Team Cassadine

It looks like Christmas is arriving early for me. Claudia is on her way out and the Cassadines are on their way back to Port Charles.

Hi everyone, Liz Masters here. I'm filling in for Tamilu this week and next week while she enjoys some time off.

It looks like Christmas is arriving early for me. Claudia is on her way out and the Cassadines are on their way back to Port Charles. I, for one, couldn't be happier. I have nothing against Sarah J Brown; I wish her the best. However, Claudia was ruined for me the moment that Michael was shot in the head as a result of her machinations. From that moment on, I patiently waited for Claudia to get her just desserts.

It appears that my patience has paid off. Jason is closing in on the truth thanks, in no small part, to his new trusty sidekick, Sam "Everyday Hero" McCall. Their search for proof that Claudia had hired Ian has been surprisingly entertaining except for that ridiculous scene of Sam and Jason being busted for solicitation and then Mac going along with it.

I scratched my head in confusion trying to figure out what the point was to it all. A few scenes later, Jason and Sam ended up right back in that seedy motel room finding the next clue. Why did we need to see Mac behaving like a jerk instead of the good guy that he's supposed to be? How did those scenes at the police station advance the storyline about Jason and Sam proving that Claudia had orchestrated the hit that had resulted in Michael's shooting? They didn't. The scenes appeared to have been for the sheer purpose of providing Spinelli and Maxie an opportunity to jump to the conclusion that Sam and Jason are into sex games.

Why that was necessary, I don't know. However, it didn't make sense to throw Mac under the bus like that. Then again that happened to a couple of people this week, but we'll get to that later. Right now I want to focus on Claudia and her impending demise.

There have been conflicting spoilers about what happens to Claudia. Some spoilers suggest that she will be leaving town with everything that she desired, meaning a baby from Sonny or Dante. Frankly, I can't see that happening unless she drugs one of them. I wouldn't put it past Claudia, but it appears that her time is running out rather quickly. Too many people with deadly intent are closing in on Claudia, so I'm leaning towards the spoiler that suggests that Claudia meets a violent and bloody end. It really is what she deserves.

I have to admit, Sarah is playing these final scenes beautifully. She has truly captured the essence of Claudia's evil and is giving it free reign. Claudia confidently smirking as she coldly informed Olivia that she intended to bed Dante until he impregnated her was perfection. I kept thinking, "Just wait Claws, your time is coming."

Olivia's reaction was fantastic. You could practically see that invisible line snap as Claudia crossed it. Olivia has the power to stop all of this, but will she do it?

I don't think so. With Michael lurking in the background of that last scene between Olivia and Sonny on Friday, I suspect that Olivia is going to take the coward's way out by accusing Claudia being responsible for Michael's coma. Naturally, Sonny is just going to assume that it's the ranting of a jealous woman.

I would really like for Olivia to put her money where her mouth is. I'm tried of her tough girl attitude yet watching her repeatedly hide and cower with her secrets. It's time for Olivia to come clean, so that I can get back to enjoying this character again.

Another character who found herself playing speed bump to Guza's bus this week was Alexis. I love Alexis, but she's not June Cleaver. Alexis is flawed and has made a ton of mistakes in her life. She's said so countless times including this week. However, despite Alexis' faults, she loves her children. All of them.

I think that Sam had it wrong when she cried to Jason that Alexis hated her. I think that Alexis' issue with Sam is that she doesn't trust her. Alexis has good reason to feel that way. Case in point was Sam's trip with Kristina to the clinic. I understand that Sam took her sister to get birth control pills because she wanted Kristina to feel comfortable turning to her with her problems. However, Sam didn't respect Alexis' role as Kristina's mother.

You can't cry foul about something that you helped to create. Sam slept with Alexis' husband in part to punish Alexis. I know that Sam has apologized for that and that Alexis has forgiven her, but that doesn't mean that all is forgotten and that the trust is magically restored. Trust needs to be earned, even between parents and children. Alexis is right not to trust Sam because Sam doesn't tell her what's really going on. Sam had a perfect opportunity to do so when Alexis had confided that she was afraid. Alexis admitted that she realized that Kristina was in trouble. Rather open up to Alexis about what was going on with Kristina, Sam accused her mother of micro-managing Kristina and Molly's lives.

