{"id":1855,"date":"2025-04-26T10:34:19","date_gmt":"2025-04-26T14:34:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/danjkroll.com\/blog\/?p=1855"},"modified":"2025-04-26T11:32:33","modified_gmt":"2025-04-26T15:32:33","slug":"general-hospital-commentary-the-devil-we-know","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/danjkroll.com\/blog\/general-hospital-commentary-the-devil-we-know\/","title":{"rendered":"General Hospital Commentary: The devil we know"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
There are no shortages of baddies in Port Charles these days, but is the devil you know necessarily better than the devil you don’t know? Definitely! How far will Sidwell go to rid himself of Sonny? Would he send an assassin? Meanwhile, Drew took steps to block Willow from seeing Michael. Could Drew have also been responsible for the firebomb that injured Michael? Let’s discuss in this week’s General Hospital commentary for the week ending April 25, 2024.<\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\n

Folks, I love a good cliffhanger. To my delight, we got one on Friday when General Hospital ended with Sonny’s life hanging in the balance. Let’s kick things off with the devil we know.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The mob boss with a heart of gold<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Sonny has always been a complex character. He does bad things, but there’s a goodness in him. For years, he’s been the first line of defense when trouble darkened Port Charles’ doorstep. Sonny might be a mobster, but he has a heart of gold. He has built wings at the General Hospital, donated countless money to various causes, he’s generous to the underprivileged, and he has saved the town on more than one occasion. Between his passel of children and friends, he’s less than six degrees from everyone in Port Charles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

No one really knows what criminal activity Sonny and Jason are engaged in. They’ve dabbled in arms deals, but the rest has been shrouded in a veil of vagueness. What we do know is that Sonny does not<\/strong> permit drugs into his territory. It’s a hard line for him, and those who have crossed that line in the sand have often paid for the folly with their lives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unfortunately, Sonny has had some trouble lately. Not only has he been dealing with heart issues that required surgical intervention, but his enemies are closing ranks to take him down. As Friday drew to a close, an assassin dressed in scrubs made her move. Will she succeed? Doubtful, but it does raise the question of who sent her. Two prime suspects immediately spring to mind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Esplanade, why don’t you come to your senses?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Sidwell has teamed up with Drew to try and seize Sonny’s piers through eminent domain. The plan is to tear down Sonny’s two piers and warehouses to make way for an esplanade project. I’m not entirely certain how that would work since there are dozens of other piers and warehouses lining Port Charles’ harbor that will remain. What’s a couple of piers going to open up? It’s such an utterly contrived and nonsensical storyline that it’s hard to take seriously. I certainly don’t.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Laura decided to put the matter to a vote rather than deal with Sidwell, Drew, and Drew’s new lacky Ezra Boyle. In an utterly head scratching move, Tracy opted to put her money on the devil she doesn’t know. She thinks Sidwell will be a better alternative to Sonny based on the sole fact that he’s not Sonny. She has ignored all the damaging evidence against Sidwell — kidnapping Sasha and his shenanigans in Africa — as well as the company he keeps. Surely Tracy is aware that both Sidwell and Boyle are in league with Drew. Right?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The devil in wolf’s clothing stalking General Hospital<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

