General Hospital Commentary: Sinners, saints, and saviors

The streets of Port Charles are littered with sinners, saints, and saviors. Will Cyrus be caught before he claims another victim? Does Nina have the courage to tell Willow the truth about Drew? What’s really driving Drew these days? Let’s discuss that and more in a new General Hospital commentary for the week ending January 17, 2025.

Dear readers, when I write a column, I start by creating a document on Monday. I type my thoughts and impressions after each episode, usually just a few sentences each day. By Friday afternoon, I’ll have a basic outline of what I’m going to talk about. It’s usually no more than 500 words. Tops.

Not this week. When I opened my document on Friday morning, I had a 1,550-plus word commentary with headings, sub-headings, and references. A lot of those comments were about the mess that is Drillow (Drew and Willow), and most of it colorful words and terms that I can’t use in polite society.

Drew’s metamorphosis from good to evil

There’s definitely something different about Drew these days. We’ve all noticed how much he has changed, especially this past year. Even the characters have commented on it.

It started after Drew was attacked in jail. As soon as he was given his walking papers from General Hospital, he boldly signed Scout up for an elite private school without so much as running it past Sam or even Scout. Sam was forced to put her foot down and nix the idea because Scout had no desire to switch schools. At the time, I remember Sam calling Drew out on his uncharacteristic behavior.

Drew continued to shift to the dark side. He set his beady sights on destroying Nina as payback for ratting him and Carly out to the SEC. Drew blamed Nina for sending him to jail, and he vowed to make her pay for that folly. He did so by having hate-sex with her. Repeatedly. Oh, and he used her to pave the way for his political career.

Drew’s rage didn’t end with Nina. No, Drew was also livid that Michael hadn’t run to Drew with the news that Nina was the snitch. Not long after, Drew seemed to be everywhere Willow was, stealing kisses, and whispering in her ear about his deep desire for her and making her feel as if it was them against the world. At the same time, he continued to have sexual relations with Willow’s mother.

Not for a second do I believe that Drew is actually in love with Willow. At best, he’s in lust. At worst, she’s a means to an end.

A villain in a latex mask or something else?

These days, Drew bears little resemblance to the kind, honorable, and upstanding man he once was. Between the constant plotting, manic energy, and insidious manipulations, he reminds me of more of Shiloh Archer than Drew Cain.

The Drew that we see today is not the same man we saw go into Pentonville. He’s hyper focused on Willow and using many of the tactics that Shiloh used to isolate Kristina from her loved ones. It’s not just me who sees this. There’s been a growing chorus of viewers who are wondering if the man who calls himself Drew Quartermaine is really the Dawn of Day cult leader.

Long time viewers know that no one is ever really dead on a soap opera. This is especially true for General Hospital. Yes, Shiloh’s body was recovered and autopsied, but there are ways around that. Remember, Shiloh was in cahoots with Helena Cassadine when he kidnapped Drew all those years ago. Would one of her associates or even Victor have helped Shiloh fake his death? Absolutely.

However, if Shiloh is truly back, I don’t think he’s running around in a latex mask. It’s far more likely that Drew underwent memory mapping again. He’s susceptible to it because he’d been successfully programed with Jason’s memories years earlier. Was the attack in Pentonville a ruse to tinker with Drew’s brain? Possible. But why would anyone want to bring Shiloh back after all this time? I can’t quite figure that part out.

Willow is no victim

It would be easy to paint Willow as a victim of Drew’s machinations, but I don’t see it that way. Willow is a grown woman who spent months engaging in an emotional affair even though she expected complete honesty and transparency from her husband. She refuses to take full accountability for that.

Willow’s talk with Chase was frustrating. Both Chase and Willow glossed over her cheating ways when they decided that she was drawn to savior types because she’s in search of the family she never had. Baloney. Years of growing up in a cult has damaged Willow, and she will continue having unhealthy relationships until she gets herself into therapy and learns to take responsibility for her own poor choices.

Yes, Drew took advantage of the cracks in Willow’s marriage, but they were there because Willow held Michael to a higher standard than she held herself. She didn’t trust her husband. Not when she had cancer, and not after she started having feelings for another man. It was easier for her to act on those illicit feelings than to admit to Michael that their family and their life together didn’t fulfill her because she doesn’t know how to have healthy relationships.

To my knowledge, Willow has never addressed the damage that Shiloh, Harmony, and the years of living in cults have done to her. She is doomed to repeat the same damaging patterns until she gets help. That’s on her and no one else.

All is not fair in love and war — even on General Hospital

One day, Willow is going to have to answer to her children about her decision to use their critically injured father as a bargaining chip to force Sonny and Carly’s hand.

I don’t care about Sonny and Carly’s feelings. My issue with this stunt was how Willow’s actions might have hurt Michael. As Sasha pointed out to Willow, Michael is fighting for his life. He has a right to have his loved ones at his side in case the worst should happen. The idea that Willow would withhold that basic comfort from him — for any reason — shows just how cruel she can be.