Never mind that Alexis was right to be concerned that her ten year-old daughter was running around with a key to Sam's apartment. An apartment where Sam has been shown to work and play at all hours of the day and night. An apartment where Molly got an eye full of Jason and Sam making out. An apartment where criminals have broken in and lain in wait for Sam.

Sam's failure to see the problem with children having unlimited access to a single woman's apartment where she entertains her boyfriend proves why Alexis has good reason to question Sam's judgment.

The other issue that I had with Sam not cluing Alexis in about Kristina is the possibility of pregnancy. If Kristina turns up pregnant, which they've seemed to have made a point of establishing could happen, it will be Alexis who will have to help Kristina deal with the consequences. Alexis will be the one who will have to give consent for an abortion or to help Kristina through the legal process of adoption. If Kristina decides to keep the baby, Alexis will be legally responsible for Kristina, and by extension the baby, until Kristina turns 18 and moves out. Provided of course that Kristina doesn't turn out to be one of those teen moms who dumps her child on grandma.

It crushed me when Kristina told Michael how awful Alexis was and then she sang Carly's praises. Carly isn't a bad mother, but she's made some very questionable choices over the years including marrying two men in the mob. Alexis didn't deserve to be so harshly judged by a child, who has done nothing, but lie and cost her mother her career. Kristina's anger should be directed at Sonny, not Alexis. As Kristina herself recently pointed out to Sonny, he's the one who chose to stay away from Kristina.

Speaking of Carly, I can't wait for this baby to be born. I'm so tired of Carly's constant pregnancy woes. We get it; it's a high-risk pregnancy. Don't expect me to feel sorry for Carly when she continually ignores repeated warnings to avoid stress, junk food, and exertion. The last four weeks of my second pregnancy, I was ordered to bed rest and not permitted to lift anything heavier than five pounds. That wasn't easy with a two year-old running around, but I did it. I would have stood on my head if I'd been ordered to.

Carly running around town, butting into everyone's business, and constantly whining because she has to eat carrots instead of Cheetos is like nails on a chalkboard. Enough already.

What I haven't had nearly enough of is the Cassadines. I'm really hoping that the arrival of Valentin heralds in a new era where the mob no longer dominates the storylines. It's time for Sonny to focus on all of his children, who seem to crawl out of the woodwork with alarming frequency. It would be refreshing to watch Sonny struggle with real parental issues instead of ordering hits on gangsters with funky names like Tommy Soto and Joey Limbo.

I must confess that I'm a huge Cassadine fan partly because the violence is much more subtle and diabolical than in your face mob violence tends to be. Unfortunately, I don't think we are going to see Helena and Luke actually team up against Valentin. According to spoilers, Nikolas is going to punish Helena for making trouble for his new boo, Elizabeth, by shipping Helena off to Switzerland. Poor Switzerland. Meanwhile, everyone will prepare for the arrival of Valentin. When that will be is anyone's guess.

Matt Borlenghi was cast for the role, but they postponed his arrival for "creative reasons." I'm not sure what kind of creative reasons could delay an arrival, but I wouldn't be surprised if Valentin ends up being recast. If so, then I'm hoping that General Hospital pulls off another casting coup by luring Stephen Nichols to take the role of his half-brother, Valentin.

Speaking of casting changes, we have Jonathan Jackson's arrival fast approaching. It's kind of sad to watch Greg Vaughn in these last few days, but I'm eager to see what they do with the role now that Jonathan is returning.

The character is vastly different from the adventure seeking kid of yesteryear that Jonathan had portrayed. It's going to be interesting to see how this plays out, especially since the Elizabeth and Nikolas dynamic complicates matters. With rumors circulating that Natalia Livingston is exiting the show, I can't imagine that they wouldn't explore a Lucky, Elizabeth, and Nikolas triangle.

If Natalia goes, I can't say I will be heartbroken. I think that the character of Rebecca was an overall flop. These days she resembles more of a Stepford Emily than the tough rebellious twin that she was introduced as. It's creepy and unappealing.

On the flip side, I'm actually finding myself drawn to Ethan lately. I don't know how it happened or when it happened, but I no longer cringe when he's on my screen. Maybe it's that new ponytail he's sporting or it could be his scenes with Lulu. There's something almost endearing about him when he's with his sister. She seems to draw out the sweet side of him and he in turn makes Lulu likeable again. It's a win-win situation.

On that note, I'm outta here until next week. Take care and please feel free to drop me a line to share your thoughts. I love hearing from everyone.