For the viewing audience, Sidwell isn’t exactly the devil we don’t know. We are not fooled by his claims of turning over a new leaf because we’ve seen him wheedle and scheme to carry out his dirty deeds. Men like Sidwell don’t change. If anything, they just get worse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We had a front row seat to Sidwell’s true nature during his days in Africa. He’s petty, cruel, and deadly. Sidwell didn’t spill the beans about Natalia because he thought it was the right thing to do or because he’s suddenly a champion of truth. It was spite. He enjoyed getting Natalia fired from Deception.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sidwell is a dangerous man, and I think Marco is a fool to believe otherwise. It makes me question his judgement if not his honesty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A good soapy villain<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Let me be clear. I would love nothing more than for Sonny and Jason to retire. I also love having a new villain on the scene. What I don’t like is how the storyline is unfolding. Sidwell will not have longevity if he goes around killing and maiming characters that viewers care about. He’ll end up being written into the same corner as Victor. Victor killed a legend — Luke Spencer — and for that he had to die. The same will be true for Sidwell if he kills Sonny.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The best villains are the ones that viewers love to hate. Sidwell doesn’t inspire that feeling. He’s not even that entertaining because he’s so transparent and predictable. He lacks the panache and cleverness that someone like Helena Cassadine had.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now, Helena was a brilliant villain. Oh, how I miss her and the trouble she would stir up. The only one who ever came close to filling her shoes was her son, Valentin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With friends like these<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Who needs enemies when you have friends like Natalia? Sheesh. What. A. Piece. Of. Work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I was both shocked yet not when Natalia told Sidwell about Sonny’s heart troubles. She gave that information up so easily that I had to rewind to see if I had missed something particularly threatening that Sidwell had said. I didn’t. I realized in that moment that a part of me — a very minuscule part — had begun to believe that Natalia might have changed. A few scenes later, Natalia had the audacity to act hurt when Sonny backed the decision for the ladies of Deception to fire Nat. I couldn’t believe my ears when she asked Sonny, “Where’s your loyalty?” I was livid!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This from the woman who had thrown Sonny under the bus just minutes earlier. To borrow a phrase from Sonny, Nat is dead to me. When someone shows you who they are, believe them. Relationships are transactional to Natalia, and she is only loyal to herself. No exceptions, not even for her children<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The devil in plain sight<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile, there is a growing group of General Hospital viewers who suspect that Sidwell’s new partner-in-crime, Congressman Drew Cain (because he can no longer legally use Quartermaine \ud83e\udd23) was the real mastermind behind the firebomb in Sonny’s penthouse. After Friday’s episode, I might soon be joining that camp.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Earlier in the week, Willow showed up at the Q mansion to ask Jason to fix her problems with Carly. He quite wisely advised Willow to talk to Michael. I was stunned that she ran with it and later stood her ground when Drew tried to manipulate her into changing her mind. Willow didn’t stop there. She even put her foot down when Drew offered to go to Germany with her. She’s been such a mindless sheep lately that I honestly didn’t think she had it in her to go against Drew’s wishes. Color me surprised.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I loathe Willow with every fiber of my being, but I quite enjoyed watching her vex Drew. He’s such an unlikeable guy. I half expected Drew to tamper with the plane or even kidnap Willow to keep her from visiting Michael. Clearly, I watch too many soaps. It turns out that our General Hospital writers had something less dramatic in mind. Drew paid off the receptionist at Michael’s clinic to do his dirty work for him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Drew is a lowdown slimy rat, so I wouldn’t put anything past him. I’m certain that he intends to use those guardianship papers. He keeps talking about them, which always spells trouble on a soap.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Laying down the law on General Hospital<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

General Hospital has a history of playing fast and loose with the law. Things that are illegal in real life are the law of the land on our beloved soap. Most of the time, viewers roll with it. But there are times when we cry foul. Those guardianship papers are absolute bull*censored*!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In real life, Willow’s signature on the document would mean little. It wasn’t witnessed or notarized. Additionally, as long as Michael is alive, that piece of paper is worthless if something were to happen to Willow. However, we are at the mercy of the writers. Let’s just hope Killer Miller is one step ahead of Drew. I do not want to see Drew get guardianship of Wiley and Amelia. Not even for a second.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A Banner<\/em> day for Lulu<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Folks, I’ve been an ABC soap fan for decades. General Hospital will always be my first love, but I was an avid viewer of All My Children<\/em>, One Life to Live<\/em>, The City<\/em>, Port Charles<\/em>, and Loving<\/em> too. Naturally, I was delighted when Lulu mentioned that she had reached out to Llanview’s Banner<\/em> newspaper for a job. It was wonderful to learn that Victoria Lord (Erika Slezak) is still running things. We might not have seen the grand dame of OLTL, but I’ll take a phone call over nothing any day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It didn’t surprise me that Viki decided to go with an article on adoption. Her two sons — Kevin and Joey — were adopted by husband Clint Buchanan after their biological father died. She also had two daughters. Fraternal twins Jessica and Natalie had different fathers (a horrific story) and were separated at birth. Viki and Clint raised Jessica, but they didn’t meet Natalie until she was an adult. You can read all about it here<\/a>. Fascinating stuff.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Naturally, Viki would greenlight an adoption piece. However, Brook Lynn was spitting facts when she accused Lulu of using the article as an excuse to dig into Brook Lynn’s son’s adoption. I just hope that Lulu goes to Brook Lynn with what she uncovers. I would love for this to end up being a story about Lulu and Brook Lynn moving on from the past and forging a friendship the way that Brook Lynn and Maxie did when they were hiding Bailey Lou from Peter August.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can’t hide your lyin’ eyes on General Hospital<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

