Trouble is brewing in all corners of Port Charles, and I love it.
Let's kick things off with Spencer's party on Spoon Island, where Spencer arranged for young jetsetters to be ferried in by launch then herded to an area outside the castle for music and fun, compliments of a popular DJ and a spectacular fireworks show. There was also security to keep things in check and the riffraff out of Wyndemere -- except, of course, for Spencer's three closest pals, Cam, Josslyn, and Trina. Spencer even made sure his special friends had cool matching bracelets that opened all the doors.
It was the event of the year, and like any proper Cassadine bash, it soon turned sinister when ominous messages from Ryan Chamberlain appeared on the floor, and a masked figure loomed in the shadows as Spencer and Trina enjoyed the view from the turret.
At the same time, a mysterious young "nurse" stalked the hallways of GH, eavesdropping on private conversations and setting fire to Ava's car, while Spencer had an airtight alibi of being stranded on his family's private island with hundreds of witnesses.
For a moment, I thought the "nurse" might have been responsible for all the things we believe Spencer is guilty of, but then I remembered that Spencer ditched the red-stained boots that had been worn during the red scare at the Jerome Gallery, so we do know that he is at least to blame for several of the unsettling things that have happened to Ava.
Luckily for Spencer, the hooded figure was soon revealed to be Nikolas, who was attempting to serve up a dose of Spencer's own medicine to teach the young Cassadine a lesson about terrorizing people. However, that quickly backfired on Nikolas, thanks to the young firebug at the hospital. Everyone, including Nikolas, deduced that Spencer couldn't be Ava's stalker because he was trapped on Spoon Island without Wi-Fi.
Frankly, I was gobsmacked. Seriously? The kid just hired security and a DJ to throw a party on the spur of the moment for a horde of rich kids from around the globe, but the idea of hiring a thug to set Ava's car on fire is out of the realm of possibility? Hello, have they met Spencer? When he was ten, he staged his own abduction.
Not only is hiring someone to do his dirty work in Spencer's wheelhouse -- and has been since childhood -- but he is, in fact, guilty of what Nikolas is accusing him of. I don't agree with Nikolas' methods, but I do believe that Spencer needs to see things from a different perspective because he's an adult. His actions have consequences, and even if it's to force your dad to divorce your stepmom, you can't go around destroying property and making threats.
I get Laura's frustration with Nikolas -- what he did was extreme and not the least bit helpful -- but I was really annoyed that she so quickly gave Spencer a pass. At the very least, she should have dismissed the audience before going off on Nikolas.
It's not like Nikolas doesn't have good reason to suspect that Spencer has been tormenting Ava. He very much caught Spencer in a lie about the timing of the cockroach incident and Ryan's returned letter. Additionally, Spencer lied regarding his whereabouts, and he has not made it a secret that he despises Ava and wants his father to divorce her.
I saw how much Spencer relished watching Laura give his father that blistering tongue-lashing, and I realized that part of the reason that Spencer is unable to forgive Nikolas is because Laura still hasn't forgiven Nikolas for letting everyone believe that he was dead. At least, that's how it comes across. It's a shame because Lulu's heartbreaking situation should be a stark reminder to Laura about how quickly a person can be snatched away. Not to mention, Nikolas at least makes an effort to be a part of Laura's life, while Lucky is content to live a continent or two away.
I get it, what Nikolas did was bad, but let us not forget the very real and lethal threat that Valentin presented to Nikolas at the time. Nikolas survived being shot and tumbling into the sea, but not for lack of trying on Valentin's part. Plus, Nikolas was running from some crimes, some known, and a few about to burst out of the closet if Shawn has anything to say about it.
I hate the timing of Genie Francis' exit, but I'm hopeful that when she returns from her hiatus, Laura finds it in her heart to start forgiving her son. It's not like Spencer is innocent in all of this, and he's going to need both Laura and Nikolas to help him out of the mess that he's digging himself into.
That brings me to Spencer's new flame, Esme Prince. After dousing Ava's car with gasoline then striking a match -- and presumably planting Kiki's hospital badge -- she hotfooted it to Spoon Island and up to the turret just in time to toss a wet blanket on Spencer's romantic interlude with Trina. Trina's heart was shattered into a million pieces, and Esme's wicked little heart gleefully picked up on it.
