Going into Logan’s death I knew 3 things and I was excited.  He was going to be murdered, it was going to be a mystery and it was going to be a gain for my favorite couple: JoLu.  A week into this storyline and here’s what I know:  it wasn’t murder, it’s not a mystery and there has been nothing shown so far or rumored to be happening down the pike that tells me any of this will be a gain for Lulu or Johnny because she’s going to go bonkers and he’ll have to rethink having her in his life.  My excitement turned into boredom, irritation and dread in the space of a day. 

     And then I remembered watching A Beautiful Mind and the mind-blowing twist where the viewer finds out that most of what they’ve been watching so far was part of John Nash’s delusion.  What if Lulu’s mind told her she stabbed Logan, but she really witnessed someone else killing him and the writers showed us her mental cover-up to trick us?  His ghost haunting her would be her mind trying to keep the truth from her, but Laura would be her real memories breaking through so she can remember who really did it.  I'd say Trevor (to give him what little credit he's due) saved Lulu from Logan then realized it would create a link between him and the guy I think who has been selling the fake meds for him.  He would frame Lulu to get her out of Johnny's life and to cover his own tracks.  After all he was very antsy to get her away from Anthony on Monday, he could be trying to keep her from remembering what she saw.

     Or at least that’s how it should go.  I have to say so far I’m deeply disappointed with this storyline.  If a Spencer is going on the run it should be dangerous and funny, not dangerous, plagued by love sick teens and the gateway to madness and a downer of a storyline.  About the only spoiler I’m hoping is true is Jason helping JoLu run and Sonny refusing to help Claudia drag them back because it would be Lulu’s mob family stepping in against the denizens of darkness.  Lulu should have gone to Jason about this from the start instead of relying on Claudia’s love of Johnny.

     Did anyone else notice Lulu was treated to the “family” lecture from Anthony on how to handle the cover-up instead of the outsider being threatened version Maxie got?  They made it seem like Maxie is dealing better, but she already blabbed to someone.  She's dealing better in public because she doesn't have guilt issues, but she is scared.  I don't like her involvement in this story, but I think it will serve 3 purposes for her:  pushing her towards Spinelli, proving she really doesn't belong in the mob stuff (she's always been down on Sonny's impact on Kate's career and Johnny has the same stigma) and to move her towards Matt who I think is an agent. Lulu’s only real issue is Johnny getting in trouble for her and her guilt over killing Logan which Johnny is ignoring.  I do have to say I’m sick of her guilt already.  Not that she should shrug her shoulders at it, but the guy was a serious whack job and deserved what he got.  I really don’t want weeks of her crying and whining that he shouldn’t be dead.  He shouldn’t have tried to rape or kill her and then he’d be alive. 

 

Once again GH's writers are on the verge of tricky brilliance or absolute stupidity.  Will they plagarize their material from last summer, once again victimizing Lulu and glorifying Maxie's malicious ways, or will they continue to take the surprising path with JoLu?

 

Let's face it, Lulu's three tirades to Claudia were out and out stupid.  I like the character, but even if Claudia were a kitten you don't go after your guy's sister that way.  It also made Ms. I-Make-My-Own-Choices a hypocrite.  There Lulu haters, that's my nod to you, I admit she can irritate me the way Carly can irritate me, but I still want her with Johnny and I still see nothing redeeming in Maxie.  Now onto my point.....

 

Last year around this time Maxie sent Logan after Lulu to make her pay for stealing Dillon from Georgie, even though the pregnancy was pretty much punishment enough.  Lulu got hurt, but met a much more interesting guy, and Maxie got  yelled at a lot, but nothing really taught her a lesson.  She has had something to lord over Lulu for months and I'm as sick as hearing her gloat how good she is in bed (can't be that good if Logan never went back) as I am of Lulu letting Maxie get to her so easily.  So why re-cover that ground and this time make Maxie an actual whore (since Claudia would be paying her to have sex with Johnny) and yet again break Lulu's heart?  Is finding a way to break up JoLu a month after they found a way to force them together worth making things worse at Crimson and giving the fans the same old story?  I mean whether they vote for Maxie or Lulu, most fans want them to stop bickering over boys all the time and stop making women look so bag, why continue it?

