Merciful forgiveness

As a father battled for his life, one son offered mercy through forgiveness, another went off the rails, and a third raced to find a killer who posed a threat to their family. Meanwhile, hidden sins slowly began to bubble to the surface, but are some simply unforgiveable?

Did I miss something? Why does Jordan need evidence to expose the election fraud? I recall Jordan helping Shawn to dump the ballot box into the harbor, which means that Jordan's testimony as an undercover agent should be sufficient to impeach the mayor and send Janice Lomax off to jail.

In the scheme of things, Kyle is a very tiny fish. I imagine that with a little persuading and a good plea bargain, Lomax would be happy to hand Prince Nikolas over to the authorities on a silver platter.

It's a silly, convoluted plot device used to create needless drama for Kyle and Anna. The couple is already fraught with angst because of their history -- Anna was once Kyle's mentor, he came to town to take her down, and the circumstances that led to them sleeping together were related to the death of the love of Anna's life -- so the blackmail is completely pointless. Why turn Kyle into a jerk by having him threaten to expose Anna as Carlos' murderer when it was that incident that actually made him look like a decent guy who genuinely cared about Anna?

I loved the chemistry between Kyle 1.0 and Anna, so I was predisposed to like the paring as soon as I learned that Robb Derringer was set to reprise the role. I was all set to watch an interesting romance unfold. My hopes soared when Kyle agreed to help Anna force Nikolas to return control of ELQ to Michael, knowing that Anna wasn't ready to embark on a romance with Kyle. It was romantic. He was doing something good for a woman he cared about and taking the first steps to fight for her.

But in an instant, Kyle morphed into a traitor. To say that I was disappointed would be an understatement. I kept waiting for Kyle to come to his senses as Sam desperately tried to persuade him to tell the truth, but it was all in vain, even when she warned Kyle that the betrayal would cut Anna deep. Kyle stubbornly held fast to his lie.

I was further disgusted when Kyle only began to have regrets after Anna told him that she had decided to give their relationship a chance after all. The coup de grce was when Kyle decided to blackmail Anna by threatening to take her down with him if she didn't secure immunity for him in the mayoral election tampering.

If the writers intend to move forward with Kyle and Anna, then they had better start by making Kyle crawl on his belly over molten lava and broken glass for Anna.

Luckily for Anna, Jordan never talked to Ric and agreed to let the matter drop for the time being. But as I stated earlier, it's moot because Jordan can take down the mayor and Nikolas without Kyle. Why she doesn't is a mystery to me.

Then again, Jordan isn't thinking clearly these days because her worst fear was realized when T.J. was abducted by the Three Stooges as bait to lure Sonny to his doom.

Here's the problem that I have with Julian being the mastermind behind the hijacked shipments, T.J.'s abduction, and Sonny's shooting -- Charlie.

When we first met Charlie, Nathan had picked him up at the bus station as he was trying to flee town. Charlie rather quickly agreed to testify against Julian, which led to Julian's arrest. It doesn't make a lick of sense that Charlie would turn around and make a beeline for Julian upon Charlie's release then agree to kidnap the police commissioner's son to get to Sonny. There's also the issue that Charlie never once truly confirmed that he worked for Julian. Yes, he told the police that he did, but they offered him immunity if he did, so of course he agreed. T.J. even raised the issue with Charlie several times, but Charlie never admitted that Julian was his boss.

It also doesn't make any sense for Julian to have been chatting it up with Olivia minutes before slipping into the warehouse to kill Sonny. Even the stupidest criminal on the planet would realize that's tantamount to leaving a witness behind. Julian is not stupid.

By far, the most frustrating scenes to watch were the ones at the police station when both Morgan and Dante treated Julian like their own personal punching bag. Not only should both men have been locked up for assault, but there has to be something completely illegal about Dante having Julian tossed in jail for 48 hours after sucker-punching a suspect in Dante's father's attempted murder. At the very least, Dante should be put on administrative leave if not outright fired.

I was disgusted. I get why Dante's knee-jerk reaction is to suspect Julian of shooting Sonny, but that is not why Dante punched Julian. Dante punched Julian because Julian hit a nerve by wondering if Dante had inherited Sonny's roving eye for women.

It's moments like that when I despise Dante. He's volatile, violent, and currently quite vile because he's a jealous lying cheater who holds his wife to a higher standard than he holds himself.

I want Dante to be honest with Lulu before he's forced to. That time appears to be fast approaching because Valerie is either pregnant or about to go Fatal Attraction on Dante. Either way, the clock is quickly ticking down to Lulu learning the truth. It will be so much better if Lulu hears it from Dante because if he comes clean out of necessity then Lulu might not forgive him. It wouldn't be the affair that would do their marriage in, but the lack of trust because of the ongoing lying.

Dante and Lulu can weather this typhoon if Dante is honest for the right reasons and maybe agrees to go to anger management counseling. Marriages can weather infidelities and even unplanned pregnancies, so it is possible for Dante and Lulu to get through this with some hard work.

Was I the only one whose jaw dropped at Maxie and Lulu's revisionist accounting of how Michael had killed Claudia and ended up in jail?

