He's as cool as a cucumber, that one. I loved his speech to the judge admitting that while he may not be the smartest, the wealthiest or the most influential in the courtroom, no one would be able to argue is innocence as well as he could. And he also got his sister to confess under oath that she gave a false testimony in order for him to be prosecuted.

Teh awesome.

And I typically love scary and lethal Zach, and I realize that a lot of people will be upset with my saying this, but I thought it was pretty candy assed of him to beat a handcuffed man with a baton. For me, it was similar to Ryan's big man trash talking while Richie had his hands tied behind his back and standing on a chair with a noose around his neck. I would have preferred that the handcuffs been taken off so at least it could have been close to fair. Then Zach could have busted out the stick. One advantage I can accept. Two.... not so much.

I also didn't care for Kendall praising him today for laying down such a beating when only last week she begged him to leave it alone so not to risk their family and their future.

The one thing I definitely know is that I'm not supposed to be cheering for Richie and yet, he is the one I'm cheering for the loudest.

Billy Miller was great. I'm glad he got his chance to shine.

We know everything Richie has done, and that he has no real remorse, but his convincing turn in the courtroom was a joy to watch. If you look at the facts as Richie laid them out, I can see why the judge was somewhat sympathetic to his case.

I had some WTF moments at the writing for his actual defense, but they were the usual plotholes you expect on AMC. I would've thought they'd spend more time discussing the specifics of the current case rather than Richie's life of wah. It was a means to an end, and the obvious whodnit being laid out.

I felt the writers were going for a sexy Zen moment where Kendall condoned her sexy husband beating down the town evil and was turned on by it, but it fell very flat for me. I also didn't like how she prodded and prodded for an answer and never got a real one. Again, I know what they were going for but the execution turned me off instead of on.

I'd prefer a real conversation like they had on Friday that says he speaks and she listens, and vice versa. I want a team.

It was nice to see Greenlee left out of the courtoom scenes, and only reached by a phone call offscreen. I needed the break from her making everything all about...her.

The continuity on this show stinks big time. Things change on any given day and Lavery forbid we get to see a show where the Slaters talk for more than two seconds about anything important. We keep getting two second conversations with the Slaters and nothing is really discussed. Obviously Zach is going through something and Kendall knows this and yet nothing more than looks. Also, wouldn't you think Zach would have Ritchie watched day and night so it should be interesting to see what kind of plot crap they're going to give us in order for the spoilers to happen. Every story these writers touch turns to absolute garbage.

I must say I don't like Ritchie but I do like BM and it's a damn shame that they are losing him because they, again, wrote a character in a corner. He would have made a good bad/good guy. I didn't think it would be possible but the bears have made a bigger mess of AMC than McBitch ever did. Be careful what you wish for.

I agree. I think today was another Sonny Corinthos day for Zach and I hate it. Kendall being cool with mobster Zach (he wouldn't and hasn't reacted that way when she "puts their family in danger") and just sitting there talking to her little mobster while he and his mobster ego would barely look at her or talk back (because he was consumed with his mobster thoughts, I assume). Ugh, so very GH and in a bad way.

Yeah so ... Team Richie!!!

The chest-beating testosterone party gets boring after it's used 698769789 times.

I say Z and Richie should have settled this in other ways, like with a dance off.

Courthouse - I was pleased with the Zen stuff today. I didn't like the non-sharing aspects of it, but overall I thought it was good. Even though Zach didn't come right out and say that he was the one who beat Richie down, Kendall knew, and they communicated about it. Kendall's support made sense to me in that way that Zach didn't put their family at risk--seeing as how his actions were sanctioned by the cops--and I thought that maybe she thought this would help Zach move on, get some of the anger out, etc. Zach really does seem to be the only person that Richie is afraid of. When he offered that room at the casino, you could tell that freaked Richie out. I do hope we get more Zen acting as a team, and that if/when Richie is bumped off, and therefore if/when Zach becomes the prime suspect, then Zen will be able to be strong and hold it together--no repeats of MMM. I like dark Zach and supportive Kendall. TK and AM shine like that. They really complement each other well in those roles (as they did with the SS storyline), but it's necessary for there to be sharing for that to work. Hope Pratt gets that. I feel like I should right the guy a developmental edit letter or something.

Ryannie - Well, I didn't really feel all that sorry for Annie on this one. Richie told the truth about her. Ryan was awfully supportive, so it really seems like they're setting things up to have Ryan be the betrayed one here so they can Rylee things up. Ugh.

Jabe - I liked JR today. Babe didn't annoy me that much either. I liked it that she apologized to Opal. Though I do feel like she's over-apologizing about this Richie stuff in general (almost as if she's fishing for people to tell her that it's not her fault, but that could just be me).

Opal - Love her. So glad she came. Death won't be cheated indeed.

Richie - BM really was captivating today and it sucks that we're going to lose him. There were times during his speech that I really felt for him and could see his POV, and then they'd cut to Zen and I'd be brought back to the reality of the situation. He really is good at being bad.

Lack of not only Greenlee, but Aidan - Huh. Well, Greenlee acts like she's so traumatized that she cons Jake into moving in with her, but can't be bothered to show to the arraignment. Ri-ight. And Aidan's so concerned that he'll go down to the jail and threaten Richie, but doesn't think it worth his time to go to the courthouse. O-kay. Whatever. I didn't miss either one of them. It just shows how incredibly self-involved they are; Greenlee was too busy flirting and Aidan was who knows where--but they were both thinking about themselves.

Hospital - The Hubbards have certainly wondered into the land of trite storylines. Eeesh. I could barely refrain from FFing those scenes. Only didn't because the machine's kinda on the fritz and goes all wonky if I go too far and then need to go back.

BJ's - Oh, Jake, you should have run while you had the chance! I almost thought he'd get away, but then, nope, sucked right in. Poor guy. RIP Jake Martin if this continues. (Don't remember much about the original Jake/Greenlee relationship, but it seems to me that she used him when Leo was ignoring her or something.)

GO TEAM SLATER!!! :yay

Okay, I wasn't really feeling Kendall supporting the beating...and that's because the day before she asked Zach to leave it alone and I thought she would have been a little upset........not to mention he didn't give her TRUTH, especially since he's so big on it from Kendall.......

BUT, I was glad to see my girl.......

....and I am so on Richie's team.......GO NOVACK........