 

Now if the writers have decided fans should spend the summer in bored misery, Lulu will think they loyal Johnny has cheated on her and will want nothing to do with him a tricky thing with Anthony's threat looming over her family.  So she'll either easily get out of it (and why wouldn't the writers make it easy for her since breaking them up after tying her to him came so quickly) and Logan will keep getting in the way of them reconciling or she'll have to be in a fake relationship, that Logan still mucks up, while a mob war rages.  Maxie will get her own love interest and those of us wanting to tear her hair out will be expected to forget she trashed another couple and root for her.  Yeah, right.

 

If the writers continue their trend of making us think it's going down the tired path and then stunning us with a "Great...oh, no" like Johnny picking the mob and then Anthony using Luke against Lulu, to have him be "freed", to have a death threat on Lucky, well then the summer might not be a loss.  There are things that need to happen to move Maxie towards a love story, Lulu toward open danger, Johnny toward seeing Claudia as she is and Claudia losing her brother to her own insecurities.  In other words, Claudia and Maxie's plot to break up JoLu needs to backfire the way the assassination attempt on Sonny did. 

 

Maxie needs to learn she can't take a man truly in love and that you don't mess around with dangerous men.  She was warned Johnny had limits and she should see what happens if you push those dark guys she's panting after by seeing a display of his stunning temper.  It would make her appreciate a sweet guy like Spinelli at least as friend if not as a lover.  Something needs to make her vulnerable side come out so we can root for her with any guy.  She supposedly loved Coop, but cheated on him.  She needs a lesson in humility and Johnny can give it to her.

 

Lulu needs the guy who is worth defending, who will show her that she can trust.  She doesn't fully trust Johnny or she wouldn't be freaked over Maxie.  But she also needs to learn not to screw with people she was warned about, which is why I think damaging pics of her will end up online or something.

 

Johnny needs to see his sister is a viper.  If he goes off on Maxie, she won't hesistate to tell him Claudia sent her to save her own skin.  This will cause the first rift between the siblings and cause their pact to trust only each other to crumble.

 

Claudia needs to learn she can't manipulate Johnny all the time and that she isn't the great mobster she thinks she is.  The Michael thing didn't teach her that to she'll have to see Johnny furious with her, the relationship she hates solidified and Johnny potentially in legal trouble because

 

 

I hate Maxie Jones. For those out there who claim they love the character, I ask why? She’s always mean spirited, she never wants anything that doesn’t belong to Lulu, she uses people, her voice is like nails on a chalkboard, she has a rat face and her new haircut is terrible. What is there to root for in a woman who helped Lucky ruin his life and then tried to trap him with a fake pregnancy? And then she thought that fake baby gave her the right to judge Lulu for making the painful choice to have an abortion. About the only good things the writers did was make her very small on the canvas and to pair her with Spinelli (although she’s only with him to bug Lulu and reports of a real love interest for her mean they aren't going far.

Now rat face is after Johnny because JoLu doesn’t have enough problems with Lulu's family butting in and Claudia lurking around and we’re supposed to find this entertaining. I know Johnny doesn’t want her, he is head over heels for Lulu, I’m just hoping the writers don’t decide to let him use Maxie to hurt Lulu to keep her safely away. It would be dumb since Anthony has her held hostage, but even knowing about the threat on Lucky, Johnny still offered her an out on Friday so I have my doubts about how committed they are about letting JoLu be a couple under siege and not a constant make-up/break-up fiasco like Liason. I’m hoping the rumors of a love interest being cast for Maxie, and the possibilities having Lulu on the wrong side of a mob war will offer, will keep rat face’s try for Johnny contained to next week. There is so much more potential in having JoLu together against the world than in having them apart with the world against them. I would love to have Anthony pull Maxie into his limo and tell her to stop making trouble for JoLu or enjoy burying Mac.

