General Hospital Commentary: Simply the Best

It was an action-packed week in Port Charles as viewers were kept on the edge of their seats as Sidwell’s reign of terror came to an end and Cullum’s diabolical plans were foiled. Could it get any better than this? This soap is simply the best and Tamilu is here to sing its praises in an all-new General Hospital Commentary for the week ending July 3, 2026.

Dear readers, I have been a soap journalist for over twenty years, and I always give my sincere opinion. Sometimes you agree with me, and sometimes not. When General Hospital is bad, I am not afraid to say so. But when it is good, I tend to gush. Right now, General Hospital is perfect. It is without question the best soap on TV. I’m going to gush for seven pages. I could have written twenty.

When I see the soap ratings and General Hospital isn’t number one, it baffles me! I keep thinking, if only viewers would tune in for one week and see all this excitement, they’d be hooked. Then I turn on some of the other soaps, and the plots are lame, repetitive and boring. There is one soap that has a bad habit of having a singular conversation repeating itself on a loop for five straight days. Here’s looking at you, The Bold and the Beautiful. 

Then I flip to General Hospital, and it is passionate, action packed, heartfelt, and funny. It’s unexpected and sizzling. 

This week I have three pages of notes. There was so much happening I had to keep pausing to talk into my phone to make sure I’d remember every delicious plot line the writers crafted for us. Where do I even begin to write about this week of episodes?

The Truth About Cassius

I think I will begin with Not-Nathan. Our dear Cassius, played by the unbelievably captivating Ryan Paevey. I loved him on General Hospital as Nathan West, I have loved him in multiple Hallmark movies, but I genuinely believe that Cassius Faison is his best role to date. 

Ryan showed us all the tenderness of Nathan, mixed with the wile of a Faison. Cassius was leading a double life while slowing falling in love with the life and family of the brother he had never met.

Too Good To Be True 

It was a thing of beauty. For a long time, I was convinced that Cassius was Nathan, but then little things came up, like the time he told Lulu about his dad making him memorize the periodic tables and it made me go “Hmmm.” When he forgot police procedures. Just little hints. But when the truth came out and it was revealed he was Cassius, I saw that switch flip in his Cassius scenes. Cassius still had a tenderness, but also a grittiness that Nathan never had. An intensity that was a little frightening. But still, there was something so inherently good inside him and it was as if he was just discovering it for the first time himself. 

Liesl was certain Cassius would come back. Josslyn was not. I was with Liesl. His goodbye scenes with James (played by the precious Gary James Fuller) were heartbreaking. When Cassius said, “You’re going to hear a lot of bad things about me…” we could tell that he was genuinely concerned about James being hurt in the aftermath of all of this. A genuinely moving and beautiful scene. Oh Cassius. I am rooting for you to get a redemption storyline.

Lulu Learns The Truth 

Another standout performance this week was Alexa Havins (Lulu Spencer) on Friday. Lulu looked as though she had been punched in the gut and had the wind knocked out of her as the realization that her entire relationship with Cassius had been a lie. That “Nathan” was an imposter and that she fell for it. That the real Nathan would never have gotten involved with her out of loyalty to Maxie. She sat in the chair dejected and replaying it all in her mind, all the advice he gave her about Rocco, the times he lost his temper and blew up in a way that was uncharacteristic for Nathan. Lulu was rocked by this revelation even though their relationship already ended. She was asking herself, “Why did I listen to him about my son?”

I think Alexa did a beautiful job in these scenes of conveying Lulu’s despair.

A Beacon of Good in the Darkness

But even though Cassius was not Nathan, Cassius was not all bad. We know that Cassius truly loves his nephew James and leaving him behind gutted him. As of Thursday’s episode, it appeared that Cassius is dead as Z (played by John Oliver) checked his pulse and walked away to Joss who was still breathing. I genuinely want Cassius to live and to come back another day. Z told Joss that “Mr. Faison didn’t make it.” But Carly said she was told that Cassius’ condition was under investigation and classified. To me, that sounds very much like the WSB doesn’t have their stories straight yet and Cassius is alive and they are holding him somewhere.

I am hoping Ryan Paevey will be back eventually.

Since Cullum confessed that he was manipulating Cassius into working for him by faking Britt’s Huntington’s disease perhaps the WSB will take pity on Cassius and recruit him as an agent in the future. I think that could be a beautiful storyline as Cassius gets reintroduced to Port Charles as himself. But if he’s dead – that’s it. I mean there’s no way Liesl had identical triplets. Ha.

