General Hospital Commentary: Aloha Port Charles

It was a short but interesting week. Michael figured out Brook Lynn’s secret, but does he really need to do anything to get Chase into Willow’s bed except give Chase some time?  Curtis was arrested for assaulting Isaiah, but are Portia’s half-truths fueling the animosity between the two men? Let’s discuss that and more in a new General Hospital commentary for the week ending May 29, 2026.

Aloha dear readers! I’m back from my Hawaiian adventure and boy did I miss watching and writing about General Hospital.

Before I begin, I want to thank my wonderful partner-in-writing, Tamilu, for stepping in to cover for me. I had an incredible opportunity to join my sister-in-law and two friends for a 7-day cruise sailing from Waikiki to Maui (visiting Paia Bay and Baby Beach), Hilo, Kona, and Kauai (plus and extra 3 days in O’ahu). It was a trip of a lifetime that came together in just a few days. I visited Pearl Harbor (and wept standing in the Arizona Memorial as the ship’s black tears seeped up, while I read the names of all those who perished that fateful day in December 1941), snorkeled with sea turtles, attended an amazing luau, and visited the Kualoa Ranch where hundreds of movies were filmed including, Jurassic Park, Jurassic World, George of the Jungle, Jumanji, Godzilla, Kong: Skull Island, and so many more. Ka’a’awa Valley is breathtaking.  

Tamilu didn’t hesitate to step up for me, for which I am eternally grateful. She is truly a wonderful human being. Mahalo, Tamilu!

A Tough Break

I’m still trying to catch up with the General Hospital episodes that I missed while exploring the Hawaiian Islands, so I haven’t yet seen the episode where Curtis threw hands at Isaiah. Based on what Portia, Isaiah, and Curtis have said, it was instigated by Curtis who firmly believes Isaiah was the other driver who had left the scene of the accident when Jordan went left of center and crashed. Isaiah pushed back against the false accusations by insisting that he would be a better father to Curtis’ child than Curtis. 

Those might be fighting words, but Isaiah is only human and on top of that he just doesn’t like Curtis. I don’t blame Isaiah for getting that dig in. Curtis is a pompous ass who is dead wrong about his theory. More importantly, Curtis is desperate to blame the other driver for the severity of Jordan’s injury because then he doesn’t have to look at how his own actions contributed to the crash.

I don’t have a high opinion of Isaiah, but I firmly believe that he would have stopped if he had seen the accident. That said, I do find it curious that Isaiah didn’t see it since it was on the route to and from his cabin. Sloppy plot hole? For now, that’s what I’m attributing it to.

Actions Have Consequences — Except on General Hospital

Curtis had no right to throw a punch at Isaiah just because Isaiah struck a nerve. Sticks and stones, Curtis! We teach our children from an early age that there are consequences if they put their hands on another in anger. Curtis deserves to be charged with assault.

My issue though is Portia. To say she’s messy would be an understatement. She has absolutely no room to point fingers at anyone. Not only has she faced very few consequences for her crimes (legit crimes that would have landed anyone in the real world behind bars) and somehow managed to keep her medical license and a position at General Hospital, but she’s the reason there’s so much animosity between Isaiah and Curtis in the first place. 

Wicked Whispers

Portia has been trafficking in carefully crafted half-truths and secrets since we first met her. She’s exceedingly skilled at justifying her worst impulses. Back when her marriage was unraveling – due to her lies, secrets, and crimes (I cannot stress this enough) – she cried on Isaiah’s shoulder and painted herself the victim. Her narrative has always been, Curtis drove her to lie and deceive because he had impossible standards for her. The problem is I watched in real time as Portia made her choices. She was always motivated by a desperate need to cover up her crimes. She didn’t want Curtis to know that she hadn’t changed her wicked ways because she knew that he’d wash his hands of her.

The Root of the Problem

Isaiah only knows what Portia tells him, which is as little as possible. Is Curtis a hypocrite, insufferable, judgmental, and full of himself? Yes, he’s all that and more. But Portia chose to change Heather’s test results, and she repeatedly lied to Curtis until he found out, and she was forced to fess up. That’s why he didn’t trust her, and that’s why he wanted her to tell him everything – the good and the bad – going forward if their marriage was going to work. She promised that she would, and then she promptly broke that promise.

