Recaps

THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS: Abbott Family Drama Leaves Ashley To Make A Game-Changing Decision

October 28, 2018

Photo Credit: JPI Studios

Friday’s episode of The Young and the Restless continued the emotional and riveting Abbott family drama that flashes back to when Ashley, Traci, and Jack were kids, and then to the present day; which illustrates how their relationship as kids forever changed their grown-up paths in business, and with one another.

Last week featured some intricate writing and directing and heart-tugging performances by Eileen Davidson (Ashley), Peter Bergman (Jack), and Beth Maitland (Traci). As we head into Monday, it will mark the final episode of Davidson as she heads off the canvas and departs the role that she originally became soap-famous for, and has played on and off since 1982.

Photo Credit: JPI Studios

In story, as we flash back to the Abbott house in the 1970’s, a young Ashley tells John about her science experiment. She expresses that she thought that if she worked hard and won a ribbon at the science fair that her mother would love her like she has always loved Jack. Unfortunately, Dina had already left them all behind. Now in the present, Ashley sits with Dina, who is slipping further and further into dementia from her battle with Alzheimer’s for an emotional conversation. Abby overhears their chat and is moved to tears. Ashley tells Dina that she thanks her, and how she must have looked out for her when making the legal documents that gave her the patents to Jabot. Dina can’t recall anything that Ashley is saying. We go to another flashback, where John has to assure Ashley that her mom didn’t leave the family and all of them behind, because of her. When young Ashley cries, John promises to always be there for her, but little do they know a young Jack and Traci are overhearing this. Then, when a young Jack wants to share his feelings with John about how he has been affected by Dina leaving them, John doesn’t let him share his emotions. He instead reminds Jack that he has to be strong for his sisters.

Meanwhile at Jabot, panic is setting in between Jack, Billy, Traci, Abby and Kyle about what this all means for the company if Ashley becomes CEO and has all the patents. Abby tells the group about how much Ashley has felt unloved over the years. Traci tells everyone that not one of them is living up to the legacy that John Abbott has set, and that not one of them should be running Jabot now.

Photo Credit: JPI Studios

When Ashley shows up, Jack makes her a very lucrative offer on paper, which Ashley rips up An upset Ashley throws it back at her brother. Abby accuses her mom of going against everything John stood for. “Jack started it!” Ashley yells. Even though the Abbott family tries to reassure Ashley that they love and respect her, (and respect is what she wants from them, and feels she is not getting) she exits needing time to think. Jack doesn’t know how things got this bad. Traci explains that Jack was left to hold the family together after Dina ran out on them. A tearful Traci talks about Jack buying Ashley a cake when she won the science fair. Jack has a flash back to when he and a young Ashley were arguing over who was John’s favorite child However, Jack worried that John wouldn’t always be around, so he promised that he would be there to help Ashley if she ever needed it.

Later, back at the Abbott home, Traci says she knows how much attention John lavished on Ashley; while Jack had no one to comfort him. Finally, Jack admits he was very jealous of his sisters. Next, Ashley arrives firmly telling the group that she will not to take a back seat to anyone. Jack still holds firm about her not being CEO. Ashley then reveals a bombshell, not only is she turning down their offer, but she is taking the patents with her and leaving the family and the company for good, and plans to leave Genoa City! Everyone is stunned.

Kudos to magnificent performances by Eileen Davidson, Peter Bergman, and to Beth Maitland for delivering the “Power Performance of the Week” and reminding us all while she is still such a valuable asset to The Young and the Restless.

So, what have you thought about how Y&R has told the story of the Abbott children’s past and how it affect the present? What did you think about the performances? Share your thoughts via the comment section below. But first, watch Ashley announce her big decision below.

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Eileen Davidson Farewell Y&R Interview: From Her Exit Storyline, To Her Co-Stars, And Her Decision To Leave

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Guest

Lisa

First off let me say,I get Eileen wanting leave.
I’m still crushed though. I’m going to miss her as Ashley. I would prefer they NOT recast the role, maybe periodically she’ll come back.
I didn’t mind the “flashback” to younger Abbott days.
I did feel one thing missing this week though with Ashley’s impending departure,the absence of any flashback scenes with Jerry Douglas (John),Jack,Traci and of course Eileen.
Given Ashley leaving, and Eileen (retiring from the show),it would have been fitting to both the character and actress. I’m disappointed they didn’t do that.

