Now, that I'm coming down from my royal wedding frenzy, much to the delight of my poor beleaguered husband who is sick of tea, biscuits (cookies), and sitting through countless shows about the Windsors, I'm ready to dish about my favorite soap. Yes, I was one of the many millions who woke up in the wee hours of the morning to watch an American beauty marry a real-life prince. Not just any prince, but one of Princess Di's sons. And not just any American, but one who has ties to our very own General Hospital!
It was all so very exciting, and everything about the wedding from the forget-me-nots to the romantic James Bond ride to the evening reception was exquisite perfection.
Meanwhile, in Port Charles, the 2018 Nurses Ball wound down as several storylines reached their long-awaited climaxes. Still others had some shocking developments that added to all the angsty drama and riveting conclusions. Some of it left me wondering what the heck the writers are thinking.
Let's start with Griffin and Kiki's little foray into Champagne-goggles and forbidden trysts.
It appears that Ava had every right to be concerned about Griffin and Kiki's "friendship," because no sooner did Ava cut Griffin loose then he tracked down Kiki and ended up bringing her back to his room. Yes, I know they were drunk. And I'm fully aware that Kiki was an emotional wreck after having another disturbing encounter with creepy Dr. Bensch. I also appreciate that Griffin was in a bad place after his spat with Ava, but when all is said and done, Griffin and Kiki acted on an attraction that had been there from the start.
If Griffin and Kiki had slept with anyone else, Ava would have gotten past it. I'm certain of it, but that won't be so easy now because Ava will see it as payback on Kiki's part for Ava's affair with Morgan and switching his meds. And perhaps that did play a part in it, but Kiki wouldn't have been intimate with Griffin, no matter how intoxicated she was, if she didn't want to be. We saw that when Bensch made an unwanted advance when she'd been drinking.
Ava was right about Griffin, too, because he definitely does have a need to save women. It's what drives his desire, so it makes sense that he would be drawn to Kiki, since she's been dealing with some pretty crazy -- and terrifying -- stuff.
Naturally, there will be no way for Griffin or Kiki to walk away from this. If Kiki doesn't end up pregnant (forcing the secret to come out), David is going to get wind of the one-night stand and use it to blackmail Kiki. Meanwhile, Griffin will wallow in guilt, and he will probably try to do the noble thing and make things work with Ava, which, of course, will just make things worse. Eventually, Ava will find out, and when she does, it won't be pretty. Not for anyone, least of all Griffin.
Will Ava return to the dark side? I hope not, but I can't see this ending well for anyone unless both Griffin and Kiki fess up right away. Sure, Ava will be furious, but she'll also realize that it's just more proof that Griffin will never love her the way she loved him.
It's a shame that the writers didn't allow this story to end when Ava made that painful realization about Griffin. It was such an empowering moment because Ava did the right thing. She refused to settle for less, and she walked away, head high, while they could still be friends. I was proud of her. It showed true growth, and it was nice to see Ava take control of a floundering relationship that left her feeling insecure, jealous, and vulnerable.
Unfortunately, by the end of the episode, Ava crawled back to Griffin's door to beg him to let her in and give her a second chance. It was painful to watch after she had acknowledged that he would never be able to give her what she wanted -- his love.
All that nonsense about feeling Griffin's love is just that. Nonsense. If he loved her, then he wouldn't have a problem saying the words. Affection is not love. I hate that Ava is willing to settle for a cheap imitation of it.
Ava loves her daughter, and she will be quick to forgive Kiki's role in things when Ava hears about David's disgusting behavior.
As a viewer, it's frustrating to watch David get away with such overt sexual harassment. I just want Kiki to channel her old self and punch David's smug face then report him to the board, but I also understand that Kiki is young, and David is an authority figure with a whole lot of power over her professional life. She's worried that it will be her word against his, and David is really good at twisting the truth. He's even managed to make her doubt herself a time or two.
I adore James DePaiva -- he's doing a spectacular job -- but David needs to go down. Everything about him makes my skin crawl, and I have a really strong feeling this isn't his first time stalking someone. He's way too good at it.
