Guns and lilies

It was a week filled with shocking twists and turns as Anna busted a drug shipment, Jordan was revealed to be working undercover, Julian was arrested, and Lucas was shot. It's Two Scoops of action and intrigue with a side order of romance.

I've been asked numerous times by readers why I love Julian yet I dislike Sonny. Some have accused me of being superficial for liking Julian because I find William deVry exceedingly attractive. Well, I am guilty of that. I refuse to apologize for thinking that William deVry is hot. However, my affection for Julian goes beyond his visual perfection. I find the character of Julian sexy, interesting, witty, charming, and, this week, downright endearing because Julian did what Sonny has never even tried to do with any real conviction -- walk away from the mob.

Granted, I only have a vague recollection of Julian during his first stint on General Hospital way back when because I was less dedicated to watching the show while I was busy with school and friends. Therefore, the only version of Julian that I really know is the one portrayed by William deVry. Perhaps that's why it's easier for me to like Julian than it is for someone who was a far more loyal viewer than I during those days when Julian wreaked havoc on Port Charles.

I was thrilled that Julian put his family first and opted to quit the mob, but sadly, Luke was not as nice about Julian's resignation as Sonny was about Duke's. Luke -- who once against proved to me that he is an imposter -- decided to not only send Julian a message by killing someone close to Julian, but then took it a step further by going to the hospital to finish the job of killing his own nephew -- the son that Bobbie loves and adores beyond reason.

The real Luke would never do that. I don't care how many electroshock treatments and drugs he had been subjected to, Luke would never hurt Bobbie like that. Ever. Proof of his love and loyalty to Bobbie was his reluctant acceptance of Carly when it was discovered that she was the daughter that Bobbie had given up for adoption. It eventually led to a genuine affectionate relationship. For all of Luke's faults, he loves his family, especially his children and Barbara Jean. He would never subject any of them to the pain of losing a child especially after what happened with Lucky and Jake.

Fortunately for poor unconscious Lucas, he has a guardian angel watching over him -- I'd like to think it's Tony -- because Lucas was shot in a room while a brilliant doctor and top-notch nurse were present. Later, Lucas was saved by his mother's very timely arrival as Luke tried to covertly cinch the breathing tube to block the airflow to Lucas. Luke did get another crack at killing Lucas, but that, too, is about to be foiled because Julian managed to get himself out of jail and immediately high-tailed it over to the hospital.

I am a little curious, though, why the alarms on the ventilator don't go off when there's an interruption like that. Regardless, Lucas is proving to be hard to kill, and I for one am very happy about that because I love Lucas, and I do not want to see him die.

Luke, on the other hand, can take a flying leap into the pit of Hades.

The longer that this storyline with UnLuke drags on, the more frustrated I become with the people around Luke, starting with Tracy. When exactly did the savvy, smart Tracy check out and leave the gullible, blind Tracy in charge of the brain? How in blazes can Tracy not see that things are not adding up with Luke? She keeps catching him in these strange situations, some of which are downright alarming, yet she continues to make excuses and gives Luke free passes.

I don't care how angry or betrayed I feel by my child. If I had walked in on my husband pointing a loaded gun at my son, it's the husband who would have been sent packing, not my child. Luke's ridiculous excuse about Ned startling him by stepping out of the shadows was not only preposterous because Ned was standing in the middle of a brightly lit room, but an obvious lie because Ned has no reason to make a story up about Luke. Ned already seized control of ELQ, so he has nothing to gain by discrediting Luke except to save his mother from whatever dark path Luke is leading her down.

There was a brief instant when I thought that I saw a flicker of doubt about Luke in Tracy's eye as Ned told her about Luke's threat to kill Ned and make it appear it had been a suicide, but the moment quickly passed when Tracy sided with Luke and threw Ned out of the mansion, which is Monica's, not Tracy's, place to do, since the mansion does belong to Monica. I'm relieved that Ned decided not to remind his mother of that fact and left because I want Ned out of immediate harm's way from Luke. I do not doubt for a second that Luke wouldn't hesitate to carry out any of his deadly threats.

That point was driven home when Luke shot Harry in the park in cold blood. Luke clearly lacks a conscience, and I genuinely fear for Lulu at this point because she had the misfortune to bump into Luke and Harry in the park before the shooting at the gallery. I wouldn't put it past Luke to decide that Lulu was a danger to his secret life as a mob kingpin and decide to take her out because she could link Harry to Luke.

