Greetings & salutations!  Well, was I right or was I right?  If you caught Monday’s episode of AMC you had to be just as blown away as I was by all the events!  Talk about a great payoff – for a Monday, and a change.  (If you’re a longtime soap viewer like me, you may recall with fondness when your favorite soaps saved big events for Fridays.  This left the weekend for you to ponder what would happen next and count the minutes until you found out.)  Looks like those days are long gone, as is our favorite mantra “Rainy days and Mondays always get me down.”

Poor Greenlee!  But it’s about time that she found out about Ryan and Gillian.  They’ve been so careless with their affair; it was just a matter of time before they were caught.  What a shock to the system for Greens, to be busting her hump to keep Ryan out of jail and getting involved with Wade Randall, and expecting Ryan’s love to be her big payoff in the end.  Things continued on the downward spiral as Gramps was rushed to the hospital for his heart, and Greens’ pal Leo gave her the brush-off. 

Her dramatic turn at SOS and Ryan’s apartment was just what the doctor ordered.  Scorned woman takes ax and exacts her revenge with help from Leo (who eventually realized that Greenlee needed him), sweet justice if you ask me.  Fortunately for us, her troubles are far from over.  Greenlee still owes Wade $3 mil plus interest, an introduction to Gramps and her soul; then she’ll have to deal with Ryan when he returns which should be an interesting conversation at best.

Leo & Becca won the swing dance contest.  Their dance was cute, but Becca has worked my last nerve.  Since she and Leo have hooked up, their relationship seems to be all about Becca and what she wants to do.  She forced Leo to enter the dance contest and has pretty much called the shots since day one of their ill-fated romance.  She let Leo go (help Greenlee) under the guise that he had an errand to run for Erica, hoping her worst fears wouldn’t come true.  I don’t think Leo should have lied to Becca, but she really didn’t give him much choice.  What bothers me is her lack of faith in Leo that maybe Greenlee really needed him, or that she should fight for her man if she really cared about him.  This just further proves to me that Leo & Greenlee are perfect for each other and I can’t wait until they realize it.

Maybe this will send Becca to the back burner for a while with Hayley and Mateo.  With Leo out of Becca’s picture for the time being, it’s safe to assume that she won’t go running back to Scott as his portrayer has been let go.  (And not a moment too soon, Scott never did anything for me as a character and I’m glad to see him go.  Hopefully he’ll reunite with Stuart before taking off for film school.)  I know I’m ready for a Becca break.  Speaking of the Santos duo, I’m glad they’re still being used as filler, but could stand a few weeks of them off the canvas completely (say on a nice little honeymoon out of town).  If they aren’t careful, they may fall into the Tad and Dixie trap of butting into everybody’s business, which would be a shame.

While I don’t approve of Dixie’s meddling, she did one thing right by sending Alex to the hunting lodge.  What a sweet reunion between Alex and Dimitri, glad to see that the medication is working (in every sense of the word).  I was thrilled that these two not only shared a special romantic encounter, but also that it wasn’t dragged out.  This was yet another contributor to a great Monday show.

I don’t feel bad for Edmund one bit, though I realize their triangle is a unique situation.  It seems to me that Alex and Dimitri should stay reunited since they are still married and Edmund will have to just deal.  That should make Alex’ decision very easy.  The best line of the week came after Edmund blasted Dimitri for making love with Alex.  “Well you know Edmund, he is my husband,” Alex reminded him.  (In other words, don’t let the door hit you on your way out!)

Little by little we’re learning more about Miss Bianca and her hang-ups.  I like this story although it’s building slowly, and her interactions with Leo.  I’m glad they aren’t pursuing a romance between these two, because they’re great as a brother/sister combo. 

So, we learned a little more about Eliot and I have to be honest when I say I still don’t care about him, his past, his present or his future (unless it includes leaving the show).  The “convenient” way every situation Eliot encounters lets us learn a little more about him is a tired formula.  What is up with the writers?  Are they grasping at straws?  The Ricky story isn’t bad, his dad is a real loser, but it seems Brooke is only getting involved to hold on to Eliot or remain close to him.  Give it up Brooke.  She should not fill her plate or take on a new child, with Jamie returning home from camp and Tad being too busy with Col-Mar to be bothered with parenting, and her daughter Laura scheduled to make a return, Brooke needs to keep her schedule light. 

We know that Stuart is on his way home to Pine Valley, and soon Jake will be too, which means more reunions are on the way.  Hopefully they will be just as satisfying.  Another event we can look forward to is Miss Bianca’s gala; it should be quite the event with a special appearance by the new boy band O-Town.  Although it’s a shameless ABC tie-in, (O-Town appears on “Making the Band” an ABC-show) I must admit that I’m looking forward to it.  (One of my guilty Friday-night pleasures is watching that show.  It’s got enough drama to compete with some of these daytime soaps.)

I’m going to take a week off, so I’ll be back in two weeks.  I’d love to hear from you and dish our favorite show.  Have a great week!