A postcard from the road — with love

Surprise! I told you I’d be back. My ride at Soap Central has ended, but the journey is far from over. My good friend and mentor Dan J Kroll has graciously offered a group of us who left SC over creative and professional differences this wonderful place to write until we arrive at our new destination. We remain as determined as ever to provide our dear readers with quality content without all the clickbait, pop-ups, and frustration that so many of you felt over the past few months. We heard you loud and clear.

Things will look a bit different as we expand our horizons and take our readers on a new adventure. New columns could be posted more frequently if something big breaks. Posts might talk about things other than soaps. I promise it will all be worth it. Buckle up because it’s going to be a wild ride, and I am very excited about this new chapter.

But let’s not get too wild too soon… and kick things off by talking about General Hospital. And I’ll end with some other fun soap news and a very special message to all of you who have read my columns.

Luck be a lady in Africa

It’s been a busy week in Port Charles as the police work to solve the murder of a federal agent, while their police commissioner is off to Africa with her new trusty sidekick Jason in the hopes of rescuing Lucky and bringing him home. Anna was both surprised yet not when she realized that Sidwell’s girlfriend “English” was none other than Holly Sutton. Why Anna didn’t immediately explain the importance of finding Lucky is beyond me. Had Holly and Anna had their little chat in the ladies’ room like normal people they might have avoided the trouble that is sure to be ahead. Instead, as is common on soaps, the ladies had a very private conversation out in the open, complete with a detailed plot to betray Sidwell.

It’s only through the miracle of soap writing that Anna has survived this long in the spy business.

Naturally, Lucky’s situation is dire. Sidwell is tired of losing at cards and whatever mission he’s on, so time is fast running out for our wayward Spencer. Will Lucky make it home in time to be Lulu’s savior as everyone hopes? Isaiah seemed to cast some doubt on that by suggesting that Lucky might not be a good candidate for liver donation due to Lucky’s alcohol consumption. Lucky is a recovering drug addict, so I was a little surprised to learn that Lucky drinks even occasionally.

The writers quickly dangled another possibility for an organ donor during Dante and Sam’s scene when Sam announced that she intends to drag her diving gear out of storage and go looking for the gun that Alexis tossed into the Blackstone Canyon River. A very clear case of foreshadowing if ever I heard, especially when Dante reminded Sam about the dangerous conditions of the river. It’s looking more and more as if Sam — not Lucky — will be Lulu’s donor. I’m not sure how to feel about that because Sam’s liver going to Lulu would pretty much close the door on Sam ever returning. I realize nothing is impossible on a soap — just look at the switcheroo they did with Josslyn’s donated kidney — but this seems different.

The untimely death of a lead character like Sam — who is connected to almost every character on the canvas — can have far-reaching consequences for many. There’s a tremendous potential for drama and upheaval. Imagine the position Dante would be in; devastated by the death of the woman he loves only for her to save the other woman he loves. Talk about bittersweet. Then there’s Alexis who is currently locked up in Pentonville. How will she feel if her eldest child should lose her life trying to clear her mother’s name? Not well, I daresay. Danny and Scout would also have their lives upended because they would likely be split up as they each go to live with their father.

As for Lucky, I confess I’m a bit baffled as to why Lucky is having hallucinations about Elizabeth when it was his grief over losing Siobhan that sent him to Ireland and presumably kept him there throughout Aiden’s childhood. Are we suddenly now to believe that Lucky has been pining for Liz all these years? I hope not because that would be a pretty crappy reason to abandon your only child and the two boys you claimed to love as your own. Oh, and the woman that you profess to love.

While there’s no disputing that Lucky was a lousy father, I always thought that Lucky’s need for danger and action helped to dull his grief over losing his wife. He was always his father’s son, and Luke was drawn to danger like a magnet. That made sense to me, so I really hope that Lucky owns that. The truth isn’t always pretty, but acknowledging it is the first step to making different choices and earning forgiveness. I want to see Lucky do the work for Aiden instead of Aiden giving Lucky a free pass the way that Danny gave Jason one.

A family that lies together stays together

Meanwhile, Sonny and Michael have bonded over the cover-up of Sonny’s recent slaying of a federal agent.

Michael has always been stuck between two worlds. Both Sonny and Carly — with a generous helping hand from Jason — tried to shield Michael from the evils of the mob world hoping to raise Michael to be a law-abiding citizen who would be safe from the violence of Sonny’s lifestyle. They failed miserably of course because midnight trips to Sonny’s island, armed guards, kidnappings, bomb scares, and a bullet to Michael’s head were just a few of the horrors that Michael endured growing up Corinthos.

