Paula's Soapbox

Unless you are a soap fan who doesn't read internet spoilers, or you missed Saturday night's podcast you have undoubtedly heard the rumor about what really happened to Michael in prison. That rumor of course being that he was the victim of prison rape, which seems to be exactly what GH has been implying the past few days. And I just want to go on record right now as saying that if the reason for the Michael recast was so the show could put somebody with a more innocent look into these prison scenes it was a bad decision. It is not that Chad Duell isn't doing a good job as Michael because he is. It just never ceases to amaze me how soaps are constantly sacrificing good actors for bad storylines. And this prison storyline is bad on more levels than I can even wrap my mind around. First of all Michael probably would have been okay in prison until Jason got there if Sonny had checked his ego at the prison door and not antagonized Anthony Zacchara with threats about Johnny. Sonn...

Ever since Johnny found out that Olivia has been keeping her son's identity a secret he has been offering ominous warnings of the danger that may result from this secret. Based on these warnings I am inclined to believe that someone, likely Johnny, will die because Olivia cannot bring herself to tell the truth. And while I hope that this assessment is incorrect, a variety of factors indicate otherwise. First of all, now that Claudia is dead, Johnny is the only Zacchara in Port Charles, with the exception of Anthony who remains in prison. And Johnny's death would effectively remove the Zacchara family from the canvas of the show, should the writers be so inclined to make this happen. One can also not ignore the fact that with Olivia's gravitation toward Sonny, and Lulu's infatuation with Dante, there really does not seem to be a place for Johnny at the moment. Granted he could have a storyline that didn't involve either of his love interests, but I have seen no evide...

While I am glad that Jason was able to convince Sonny to allow Michael to live with Carly and Jax, it may be too little too late. I am not sure if anything short of going to jail will cause a profound change in Michael's attitude and behavior. Obviously living with Sonny wasn't a good idea, despite Sonny's claims that he was helping Michael deal with everything that happened. I must have missed that episode because the only thing I have seen Sonny do is pat Michael on the back for a job well done. On the other hand I am not sure if Carly can do anything to help Michael either. As Sonny pointed out, even if they confess everything to the police, Michael will be a target of Anthony Zacchara. And as much as I hate to admit it Sonny is probably right. However, it is clear that Michael needs some sort of intervention because quite frankly this kid scares me a little. And I don't think he would hesitate to kill again should the opportunity arise. Meanwhile, Sonny's other...

It would appear that time is running out for Claudia, as the truth about her involvement in Michael's shooting finally comes to the surface. Unfortunately the one person who may be able to save her has been kidnapped by rival mobster, Joey Limbo, on orders from Anthony Zacchara. Anthony instructed Joey to lock Johnny away in a safe location so that Joey could go after Sonny and Jason without Johnny getting caught in the crossfire. Johnny almost managed to escape, but was quickly forced back into captivity, effectively preventing him from warning Claudia that her life was in danger. Meanwhile, an oblivious Claudia was preoccupied with the birthday party Sonny decided to throw her. Of course she managed to make a little time to threaten Olivia, convinced that she knew were Johnny was. Claudia even made plans to tell Sonny about Dante at the party, but something tells me that she may not get that chance. On the other hand, Sonny didn't appear to have much of a reaction to hearing ...

On Monday's General Hospital Olivia finally tried to tell Sonny the truth about Dante. And of course Sonny thought she was just trying to complain about Claudia, which prompted Michael to interrupt and come to Claudia's defense. I have to say that this was the first day that one of Michael's outbursts actually annoyed me. He has already been having memories of Claudia admitting to being responsible for his shooting and I cannot believe that he would be so easily manipulated by her that he would completely disregard all of that. Perhaps Alexis and Olivia have been right all of these years in keeping their kids away from Sonny because it seems like his naiveté has transferred to Michael. Meanwhile, Claudia was in her hotel room trying to force Dante into sleeping with her by threatening Olivia. Surprisingly enough Dante turned her down and walked out of the room, making another sound argument for nurture over nature. Later on Olivia was summoned by Anthony so he could determi...

On Monday's General Hospital Sonny and Anthony continued to exchange threats to each other about whose loved one was going to be killed. Sonny maintained that he would have Johnny killed if Anthony ever tried to take over his territory again, while Anthony insisted that Olivia would die. The threats against Olivia are really beginning to stack up. Johnny has repeatedly warned her to stay away from Claudia, fearing that Claudia will follow through on her threats against her. Meanwhile Dante continues to warn her to stay away from Johnny and Sonny to keep her away from his investigation and any resulting retaliation. Even Jason warned Sonny against the dangers of threatening Anthony with Johnny's life, noting that Anthony may decide to kill Olivia despite the consequences. All of this makes me wonder if Olivia is going to be the next Falconeri to somehow be caught in the crossfire of a mob war. If she is, it may happen sooner than later because Lulu found Dante's badge today ...

On Tuesday's General Hospital Nikolas and Liz stopped fighting their attraction for one another and slept together. Of course the idea that they ever tried to fight it in the first place is debatable. Even Jake being in the hospital was not enough to keep Liz away from Wyndemere. I am not sure which is worse, the fact that Liz left Jake's hospital room to be with Nikolas or the fact that Lucky left Jake to go home alone. At this point I think that Sam and Jason need to be raising Jake. They did not even kiss until everyone they cared about was safe and accounted for, and they have been apart for years! When Liz and Lucky finally made their way back to the hospital to check on Jake, Liz told Lucky she would marry him if he agreed to go to counseling with her. Good idea Liz, maybe you can sign up for some parenting classes while you are at it. Unfortunately Lucky and Liz were not the only ones having dysfunctional family issues. While Olivia was visiting Dante at GH, Sonny walked...

After watching Thursday's General Hospital, it seems as though danger will be lurking in every corner once the carnival begins. Obviously Andrea is going to poison Edward causing him to go into cardiac arrest and lose control of his car at the carnival. This incident presents the first danger to the citizens of Port Charles, but the real danger is likely to come from Anthony Zacchara who revealed to a "mystery" man his intentions to use the carnival to fulfill a sinister plan. Could this mystery man be Trevor Lansing, who perhaps faked his own death? As much as I hate to admit it I am glad that GH is doing something else with the carnival event aside from Edward's car accident. The way this storyline has been promoted I knew there had to be more to the danger at the carnival than Edward having a heart attack and losing control of his car. Not that Edward's accident wouldn't be bad enough, it just doesn't make for very intriguing soap opera material. For a ...

Something occurred to me while watching Thursday's GH that I had not thought of before. I am beginning to wonder if Dante's superior is going to turn out to be a crooked cop, perhaps hired by Anthony Zacchara to take down the Corinthos organization. If he was hired by Anthony, what better way to get inside information on Sonny's business than to assign one of the best cops in the field to infiltrate the organization? He could then take this information to Anthony rather than using it to build a case against Sonny. This possibility would certainly extend Dante's storyline potential beyond him finding out that he is Sonny's son. It would also likely shake his faith in the entire legal system, perhaps even causing him to question his chosen career path on the right side of the law.