Guest

Soaphound

I totally agree, Lisa. Jerry Douglas should have had some flashback scenes, though the actor playing younger John was really handsome and quite good. I was sad at all the Abbott angst, as they are my favorite family, but it made for great drama and superb acting all around. I, too, don’t want an Ashley recast and would love Eileen to make occasional appearances. Hopefully, on the positive side, this might mean more of Traci in Genoa City. Beth Maitland certainly brightens up the screen.

Guest

Iakovos

I appreciate the special attention to Ms. Beth Maitland as Traci Abbott during this recent story turn involving the family. Everyone hit it out of the park these recent weeks as the Ms. Eileen Davidson/Ashley Abbott departure comes to pass. The Abbotts for always have been my favorite Y&R family, perfect combination of acting talent, writing for the characters, and role in the Genoa City world. Some characters are supporting and Traci Abbott has become that. Ms. Maitland played all the beats so well. All this backstory attention has me mindful of other actors who played core Abbotts Mr. Terry… Read more »

Guest

Bart

Answer: Plot-driven. heavy-handed and WAY out-of-character!

Question: How does one characterize Mal Young’s latest mis-step and mis-handling of Bill Bell’s legacy?

Another swing and a miss, Mal-efocent Young!! Your constant re-writing of Abbott family history to satisfy your plot-driven mess of storytelling is repugnant and hollow!!

Guest

Harry

I am happy Ashley was given a big send off–it was a good-bye love letter which she richly deserved. However, it did get me thinking–where’s Paul’s good-bye love letter? Is he gone already? No one even mentions his name on the show and meanwhile, Rey has made himself at home in Paul’s office.
That said, I think the acting and writing regarding the complicated, dysfunctional, Abbot family dynamics was top notch all the way. Peter Bergman always delivers playing a tough businessman who wears his heart on his sleeve.

Guest

Celia

Young John Abbott is soooooo HOT!! Get rid of Cain or Billy…. bring in the young John Abbott actor ( should have looked up his name)… God, he’s gorgeous!!– there’s something about him ……
I will miss Eileen so much!! I wish she would come back to Days as Susan, now that Kristin is burned to a crisp…..or is she??
I hope Traci will stay on? Wishful thinking….

Guest

Celia

This may sound inconsequential? Granted, it is….but, when was a “Fall Break” become part of any curriculum? I don’t ever remember having a fall-break growing up or on any given-present-day. Is it a Wisconsin thing? Did Mal young just make it up?

Guest

sonniorsolita

Fall Break is definitely a thing. My school had Fall Break growing up. I believe schools often offer a fall break to coincide with Yom Kippur, as it’s the most important Jewish holy day of the year.

Guest

Celia

Hi, Sonniorsorlita,
Oh, Ok. I guess what stumped me is that Yom Kippur ( which my brother-in-law’s father celebrates) is usually around mid September to early October? ….never the end of October. We just never referred to it as Fall Break. LOL..
Thanks for explaining.

Guest

Celia

That should read….” When has, not was…”. Also, perhaps it’s an English custom? I’d like to add that I think Ashley was so professional, albeit soooo hurt!! I truly appreciated the flashbacks ( though I agree with the others who would have like flashbacks with Douglas)……a revelation, as it were. We had the pleasure of delving into the characters’s personalities and how their parents’ behwvior(s) affected their psyche. One would think that as, sort of, the black sheep, Traci would become grow up to be a shrew; an introvert. However, it was so refreshing to see how she has come… Read more »

General Hospital

General Hospital’s Kirsten Storms Delivers ‘The Power Performance of the Week’

June 4, 2021

Leave it to a beloved MVP of General Hospital, Kirsten Storms (Maxie Jones), to pull out all the stops in the culmination of Maxie’s storyline with Peter August (Wes Ramsey), and that’s what viewers witnessed this week on the ABC daytime drama series.