Newsflash: watching Maxie get away with everything while victimizing Lulu isn’t fun. Maxie needs a big consequence like losing her job (she sabotaged Crimson by deleting that email, but somehow that got Lulu in trouble too) or having Johnny tell her she’s not as hot as she thinks she is (hey if she was so good in bed that she has to brag about it to everyone Logan would have gone back for seconds and not dumped her skinny skanky butt forever). People call Lulu a slut for sleeping with 3 guys, all of whom she cared about, but Maxie has had at least 4 and seems to think cheating on Coop with Logan for revenge was ok. Any woman who brags that strongly about her sexual conquests to make herself feel important is a slut. You can have the sex, don’t misunderstand me, but if that’s the only thing you have to brag about, you’ve got a problem.

For a woman who is supposed to be after a career they need to give Maxie actual goals besides stealing things from Lulu. It is degrading to women that falling on her back is the only way Maxie feels she has “won” something and been successful in life. Knock the bitch down a peg and give her actual feelings. Her outburst at Kelly’s when Georgie died was touching, but for me to like a character the humanity has to come out in more than one scene every year. Claudia, who is a mix of malice and vulnerability every time she is on screen, I can root for (please pair her with Nikolas, he deserves someone who can act and not boring Nadine), but all I want to do is slap Maxie. And it’s not an “I love to hate the character” situation like Catherine Bell (who did get one-upped by Lucy or the Qs at least once a month for her nastiness) I genuinely see nothing entertaining about Maxie and I don’t understand why she’s allowed to win all the time.

One last tirade before I sign off. If, in Lucky’s mind, Lulu is destined to go crazy because Laura did, why isn’t his own or Nikolas’ sanity at risk? Is it because Lulu is a girl? In that case, why isn’t she asking him if Sam should be afraid he might rape her since he’s male like Luke? Lucky used to be so much fun when he first came on, but now he’s a boring do-gooder who mopes around trying to ruin everyone’s happiness because he’s miserable. Why hasn’t anyone pointed out he can’t find real love because he’s afraid to live and that he hides behind his badge to avoid the edge, thus insuring he won't find true love? I loved his scene with Luke and Lulu on the Haunted Star when he bent the rules to help his dad see Lulu one last time, but in 2 days he was on a power trip with Luke gone as he tried to manipulate his sister. I am so glad Nikolas pointed out Lulu is an adult who can make her own decisions. Most the time Lucky ignores her, but the second she’s happy he wants to take it from her. Hmmm, maybe they should put him back with Maxie and they can enjoy the rest of their lives making other characters as boring and miserable as they are.

Stay smart GH writers. JoLu is the real deal, don't mess it up after they finally reunited, keep rat-face Maxie out of it and let the mob create the tensions for JoLu just like Luke and Laura or Brenda and Sonny.

They got me again.  See how into my TV I get? I know this is Luke and Laura 2008 and still I let them blind me with Maxie’s hideous hair.  Once I read those blasted spoilers I always swear I’ll stay away from I got all mad that Lulu was going to “wash her hands of Johnny” when she never really had her hands on him.  Plus the Maxie crap had me really irritated, but I suspected since Johnny mentioned to Claudia that if he were noble he’d hurt Lulu so bad she’d have to write him out of her life, that Maxie would be what he would use to hurt her.  I dreaded that, but once I opened my eyes I saw it as the stepping stone it was and not a permanent pairing, I'm willing to play along through May. What am I babbling about?  I’ll explain.

 

In Luke and Laura, after he raped her and common sense would say she should stay far away from him and turn him into the police, she not only didn’t report him, she kept working at his disco so no one would suspect him.  After what Lulu saw at the hospital with Johnny and Sonny she should stay away, and she tried, but Johnny kept coming at her.  This time instead of staying around to protect him for hurting her, the female heroine went around making sure everyone knew he had an alibi for hurting her cousin (although in this case she doesn’t know he was involved so that’s a bomb waiting to go off later).  I truly think Johnny was using Maxie to make Lulu jealous enough to admit she wanted him, he knows their past and he did glance at her when he first started paying attention to Maxie.  That will give him his plan for what comes next.

