Hello, Julian

There was action, mystery, and intrigue afoot in Port Charles as Sam's father was revealed, Silas ran a paternity test, Michael accepted Morgan's offer, and Connie overheard a secret. It's like hitting the soap lottery. Check your tickets for the winning numbers in this week's Two Scoops.

The Jerome crime family is back in action and poised to rise to power by dethroning the Godfather, Sonny Corinthos. Fear not, dear readers, because Duke and Anna are on the case and hot on their trail with a little help from Sonny himself. Yay. There's action, mystery, and intrigue afoot. I feel like I've hit the soap lottery.

Folks, General Hospital wrapped up an exciting week of twists and turns with a stellar episode on Friday. If you don't watch any other episode this week, which I strongly advise you against, watch Friday's show. I promise, you will not be disappointed.

With a single episode, Ron Carlivati weaved all of the storylines together into a wonderful rich tapestry. For the first time in a long time, I am interested in all of the storylines playing out, and I find myself really enjoying all of the characters except for one or two, but more on them later.

Let's start with Duke. He was on fire this week, not only in his scenes with Ava, which were sheer perfection, but also with Anna and Sonny. I knew that I would enjoy the scenes from the moment that Sonny asked why Anna and Duke had stopped by and referred to Duke as "him," as Sonny's lip all but curled with disgust. Duke turned on the charm, extended his hand, and introduced himself, forcing Sonny to concede that he knew exactly who Duke was. I love that Duke didn't let Sonny faze him, which ultimately had the desired effect of getting Sonny to focus on the topic at hand.

Duke used that same charm and calm faade during his confrontation with Ava when he accused her of being one of the notorious Jeromes. He never let Ava get under his skin as they verbally filleted each other. I think Duke was able to avoid breaking a sweat because he knows in his gut that he's right and that he has the upper hand, otherwise she'd openly admit that she's Victor's youngest daughter and simply say "but I'm nothing like my father and siblings."

I realize that it's not official, but it appears that Derek Wells, who is really Julian Jerome, is indeed Sam's biological father. Julian is not exactly a common name, so the fact that Derek is Julian Jerome and Alexis recalled that Sam's father's name is Julian, strongly suggests that Sam is a Jerome, which means that Kiki is her cousin and Ava her aunt. It's going to be interesting to see how Sam handles all of this because Sam is going to be caught in the middle of two rival mob families. Remember, Sonny wasn't just Jason's best friend, but he's also Kristina's father.

I've received a few emails from readers suggesting that the deliciously handsome William deVry is too young to play Sam's father, but I disagree. It's not that he's old, because he's not; it's that age is completely relative on a soap. Whereas soap children tend to be prone to SORAS (Soap Opera Rapid Aging Syndrome), the adults are equally susceptible to an anti-aging syndrome. That's why Olivia can pass as Dante's mother even though there is only a nine-year age gap between Lisa LoCicero and Dominic Zamprogna, not fifteen like on the show.

I like the idea of Julian being Sam's father, and I'm really looking forward to his scenes with Alexis. Poor Alexis' head is going to explode when she finds out exactly who Julian is and realizes that she's been bedding mobsters from the very beginning.

Meanwhile, at ELQ, Tracy is feeling the sting of failure after her attempted coup to unseat A.J. went bust thanks to Alice "The Dominator" Gunderson. I could have reached through the screen and kissed Alice myself when she rightfully accused Miss Tracy of being a bully. Don't get me wrong, I adore Tracy, but I hate that she's unwilling to put her family ahead of her own ego. Initially, I was okay with Tracy not trusting that A.J. is trying to be a better person, but it's starting to wear thin, especially since Tracy has done far worse than A.J. since A.J.'s return.

I want A.J. and Tracy to work together, not against each other, because that's what both Edward and Alan would have wanted. I recall that both men had had deep regrets about how they had treated A.J. and had conceded that they had played a part in his downfall. I truly believe that they would have forgiven A.J. Perhaps not right away, but certainly by now because A.J. is family, and let's face it, there isn't a Quartermaine alive, save Danny, who is without sin. A.J. is a work in progress, so he's far from perfect, but he is making a genuine effort to be a better person.

