There's new Jerry Jacks face and old Jerry Jacks face and old Julian Jerome face and new Julian Jerome face, and Duke Lavery's face might be Duke or possibly Faison under a rubber mask. Dead people come back to life, people in comas emerge, babies switch parents, the dying seek miracle cures, lies come to light, and truth emerges -- oh my, it's been a thrilling week on GH!
Readers, I don't like to whine, but all week as I watched the Maxie/Spinelli/Dante/Lulu scenes, I missed Julie Marie Berman. I wish she had stuck around long enough for this payoff. Seeing "real" Lulu and Maxie cry it out would have had so much more dramatic impact for me. Not that I dislike Emme Rylan in any way -- she's adorable and I like her -- it's just that the history and foundation of friendship for Lulu and Maxie was with another actor, and all that built-in richness was missing. Even my husband, who pretends he doesn't watch GH, said, "Those scenes would have been better with the right Lulu." If he noticed, then it wasn't just me.
There's an old song by Dan Fogelberg that says, "Changing horses in the middle of the stream gets you wet and sometimes cold/changing faces in the middle of a dream gets you old." And I felt like we changed faces in the middle of a dream this week. There were two other times in GH history that this same sort of thing made me angry...Once, when Michael had been kidnapped, and the dreadful Carly 3.0, Jennifer Bransford, was there instead of Tamara Braun when he returned. I wanted to throw something at my TV.
But the very worst ever was when Anna Lee died in real life, and Jed Allen, who had never had a single scene with Anna Lee, was inexplicably cast as Edward Q after John Ingle's ousting. I had watched Lila on GH since I was 17 years old, and it made me so angry that the man who had played her husband for nearly ten years on screen wasn't there to mourn her loss and that we didn't get to see all those years of memories play in his eyes. Of course, GH had fired Anna Lee, for reasons no one has ever understood, and according to her family, that sapped her will to live, so in addition to it being upsetting to viewers, the evil powers that be at GH during that era deeply hurt poor, sweet Anna Lee.
That having been said, we have the cast we have, and you should gear up for a custody battle because it's coming. Diane vs. Alexis, or maybe Scott Baldwin will represent Lulu to try to worm his way back into Laura's heart? Who knows who will represent whom, but the fight for baby Connie (a.k.a. Georgie) is on.
This is a heart-wrenching tale, albeit an unbelievable one. Maxie is at once the best friend ever and the worst; she volunteered to be a surrogate for her best friend and carry a baby for her, then promptly tripped over a puppy on New Year's Eve, lost the baby, and immediately got pregnant on the same night with someone else's baby.
I think we can all agree that one must suspend their disbelief in this tale, as nothing like that would ever really happen. The reason we have taken this story to heart begins with the great work of Kirsten Storms-Barash and Bradford Anderson.
Maxie's character has always been a mess; she fails at doing the right thing 99% of the time. But in this instance, guided by twisted Maxie logic, she actually thought she was doing the right thing, and that is where we sympathize. How many of us have tried to help someone, only to have it blow up in our faces and end up hurting them instead? While we can't relate to that exact crazy scenario, we relate to the emotion involved. It boils down to "I don't want to hurt my friend, so I will let her believe a lie so she can keep being happy." It was a selfless notion, because to keep her friend happy, she had to give up her own flesh and blood baby.
I've been watching Daytime for 40 years now, and I don't think there has ever been a character on any show that is as dear to my heart as Damien Spinelli. I root for him always and want him to have whatever he wants because his heart is so pure and gentle and good. I want him to have that baby to raise because he wants his daughter so desperately, even thought I am fairly certain he'll have no idea at all what to do with a baby. The tender looks that Bradford Anderson can emote make my heart ache, and while Spinelli's character is destined to remain a quirky side character and never a lead, I find myself drawn into his storylines more than the leads because his tender heart and brilliant mind move me.
On the other hand, watching the heartbreak of Dominic Zamprogna and Emme Rylan has been tough, too. They fell in love with a baby that wasn't theirs, and those scenes where they reason through next steps is like watching the steps of grief play out -- denial and anger and bargaining all in one conversation.
But I feel their grief will be short-lived because I still believe Britt's baby will end up being one of Lulu and Dante's frozen embryos and not Britt's and anyone's baby. Brad probably has that particular secret stored up in his clutches, too, but he has to hold on to to it until he needs another "I can do the right thing" moment.
I can't even keep track of all the secrets in Port Charles. Oh, and the secrets in wherever the heck that clinic is where Robert Scorpio just emerged from his coma. He remembered his secret, too -- Robin is alive! But how will the good guys get from the clinic to Cassadine Island to rescue Luke and Robin? Giant flying dragon? I think that's the only way one can escape from the creepy Dr. Obrecht hospital.
If only Dr. Von Schemerman were up and about instead of gasping for breath in Jerry Jack's boudoir -- then perhaps he could have escorted them out, but instead, he is being used as Jerry's lab rat. The thing about Jerry is that I really want to hate him, but as he pointed out to Luke, even when he's in the midst of evil schemes, his manners are impeccable.
In the very next room are Dr. Obrecht, Robin, baby Ben/Cesar, and a lot of spin. Dr. Obrecht is like a certain unnamed News Network in Robin's world right now, taking facts and shaping them into tales that sound kind of like what the actual truth is, but aren't exactly the truth.
Liesl has made it sound as thought Sabrina used Robin's death as a manipulative tool, which is not the case. Sabrina genuinely cares for Patrick and had good intentions, we know that, but Robin doesn't know. And, of course, we know the baby in Robin's arms does not belong to her husband, Patrick, but it helps Dr. Obrecht get what she wants to make Robin believe that.
But it backfired, because now that Robin knows she has to hurry and get out of captivity before Patrick remarries, she got brave and cracked Obrecht in the head to escape. But...how is she going to get past Jerry and the bodyguards? How will she get off the island with a baby? (Maybe she will just leave it in a tree.)
I don't think Robin thought out her plan very well. Her only hope is if Anna shows up to rescue her before she gets caught and chained back in the Cassadine Cryogenic Freezer/Medical Lab room. Or, if she has discovered the cure, tosses it to Luke and it works instantly. Or if Stavros and Helena are actually still alive and they let Robin go free for thawing them out from behind the chilly walls of the cryogenic meat locker in their basement. You just never know on GH!
The only thing creepier than Dr. Obrecht and the League of Doom is Kiki's mother sleeping with her teenaged husband. Morgan is supposed to be 19 now, and Ava is over 40, so a semi-incestuous cougar? I don't know, but it just creeps me out. Stop for a minute and close your eyes and think about your mother sleeping with your husband. Ever. Under any circumstances. Eeeww. You can't do it, can you? I bet you can't. Because it would never, ever happen. (Unless you were on the Bold and the Beautiful and were related to Brooke.)
What will happen tomorrow, dear readers? Will Luke live long enough to find out he's really not a grandpa? Will baby Connie be thankful for new parents so she can get rid of the wrong name? Will Morgan find Kiki's grandma and sleep with her, too, for revenge? Will Heather paint more lines on canvas for Franco to sell for some more BLTs? Will Laura's medical checkup in France end before Christmas? Will Faison, Jerry, Obrecht, Ghost Helena, and Ghost Stavros throw a creepy Halloween Ball at Wyndemere? Will Monday hurry up and come so I can see what happens next?
Only tomorrow knows, dear readers, and I will tune in tomorrow as long as there are tomorrows.
Tamilu