Suspicious Behavior

It’s complicated because Joss thinks Cassius is dead. When Z asked for her to give a statement with no one else present and without him taking notes, she was rightfully suspicious. The official story was going to look very bad for the WSB. Had Joss not countered with an offer to lie, I wonder if Z would have killed her to keep her quiet?

Instead, Joss offered a deal to Z to lie on her official statement and say that Cassius was the ringleader of the cold fusion project instead of Cullum if she could secure pardons for Jason and Valentin. Joss wrestled with that decision because Cassius saved her life, but Joss is taking this opportunity, where she is the only witness, to try and free Valentin and Jason by ruining Cassius’ name. If Cassius is alive and comes back someday, those two will have a lot of damage and lies to untangle.

Showdown on Spoon Island

Eden McCoy has been wonderful for the duration of this storyline. When Jack first recruited Joss to be a WSB agent, it was laughable to me. But I’m not laughing anymore. Watching Joss crawl with a gunshot wound to that rifle to shoot Cullum point blank in the chest, I thought, “Wow. Joss is badass.” I know Carly wants Joss out of the WSB, but I am not so sure I do. I can’t see Joss going back to college to play volleyball after everything she has been through. Nor can I see her sitting in the one room apartment over the Qs with Trina talking about frat parties. I mean, Josslyn is larger than life, just like her mother, and she can’t be contained in a small life. 

Some Answers Please

Now, as much as I loved these episodes, I have questions. How did that giant truck get to Spoon Island? Since when is there a Costco loading dock at Wyndemere? How is the dock on Spoon Island suddenly large enough to accommodate a cargo ship? But I digress. 

At least there was a place for a helicopter to land for Z’s triumphant arrival.

John Olivier’s General Hospital Debut

My dear readers, I love John Oliver. I have watched him since his Daily Show days, and truly no one tickles me the way he does. When I heard his made a plea to be on a soap, I was rooting for it to happen. I loved his swagger as Z got off the chopper, and the casual murder he committed while walking into the crime scene. Olivier wanted to play a character with a funny name and to get to murder someone, so his soap dreams have come true. My husband who pretends he doesn’t watch General Hospital said that he thinks the Z stands for Zazu, whom Oliver played in Lion King. 

On Friday, John as Z was in multiple scenes and carried them with ease like he’d been doing it for twenty years. I appreciated the humor he threw in, that little John Oliver twinkle, but he became Z and I was able to take his scenes with Joss seriously. Well, as serious as we take any scenes seriously on our TV shows. He didn’t play it for laughs; Z negotiated with Joss as the head of the WSB and was believable. I hope the powers that be at ABC will give him whatever contract Stephen A. Smith has as Brick. Let Z show up from time to time and drop into different WSB storylines. He’s a welcome addition to General Hospital in my opinion.

The Beginning of a Beautiful Friendship? 

While Carly and Liesl were still locked inside the catacombs, Liesl was stalling to open the door despite Carly’s demands. Liesl told Carly about Liesl’s presumed dead son. I wonder if this will forge some sort of friendship with Carly and Liesl on the outside. Like, will Liesl be having martinis at the Metro Court pool with Carly? It’s doubtful but it was wonderful to see two powerhouse soap queens in a scene together. Laura Wright was so believable in the scenes where the goon was going to kill her. The fear in her eyes felt real. My husband said that Carly should have stabbed the goon in the stomach with the fireplace poker instead of cracking him in the head with it. It worries me that he went there so fast. LOL!

I loved Carly’s strength during this entire month’s long storyline.

Credit For Carly

Carly stashed a fugitive in her attic, pretended to be on board with Lucas living at Wyndemere, snuck Charlotte in to see Valentin, lied to her daughter and everyone else, conned Jack for a long time, and was instrumental in saving the world from the Cold Fusion project. I doubt anyone will give her credit, but I am giving her credit. She did as much is not more than any of the agents.

I toured in a theatre group when I was young and one of the plays I was in was about an actress who was in a horror film and the actor who played the monster in the film lost his mind and believed he was the monster. When I saw this giant man rush me, even though I knew him and we traveled together and were great friends, I felt actual fear when he was barreling towards me. Maybe Laura did, too. I was so thankful when Cassius walked in and saved her. For a brief moment I thought Valentin would be there. But as of today, we haven’t seen him yet. Vaughn says Valentin is in custody, but he is a known liar, so we will see.

Surprises at The Port Charles Police Department

A Friday surprise, Vaughn is back and at the PCPD meeting with Danny and Charlotte — and Molly as their attorney. 

