General Hospital Commentary: That girl is poison

Valentin’s attempt to kill Jack with poised Champagne backfired when Carly drank it. Will Carly heed the advice she’s been given, or will Jack prove to be an irresistible lure? As Drew ramps up his war with Tracy, Willow decides to move in with him. Will she soon regret her choices or fall further under his spell? There’s lots to discuss in this week’s General Hospital commentary for the week ending March 21, 2025.

Dear readers, would you feel safe drinking, eating, or breathing anything in Port Charles? I wouldn’t. You can be with the head of the WSB and still get poisoned. If you aren’t safe with the James Bond of Port Charles, where can you be safe?

Love potion polonium

Carly was having such a lovely day of romance, steamy sex, and showers up until she guzzled down that glass of bubbly laced with poison.

The takeaway from this storyline is that Jack Brennan genuinely cares for Carly. All along, I was suspicious, but his bedside confession when he feared she might be dying sounded like a man who is genuinely smitten with the lovely Ms. Spencer. However, Jack is about to encounter a roadblock named Jason on his path to Carly because Carly was poisoned on Jack’s watch — and Jason isn’t happy that his best friend is in danger because of Brennan. Newly armed with dirt from Valentin about the danger that Brennan poses, Jason has ordered Carly to back away from Jack. But has Carly ever responded well to an ultimatum?

General Hospital’s wellness committee

Everyone is concerned about Carly’s connection to Jack. At General Hospital, Felicia had a heart-to-heart with Carly in her BFF Bobbie’s memory, as did Carly’s brother Lucas. There was a genuinely touching scene between Sonny and Carly when he confessed, “I started thinking, ‘What would the kids do without you?’ And then I thought, ‘What would I do without you?'”

It made me tear up! Did the thought of losing Carly reawaken Sonny’s feelings for his ex? If so, Sonny will be on Jack Brennan’s back, too.

This week was full of complicated entanglements, and I loved the delicious soapiness of it all. Carly has three powerful and dangerous men who all want her safe but continually put her in danger by the nature of what they do for a living. And to add to the chaos, enter Valentin.

Enter the dark knight

Readers, if you have read my General Hospital columns for any length of time, you will know that Valentin is my soap crush, and I make no apologies. He is a flawed man for certain, but there is something about him that Anna Devane and I just can’t resist. But this time, it appears Anna is resisting his charm. At least, enough to keep from releasing him from custody, but she did save his life.

Will Valentin spend the rest of his days behind bars, or is there some reprieve coming? He may be working undercover. Maybe Drew Q (I’m increasingly convinced he is Shiloh!) will get him pardoned for funding some shady political deal? What do we think Valentin is going to ask Alexis to do?

I hope James Patrick Stuart is back for the long haul, and if he is, he can’t remain in custody forever. I’m hopeful that Charlotte will get her Papa back into her life instead of through a glass window at Pentonville. The scenes that Valentin had with Laura and later with Lulu were especially poignant. Both Laura and Lulu were mourning the man they knew Valentin could have been. They acknowledged his love for Charlotte and the good man he was on his way to becoming. But they were also sad about the inevitability of his downfall.

Lulu’s glass house

However, Lulu doesn’t care much about Brook Lynn’s downfall; in fact, Lulu is the person who put the wheels in motion. Lulu snooped into Martin’s files, discovered Brook Lynn’s secret, and marched across town to confront her. General Hospital always has one character who feels justified in exposing everyone’s secrets. It used to be Robin, and now it’s Lulu.

Every person on earth has secrets. There are things in our past that we don’t announce, things we regret, and choices we make that cause us guilt or shame. Why? Because we are human and imperfect, and we sometimes make bad decisions in times of trial. But what gives Lulu the right to tell Brook Lynn’s secrets?

A soapy twist — honesty

I have to hand it to Brook Lynn. Rather than do the thing that most soap characters do and fold under the pressure of blackmail; she immediately went to Chase and confessed everything, which made me giddy. Amanda Setton is absolutely knocking this storyline out of the park, and I hope the Daytime Emmys take notice of her superb acting on General Hospital and the range of emotions she is showing us. She deserves to take home a shiny trophy. I have been wowed by her performances. Josh Swickard, too, has been a revelation as Chase.

When Chase went to Lulu and told her to back off his wife, I cheered him on. Chase is what we all dream of in a partner. Brook Lynn told Chase this big secret she had been keeping from him; he understood her reasons, accepted her apology, and went into protection mode. Is he going to struggle with this secret? Yes. Is he going to blurt it out and tell Dante? Probably, yes. But he is standing shoulder to shoulder with Brook Lynn in her angst and supporting her needs. It’s a beautiful relationship.

But what happens when the rest comes out?

What happens when Gio is revealed as Dante and Brook Lynn’s son? Much more tears and fights and drama to come, no doubt. I hope Lois’ stay in Bensonhurst is short-lived because I really like her being in Port Charles.

From riches to rags, General Hospital style

My dear readers, did you ever think we would see the day when Ava had to drink tap beer? I’m unsure where this “Ava is broke” storyline is leading. I suspect it would make her prone to marry a wealthy guy like Ric Lansing or the even more decadent devil, Jenz Sidwell.

I can see either of those two things happening. Either would infuriate Sonny and upset the delicate truce that he and Ava have formed over Avery’s custody. I may be in the minority, but I liked it when Ava and Sonny got along. Right up until she decided to help with the switching of his meds…

Paging Dr. Kevin Collins

In a last-ditch effort to solve her own problem, Ava went to Alexis to ask for a loan from the Cassadine estate, which she was denied. Kristina took the chance to rant about Ava killing her baby, and I am so, so tired of that angle. We all know Ava did NOT push Kristina. Kristina tripped over Jagger’s duffel bag, and Carly’s hotel has shoddy windows that magically fall out into the pool if you bump into them. None of that is Ava’s fault.