Unfortunately, Michael’s decision to protect Sonny is not only criminal but it could also cost Michael his marriage to Willow. Will this be the excuse that Willow has been looking for to take a walk on the wild side with a clear conscience and make a beeline straight for Drew’s bed? More than likely, but it won’t make it any less of a betrayal.

Michael has always had one foot in Sonny’s world, a fact that Willow was well aware of when she married Michael the first time around. By the second marriage, Michael and Sonny had had a falling out because of Sonny’s loyalty to Nina during the trial to hold Nina accountable for her actions in Nixon Falls, but Willow herself had pushed for a reconciliation between Michael and Sonny because Willow genuinely liked Sonny despite the fact that he’s a powerful mob boss. You can’t invite the devil in and then be surprised when he unleashes hell.

Like it or not, part of being a mob boss is doing illegal things like murdering enemies, including those in the law enforcement community who go rogue and pose a threat to innocent loved ones. Willow knows this, and she knows that those very same innocent loved ones can get sucked into Sonny’s crimes. I don’t blame Michael for not turning his father in for killing John Jagger Jingleheimer Schmidt primarily because it was a reflexive action. From birth, Michael had been conditioned to protect Sonny. Once Carly got involved in the cover-up, Michael’s fate was sealed. Even if he wanted to be honest, he can’t admit the truth without taking down his own mother too.

Should Michael have told Willow about what Sonny did? No, because what Michael and Carly are doing is a crime. Dragging Willow into it would just make her complicit. We saw firsthand what a hard time Willow had nursing Jason back to health when he was a wanted man, so Willow would never be able to live with the secret that Sonny murdered John.

Torn between two lovers

Affairs of the heart are another matter entirely for Willow. She has been lusting after Drew for months now, and she’s kissed him twice. No, they are not having a physical affair, but they are having an emotional affair. For some people that’s worse. Willow insists on — no, she demands — honesty, but she doesn’t return it. Worse, she’s not even being honest with herself. Until Willow can do that and have a real conversation with Michael about what’s going on she has no moral high ground to stand on.

Admittedly, I’m quite annoyed with Willow. She insists that she loves her husband, yet her actions say otherwise. Something in her is unfulfilled. She needs to sit down and talk to Michael about that, so they can decide if what they have is worth trying to fix or if it’s beyond repair.  Drew is not the answer; he’s merely the distraction.

I’m certain that Drew is playing with Willow’s heart as part of a bigger scheme. His decision to ask Curtis to step in as acting COO was about putting Michael in his place. That was a power move, plain and simple. Michael has been working for Aurora Media for years, and he ran the company while Drew was incarcerated. I don’t care how great Curtis has been doing, he’s only been at the job for a few months. Heck, even Curtis questioned Drew’s decision.

Drew’s behavior has been abhorrent. I don’t see him making any effort to avoid Willow or clueing her in that he’s been shagging her mom. Just the opposite. When he returned from surfing on the lake (how exactly do you do that?) and saw Willow, did he set his surfboard down and leave? No, he ogled Willow for a few seconds and approached her. Meanwhile, the sight of seeing Drew bare-chested and glistening with droplets of lake water befuddled Willow enough that she lost her balance and fell into his waiting arms. Yuck. There was nothing romantic about it. It was juvenile and silly because Willow and Drew lack even the barest hint of chemistry.

I saw more sparks between Willow and Nina when Willow turned pea-green with envy at the realization that her mother was at the Savoy with Drew.

The Pentonville blues

Now, let’s talk about Alexis who found herself shipped off to Pentonville to await trial for the murder of John Cates based solely on the evidence that Ric and Elizabeth saw Alexis toss a gun off the Blackstone Canyon footbridge, and Alexis’ car — not Alexis — was seen at the end of the Quartermaine driveway around the time of Cate’s murder. Also, Alexis had threatened the agent just hours before he ended up shot dead. Damaging to be sure, but ultimately, it’s all circumstantial.

Had the police collected Alexis’ clothes that she wore the night she ditched the gun they would have discovered that there was zero gunshot residue or blood splatter on any of the items. Additionally, a sweep of the car would have returned without trace evidence of gunshot residue on the steering wheel. Then there are Alexis’ phone records, which should show that she was at home — not at the Q mansion — at the time of the shooting.

