As family and friends prepare to gather and celebrate Thanksgiving in Port Charles, trouble abounds. Will Portia be forced to provide an alibi for the night of Drew’s shooting? Can Drew and Willow’s marriage give her the edge she needs in court? Let’s discuss that – and give thanks – in a deliciously soapy General Hospital commentary for the week ending November 26, 2025.
I didn’t always celebrate Thanksgiving – I explain why in a special column – but I‘ve grown to love the holiday. What’s not to enjoy? Good food, family, and a time to give thanks for all the blessings in one’s life. It’s also a holiday rife with tradition. In this household, one of those traditions is watching General Hospital’s annual Quartermaine Thanksgiving hijinks. Unfortunately, I will have to wait until Monday for that. Boo.
Quartermaine family tradition
“First we sing, then we eat,” Edward Quartermaine would say before leading his family in a heartfelt chorus of We Gather Together every Thanksgiving. It’s a time-honored tradition that continues to this day, but it’s also a reminder of those we have lost.
This year, viewers said goodbye to Monica, the beloved matriarch of the Quartermaine family. She passed away peacefully in her sleep. It was a quiet end to a long and colorful life. Her house was filled with loving family members living in, ahem, relative harmony under her roof. She loved them all and they loved her.
I’m thankful that the writers crafted a storyline that was befitting Monica. It lasted more than a few episodes and allowed soap legend Erika Slezak to grace our screens as Monica’s sister, Ronnie Bard.
Leslie Charleson was an amazing actress who gave us decades of powerful performances during her run on General Hospital. She will be deeply missed.
A new matriarch
Now, Tracy has taken the reins that Monica has passed to her. But instead of basking in Monica’s generosity, and the fact that she knew Monica better than anyone else, Tracy jetted off for a little trip. Sadly, poor Ned had a massive heart attack during her absence. A “widow maker” that nearly killed him. Did anyone bother to tell Tracy? Nope. They kept it from her so she could enjoy her little sojourn. What?!?
If my family did that to me, I’d be livid. Tracy needs to teach her family the true definition of family loyalty because this batch of Qs is painfully lacking. First, they didn’t listen when Tracy warned them that something was off with Monica’s will and now, they are keeping her in the dark about her son. Shame on them. Don’t even get me started on how they all think Michael is a cold-blooded killer.
Back to Thanksgiving at the Qs.
A family tradition
Will Tracy return in time to enjoy pizza with the family on Thanksgiving? I hope so. Chase might be hopeful that his new recipe will somehow break the holiday curse, but I’m counting on the writers giving us another entertaining series of unfortunate events that ends with the Quartermaines bonding over pizza. Tracy can be mad at the family after pizza. Monica wouldn’t have it any other way. 😉
The Corinthos Clan
The Corinthos clan continues to grow. This year, the addition was Sonny’s long lost grandson, Gio. Sonny has been open, welcoming, and supportive of Gio who had his world rocked during the Nurses Ball when he learned that Brook Lynn and Dante were his biological parents.
Dante has been an ass. He’s been unfairly putting all of Rocco’s poor choices on Gio’s young shoulders, reinforcing time and again that Rocco is the favored son, not Gio. Never Gio. However, being Dante’s son isn’t all sunshine and butterflies. Just ask Rocco. There was a time when Dante was completely checked out of Rocco’s life because Dante was off fighting bad guys for the WSB.
Papa don’t preach
More than anything, I want Dante to get his act together and to start building a real relationship with his eldest son. I love Rocco, but Dante mollycoddles his youngest. Rocco isn’t a bad kid, but he’s never going to learn from his mistakes if daddy keeps cleaning up his messes and blaming others for Rocco’s transgressions. Dante is lucky to have Gio for a son, so I’d like to see Dante recognize that.
Gio works hard, he’s a gifted violinist, and he’s incredibly kind. Big deal he went to a college frat party. What kid his age hasn’t? It wasn’t his job to make sure Rocco made good choices, but he took action when he realized that Rocco hadn’t. Yes, Gio asked the kids to help create a distraction so he and Emma could sneak into Dalton’s lab, but that’s a far cry from enlisting the kids to do what they ultimately took upon themselves to do.
Gio is a wonderful young man, and Giovanni Mazza has grown to be quite a fine actor. I’m thankful for this addition to the Corinthos family and General Hospital.
The Davis Gang
Two out of three Davis girls might spend next Thanksgiving in jail. Alexis hoped to cover-up an attempted murder and engaged in a bit of embezzlement from her great-nephew’s trust fund. She paid most of it back, but there is a paper trail if anyone digs deep enough. Ric might be slick, but he’s not a magician.
Meanwhile, Kristina tried to kill Ava by tampering with Ric’s brake line (the aforementioned attempted murder), which nearly claimed the life of two people. She caught a lucky break when Liz agreed to keep Kristina’s secret, but Kristina and Alexis’ little crime spree didn’t end there. Alexis and Kristina joined forces with Ava Jerome, knocked out Ric and kept him drugged and captive for a month.