No one twisted Portia’s arm to conspire with Nina, to engage in blackmail, drug a sitting congressman, and to keep betraying her vows both to Curtis and to God. Everyone is always quick to point out that Curtis “broke up” with Portia before she slept with Isaiah, but there was a lead up to that. That sexual attraction didn’t happen in a vacuum. She’d been crying to Isaiah for months, falsely painting Jordan as a femme fatale seducing Curtis away from a loving marriage when in reality Curtis was slowly seeing that Portia’s spots had never changed.

No Chance for Second Chances 

For the record, Portia didn’t give Curtis a chance to change his mind about walking out on their marriage. To go home and cool down. To turn around in the parking garage and follow her to her office. Within minutes she was bumping uglies with Isaiah. Had Curtis gone to her office, he would have found Portia and Isaiah in the afterglow of their office quickie. She doesn’t get a free pass as a cheater because of a technicality that she created.

From the beginning, Portia has painted Curtis and Jordan as the villains in her story to Isaiah. It’s no wonder he believes the worst of both.

The Best of the Best

My husband is a liver transplant recipient, so I know a little something about this topic. My husband’s transplant was no walk in the park. He had Takotsubo cardiomyopathy (a temporary form of heart failure), he’d suffered a mild stroke in the early days of his liver failure (from MASH), and his ascites had collapsed his right lung three weeks before his surgery, so he was hospitalized with a lung tube that had to be replaced three times in order to drain the fluid. Those are just the highlights. My point is that most primary liver transplant patients are critical. Unfortunately, to be at the top of the transplant list you have to be at the very end of your life.

Derek’s transplant (an auxiliary liver transplant) is when a partial donor liver is grafted to a portion of the patient’s liver. The donor liver acts as a support system while the recipient’s native liver heals and regenerates. That was not an option for my husband because he was much too sick.

Drama, Drama, Baby-Mama

This narrative that Portia is spinning about Isaiah — who only recently resumed doing liver transplants — being the only surgeon in the area that can save young Derek is both ridiculous and insulting. First of all, Isaiah is not even a pediatric liver surgeon. Yes, they are actually a thing. Secondly, there are all kinds of wonderful hospitals across our nation that Isaiah and Portia could have called where those specialized doctors work. So many people generously donate to these hospitals to cover the expense of things just like transportation for those in need, especially children. Portia didn’t need to go to Tracy. That was for dramatic purposes only.

I know it’s a soap, but I expect more from a show called General Hospital.

A Mystery Rattle

Two weeks away from General Hospital and nothing has changed for Chase and Brook Lynn. They are in the same exact place as when I left. Literally. Brook Lynn was lamenting about unwittingly leaving the scene of an accident, Tracy was insisting that it was best to remain quiet — to avoid any trouble adopting Phoebe — and Chase was finding excuses to see Willow. Goodness, this is painful to watch. My. Least. Favorite. Storyline.

But things are about to change because it took Michael mere seconds to put the pieces together when he heard Tracy talk to the BMW repair guy about the rattle in Brook Lynn’s passenger side door. A few scenes earlier, Michael had pointed out to Curtis that he knew the stretch of road where Jordan wrecked wasn’t heavily travelled because Michael drove it to and from the Quartermaine mansion. 

Family Loyalty

I thought it was interesting that Michael instinctively knew for certain that his cousin would have never knowingly left the scene of an accident. He might be plotting against Brook Lynn’s husband, but he was far more generous to Brook Lynn in his assessment of her as a person than she was of him when everyone insisted that Michael was capable of shooting a man in the back. Twice.

I agree with Michael that Brook Lynn is better off without Chase. 

“With Chase everything is black or white. Guilty or innocent. There’s no gray area with him at all. If he finds out that Brook Lynn played a part in the accident and kept it from him, there’s no coming back from that,” Michael told Jacinda. He’s right. Chase put his career on the line for Willow because he believed her to be innocent. He might not be so quick to do it for a wife that he knows is guilty. “If I could just get Brook Lynn to see that, it will set her free. She deserves better than him,” Michael explained.