I fully expect A.J. to periodically backslide a bit because it is a soap opera, but so far, whenever he has, he's ended up owning up to his mistakes and accepting the consequences. That counts for something. I would think that Tracy, more than anyone else in the family, would know what it feels like to be in A.J.'s shoes because she's the black sheep of her generation.

I'm thrilled that the Quartermaines were saved from extinction, but I want more. I'm hoping to get it with either A.J. and Tracy joining forces to keep Franco from seizing control of ELQ, or A.J. and Franco throwing in together to unseat their crazy aunt. The truth is I don't think Tracy deserves to be the head of ELQ after the way she repeatedly tried to destroy the company simply because she wasn't in charge. ELQ is her father's legacy and should be protected at all costs, but she didn't do that.

Speaking of Franco, I am really hoping that the writers take full advantage of the clean slate that they have given him by writing him as a completely new character with Franco's better qualities sprinkled in. I want someone like Jasper Jacks, but the Jasper Jacks he was before Sonny and Jerry tainted him. I love Roger Howarth's comedic timing, so I don't want to lose that aspect of Franco, but I do want it to be toned down so he seems less cartoonish. It worked when it was the product of a brain tumor, but that excuse is gone now. This is an opportunity for the writers to go outside of the box and create a character that everyone can root for. Roger is a wonderful actor and up to the challenge.

In other news, Morgan's days with Kiki are truly numbered because Silas has decided to run a paternity test to find out if Kiki is his daughter. The only thing that surprised me was that it took Silas this long to realize that there was a vial in the lab, with Kiki's name written in black Sharpie, containing her DNA. That Brad sure runs a top-notch lab.

This week Morgan proved that it was possible to dislike him more than I already do. I was absolutely disgusted when he manipulated Sonny into keeping his secret that Kiki wasn't a Quartermaine. My fears that he's going to try to drive a wedge between Sonny and Michael's relationship were realized during Morgan's visit with Sonny. Not only did Morgan get Sonny to betray Michael, which I think was pretty low, but he did it by preying on Sonny's guilt.

That was dirty and low, and frankly made me question how much of it was true. Timing is everything, and the timing of Morgan's confession that he feels like Sonny and Carly loved and favored Michael more than him is completely suspect, especially since he neglected to mention Dante, Kristina, and Josslyn. Where do they fall in the ranking for their parents' love?

I also thought that it was incredibly cruel of Morgan to ask Michael to be his best man because it felt like Morgan's true intention is to rub Michael's nose in the fact that Morgan is marrying the girl that Michael wants. Truth be told, as far as I'm concerned, Morgan can have Kiki because she's no better than Morgan. Her reasons for marrying Morgan don't even make sense.

Okay, everyone grab a parka because Hell has frozen over. This week I was actually cheering Carly on. For once, she is doing the right thing and making the most sense. I completely agreed with her assessment that Kiki and Morgan marrying wouldn't put a dent in Michael and Kiki's attraction for each other because being cousins hadn't. More importantly, Carly sees what everyone is refusing to: Morgan is going to end up broken-hearted regardless of whether he marries Kiki or not, because Kiki loves Michael, not Morgan.

I also like that Carly has been playing nice with Elizabeth and Sam lately. She's genuinely making an effort to make peace with each lady after years of acrimony. Carly's character has shown some real growth in recent weeks, and I like it. Kudos.

The person who doesn't get kudos from me is Kiki. I have absolutely no respect for her at this point because what she's doing is wrong. She should walk away from both Morgan and Michael rather than burrow herself deeper into their lives and continue to torture everyone. She comes off as exceedingly selfish right now and that's a huge turnoff.

Ideally, Kiki will marry Morgan, and Michael will move on with someone else before the secret is revealed, but that seems unlikely, since Connie only has hours to save her beloved Crimson with a shocking scandal. Luckily for Connie, one fell right into her lap when she overheard Morgan confess that Kiki was not Michael's cousin, which means that Kiki's vote at the recent ELQ shareholder's meeting is invalid.