It seems like every week Lois digs herself a deeper hole of lies and secrets. It’s hard to feel sorry for her knowing how many people she’s hurting. Whenever she has had an opportunity to come clean, she opted to dig deeper and harder. Worse, Gloria is right there with her. I feel so bad for Brook Lynn because she doesn’t deserve this from her mom and grandmother.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As I said last week<\/a>, I love the decision for Chase and Brook Lynn to adopt, but I hate that Lois and Gloria are being so deceptive. This storyline is such a mixed bag for me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lois and Gloria have hurt so many people, including poor Ned. It feels unfair that Ned was denied an opportunity to be a part of his grandson’s life, but Lois welcomed Sonny in with open arms. It’s not clear if Sonny actually knows that Gio is blood, but it doesn’t matter. He has had a close relationship with his grandson, while Ned has not.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I got misty-eyed thinking about how devastated both Ned and Olivia will be when the truth comes out. Brook Lynn was a minor when she got pregnant, so Lois owed Ned the truth. Of course, if Ned had known he wouldn’t have allowed both Lois and Gloria to lie to his daughter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I love Lois, but I don’t like her much these days. I’ve lost so much respect for her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

General Hospital Quick Takes<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Let me get this straight. Kai’s parents can jet off to Europe, but they can’t squeeze in a quick visit to check on their son who just went through a life-changing event? How hard is it to cast two people for one episode? Heck, the writers could have had Kai mention to Trina that he’d just spent the weekend showing his parents around town during a short visit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I’m not sure why Donna was left in Kristina’s care when Josslyn is back in town and Pilar is around. I wouldn’t leave Kristina in charge of the Bowl of Moss let alone a precious child.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I adore Emma, but her conversation with Josslyn didn’t make sense. When exactly has Jax bailed Josslyn out of trouble? Also, Emma has no room to point fingers. She grew up quite privileged thanks to her parents who are successful doctors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Come on writers, Ava is smarter than this. Ava showing up at Alexis’ office a day after getting her mitts on a large sum of money and demanding more money was silly. How does Ava intend to explain her newfound windfall of cash, which she’s dropping on rose gold Maseratis and fur coats? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I love Nina and Portia’s plan to frame Drew for cheating. I’m really hoping that Drew will give in to temptation and actually sleep with the escort. Shiloh certainly would. Sadly, I suspect it would take more than Drew having sex with an escort to rip the rose-colored glasses off of Willow’s hero worshiping eyes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What General Hospital viewers are saying<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Re: Drew’s latest efforts to manipulate Willow<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
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Simplistic but this showed more than ever how evil he really is

I\u2019m still sure he had a hand in the explosion that took Michael out – the way he panicked whenever Willow mentioned Michael was there all along
\u201cI don\u2019t want to hurt my nephew\u201d
Too bad Chad isn\u2019t Dark Michael#GH<\/a><\/p>— Kat (@cdkmkt) April 25, 2025<\/a><\/blockquote>