The Truth Shall Set Brook Lynn Free

It might be painful for Brook Lynn, but she needs to be free of Chase. As Michael pointed out, she has become a shadow of her former self. I think she would be a much better mother to Phoebe without Chase holding her back anyway.

What’s A Killow To Do?

Meanwhile, at the house of horrors known as the Cain residence, the children have become invisible, and Willow is growing increasingly desperate to unload Drew and get on with her life. Too bad for her, Sidwell isn’t onboard with that plan. He made it clear that he is willing to kill Drew if necessary. It would become necessary if Willow eased back on the medication that keeps Drew locked in. Oh, and now she needs to keep Brennan drugged too. If things aren’t complicated enough for Willow, her assistant and his girlfriend know that she’s a would-be killer.

The walls are closing in on Willow.

Wild Card Drew

I can’t get a bead on Drew. Is he the same dastardly man he was prior to his latest brush with death? Or did Drew revert back to the man he once was; an honorable Navy SEAL who strived to do the right thing? Time will tell, but I don’t hold out much hope that man has learned a blessed thing about karma. He glares at Willow like he’s mentally strangling her every time he looks at her.

I don’t think a little blackmail will deter Drew if he gets a chance to take Willow down.

An Inconvenient Truth

As for Willow, the only bright spot in her life at the moment is how Chase sees her. The besotted fool is blind to the evil that lurks beneath the surface. The truth is, Michael doesn’t have to do a darn thing to get Chase into Willow’s bed. Chase is doing all the work himself. If my husband looked at another woman the way that Chase looks at Willow, I’d march myself straight to a divorce lawyer for a quick divorce. Michael is right, Chase and Willow feed off each other. Their affair is inevitable and has been ever since Chase started to put Willow ahead of his own wife.

When Chase and Willow sleep together it won’t be because of anything Michael did. Those two have been dancing around each other for months, ever since Chase became Willow’s champion in court. Even Drew noticed it. Right before Willow stabbed him in the back with a loaded syringe.

Rocco On The Run

I don’t blame Rocco for going on the run with Britt. Not only was the poor kid struggling with a guilty conscience, but his mother was too busy trying to play the hero that she failed to see the dangerous position Rocco was in. I don’t say that lightly. Lulu fiercely loves her son, but she also wants her son to see her as the only one who can protect him. It got to the point where she even tried to cut Rocco off from his own father by warning Rocco that Dante could never know Rocco’s secret. Shame on Lulu for that.

I appreciate that a lot of this is rooted in how much time Lulu had missed out on in Rocco’s life while she was in a coma. Lulu woke up to a young man not the boy he once was. She not only had to get to know her son all over again, but she also had to forge a new relationship with him. Unfortunately, Lulu wants to do it on her terms. She doesn’t want to include Dante in the process because she sees Dante as competition. While she was in a coma, Dante was raising their son and shaping the young man he’s become.

Mama Don’t Preach 

While I have major issues with Britt acting like she’s Rocco’s mother simply because she fell in love with the stolen embryo she brought to term and tried to pass off as hers, she does genuinely love Rocco. I’ve also noticed that she’s honest with Rocco about her feelings for Lulu, but she doesn’t trash talk his mother. The same can’t be said for Lulu, which is one of the reasons that Rocco seems to gravitate toward Britt. He knows Lulu is blinded by her dislike of Britt.

I don’t think Lulu has done anything that can’t be repaired but she needs to start by acknowledging that her son is more adult than child and stop making excuses for his poor choices. The same goes for Dante, while we are on the topic. Rocco isn’t a bad person, but he does make some very poor choices because his parents keep giving him free passes and fixing his problems.

All of this might have been avoided if Lulu had talked to Dante, and together they had paid Diane or Alexis a visit to discuss what went down on the pier the night Cullum was shot.

Port Charles Potpourri

Some quick thoughts about other things going on in and around Port Charles.

Vanishing Trina

What in the world are the writers doing to Trina? Trina was always the most grounded of the teens. She was wise beyond her years and full of passion and drive. She loved art almost as much as she had loved Spencer, and she pursued a career in the field while she was still in high school. That’s how she ended up working for Ava at the art gallery. 