Molly is not going to be happy when the truth comes out. And it will. This is a soap opera and Cody is falling for Molly, which means he’s likely going to be burdened with a guilty conscience. Also, our General Hospital writers love ruining good things.
Nice things
Initially, I wasn’t a fan of a romantic pairing between Molly and Cody. Cody is much older than Molly, and he’s messy. Whenever Cody is faced with a choice, he inevitably makes the wrong one. It’s how he ended up covering for Alexis and Kristina when he stumbled upon Ric locked in the basement of Alexis’ house. Cody became a reluctant accomplice when the ladies convinced Ric that it would be best to keep his lips zipped since he committed crimes too.
I’m thankful that – for now at least – everyone has retreated to their corners and is making an effort to get along for Molly’s sake. But it won’t last. Molly is surrounded by a pack of compulsive liars who can’t seem to stay out of trouble.
The Collins Homestead
Laura’s family keeps getting smaller. Kevin has vanished (a trip to Dublin, Ireland), Lucky is off adventuring, Nikolas is in jail, and Ace is but a name these days. Yes, there’s Lulu, her children, and Martin, but that makes for a small family gathering this year at the supper table.
General Hospital needs to bring Nikolas home. It really irks me that he’s rotting away in jail for a crime against a woman who didn’t pay for any of her crimes, including the murder of Nikolas’ firstborn. That’s not justice. It’s a travesty.
Oh brother, where art thou?
Ideally, the powers that be will bring both Nikolas and Spencer home. No one believes that Spencer is actually dead anyway. We need them to return and evict Sidwell from Wyndemere and Spoon Island. It’s so wrong to see anyone other than a Cassadine living in that castle. Also, I hate what Sidwell has done with the place. It’s a gothic castle in New York, not a luxury villa in the Serengeti.
Laura is a General Hospital icon and the heart-and-soul of the show. Her family should reflect her legacy. At least she won the mayoral election. I’m thankful for that because I can’t imagine anyone except Laura watching over Port Charles.
The Robinson-Ashford Family
Portia has a bun in the oven – but it’s not in the kitchen. Who helped her cook up the little delight? We will have to stay tuned, but it’s going to be interesting to watch. This is soapy gold. Kudos to the writers because they’ve set everything up perfectly.
Portia and Curtis’ marriage has been in shambles for the better part of a year largely due to Portia’s lies and secrets, and Curtis’ impossible standards. Things are only going to get worse in the very near future if Alexis has anything to say about it. Willow needs a scapegoat to get out of those pesky charges for shooting Drew in the back – twice – and Portia had plenty of motive to want Drew dead. He’d been blackmailing her with information that could land her in jail. Nina shared this bit of information with Sonny who went straight to Alexis with it. Soap opera telephone at its finest.
Oh, and let us not forget that Portia was also involved in Drew’s Ketamine scandal over the summer.
The blame game
Portia likes to blame Curtis’ rekindled feelings for Jordan for the breakdown of their marriage, but we all have eyes. It was Portia’s inability to trust her husband, her poor choices, the blackmail, the ill-fated plot with Nina, and now her secret affair with a co-worker that doomed her marriage and has made a reconciliation nearly impossible. But wait, the worst is yet to come because Portia has no idea if Curtis or Isaiah is the baby’s father. On top of that, she hasn’t even told Isaiah about the baby. For that matter, she hasn’t told Trina either.
A daughter’s love
Thankfully, Trina has a good heart and she’s fiercely loyal. She’ll be upset, but she will forgive her mother. Trina loves her, which is why Trina and Kai got their hands on the evidence that Drew had been using against Portia and they destroyed it. Unfortunately, they also happened to be unwitting witnesses to Drew’s shooting. We have some juicy scenes ahead because it feels like General Hospital is ready to wrap this storyline up. I’m certain that Trina and Kai will be the key to unmasking the shooter, and that Scout’s phone call that fateful night will play a crucial role in the revelation.
I’ve long suspected that Willow has the same ringtone for Scout that Drew has, and that Scout was calling Willow — not Drew — when those shots rang out.
The Cains, party of two
That brings me to the two turkeys of Port Charles: Drew and Willow. The detestable duo who have decided to get hitched on Thanksgiving. 🤢
Drew convinced Willow that getting married would improve her chances in court when she went to trial for attempting to kill him, and with the family court judge. Drew has yet to be right about anything he’s promised Willow, but did that give her pause? Absolutely not. She let him slide on Lila’s ring — the same engagement ring that Michael gave her — and ran over to General Hospital to ask Liz to be her maid of honor.
Side note: I loved the look of pure shock on Chase’s face when Michael dropped that little bombshell on him. Clearly, Michael hit a nerve when he said that Chase didn’t know Willow as well as he thinks. How right Michael is.
Later, Drew bragged to Martin that he would stop at nothing to punish those who had wronged him even if it meant falsely accusing an innocent man of murder. How does a man fall this far from grace? Even Laura wondered that when Drew recently paid her visit in her office. Please, dear writers, address this.
