) Alexis's delay in taking hers off and 2) Chloe's insistence that Ned keep his wedding ring as a momento, and his agreement. It seemed flippant, and I didn't really like it.

Jax: "Hi."
Chloe: "Hi."

Chloe: "Hmm, Jasper Jacks back in on the market? It'll be the talk of the ladies' room all over the world."
Jax: "What, are you nervous or jealous?"
Chloe: "Do I have reason to be either?"
Jax: "No, my bachelorhood will be breathtakingly short. Actually, I plan to set a record for going straight from a marriage to another committed relationship."

Jax: "What's that?"
Chloe: "Oh. This is why I had to go back to my suite. My mother gave me this when my father left us and we had to sell our house. She told me to put it wherever I moved and it would make it my home."
Jax: "You are home, Chloe."

Meanwhile, that china shepherdess was too Little House on the Prairie (no offense to Ma; it worked for her) for words, and a too-contrived replacement for the Brenda ship that used to sit on the mantle. And Chloe's little squeal after his last line above seemed a weird choice.

Terry: "Ack! The leg wrap is back. Jax grabbed Chloe's leg and pulled her up into the Brenda leg wrap position. Since this couple has already displayed a preference for fooling around on the couch instead of in a bed, I should have known it was only a matter of time. Later in the same episode, Chloe straddled him on the couch, just before Alexis walked in. Let's see, we've already seen Chloe in silly braids. So, I guess that just leaves the squeal of delight when receiving a present to complete the transformation."

Amy: "Well, we've certainly been down the, 'I could be seriously ill, so why don't you leave me' 'No I won't' trail before. I swore some of that was the same dialogue from when Brenda thought she might end up with degenerative brain disorder or whatever it was."

Terry: "Also, Alexis's red pantsuit blended nicely with the flowers and decor at Jax's, but Chloe's lime green sweater set clashed. Make of that what you will. And, no, I'm not a 'Jaxis' fan--I love Alexis with Ned."

XIII. One Last Night as Husbands and Wives (3/27)

Chloe: "Ooh. If medication has to be taken, it should be taken like this. Although, pills always get stuck in my throat. It doesn't matter how small they are. They just get stuck right there."

Jax: "Ah. That would be your husband. You know, explain to me again why you're having--why you're having dinner with him and not me."
Ned: "Because she has taste."

Ned: "Alexis brought the papers for our divorce."
Chloe: "Oh, but I liked being married to you."
Ned: "Hmm."
Jax: "Well, one out of five's not bad."

Ned: "So, Chloe, I'm thinking that you should be the one to file for divorce."
Chloe: "Why? I was the one caught in the arms of another man."
Ned: "Only because my cheating ways drove you there."

Jax: "Wow. So, shall I order up something from the grill?"
Alexis: "Actually, what I'd really like to do is cook for you. Just one last time."

Arda: "This woman drives me crazy! My son was home sick most of last week, and he watched GH with me a couple of days. There was one scene where Chloe is talking about taking a pill and how she's worried about swallowing it. Knowing how I feel about Chloe, he said 'Don't you wish she'd just choke on it?' Crack me up! And then we have to sit through her bad dreams. The woman is a bad dream herself."

Amy: "I have realized that I do have something very fundamentally in common with Carly. I don't like most women. And in this week, Chloe, Emily, Hannah, and Elizabeth all pissed me off royally. Hannah: 'Tell Bobbie the truth, Dad.' 'Dad, you told Bobbie the truth?!' Emily: 'Juan, I want you to be a singer.' 'That girl was looking at Juan!!' Etc."

Tony: "Well, I'll let you two get back to--well, I mean, I don't really know--"
Chloe: "We'll, we're--we're getting a divorce."
Tony: "Oh, well--uh--ok."

Chloe: "You know, growing up, I never intended to have a failed marriage."
Ned: "Hmm. Ours was doomed from the start. But it was an adventure, wasn't it?"

Ned: "Our grand plan definitely looks like a disaster on paper. But I did learn just how much I love Alexis, so--"
Chloe: "And I did have a chance to fall in love with Jax. If you knew in Vegas what you know now, would you do it again?"
Ned: "In a heartbeat. Except the part where the driver who hit you may have been Helena mistaking you for Alexis. That part I could do without."
Chloe: "Yeah."
Ned: "But apart from that, I wouldn't trade a minute of it for what we had."

