Home sweet home (General Hospital Commentary)

Even though it was a short week on General Hospital, there’s lots to dish about. Will Lucky stick around for Aiden or continue to run from the past? Anna is all smiles at the thought of Jason, but should their kiss lead to more or will the writers hear the overwhelming jeers from viewers? As Ric works to set Heather free, Portia is equally determined to keep Heather right where she is — in prison. Let’s discuss all this and more.

It’s no secret that I love General Hospital. I’ve been watching my beloved soap since I was a tween, and it has been a part of my life every weekday for as long as I can remember. This week, ABC did me dirty when they chose to pre-empt both Tuesday and Wednesday’s episodes with baseball. I was at such a loss at what to do that I ended up grabbing a ball of chenille yarn left over from a long-ago Christmas gift idea — my daughter and I made scarves one year — and began to crochet a blanket.

Both Dan and my husband laughed at the idea of me — who is admittedly easily distracted and prone to flightiness — completing such an ambitious project. Now, I’m committed and eight balls of yarn (and counting) in. Did I mention that the blanket is for my Alaskan king-sized bed? All because GH was pre-empted for two days.

I also wrote a blog about Kelly Monaco’s best storylines to celebrate her 21st anniversary with General Hospital. You can check it out here.

Now, let’s get into the week that was on General Hospital.

Un-Lucky in love

Lucky is back in Port Charles and has cleared the first hurdle to donate a portion of his liver to his dying sister. That was the easy part. The hard part will be Aiden. I can’t even call it reconnecting with his son because I don’t think Lucky ever truly connected with Aiden in the first place. A few visits over the years and video chats does not a relationship make. If Aiden’s reaction to the news of his dad being in town is anything to go by, Aiden agrees with me. In fact, Aiden made it quite clear that he would prefer to be seen as his mother’s son rather than his father’s son. That’s good because both Cameron and Aiden seem most like their mother anyway. Jake is more like Jason — without the criminal impulses.

Aiden has no illusions about Lucky’s priorities. Lucky has made that abundantly clear by being an absentee father for all these years. During Lucky’s visit with Lulu, Lucky confessed that he’d been running from the past because he’d been afraid to fight for his family. To me, that sounded like hogwash. It’s a lie that he tells himself to make himself feel better. The truth is, Lucky has been a selfish bastard who found it easier to play the hero and answer only to himself rather than face the responsibility of raising a son. It’s not that Lucky doesn’t love Aiden, but Luke was infamous for taking off for long periods of times and embarking on one adventure after another, so it’s no surprise that Lucky would follow suit when things got too hard for him at home.

I’m disappointed that Lucky paid Sonny a visit before he saw his son, but I’m willing to overlook that because Lucky did acknowledge that he’s afraid to face Aiden. He should be. Aiden deserved better than Lucky gave him.

If Lucky does decide to stick around to work on his relationship with his son, he will have options to support himself. As an ex-detective and the son of the mayor, he could apply at the PCPD or — as was suggested by some on X (formerly Twitter) — he could step in and run the Savoy for Curtis.

A kiss of betrayal

What has become of Anna? I no longer recognize the woman I once so admired. In Africa, she suddenly lost her backbone and turned into a weepy damsel in distress who couldn’t even pick the lock of a set of handcuffs. She was so frazzled that Jason had to comfort her with a hug, which ultimately led to a kiss that made me gag watching it.

It has nothing to do with the fact that Anna is old enough to be Jason’s mother, which she most definitely is. The actors might be 10 years apart in age, but that’s not true for the characters. We know this because Robin had a crush on Jason in high school before she fell in love with Stone. On the show, Jason is 3 years older than Robin. If Anna were 10 years older than Jason, it would mean that Anna graduated WSB spy school, fell in love with Robert, married him, and had his baby all by the tender age of 13. Even on a soap opera, that is highly unlikely. Anna is at least 20 years Jason’s senior.

My issue with an Anna/Jason romance is Robin — and the love that Robin and Jason once shared.

I’m disgusted that Anna would remember that kiss with a smile rather than embarrassment and shame. It’s no different than if Carly suddenly started developing romantic feelings for Dex or Cameron. Jason wasn’t just a guy that Robin once dated; he was the boy without a past who saved — and was saved by — Robin, the girl without a future. Jason was there for Robin when she had lost everything: her parents, the boy she loved, and her very health. What they shared was special and beautiful because Jason gave Robin hope, and she in return taught him about love and honor. Tarnishing the love that Jason and Robin shared with a tawdry fling between Robin’s mother and Jason also disrespects and diminishes the love that Anna claims to have for Robin.

It a terrible idea and has been met with an overwhelming number of jeers rather than cheers from viewers online. I hope the writers take heed. I thought Drew and Willow were bad, but this is worse because it makes a mockery of both Anna and Jason, and the past. It also makes Anna look ridiculous. A few weeks ago, she was in love with and pining for Valentin.

I just don’t see a romance between Jason and Anna because they will always be on opposiing sides when it comes to Sonny. Even if Jason were to leave the business, he would remain loyal to Sonny.

Heather’s poisoned past

Heather is on a mission to get a second chance at freedom by proving that Cobalt poisoning had turned her into a serial killer, but this revisionist history of hers only proves to me that Heather is still the delusional maniac that she’s always been.

Let us not forget that Heather was already serving a life sentence when she repeatedly slipped out of prison to commit the Hook murders. She’s not currently incarcerated only for the Hook murders. Those crimes were tacked on to the slew of crimes she’d already been convicted for, including the murder of a cop named Ross Duncan in 2004, kidnapping Luke Spencer, and the attempted murder of several others during her little crime spree. The idea that Heather might free walk out of jail if her recent murder spree convictions were overturned due to the metal poisoning is ludicrous because Heather has been a walking crime wave ever since the late 1970s. That’s when she first began to terrorize Diana Taylor.