 

Now we move to phase 3 of Luke and Laura.  This, like when I knew Brenda was going to wear that damn wire, is the train wreck I really don’t want to watch, but can’t make myself forget to record because I want to see if I’m right and I want to see Johnny handle the aftermath of losing her. This is the part where Luke had to flirt with and become engaged to Jennifer Smith to keep her father, mobster Frank Smith, from killing him and Laura both while Laura was forced to work at the disco she now wanted to flee since Luke had a new lady.  In this version, Johnny is going to set Lulu up to think he had sex with Maxie because his crazy father is on the loose and he won’t want her to be a target.  Since he’s in business with Luke, Lulu won’t be able to totally avoid him either. I think Lulu may find them on the Haunted Star as it would be the most hurtful place since she and Johnny made love there.  I do not think he will actually have sex with Maxie that would be too much of a betrayal of both Lulu and his own feelings.  I think once Lulu runs off, Johnny will turn his nasty side on Maxie and let her know he used her and she isn’t worthy of wiping Lulu’s shoes.  Maxie will then go after Lulu at work for revenge, but I think Lulu may finally get her own revenge and turn the tables on the Bad Blonde One. 

 

Since Logan is supposed to “not play nice about Johnny and Lulu” I think he will beat up Johnny for winning Lulu away and treating her so horribly.  Scott beat up Luke the day he was supposed to marry Jennifer after reading a love letter Laura wrote to Luke.  If Logan is guarding Anthony at Shadybrook, where Laura is at, maybe he’ll overhear Lulu pouring her heart out to her mom and go after Johnny.  Of course the day Luke married Laura he got to beat the crap out of Scott, so Johnny should get to get even later (smile).

 

The fourth phase of Luke and Laura was him taking her on the run from Frank saying he could put Frank away and get out of the mob with the decoded black book.  I don’t think Johnny is really meant to get out, but I do think he and Lulu will end up running and finally reuniting.  The most logical step would be for them both to get grabbed (perhaps the night of Crimson’s debut party?) and have to escape together.  I could also see Lulu seeing or hearing something and having to save Johnny, proving she still cared even though she thinks he betrayed her.  Best guesses for who they’ll be running from is Jerry Jax, who is supposed to take a turn for the bad, or Ian Devlin. 

 

What I’d bet money we’ll see:

• Johnny will immediately begin planning to keep Lulu safe once he learns Anthony is back in the game.
• Johnny will use Maxie to hurt Lulu, but he will not have sex with her.
• Johnny will confess to Claudia that he was trying to make Lulu jealous, but took it to the next level, and explain about Lulu’s past with Maxie.  Claudia will tell him there’s no going back from that.
• Logan will beat Johnny up while raging about his treatment of Lulu and a guilty Johnny, who always felt he should have stayed away from her, will not put up much of fight.
• This “hurt” phase will not last long.  Sweeps start in May and this is all coming at the end of April.  There are too many things that could go wrong popping up for it all not to hit the fan and put everyone in danger by mid-May. 
• Lulu and Johnny will spend part of the sleepy summer months on the run.  Anyone else see him helping to earn their keep as a piano player in a bar or something?

 What we may see:

• Lulu will get to leave town for a bit, either for work (fashion week) or to get away.  It will prevent her and Johnny from having run-ins and will make him wonder where she has gone.  She’ll come back changed and icy until the save.
• Luke may catch on to Johnny’s plan to hurt Lulu to keep her safe.  It would make him much more willing to help when Johnny needs it.
• Logan will think he still has a shot with Lulu after all only to get a big disappointment when she returns from her adventures with Johnny.  Maybe he’ll offer to take her to the debut and get stood up because she was grabbed.
• The bracelet Lulu dropped at the Zacharra’s will turn up on Johnny’s wrist or at least in his hand from time to time.  He didn’t give it back after all.
• The beloved character who dies is easily suspected to be Michael, but if Genie Francis is really gone for good and Anthony is at Shadybrook too, might he not kill Laura?  He did look into Lulu’s past.  If Luke is too grief stricken to act or flees town, Anthony will use it as a chance to get at an unprotected Lulu.
• Johnny turns up at Logan’s to threaten him, but Lulu is there and saves Logan and hurts Johnny by making it look like she had sex with Logan.