Jax: "You know, I've got to admit--no one does microwave popcorn like you. Ned is getting a wonderful woman."
Alexis: "What do you mean, getting me?"
Jax: "That's not an engagement ring?"
Alexis: "No."
Jax: "It's on your left ring finger."
Alexis: "Shoot."
Jax: "So are you sure it's not an engagement ring?"
Alexis: "It's a commitment ring."
Jax: "Oh, it's a commitment ring."
Alexis: "That's right."
Jax: "Oh. So, you and Ned have no plans of getting married?"
Alexis: "Actually, I was wondering if anyone else was thinking that maybe we should just stay married to the people we're married to."

Jax: "Ok, what's Ned done now?"

Alexis: "You know that she would alienate any judge that heard her case because she is, quite frankly, very annoying. Do you see where I'm going here?"
Jax: "Mm-hmm."
Alexis: "Chloe's clients are panicking because they're worried about her health, and L&B is in no position to stem the problem. So if we save Chloe's company--"
Jax: "Alexis--"
Alexis: "It'll benefit L&B."
Jax: "Ok, what is this really about?"
Alexis: "This is about business. It's strictly business."
Jax: "Because, you know, Lady Jane is only a phone call away. If you want to go hiking until you spill, I can certainly--"
Alexis: "I am spilling. I'm telling you I hate to lose, and we have failed. We have set out to do something that we did not achieve."
Jax: "You know, another upshot of these mixed marriages is that I got to know my wife fairly well. So I have all night."
Alexis: "Before all this craziness, Ned and I were very serious about each other, but we didn't have any expectations. And now, after everything that we've been through in the past year, we realize how much we love each other."
Jax: "Ok. So that's a good thing, right?"
Alexis: "Knowing that my happiness is dependant on someone else terrifies me."
Jax: "Oh."
Alexis: "Oh."

Chloe: "Hey, Ned, I appreciate your offer to play the rogue, but there's got to be a way that neither of us looks bad."
Ned: "Looks pretty straightforward. Looks like the only thing we have to do is divide our property, which is pretty much the wedding presents."
Chloe: "Well, I insist that you take that sculpture thing that Amanda Barrington gave us."
Ned: "No, thanks. No, I know how attached you are to that swan. I'll never forget your expression when you first laid eyes on it."
Chloe: "It was a swan?"
Ned: "Mm-hmm."
Chloe: "Are you sure? I thought it was a giraffe."
Ned: "It has two legs."
Chloe: "I thought it was kneeling."
Ned: "You know, maybe we should just hold off on the dividing of property with this divorce."
A.J.: "Did I just hear the magic d word? What a coincidence. I just found out mine just came though, too. I think we should celebrate."

Jax: "Love is terrifying, ok? You have to learn to trust it. Or is it Ned's track record?"
Alexis: "He has been married five times. I guess Chloe doesn't count."
Jax: "Yeah, well, Katherine Bell doesn't count, either."
Alexis: "Well, then what about the other three? I mean, what about Lois? You saw him with Lois. I mean, that was love. That was real love. And from what I can gather, he loved jenny and dawn, too."
Jax: "Well, look, I don't know about the others, but Lois wanted Ned to be someone he wasn't. She was happiest when he was Eddie Maine. And always pretending to be someone that you're not, it gets tiring after a while. You don't ask him to do that."
Alexis: "I'm a Cassadine. I was raised to believe that if you trust people, they turn around and stab you in the back."
Jax: "What are you saying? You don't trust Ned?"
Alexis: "Of course I do--usually. I just don't like failing."
Jax: "Alexis, you're tenacious, ok? You're a fixer by nature. If something goes wrong in your relationship with Ned, I'm sure you'll put it back together, ok? And if he does something, you send him to me or you come to me, whatever, and I'll take care of him."
Alexis: "I don't want to hurt him. I mean, you know, what if that happens, like when I defended Tony Jones against the Quartermaines? I don't want to do that to him again."
Jax: "Well, then you won't. You know, we have a choice, you know. We can choose not to hurt the people we love."