The week also had some glitz and glamor thanks to the annual Nurses Ball. I always love the performances because GH has a really talented cast, but it seemed like there were fewer acts this year than in previous years. Also, there was way less red carpet and backstage drama, which are some of my favorite moments. At times, it almost felt like the ball was just a brief commercial break between scenes, especially during Olivia's exchange with Kim when they were talking about the goodies in the swag bags. Next time, let Maxie and Nina do the selling because it makes more sense for them to be chatting about the benefits of beauty products than the mayor's wife and an OB/GYN.
All the ladies looked lovely, albeit a bit understated -- except for Sam. At first, I thought Sam was in costume to perform a tango or paso doble at the ball, but it turned out she only attended the event because she was working a case. On the other end of the spectrum, Anna showed up in a pantsuit and sat around most of the night, staring at her phone, exchanging secret text messages with her son, Henrik/Peter. I'm surprised Robin didn't yank Anna's phone out of her hand and chuck it across the room.
For me, the highlight of the Nurses Ball was Mike taking to the stage to sing, getting swept up in his fantasy, then suddenly going blank in the middle of the song. I bawled my eyes out as he stood on the stage, looking frightened and lost, but I quickly perked up and cheered when Sonny joined his father on stage to help him finish the performance. It was both touching and heartbreaking at the same time.
I love Mike, so I'm hoping for a soap opera miracle to turn things around for him.
One of the saddest moments at the ball was when Drew saw Sam and Jason. It was clear that she is all about Jason, and Drew has ceased to exist for her. I felt awful for Drew, so I was really happy that Kim was there to cheer him up.
A part of me wonders if Drew is hoping that by removing Jason's memories, he will also diminish some of the love he feels for Sam. I hope so. Drew needs to move on because he lost Sam the day Jason returned to Port Charles. I'd hate for Drew to be wasted on pining for Sam and fighting Jason for her love. Frankly, Sam deserves whatever misery she gets clinging to a man who will always be more devoted to his friends than to his family.
I found it rather tragic on Friday when Carly insisted on calling Jason because he believes in her innocence and that Nelle had been gaslighting her, but Carly's own husband doesn't.
It would be really difficult to gaslight me because my husband and children believe me with the same unshaking faith that Jason has in Carly. Even if everything pointed to my guilt, if I told them I was innocent, my family would believe me. Not only that, but they would move heaven and earth to prove it. Their love and devotion are unshakable, and for that I feel truly blessed.
I now get why Carly grieved so much for Jason when she thought that she'd lost him forever. Everyone in Carly's family except for Bobbie -- and possibly Michael -- believe Nelle. It's disappointing that Sonny has doubts about Carly's sanity because I had hoped at this stage in their lives, Sonny and Carly would at least have each other's backs, no matter what. Sonny, more than anyone, should appreciate Nelle's ability to gaslight someone, yet he's quick to believe that Carly is having a breakdown rather than that Nelle is up to her old tricks.
It also boggles my mind how Diane can successfully defend guilty mobsters time and again, but she immediately throws her hands up in defeat when it comes to defending an innocent person against false accusations.
I'm curious how believable Nelle would appear to a judge and jury once they heard about the suspicious circumstances of her fiancé's death, her stint in a psychiatric hospital, and how she drugged Sonny and made him think that he had slept with her. And those are just the highlights.
I'm not an attorney, but I'm pretty confident that I could cast enough doubt on Nelle's accusation to get Carly acquitted, so why can't Diane?
Shockingly, I don't think it was an accident that Nelle fell. Nelle's odd comments to Brad when she asked if he was accusing her of intentionally falling down the stairs strongly suggests that is exactly what happened. If Nelle is willing to go that far to get what she wants, then she's capable of anything. I can't imagine that Nelle will be able to come back from this, but watching her sink further and further into madness is fascinating. Chloe Lanier is an amazing actress, and she does an outstanding job.
Another huge development this week was Anna finally meeting her son, Peter/Henrik. In true dramatic fashion, mother and son met during a deadly confrontation on the pier. It quickly turned comical as Finn, followed by Sam, showed up while Anna pleaded with Jason not to kill her son. "Ah, another guest arrives. It's a party now," Peter said. So true.
The people of Port Charles never met a boundary they didn't feel compelled to cross.
Things quickly took a turn when Peter cruelly told Anna, "You're not my mother. You're just the bitch who gave birth to me." Ouch.
I realized then that Jason wasn't going to kill Peter because that would have been the moment that Jason would have pulled the trigger if he'd intended to kill Peter. The truth is, Jason needs Peter alive because Jason still has questions.
