Crime and punishment

Luke languished in the basement of his childhood home at Fluke's mercy, Johnny's murder conviction was vacated, and Julian opted to hide out in prison to avoid an assassin's bullet -- which paved the way for an unlikely alliance between Julian and Sonny. Liz Masters discusses the scales of justice in this week's Two Scoops.

So, Fluke is Bill Eckert. At least that is what the writers appear to be alluding to with all that talk of Bill Eckert this week and revealing that Bill owns Luke and Bobbie's childhood home. Nothing has been confirmed yet, so there is a little wiggle room for a twist -- especially since there is quite a bit of chatter about Luke and Bobbie's older sister, Patricia. However, it appears that in one fashion or another, the impostor is related to Luke and Bobbie Spencer.

Before this week, I believe that Patricia was only mentioned once or twice many, many years ago when Luke and Bobbie were first introduced as siblings. Not much was said about Patricia back then, so I have only the vaguest of recollections that there was an older sister.

Honestly, Luke and Bobbie's sister became the stuff of legends that only longtime diehard fans were aware of. Many, myself included, assumed that Patricia had simply gone the way of the Dodo bird -- extinct and forgotten, but how wrong we were. Imagine my surprise when this week, we not only had one but several mentions of the elusive Patricia Spencer. From what was said, it appears that Patricia is a very sore subject with Bobbie, Luke, and even the impostor. Why remains a mystery, but according to Bobbie, she and Luke had an unspoken agreement to never ever discuss their sister, Pat/Patty/Patricia. Color me thoroughly intrigued.

I still hate Fluke with every fiber of my being and eagerly anticipate him getting his just deserts that hopefully includes a long and painful demise, but I'm now willing to tolerate him a tad bit longer to find out what gives between the Spencer siblings and how this impostor fits into it all. After all, I can't imagine why Bill Eckert would be interested in owning the Spencer home, since, to my knowledge, he did not grow up in it. It couldn't have been envy because it's well known that Papa Spencer was a raging abusive alcoholic who tormented his children on a daily basis.

I could never have imagined that this story would take such an interesting twist, so hats off to the writers for turning this dreadful storyline around with a few brilliant strokes of their pens -- or is it taps of their keyboards? Regardless, kudos. Meanwhile, Fluke's new figurehead-minion, Johnny Zacchara, settled into the old Zacchara penthouse with its tacky decor of brothel meets The Godfather circa 1972. If ever there was a set in desperate need of a makeover, it's that one, followed by Maxie's apartment with its hideously distracting wallpaper.

Even though Johnny isn't all that likeable this time around, I have to admit that he does spice things up, especially for Dante and Lulu, who are settling into happily ever after just a wee bit too much. In real life, that would be great, but on a soap opera it quickly gets stale. I think it's good for a soap opera couple to be occasionally challenged because it allows them to grow, which in turn deepens their bond. That is what ultimately paves the way to supercouple status.

Johnny is exactly what the doctor ordered for Dante and Lulu right now because the Falconeris don't really have anything going on with their lives other than Lulu being a full-time mom raising little Rocco while Dante works long hours as a detective. Lulu needs something to do other than play wing-woman to Maxie's new romance with Nathan and hosting non-weddings on the Haunted Star.

I don't want Lulu to have an affair with Johnny or anything like that, but I would like to see Dante learn to be a little less caveman-like. It was so not cool of Dante to pay Johnny a visit to warn him to stay away from Lulu without discussing it with Lulu first. That's a decision Lulu needs to make for herself. Dante is her husband not her father, so he should treat her like a respected partner rather than a child.

In that aspect, Fluke and Helena have much better communication between them than Dante and Lulu. There appears to be genuine respect between Fluke and Helena as they touched base with each other to discuss their nefarious plots against those who stood in their path and then set up a tentative date to meet. I have no idea what Helena has in store for Sam, but I suspect Jake will play a key role in deterring the mother of his child from digging any further into who Helena's "soldier boy" is.

It's truly a thing of wonder how Sam can have such uncanny insight about some things -- like Jake being the gunman who helped Faison -- yet still do tremendously stupid things like question Liesl about Faison's accomplice. Everyone and their brother knows that Liesl's loyalty to Faison is unwavering to the point where Liesl would sooner lop off her head than share any of Faison's secrets, especially with someone like Sam. Why would Sam ever think Liesl would confirm that Jake had helped Faison escape police custody? More importantly, how could anyone feel threatened by Sam vowing to go to the police with her theory. There isn't a single smidgen of evidence to back up Sam's claim.

I can't wait to see how quickly Sam's view of things will change once she learns that Jake is Jason. It's a bit ironic that all the things she loved about Jason are now things she dislikes in Jake.

While the bad guys ran amok in Port Charles, doing their dastardly dirty deeds, the not-so-bad guys were in Pentonville paying their dues and working on their redemption.