Ned: "Looks like you already got a head start on the celebration, junior."
A.J.: "You know, I realize by the fifth divorce that it's old hat for you, but try and remember for me. It's my first, ok?"
Ned: "Chloe and I are having an amicable split, unlike you and Carly, where she had to publicly humiliate you."
A.J.: "Oh, ouch. Gee, I guess I better drown my sorrows."

Ned: "Why don't you get a room upstairs, junior, all right? You're in no condition to drive."
A.J.: "Yeah, and why don't you take your big fat ego and cram it."

Tony: "Maybe this is a better time for friends than family. I mean, I can make sure he gets home."

Ned: "You know, I've accepted A.J.'s desire for self-destruction a long time ago. One thing I can't stand is how his behavior hurts everyone else around him."
Chloe: "You can't fix everything. Especially this. You got to let him figure this out on his own."
Ned: "I know. You're right. What am I going to do without your wise counsel?"
Chloe: "Listen to Alexis. And I hope if you want my specific take on something, you'll pick up the phone."

Chloe: "Ooh. I guess I should return this."
Ned: "No. No, no. I want you to keep it as a memento."
Chloe: "Ok. If you'll do the same."
Ned: "Keep it right here, close to my heart. Let's go."

Jax: "You think I'm not angry and frustrated that the woman I'm in love with has a serious illness? Good news is it won't kill her. The bad news? Six months from now and then for the rest of her life, she could go permanently blind. I want to take Chloe to Alaska. I know she could still go, but it wouldn't be the same. But I can't tell her that. Instead, we're here, caught up in medications and treatments, scheduling our lives around MRIs and doctors' appointments. Holding our breath that hopefully she won't get a headache because that could mean her condition's getting worse. I guess the point I'm trying to make is that love is in the choices that we make, the everyday little things. So if you've got cold feet, then you can choose to tell Ned so you don't have to fight it alone. And if I want to explode because of this thing with Chloe, then I can choose to not do it in front of her because she has enough on her plate. You know what I mean?"

Alexis: "Do you see how well we understand each other? See, the minute you become lovers, all that objectivity goes right out the window."
Jax: "Why do wolves mate for life?"
Alexis: "Why is it that the artery in this finger goes straight to your heart? Love is not simple at all. It's very, very complicated."
Jax: "Yeah, it's probably not even worth it."

Ned: "Don't let us interrupt. We've reached an amicable agreement. Actually, the settlement was the easiest part. Chloe gets you, and I get her."
Jax: [to Alexis] "Four straws and you draw the short one again."
Chloe: "Aw."
Ned: "Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. All right, now. Give me my lady."
Chloe: "So, what did we interrupt?"
Jax: "Well, Alexis and I were just extolling the virtues of true love."

XIV. Maybe the Honeymoon's Over? (3/29)

Chloe: "You're a genius."
Alexis: "No, I just understand search engines, that's all."

Jax: "Look, you don't get this, all right? It's--I used to have companies like this for breakfast, ok, and now they think they can jerk me around because I've been out of the loop for a few weeks."

Alexis: "He just needs a little room, that's all."
Chloe: "Maybe I need to give it to him."

Chloe: "He never gets like this."
Alexis: "He did when I was married to him."
Chloe: "Really?"
Alexis: "Sure. He'd slam things around for a while, and then he'd go for a run."
Chloe: "Not like this."
Alexis: "You would make a very good attorney."
Chloe: "I've negotiated deals in New York with Jax. The higher the pressure, the cooler he gets. He can't negotiate this illness."
Alexis: "See, that's the problem. He likes to fix things, and he cannot fix this."
Chloe: "Uh-uh. He can't make this medication work."
Alexis: "And he won't consider the possibility of it not working."
Chloe: "Uh-uh. He just smiles and changes the subject. Or he goes back to work, or he'll take me out for a romantic evening."
Alexis: "The Jacks family is not very big on dwelling on their own problems."
Chloe: "They just try to protect each other."
Alexis: "And they'll say nothing. They'll go hiking. Never mind that snow, ignore the avalanche."
Chloe: "Ignore the fact that I might go permanently blind."
Alexis: "It was a very useful strategy in the Sahara."
Chloe: "What should I do?"
Alexis: "I'm hardly a relationship expert."
Chloe: "Alexis, you were married to him until very recently."
Alexis: "Jax likes to think that he's the rock."
Chloe: "But he doesn't have to be."
Alexis: "Then remind him. Just make him feel useful. Make him feel like he can open up. Just love him, Chloe."
Chloe: "I can do that. Thanks."

