Tangled webs

The liar, liar's club was alive and well in Port Charles this week and steadily gaining new members. Ric returned to town with an agenda, Molly spent time with T.J., Britt questioned Nikolas about Liz, and Ava tried to keep her deadly little secret buried. It's time for Two Scoops of truth or consequences.

I quivered with barely suppressed fury this week when Alexis showed up at Metro Court to haul Molly out of the hotel room and Molly turned defiant and mouthy because Alexis dared to ruin Molly's romantic evening of virginity-taking by being a responsible mother.

Bad Alexis!

No doubt, Molly was hoping that Alexis would be her usual oblivious self and happily spend the evening playing on the floor with Danny while drooling over delicious Julian. Molly didn't count on the tenacity of a rejected brooding teenage boy who drew the short straw in parents, thanks to a vampire-hunting mother and a serial killer father with delusions of being a vampire. I'd brood, too, if I were Rafe.

Molly and T.J.'s romantic hookup was a bust because Rafe hotfooted it over to the lake house and told Alexis about the illicit tryst. Honestly, I don't care that Rafe did it. Sure, it was pretty shady of him, but in the end, Molly deserved it. What. A. Brat.

I gaped with shock as Molly transformed into that possessed little girl in the Exorcist and spat "No!" at her mother when Alexis demanded that Molly get dressed.

Molly defended her decision to lose her virginity to T.J. by proudly and loudly proclaiming that she and T.J. loved each other and were responsible because they'd had the foresight to pick up condoms, which Molly snidely pointed out was far more than her mother had had for Alexis' backseat romp with Julian when Alexis got knocked up with Sam. Ouch.

However, Molly's reaction spoke far louder than any words could have. She acted like a spoiled little girl, not a mature young lady.

I'm curious as to when having condoms became the litmus for being responsible and mature enough to have sex? Time and again, that seemed to be the recurring theme for why Molly and T.J. were ready. They had condoms.

I was surprised by the reaction of everyone on the show, from Olivia, who inappropriately gave the teens the thumbs-up by providing them with a room, to Shawn, who agreed with T.J. that Alexis was being unfair. Even Julian's support of Alexis was half-hearted and seemed more about staying in her good graces rather than actually agreeing that the teens might not be ready.

Then there was Ric, who didn't even seem to bat an eye at the idea of his sixteen-year-old daughter having sex. I found it unrealistic that Alexis would be the only one who had a problem with Molly and T.J. having sex, so I did an unofficial poll of the people in my life to see if their reaction would be similar to those in Port Chuck.

I spoke to a few parents -- some with younger children and others with teenagers/college kids -- a teenager, and even a bachelor. What I discovered is that in this case, art does not imitate life. With the exception of one person, everyone agreed that Molly is too young to have sex -- not because she's sixteen, but rather because she behaved immaturely.

The consensus was that Molly lied and demonstrated irresponsible behavior, despite having those oh, so important condoms at the ready. All agreed that Molly should have at least tried to broach the subject with her mother before sneaking off for a secret rendezvous.

One friend summed up best how I felt about Olivia's role in all of this. He said, "The biggest issue that I have in this is someone who is not the children's parent giving them the green-light to have sex and sort of encouraging it. Yes, she advised them to use condoms, but that isn't her place to have that discussion with minors."

Ironically, my daughter learned just this week in her psychology class that a teenager has a different perception of reality than an adult because the human brain does not fully mature until the early to mid twenties, depending on when puberty started. There is a reason that parents are legally responsible for children until the age of eighteen, so Alexis had every right as Molly's legal guardian to put a stop to things if she felt that there might be a possibility that her daughter was not ready.

My niece wisely pointed out that the other issue is that condoms are not exactly foolproof, especially in the hands of teenagers who are learning how to use them and are more likely to make a mistake. Condoms are certainly necessary, but the only guaranteed way to prevent pregnancy is abstinence. That means that you need to look at your potential partner as a possible parent to your child and ask yourself if that is the person you want to be tied to for the rest of your life because that's exactly what a child will do.