I've disliked the character of Sonny for quite some time, in large part because I've always felt that he has never truly paid for his transgressions and crimes. Don't get me wrong, I like a sexy bad boy with a heart of gold way more than the goody-two shoes type who can do no wrong, but there has to be enough good in the bad boy to balance out the bad things he does and make me want to root for him. That means that every once in a while, he has to pay for his crimes.

Seeing Sonny lose Michael, go to jail, get his ass handed to him compliments of Johnny's goons, and knocked down several pegs has gone a long way in putting Sonny on a true path to redemption. Jail has done a lot of good for Sonny because it's given him some humility and dulled his insufferable arrogance enough for me to see the vulnerability in him again. It's also made Sonny more open-minded and willing to work with others.

In the past, Sonny would have gone all lone-wolf when dealing with his enemy, believing that he and only he could properly take care of the problem. Jail has taught Sonny the valuable lesson that everyone needs friends not just henchman to carry out orders. I like the idea of Julian and Sonny working together because not only do I want this alliance to carry over to when they get out of jail, which we all know they will, but for them to then forge a new peace in Port Charles that will allow both Julian and Sonny to focus more on their families rather than organized crime. It's a soap opera; we can have a new and friendlier mob if the writers will it.

Julian and Sonny will have to figure something out because they now share a common relative in Sonny's daughter and Julian's niece, Avery.

I'm so happy that someone finally named that child besides Franco and Nina who had no right to give that precious little girl a name. I loved the choice of Avery far more than Jaime even if part of the reason Ava picked the name was so her daughter would always carry a piece of Ava with her. It's a beautiful name. What I didn't like was Julian sleeping with Olivia. If I could, I would wipe it from my memory banks, but something tells me it's going to come back to bite us all in the proverbial rear because of Lisa LoCicero's real-life pregnancy. I hope I'm wrong and that the writers decide to put an interesting spin on the pregnancy -- if they write it in -- by having Olivia carry Dante and Lulu's frozen embryo. The bottom line is that Julian belongs with Alexis, not Olivia, so I don't want a baby mucking things up for my Julexis.

Finally, I'm so thrilled that Nathan and Maxie got to spend New Year's Eve together. I really like Nathan and Maxie as a couple because they really do complement each other, not just in appearance but in personalities too. They are totally adorable, and I love that Maxie finally has a stable boyfriend with a strong moral fiber.

Spinelli was sweet and quirky, but let's face it, he doesn't have any qualms about breaking the law when it suits him. Given Maxie's shady history, she needs someone who will steer her down a better path. By the way, be sure to check out the promos for Nancy Lee Grahn's new show, General Hospital Now, which will be launching this month. It looks like a lot of fun.

Is there some kind of town ordinance that gives Carly first dibs on all the new guys? I don't mind Jake and Carly striking up a friendship, but the idea of anything more between them makes me vomit a bit in my mouth. Carly's declaration that she made a New Year's resolution to move on without Sonny sounded way too much like the foreshadowing of a hookup between Carly and Jake.

Speaking of Carly, did anyone else notice the resemblance of Luke and Bobbie's childhood home to Carly's old house before Carly moved into the mansion?

Breaking up with Britt seems to have done Nikolas a world of good. He's looking quite handsome these days. Whoever is in charge of styling him, keep up the good work!

Can someone please explain to me what Agent Kyle Sloane is still doing in Port Charles if Frisco Jones, the new head of the World Security Bureau, closed the investigation against Anna? I like Agent Sloane -- who is about to get a new look -- but I would like to know why he's still hanging around.

Fans of this little jailbird will be disappointed to learn that his or her days on the show (and on earth) are numbered.

Fluke and Bobbie talk about Bill Eckert's resemblance to his cousin Luke Spencer Bobbie: "Identical cousins. Who would have thought it was possible?"Fluke: "Some Hollywood hack who invented The Patty Duke Show?"

Dante introduces Johnny to NathanJohnny: "Who's your friend?"Dante: "He's my partner."Nathan: "Detective Nathan West."Johnny: "You guys should've called first. I would've bought doughnuts last night."

Sam questions Liesl about JakeSam: "I'm not gonna take up much of your time. I just have a few questions about Jake."Liesl: "Delicate Nurse Webber's favorite roadkill?"Sam: "Yes, that's the guy."

Liesl has a little fun with Sam by admitting that Liesl had always suspected there was more to Jake than met the eyeSam: "Like what?"Liesl: "For instance, why has no one ever seen Mr. Doe and Batman in the same place at the same time -- or Spiderman for that matter?"

What are your thoughts on General Hospital? What did you think of this week's Two Scoops? We want to hear from you -- so drop your comments in the Comments section below, tweet about it on Twitter, share it on Facebook, or chat about it on our Message Boards.