That is the only way to describe today's show. It was a mess. Although I'm sure if I think on it long and hard enough I could understand why they did what they did, I shouldn't have to think about it.

I'm just glad we got all of that Zen business out of the way quickly so that we can really focus on the important stuff here: Greenlee's happiness. Maybe she can take Spike and Lefty for a drive over a cliff next week when she doesn't like her manicure or something. You know, to cheer her up and all.

I come at this from a different POV than most Zen fans. I hate Kenlee (that's not the different part), but I accept that this is something AMC is going to push, and push, and push, and I have to find a way to accept it if I'm watching the show.

So unpopular as this may be, I thought it was progress that Greenlee did not have influence with Zach, as she had thought, and that the only reason he relented was because he is too decent a man to be responsible for her unhappiness. That should be Aidan's responsibility, and it will be. I think Zach knows this.

I thought it was progress that Zach said that Greenlee knows him better than "almost" anyone--because the winner and champ is still Kendall (which was implied).

I thought it was progress that Greenlee referred to Kendall as her best friend, and Zach was the man she (Kendall) loved. No "BFF" bullshit today.

I love Dark Zach, and I'm not backtracking, but I like the twist that he's not looking to get Aidan killed (at least not at this time) and that his darkness is not overwhelming. I mentioned to someone offline that I never want Zach to be Sonny Corinthos or even Todd Manning, and I'm often a fan of both characters. Zach is a better man than that, and I think there's more story if he does his dark thing only up to a point.

And I think today's show is going to be a lightbulb moment for Greenlee when/if she finds out about the ONS. I think that's the main purpose of it--to realize that Zach knew and still kept it from her, preferring to send Aidan into danger.

If today's show had been a little more about Zen's relationship, I would have enjoyed it more, but that wasn't the reason for them to be in scenes together, and again, I hate it, but I understand that AMC is going to promote Greenlee's reaction to the ONS in a way that is all drama, over the top reactions, etc. Nothing that happened today diminishes Zen for me, or the joy of the last few weeks.

I live alone with my take on it, and that's OK. :)

Zach's behavior is confusing. I noticed sarcasm in Zach's voice when he said "we're doing it for Greenlee". Zach also looked at Kendall just before he told Greenlee that he would take Aiden off the case. Now both instances could have been TK's choice and not the writers'...hard to tell. My take on this is that Zach still sees a lot of doubt and guilt from Kendall even though he told her that he is never leaving her. In the morning when he woke her up, he saw that she still isn't sure that he is not going to walk away from their marriage. That would cause him to feel that her trust issues are still not resolved. I think that once he saw that Kendall was supporting GB to withdraw Aiden from the mission, he felt that it would devastate Kendall if something happened to Aiden and she would blame herself. Therefore I believe that Zach did it for Kendall not Greenlee.

I'm not swallowing the bomb shelter BS that the writer's still seem to be pushing. Greenlee was being her selfish manipulative self today. She was manipulating both Zach and Kendall. IMO Zach's concern is all about Kendall and not Greenlee. Zach knows that Kendall loves Greenlee like a sister and he also knows what it is doing to Kendall keeping the secret. He fears what will happen to Kendall when Greenlee finds out, because he knows only too well what pain Greenlee would inflict on Kendall. If Zach cared for Greenlee at all, he would make sure that she be told how untrustworthy Aiden is before she marries him. By insisting that the secret be kept from GB, IMO Zach is protecting Kendall from being hurt and stopping GB from interfering in their lives.

I still think we are primarily dealing with trust issues between Zach and Kendall. Zach knows how close Kendall is to Greenlee( I hate the Kenlee friendship more than anyhting on the show, but like Jules I believe we are stuck with it) and if GB finds out about the ONS she will go into revenge mode, as she has done in the past and Kendall's guilt and insecurities will surface....not the best environment for trust issues to be resolved.

Lavery, do I hate the Kenlee. Ugh. But right now Kendall is all about it (which frustrates the very shit out of me but I'm not going to lose any sleep over it.)

Anywho... here is my take. When Kendall went to Zach and asked why he was sending Aidan to Darfur, I'm sure he wondered why she would really care if that asshole lived or died. But then once Greenlee arrived it became clear why Kendall cared. It wasn't about Aidan. It wasn't because Zach had some dark death wish for the mumblemouth. It was because Kendall was worried for Greenlee.

Now Zach clearly remembers Kendall handing over her life to Greenlee once before and at the mention of helping Ryan to fake his death, I think it all became clear at that point that history could indeed repeat itself. If something were to happen to Aidan, Kendall's guilt would only be compounded that much more. She would not only have the guilt of the unfortunate incident, but Kendall would, in her mind, have blood on her hands. Her decisions would have ultimately led to Aidan's demise. And that is not something she could face Greenlee with.

Which is why I think Zach was very sarcastic in his response to Kendall in that "Greenlee is the priority." She was the priority in 2005 and here we are again.

I just hope that at some point and time this "friendship" that sucks the life out of Kendall is over for good.

Lavery, do I hate the Kenlee

Me, too. It sucks the very last breath of enthusiasm I have for the day's episode when Kenlee is the focus. Kick her to the curb already, Kendall. She is deadweight.

I just don't think Zach's thing with Greenlee was any less genuine than Kendall's. And both things I find very, very disturbing. They both hold her feelings to this regard that is completely ridiculous after what she did to their kids.

I think the tone of sarcasm was in his voice because he's still angry at Kendall. Not so much because of Greenlee, but because she f**ked Aidan. It's his anger brimming, he's not over it and the thing he was using to help him maybe get over it was seemingly just taken away.