Molly and T.J. talked about having sex a sum total of once. Nothing in any of their exchanges suggests to me that Molly or T.J. truly appreciates the enormity of what they are doing and or even thinking about what might happen if the condom should fail in some way.

I don't think Molly and T.J. have really thought about the consequences of having an intimate relationship or what it could mean down the road if things don't work out for them. They are young. The odds are not in their favor that they will stay together for the rest of their lives.

As for Ric, I don't believe for a minute that he's actually okay with Molly having sex with her boyfriend. I think that it was simply a ploy to win Molly over, so I will not be the least bit surprised if T.J. meets with an accident in a dark alley sometime in the near future that will make it impossible for him to have sex for a very long time.

Ric is clearly a man full of secrets and definitely playing fast and loose with the truth because it seems pretty obvious that he's up to something. At first, I speculated that he might be Julian's moneyman, but it was so obvious that even Olivia thought of it, so I quickly dismissed it. I'm certain that he's connected to Julian, but I'm beginning to suspect that it might be through a third party. At least, I'm hoping that's the case because I want Ric to be good guy and finally have a real relationship with his brother.

Ideally, Ric -- who is an attorney -- will represent the person who is backing Julian and be revealed to be secretly working from the inside to take the person down in an effort to protect his brother. I have my reasons for wanting Ric to be a good guy, but more on that later.

Folks, I never thought that I would say this, but I'm desperate for Carly to hobble herself over to the hotel and knock Olivia off of that high horse that Olivia has been parading around on since Cousin Connie died. I can't imagine that Carly is going to be pleased that mob-moll Olivia has allowed Sonny to set up shop under Carly's roof and allowed Sonny's niece to hook up in a room with a teenage boy.

Sonny is many things, especially old-fashioned. He will not want his niece having sex. Period. Ever.

However, I despair of that happening anytime soon because Carly has been in the hospital for her dehydration and leg contusion longer than it takes most to recover from brain surgery at Miracle Hospital.

Most awkward encounter of the week definitely goes to Sabrina, Patrick, and Robin when Sabrina bumped into the Drakes at the hospital elevator and promptly brought up the fact that Patrick hadn't made it for their baby's prenatal checkup. Frankly, for someone who doesn't want to follow in Britt's footsteps, Sabrina is doing a bang-up job of doing just that. The scene at the elevator is exactly the kind of thing that we saw Britt do when Patrick and Sabrina were dating. Britt never missed an opportunity to talk about the baby in front of Sabrina, and Sabrina always hated it.

Speaking of Britt, it's become clear to me that that particular leopard has not changed her spots one bit. I can't see any sign that she has even an iota of remorse for keeping Ben from his real mother. Rather, I just see only fear that her lies will be exposed. That day can't come soon enough for me.

Truthfully, I don't think that Nikolas is going to be all that heartbroken when Britt is exposed for the treacherous liar that she is. I can already see the worm turning. Maybe, on some level, he senses that Britt is lying about not knowing that Dante was Ben's father. How can that niggling thought not be at the back of his mind after all of the lies that he's caught Britt in over the months?

However, Nikolas might find that he has a little competition because Liz's ex is back in town, and Ric has always had an obsession with my girl. I think Liz will always be Ric's one and only true love, so it's only a matter of time before he makes his way to her.

I don't mind Ric and Liz spending time together, but I want Nikolas and Liz to be the endgame because, as much as I loved Ric and Liz together, I can't forget that he's done some truly unforgivable things to Liz in the name of love, including once taking a pillow and deciding to smother her. Ric looses his mind when he's around Liz, and their relationship inevitably turns toxic. Liz has had enough heartbreak in her life, so I want her to have the prince, not the dark knight.

Plus, I want to see Cam move into Wyndemere and teach Spencer a thing or two about humility.

Thank you, Ron Carlivati, for finally giving Liz a storyline that her fans can enjoy. I'm really looking forward to seeing Liz at the center of a front-burner storyline that sticks it to Britt in the process.

