Paula's Soapbox

Even though I don't agree with the way Dante went about telling everyone that Michael killed Claudia, I can sort of understand his reasons for doing it. After all no one has ever really taught Michael the concept of taking responsibility for his actions. Moreover, the guilt over killing Claudia has been making Michael act out in such self-destructive ways that a life in the mob seemed inevitable. And if Carly and Sonny were really honest with themselves they would realize that Michael has been wanting to confess for months, not just to protect Sonny, but because of all the guilt. On the other hand I can understand Carly, Sonny, and Jason's impulse to cover up what happened to Claudia because Michael had already lost a year of his life and was still dealing with the repercussions of that when he killed her. And if they had gone to the police at that time it is reasonable to assume that because Michael is Sonny's son someone would have taken the opportunity to make an example...

As many of you know I recently had a bout with the flu, so forgive me if my latest assessment of General Hospital is less than accurate, or coherent. However, I have been getting this strange feeling of deja vu the past few weeks because when I watch this show now it seems like I may as well be watching episodes from a few years ago. Jax and Carly are involved in a power struggle within their marriage, which involves Sonny. Michael is the center of everyone's focus and concern. Spinelli and Maxie have been involved in yet another caper. Liz is struggling with the fact that she cheated on Lucky. Johnny is public enemy number one. And Tracy is once again obsessed with Lulu's love life. I know that soaps like to recycle their storylines, but I am not sure why this soap feels the need to go back over all their old storylines using the same cast of characters. Of course this might be tolerable if the dialogue was intriguing enough to break up the monotony, but I am not sure how many...

Never let it be said that Sonny Corinthos doesn't know how to throw a party. Moments after Claudia's birthday party got underway, Sonny made the announcement that Claudia was the one responsible for Michael's shooting. And as shocking as this was to hear, it doesn't compare to how shocked I was by Sonny's sudden perceptiveness. For someone who has been so utterly clueless for so long, Sonny certainly gained a lot of clarity in just a few short moments. Perhaps he had a little of whatever Lulu had a few days ago when she figured out that Dante is a cop. Honestly I don't care what it was that caused Sonny to finally see things so clearly, I am just glad that he was able to expose Jax in the process, and that Carly was around to hear it. It was about time she found out that Jax knew about Jerry's involvement in Michael's shooting, I just never expected Sonny to be the one to finally give her this information. Then again I never expected that Sonny would fig...

On Tuesday's General Hospital Carly went into premature labor after eating a bag of fries from Jake's, so Coleman and Johnny had to drive her to the hospital. Meanwhile Jax was talking to Olivia about Dante's reassignment orders. Obviously Olivia was relieved at the prospect of Dante leaving town and getting away from Sonny, but Jax was more than a little disappointed. He even argued with Olivia about how important it was for Dante to continue his undercover work and gather evidence against Sonny, as if Olivia had any control over that. Once Jax realized that there was no point in arguing with Olivia he took matters into his own hands and contacted a senator in an apparent attempt to keep Dante on the job. This just makes me that much happier that Carly is finally having her baby. Now maybe she will start to see Jax for who he really is and kick him to the curb. Then that will leave Jax free to date the only other person in town who is more hypocritical and self-righteous t...

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...

While Michael and Kristina were busy making their escape from Jerry's guard, Jason was at Jerry's mercy, trapped under a pile of rubble that formed when a walkway collapsed overhead. Jerry somehow managed to crawl out from under this pile and find Jason's gun in the process. In fact the majority Wednesday's episode consisted of Jerry taunting Jason while Jason attempted to finally get Jerry to admit Claudia's involvement in Michael's shooting. By the end of the episode Jerry had not only shot Jason twice with his own gun, but left him trapped without being any closer to the truth about Claudia. Elsewhere in Port Charles, a jealous Ethan confessed to Lucky about what Rebecca's intentions were when she first arrived in town, giving Lucky the choice of whether or not to tell Nikolas. However, Lucky might want to think twice before doing that because I have a feeling if Nikolas dumps Rebecca his first phone call will be to Elizabeth.

Watching GH's Michael figure out that he and Kristina are a part of one of Jerry's twisted games it is evident that there is nothing damaged about his brain. He was able to put the pieces together almost immediately and come up with a plan that would allow them to escape. There were some nail biting moments at the end of GH as he set this plan into motion, attempting to knock the guard out only to find himself nearly outmatched. This would have certainly been a good time for one of his uncontrollable rage episodes to kick in. Meanwhile Jason was in a fight all his own with Jerry. After a long game of cat and mouse that involved Jason and Jerry attempting to shoot one another, they found themselves in hand to hand combat only to have what appeared to be a walkway collapse on them. Whatever happens next I hope this fight does not end with Jerry attempting to fake his own death again.

The plot thickened on Monday's General Hospital as Jerry took Sam hostage and revealed his plan to trap Jason. While Sam was calling Jason to give him directions to a location specified by Jerry, Michael remembered hearing Jerry's voice while he was in the coma. Michael's instincts then took over and he persuaded Kristina to continue their journey without Jerry's help. Meanwhile Jason was on his way to find Sam and Jerry after Sam warned him over the phone that Jerry was setting a trap. This trap may turn out to be only a small part of Jerry's diabolical plan as Michael and Kristina discovered that they were essentially being held captive when they were met with a guard outside the door as they were trying to leave. Jerry's plans for Sam became even more twisted after he locked her in a dark room and handcuffed her to a chair, where she was later informed that Jerry had sold her to another man. While all of this is likely to turn out to be one of Jerry's ela...

The more I follow the storyline of Claudia's car accident the more I am convinced that none of the key players were responsible for that crash. I am positive it is not Michael and I am hoping that it is not Kristina, even though all the evidence seems to point to her. I would rather this character not be as involved in this particular storyline as she is. I think that GH should have stayed on course with her having an abusive boyfriend because you cannot address an issue as serious as this by just dabbling in it then brushing it aside. It is something that needs to be examined in a responsible way by shedding some light on the subtleties of abuse. Still, I do not believe that Kristina was the one who ran Claudia off the road, nor do I believe it was Alexis. The pieces of evidence are fitting together too neatly for it to be any of the primary suspects. Jerry would be an obvious choice, but I do not even think he is responsible for this particular accident. In much the same way that...