Willow Blackmails Jack to Get What She Wants — and Liz Realizes Drew Is Trying to Communicate!
Gio and Emma arrive in New York, check into an Airbnb, and then hit the city and go backstage at Aladdin.
Michael, the Genie, surprises them by coming up a stage door in the floor, and shows them around. Later, when the Genie gets called to make-up, Gio takes Emma into the orchestra pit to show her where he sat before they take their seats.
Michael and Jacinda Have Adult Time
Michael and Jacinda snuck off to have some fun time in bed at a room at The Metro Court.
Later, as they dress, Jacinda brings up Jack’s offer to give her dirt on Willow. He appreciates that she wants to help him, but the best revenge against Willow is living his best life with her and his kids.
Ethan Is the Talk of the Town
Kristina meets her dad at The Metro Court Gardens, and Sonny assumes this is about Ethan, which is correct. Sonny says he’s given Ethan a shot on a trial basis, which pleases Kristina, as he needs someone around him with Jason gone. Sonny mentions he has Ric, which irks Kristina and causes her to blurt out, “You can’t trust him, not after what he did to my mom and me!”
Sonny immediately jumps on the statement, and Kristina quickly covers by pointing out that Ric defended Ava and that he treated her mother badly when they divorced.
Michael and Jacinda arrive for lunch and run into Sonny and Kristina. Kristina tells Michael about Ethan working for their dad. Michael sits down to talk to his dad about Ethan, while Jacinda and Kristina make small talk. Sonny tells Michael that Ethan’s track record is erratic, and he will have to prove himself reliable.
Tracy and Sidwell Get a Big Surprise
Tracy arrives at The Metro Court expecting to meet Lulu, only to be gobsmacked to find Ethan in her place. They grab a table, and Tracy says he seems to have stayed out of trouble lately, and asks what he is doing for money these days. He admits he’s doing a little work for Sonny.
Ethan and Tracy talk about Luke, and Sidwell and Ava walk into the establishment. Ava notes Ethan looks familiar, and Sidwell believes he recognizes him.
Sidwell and Ava grab a table, and Sidwell says that the man is Holly and Luke’s son, and Holly swindled him out of a lot of valuable property. Ava says it sounds like there is unfinished business there. He says when someone crosses him, they become his enemy to the grave. She assures him she won’t cross him, as loyalty means everything to her as well. Sidwell decides to send Ethan and Tracy a drink.
At their table, Ethan and Tracy scoff at Sidwell’s drinks. They decide to go have a word with the man who has brought Ethan’s brother and sister so much trouble.
Ethan walks over and tells Sidwell he can’t accept drinks from someone who has caused his family so much pain. Sidwell calls it all water under the bridge, and subtle threats are exchanged, with Sidwell noting Sasha is living comfortably in France with her daughter and parents, suggesting he knows exactly where they are. Tracy decides Ava’s presence is making her miss Lucy. She tells Ethan they should get back to their lunch.
Ric Remains Suspicious
Ric arrives at Alexis’ office and wants to know about Ethan Lovett. He explains, much to Kristina’s delight, that Ethan is back in town and asked Sonny to give him a job, and Kristina went to bat for him. Alexis says she likes Ethan and says he’s a lot more trustworthy than Ric.
Alexis explains Ethan and Kristina’s history, along with the abusive Kiefer. She says Ethan is like Luke; he’s fiercely loyal and the kind of guy you want on your side.
Ric reminds her that Holly trained Ethan to be a con, and nobody knows why he’s in Port Charles. He could be here working for one of Sonny’s enemies. Alexis tells Ric it’s most likely he’s here because of his father and Sonny’s friendship, and this paranoia is more about Ric than anything else.
Blackmail Is the Name of the Game
At her office, Willow tells Kai how invaluable he’s become, and her kids adore him. Jack shows up to meet Willow, and she sends Kai to the house to check on her mom and Drew, as it’s the nurse’s day off. He quickly departs.
Alone, Jack assumes he is there because Nina told her everything, and Willow confirms this. She doesn’t share her mother’s confidence that he will stay quiet. She says she can’t be tried again, and knows he doesn’t care about her losing her kids should the tape come out. However, he should care about her losing this congressional seat.
Willow explains she sits on a committee that oversees the US funding for the WSB. She can expand that funding or cut it off, and she can tell his superiors that his harassment is why she cut it. She says that wouldn’t bode well for him, but she can also sing his praises to the WSB should he cooperate.
Jack is impressed and notes that all he needs to do is make sure the footage never sees the light of day. Willow says she wants one more thing: evidence against Drew. She’s not picky, anything and everything he can find she’ll take. Jack says, “So you still have it out for your husband, it wasn’t enough you shot him?”
Willow doesn’t see the need to rehash the past and, once again, explains that she could make his job much easier, including a promotion from station chief to director.
Drew Sends an S.O.S.
Nina’s been left alone with Drew, who is trying his blinky-blinky thing with her, but she tells him to just stop it. She knows everything, and nobody is going to save him. She spills the whole plan, that they need leverage over him before they can free him from his drugged state, and nobody will be happier than her to have him out of their lives forever.
Liz arrives, saying she’s here to check on their patient. She knows it’s the caregiver’s day off, so she brought over some supplies. She offers to spend time with Drew if Nina needs a break, and Nina takes her up on her offer to deal with Crimson business.
Nina heads to the other room, and Drew wastes no time in blinking frantically at the nurse. Liz asks if he’s trying to tell her something? She finally realizes he’s asking for help. Liz asks him what’s wrong.
Liz doesn’t know what he’s trying to say, but he can use other tools to communicate. Nina returns, and Liz informs her that Drew is giving her an S.O.S. signal. Nina says he’s never done that before, and maybe it’s just random reflexive movements. There is a knock at the door, and it’s Kai.
Kai explains that Willow sent him to help Nina with Drew. Liz eagerly tells Kai that Drew’s clearly trying to communicate something.
In The Show’s Final Moments
Gio and Emma finally take their seats to see Aladdin. (I can’t believe they managed to make a Broadway show boring! We’d better get something more tomorrow!)
At the Metro Court, Ava tells Sidwell not to give Ethan another thought. He agrees, as he has far more pleasant things to focus on than Holly’s spawn.
Tracy seethes to Ethan about Sidwell infiltrating Deception, and Ethan offers to handle him for her. Tracy says grieving Luke was the hardest thing she had to do, so don’t make her grieve him too. He says he makes no promises, and she notes his father never did either. She hugs him.
In her office, Alexis tells Ric that he always needs to control the situation to feel safe and to just stop. Let the place he’s in with Sonny just be enough. Ric notes she really does know him.
At the restaurant, Jacinda and Michael grab a table, and she remains determined to get Jack what he wants to help Michael. He wishes she wouldn’t.
Sonny asks Kristina about Jacinda and Michael and how serious they are. She says he’ll have to ask them, but she can see Jacinda really cares about Michael, and what you see is what you get with her.
In Willow’s office, Jack tells her that he’ll see what he can dig up on Drew, but asks why she needs leverage against him, given the state he’s in. She says that is her business.
Finally, Liz tells Nina that Drew trying to communicate is a good thing, and it’s time to explore alternate methods of communication, such as eye boards. Given the right tools, he’ll be communicating a lot sooner than they thought. Kai looks at Drew, and Drew at Kai…