It made me wonder, did Ryan send one of his disciples to get close to Spencer?
It didn't escape my notice how proud Esme was of herself for torching Ava's car, but it was that badge that took it from a reckless stunt to an evil deed. That's something that Ryan would do, not a misguided young woman caught up in one of Spencer's grand schemes of vengeance. I don't like Esme one bit, so I'm not ruling her out as a little sparrow sent by Ryan.
Next up, Drew Cain returned to us this week in the form of Cameron Mathison. Yay! I'm so happy that Drew is alive, and even though I absolutely adored Billy Miller in the role, I am delighted to see Cameron back on my screen. I've been a huge fan since his days as Ryan Lavery on All My Children, where he worked with Billy Miller. Cameron has big shoes to fill, but he's more than up to the task for those who might not be familiar with his work.
At an undisclosed location where Drew is being held captive, Drew managed to steal a phone, slip away from his guard, and call Sam long enough to plead for her help before he was busted then dragged back to his stark prison cell. Sam recognized Drew's voice, and she's certainly seen enough people rise from the dead in Port Charles not to discount the possibility that Drew had someone managed to survive the plane crash into the ocean. After all, they never found a body, and that means something in a town where most of the residents can technically be classified as zombies.
I'm excited because even though there are sparks between Dante and Sam, I feel that she and Drew have a lot of unfinished business. Sam ended things with Drew because she was in love with Jason, but they were never able to get their relationship past the engagement phase. In the end, Sam was just not able to accept that Jason wasn't willing to walk away from the mob to keep his family safe, and she didn't want to have to ask him to do it.
Drew -- as Jason -- not only chose Sam and their life together over Sonny and Carly, but he did so without Sam having to ask.
Of course, Drew is only part of the story. There's also Peter, who vanished out of the bowels of GH despite his death being confirmed by both a doctor and a nurse. If Peter is indeed alive, the writers better have a very good explanation for that. I will never accept that two medical professionals, one a highly trained trauma nurse, wouldn't know how to properly take a pulse to confirm that someone is dead.
Since Peter was the one who arranged for Drew's flight of doom, it stands to reason that he would be the one holding Drew captive. I would think, if Peter had indeed perished, even if an accomplice had fetched his body for burial, that Drew would have been released or killed. What's the point of holding a person hostage if the guy paying you is no longer paying you?
It's for that reason that I'm expecting Wes Ramsey to return to GH sooner rather than later. My gut tells me that he's very much alive, possibly trading crime stories with his mother. Remember, Alex's body was never found, either, and she would be the only person that I can think of that would care enough about Peter to rescue him from a freezer.
Meanwhile, things are painfully dragging out in Nixon Falls as Phyllis struggles to come to terms with Lenny's death, and Nina is trying to keep "Mike" at bay long enough to give herself a good reason to do what she knows good and well that she shouldn't. Then Maxie turned up on the Tan-O's doorstep, and suddenly, I saw light at the end of the tunnel.
I just hope that this isn't another stupid teaser like when Jax, Josslyn, and Trina all showed up in town, or Anna and Valentin appeared at the hospital during Lenny's tests, yet everyone kept missing seeing Sonny by mere seconds.
Will Nina be able to shoo Maxie away before "Mike" makes an appearance? I hope not. Someone needs to save Nina from herself because what she's doing is as wrong as what Kim Nero did when Franco was walking around with Drew's memories. I hated it then, and I hate it this time around. Franco felt violated when he learned about what had transpired -- which perhaps led to a child -- between him and Kim, and Sonny will, too, if Nina ends up sleeping with him.
One thing is for certain, Nina is not doing any of this in the name of love. What she has with "Mike" is an illusion because she knows the truth about his life, and she is withholding that very important fact from him. If Nina truly loved "Mike," she would be honest. He deserves to know that she holds the key to his past, and if she truly believed that what she shared with "Mike" was real, then she'd give him the truth.
If "Mike" knew that he had children, two of whom are still very young, he'd want to see them. He might not care about the life he led or the people who were in it, but children would be a different matter because they are innocent. At his core, "Mike" is still Sonny. I'm certain of it.