Don't forget that Lulu is married to a cop who is investigating the case, so she could easily see a picture of the hit man who shot her cousin.

As a side note: Did anyone find it odd that Luke had to ask Lulu what Dante's name was?

I think that Alexis is right. The only way for Julian to truly protect his family is to name names and send Luke to jail. Behind bars, a man like Luke loses a lot of his leverage and power despite what he told Alexis. His warning to Alexis was simply a desperate attempt of a man who is afraid of being caught.

The person who has the biggest target on their back right now isn't Lucas, but rather Ava, because not only does Luke want her dead for betraying the Jerome organization to Sonny, but now her only ally, Sonny, is about learn that on top of shooting Olivia, Ava murdered Connie to keep Connie from telling Sonny that Derek Wells was really Julian Jerome. Carly decided that she's perfectly fine with passing down a death sentence to Ava by telling Sonny the truth about Connie's murder, so the show ended on Friday with Carly marching into Sonny's office to inform him to brace himself because she had some bad news to share about Connie.

What I'm hoping for is the realization when Sonny discovers that not only was A.J. an innocent man but that Sonny murdered a man who had been defending himself against a woman who had tried to kill him on more than one occasion, including just moments before Sonny's arrival.

Will Sonny acknowledge that? Will the guilt of what he did to A.J. haunt Sonny until he confesses the truth to Michael? Ideally, yes, but then I remind myself that this is Sonny I'm talking about, and self-preservation runs deep in him. It's highly unlikely that he would risk losing Michael by confessing the truth and clearing A.J.'s name.

However, soap secrets are ticking time bombs, so it is inevitable this particular bomb will blow in spectacular fashion, and Michael will learn the truth. I think that there's a very slim chance that Sonny could salvage his relationship with Michael by being honest and coming clean before Michael learns the truth through another means.

Ironically, both Michael and Morgan will soon discover that Sonny doesn't play favorites when it comes to betrayals.

That is why I dislike Sonny. He is, at his core, an exceedingly selfish man when it comes to his baser impulses, which is exactly why Sonny has never attempted to leave the mob and has betrayed each of his children in one fashion or another.

Thanks to A.J.'s revealing recording, we were treated to a short visit with Spinelli and Ellie. I have always enjoyed them as a couple, so I was really happy to learn that they were still together and living happily in Portland, Oregon. And little Georgie was absolutely precious with that ponytail on the top of her head.

I'm hoping that when Maxie goes to court, the judge shows some compassion and allows her to have visitations with her daughter, if for no other reason than to get more glimpses of that adorable child. Maxie made her amends, so it's time for her to really start moving forward, beginning with a swift kick to Levi's rear as she tosses him out of her life. I agree with Nathan that Levi has an unhealthy influence over Maxie.

Dear readers, I have had a complete 180-degree turn in my opinion about Nathan, and I credit two things: his new dialogue and his chemistry with Maxie. It is true that I do not like Levi -- there is something very sketchy about him -- but that has nothing to do with the way that I feel about Nathan and Maxie as a couple. It's like Nathan's efforts to snap Maxie out of the strange trance that Levi has her in has made Nathan develop an interesting personality. I've recently found myself enjoying his interactions with everyone, including gasp with his horrid sister, Britt, who I detest with the fiery passion of a thousand suns.

I love that Nathan is making sense not only about Levi, but about Georgie too. I also like the way that Maxie looks at Nathan. There's definitely a spark in her eye and chemistry between the characters. Far more than there is between Maxie and Levi. However, as much as I like the new, enlightened Maxie, I want to see a bit of her old quirkiness back, especially with Nathan. I think that it could be a lot of fun to see him try to handle someone as unpredictable as Maxie.

Romance is in the air for Ric and Elizabeth, too, because this week, they went out for a date that Ric's daughter, Molly, crashed. It's nice to see Ric being a father to Molly, and I'm so glad that Molly is no longer obsessed with having sex with T.J., so I definitely see Ric having a positive influence on his daughter. However, as much as I adore Ric, I want Nikolas and Liz to be the endgame, not Ric and Liz.

