Dear readers, it was like the Hotel California in Port Charles this week. Some dance to remember, some dance to forget.
Nina wanted to forget that her brother died and just go back to work. That didn't work very well. Upon stepping off the elevator, Nina was greeted by the giant pool of her brother's blood still staining her carpet. She dropped to her knees and started frantically scrubbing, trying to make it go away, lost in heaving sobs of grief. When Valentin entered and found her in a frantic state, she wept, "I can't fix it. I can't get it out!" It was soul crushing.
Michelle Stafford is an amazing actor; I have admired her talent and passion for years. But this was deeper...her emotions in this scene were so raw and real, I suspect that she has experienced genuine grief and perhaps drew those tears from the scars of her own life. I have no evidence to support that theory, but having experienced loss in my own life, I know what genuine grief looks like, and I saw it as Nina was frantically scrubbing a bloodstain off the carpet at Crimson.
Valentin held her as she whimpered and wept and promised to have the carpet replaced. They covered the stain, but even when the carpet is replaced, she will remember the spot.
Maxie bravely returned to work, but not before boxing up all traces of Nathan and donating it to charity.
My father died after my parents had been married for 49 years, in fact, four days after their 49th anniversary. We had already started talking about the party we were going to have for their 50th, and then a few days later, he was gone. My Mama did the same thing; she began boxing up all of my Dad's things to donate. She refused to let me help her and wanted to be alone. She was 77 years old, sitting in her home, boxing things up without any assistance, refusing to let us in.
A few years later, she was weeping because she hadn't kept a flannel jacket my Dad always wore. She just wanted to hug that coat, hoping it would smell like him or that she'd feel him near. It was one of the most heartbreaking moments I've ever seen.
When she died, I went the opposite route, and I refused to throw away anything she had ever touched and became a Mom stuff hoarder. I still have boxes of her stuff in my closet and can't bear to part with them. I'm an only child, and now the keeper of all family memories.
But, I digress. Back to GH... As Maxie was boxing up Nathan's things, Sam stopped by and tried to reason with Maxie and tell her she'd want to keep some of those memories... Maxie refused Sam's advice, but Sam was a good enough friend to totally disregard Maxie's wishes and steal one of those precious boxes for safekeeping. This was a teachable moment: Sometimes you have to sneak and lie and steal to help your friends!
Someday, Maxie will thank Sam profusely. I am certain of it. The day will come when Maxie will want nothing more than to touch something Nathan's hands were on, and because of Sam's sneaky move, she will able to do it.
Although I'm still sad about Nathan's death and Ryan Paevey's departure from GH, I'm delighted to tell you that he's already scored another gig on Brooklyn Nine-Nine. We already know he can play a cop, so it's a good fit. You can bet I will be tuning in to watch him!
Meanwhile, across town, the election results came in and Ned became the mayor, due to some shady last-minute marketing by the oily weasel Jim Harvey.
Readers, I hope you take this knowledge into the next election with you: last-minute drops of dirt are always done with an agenda in mind. There were some facts in the attack ad on Alexis; she did indeed go to Nora Buchanan to get a confession out of Olivia, but the part about her being tied to the mob? Not true, but it was effective in swaying voters. Once the voters find out it's not true, the election is already over and there's no way to go back and change your vote!
Mind you, Ned is not a bad guy. He's a businessman, and I know he truly believes that upgrading the buildings on Charles Street will help the community. He does not have an evil agenda. But Harvey does, of this I am sure. I don't know for sure what he's up to, but I know it isn't good. He reminds me of the villain in the Hallmark movie who wants to get rid of the small town's Christmas tree farm or something.
Okay, readers, I am on the fence about a character and I want you to help me... Is Peter/Henrik a good guy or a bad guy? I can't quite figure that out yet. On one hand, he kept Jason chained up and drugged in a straitjacket. On the other hand, he didn't kill Jason when he was supposed to. He published the article that lured Faison to town and got his brother shot, but he visited Nathan's grave and apologized and is looking after Maxie. I know he had an agenda against his father, but I don't think he's bad at heart. Do you agree? I can see Maxie leaning on him and eventually falling for him, and then finding out he's Faison's other son.... Oh, the drama!
I'm probably not supposed to like him, but I kind of do. I mean, if you were raised by Faison and still managed to have some level of human decency inside you, that's a tribute to your strong spirit.
