If you caught Monday’s episode of General Hospital, the ABC daytime drama snuck in a ‘wink-wink nudge-nudge’ to viewers of the once dominant ABC daytime soap opera line-up.

Since Kim Delaney was announced as coming to GH to take on the role of ace investigative journalist, Jackie Templeton, longtime All My Children viewers noted that she at some point could be reunited with her former All My Children TV brother, Michael E. Knight, because they are both now in Port Charles.

Courtesy/ABC

The one time Tad and Jenny Gardner of Pine Valley got re-acquainted on yesterday’s episode when Martin interrupted a conversation between Jackie and her son, Chase (Josh Swickard).  When he did, Jackie looks at Martin and says, “Do I know you?”   She looks as though she is trying to place exactly where she knows that face from, and from there the two eventually share their first one-on-one scenes as their new soap alter-egos.

In the moment, Martin wants Jackie to investigate what happened to his mother, Florence, and reveals to Jackie that his bio-brother is Cyrus Renault (Jeff Kober), which perks up Jackie to probably do some digging.

For many, it was great to see Michael and Kim together again, and here’s hoping GH can capitalize on it in future scenes.

So did you enjoy the nod to All My Children history on yesterday’s GH between Jackie and Martin aka Jenny and Tad? Comment below.

This week on General Hospital the truth came out on all fronts; as Olivia (Lisa LoCicero) put two and two together and realized Ned (Wally Kurth) cheated on her with Alexis (Nancy Lee Grahn).  Meanwhile, Alexis figured out Tracy (Jane Elliot) framed her to make it look like she passed out drunk behind the wheel.

Throughout, there were great performances from Wally Kurth, Jane Elliot and Nancy Lee Grahn, but it was soap vet, Lisa LoCicero, who for us was given the material and stole the show with her heartbreaking performances as a woman scorned.

LoCicero plays Olivia Falconeri from Bensonhurst, so believably, that viewers understand her every woman, who married into the well-to-do Quatermaines, and who has a much higher moral and ethical standard then the Q’s.

In key scenes at the Quartermaine mansion, Olivia confronts Ned about the night he never came home, and she wants the truth.  She also rightly accuses Tracy on being part of the cover-up.  A caught Ned confesses.  He tells Olivia he was in a terrible place, and jumped to the wrong conclusion about her and Robert (Tristan Rogers), and began drinking, which Sam (Kelly Monaco) overhears and can’t believe he was drinking with an alcoholic. Olivia says that Ned is incapable of being trustworthy after spending his entire life amongst a house full of liars and cheats.  Meanwhile, Alexis shows up in the middle of all this to confront Tracy on her machinations setting the stage for a showdown between Olivia and Alexis.

When Alexis and Olivia talk in private, the former legal eagle apologizes to her friend for sleeping with her husband; saying they both knew it was wrong right after it happened, but Olivia quickly points out that they didn’t seem to stop themselves or think it was wrong, while he was unbuttoning his pants or she was taking off her blouse!

Olivia stands her ground through her devastation and is appalled that Alexis calls her a “friend” and how she is only showing remorse because she has been caught!

Courtesy/ABC

When Ned tries to talk to Olivia and professes how much he loves her and how sorry he is for having sex in a drunken stupor with Alexis, Olivia is gut-punched.  Ned continually says he thought Olivia and Robert hooked-up thanks to Brook Lynn deleting messages meant for Ned.  The fact that he would assume the worst of her, only made things worse for Ned, and then to go as far as having revenge sex with Alexis, made Olivia feel her husband had sunk to new lows.

It is then Olivia has a moment of reckoning; wondering what is her role in the Quartermaine family anyway, and how she doesn’t really fit in.  Ned promises to wait for her and begs her not to give up on them.  When he leaves, Liv breaks down … her marriage in pieces and betrayed by all those she thought she could trust.

Each of the aforementioned moments were played to perfection by LoCicero, leaving the audience wondering just what will Olivia do next and how will she bounce back from this betrayal.  That is why Michael Fairman TV names Lisa our pick for The Power Performance of the Week.  And, if it’s one thing we know about Olivia, she is a scrappy fighter, a survivor, and in the capable hands of this actress, we will be rooting for her all along the way.

So, what did you think of the performance of Lisa LoCicero?  Do you hope Olivia and Ned work things out and they stay together, or do you want to see if she and Robert Scorpio might have a new romance? Comment below.

On Monday’s premiere episode of the highly-anticipated seasons of The Bachelor, viewers finally saw groundbreaking lead ‘Bachelor’ Matt James in action.

James, became the first black ‘Bachelor’ in the reality-dating competition 25-year history.

It kicks-off for viewers getting an introduction into Matt’s upbringing: He’s biracial and was raised by a single mother in North Carolina. He played college football at Wake Forest University, lives in New York City and works in real estate, and volunteers a lot of his time with under-privileged children.

As pressure began to mount (right before the ladies drove up in their limos to meet Matt), he asked to talk to host, Chris Harrison, because some things were weighing heavily on him including: not wanting to let people down, knowing this was a moment in TV history.  Matt expressed to Chris: “I don’t want to piss off black people, I don’t want to piss off white people,” trying to figure how to navigate the season.

Throughout the episode, Matt’s nerves, honesty, and a request of himself and to the women, to be open through this journey, seem to serve him well, which left viewers with a solid first impression of him during the premiere.  He also led the women in a prayer before the first cocktail party kicked-off!

Speaking of the women, there are 32 this season that are vying for the final rose – the largest contingent ever.  Everyone was said to have quarantined for weeks and took four COVID-19 tests with hopes of getting to get up close and personal with Matt.  The entire season moved to a an expansive mansion and set-up in Pennsylvania, not Hollywood.

While there were so many cringe-worthy moments of the women trying to impress Matt when they first meet him … let’s not forget Katie with the vibrator dubbed “MJ”, or  Victoria who walks around calling herself “The Queen” and being the most annoying… we could already sense some possible connections with the others.

Photo: ABC

Making ‘Bachelor’ history also was contestant, Abigail Heringer.  She is the first deaf contestant to ever appear on the franchise.   Matt was very taken with Abigail in the season premiere with her beauty and her honesty.  Right off the bat, she admitted to him that she was deaf.  Later, during the cocktail party and some one-on-one time, she also revealed that her older sister is deaf as well. Both were born with congenital hearing loss, and both underwent cochlear implantation surgery

Matt then shares his first real on-screen kiss with Abigail, and next went searching for the first impression rose, while all the other gals got jealous.  He gave the rose to Abigail.   Next, it was time for the first rose ceremony and we can’t understand (well, we can .. they need someone to stir the pot) why “The Queen” Victoria received a rose and is still in the running, but that’s another story.  Some potential picks such as Bri, Mari, Chelsea and Kristin could be in it for the long-haul, but we shall see.

The episode concluded with another promo of all the tears and drama from the gals and Matt as this season continues next Monday night.

So, what was your first impression of Matt as The Bachelor? Abigail as the women who received the first impression rose? Who do you think will win Matt’s heart in the end? Any early predictions? Comment below.