 Things I’d like to see:

• Lulu gets to finally beat Maxie with public humiliation (Diego’s old photos may appear for all to see at Crimson’s debut) or by taking her job (Maxie misses the debut because Lulu stole her car or locked her in somewhere).
• When they have to run, Lulu stops by Lucky’s for that carpetbag Laura carried in her running days.  When Johnny asks her what it is, she tells him it’s something the Spencers thought they were done with, but it will be a signal to her family that she needs help.  She’ll either leave it out for Lucky to find or maybe leave the door to the closet Laura kept it in open so Lucky will see it’s gone.  We know Lucky kept Laura’s things when Lulu found her classical records.
• Lulu steals Scott’s car to escape with Johnny.
• When Johnny learns how much she knows about running from the mob, he’ll get that shocked smile he gets when she surprises him with what bad stuff she knows.
• While on the run, all the truths come out between Johnny and Lulu:  who cheated, who shot Michael, Lulu’s abortion that made her not trust herself, Laura’s rape that taught Luke about forgiveness.
• Luke takes out Anthony.
• The comic genius who writes Sonny’s guards, Diane/Kate/Alexis, Spinelli, and Jerry beating up Scott plays a big hand in the escape and on the run scenes.

Having given the writers of GH kudos on my last post from weeks ago, I’m back to say they have once again managed to screw up everything. I don’t know what they hope to accomplish by teasing fans with pairings only to back off totally, but I’m about to check out for a few weeks to spare myself the urge to smash my TV in frustration. This was the week I gave them until to fix JoLu after the break up or I was going to go back to checking in on Mondays and Fridays only and it looks like that’s what I’m going to have to do.

I’ve been waiting for Liz and Jason to do something for 7-8 years. They finally hit the sheets when their then current relationships hit the skids and had Jake. For over a year they’ve come so close to being a couple only to pull back. He proposed…and then Michael was shot and Liason was shot to hell forever. Liz is back to worrying about danger and Jason is back to agreeing with her. I have no idea why they saddled her with 2 kids. One is usually the kiss of death for a female character on a soap (Felicia and Laura come to mind) but 2 means she is all mommy all the time, good-bye real storylines. The only exception has been Carly, but I wouldn’t call her a good mom. I just wish they’d let the truth about Jake come out and let Liason be Liason. Everyone in town know practically knows who Jake’s dad is, wouldn’t it give more storylines to have to have Liz under guard and maybe become an artist or photographer without the worry of money driving her to be a nurse? She has no storyline outside of standing at the nurses’ station without Jason, use her or get rid of her. Maybe Anthony Zacharra’s return to health will put her in peril and back in Jason’s path.

As for Lulu and Johnny, I am at a loss to explain why the writers are wasting them. Every time one of them takes a step toward the other, the other one backs off. Johnny has twice gotten angry when she’s made a move toward him and pushed her away, then when he finally takes a step toward her with an offer to escort her to the Haunted Star’s opening, she reacts like a scalded cat. Now they are adding the shrew-faced Maxie into the mix to muck it up even more. Stupid! Maxie only wants Johnny to hurt Lulu and knowing their past I don’t know why Johnny would spend time with Maxie if he wanted Lulu unless he’s trying to make her jealous enough to admit she wants him. Which is dumb because, as I said above, she has twice come to him only to be kicked in the teeth. (I do think this is the writers’ plan though, he glanced at Lulu when he handed Maxie the chips and there was a glint in his eye when he said he thought Maxie (gag) was nice).

I had really hoped Friday would pick up with their kiss and have Lulu call him on using Maxie to get her attention, but I guess that won’t come for a while. I could take the weeks of Johnny going around with Maxie while Claudia beams and Lulu stands around with her jaw hanging open if we hadn’t just come off months of her going around with Logan while having so obvious an attraction to Johnny. Same story, new and more irritating character substituted in. I know other fans hated Lulu waffling between guys, but I find her waffling with herself even more annoying. She told Logan she knew her own mind, obviously not if she wants Johnny and won’t say it. The truth about Michael’s shooting will come out before they truly get together and that will be their next dividing situation.