I’m thankful that Drew’s shooting seems on the verge of being resolved because I’m certain that it will once again tear him and Willow apart. Hopefully for good. Anytime Drew and Willow lose is a boon for viewers.
Port Charles Potpourri
Some quick thoughts about other things going on in and around Port Charles.
It’s odd that no one is questioning Anna’s recent disappearing act. Why would Anna leave Jack a message, but not Emma? Emma actually lives with Anna. Also, what happened to the voicemail message that Anna left before she was abducted?
I didn’t really need another reason to despise Sidwell, but learning that he arranged for Rocco’s beatdown in juvie just made me hope that when his downfall comes, someone ends his miserable life. Steinmauer is too good for him.
Justine Turner does not impress me. Who raises criminal charges against a minor who has never been in trouble with the law before without any real evidence? Shame on her. Robert would have never filed charges until a full investigation had been completed. Justine filed them before the police even went to the lab.
Nathan is too good to be true. It makes me suspicious. Why isn’t he questioning – and investigating – what happened to him for the past five years? Is it because Nathan knows exactly where he’s been and what he’s been up to? Also, why hasn’t he visited the love of his life, Maxie?
Will Drew face any repercussions for walking away while Ned suffered a heart attack and collapsed? I hope so. Surely, Bobbie’s has a security camera covering the front door and courtyard.
What General Hospital Viewers Are Saying
We love reading what other fans have to say about the show, so please scroll down to the Comments section and share your thoughts. It’s at the bottom of this (and every) column.
A few blessings
Before You Check Out
I want to wish everyone a safe and happy Thanksgiving. Tamilu will be back next week with an all-new commentary.
Happy viewing,
Liz
Agree so much with you, Liz, about Tracy not being told about Ned’s heart attack. That’s just wrong on so many levels. I loved that Laura won the election and love, love, love the scenes with Sonny. Really love Rocco, Danny & Charlotte, their love for one another & determination to protect each other. I’ve been watching GH 59 years now, and this is the making of our next generation of characters & the future of GH. I enjoy the new Emma as well and Gio has made his mark on Port Charles too. I think Brennan is not only up to his eyeballs in the Sidwell stuff (which feels a lot like the Pikeman stuff revamped/continued,) but may be responsible for Anna’s disappearance as well. So tired of Drew and Willow. GH is my break from the real world & the sleezy political characters have become too much like reality as time has gone on. I’ve been muting my tv for quite some time while Drew & his cohort, Ezra are on and I’ve recently started muting Willow too. I’m wondering if he’s thinking he will marry Willow, ship her off to a lengthy commitment and that he’ll end up with Michael’s kids? I think he was planning something like that when he had her sign those papers about the kids back when Michael was being treated for burns in that specialty clinic. Really tired of the character’s Snidley Whiplash like pursuit of wanting everything he sees as belonging to the Quartermaine family. Maybe give him a cheesy mustache to twirl like the bad guys in old, really old films? I have begun picturing the character in Snidely fashion so that I won’t throw something through my tv when he’s on spewing his venom. It’s cheaper than replacing the tv. Hoping (notice I said ‘hoping,’ not holding my breath, & I love Michael E. Knight’s Martin and that after watching him from the very beginning of his time on AMC, he’s here on GH entertaining us all,) Martin will have learned something from the Ronnie fiasco & spill his guts on Drew to someone that can do something about him. I’m also wondering if some of Stella’s comments to Drew were foreshadowing that perhaps he will still face consequences for things he’s done to so many? As to Chase spending too much time & effort on trying to save Willow, I’m thinking we may be headed for a Brooke & Chase breakup and a Brooke & Dante match up. The things Dante said to Gio were beyond angry, crossing the line over into cruel. Dante needs to both adjust his attitude and get a better handle on that temper, perhaps look in the mirror as well & stop judging Michael so harshly without any proof or knowledge to back it up. There were also some looks between Lulu & Nathan that made me think there may be a spark there. We need answers about Nathan & whether or not it’s really him. Every so often he gives just a hint of Peter August vibes and I’ve no desire to watch that character ever again either. Finally, can the writers please, please resolve things between Britt & Jason? We the viewers need some nice things.
When Carly lowers the boom on Brennan it’s going to be a sight to behold.
They are changing the portrayal of Sidwell. Initially, he was upset that his minions started the fire at Charlies’ without confirming it was empty, but now we see him execute Dalton on a whim, in front of Britt and arrange for Rocco to be roughed up, erasing all doubts that he tries to avoid unneccessary violence. He seems to enjoy it. They are clearly trying to draw a contrast between Sidwell and Sonny
I think that the PCPD needs to give more thought to why Drew was not killed when he was shot. Two shots, at point blank range, the second shot fired when he was motionless, face down on the floor. Maybe, whoever shot him didn’t want him dead. That’s one reason I believe it was Willow. But, when Stella confronted him at the restaurant and said that one would have thought that he had learned his lesson after being shot, I wondered if it was her trying to teach Drew the lesson.