It's taken awhile, but I've finally warmed to Lulu. Although she's having difficulty about accepting her husband's child with another woman, I find myself having a lot of compassion for her. Emme Rylan is playing the scenes to perfection by showing us Lulu's vulnerability without the usual anger and bitterness that Lulu used to lug around like clunky old luggage.

I haven't liked Lulu for a long time, even before Julie Marie Berman left the role, but lately that has changed. I credit both the actress and the writing for that.

Dear readers, that sound that we've been hearing all this week is the bell tolling for Ava. There are only two ways that this can end for our diabolical villainess: death or a brain tumor. Since the tumor twist has already been used, I'm afraid Ava is on a collision course with the Grim Reaper and will soon meet a fate similar to her predecessors, Faith Roscoe and Claudia Zacchara.

It's a fundamental rule of soap operas that eventually your crimes catch up with you in one fashion or another. It's a dance of good versus evil that ebbs and flows as each side defeats the other and temporarily gains the upper hand.

Ava shot Olivia -- I give her a free pass on that one -- and killed Connie. She then framed A.J. for Connie's murder, ruined his life, and is now actively trying to have him killed. Sadly, at the close of Friday's show, A.J. walked right into the Black Widow's web of deceit as she was busy spinning her next move. Ava is ever the opportunist, so she will find a way to capitalize on A.J.'s visit. Whether she shoots him and claims self-defense or flat-out murders him and frames someone else will remain to be seen, but it's a safe bet that A.J. is not going to leave that apartment under his own steam, especially when he reveals that he solved the mystery of Connie's crimson clue -- AJ was for Ava Jerome.

Moving on, Ava is also my prime suspect in Nina's overdose and Mr. Nakamura's not-so-shocking sudden demise. At the rate that Ava is going, her luck is quickly going to run out when someone starts to notice that people around Ava die or disappear.

Silas and Sam are hot on Ava's trail but have decided to take a quick detour to visit Sleeping-Nina, who I suspect will not be as comatose as Silas and Sam believe.

Not surprisingly, Nathan located the nearest transporter and beamed himself to New York City when Kiki let it slip that her father had gone to the city to clear his name. Also not surprisingly, Nathan immediately went into his Rain Man speech about how Silas tried to kill Nina and then added a new twist by accusing Silas of murdering Mr. Nakamura in the same manner.

I'm tired of Nathan. I don't know what's driving his quest to pin Nina's overdose on Silas, and frankly, I no longer care. He's an annoying, pointless character who lacks even a smidgen of warmth or charm.

I can't wait until Sam and Silas prove that Nathan was not only wrong, he was very wrong.

Finally, Luke went home this week, and there is most definitely something off about him. Not only is there a light's on, no one's home vibe to him, but physically he's different. He sort of reminds me of a cleaned-up version of Beetlejuice. I'm not sure what to make of it. Perhaps he senses a disturbance in the force created by the imminent resurrection of Helena and Stavros Cassadine.

A few things that tickled my fancyAlexis alludes to her checkered driving history when Julian makes an observation about DannyJulian: "Somebody's gonna have to teach this kid how to drive. His, uh, trucks plowed through half the town."Alexis: "I would be the last person to give anyone driving pointers."

Tracy greets Carly when Carly stops to check on LukeTracy: "Oh, ye of patchy memory."

Ava peruses the menu at Ryan's barAva: "How's the corned beef? Who am I kidding? I hate corned beef. Shepherd's pie. Don't mind if I don't. Black pudding? Does anybody actually eat this stuff? You know what? Just give me an Irish coffee, okay?"

Ric and Sonny talk about Alexis and Julian's pastRic: "How Alexis ever got involved with a criminal like that, that's..."Sonny: "Probably gearing up for you."Ric: "Or you."

Sabrina questions Carlos about the gash on his head, compliments of TracySabrina: "What happened?"Carlos: "I-I hit my head getting out of my car."Sabrina: "Oh, was it an ejector seat?"

One-note Nathan accuses Silas of murdering a witnessNathan: "And speaking of your wife, Dr. Clay, there seem to be a lot of people connected to you who abruptly feel the need to end it all."Silas: "You're still here."

Until next time, dear readers, take care. Liz Masters

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