Defenders of Heather are quick to point out that Heather wasn’t a serial killer until the Hook murders, but that wasn’t for lack of trying. Heather has a long history of turning deadly when things don’t go her way. Let us not forget that the only reason Heather’s mother Alice Grant killed Diana was because Heather showed up to Diana’s apartment armed and, on a mission, to end her rival’s life. Diana fought back, and Heather dropped the gun during the struggle. That’s when Alice swooped in and shot Diana. Metallosis didn’t drive Heather to take such drastic action. Jealousy did.

Heather’s crimes didn’t end with Diana either. She spent years stalking Jeff Webber and their son Steven Lars, blackmailed Naomi Dreyfus, and Heather adopted out both Franco and Drew on the black market. In Drew’s case, that was kidnapping too. Along the way, Heather would turn violent with anyone who crossed her because she was unstable, paranoid, and prone to delusions thanks to an overdose of LSD that was intended for Diana.

If the writers truly wanted to undo the murders, they should have simply had Heather admit that she had lied; Esme had committed the Hook murders, but Heather had taken the fall to give her daughter a second chance at life. It’s not as if Esme is alive. If she were, Esme would be headed to prison for what she did to Spencer.

I love Alley Mills too, but this is not the way for Heather to earn her freedom.

Brad the General Hospital fall guy

A few weeks ago, Brad approached Terry with hat in hand asking for a second chance and a job in the hospital’s lab. I was surprised because it seemed a bit out of left field since we hadn’t seen Brad in eons. It had been so long, that I feared that Aunt Selina had locked him in some dungeon and thrown away the key.

When I saw Portia tamper with Heather’s test results, I realized why Brad was back. My suspicions were further confirmed when Portia confronted Terry about hiring Brad. That was right around the time that Ric discovered that the General Hospital lab results were wonky. It seemed clear that the writers had put Brad in the lab to take the fall for Portia. On a soap, there are no coincidences. For the moment, Portia hasn’t made a move to blame Brad for the tampered test results, but it remains a possibility. She has no love for Brad because of his past and his connection to Selina. He also has motive to want to see Heather remained behind bars. His best friend — Britt — was a victim of the Hook slayings.

What surprised me was Ava offering to help Portia. Portia needs a friend, and Ava is a good friend to have when you’re in over your head. I also found myself loving the sparks between Ric and Ava. When he realized that Ava knew who had changed the results of the tests? More of that please!

A mother’s sacrifice

What I could do less with is Alexis the martyr.

Alexis is sitting in jail because she’s determined to save Kristina from herself. I get it. I have children, and I would walk through fire for them. They are now adults, and their father and I couldn’t be prouder of the incredible people they have become. However, we have never put one child above the other. Ever. When they made mistakes, they were held accountable for their actions and learned from them. We supported our children, but we didn’t make excuses for them. It’s how you grow as a person.

Sadly, Alexis has never allowed Kristina to do any of that, which is why Kristina finds herself in her mid 30s and alone, her life a mess and neck deep in potential legal trouble. From the very start, Alexis has been fiercely protective of Kristina to the point that Alexis lied about her daughter’s paternity to keep Sonny out of Kristina’s life. We later learned that a teenaged Alexis had been forced to give her newborn daughter — Sam — up for adoption, which I suppose attributed to Alexis’ mama bear instincts kicking into high gear when Kristina was born. But there’s no denying either that Alexis is both neurotic and obsessive on her best day, so that played into Alexis having coddled Kristina since birth. Sonny happily enabled that behavior.

Molly is younger than Kristina, but she is far more emotionally stable, and goal driven. Molly makes safe choices and has her life together because she has always been mature beyond her years. I have no doubt that Alexis loves Molly, but she doesn’t see her. Not really. It’s why Alexis is blind to how much her constant reminders of Kristina’s pain, grief, and fragility is like a knife to Molly’s heart each time. Alexis seldom asks how Molly is doing, and when she does, Alexis is always quick to remind Molly that poor unfortunate Kristina is suffering too.

It’s almost as if Alexis sees Kristina’s loss as being greater than Molly’s because Kristina was the egg donor and carried the baby. I think that’s what Molly picks up on, and it hurts because it means that Molly never really mattered in this journey even though it started because of Molly’s desire to be a mother. Being a parent isn’t about biology; it’s about love.

I’m so disappointed in Alexis because she’s not doing Kristina any favors by shielding her from the consequences of her own actions. She’s just putting off the inevitable because the truth always finds a way out, especially on a soap.

Random General Hospital thoughts and observations

What’s with lawyers consulting with their clients in Pentonville’s very public visitors’ area where anyone — including the guards — can eavesdrop?

It was a week of recasts on General Hospital. Colin Cassidy popped up on Monday as the new Aiden Webber and Van Hansis appeared as Lucas Jones on Friday’s episode. Soon, Alexa Havins will be stepping into Lulu Spencer’s shoes. I love the return of legacy characters, but I have to admi that I was taken aback by Colin as Aiden. It was a little jarring because he seems so much older, like he was heading off to college not high school.

Finally, I was so saddened to read about the passing of Ron Hale. Ron originated the role of Mike Corbin in 1995 and continued to play Sonny’s troubled father until 2011. Prior to that Ron was played Dr. Roger Coleridge on Ryan’s Hope, which earned him two Daytime Emmy nominations. My heart goes out to his loved ones. Godspeed, Ron. Thank you for your years of wonderful performances.

I love hearing from readers so be sure to comment below.

Happy viewing,

Liz Masters