This custody battle is going to completely rip my heart out and shred it pieces before it’s through, isn’t it?
After spending so long on Team Maxie, it still feels a little strange to now hate her so thoroughly. But there was something almost obscene about the juxtaposition of her flippant giddiness against Lulu and Dante’s panicked fear while they all waited for news from the court petition:
It’s not the fact that Maxie wants her baby that’s so wrong; it’s the way she suddenly seems to have divorced herself from all the pain she’s caused. It’s her continued surprise that Dante and Lulu would actually want to keep a baby they know isn’t biologically theirs — even though she spent months justifying her lies with the fact that biology made no difference.
All of which was why it was so very satisfying to see her brought back down to Earth by her confrontation with Lulu, with no punches spared on either side:
MAXIE: I will never stop feeling guilty about what happened on New Years Eve, but that doesn’t change the fact that Connie is my baby. And I don’t owe it to you to give her up.
LULU: As if you even want her.
MAXIE: Excuse me?
LULU: Can we please just stop pretending? We both know the reason you’re fighting for Connie and it’s not because you’re her mother — it’s because she’s this season’s hottest accessory.
I loved this exchange, because it kind of humanized them both. Of course, Lulu is hitting below the belt, blaming Maxie for the miscarriage and convincing herself this sudden desire for motherhood is just a flavor of the month. And after all the lies Maxie’s told and the times she’s gone back on her word, who can blame her? And of course Maxie is right that at the end of the day, none of the mistakes she’s made mean she owes Lulu her child. Just great stuff from both actresses there.
But seriously. This story’s going to kill me, isn’t it?
Also — and this probably goes without saying — but Dominic Zamprogna’s quieter grief over what he knows to be a no-win situation was just as devastating, if not more so. Dante is not only the world’s best husband, but the world’s most reasonable guy in a crisis. Bless.
Meanwhile, in today’s edition of Morgan is Hilariously Awful:
MORGAN: I don’t understand why you can’t just trust me.
JULIAN: Well, you did say you’d never turn on your father–
MORGAN: Yeah, but I told you: that was before he gave my brother a job.
AVA: Honey, I think what my brother is trying to say is that most people would need a little something more–
MORGAN: Did I tell you about the part where he offered to let me share the job? I mean, what does he expect after an insult like that?
JULIAN: Right. So, to be 100% clear, you’re okay with helping me kill your dad–
MORGAN: Uh-huh.
JULIAN: –because he offered you a job.
MORGAN: Exactly.
JULIAN: You’re actually sleeping with this little sociopath?
AVA: Look, have you seen his abs?
I may have read between the lines there a little at the end, but that is basically exactly what happened. And it was amazing. And hilarious. And awful. He truly is the son Sonny and Carly deserve.
(If this story doesn’t end with Sonny and Morgan locked in a room together, both breaking barware and screaming about BETRAAAAYAL, then there is no justice in the world.)
Despair in the Afternoon 
I want that scene SO MUCH
Lol…BETRAYAL!!!! But srsly, I hate Morgan MORE than Sonny so that’s weird. Sonny shot a son he thought was just a cop who betrayed him. If he doesn’t put a bullet squarely in Morgan’s chest then I don’t know what to do. There are SO many ppl who should shoot Morgan and nobody’s going to. :( And I want Dante and Spinelli to raise Baby Connie together. I can only hope that Ben is soon revealed to be Dante and LuLu’s. I just don’t like new LuLu.
In the long haul I think Ellie’s right. If Spinelli separate himself from Maxie scheme then he gan regain custody of his daughter. In the end, he was a victim like Lante. He’s never going to cut Maxie out of Georgie’s life, but it’s what is needed to get the baby right now.
I was pleasantly surprised when Ellie said the obvious thing and Spinelli immediately saw the sense in it.
And there it is “Just like the baby you killed on New Years Eve?!” I knew LuLu would hate Maxie every bit as much for having a miscarriage that was in no way her fault. Maxie was absolutely right that she would have lost her BFF if she had told the truth.
I don’t think Lulu literally blames Maxie for the miscarriage; she’s just trying to lash out and hurt her as much as she’s hurting right no. She said it herself in the next sentence: the real issue is Maxie never told her or gave her the chance to grieve.
I hate this custody story. It is so painful and both sides are being awful. But DZ has KILLED me. I feel so bad for Dante and really hope the truth about Ben comes out yesterday so that I don’t have to deal with his grief any longer. I can’t stand it! I actually feel bad for Britt now, but I need this custody situation to go away.
I loved that Ellie finally said the completely obvious thing to Spinelli about custody. It’s so obvious she’s going to be one of the many hurt by this situation. If they’re hellbend on reuniting Spin and Maxie (and I’m still not sure they are), they really need to get somebody better for Ellie. I really couldn’t stand NuLu up until yesterday, but I thought the actress was superb in that scene and made Lulu a bit more sympathetic. However, the look of shock on her face when Maxie finally reminded her that her past isn’t pure made me laugh — like it never occurred to her that Maxie would go there too?
DZ is amazing with that beautiful baby — feeding and comforting her and acting his heart out at the same time.
To be fair, though. If I were Lulu, I wouldn’t think Maxie had anything on me even close to what I had on her. I will find it somewhat hysterical is the end result of all this is the judge deciding neither is fit.
Yeah, let’s be real, neither are really all that fit. I mean, even just disregarding the various shady stuff in the past, neither are really shining in the custody arc. Maxie’s got the biological card, but then there is the fraud she perpetuated. Just give the kid to Mac. He’s the one who’ll be raising her anyway.
DZ is the one saving this storyline for me. I can’t warm up to ER’s acting “style” so I don’t believe Lulu’s pain but when I watch Dante I just feel his sadness and the realization of the inevitable. DZ is that good.
Maxie’s can’t bring up Lulu killing Logan because:
A) It was an acident. He ran into the knief.
B) Logan was going to rape Maxie, Lulu saved her.
C) Lulu wanted to confess but Johnny and Maxie convinced her not to. And covered it up.
In short, Maxie can’t bring up Logan without implicating herself.
I think the reason I enjoy Morgan as a nut as opposed to Michael was because the show acknowledges Morgan is nuts. When Michael was running around acting sociopathic everyone was just all, “oh man he’s had it so tough!!” And yes that Morgan/Sonny scene would be hilarious and justice.
Dante/DZ is rocking this story. And he looks damn hot/adorable with a baby in his arms. After the poor guy is going to have to arrest Morgan, cause you know he will, if he ragequits because of arresting every last damn member of his family, he should open a daycare center.
This exactly. I enjoy Morgan because one, he’s against Sonny. I can’t even lie about that being a factor and two, the show doesn’t woobify him like they did with Michael. Morgan throws himself a lot of pity parties and though it’s slightly justified, you can’t go around being a jackhole all the time just because mommy and daddy didn’t love you enough. The show does seem to want us to find him a little ridiculous IMO. And I don’t mind enjoying that until the inevitable moment he’ll have to go crawling back.
Team Morgan! I love the little putz that is so like his scheming mother and barely coherent Daddy!
I still can’t feel bad for Lulu. I think it’s great that Sonny is finally having family troubles.