She Needs to Be an Electrician

Josslyn Jacks got cornered, Liesl Obrecht got grabbed, and everything in between was moving faster than anyone is ready for. Listen to this week's Pier 54 episode here

Nina, Brennan, Carly, and Valentin

The week opened at Turning Woods, where Nina visited Brennan. She had brought a syringe but emptied it into a plant rather than giving it to him. She told him that incapacitating Drew had been Sidwell's idea all along and that Willow had not had much choice in the matter. An orderly stopped in after hearing voices, and Nina covered, but once he left, Brennan made clear that Nina was still his best path out. He also told her that Valentin was staying with Carly, and the two were involved. Nina was not pleased.

By Wednesday, Brennan had invoked El Macara, a designation signaling a threat level far more serious than Carly and Valentin had understood. They went to Turning Woods together. Brennan directed them to go to Wyndemere and find a contact he called Z. Valentin was skeptical but went. Carly stayed behind, told Brennan she would never forgive him for what happened to Josslyn, but said she believed him when he said he did not know where Joss was.

When Nina showed up at Carly's house later in the week looking for Valentin, Carly had her hand on him in a way that made the message plain. Every accusation Nina threw at Carly in that moment applied equally to herself.

Willow, Chase, and Brook Lynn

Michael invited Willow to the Quartermaine estate on Tuesday to discuss the kids for the Fourth of July weekend, slipping in a comment about the Quartermaine Fourth of July party being the first time she and Drew kissed. Willow agreed to the swap. Michael then mentioned he had forgotten Wiley's mitt down at the boathouse, knowing full well she would go get it herself. Chase was already there, dripping from having jumped in to retrieve the sunglasses Jacinda had staged dropping off the dock.

Chase invited Willow to stay for a swim. She remembered Brook Lynn warning her to stay away from him, and agreed. Afterward, they sat with drinks and reminisced about when they were together. Tracy came around a corner and saw it. She told Chase he had been caught with Willow too many times for it to be nothing and ordered him to pack his bags. Chase called Brook Lynn down. Brook Lynn held it together in front of Tracy, but once Tracy walked off she made clear she knew how often Willow had been turning up. Chase explained Willow's job offer. Brook Lynn shifted, told him having him home more sounded nice, and kissed him. Tracy pulling Brook Lynn aside to say that if Chase had not cheated yet, he would, and that she should get out now, was a different kind of moment. Her voice broke. She has been there.

On Friday, Alexis called Brook Lynn and Chase in and told them Phoebe's father had been located and was willing to sign over his rights, provided the adoption be completely closed. Both hesitated, thinking of what a closed adoption had meant for Gio. They agreed to the terms. Brook Lynn then slipped out, saying she needed to get to Deception. Willow arrived shortly after with the social services paperwork, finding Chase there alone.

Brook Lynn went straight to Lucy Coe. She told her Willow was going after her husband and she needed help. Lucy acknowledged she had personal expertise in exactly this area and agreed to be her apprentice. Whether that is enough to get ahead of Willow is the question heading into next week. The hosts had a lot to say about how this whole setup played out, and whose hands are actually the dirtiest here. That conversation is worth hearing on this week's episode.

Willow, Nina, Drew, and Liesl Obrecht

On Friday, Nina and Willow were running Drew through physical therapy when Liesl Obrecht came in demanding to know where Britt was. Neither of them had heard from her. Liesl looked at Drew, noted he was blinking in what she read as an SOS pattern, and said they should put sunglasses on him if they were going to keep up the pretense. Willow insisted she was misreading it. Liesl disagreed, pointing out that Drew showed almost none of the signs she would expect from a genuine stroke and that the timing had been awfully convenient.

When Willow left to bring the adoption paperwork to Alexis's office, Liesl stayed and told Nina directly that Willow was a viper who would find a way to get Chase, and that Nina needed to stop enabling and start paying attention.

Liesl did not make it far from there. Cullum and Sidwell had decided they needed someone to step into Britt's place on the project, and by the end of Friday, Liesl had been grabbed.

Josslyn, Sonny, Laura, Lucas, and Pascal at Wyndemere

Josslyn has been held in the basement at Wyndemere for weeks. She tried working on Pascal early in the week, telling him he was just as trapped as she was. He would not engage. She moved to the light fixture instead, pulled the wires, and knocked out power throughout the house.

The timing connected to what Sonny, Laura, and Lucas had been building toward all week. Laura had set her limit early: there was a line she would not cross with Pascal, and Sonny told her not to worry. They were counting on Lucas. Lucas went to Detective Joe at the PCPD and told him Pascal had been wearing Marco's tie every day and behaving in ways that made him suspicious. When he did not feel Joe was taking him seriously enough, he pushed to see Dante. Dante told Joe to go to Wyndemere and investigate Pascal, adding that he should get familiar with the place because they end up out there a lot.

Joe went to Wyndemere to question Pascal. Cullum had already been there for a separate meeting with Sidwell and had since left. Sidwell was in the middle of fielding a visit from Tracy, Lucy, and Brook Lynn, the Deception group pressing him on the company situation, when Joe arrived looking for Pascal. Pascal told Joe to speak with Lucas and denied involvement in Marco's death. Then Joss got the power out. Pascal ran. Joe put out an APB, searched the house with Sidwell, found nothing useful, and left.

