Red, White, and Blue in Port Charles

Ethan's Red blood has spilled onto the floor of the Canadian lumberyard, Dante is Blue because he thinks Lulu is cheating on him, but Dillon is just trying to be Lulu's White knight in a time of crisis. We discuss this and so much more in this week's GH Two Scoops!

Dear readers, I am feeling particularly patriotic today. First, today is the Fourth of July! Happy Independence Day to you and yours. Second, I spent the past two weeks driving 6,000 miles around the United States, and you really can't do that without completely falling in love with America. Third, everyone in Port Charles is celebrating the holiday in his or her own twisted way, and that's made me feel festive.

Ethan's Red blood has spilled onto the floor of the Canadian lumberyard, Dante is Blue because he thinks Lulu is cheating on him, but instead, Dillon is just trying to be Lulu's White knight in a time of crisis.

Nathan and Maxie are creating their own fireworks (complete with handcuffs), and Ava wants to declare her independence from Denise, but knows she will go to jail if she does, so she is keeping the bad wig and the Bensonhurst accent for the time being.

One has to question her sanity bringing Franco into her confidence, but maybe the saying is true, and there is honor among thieves. (Or killers, as the case may be.) But, he's already onto her attraction to Morgan (or Hunky Brewster as he called him. So she might as well tell another person of her true identity. Delia knows, Silas knows, and Franco knows, Silas is the only one remotely trustworthy in that trio.

In a truly beautiful scene, Sabrina and Michael talked about right, wrong, forgiveness, motivations, and healing and came to the conclusion that Michael had to give Avery back to Sonny for the sake of his own soul. I am enjoying the pairing of Sabrina and Michael simply because they have both had such bad luck in love and so many heartbreaks, and for just a minute I'd like to see two nice people who deserve happiness find it. Have they both made bad mistakes and done unspeakable things? Sure, but over the course of a life, most of us have done things we regret and cringe when we think about.

Seeing Sonny with Avery is a joy, but we all know that bad things happen to Corinthos offspring, and it's only a matter of time until someone kidnaps her, shoots her, holds her at gunpoint, uses her as a bargaining chip to keep Sonny out of jail, or some other tragic occurrence. He's a mob kingpin for Pete's sake and his kids usually pay the price for his choices.

Michael has a new/old ally in Jakeson -- I love that Jake is creating bonds with Michael and Sam completely free of the knowledge that they are two of the most vital people in his life. I like to think that deep bonds would indeed transcend amnesia, even though there is probably no scientific basis for that at all.

Luke. Laura. Frank Smith. Oh, my goodness, I'm in GH heaven. I started watching GH in 1977, and this is like a high school flashback for me. If only Laura was wearing a wig! You have to hand it to Frank Smith. Imagine the amount of resolve it takes to hold a grudge for 20 years! I can't even hold a grudge for 30 minutes!

I loved the line "I never saw you coming. Mostly because I thought I killed you 20 years ago." Because right before Luke said it, I said the same thing to my husband who pretends he doesn't watch GH.

On that note, said husband asked me to add that the park where everyone is watching fireworks looks like the same park where they dug up Bill Eckert's bones awhile back. Okay, promise kept. Moving on.

Dante is at home, guzzling beers, taking comfort in his cousin-in-law before hearing Lulu out, even knowing she has been kidnapped, frozen, brainwashed, strapped to a bomb, and a host of other scary things before. If his detective instincts were better, he'd realize Lulu was in trouble. If he had the funds and the will to hop up on a whim and fly off across country to British Columbia, you'd think he might have looked around the hotel a little longer and maybe bumped into Lulu, Dillon, Laura, Luke, Ethan, Holly, Lucky, or who knows who else is lurking around there that he might recognize.

Instead, he scampered home to Valerie with his tail between his legs, started guzzling beer, and assumed the worst. I can understand a normal husband thinking that, but Dante and Lulu have been through so much together and so many bizarre scenarios, did he really think Lulu would just sneak off to Canada to be Dillon? Sigh. I only hope by the time the truth comes out that Dante hasn't slept with Valerie and trashed his whole marriage.

I keep trying to put myself in Lulu's shoes. Would I tell my husband the truth under the same circumstances? If one of my family members' lives were on the line, would I risk not following the kidnapper's orders? Perhaps. It all boils down to complete trust. To be honest, I can't think of many people I trust that much.Lulu knows that Dante's instinct would be to involve the authorities, so she couldn't risk it. But that choice to try to protect her brother might cost her marriage.

As to Luke, as I watch this plot unfold and I see Luke's time on GH ending, my heart gets heavy, and I feel like I am starting to mourn a dying relative. I know that's insane, but it's true. That having been said, if at the end, Luke ends up being killed by Frank Smith -- or Helena -- it would be poetic justice for a 30-year run of good luck that finally came to an end.

