Paula's Soapbox

Friday's General Hospital showed a much quieter Port Charles than the one viewers have seen all week, providing a momentary break from the chaos. As for the citizens of Port Charles, they are oblivious to the fact that the carnival disaster was only the beginning of their problems, as was apparent throughout this episode. Fortunately for Edward, Robin informed Mac that he was not to blame for driving his car through the midway, injuring and killing dozens of people. What is so sad about all of this is that Edward is still left with the guilt even though he was as much of a victim as everyone else at the carnival. It is touching to see the way Rebecca is looking out for him now though. The only downside to this is the fact that I feel like we are seeing Emily again, not Rebecca. It is not that I was not a fan of Emily, but if the show wanted to bring back the Emily character they should have just brought her back instead of introducing viewers to Rebecca. That being said, it did pro...

After watching Thursday's General Hospital it is clear that the lives of those in Port Charles will never be the same. This show is taking so many twists and turns right now that literally anything can happen. And Thursday's episode provided the perfect example of this as one by one everyone's secrets were exposed. At the carnival, Claudia continued to look for Kristina, who had apparently lost consciousness when the ride fell apart. At one point she managed to regain consciousness in time to see someone in heels walking away from her, unaware that it was Claudia. Then Michael showed up to try to find her himself while Claudia went to the hospital to let everyone know that she still had not been found. Moments later Michael arrived with Kristina, whose only injury was a mild sprain. After she was examined she told Michael that she thought someone else had found her before he did, but they walked away. This piece of information may ultimately mean the difference between life...

Chaos ensued in the aftermath of Edward's heart attack and Anthony's failed takeover attempt, leaving a trail of destruction behind. On Tuesday's General Hospital, Edward suffered from what appeared to be a heart attack after consuming a martini laced with poison, sending his car careening down the carnival midway. And on Wednesday's episode viewers watched as Edward's car continued to plow through the attractions, causing countless deaths and injuries along the way. One of these deaths was Andrea Floyd, who was killed in a moment that can only be described as poetic justice, as Edward's car pinned her against the Ferris wheel, bringing it to a complete stop. Unfortunately Edward's car had plenty of time to do damage elsewhere before coming to this stop. Max was one of the first people hit while trying to save the ADA, undoubtedly being exposed to the impact of the car at full speed. Meanwhile Jake had wandered off to look at a booth of stuffed animals, the ...

Port Charles's fun-filled day at the carnival came to an abrupt end on Tuesday's General Hospital. For weeks viewers have been waiting for September 8th, in anticipation of this highly promoted carnival event. And in those last few nail-biting moments of Tuesday's episode, it is unlikely that any GH fan was disappointed. On Friday, viewers watched as Edward drank a tainted martini, provided by Andrea Floyd. And on Tuesday Robin and Patrick showed up at the Metro Court just in time to see him finish it. Once there, Robin tried unsuccessfully to warn Edward about Andrea, unaware that the damage had already been done. Meanwhile at the carnival, most people were so preoccupied that they could not foresee the danger that was about to befall them. In fact, much of this episode contained many of the light-hearted elements that existed in Friday's episode. Sam decided to drop her investigation after finding out that the woman she was investigating was meeting Edward. As a resul...

The much anticipated carnival finally got underway on Friday's General Hospital and a good time was had by all, despite the proverbial dark cloud overhead. Spinelli continued to face his fears by showing up at the carnival dressed as a clown, hoping to bring happiness to those around him. And considering that he somehow managed to bring a smile to Sonny's face I would say his fear is all but conquered. Aside from clowns, the carnival also featured what they referred to as a dunk-a-hunk, more commonly known as a dunking booth. Some of the best scenes of Friday's episode took place inside the tent of the dunk-a-hunk, where Patrick, Dante, Johnny, and Ethan took turns inside the booth. As it turned out Molly was the only one able to dunk any of them after several failed attempts by Robin, Lulu, Matt, the ADA, and Max. Speaking of Max, I noticed a little spark between him and the ADA, who of course is Diane's presumably unfashionable arch nemesis. This leads me to wonder if...

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 ...

All of Port Charles was buzzing about the upcoming carnival on Wednesday's GH, unaware of the potential danger that awaits them. Only Monica was wise enough to plan a trip out of town, noting that nothing good ever happens when a big event is scheduled in Port Charles. If only more residents of Port Charles would learn from past events, then a lot of tragedies could be prevented. GH's carnival event has been building for weeks, not only in the ominous advertising campaign, which was brilliant by the way, but also in the way the storylines have been unfolding. Perhaps no other soap opera showcases their big events better than General Hospital. I particularly liked how the end of Wednesday's episode was edited so that each scene was infused with images from the carnival, highlighting how each character may be affected by this event. The carnival event will also undoubtedly influence the direction of each storyline as many seem to be reaching a pivotal point, especially the on...

It was a day of confessions on Tuesday's General Hospital as Sam and Jason returned with Michael and Kristina. After Sam brought Kristina back to Alexis's, they all sat down and talked over what had happened. Alexis was content to let Kristina learn from her mistakes without facing any real consequences, while Sam thought that Kristina should at least apologize to Sonny and Claudia in person. Kristina agreed and later went to see Sonny to confess, unaware that Claudia was listening from another room. And even though Claudia keeps telling Sonny that she does not resent Kristina for accidentally causing her baby's death, it is obvious that she is plotting some sort of revenge. She is without a doubt her father's daughter. Speaking of Claudia, after Jason returned to Port Charles he went over to Sonny's and informed him that he had crossed paths with Jerry while he was looking for Michael and Kristina. He then told Sonny that Jerry tried to make him think that Claudia...