Maxie manipulated the manipulator during a stunning sequence of events. In story, while recovering at General Hospital after giving birth in the woods, Maxie lays it on thick to ensure that Peter never gets near their baby Louise – who is actually being passed off as “Bailey”, the baby of Valentin and Brook Lynn – not kidnapped by the naughty nurse, Chloe (Kimberly J. Brown). But in Maxie’s chain of events to Peter, she tears into him and tells him that Chloe kidnapped her, drugged her to induce labor, and took off with Louise. Peter is stunned. Maxie goes on to explain that Chloe said she was working for him and that Peter planned to take her and the baby out of the country,

Courtesy/ABC

At that point, Maxie plays on Peter’s psyche, telling him she wishes the dark side of him would return to get the nurse for what she did. It is then she gets Peter right where she wants him when he admits that Chloe isn’t the nurse’s real name. Maxie then turns up the heat on Peter and reveals that Chloe must have been fed information on her from Peter! And that the only explanation is that Peter is horrible person.

Then, Maxie tells Peter their baby is gone, it’s all his fault, and he hopes he is terrified, and that she is repulsed by him, especially every time he touched her. She then confronts him about killing Drew Cain, Franco Baldwin and anyone else who got in his way. He says it’s not too late for them, and that he did it all for her and Louise.

Boom! Maxie has got Peter’s confession taped on a file on her phone which she immediately sends to Mac. That sends Peter running and well, we know, or we think we know where that led, to Peter’s fall down the stairs thanks to Finn (Michael Easton).

Courtesy/ABC

Later when Brook Lynn (Amanda Setton) arrives at GH with baby Louise, she sits outside Maxie’s room as emotional Maxie sees her daughter in the arms of another mother, and is heartbroken that she can’t be with the little girl she just gave birth to.

Over the last three episodes. Kirsten Storms has reminded us all of why she has the innate ability and combination to play strong, determined, vulnerable, loveable and devastated with such ease. Storms gave us a bravura performance to remember, slicing Peter’s charade in half, playing beats of Maxie’s fictionalized account, with Maxie’s real account of life with Henrik Faison aka Peter. For all of this and more, Michael Fairman TV names Kirsten Storms work, The Power Performance of the Week.

What did you think of Kirsten in the pivotal scenes with Maxie and Peter, and the emotional fallout that followed? Share your thoughts via the comment section below. But first, check out some moments from Maxie giving Peter a piece of her mind!

WATCH: Maxie gives Henrik a piece of her mind. #GH pic.twitter.com/87K4S81gns

— General Hospital (@GeneralHospital) June 3, 2021

General Hospital

Roger Howarth Returns to General Hospital and Debuts His New Character

May 27, 2021

Thursday was a special day for longtime fans of General Hospital and those of fan favorite Roger Howarth. Today, Howarth returned in his new role on the ABC daytime drama series, who’s name is “Austin” and that viewers learn is a doctor, and that is all we know thus far.

General Hospital and Howarth previously noted that even though he was killed-off a few months ago as Franco Baldwin after he was shot in a struggle with Peter August (Wes Ramsey) that he would make his re-emergence on the canvas sometime in May.

Now with summer right around, Howarth is back. When we first see his new soap incarnation of “Austin”, he comes to the rescue of Maxie Jones (Kirsten Storms), who has gone into labor and found her way into the woods to escape the clutches of evil Nurse Chloe (Kimberly J. Brown) and Peter’s machinations.

And … as she just so happens to need a doctor, lo and behold there is Austin in the woods from what appears to be a hike, who ultimately helps deliver Maxie’s baby girl. Trouble is, at the end of the episode, it appears that baby Louise might not be breathing.

In a summer preview for GH, in the brand new issue of Soap Opera Digest on newsstands this weekend, GH head writers, Chris Van Etten and Dan O’Connor teased, “Roger’s new character has an interest in a prominent Port Charles family. He’ll shake up the canvas in surprising ways as summer unfolds.”

So, were you happy to see Roger back on GH today? Do you like that he is seemingly playing a doctor? Share your theories on his new character”Austin” via the comment section. But first check out, Howarth’s debut as Austin in the clips below.

WATCH: Maxie doesn’t have any choice but to accept help from the handsome stranger in the woods. #GH pic.twitter.com/brZjflYin9

— General Hospital (@GeneralHospital) May 28, 2021

General Hospital

GENERAL HOSPITAL: Sean Donely’s Funeral Brings Unexpected & Emotional Moments for His Friends and Loved Ones

May 22, 2021

If you caught Friday’s emotional episode of General Hospital, it was the airing of the highly-anticipated tribute episode to the late John Reilly with an homage to his beloved character, Sean Donely.