I almost wish they hadn't done the fire thing or saved it for later. I find the tension between Z/K to be as thick as it was pre-fire, and the cleansing effect of the fire would have been better for a moment where they had really made some progress towards moving on.

ETA:

That's absolutely accurate, I don't like when I have to over-analyze an episode to get out of it stuff that doesn't feel wrong. I had to do that today, at least I can say it's been a while since there was this negative connotation to the over-analyzing with AMC. Not too long ago, that was an every day thing.

ITA with your take. I think for Zach it's all about Kendall and how all this will affect her. I watched live today and I saw Zach looking at Kendall during GB's rant and I think he did realize that if anything did happen to Aidass it would be hanging over them for the rest of their lives. I also don't think Zach was sending Aidass there to be killed but because he was the best person for the job and had the experience.


I hope everyone is right and after the ONS comes out Kendall/GB/Zach aren't friends anymore because this so called "friendship" is ruining what is becoming a good show again.


Also ITA with J we shouldn't have to think this hard about all this.

The most surprising thing about today's show was the Amanda bumper at the end. I didn't think they still had it. LOL

Count me in with those who thought today's scene could have been have been worse. Greenlee played Zach and Kendall in order to get what she wanted.

The Kenlee best friend card
The Zach's wife card
The bomb shelter card
The dead cell phone battery card
The I might be a widow again card
The you helped Ryan fake his death from me card..

Zach seemed frustrated with them all. He wants Aidan out of the picture for a few days to help him deal with the ONS. Now he has to think of another way to deal with it.

Plus Zach wouldn't want anyone to feel the way he felt when he thought he wasn't going to see Kendall and the boys again. He would have done that for anybody who came to him with those sob stories. IMO

He looked at Kendall every time he talked to Greenlee and only agreed when Kendall said it was the right thing. He hates that now he's a part of the lie. That's part of his guilt there now too.JMO

As far as Kendall on the outside looking in, I don't think she was either. She was on the phone talking to Rachel about the kids. I've had my share of boom worthy moments watching Zach and Greenlee scenes, but this wasn't one of them. Greenlee's the one in the dark and is going to fall the hardest when the boom hit. I can't wait.

Sure Zen still has issues, but Greenlee being "more important" to him than Kendall isn't one of them.
Nothing can destroy Zendall for me.

You don't live alone Jules!!!! I agree with you, but I still hate the Kenlee friendship with a passion and the so called Zachlee friendship. However, I will never let it take away from my Zendall focus and my love for them. I pretty much just let TK and Lish guide me where I need to go LOL.

Well, you guys have pretty well covered just about everything I was feeling about those god-awful Zen/DFS scenes, and since to write abou them would probably send me into paroxysms of uncontrollable anger (yeah, I'm not immune to the boom effect stuff yet), I won't try. Perfectly capable about blathering about the rest of the show though . . . .

Tad/2x4 - Hate 2x4 as much as ever, but I gotta say, I was really digging Tad today. Just the looks on his face as he contemplates the idiocy that is 2x4. Cracks me up no end. Disgusted that he's all friendly and supportive with him, but like I said, enjoy those facial expressions--oh, and the one-liners.

Jake - Not much to go on yet, but so far, so good.

Ryass/DFS2 - Seriously? Could they be any lamer? I'm thinking no. Please, please, please no more beach vacations!!! Unless, of course, they involve some of that famous PV quicksand. DFS2 is such a bitch these days. I wouldn't mind if it weren't gonna screw things up for Kendall some more. I've been hoping somebody'd burn Fusion to the ground. (Ooh, wouldn't that be amazing if that was DFS's revenge on Kendall for 12/19? We'd all be rid of Fusion, Kendall would be free, and DFS's revenge fire would, well, backfire--sweet!) I'm just pissed that DFS2 is being so stupid with her manipulations. Watch, Babe will save the day, Ryass will run straight to DFS, and DFS2 will go blame Kendall for it all somehow.

Babe/Amanda - They were kinda weird filler today. Babe reading the Japanese book was a total set-up for her to play hero when DFS2's plan tanks the company. I'm not sure what Amanda's ultra-bitter 'tude is about--is she leaving or about to get a storyline (fingers crossed for some lovin' with Josh!).

Jackass/Warden - Hate the warden. Hate her. Jackass was good in those scenes, but I'm sorry, his character has irreparable DFS damage and that just doesn't go away.

Erica - While I still find it a little unrealistic that Erica would be having quite this much of a meltdown after one day in solitary, I really liked today's scenes. Mona!!! The voices thing worked out well. I don't know a lot of Erica's first hubbies (I think I started watching as a kid when she was either with Travis or getting married to Adam for the second time around in that black veil) so images would have been kinda weird for the newer viewer. That said, Kendall, Josh, and Binks flashbacks!!! Loved it!!! There should have been more scenes with them though, not just the coma, son reveal, and rape reveal. They've had way more than that going on trauma-wise. Thank god Josh got some mentions today. I miss him already after having him on air for two whole days in a row. And having Sam go in and rescue her was just awesome too. Jackass is just as feckless and pathetic as ever. Vive la Kane!!!

Zendall - Don't really want to comment on the horrendous scenes. I just hope these newly-hired writers don't destroy what progress Zen has made recently. I get seriously worried after an episode like today's because while this shouldn't be the sign of a dramatic shift in what's going on, with these unpredicatable writers, it may very well be and Lavery only knows what they'll do next. They've been writing about absolute trust, but they sure don't inspire it, now do they?

GO TEAM SLATER!!!

Diva, that's where I am, too I think. Actually I think I'm more confused than anything after today & I'm not real sure what the message was that I was supposed to be getting. But I don't think I liked it, if that makes any sense. It had me a bit worried that we were heading back to square one here. I guess time will tell.