Unfortunately, Maxie isn't exactly in a position to point fingers because she has her own little hidden bombshell that is currently in Brook Lynn's safekeeping. Will Nina use that secret to seal Maxie's lips about the Tan-O's bartender? I really hope not, but I can't see Maxie keeping the truth about Sonny from Carly -- and Spinelli -- for any other reason.
Finally, we have a wedding date. Jason and Carly intend to tie the knot on September 17th. Dare I hope this is the date that someone will stop the wedding by revealing that Sonny is alive and well in Nixon Falls?
It's unlikely, mainly because I think Carly's marriage to Jason is going to lead to all kinds of soapy complications that the writers are eager to explore. Things have been set up perfectly for it, starting with Jason's feelings for Britt.
Jason has a very long history of longing for women that he can't have, and right now, Britt is in that box. They shared a strong connection, a sizzling chemistry, and she challenged him in a way that few women have, which is an irresistible lure when you add in that he sees her as a damsel in distress because she's still trying to come to terms with the knowledge that she carries the gene for Huntington's disease.
Jason is good and hooked, and even though he's determined to go through with marrying Carly, he can't hide his tortured expressions and sad sighs every time he's around Britt.
Carly is not going to be able to compete with that, even with all the mob intrigue backing her up. If you're wondering why I'm assuming that Carly is going to start having romantic feelings for Jason, it's for two reasons. First, it's a soap opera, and second, Jason was the one that got away.
Carly settled for friendship with Jason because having Sonny and Jason was not an option. If it had been, she would have leapt at the chance to marry both men. Since brother-husbands was off the table, she settled for friendship because that was the only path forward with Jason in her life. Jason would have rather taken his own life than betray Sonny. In truth, Carly was good with that because Sonny was a much better match for her than Jason ever could have been.
However, Sonny is gone now, and whether she likes it or not, life is moving on without him. Carly letting go of Sonny wasn't about her moving forward without him, it was about giving herself permission to have a real marriage with Jason. On some level, she recognizes that she's not going to be content to have a marriage in name only with Jason, especially when they have to convince even their closest loved ones that their marriage is real on every level.
Carly has loved Jason as a friend for years, but before that, she was in love with him. Now, she's looking at spending the rest of her life with him. How can she not want that to be real?
The viewers know that Carly's marriage to Jason won't last because Sonny is very much alive, but Carly has no idea that her world is going to be turned upside down when Sonny makes his way back to Port Charles.
It's going to be epic, especially the showdown between Carly and Nina.
If all the launches were sabotaged or otherwise missing, how exactly did Kevin and Laura get to Spoon Island? Jet skis?
I don't know whose idea it was to stick Kelly Monaco in that ugly long khaki skirt that could double as a tent if she wandered off into the woods and got lost, but please burn that hideous piece of canvas as soon as poor Kelly is extracted from it. I kept worrying that she'd fall into the Metro Court pool and drown from the weight of the thing before anyone could save her.
Speaking of the pool, can someone please get all the folks some footwear to wear at the pool? This is not a reflection on the actors, but it's a bit distracting to see the dirty bottoms of feet when people are lounging poolside, especially in high definition.
I really miss the days when there were stable couples like Steve and Audrey [Hardy, GH], Joe and Ruth [Martin, AMC], etc. They provide great contrast to the screw-ups and also add some relatability. Yes, they have to have some turmoil to keep the viewers engaged, but it's nice to have folks who don't get married every three weeks. That's what Liz and Franco were for me. Same with Brad and Lucas until that went nuclear and we lost both characters. -- Deffft
Enough with the Pinky Swears! Willow and Michael need to man up and tell Chase the truth! He's MORE than strong enough to take it. Even Chase knows that Willow married him under duress, thinking he only had hours to live, and that his recovery took her, and everyone else completely by surprise. Even if the truth breaks his heart, eventually he'd HAVE to understand why Willow did what she did. Let's not forget, Chase once told HER terrible, heartbreaking lies, for what he thought was the greater good, so he can't really claim the moral high ground now. -- Scrimmage
I could have sworn there were a handful of people that knew Nikolas was the one who tried to kill Hayden not Shawn, and two of those people were Laura and Sam -- and maybe Liz -- but maybe I'm wrong. That time is such a blur, and the writers keep rewriting stuff that happened. -- BCAD
I love hearing from readers, so please feel free to leave a comment below or email me.
Take care and happy viewing,
Liz Masters
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