What made this such a well-conceived hour of television was it truly harkened back to the 80’s hey day of GH, had a built-in story that brought Reilly’s real-life daughter, Caitlin Reilly, into the fold, found ways to integrate classic clips of Sean and his spy friends and colleagues, and viewers even got to hear the voice of the one and only Sharon Wyatt as Tiffany Hill Donely.

Photo: ABC

The episode starts in Ireland where Sean’s gravesite service has concluded and things are icy between Anna (Finola Hughes) and Felicia (Kristina Wagner). As Anna tries to reach out to Felicia she is not having it, but Mac (John J. York) hopes the two longtime best friends will find a way to work this out.

Meanwhile, Annie (Caitlin Reilly) points Sean’s friends (who have traveled all the way from Port Charles to Ireland to be there for the funeral) to the Inn where they will be staying. Robert talks to Annie about applying to the bureau. She says she went through the training program, took the oath, but was never called for the final test. She just assumed she didn’t make the cut. Robert also explains they need access to some of Sean’s old files on another matter of dire consequences, but Annie won’t give up the code.

Photo: ABC

As Laura (Genie Francis) goes outside to call Tiffany, we hear the voice of Sharon Wyatt talk to her dear friend, the Mayor of Port Charles, and Laura tells Tiffany how much she misses her old friend, as Tiffany recall her life with Sean and viewers see a montage of Sean and Tiffany scenes through the years. Next, Laura is grabbed and a clue is left behind in her room – a Mexican flag and a toy gun as a remembrance of when Sean ran illegal arms and was on the wrong side of the law. Next, Monica (Leslie Charleson) is seemingly grabbed, and a clue is left behind, a trinket from Mount Rushmore.

Courtesy/ABC

Later, Felicia rips into Anna for allowing Peter into their lives and not protecting Maxie. Anna promises Felicia she’s trying to put Peter behind bars for good and to find justice for Maxie. As Felicia and Anna flashback through moments in their lives with Sean, Felicia tells Anna that he would not have wanted them to be at odds and so she forgives Anna, and the two women hug as Mac looks on.

Photo: ABC

Mac is the next friend of Sean’s to apparently get kidnapped. That is followed by Robert (Tristan Rogers) getting conked over the head. Annie finds Robert’s phone, and she finds a magnet in Anna’s purse which wiped out the computer earlier that Anna and Robin (Kimberly McCullough) were trying to access to check the security footage at the Inn.

Annie now believes Anna and Robert are in on what’s happening. Anna again says she wants access to Sean’s file, but Annie refuses to grant access to her. She says she’s loyal to the WSB. It is then Anna tells Annie that this was her final test for the WSB and she passed it! As all of Sean’s friends who ‘disappeared’ return to watch, Robert gives Annie her dad’s WSB badge number and they congratulate her in a very hankie-inducing moment.

Later, everyone gathers to toast Sean, as they raise their glass it is Tristan Rogers, who broke our hearts when he says there will never be another one like Sean. In real life, Tristan was close to John Reilly and publicly had admitted how devastated he was by his former castmates passing.

Photo: ABC

In Port Charles, it was nice to see Bobbie (Jackie Zeman) and Maxie (Kirsten Storms) part of the tribute episode to, and in a touching scene BJ’s heart that beats inside Maxie was brought up reminding everyone of that emotional story as well.

Photo:A BC

The episode was filled with several hankie moments and how wonderful was Caitlin Reilly as Annie! Her dad would be so proud. And as for Finola Hughes, Kristina Wagner, Tristan Rogers, Kimberly McCullough, Leslie Charleson, Genie Francis, Sharon Wyatt by audio, how touching it was for longtime viewers to see all of these GH veterans together to remind us all of what brought us into GH in the first place.

Kudos to head writers, Chris Van Etten and Dan O’Connor and their team for a clever way to honor Sean Donely with the passage of his daughter into the WSB.

Photo: ABC

So, what did you think of the John Reilly tribute episode, the performances, and the story? Comment below. But first, watch some moments from the beginning of the episode where Laura calls Tiffany.

WATCH: Sean’s family and friends are about to get much more than they bargained for when they left Port Charles. #GH pic.twitter.com/JA2zCSogx6

— General Hospital (@GeneralHospital) May 22, 2021