Down to This: GH

In watching General Hospital sometimes it is easy to forget the kind of life that Sonny and Jason lead, and how that life permeates the existence of the children in their inner circle. However, if the amount of violence that surrounds them was ever in question, Wednesday's episode left little room for doubt. To say that I have mixed emotions about this episode is an understatement. And this comes as quite a shock considering that I knew beforehand what was going to happen. I was just unaware of many of the specifics and the overall tone that the show would adopt.

Claudia's death and the moments leading up to it were quite simply tragic. There really isn't a more accurate description than this. It was, without a doubt, a tragedy no matter how you look at it. Claudia helped deliver Carly's baby even though she could have just as easily made her way out of the country, avoiding retribution from Sonny or Jason. And in these moments it was easy to recognize the good in Claudia, the part of her that had suffered the loss of her own child and was still having difficulty coping with that loss. That struggle was even evident once Carly's baby was delivered and Claudia made it clear that she had every intention of keeping her. I even wondered for a moment if Claudia had snapped, mistaking Carly's baby for her own. Instead, Claudia made it clear that she knew what she was doing and felt justified in doing it after having lost so much. Still, it was easy to feel sorry for Claudia because there was a sense that she was acting out of grief rather than malice. Of course one can never be certain because this proved to be Claudia's final act of selfishness.

When Claudia began wrapping Carly's baby up in preparation to take it with her, Carly protested, but was apparently in too much pain to get off of the couch to actually stop her. I have to say I found this a little ridiculous. Carly survived a car wreck, while in labor, then made her way to a cabin, where she built a fire and lit candles, but the actual labor rendered her helpless to stop Claudia from kidnapping her daughter. Fortunately for Carly, Michael showed up just as Claudia was walking out the door. Somehow Michael had found Claudia's abandoned car and figured out where Carly was. And apparently when he arrived at the cabin he heard Carly screaming, so he picked up an axe that was conveniently located outside the cabin door and hit Claudia with it as she was leaving, baby in hand. This killed Claudia on impact, causing her lifeless body to come crashing to the floor. Moments later Sam and Jason arrived to find Michael nearly in shock as he stood over Claudia and his baby sister. Jason then picked up the presumably unscathed baby and handed her to Carly. At that point everyone seemed to forget about the fact that Michael had just killed Claudia, even though he was clearly disturbed by what he had done. The only thing Carly could think about was Michael meeting his baby sister, even though he literally had Claudia's blood on his hands. And Jason and Sam immediately went to work on covering up what had just happened. This whole scene seemed sort of strange to me, the way that everyone brushed off Claudia's death as if Michael had just broken a vase or something. And I really do not understand why they felt the need to cover up what Michael had done. Claudia had kidnapped Carly and when Michael found them he heard Carly screaming, then caught Claudia trying to kidnap his sister so he hit her with the only weapon he had in order to stop her. If Diane cannot win a case defending Michael for that, then she needs to find a different profession. On the other hand Carly, Sam, and Jason's behavior speaks volumes about the kind of life they are used to and how their first instinct will always be to cover up anything that they have done.

I am not sure how I feel about the fact that Michael was the one who killed Claudia. After everything that he has been through this almost seems like too much for him to handle and will most likely affect him the rest of his life. However, there is a certain poetic justice in Michael being the one to exact revenge on Claudia, considering that she caused his shooting. And one cannot ignore the strangeness involved in Michael killing "old Carly" to save "new Carly". So from a creative standpoint this was actually quite fitting. I just wish everyone had taken a moment to talk to Michael, instead of focusing on what they were going to do to cover everything up. In fact they were not very successful in their attempts to do this. Jason called Sonny, Max, and Milo to come to the cabin. Sonny drove Michael home, while Max, Milo, and Jason buried Claudia. Then Jason ordered Max and Milo to burn the cabin to the ground, on a rainy night. I agree with Max in that everyone is likely to find it suspicious that Claudia just disappeared while the cabin she and Carly were in caught fire in the middle of a downpour. Of course Jason ignored Max's warnings because he just wanted the job finished.

Meanwhile Sonny and Michael had arrived home, unaware that Maxie was nearby, having been ordered to check on something at Kate's house. It was then that Maxie saw Michael's bloodied hand print on Sonny's shirt. This will no doubt play a part in the investigation that will surely follow Claudia's disappearance. I am sure that Maxie will mention what she saw to Spinelli, who will then, after being counseled by Jason, tell her to forget what she saw. And of course Maxie being the person she is, will be unable to forget and will likely make matters worse for herself and the Corinthos organization.

Elsewhere at the Zacchara mansion, Johnny arrived with paramedics to free Lulu, and get her out of the cold water. He arrived just in time because the water had reached the top of her neck and the cold temperature was causing hypothermia to set in. Unfortunately in Lulu's delirious state she repeatedly called Dante officer, after Dante had acknowledged that he was, in fact, an undercover cop. It seems to me that in all the time Lulu was trapped in the rising water, Dante could have at least tried to free her while Johnny went to get help, but instead he just sat there in the water with her and talked. Furthermore, I cannot understand why no one at GH thought to get Lulu out of her wet clothes. I realize that the birth of baby girl Jax was a big event, to say the least, but it seems like someone at that hospital would have been able to provide Lulu with a change of clothes.