Also at the PCPD is Britt. Rocco was furious even when Dante explained that Dante had Britt arrested to protect her. Rocco wasn’t buying it. Liesl went to visit Britt and was hurt that once again Britt lied to her and kept things from her. Liesl said she could have helped Britt, she could have reverse-engineered Britt’s drugs, she could have been an ally, but once again Britt held Liesl at arm’s length and Liesl took that to mean that Britt didn’t want a genuine relationship with her mother. 

When is someone going to tell Britt that she doesn’t have Huntington’s disease? I mean, I think Josslyn heard all that, right? Shouldn’t Joss have told Z or Lucas, “Don’t let Britt inject those meds, they are poison!”

A Shocking Confession

Ava and Ethan were locked in the storeroom of the Jerome gallery as Ethan’s ass bled profusely despite all the drop cloths Ava tied around his hips.

Readers, Maura West ad Nathan Dean (formerly Parsons) have a delicious chemistry, even being adorable and flirty as he was dizzy and bleeding. I can see the two of them turning into something real. Ava told Sonny that Ethan saved her life and Sonny said, “That’s the kind of guy he is.” Ava said, “Who knew?” But it was easy to see she was impressed that Ethan threw himself in front of a bullet for her. I am looking forward to what comes next.

In Ethan’s delirium, he confessed to Ava that Phoebe isn’t really his daughter, and I know she will eventually drag the real story out of him.

Visions of Peter August

Across the pond in France, Anna is coming around and her mind is getting clearer. Sort of.

The scenes with Anna and Felicia (Finola Huges and Kristina Wagner) were so beautiful. Life mirrors art in the fact that these two women have been on General Hospital together since the mid-80’s, and they truly have been through a lot together over the years. I was feeling so hopeful when the doctor said Anna could go home and then that rat bastard Peter appeared. Clearly, she’s not quite as mentally sound as we hoped. Is she being drugged?

Or it could be that after 40 years as a spy, Anna truly has lost it. I mean if I had been through everything Anna has endured, I’d definitely be nutty.

The Long Road Home

I’m glad Anna is coming back to Port Charles, but I confess I don’t want her to reconcile with Valentin. 

I want Valentin for Carly, and I want it bad. I had hoped he’d be hopping off that chopper right behind Z. Where is he? In prison? Or has he earned a pardon?

Jack’s Future

But there is another WSB agent that I am worried about right now. Jack Brennan.

Readers, never put one of your loved ones in Turning Woods. I mean, Cullum walked in with a giant canister of carbon monoxide, a gas mask, and strapped those things on Jack and nary a nurse or doctor walked in. Later, when Nina showed up with contraband cheeseburgers, she went into the hallway and called for help, and no one was anywhere in sight. Did Cullum kill the entire hospital staff? Lock them in a room together? Give them the day off and they just left all their patients behind and went to see Toy Story 5? That was over the top, in my humble opinion, but Nina sort of remembered how to do CPR and got Jack breathing again. 

By all signs, this will be the beginning of a romance for those two crazy kids. But with Cullum dead and Sidwell in jail, does Nina need to hide Jack anymore? I am waiting to see how this all plays out.

Sidwell’s Downfall

After grabbing Ava and Justine, shooting Ethan in the ass, and luring Sonny to the Jerome Gallery, Sidwell is finally in custody.

Readers, Carlo Rota is one of the best villains we have had in ages. I am glad he’s only arrested and not dead, because that means he can come back some day and wreak havoc in Port Charles again.

Cullum’s End

I am glad Cullum is dead, but Andrew Hawkes was wonderful as the ruthless and terrifying Ross Cullum. It’s so funny to see Hawkes social media videos. He seems like such a sweet man, but his character was so awful that if I saw him in public I’d probably move to the other side of the street just in case. Ha.

I am glad Cullum confessed to Cassius that Britt never had Huntington’s disease because now she will be free. If she ever gets out of jail for kidnapping Rocco. I know everyone has their opinions, but here’s mine. If Britt hadn’t taken Rocco with her, Cullum would have killed him. She took Rocco without his parents’ permission, but she also saved his life.

Britt’s Sins

Britt stole an embryo long ago to try and trap Patrick Drake into a marriage, and she gave birth to Rocco. Whether anyone likes it or not, Britt is the woman who gave birth to Rocco and took care of him the first year of his life. Dante and Lulu may hate it, but Rocco feels an affection toward Britt and he’s nearly an adult. They can forbid him from seeing her, but in two years when he is 18, he can see whoever he wants. If they keep hurting Britt, Rocco will resent them and side with Britt and they will lose him. I think they’d be better off to make nice with her.

