Oh, dear readers, it's been a whirlwind of a week in Port Charles. So much has happened, I barely know where to begin.
Spencer and Trina had a trés romantique few moments in Paris, where Spencer and Trina declared their love to one another in words that made my icy old heart melt into a puddle. It was absolutely perfect. Both Tabyana Ali and Nicholas A. Chavez were at the top of their game, and every tender moment between them felt like a love letter to those of us who have worshipped this couple from day one -- because they knew these scenes would have to hold us over for months, or possible forever. I hope that's not the case, but I do have to consider the possibility that the entire world will fall in love with Mr. Chavez the way we have, and, if so, he may not come back to soaps. But I pray he's one of those guys who loves his life as a soap star and stays at GH while doing other projects on the side. Can you imagine him in a Hallmark Christmas movie? Oh, my gosh, I'd be breathless.
But he's not the only star in this couple. Tabyana Ali is a shiny and mesmerizing young woman. She can play the damsel and the heroine with equal ease. She can be both tough and tender with Spencer, and Trina has made Spencer a better man. Here's my fervid plea to the new writers of GH. Please do not give Trina some lame generic new love interest like Rory to hold the space while Spencer is missing. A love like that is not easily forgotten or replaced! I want to watch Trina yearn and ache and mourn the loss of that perfect thing she held in her hand for months until Spencer washes up on shore and comes home. Did you see Tabyana's reaction shot when Spencer went overboard? It was short, but perfect.
We know his turtle dove survived, so if something so delicate and precious made it ashore, surely a man with the life force of Spencer Cassadine survived, as well. Or so I am telling myself.
I can't discuss these two lovebirds without discussing the villain who always manages to come between them -- Esme Prince. Avery Pohl, just like her counterparts, is a force of nature. Her acting allows me to hate her and love her in equal measure, to feel compassion for Esme and to want to throttle her, sometimes in the same day. It has been confirmed that she is gone from GH, but we don't know if she is gone forever or only as long as Spencer is gone. Are they together? Does she have him? We don't know. What I do know is that I will miss her.
Like her mother, Heather, Esme is a great soapy villainess who has magical powers that give her the power to travel space and time unrestricted. Does she have a dog chip in Spencer? How does she have knowledge of how to disable a ship's satellite system? How did she manage to get syringes full of drugs and calculate exact dosages of to get the desired effect? How did she manage to grab and tie up Trina in the time it took Spencer to walk ten feet around the deck of the not very well disguised Haunted Star? How is it that Esme got cracked in the head, was bleeding from her skull, and still managed to pop up ready to rumble? It's pure campiness, and it's very soapalicious. I love to mock these absurdities, because it's fun, but I also like to watch and be delighted by the silliness of it all. It makes me giggle and sometimes infuriates me because I'm rooting for Sprina -- always.
But Spencer and Trina aren't the only ones who are having issues -- Ava and Sonny are dodging gunfire in Puerto Rico, and for the life of me, I don't know why Sonny always feels so safe there, because he never is! Who is the inside source who knows exactly how his security works on the island? This makes me worry that Jason is brainwashed again and has been pointed in Sonny's direction. Please, no. It feels like the recently fired writers knew they were about to be axed and just wrote as much nonsense as they could before they got out the door.
Sonny and Ava always intrigued me. Will the stress of it all cause them to have another roll in the hay and give Avery a sibling? Sure, Sonny is Ava's BFF Nina's husband, but that wouldn't really stop Ava, would it? I wish that we would discover that Ava has been doing a long con this entire time and never actually liked Nina and was seeking revenge to get even with her for trying to steal Avery!
A much less riveting storyline has concluded, too -- I hope you will forgive me, but I thought this storyline was dull from the get-go. Finn's malpractice suit has ended. I do see how this might come back in the future to bite Tracy, but she was the most interesting thing about it. In fact, Jane Elliott is such a glowing light that she's the brightest part of any scene she is in and has been for decades. But I digress.
I was never too worried about Finn losing his medical license. Why? The show is called General Hospital, and that implies there need to be doctors. How many doctors do we currently have at GH? Monica is retired. Patrick -- gone. Lucas -- gone. Steven Lars -- gone. Kevin Collins -- shrink. Austin Gatlin Holt -- gone. Britt -- gone. Terry? Haven't seen her in months. Portia -- well, she's been a little preoccupied. Between Curtis' paralysis and Trina being stalked, she's not doing much doctoring. And T.J. -- he's still a resident in training. If you think about it, Finn is the ONLY actual practicing doctor in General Hospital right now! It's clearly time we get some hunky new residents from T.J.'s class and sassy young nurses to liven up the joint.
I have so many ideas for the new writers. I know you do, too.
One person I hope they keep is Lois. I love having Rena Sofer back on GH, and when she called Nina out, I wanted to kiss her. Lois is feisty and fun and unbelievably gorgeous. My husband, who pretends he doesn't watch GH, said, "Oh, my gosh, look at her eyes!" and he made me rewind to make sure I saw them. Oh, yes, I saw them. She is stunning. She also is fun, brings joy back to the show, and is a hoot with Tracy. Tracy must really care about Gregory if she took his request to get along with Lois and Olivia seriously.