I know Peter has a lot of explaining to do, but I'm really growing to like him.
The scenes with Anna and Peter were everything I had hoped they would be. The pain in Peter's expression as she revealed that Valentin had threatened his adoptive parents and given him to Faison, and the tears in his eyes when Anna announced that she refused to testify against her son, gutted me.
I've really grown to like Peter -- just not romantically with Maxie. Not now, anyway. I realize these things happen on a soap, but it's way too soon and really creepy because she's his brother's widow who just gave birth to his nephew.
Maybe Peter can help Nina get over Valentin. Wouldn't that be Shakespearean?
The problem with Valentin is that he lives by the philosophy that it's better to ask for forgiveness than to seek permission. He also confesses what is absolutely necessary, and not a single syllable more. Unfortunately for him, that is not serving him well with Nina because she realizes that he's always going to keep secrets and lie to her. She can't trust a thing that he says because every time she takes a leap of faith, she ends up face-planting on concrete.
At some point, Nina either has to cut her losses or accept that things will never change. Valentin will always have secrets, and a lot of those secrets have the capacity to destroy lives, including theirs. That said, I think Nina might have forgiven him for not saying anything about Peter, but then one more lie surfaced. If Valentin had trusted Nina with everything, I really do believe that she would have gotten past it once the anger had faded. After all, who is Nina to point fingers after what she did to Ava when Ava was pregnant with Avery.
However, Valentin's deception and lack of trust in Nina will ultimately be their undoing.
My greatest disappointment this week was Anna restraining herself from clocking Valentin when she stormed over to Wyndemere to get some answers about Peter. At the very least, I wanted Valentin to sport a bloody nose to match his bloody lip. A black eye would have been nice, too, because using an innocent infant in a twisted revenge plot is never okay. Ever.
In other couples news, it appears that we will be heading into summer with Anna and Finn trying to make a go of things again, which makes me very happy, and Alexis fighting her feelings for Julian, which makes me even happier. Not Alexis' impeding struggle with her feelings, but rather that Julexis (Julian and Alexis) will be a thing again.
I figure if Sam can keep going back to Jason, who remains the same as he ever was, then she and her sisters have absolutely no room to judge Alexis for doing the same with Julian. Unlike Jason, Julian has gone straight and is working an honest job running a pub.
Will 2018 be the summer of love on GH? Here's hoping.
I love the name James Malcom West. I can't wait until Maxie shares the news with Nina and Liesl. In fact, I can't wait to see Oma Liesl. She's going to have a lot to say about Peter, I'm sure.
Know what I miss? The satisfaction of slamming down a phone when I'm mad. Perhaps if Alexis had had a phone to slam down, those beautiful lilies would have survived her fit of rage over having to push Julian away after a toe-curling passionate kiss. I'm happy that she called her sponsor. Thank you, writers.
Seriously, how long does it take for Jason and Carly to realize that Nelle had exactly two friends at the baby shower who could and would hide the blanket for Nelle -- Brad and Ava. Additionally, don't hospitals have security cameras in the ER? A scan of them might show Ava waving the mystery blanket around then shoving it back into her bag.
Continuity is important, especially in pivotal scenes. It was distracting that one minute, Robert had a scruffy beard then the next he was clean shaven. In another scene, Peter's tear-soaked expression was filled with pain as he stood in the squad room, but when we returned from commercial, the tears had evaporated even though the scene had picked up exactly where it had left off. Gaah!
Every so often I have to make a comment and it seems lately to always be on Sam. I'm just so mad at this storyline and where it went. I'm so mad that the writers took one of my favorite characters and made her into a complete idiot. It's beyond annoying. Before Jason came back, Sam and Drew were so in love. Sam admitted that there was something different about "Jason", but she grew to love him again anyway. They had a great life. They were extremely happy and in love. They had the perfect little family. And then Jason comes back and just like that, it's over. -- moniemone 1980
If Sonny would just shut up and listen to Mike, instead of interrupting and "correcting" him every five seconds, he might just find out what Mike knows about Croton. -- Scrimmage
Thank you for taking the time to read my thoughts. I love hearing from readers, so please feel free to email me or leave a comment below.
Take care and happy viewing,
Liz Masters
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