Sensation!

When GH gets it right, they get it really right. This week the writers hit the bull's-eye.

My title has a two-fold meaning. 1) I was aboard the Carnival Sensation last week on a fabulous cruise to the Bahamas. I have a collection of coconuts carved into monkey heads which were once filled with rum to prove it. 2) When I returned from vacation and began watching my Tivo'd episodes of GH, it was truly SENSATIONAL.

When GH gets it right, they get it really right. This week the writers hit the bull's-eye. They got it exactly right, keeping step with a nationwide trend. From Robin and Patrick's baby, to Luke and Laura's adventurous reunion, to Carly sacrificing her own happiness for Sonny's recklessness one more time, to the evil Mr. Craig reemerging from the charming Jerry Jax - Wow! It was a sight to behold.

I barely know where to begin, but I think I should start by thanking the wonderful Liz Masters for filling in for me while I was away. I appreciated it so much- just to have a couple of weeks where I didn't have to think about ANYTHING was a real blessing, and Liz's kindness helped make that possible.

There are a plethora of great storylines to discuss, but I think I'll start with Robin, Patrick, and baby Emma. First off, let me say I adore Jason Thompson. And, I will confess my adoration is based mostly in shallow reasons. First he is unbelievably handsome and I really enjoy looking at him. Second when I met him last summer at an event, he was incredibly nice to me, a nerdy middle aged soap fan.

But this week I adore him for a whole new reason- he can act. We went through months of watching Robin and Patrick argue. We watched weeks of Patrick groveling to try to convince Robin to marry him. But finally the writers gave him some solid material and he hit a home run. Patrick remained fairly calm before the baby was born in spite of some medical emergencies and mishaps. But after the baby was born and Patrick discovered a nick on her ear and realized she might have been exposed to HIV, the sheer terror upon his visage was so genuine I felt afraid for Emma, too. And when Robin's blood refused to clot and Patrick had to contemplate single parenthood - the scene when he went into the nursery and told his newborn daughter that he could not be a parent without Robin just did me in.

I hoped the powers that be would give this the weight it deserved and my hopes were realized. The writers addressed the realities of having a baby when the Mom is HIV-positive, but gave us a happy outcome with an HIV-negative precious baby girl.

I loved this whole storyline, Anna and Mac leaning on one another, Spinelli comforting Maxie, Jason dropping by and sitting with Robin - every scene was well played and touching.

Speaking of Jason, it was also highly enjoyable to see him in scenes with Sam this week. It reminded me of how perfect they once were together. I know some of you like Lucky with Sam. Other of you like Jason and Liz. And sure, both couples are...okay. But when it comes right down to people who fit together, Sam is much more capable of fitting into Jason's world than Liz could ever be, And let's be honest, Lucky is a little too safe for our danger seeker Sam. Just my opinion and I know some of you will disagree.

Thankfully Jason didn't fall for Sam's cover story and is trying to find her. Poor Sam is chained up with an extra creepy incarnation of Jerry as he molds plastique into animal shapes and pretends it is play dough. She already acted out one episode of Everyday Heroes by picking open her handcuffs with a paper clip, but sadly wasn't quick enough to escape. Maybe there are some rodents under the bed she can sing to and train to fetch things for her like Cinderella. Or, maybe Spinelli will hack into some boat GPS website and track her down.

Sort of like Carly tracked Sonny down after he had been stabbed and anchored in such a way that he sunk to the bottom of the harbor like a stone. Seriously, I could not hold my breath for nearly that long; I would have been a goner long before Carly dove in. How many times did she come up for breath while Sonny remained underwater? For all we know he has gills. It's been a long time since GH did an alien storyline; maybe they can make Sonny into some fish-human hybrid! But back to business, Carly was in the right place at the right time and without her interference Sonny would be dead. Jason and Sonny always tell Carly to stay out of it, but she never does. And just think of all the times she has saved them!

But the timing could not have been worse. Jax who had been absolutely adamant about divorcing Carly, picked the exact worse moment to stop by to offer her a second chance. (Or 14th chance, but hey, who is counting?) Sonny was half naked and bleeding on her sofa when Jax's car pulled up. Carly made Sonny drag his bloody body into the other room while she got rid of Jax, who is the one person on Earth she does NOT want to get rid of. Again, she got embroiled in saving Sonny's life and sacrificed her marriage in the process. Jax left when asked, and returned the next day with divorce papers in his hand requesting Carly's signature. Worst of all, Carly's sacrifice might have been in vain- as soon as Sonny was able to stand up and walk, he went and put a bullet through Karpov's brain while Olivia watched silently from the shadows.

Laura found out about Luke's marriage to Tracy, thanks to Scott. After the car crash, Luke and Laura finally got the chance to talk it all out. There is something about those two - the comedy, like Luke faking a heart attack so he could get inside where the coffee was, to the serious heart to heart confessions. I was so moved by all of those scenes. I freely admit it; I am a sucker for Luke and Laura. I watched their relationship unfold when I was a teenager, and 30 years later, I am still rooting for them.

Their discussions were so realistic. This is what love looks like years later when life has gotten in the way. This is what happens when circumstances have crushed your fondest dreams. Luke moved on to marry Tracy not because he stopped loving Laura, but because she had a catastrophic illness they did not anticipate. She was in an unresponsive state for years. Luke's choices were to slowly whither away and die awaiting an awakening the doctors said would never happen, or gather up the pieces of his life and start over. He chose the latter. But now that Laura is awake - Luke most likely wishes he could go back and choose Door #1.

Laura hinted by some of her words that she might be willing to give Scott Baldwin another go at things. She pointed out that it was Scott who told her the truth when no one else was. Laura defended Scott and reminded Luke that they made him into the monster that he had become. 'True dat' as the kids say.

I must confess that when I got home, I was 2 weeks behind on GH, and I only watched this week's episodes so I could write my column. I still have 10 episodes of GH to catch up on. I saw Claudia mention something to Kate and Olivia about marrying Sonny, but I don't know what that was all about and intend to watch the other episodes so I can get back in the loop.

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So dear readers, are you having as much fun with Sweeps as I am? This is what GH used to be- we have some mob stuff (Sonny and Karpov), some suspenseful medical drama (Robin, Patrick, and the baby), some tangled romance (Luke, Laura, Tracy, Jax, and Carly), some thriller suspense (Jerry, Sam, Jason) -- a real well rounded slate of storylines all of which I actually care about. I think we should flood ABC with Kudos letters to let them know "Yes, THIS is what we like. Keep it coming, hot shots."

What will happen tomorrow, dear readers? Will Lulu and Tracy have some more bonding moments? Will Jason find Sam before Jerry molds the plastique into Spongebob Squarepants? Will we ever find out what happens on the other floors at GH since apparently the heart wing, the brain surgery wing and the maternity wing are all on the same floor? Will Mac be so overcome with joy that Robin woke up that he throws Anna down on the lobby sofa and plants a juicy kiss on her?

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