Kristina may need to see Kevin Collins to be diagnosed with whatever mental illness she is suffering from. I saw a hilarious t-shirt that said, “Undiagnosed, but clearly something is wrong here.” Hahaha.

The black sheep

How do you think this will unfold? Will Ava have to sell her gallery, or will she marry for money? Will she go to Nikolas or Valentin in prison and beg them to get her divorce settlement back?

And seriously, why does no one ever visit Nikolas in prison? We saw Heather in prison, Cyrus in prison, Spencer in prison, etc. Why hasn’t Lucky or Lulu gone to see their brother since they have been back? I want to see all of Laura’s kids back home; can’t we spring Nikolas yet? It honestly doesn’t make sense to me that he’s in prison in the first place. He’s a prince, and he should have diplomatic immunity. All he did was keep Esme locked in his mansion when he assumed she was a serial killer; that’s not so horrible, right?

But I digress.

Time for some General Hospital justice

Back to the here and now. The person I really want to see locked up is Shiloh (I mean Drew.) No, I have no confirmation that Drew is Shiloh, but he gets more horrible by the day, and I can’t wrap my head around the fact that the character Billy Miller played, and this version of Drew, are supposed to be the same guy. The guy who loved Carly so much that he went to prison for her, came out and now despises her. The Drew who sat in prison for years carving Scout’s name into the wall, now cares more about Wiley, Amelia, and Willow? He can’t be Drew.

What do you think Nina just found in the safe? Next week’s previews illustrate the problem. Nina apparently goes to Willow with what she found, and Willow says, “NO matter what you tell me I am not going to believe you.” I’ll take ‘things a cult member would say for $500, Alex.

The truth can set us all free

I don’t care who Drew is; I just want him gone. At least this version of him. Trying to make Tracy dig up her dead parents is a thing I can never forgive him for. And the fact that Willow is standing by him while he does all these horrible things makes me think less of her. I wish Nina would just tell Willow that Nina was banging Drew and end it all.

But Faux-Drew would deny it, Willow would believe him, and we’d probably be right back where we started.

I wonder how long it takes someone to heal from burns. I am ready for Michael to come back and take his kids from her. Portia keeps looking at Drew’s medical file, and it makes me think she may be the one to bring him down.

General Hospital’s chemistry test

Readers, what do you think about this pairing the writers keep trying to test, Cody and Molly. I just don’t see it. I like both of the characters, but do they fit? Molly has been an intellectual brainiac since her childhood, and I doubt Cody has ever finished a book. What would they talk about? Sure, I can see her having a fling with him, but an actual adult relationship?

I dated a football player in college. He was very cute, but when I tried talking with him, there was zero behind his eyes. I was an English major, and I tried talking to him about literature and poetry, but none of that registered. He was great fun at a party, and he could do the “Jungle Love” dance by Morris Day and the Time, but he was not much of a conversationalist.

Do you remember in Gilmore Girls (my favorite show!) when Lane asked Rory to hook her up with Dean’s friend Todd, and he was SO dumb? Lane asked about his favorite movie, and he said, “Beethoven.” The one with the St. Bernard. At that moment, Lane realized they were not soulmates. LOL.

These are two examples of what I see in Molly and Cody’s future. He’s very nice, supremely loyal, and solid, but how long could Molly’s brain be satisfied talking to him? I don’t know. Maybe I am being too mean. Maybe he’s smarter than I know. Thoughts?

Trina’s new beginning

With Kai and Trina, Kai may be a jock, but he seems to be smart and curious, too. He’s willing to explore new things, expand his horizons — I have much more hope in this pairing.

I was happy to see some scenes of Trina grieving Spencer. As soon as she opened that book, her eyes got sad. That was so realistic. Grief jumps out at you unexpectedly and levels you sometimes. I love that Kai invited Trina to tell him about Spencer and open up that part of her wounded heart.

Mending fences on General Hospital

Another scene that melted my heart this week was the talk between Sonny and Laura, finally repairing their decades-old friendship. I hated that week on General Hospital when everyone turned on Sonny instead of realizing that something was wrong with him and trying to help. Ugh! But now, Laura and Sonny are back to being friends, which is as it should be.

Luke and Sonny were brothers back in the day, and Lucky and Lulu have had Sonny in their lives since childhood. That reunion needed to happen. Genie Francis and Maurice Benard were magic together in those scenes. Their real-life familiarity after decades of working together shone through. They are so comfortable together.

Lucky’s lady

Speaking of being comfortable together, is anyone as adorable as Liz and Lucky right now? I am a sucker for LL2, and I have been rooting for this reunion for ages. The fact that we are now on the brink of it makes me gleeful. Jonathan Jackson and Rebecca Herbst have the same magic they did in their teens. I only hope no more obstacles are thrown in their path. Haven’t they both been through enough?

I am ready for a happy ending for the two of them.

What will happen tomorrow, dear readers?

Will Willow and the kids move in with Drew just as he gets arrested for being Shiloh impersonating Drew? What if the real Drew shows up alive and well, and he tells Willow that he would never, ever sleep with his nephew’s wife? Will Portia be the one to end Drew’s reign of terror by finding out this imposter is the wrong blood type to be Drew Q? Will the new city councilman who has it in for Laura meet her pal Sonny and decide to leave her alone? After Martin Gray squares things with his ex, will he drop Drew as a client? Will Ava return to the mob life to keep her in martini money? Will Carly listen to everyone who loves her warning her off Jack, or was he so good in bed that she’d be willing to drink more poison Champagne to be with him?

Only tomorrow knows, dear readers, and I will tune in tomorrow as long as there are tomorrows.
Tamilu