This week, GH celebrated their 14,000th episode. I think I have probably seen most of them. Okay, that's an exaggeration, I started watching in 1977, and I calculated that I have probably watched 10,000 episodes -- if you do five per week X 52 weeks X 41 years. Damn. I could have cured cancer or something with all those hours. But, nah, I'd rather watch Luke and Laura get married; Stone and Robin fall in love; Tony lay his head on Maxie's chest after she got B.J.'s heart; Lucky rescue Liz after her rape; Nikolas fall in love with Emily; Brenda wear a wire on Sonny; Ric trap Carly in a panic room; Casey the Space Alien turn into Shep Casey the reporter; Alexis and Julian fall in love; Franco take LSD to go to the psychiatric hospital with Nina; Ava pretend to be Denise DeMuccio; the Quartermaine pizza at Thanksgiving; the day Lucky found out Liz was sleeping with his brother; Li'l Jake coming back from the dead; finding out Jason had a twin; the OLTL characters coming to Port Charles and then turning into other characters and us all going "Okay, cool"; Frisco and Felecia meeting; Anna and Duke's Scottish wedding and tango dancing; Lucy Coe and her pet duck; Robert, Holly, and Luke; the multiple Carlys who were all incredible except that one Carly who was only on for like a month; Monica and Leslie having catfights over Ric; Edward Quartermaine's love for the angelic Lila; L & B records; Miguel Mores; Richard Simmons doing aerobics at the Campus Disco; Aunt Ruby running the diner; Mike running the diner; Joe Kelly running the diner; Luke's club; the Haunted Star; the Floating Rib (the first one); the Metro Court hostage crisis; Scotty and Dominique; A.J. being hung from a meat hook; Tracy refusing to give Edward his heart medication; Luke and Laura; Luke and Holly; Luke and Felicia; Luke and Anna; Luke and Tracy; Laura and Luke; Laura and Stefan; Laura and Kevin; Rick Springfield as Dr. Noah Drake and Eli Love; Ned as Ned and Eddie Maine; Valentin's all-encompassing love for Nina; Sonny taking a plethora of women to his private island and buying them dresses; the parade of villains like Mr. Big, Faison, Jerry Jacks, Dr. Obrecht, Manny Ruiz, the Balkan, Heather Webber, Lisa Niles, Frank Smith, and the queen of all villains, the Five Families, the Jeromes, Helena Cassadine; and the heroes like Luke, Laura, Elizabeth, Steve Hardy, Alan Quartermaine, Rick Webber, Jason Q who became Jason M but is still a mobster with a heart of gold, Sam, Mac, Felicia, Anna, Alexis, and even the quirky but lovable Spinelli. Have I missed some of your favorites? Tell me!
Of course, because I missed some of mine, too! I love this show. I have loved it since the day I started watching. I am not in love with every character or every plot, but I will watch this show every day that it's on. It's an addiction and a passion. Fan is short for fanatic, and I do not deny that I'm a fanatic for General Hospital. Happy 14,000th, GH cast and crew!
Back to the here and now... Ava finally told Griffin how she feels about him, but he hasn't yet had a chance to respond. What do you think, readers? Will he say he loves her, too? I told my college boyfriend I loved him, and he uttered the three words every woman wants to hear: "Ditto for me." My BFF and I still laugh about this and use it on a regular basis.
When Nelle bought Ava candy, Ava scolded her and said, "I don't eat my feelings." And I said out loud, "I do!" But Ava became every woman and caved moments later and indulged in a little chocolate therapy.
Ava is new to love, and so is Griffin. He denied himself love for many years and is new to the relationship game. Ava has been in relationships, but nothing like this, and she also is trying to maneuver the ins and outs of a relationship that's real -- they are both novices at this, and navigating it will be challenging for them, but I'm hoping they will prevail. I like it when true love wins.
But sometimes, when true love isn't handy, you settle for what's available, so Finn and Alexis had a one-night stand to ward away the pain and disappointment of their days. Alexis lost an election, and the woman he has feelings for dismissed Finn. They found comfort in each other's arms, but Alexis made it clear it couldn't happen again. That's kind of a pity because they are pretty adorable together.
I'm torn right now because I have been firmly on Team Julexis for a long time, but I admit I am digging Kim and "Charley," too. Tamara Braun and William DeVry have great chemistry, and it's a new dynamic for Julian. I like that she didn't run away screaming when the "real" Julian emerged and he showed up at the Q mansion to rough up Ned. She had a calming effect on him.
I liked Finn and Anna, but not as much as I like Anna and Andre, so truth be told, I could go for several of the different pairings being floated in these characters' lives. I just want everyone to be happy and have love.