Can’t they just let couples be couples? The goals used to be: chemistry, dates, kiss, sex, I love yous and a period of happy togetherness. Now it’s an accomplishment if they have any scenes together after they have sex. Or in JoLu’s case if they ever have a date. They aren’t a couple if they draw near only to pull or be pulled apart. Remember all those passionate fights Brenda and Sonny used to have that lead to deep talks and make-up sex? JoLu had more intimate conversations before they slept together then after. In fact, Lulu was more committed to getting him when she was still technically Logan’s girlfriend then after they broke up so she could pursue Johnny. I truly, truly hate storylines like this.

I also hate Maxie and the thought of more screen time for her and her chirpy voice spouting venom makes my skin crawl. I never like characters whose sole purpose is to be mean to or use everyone else, so you can’t say it’s just because she’s about to come between the almost couple I’m rooting for. Her nastiness isn’t a defense, it’s her. I can’t believe they kept her over Georgie. I do have to admit I like her with Spinelli, but again the writers are ignoring a potential couple to have her chase after a man she’s not meant to be paired with. I could even see her teaming up with Logan to get Lulu and Johnny apart. The Lulu haters out there are cheering, but Maxie and Johnny have zilch in the chemistry department. Actually, aside from Spinelli, I’ve never seen her have chemistry with anyone. Johnny has more chemistry with his sister then with Maxie. My only hope is that Ms. Spencer lives up to her name and does something truly outrageous to the Bad Blonde One.

Speaking of Zacharra chemistry, am I the only one finding Claudia’s attachment to Johnny kind of icky? One minute she seems like a supportive elder sister and the next she seems jealous that he might love someone besides her. He seems to have a natural brotherly love of her, but there are times when I’m like “eeeewwwwwww” when she’s looking at or hanging on him.

In fact, I’m getting sick of the entire Zacharra plotline. Johnny wanted out and got trapped by Trevor. He was going to give the business to Claudia, who actually wanted it, but Sonny sucked him back in. Claudia wanted Johnny out, but is letting him play at mob boss, not caring that although his hands are technically “clean” of the botched hit that she’s still causing damage to him. If she wanted him to have a future, why not let him have Lulu who would take him away from the mob? Right, that would take him from her grasp too. Now Anthony is back in the mix and that will complicate things even more. Johnny’s mention of really hurting Lulu to push her away and Maxie’s sudden interest in him have me thinking he’s going to pretend to sleep with her (I’d hope he really wouldn’t sleep with her as one could be forgiven and the other makes him equal to Logan the loser) to push Lulu to safety. That is not something I want to see. Michael’s shooting is going to cause enough issues for them, let’s leave it at that. But spoilers that Lulu will wash her hands of him in the next 2 weeks have me thinking that's really where this is going since he's afraid of what his dad will do to her. Dumb, dumb, dumb. A total waste of my time watching it and a total waste of a couple.

And what is in the water of PC that people heal so quickly? Anthony is moving again after falling off the balcony. Michael woke up from his coma. Jason’s fingers never needed stitches, although wrist braces seem to heal severed fingers somehow. Johnny’s bayonet wound left a trail of blood, but never needed stitches. Lulu broke her ankle and lost her limp in 24 hours.

I do have to say I loved the scenes with Diane, Max and Alexis at Sonny’s house. Also laughed at Max confessing to Sonny about his involvement with Diane. Sonny used to have a sense of humor. Remember when he helped Luke and Lucky spring Foster from the dog pound? Can’t we get to see those dimples again?

BAck to the spoilers, I know I was all mad when I read about JoLu's first break and thought that was it, but they kind of fixed it and I had hope it would pick up and not drag along again. Honestly, how long can they keep pushing them apart? At least if Logan has something to not play nice about with their pairing "down the road", there’s hope, but I am so sick of the near misses. I don’t know why I bother getting invested in any of GH’s couples these days, they ruin them all.