Willow doesn’t get points for ultimately changing her mind. It was incredibly easy for Drew to talk her into taking that action.

I have no empathy for Willow mainly because she refused to see how her own actions led to Michael filing for full custody. She tried to blame it on her savior fixation, but Michael did what he did because Willow took Wiley on a trip with Drew without letting Michael know. She didn’t even have the decency to let Michael have Amelia while she was out of town.

After having sex with Drew, Willow remained mystified about Michael filing for divorce and seeking full custody. She had the temerity to sit up in bed, with the sheet wrapped around her nude body and say, “My mind just keeps running in circles. I just keep asking myself how things got so bad so fast.” I don’t know Willow — just spitballing here – but maybe it’s because you are naked in bed with his uncle, while your young son is alone and asleep in another hotel room.

Bad writing or soapy goodness?

I see General Hospital viewers complaining about the “bad writing” by the “hack writers.” While I do hate the direction of the Drillow storyline, I can’t deny that it has viewers talking. Drew is utterly detestable, and Willow is completely delusional. I find myself rooting for anyone who calls them out for their horrid behavior. Heck, the writers even had me cheering Josslyn on during her confrontation with Willow.

Online, most viewers are united in their dislike for Drillow. I can’t remember the last time we were all so unified.

It’s clear to me that the writers recognize that Drew and Willow are not sympathetic in any way, shape or form. Many of the characters have made the same observations and accusations that viewers have made online. It’s not written as two likeable characters caught up in a sweet romance. It’s a torrid affair between two morally corrupt people.

The neon writing on the wall

Nina is just as manipulative as Drew, so she easily recognizes the signs. Even Nina had to admit that Willow had gone too far by blocking Michael’s loved ones from visiting.

Nina could have nipped this disastrous dalliance in the bud long ago by telling Willow about her sexcapades with Drew. I’m convinced that Willow’s view of Drew would be much different if Nina had been honest with her from the start. By keeping quiet, Nina chose self-preservation over her daughter’s best interests.

Nina was more than happy to see Willow leave Michael and take the kids with her. It didn’t matter to Nina that the kids would miss their dad and that they would bounce around from home to home. All she cared about was that she would finally have Willow and the kids to herself. Is Nina better than Drew. No.

However, in a battle between Nina and Drew, I will pick Nina every day of the week and twice on Sundays. That’s how much I’ve grown to despise Drew.

I have no illusions about Nina. She doesn’t want what is best for Willow and the kids. She wants what’s best for Nina. But — for now — the enemy of my enemy is my ally. Drew is a diabolical swine and needs to be exposed.

Cheers to Tracy too

Tracy proved to be a force to be reckoned with. I loved each moment. She is the only person who is protecting the kids, and I feel like Michael would approve of the move. Michael would want Wiley and Amelia to be safeguarded from Drew. Drew’s soul grows blacker by the day.

I’m fine with the idea of Monica keeping Wiley and Amelia close, especially now that we’ve lost our beloved Leslie Charleson. Her death rocked me, and it’s been hard this week hearing Tracy talk about her sister-in-law with such raw emotion and genuine affection. I wrote a tribute to the amazing Leslie Charleson, which you can check out here.

I will applaud Alexis too — if she decides to file for custody of Scout. We’ve seen Drew exploit Scout’s grief to get his way with Willow. It’s reprehensible. He doesn’t deserve that child.

Scene of the week goes to Jane Elliot and Steve Burton when Tracy implored Jason to pick the Quartermaines over Sonny and Carly. To my surprise, Jason did. I felt that hug between Tracy and Jason to my core. What a beautiful and powerful scene.

My second favorite moment was when Drew showed up with Martin, police officers, and a court order to take the children only for Tracy to inform everyone that Wiley and Amelia weren’t there. Well played Tracy!

We all know that Drew was hoping to score points with Willow by bringing those kids to her, but shame on Martin for not even discussing that legal maneuver with his client first. What gives Drew the right to make decisions for Willow and the children?

General Hospital’s Demon of Death

Speaking of legal woes. I see several wrongful death lawsuits in General Hospital’s future.

Folks, how in the world did anyone review the security footage of Michael’s hospital room — even if it was quick glance — and not see the same masked doctor who entered both Dex and Sam’s hospital rooms minutes before they each coded from an overdose of Digitalis? It defies logic unless the person is on Cyrus’ payroll. Oh, who am I kidding? That would be equally preposterous. No one in their right mind would work for Cyrus.

I’d smooch an angry viper before I’d trust a man like Cyrus.

For a moment, it looked like Michael might die. Fortunately, Isaiah and Lucas managed to save him. I just can’t understand how Cyrus has been able to get away with his dastardly deeds. Did Cyrus steal the Cloak of Invisibility from Harry Potter?