I don't mind that Connie will throw Sonny, Morgan, and Kiki under the bus in one fell swoop because I think that they each richly deserve it, but once again, Michael will be the one who is hurt the most once he realizes how both Sonny and Morgan betrayed him -- Sonny when he backed Morgan's lie and Morgan for allowing Michael to believe that Michael was having incestuous thoughts. That kind of betrayal cuts deep. Worse, Michael's consolation prize will be Kiki. He deserves better than that.

At the end of Friday's show, Connie tore through Franco and Ava's bedroom, looking for proof that Kiki was not Franco's daughter. She hit paydirt when she found a slim silver lockbox hidden inside a feather pillow on presumably Ava's side of the bed. My first thought was that it had to put a crick in your neck every morning if you slept on that pillow. My second thought was that we last saw the birth certificate shoved it into the pocket of Ava's robe earlier that morning when Duke stopped by for a visit. I doubt that Ava would have had the time to stash it in a box and sew it into her pillow before dashing off to meet Julian, so what else could be in that lockbox?

Could it be proof that Ava shot Olivia? That seems far more likely and far more dangerous information to discover.

I don't know who or what slammed Franco and Ava's bedroom door shut. The wind? Alice? It wasn't Ava because Ava was standing in Connie's office with Julian and Sam playing eye tag, so the viewers could soak in Sam's first encounter with her father and aunt. Franco is in the hospital recovering from brain surgery, so I doubt that it's him, and Tracy mentioned that A.J. was out celebrating with Elizabeth, which I sincerely hope is a teaser that A.J. and Elizabeth will finally hit the sheets next week.

We can also rule out Luke because he surfaced across the pond with partner in crime, Holly Sutton. Apparently, Holly has taken an afternoon break from sitting vigil at Robert's bedside to enlist a couple of friends to storm a high-security bank somewhere in Switzerland. It was a pleasant surprise to see Holly helping Luke because I love Emma Samms. Luke and Holly have great energy together, and Laura is lurking in the shadows, so I expect some great scenes next week. Plus, I'm desperate for an update on Robert. Remember, Robert knows that Robin is alive, so the first thing that he will do when he wakes up from his coma is rescue his daughter.

So any guesses on who the father of Britt's baby is? I am still hoping she was impregnated with Dante and Lulu embryo, but that possibility seems less likely after this week when she admitted that she felt bad that the biological father, not the biological parents, didn't know about the pregnancy. Rats.

My initial hunch was that it's a Cassadine baby -- possibly Stavros' offspring. However, I think it would be way too weird to do a romance with Britt and Nikolas and have them raise his little brother or sister.

Jerry Jacks is another possible contender because he was the one Dr. Obrecht called upon when she needed help whisking Robin away from the clinic. It certainly wouldn't be a stretch for Dr. Obrecht to throw Britt into Jerry's path and let Britt work her magic on Jerry. I could easily see Jerry being drawn to someone like Britt, who has the blood of both Dr. Obrecht and Faison coursing through her veins.

The long shot would be Julian. If he turned out to be the father of Britt's baby then perhaps the stem cells from the baby's umbilical cord could be used to save Danny. It would also be a great way to redeem Britt if she's the one to suggest it because she knows that Julian is her baby's father.

A few things that tickled my fancy

Dr. Obrecht warns Britt that Sabrina and Felix are plotting against BrittBritt: "You rode your flying monkey across the Atlantic to tell me something that I already know?"

Britt tries to open up to her mother about how Britt is feelingBritt: "My body's fine, it's my heart."Dr. Obrecht: "Oh, how American. Are we going to discuss your feelings now?"

Olivia warns Derek/Julian not to manhandle Maxie againOlivia: "If I ever catch you putting your hands on Maxie again, you will regret it."Derek/Julian: "Is that a threat?"Olivia: "No, I'm flirting. Yeah, it's a threat."

Ava tries to walk away but Duke reaches out to stop herAva: "And here I thought your were an English gentleman."Duke: "Bite your tongue. I'm a Scot, and I'm no gentleman."Ava: "Remove your hand, or you'll find out I'm not lady."Duke: "I already gathered that much."

Thank you for taking the time to read this week's column. I love to read your thoughts, too, so click here to send me an email or scroll down the page to leave comments.

Until next time, dear readers, take care. Liz Masters

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