The problem with Ric and Liz is their history. I love Ric and want him to remain a good guy, but he has done some tremendously terrible things to Liz in the past, so she would be utterly foolish to let him back into her life, especially since she has two children to consider. I get that she's drawn to Ric and always has been, but it's the same kind of toxic attraction that Carly and Sonny were stuck in through four marriages until they finally realized that despite how much they loved each other, they were just not meant to be together.

Frankly, I think that Ric is better suited for someone like Britt, who could learn a thing or two from Ric about redemption if this new Ric is to be believed. The problem, though, is that Ric and Britt have very high levels of cray-cray flowing through their veins, and the potential for them to draw that out in each other is pretty high. I could easily see the two joining forces and completely losing their minds in their efforts to try to break up Nik and Liz, so if Ric and Britt find a connection, I hope it's so they both can move forward.

Also this week, Silas received a delivery of beautiful lilies from a mystery sender who signed it, Love, Me. I don't think that it would be a great big leap to guess that those flowers were sent by his wife, Nina, who recently woke up from her coma and called out his name. I'm anxious to see what kind of person Nina turns out to be and how Michelle Stafford will fit in with the rest of the cast. I have great hopes because I've heard a lot of good things about her, so my fingers are crossed that this will be good. I'm a firm believer that the best soap romances are the ones that occasionally face challenges and rise to the occasion when the love is tested, so I'm curious to see how Silas and Sam's relationship weathers this storm.

The biggest twist this week was finding out that Jordan is an agent working undercover for the Drug Enforcement Agency. Her mission: find and apprehend Julian's boss.

Sadly, despite hoping that Jordan successfully completes her assignment sooner rather than later, I still don't like Jordan. I don't care if she's a DEA agent because it doesn't change or negate what she did to her son. And what Jordan did to T.J. was awful. T.J. was shipped away to live with Shawn for two years because T.J. was told that he had been too much trouble for his mother to handle.

Admitting that Jordan had been busted for drugs and sent to jail would have been far kinder to T.J. than making him feel worthless and unwanted by his mother after he had lost his father. Jordan was spot-on when she said that she had sacrificed her only child for her mission. That is exactly what she did, so she will have to do a lot to make up for the terrible way that she treated T.J. in order for me to change my mind about her. I'm sorry, but I can't turn off the mother in me for a soap opera.

In other news, Kevin decided that he is going to file for divorce. Hallelujah because I think that it was the only decision that he could have made under the circumstances, especially after Lucy confessed that she loved both Kevin and Scott. I believed that Lucy was sincere when she said that, but I also believe that while she loves Kevin, she is in love with Scott. Lucy was going to keep going in circles with both men until someone stopped the madness, and that person had to be Kevin because Lucy is completely incapable of sticking to her decisions, which his how she ended up onstage in her underwear, making out with Scott during the Nurses Ball.

In other relationship news, Morgan is still reeling from his father's betrayal by sleeping with Ava. It's hard for me to feel bad for Morgan because the truth is that Morgan and Ava were great for a steamy fling, but not for a long-term relationship. Ava is the kind of woman who thrives on a challenge, so I think that she was already tiring of Morgan, which is why she slept with Sonny.

Morgan is better off without Ava, so I hope that he finds someone else -- and I don't mean Kiki.

Things that tickled my fancy

Felix drops off a delivery of flowers that were sent to SilasFelix: "Somebody got flowers."Silas: "Shocking, being that this is a hospital and all. Now, would you please get them out of my way, Felix?"

Luke is annoyed to be kept waiting when his hired killer runs lateLuke: "I don't pay you to make me wait."Harry: "Look, I only control life and death. Trains from the city are, uh, beyond my power."

Franco tries to intimidate Ellie when she objects to Carly's requestCarly: "You can't touch that."Ellie: "But it's his computer."Franco: "Yeah, well, it's Carly's phone."Ellie: "Whoa -- I thought you said it was A.J. Quartermaine's phone."Franco: "You know, in ancient Egypt, they buried the redheads alive as an offering to the god, Osiris."Ellie: "Why would you say that?"Franco: "Because it's true. And it's interesting."

Ric persuades Liz to let him take her homeElizabeth: "No, that's too much trouble."Ric: "No, it's no trouble. It is a transparent maneuver to be able to, you know, make out with you a little bit in the car before I have to walk you to the door."Elizabeth: "Pathetic."Ric: "Only if you get through the door without giving me a goodnight kiss. And frankly, my money is on me."Elizabeth: "Oh, wow. Well, at least one of us finds you irresistible."

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

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