Joss got the basement door open and made it upstairs. She checked around a corner, saw no one, and opened the front door. Sidwell was standing right outside holding a gun. He called her a clever girl. He brought her back inside and made clear that killing her was not something that would trouble him. Cassius stepped in and told Sidwell he would walk away from everything if Joss was killed. While they argued, Joss slipped her ring off and kicked it under the couch, hoping someone would find it and know she had been there.

Pascal did not get far. Sonny's people picked him up and brought him to the warehouse. Sonny and Laura told him plainly that Sidwell already believed he had killed Marco, which meant his life had little value to Sidwell now. They wanted the photos and the safe combination. Laura asked about digital copies. Pascal said the images had only ever existed on film and had never been uploaded. Pascal gave them the combination, and Lucas went to Wyndemere to retrieve the photos. He also demanded Marco's tie. Pascal said it was the only thing he had left of him. Lucas pointed out that Pascal had bought that tie for Marco and then had Marco killed. He took the tie.

By Friday Lucas had brought the photos back. They thought they were clear. Lucas was not sure. He had put himself forward as a person of interest in Marco's murder by going to Joe, and he was starting to wonder how complicated that move had been.

Ethan, Phoebe, and Ava

Ava had been with Alexis at the gallery when Apollo, who is connected to the gallery, showed them a photo of Ethan and Delilah. That was how Ava figured out Ethan was Phoebe's father.

Alexis called Ethan in on Thursday. He confirmed it. He and Delilah had been friends, hooked up once, and she got pregnant. They were supposed to meet in Port Charles before she died. He did not find out what happened to her until after hearing about it from Brook Lynn. He told Alexis he was not in a position to be a father, was willing to sign over his rights, but wanted the adoption completely sealed. No one, including Phoebe, would ever know his identity. Alexis could not guarantee that forever. He said he wanted it sealed regardless.

On Friday, Ethan tracked down Ava at the Metro Court. He apologized for their previous encounter and made the case that the closed adoption was what was best for Phoebe. Ava said she might believe that if she did not know his parents. She threatened to expose him. He held his ground. Ava agreed to stay quiet, but not for free.

Dante, Elizabeth, and Lulu

Dante was at the PCPD looking into the inventory from Britt's room at Wyndemere, which had turned up nothing, when Elizabeth came by. He told her he felt he got more respect from Liz when it came to Rocco than he ever got from Lulu. Elizabeth told him she should have come to him sooner. When Lulu had brought Rocco in describing a kitchen accident, Liz had taken it at face value even though something had not added up. She also told him that when Britt had begged her to help Rocco get away, she had sounded exactly like a mother. Lulu was in the hallway and heard it.

Lulu managed to stay composed. She told Liz she understood she had been doing her job. Then she went to Carly and told her what had happened with Rocco. Carly said much the same thing Dante had: Lulu was not really giving him room to be a part of his son's life. Valentin overheard some of it. Lulu told Carly that if making peace with Dante was what it took to make Rocco feel safe, she would do it.

Quick Notes

Kristina Corinthos-Davis told Michael she had been accepted to UCLA medical school. His first instinct was to ask what strings he could pull. She told him she had handled it herself.

Maxie took the girls to the Grand Canyon for the week. James stayed behind because he did not want to let down his Little League team.

Cullum visited Brennan at Turning Woods and told him he had found his black box and needed the access code. Lucy Coe spent the week in a sling after breaking her arm in a real-life riding accident in mid-April. The show wrote it in as a pole dancing injury, which is a very Lucy explanation.

Port Charles Pipeline

Chelsie wrote in about the Dante and Lulu debate from a recent episode, coming down firmly on the side that Dante had it right: he told Lulu directly that Rocco going on the run would only happen over his dead body. She appreciated that moment and wanted to make sure that position got its due credit.

Tammy wrote in after a week when the Monday episode did not appear in the feed right away. She was gracious about it, saying she hoped everything was okay and that if the silence meant the reality check had gotten a little too soapy, they were in her prayers. The episode had simply been a publishing error, and Tammy's message was sweet enough to deserve a mention on air.

Cheri wrote in with background on the Lulu timeline, noting that Lulu was born in 1994 but the show later aged her to have been born in 1988, which is how she was written as 17 when she came back to live with Luke and Tracy in 2005. She wondered if the current storyline about Lulu having traveled with the family might be explaining that age-up with a story rather than just pretending it never happened. Good catch.

Send your messages to pier54podcast@gmail.com and you might hear yours on a future episode.

Reality Check

Shannon went strawberry picking on Wednesday after a farm near her sent out a last-minute notice that they had just enough crop left for a pick-your-own session from 11 to 12:30. Her office meeting had been canceled, and the farm time slot was exactly when the meeting would have been, so she and her daughter went. She also had an offer accepted for a buyer at work, and her daughter was hired for a new job with an employer whose whole business model centers on employment for people with disabilities. She was excited about both.

Amanda's daughter Madeline spent the week at her dad's house. Emily dyed the underside of Madeline's hair pink, which was the exciting event of the week. Amanda has a girls' day planned for the weekend with her sister and friends to celebrate a birthday.