Here are my hopes. I want Luke to reunite with Tracy, however briefly, and for them to marry before the end. I want Luke and Laura to make peace. I want flashbacks, lots of them and I want them to say, "Wow, we had a great adventure together." I want Luke to get closure with Sonny, with Anna, with Alexis, and so many other characters he has impacted over the years. If Luke dies, it better be the biggest damned funeral GH has ever seen, and it should take the entire week -- every person on the show should get up to share a memory.

But if they are not going to kill him off and instead he just has to go on the run again and leave it open for a possible return someday, that would be even better, because I don't want to really have to say goodbye to him.

One of the sweetest scenes this week was Luke finding Ethan standing on the pressure-controlled bomb and refusing to leave him to die. I always loved the crazy mad chemistry of Anthony Geary and Nathan Parsons. The two of them should find a way to team up again. Wouldn't they be amazing in a buddy movie? Ethan was willing to take one for the team, but Luke was absolutely not having that and disarmed the bomb and led Ethan to safety. And now that Ethan is free with only a flesh wound, maybe he can track down Lucky and return the favor by saving Luke.

At this point, if I were Lulu, I would CALL DANTE (and the Canadian Mounted Police) and tell them everything! Lucky escaped, they know who is was holding him and where -- seriously, why aren't they calling for help?

Back in Port Charles, Nikolas has gotten control of ELQ away from the Q's and did it with the help of Lucy Coe. Who knew that Lucy was even paying attention? The entire population of Port Charles, other than Scott Baldwin, has always underestimated Lucy, and again, it cost them.

Nikolas seems sincere in his desire to truly make the company profitable and bring ELQ back to its former glory, and he might succeed, but at what cost? Even Spencer said he'd rather be a townie than see his dad be a corporate raider. (Okay, he tried to say it, but called him a corporal raider instead.) And, seriously, Spencer in the Uncle Sam hat was the most adorable thing all week.

Sam was right when she said if Jason were alive he'd kick Nikolas' butt, and even though Jason doesn't know he is Jason, I think some butt-kicking may be in store for him anyway. When Nikolas said to Sam "I guess I'm lucky he's not alive," it actually hurt me physically, like being kicked in the gut. I yelled at my TV! "Did you really just say that to her?" I was outraged on her behalf.

After the truth comes out, Nikolas and Elizabeth will have to get back together because no one else will have either of them after the secret the size of Texas they have been keeping and all the lies they have both told to keep it hidden. Oh, wait, Ric will make a play for Liz and say, "See! You're just as shady as I am! We are perfect for each other!" The only question I have is when will Liz get pregnant?

Back to Ric... Readers, I don't want to sound like an age-obsessed person, but Donna Mills is 74, and Rick Heart is 50. I'll leave that alone, but -- read my mind.

Madeline is lovely but pure evil. She wants to have her daughter committed to a mental hospital just to get her grubby hands on Nina's fortune, and Ric is helping her for reasons I don't understand. He isn't broke, he isn't homeless, and Sonny and other clients are paying him for his legal expertise. Why on earth would he want to or need to steal Nina's money? I thought he wanted to be a good dad to Molly? Imagine her disappointment in him when she finds out what he has done, and you can be sure that she will.

Poor Franco is telling anyone who will listen that Nina is being used, and no one is listening to him. When it all comes to a head, I can hardly wait to see Nina and Franco's reunion when she tells him he was right. Oh, I want that day to come soon to vindicate him and let his poor twisted lovesick heart to be made whole.

T.J. is still brokenhearted about Shawn's imprisonment, his mom's lies, and his racially motivated arrest, but moving in with Sonny and having the lovely Molly on his blanket for the Fourth of July has to bring him a little bit of happiness. I am glad GH touched that arrest storyline, but it ended too soon. IMHO, I wanted to dig in a little deeper.

Two side notes on Jordan. 1) I love Jordan's new hairstyle. 2) I have no idea why Jordan would be confiding all her secrets to Valerie, who only started working at the PCPD about three minutes ago.

What will happen tomorrow, dear readers? Will Valerie's weepy Fourth of July tears lead to Dante patriotically bedding her in an act of American charity? Will Elizabeth's guilt subside when she becomes impregnated with Jakeson's Yankee Doodle baby on their picnic blanket? Will Lulu ever realize she's like a Chihuahua taking on a pit bull in these crazy villain fights? Will Dillon cast himself in his movie about himself? Will Denise decide to free herself from being a brunette and dye her hair blonde for Independence Day? Will Laura and Holly become BFF's now that they had the talk and bonded over being one of Luke's baby mamas? Will anyone ever explain to me how Kelly's BLTs are so good when they do not toast their bread? (Ew. Soggy.) Will the next person to show up in the parade of villains wanting to do harm to Luke be Heather or Helena? Will Dr. Obrecht stand up for her BFF Franco when he finally marries her kooky niece Nina?

Only tomorrow knows, dear readers, and I will tune in tomorrow as long as there are tomorrows.Tamilu

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