You know whom this never happens for? Michael. He has the worst luck at love. Nelle is totally nuts, but she's great at pretending to be sane. Men! Remember this: the next time one of your female friends tells you your girlfriend is batsh*t crazy, listen to her. She's probably Nelle-ish. Chicks have crazy chick radar; we can spot them a mile away.
Exactly what is Nelle up to? Is she trying to drive Carly crazy? Is Nelle going to try to make Carly think Morgan is calling her from the great beyond? I don't know, but here is the real question... who answers their phone when it says "Unknown caller"? I would never have heard the fake explosions on my phone because I would never have answered and probably never listened to the voicemail. When people call me, I always think, "This whole conversation could have been a text."
If Nelle's scheme depends on Carly answering her phone, and Carly has already alerted both Jason and the cops, will Nelle prevail? I wish the writers would decide if Nelle is just conniving or a true murderous lunatic. They seem to vacillate back and forth. Her first scheme was just a revenge plot on a woman she felt had ruined her family. She wasn't evil; she was wounded. She wanted to inflict emotional pain, not kill someone. But now it seems we are heading down the road to murder.
You'd think after the botched storyline of making Julian unredeemable, the writers would have learned their lesson: you can only take a story so far if you want to be able to redeem a character later. Unless, of course, Nelle is going to have a brain tumor like Franco.
Franco seems to think he is evil in the core of his being, that it started in childhood, and that his brain tumor wasn't the cause of his evil deeds. Kevin Collins is working with him and seems unsure of the answers, too.
Franco is set to marry Elizabeth next week, but is she putting herself and her boys in danger by marrying a madman? It's highly possible, because it's a soap, and that would be super fun and dramatic!
If Franco is a lunatic, and ultimately Liz needs saving, she has a host of heroes at her disposal. She could be rescued by Jason, by Lucky, by a "back from the dead" Nikolas, by Ric (don't hate me; I always loved them together), or even Drew, who loved Liz before he knew he was Jason but now he's not.
Maybe Nelle and Franco can be buddies in Shadybrook. I really don't know where all this brain study storyline is going, but let's not forget that Kevin has some crazy genes in his DNA, too, and this whole study seems a bit creepy to me.
Sonny's family now has Alzheimer's disease in their DNA, and Max Gail is doing an incredible job with this storyline. Previous to this, I had only seen him as Detective Wojciohowicz on Barney Miller, and I had no idea he had this in him! Watching Sonny's angst (Maurice Benard is crushing it) and Mike's growing frustration, denial, and acceptance of his diagnosis have been so moving. Hey, Sonny, bring Rita to Port Charles so Mike can see her before he forgets who she is.
I watched this disease up close in my own family and saw my uncle forget his kids -- he was the best Dad, the nicest guy -- and to see him one day not even recognize the faces of the sons he adored was heartbreaking. Will GH take this storyline that far into this disease? I hope they won't let up and that they will shine a light on it. Many families are dealing with this sad disease, and seeing it played out by characters you love and knowing you're not alone helps.
Lucas and Brad have decided to adopt, and an anonymous woman wants a semi-open adoption where she gets to know about them but they don't get to know about her.... Hmmm -- which one of our resident preggos is going to give their kid to Brad and Lucas? Maxie? Nelle? We know Maxie has given her baby away before, so she's a candidate, and we know Nelle is nuts, so it could be her, too. I'm thinking Maxie. She's going to say she can't raise her baby without Nathan, but she wants it to have a good home and family. Do you agree?
What will happen tomorrow, dear readers? Will Jason and Drew have a showdown over Faison's super creepy will? Will Maxie keep being strong enough in her despair to apply false eyelashes? Will Dr. Bensch continue to groom Kiki into a future #metoo victim? Will other cities ask Port Charles how they decided a "too close to call" election three minutes after the polls closed? Will that flash drive of Drew's memories include being locked in a toy box?
Will Lucas take credit for Julian being "woke" enough to host an LGTB prom? Will Epiphany please take me out for cocktails? I want to be friends with her. Will Anna hunt down her child to warn them about Huntington's disease? Will the rest of your Google Huntington's disease like I just did? Will Dante's new partner, Harrison Chase, get on the bad side of Sonny? Will creepy Harvey keep called Franco and Drew "Bobby and Andy" until one of them decks him? Will Maxie and Nina please keep channeling Lucy and Ethel in childbirth class so I can laugh?
Only tomorrow knows, dear readers, and I will tune in tomorrow as long as there are tomorrows.
Tamilu
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