Now, I know Alexis is trying to protect Kristina, but the same evidence that exonerates Alexis also clears Kristina. Her clothes from that night wouldn’t have gunshot residue on them either. Even though her phone might ping off the tower near the Q mansion, no one saw Kristina get out of Alexis’ car much less slip down to the boathouse to fire off two deadly shots before returning to the car and leaving.

There are plenty of other viable suspects including everyone in Sonny’s organization.

I want to be clear that I understand that Kristina is grieving the baby she lost. However, Kristina’s reckless choices, inability to take responsibility for her actions, and her constant need for positive affirmation and coddling by those around her have nothing to do with grief. Kristina has been a ball of insecurity with impulse control issues long before she insisted on carrying a baby for Molly and T.J.

That said, I am happy that Sam took Kristina to the hospital to get some help processing the trauma of falling out the window and losing the baby. I want the old Kristina back. She was imperfect but so much more likeable.

As for Alexis, she gets no pity from me. She had a fool for a client and made some really bad choices. I find that I don’t mind seeing Alexis locked up, especially now that Heather is her cellmate. It will be interesting to see what kind of trouble these two stir up behind bars. With Martin in the mix as he tries to pull Alexis from the legal quagmire that she finds herself in, it should be quite entertaining.

Random thoughts and observations

The magical deli bag: I wonder if the powers that be noticed that the bag that Josslyn handed to Jordan had “Kelly’s” emblazoned on it only for it to change to “Bobbie’s” by the time Jordan arrived at Isaiah’s hospital room. Eagle-eyed viewers certainly did.

Surprise doppelgänger: Did anyone else spot the uncanny resemblance of the bartender at the casino to a certain diabolical vixen named Esme Prince? It was eerie, and I was certain that Avery Kristen Pohl had returned for much of the episode until the bartender sprang into action when Jason spilled a drink on Sidwell. It wasn’t Avery, but what a huge twist it would have been if Esme was back in action.

Bad medicine: How did Portia ever think that she would be able to get away with changing the results of Heather’s blood work? It’s not the first time that Portia has made an unethical decision for personal reasons. Remember when she risked Oz Haggerty’s life to wake him up from a coma so he could testify at Trina’s trial?

A new man: Martin Grey returned, minus his facial hair and southern drawl. I’m delighted to have him back on my screen, but does it feel like someone behind the scenes isn’t a fan of accents? First Lois’ distinctive Brooklyn accent gets the Eliza Doolittle treatment, and now Martin no longer sounds like Scarlett O’Hara’s long-lost brother.

Suds news

Nicholas Alexander Chavez’s new Netflix hit Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story dropped this week, and wow was it something. I was so eager to watch it that I woke up before the crack of dawn on Thursday morning to start streaming it. I remember following the case back in 1989 through the late 1990s when the brothers were found guilty, and each was sentenced to two consecutive life terms without the possibility of parole, but this series made it clear that there was so much more to the story and the shocking double murder. I learned quite a bit about the case, the investigation, and the background of the brothers to the point that I can’t help but wonder if they would have been convicted if they had been tried today.

Our Nicholas was superb as Lyle Menendez, and I will not be surprised if he ends up with an Emmy for his compelling performance. He deserves it. I highly recommend this series. It’s nine episodes and absolutely riveting. However, I must warn you that some of the content, especially in episodes 4 and 5, is particularly hard to watch.

In other news, Beyond the Gates has announced their first cast members. Soap queens Tamara Tunie, Daphnee Duplaix, and Karla Mosely have each been tapped for lead roles as part of the Dupree family. If you noticed a change in the title of the much-anticipated new soap, good catch. They added “Beyond” to the title. I’m so excited to start a new soap, and I would love if Kelly Monaco landed a role on it. Praying that the soap gods hear me.

Finally, Lifetime Network announced not one, but two All My Children movies, including one centered around Christmas. I’m thrilled and can’t wait to watch them. I love that my beloved soap is finding a new lease on life, and I can’t wait to see what’s ahead for the good people of Pine Valley. Scripted shows are so much better than reality television.

Thank you

I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who reached out to both Tamilu and me since last week. All the kind words and well wishes meant the world to us, and we will forever be grateful for the outpouring of love and support. We appreciate each and every single one of our dear readers.

I hope you enjoyed this little column. Stick around because there’s more to come, as well as content from other writers including of course our wonderful Tamilu. Exciting things are happening. While I’m not at liberty to discuss everything just yet, rest assured that there are a group of us who are eager to continue providing our dear readers with quality content not just about soaps, but so much more. Stay tuned — this new journey is just beginning.

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