Chloe: "Jax? Look, you--you realize you don't have to be perfect for me, ok? You don't have to protect me and make this right."
Jax: "I'm going to take care of you, Chloe, ok? No arguments."
Chloe: "I am so much stronger now. And whatever happens with this illness, I'm going to get through it."
Jax: "And why shouldn't you lean on me?"
Chloe: "Ok. And you get to lean on me, too."
Jax: "You know, if your illness were a corporation, I could take it over, break it up into small pieces, sell it, and make a fortune."
Chloe: "And you'd win."
Jax: "Definitely."
Chloe: "But sometimes you just have to wait and take your medication and hope for the best."
Jax: "No, that's not good enough. Not even close."

Jax watches her, unseen, until she takes her pill, and then they stand at the window again together.

XV. Maybe it's Just Begun? (3/29)

Ned: "Alexis?"
Alexis: "Hi."
Ned: "What's all this?"
Alexis: "You hate it."
Ned: "Is everything all right?"
Alexis: "We're not married anymore. I mean, to other people."
Ned: "Oh, so we're celebrating?"
Alexis: "I just felt like lighting some candles. Actually, a lot of candles."
Ned: "For us."
Alexis: "It looks like we died."
Ned: "Everything all right?"
Alexis: "What if we mess this up?"
Ned: "We won't."
Alexis: "You promise?"
Ned: "Not for a second."
Alexis: "Good."

The shot started close in on Ned, so that, as it widened, we saw the candles as he did. Ned says, "Not for a second," Alexis pauses for a moment, then smiles on "good." Lovely timing. These scenes just cracked me up, and the blend of insecurity, humor, and true love this couple has is wonderful.

Alexis: "What if we wake up one morning and we're strangers?"
Ned: "Sounds fun."
Alexis: "Ok, what if you hate the way I brush my teeth?"
Ned: "I love your teeth."
Alexis: "What if you think, 'Oh, no, number six.'"
Ned: "Did anybody say anything about the m word?"
Alexis: "Oh, thank you."
Ned: "Anytime."

As Alexis read off potential objections, she crossed them off a list! Finally, on "thank you," she took off her glasses, took down her hair, fluffed it a little, then kissed him.

XVI. Back in Business (3/30)

Jax: "Yeah. You know, it would've been more fun to bankrupt her myself, but--"
Chloe: "Excuse me. Would one of you please tell me what's going on?"
Jax: "You know that little company that Gertrude took from you? Well, it's about to be swallowed up--whole."

Jax: "Yeah, we told you we'd ruin her."
Chloe: "I didn't think you were this serious."

Jax: "It's business."
Ned: "Trust me. We've done worse."

Ned: "And winning is a good thing."
Jax: "Yes, especially when winning is for you. See, once Gertrude's company is liquidated, then you can start designing under your own name again. The company will be back in your hands where it belongs."

Amy: "You know, I was hoping for a little sub-plot with some scenes of Jax and Ned getting the company back. But noooooooooo. They have to knock it off in a third of a scene. The powers that be must really want the mixed marrieds to be over."

Chloe: "You've missed this, haven't you?"
Jax: "I took a break. Had good reason."
Chloe: "Just as long as that reason isn't me."

Sometimes the wardrobe choices on the show escape me; other times they're brilliant. This time, Jax's horizontally striped turtleneck and leather pants, combined with Chloe's cow skirt, escaped me.

I notice, at one point, that there's a photo of them together on the end table, and with all our talk of photos, I like that better than the shepherdess.

The photo sits behind Chloe during her dream at the end of the episode. She dreams of a forest, which looks just like the Ice Princess Island set, and of music--Once Upon a Dream. There is something sitting on a branch or leaf, and I thought it was a watch or a trinket box, but others identified it immediately as a music box with something on the cover. Jax cries out her name and she screams.

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