It’s no secret that I find Lulu annoying and ever present so I find myself alternately enthralled and over the “Lulu goes crazy” storyline. I’m enthralled because the closer we get to “Lulu goes completely catatonic” makes me happy, and over it because everything continues to be all about Lulu (which is only slightly worse than everything being about Carly and only slightly better than everything being about Leyla).
Even if everything radiates from Lulu, I still have to hand it to the writers for crafting an umbrella story: Lulu and Johnny are on the run which creates problems for Sonny since Zacchara is putting pressure on him to find them, Nikolas and Claudia are teaming up, Lucky is worried and hot, Scott Baldwin shows up once a week to twirl his moustache, Alexis is a nervous wreck trying to precariously balance being a DA/Mother/Aunt, Jerry is creepy, and Maxie and Spinelli are almost cracking under the pressure. I have to say, as much as it pains me that a Lulu-centric storyline has taken over the show, it’s the catalyst for the return of Genie Francis and proves that an engaging umbrella storyline can be as effective as a disaster-related sweeps stunt.
I’ll admit that I was rolling my eyes during the “Lulu goes through the motions of her self-fullfilling prophesy of turning into her mother by sitting expressionless at the window” and anything involving Lourdes (the most annoying new character since Leyla and her pearls swept through the hospital) but Johnny risking it all to take Lulu to Shadybrook got me. Granted, I still have no idea what he sees in her and her quasi-militaristic wardrobe choices, but I bought the romance for the first time ever. Remember how everyone was telling Lulu that Johnny would ruin her life? Well, I think it’s pretty obvious that the reverse is true, yet, here’s Johnny trying to get Lulu the help she needs. He’s a much better person than her (or me) because I think leaving her by the side of the road would probably be the more viable alternative. When Scott Baldwin and his band of merry policemen rushed in and grabbed Johnny while the orderlies grabbed Lulu, I actually felt an emotion that wasn’t disgust for this couple, something I thought wasn’t possible.
Speaking of newfound adoration, I love Claudia and Nikolas and I’m not ashamed to admit it! I like how she calls him “Batman”, I love that he’s letting her in. When she jumped into the car at the end to find Johnny and Lulu, I cheered. Cheered, people! What’s wrong with me?