Another soap goddess, Genie Francis, did a spectacular job this week, mourning her grandson and realizing in horror that Esme had been playing her. Laura has a heart of gold, and she truly believed that if Esme was surrounded by love and support, she could become a better person. I love that part of Laura's character because it's a trait we share. I always give people the benefit of the doubt and try to see the best in them. Sometimes, it bites me in the butt, but I'd rather hold hope in my heart than be cynical. I get Laura. But now, knowing that Spencer is missing and possibly dead because of Esme, how will Laura ever forgive herself for being so wrong? It will be interesting to follow this story and see how it all unfolds.
I am glad Laura sent Sonny and Cyrus off into the night to battle as they will and leave her alone with her unfathomable grief. I love the way Kevin protects and supports Laura. At first, I thought I could never embrace Laura with anyone other than Luke; I was so invested in that couple years ago. But Jon Lindstrom and Genie Francis have this beautiful, comfortable, and warm connection that is soothing and healing. I love them together.
Readers, I must tell you that Friday's GH was especially hard for me to watch. Last night, we got word that my mother-in-law passed away in the middle of the night, and I am writing this column in between packing for a long drive north to attend a funeral for a woman I truly loved. When Laura wept and said, "It feels like my whole family is fading before my eyes," I wept with her and am weeping now as I type this. The GH writers always nail grief. Laura's next observation: "All I can hear is silence in the house that used to be filled with voices." These words were painful to hear, yet strangely helped me to put words to my own helpless feelings of loss and devastation.
It also hit me hard that on Eden McCoy's first day back, she had to do the scenes of finding out Spencer was gone so soon after losing her own mother. Certainly, actors can draw from their own pain to access the emotions needed for a scene, but her loss is so fresh, I just wanted to hug her. I am so happy that Eden McCoy is back. While her temporary fill-in did great continuing the story in her absence, in my mind, there is no substitute for our beautiful, award-winning Eden.
And now I shall cheer us up. That call Joss made to Cam was a precursor for William Lipton to return. He is only back for a short visit, but just knowing we will get to see him mourn his best buddy is already choking me up.
I was thrilled to see Nikolas and Ace show up on Laura's doorstep at the end of Friday's episode. Since Esme isn't here to testify to Nikolas' crimes, he can possibly get off on the charges and just come home.
Across town, Portia is trying to wrap her head around the fact that Spencer lost his life saving Trina's life. Let's hope that if and when he comes home, she will learn to accept him and treat him like family. Trina is alive because Spencer put his life before Trina's, and I hope Portia will never forget that. Curtis has high hopes of walking again after a successful surgery, but he has been warned it will take time. While I applaud his desire to go to help rescue Trina, why didn't anyone call the father that raised her for 20 years, Marcus Taggert?? This erasure of Taggert has me mad. Since the day he found out that he wasn't Trina's biological dad and we saw him hitting the booze, there has not been a mention of his name nor a sighting of his face. Ugh.
Readers, I don't know about you, but I am very excited for Brook Lynn and Chase's fancy wedding and Coney Island rehearsal dinner. Oh, please, let me have all of it. Make it magical! Make it memorable! Give to this generation of GH fans the kind of joy I feel when I think about Ned and Lois' wedding.
I'm also intrigued this week by Anna and Brennan. Is he a potential love interest for Anna, or is he a threat? I can't decide, but I kind of hope he's a love interest because he's got that Jerry Jacks energy where he might be a sexy spy or a supervillain -- and you can never quite tell.
And now I want to say something without actually saying it...I'll just say this... All the people who are running Crimson now are not the most fashionable people in Port Charles. It makes me laugh to think they will be giving fashion tips for the masses. They should change the name to Blazers Unlimited. Okay, I will stop. I'm no fashionista myself, but at least I know it. I am not sad that Nina is losing everything, but now that she has, I will cheer her on as she rights her wrongs and climbs her way back up. Is it just me, or did she give Ava permission to take Sonny from her on Friday?
And the final shock of the day on Friday? That handsome FBI Ken I was drooling over is...JAGGER?!? Wow. My jaw dropped, and I am in soap-shock. Some of you questioned that he's not Latino anymore. Is it bad that today I don't care? It was so long ago that only we truly old people remember him. I am willing to suspend disbelief just like when they replaced tall blond Sean Kanan as A.J. and replaced him with short brunet Billy Warlock. Them's the breaks in soap-land.
What will happen tomorrow, dear readers? Will anyone notice that Ned has been missing since he remembered he wasn't Eddie Maine? Will Kevin get the hint that Esme is a lot like his brother Ryan and that he shouldn't try to counsel her without Plexiglass between them? Will Dante be offered a cop job in Toronto and Paris? Will anyone laugh hysterically when that reporter writes that Nina "singlehandedly revolutionized the fashion magazine business"?
Will Michael be able to stand by and watch Dark Drew do whatever evil things he has planned for his revenge on Nina? Will Adam get a job working at Volonino's Gym or Sonnybucks to pay for his tuition? Will Leo be taller than Olivia soon? Will Cyrus and Sonny bond in grief over Spencer, or just torment each other some more? Will Nicholas and Ace reveal themselves as the mystery buyers and move into Wyndemere? Will anyone pick up Spencer's turtle dove and return it to Trina? Will Jason and Sam still have their pocket dragons?
Only tomorrow knows, dear readers, and I will tune in as long as there are tomorrows.
Tamilu
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