I can hear you objecting already… ‘How could they ever forgive her for the crime she committed?’ But Dante’s dad is Sonny. Lulu’s dad is Luke. They have both had to forgive their parents lots of things, so they understand the concept of letting people’s pasts go. They can see that Britt cares for Rocco and was trying to keep him safe. If I were them, I’d stop trying to hurt a person their son cares for so deeply. Just my opinion.

The Teen Scene

In other teen news, Danny and Charlotte reconciled after a WSB agent tried to chloroform Charlotte and kidnap her. She was surprised that Danny came back for her after their fight and he said, “I’ll always come back for you, Charlotte.” Sweet. Not long after, they decided to go off on their own and help Carly by causing a distraction and setting off fireworks on Spoon Island. It worked and they are safely back on the mainland, but they are both distraught trying to get info on their dads.

Spoiler Alert! 

Rumor has it that Danny is going to turn Rocco into the PCPD and tell everyone that Rocco — not Jason — shot Cullum, so that his dad can go free. After Friday’s episode when Danny confronted Rocco, it seems to be headed in that direction.

Jason hates snitches, so I don’t think he will take kindly to his son throwing Rocco under the bus. Spoilers also say that when Jason returns, he has changed for good and is leaving the mob behind. Can it be true? I am really looking forward to his return! But how will this news impact Sonny? Will Ethan become the new Jason after his butt wound heals?

More Praise

I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the beautiful scenes this week between Tracy (the goddess Jane Elliott), Sonny (the powerhouse dynamo Maurice Benard), and Gio (the soulful and riveting Giovanni Mazza.) Tracy’s concerns for Gio living with Sonny are valid, and Sonny’s respect for Gio by allowing Gio to sit with all the info and make his own decision, and Gio’s fierce loyalty to Sonny who has cared for him all his life; it was all so moving and beautiful. 

I love tender Sonny Corinthos, but do you know what else I love? The Sonny who told Sidwell about Marco’s murder. Oh, it was brutal!

Sonny Strikes Back

Dear readers, I grew up with a dad who was a fisherman. By the time I was in elementary school, I knew how to gut a fish. When Sonny spat out those words at Sidwell, “Cullum gutted your son like a fish!” Ew, gross. I know exactly what that looks like. And it’s not pretty. The look of horror on Jenz’s face when he realized it was true was perfect. 

I loved how Sonny looked to Justine and she gave him the nod to go ahead and tell Sidwell the truth about who killed Marco. The absolute growling face that Sidwell made cracked me up! He looked like a rabid animal. I thought he was going to chew Sonny’s face off.

A Little Real Life Fun

I bet Nazneen Contractor (Rota’s real-life wife) was having fun as Sidwell sniffed Justine while he held her hostage. Haha! That scene with Sonny, Sidwell and Justine was so intense! My husband liked how Justine threw Sonny up against one of Ava’s paintings to make out. LOL.

Molly and Cody

And I don’t want the adorable couple of Molly and Cody to get overshadowed by all the major plot points this week. Molly and Cody with James at the pool and the Super Soaker incident, Cody and James bonding at the batting cages, and later making s’mores with James after he got the terrible news that his dad was leaving. All those little tender moments they were part of are important, too. I have come to fully embrace them, and I love watching those two together in almost any circumstance.

Some Love for Lucas Too

Another tender scene I want to highlight is Lucas and Carly when she can’t get in to see Joss. I really love Lucas’ relationship with his sister. And with Liz. And with everyone. Van Hansis is lovable and I enjoy his scenes. Now that Cullum and Sidwell are out of the way, maybe he can move on with his life and find love again. 

What will happen tomorrow, Dear Readers?

Will James eat s’mores until he gets sick trying to fill up the hole left when his father went away? Is Ava’s gallery going to be able to stay in business now that her biggest client is in the hoosegow? Will Spoon Island build a mote and a drawbridge to keep the interlopers and their cargo trucks away?

Will Dr. Jones and Det Fitzpatrick become an item before the 4^th of July fireworks go off? Is Willow going to go down for NOT causing Jordan and Curtis’ accident because, for the 400^th time, they caused the accident themselves? Will Laura get so lonely from Kevin being gone so long that she has a one-night stand with Ezra?

Is Ava going to volunteer to be Ethan’s sore ass nurse? (I would.) Will Danny pop Rocco in the face and give him a black eye before Rocco can go see Britt? Will Britt and Liesl make Joss their arch enemy for turning on Cassius after he saved Joss’s life?

Are other people going to see Ghost Peter August, or just Anna? Will General Hospital’s writers ever decide what Spoon Island and Wyndemere look like, or will it keep evolving with every storyline? Can my nom de guerre be T-Lu? Will Z be successful in seducing Carly per next week’s previews? 

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

Tamilu