Even in the broadest sense, these are not mercy killings. As Lucky reminded Elizabeth and Lucas, both Sam and Dex were healthy. Cyrus is evil, but there has to be a personal reason that he’s killing people. I’m certain it all leads back to Lulu and the explosion at the Floating Rib four years ago.

It’s why Cyrus was so desperate to spirit Lulu away before she woke up from her coma.

Jack’s new protégé

That brings me to Jack Brennan. Jack knows that Cyrus stabbed Dex, but rather than share the evidence of the attempted murder with Anna, he encouraged Josslyn to keep digging into the attempt on Dex’s life. He even gave Josslyn a list of suspects to question.

Is Jack testing Josslyn’s investigative skills to see if she might make a good WSB agent? I’m almost certain of it.

I wouldn’t mind seeing Josslyn go in that direction. The idea of Josslyn becoming a doctor never felt right. I’ve completely forgotten what she’s studying in college now, but I do know that the action and adventure of being a WSB agent might be right up her alley.

Unfortunately, we know that Josslyn has Dex’s gun. That doesn’t bode well for Cyrus when Josslyn figures out exactly what Cyrus has been up to in recent months. After all, Josslyn is her mother’s daughter, and Carly is infamous for acting before she thinks.

General Hospital’s revisionist history

Soaps are notorious for tampering with the show’s history when it suits their purpose. General Hospital is no exception. I hate it because it’s seldom for the better.

The latest revision was to Dante and Brook Lynn’s past. For years we’ve heard how Dante always viewed Brook Lynn as a little sister, and that there was never anything romantic between them despite Brook Lynn’s childhood crush. He swore this to Lulu — repeatedly. That turned out to be a lie. A great big fat lie.

We recently learned through conversations between Dante and Cody as well as Lois and Brook Lynn that not only was Dante sweet for Brook Lynn, but they had sex at summer camp, and she got pregnant. Of course, Dante doesn’t know about the pregnancy or that Brook Lynn gave their baby up for adoption. But that will soon change.

It doesn’t take Sherlock Holmes to figure out that Gio is Dante and Brook Lynn’s long lost son.

So many questions, so few answers

I haven’t seen any recognition on Brook Lynn’s part that Gio is her son, so I don’t think she was in on the plot to introduce Gio as the orphaned son of a cousin. Lois is a different story. Whenever Gio’s parentage is mentioned, a cloud of guilt crosses her expression. I had even suspected that Gio might be Lois and Sonny’s secret love child.

I just can’t figure out how Sonny got involved in all of this. Gio was born before Sonny learned that Dante was his son. Are we to believe that Sonny financially supported Gio simply because Lois asked him to? Why would Lois even need Sonny’s financial help with Gio if she had her own thriving career and both the Cerullo and Falconeri families were raising him?

I also can’t figure out why Brook Lynn kept this from Dante. Clearly, Dante cared about Brook Lynn when she got pregnant. Sure, it would have been a difficult conversation to have, but Dante had a right to know.

Lulu’s mission of love

A mother’s love is a powerful thing. I have two children, so I know the feeling. There’s nothing that I wouldn’t do to keep my children safe. I fully understand Lulu’s desire to find Charlotte and bring her home, but I can’t understand how she thinks she’s going to accomplish that, especially when she’s still recovering from a liver transplant.

A liver transplant is not something that you can simply bounce back from in a week or two. Patients require frequent bloodwork to monitor for possible organ rejection. You wouldn’t know that from the way Lulu bounces around town. It’s such a disservice to what transplant patients really go through.

I’m annoyed by Lulu’s attitude. She acts like getting Charlotte back is the only thing that matters. What about her other child?

Rocco needs his mother as much as Charlotte does. Maybe more because he’s younger and grew up with Lulu — minus that first year when Britt had him. Charlotte is nearly an adult, and she has chosen to be with Valentin whether Lulu agrees with that decision or not. Even if Lulu finds Charlotte again, she’s not going to convince Charlotte to change her mind. It’s magical thinking on Lulu’s part to believe that Charlotte would go with her.

General Hospital Quick Takes

Why is Sidwell taking up residence on Spoon Island, living his best life as if he doesn’t have a care in the world, and parading around town with Lucy? He even stopped in at the Jerome Gallery and bought some art for his new castle. Isn’t he wanted for crimes by several international and national agencies?

How can Ava’s divorce settlement be revoked in another country and enforced in the USA without a court hearing? More importantly, how was Sidwell able to buy Spoon Island and Wyndemere if everything reverted back to the Cassadines?

I love unlikely allies, so Portia teaming up with Brad to find out who is killing patients at General Hospital with Digitalis has the makings of an interesting friendship.

Welcome back Lydia Look! I was wondering what Selina Wu has been up to.