Since Kai entered her life, Trina has slowly disappeared. She’s becoming a supporting character in her own life because it’s all about propping Kai. Suddenly, she’s embarking on a music career that frankly feels more like a hobby that she stumbled onto. This isn’t Trina. This music stuff feels more like what Kai wants for Trina. If he really knew her, he’d know that art speaks to her soul in a way that I doubt music ever will.

An Evil Mastermind?

Sidwell is an idiot. How does he not see Pascal’s guilty expression every time Marco’s murder is mentioned? I thought perhaps he might catch a clue when Ava asked if it was possible that there was an unrequited lover in Marco’s past. But no, Pascal didn’t even cross Sidwell’s mind. I know Pascal didn’t stab Marco to death, but he’s the one who tipped Cullum off that Marco had switched sides. In my book, Pascal has as much blood on his hands as Cullum does.

Sidwell is not asking the right questions. None of Marco’s wounds were instantly fatal. Marco’s killer wanted Marco to suffer before he died. A crime of passion would have been frenzied. Cullum stabbed Marco with precision. Marco was incapacitated to ensure a painful death. There’s also Marco’s cell phone. Why would Lucas take it? Maybe it’s in one of the episodes I’ve yet to watch, but has Sidwell asked Cullum to produce Marco’s phone records and text messages? Not that I expect Cullum to hand them over, but shouldn’t Sidwell at least ask the WSB Director to pull some strings for that crucial evidence?

I’m Your Number One Fan

Did anyone else get Annie Wilkes (Misery) vibes when Suzanne (previously psychic Chelsea Lam) learned that Cody was the inspiration for Molly’s latest romance novel? Once the thought popped into my head, I couldn’t get it out. I’m a lover not a fighter, I promise, but I would love to see a storyline like that unfold! It’s made for soaps! Who would ever suspect Suzanne of stalking and kidnapping Cody?

Great Expectations

I love what’s brewing between Carly and Valentin. Laura Wright and James Patrick Stuart are splendid together. Chemistry? They have oodles of it. Their characters are incredibly well-suited in so many ways, and their love scenes steam up the screen. I can’t wait until they are free to explore a real relationship. The reactions of their friends and family alone will be epic. 

Welcome, Detective Handsome

I’m gone for two weeks, and General Hospital surprises me with a welcome back present in the form of a handsome new detective named Joe Fitzpatrick. Thank you. Is Joe a good guy or a bad guy? I’m going to assume good, and that he will eventually figure out that Cassius is impersonating his dead twin brother Nathan. Heaven knows no one else in that police department can solve a crime. 

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.

Brook Lynn and Michael’s relationship

I will add that it’s not like Brook Lynn has shown much loyalty to Michael lately. A couple of months ago, she told Chase it was “chilling” how Michael kept the kids from Willow and conveniently ignored everything Willow had done to him prior to that. — Ryan

One more point about Brook Lynn: she got her throat slit when she caught Nelle in mid-plot to kidnap Wiley. She risked further vocal cord damage to inform Michael how he could use the tracking app on Nelle’s phone to find her and Wiley. If not for Brook Lynn, Wiley and Nelle could very well be living incognito wherever Nelle intended to take off to. Michael has been a good cousin to Brook Lynn, but he has not done anything that comes close to paying off that debt. Perhaps he should think of that when he schemes to, not just torpedo Brook Lynn’s marriage, but do it in a way that would inherently involve highly public humiliation and could affect Brook Lynn’s ability to adopt Phoebe. — Kathie

I asked what Portia knew of the fight, and viewers were nearly united in who was to blame

What’s Apollo’s story?

Before You Check Out

Don’t miss Soap Central founder Dan J. Kroll’s latest Beyond the Gates Commentary. This week he talks a lot about s-e-x and grief. Not at the same time. Trust me… it’s a good read. And if you prefer something other than reading, he has turned his column into a podcast. You can give it a listen on these streaming services: SPOTIFY | APPLE MUSIC | AMAZON MUSIC | iHEART RADIO

Happy viewing,

Liz