Two of the most potent words in the English language are "What if?" What if this had happened, or if that had happened? How would things have turned out if I'd opened door A instead of door B? GH posed many of these questions to us in Friday's episode. Could you imagine Jason as a clean-cut, tie-wearing, coke-snorting GH Chief of Staff? How about Jason as a designer suit-wearing mob kingpin with Carly as his moll? Maybe Jason as a creative, world-traveling free spirit acting as muse to Elizabeth's artist? Or perhaps Jason clad all in white as a treasure hunter partnering with the lovely salvage-diver Sam?
We got to see all four scenarios unfold and, due to the skills of our beloved Steve Burton, they were all believable, and we'd accept Jason in any of those incarnations.
I bet Steve Burton gave back his paycheck -- I'm sure he'd be happy of to make out with multiple hot babes for free. (Though I pity his wife...) It probably sent shivers down the spines of Jason/Liz fans who have been desperately wanting to see them together again for eons. The fantasy/dream sequences were utterly delightful.
I think it's brilliant to have the culprit of Jason's seizures be a fragment of the dashboard from AJ's car -- to bring that old injury back into play. If you've been watching GH for a long time you have to smile every time Garin Wolf drops in a reference to the ghosts of GH past.
I love Garin Wolf. Why? First and foremost, I saw Alan. I knew Stuart Damon was going to make an appearance on the show, but rumors said he wasn't coming back from the dead and he wasn't going to be a ghost, so I couldn't really fathom how he would appear. Now I know, and I wholeheartedly approve. We even got a Monica : "It's my house." Alan: "I gave it to you."
I'd like to go on record and say that if I ever see Garin Wolf in person, I'm kissing him. What a beautiful episode, rich in GH history. I can tell from his writing that he knows and loves these characters like I do, like you do -- he knows the things that shaped them. He knows what they would and wouldn't do. Garin Wolf "gets" the citizens of Port Charles. I can hardly wait to see Thanksgiving and Christmas episodes with him at the writer's helm. With the previous writer (whom I still refuse to mention), I was so angry at the overall direction of the show for so long that every episode where I feel the show is headed back to its heart makes me downright giddy.
While Friday's episode was downright divine, I can't overlook the wonder of the episode from Wednesday, where the magnificent Bradford Anderson got some meaty material in which to sink his teeth. While I overall dislike the "Jackal P.I." persona and want Spinelli back, I have to admit that it gives him a chance to say things Spinelli would never say and to reach into places of his soul that would otherwise remain hidden to us.
There were some scenes Wednesday that just made my eyes overflow with tears. When "Jackal P.I." breaks down and admits he keeps his distance because he can't bear to lose anyone else -- we saw glimpses of Spinelli's tenderness cracking through Jackal P.I.'s tough exterior. Bradford Anderson has done an amazing job slipping in and out of two characters; the changes in facial expression alone can break my heart. He has an amazing depth and tenderness that mesmerizes me when he's in scenes like this. Beautiful writing, brilliantly acted.
Another beautifully written scene was the one where Carly was telling Shawn about her love for Jax and sharing stories about him while the presumed dead Jax hid behind crates, listening to her speak, mouthing answers in unison with her as she spoke. The look of relief on Jax's face when he overheard Carly tell Shawn she was done with Sonny was priceless.
I certainly hope that ABC can pinch enough pennies to hire back Ingo Rademacher and Tyler Christopher.
On the other hand, while I didn't shed any tears over Siobhan's death, I did ask a lot of questions. Like why, when a known madman walked into her hospital room, didn't she scream "Help!"? Why did she just lay there in silence while he verbally tormented her. She's always been perfectly willing to yell loudly and cause a scene before. So why not then? I guess we will never know. And, more importantly, just what did she write on her pillow in lipstick that no one has yet discovered?
Liz is up to her eyeballs in trouble -- she's caught in the middle of a pill theft, her arch-rival has ended up dead and she was the last person to see her, and her one and only Lucky is popping pills again without any help from the lowlife pusher. If I were Liz and had all that to cope with, I'd ask Lucky to share the vicodin.
As to other plot twists, I am not quite sure how I feel about discovering that Tracy has a secret mob/money-laundering past of her own. Although it does seem about right -- whenever you hear someone vehemently judging someone for something, nine times out of ten, you later find they are guilty of the same sin. Just sayin'.
I'm not crazy about the Matt/Patrick sibling rivalry, but I will put up with it if it means their wayward dad, Dr. Noah Drake, has to come home to settle the score. Say what you will, Rick Springfield is still a hottie. You will find that overall I detest any storyline that has people screaming at each other because I dislike people screaming at each other.
Sonny has discovered that everyone who once staunchly defended him, including the likes of Robin, Alexis, and Carly, has finally reached their limit with him. Sonny's refusal to take his meds has led him to do some things he would never do while in his right mind, like, say, fire off a gun in Robin's living room with her baby nearby. Sonny is out of control, and the women in his life who have kids to consider have finally decided he's not a safe person for their kids. Better late than never, I guess.
On the other hand, Michael is taking the opportunity to defend his father's abhorrent behavior and attempt to step into the "right hand man" role while Jason is incapacitated, which is causing friction with his ladylove, Abby. And frankly, I'm okay with that, because I kind of liked the chemistry of Abby and Johnny and the cupcakes...I wouldn't mind exploring that a little more. Or even Abby and Ethan making Kristina jealous for real!
Readers, was it just me, or did I see a little sizzle between Mac and Alexis? I think I actually did. Not so much sexual tension, but more... recognition, if that makes sense. There was a depth that wasn't there before, a stiffness has softened -- something. They were suddenly more accessible to one another and to us.
What will happen tomorrow, dear readers? Will Max find out Diane was playing strip pool with Coleman? Will Sonny and Edward Q battle for Michael's soul? Will Tracy find out that Smithers is a double-knot spy? Will Jax stop playing Gigot and let Carly know he's alive? Will the funeral parlor finally cover up that scab on Siobhan's head before her burial? Will Jason wake up crying out for Sam, Monica, Carly, or Liz? Will Lucky get stoned on hydrocodone and shave off his patchy beard and wash the grease out of his hair?