I don't know if it was the shock of learning that Sonny had been shot or the expensive Champagne Maxie and Lulu were chugging that clouded their memory, but I do know that it wasn't Maxie's place to talk to Michael's girlfriend about him as if Maxie was an expert on him. Maxie and Michael are friends -- not good or close friends -- but certainly more than mere acquaintances.

Lulu does have a closer relationship with Michael as his sister-in-law and cousin, but she isn't particularly close to him either. Lulu and Maxie's version of events made me want to send them copies of the episodes to refresh their memories of exactly how Claudia had met her grisly end.

For those who didn't watch the show when Michael killed Claudia, please allow me to set the scene.

Claudia was a ruthless person, filled with rage and a heavy dose of instability. After suffering a miscarriage and being confronted by her enraged husband Sonny about her role in the botched hit that had resulted in Michael being shot in the head, Claudia knew that her number was up, so she abducted a very pregnant Carly at gunpoint then used her as a human shield to make a quick escape.

Claudia's mind continued to unravel as she raced away from Port Charles with her hostage, who had gone into labor. After forcing Claudia to crash the car, Carly fled to a nearby cabin, but Claudia soon caught up with her. Claudia helped deliver Josslyn, but by this time, Claudia had completely unspooled. She decided to take Josslyn, since Carly already had two children, while Claudia had none.

Enter Michael, who had tracked Carly and Claudia down to the cabin just as Carly cried out, begging Claudia not to take Josslyn. Fearing the worst, and knowing what Claudia was capable of, Michael picked up an axe handle, entered the cabin then swung once with deadly accuracy. Claudia died instantly from a single blow to the head.

It had nothing to do with how Michael had been raised or Sonny and Jason's influence. Michael killed Claudia because he rightfully believed that both his mother and sister were in danger.

The problem arose when Sonny, Carly, and Jason decided to cover up the justified homicide and Sonny ended up standing trial for Claudia's murder. Filled with remorse and fear for Sonny, Michael confessed to killing Claudia. The judge didn't send Michael to jail for killing Claudia, which everyone agreed was justified, but for allowing everyone to cover up the truth. The judge wanted to teach both Michael -- and those around him -- a lesson.

I applauded Sabrina for shutting both Maxie and Lulu down with a reminder that Michael was a Quartermaine and had walked away from Sonny's life. Unfortunately, it was for naught because Sonny's brush with death forced Michael to put aside his anger and offer Sonny complete forgiveness.

I get why Michael has once again embraced Sonny as his father. You can't hate someone as fiercely as Michael had Sonny without a deep and abiding love at its core. Michael felt so hurt and betrayed because he had believed that he could trust Sonny above all and that Sonny would never break his word to Michael. It was an unrealistic expectation because Sonny is both human and a criminal, but children don't always see the flaws of the people who raise them. He loved Sonny, and Sonny -- good or bad -- was the man he called father for most of his life.

When faced with the possibility of losing Sonny, Michael saw the truth in his heart. He loved Sonny and still considered Sonny his father.

Sadly, it seems that with the return of his love for Sonny came the young mob prince Michael had been unintentionally groomed to become. Without batting an eye, Michael stepped into Sonny's shoes by increasing the guards, having them report to him, and circling the wagons around the family.

I really hope that once Sonny recovers, Michael returns to focusing on building the free clinic and being a business mogul because I enjoyed that side of Michael far more than watching him slowly get sucked into Sonny's world.

There has to be a way for Michael to balance both worlds because if he doesn't, then he will end up losing Sabrina. I don't want that to happen because I like their romance, and I like Michael being one of the truly good guys.

Good guys with black hats are a-plenty in Port Charles.

It's why I also want Nikolas to be redeemed. He doesn't have to be perfect, but Sonny is the guy who puts hits on women, not Nikolas. I prefer Nikolas to be ruthless in business, not in life. Fingers crossed, Hayden doesn't change too much when her memories return because this time around, I really enjoy her.

Why isn't anyone keeping a better eye on Morgan? I realize that Carly has her hands full, worrying about Sonny, but even a blind person can see that Morgan is out of control. For his own safety, as well as the safety of the general public, someone should have marched Morgan straight to Kevin's office for some kind of medical intervention -- like a horse tranquilizer.

Will Liz tell Jake that he's really Jason? I want her to, so she can start moving into the redemption phase once again. However, I suspect that she's either going to be interrupted or chicken out. I want Liz to be honest with Jason for two reasons: for their son and because it's clear that Jason and Sam are the endgame. There's really no reason to prolong the agony for the viewing audience.

I feel most sorry for Patrick because, despite all of Sam's claims that she's happy with him, the fact that she's standing on the pier, crying about Jason to Jake, tells me that Sam is still very much stuck in the past. She wants to move forward, but she hasn't.

Finally, I have one request for the powers that be at ABC. Please allow the new writers to be creative and write. At the moment, it feels as if we have too many cooks in the kitchen, each with a different vision of what should be on the menu. I've seen this kind of chaotic disconnected writing in the past when Brian Frons was trying to steer the direction of the show, and it nearly led to its cancellation.

When Frank Valentini and Ron Carlivati joined the show, the ratings shot up tremendously the first few years because it was clear that everyone had stepped back to let them work their magic. The reality is that you can't please all the viewers with everything. Someone will always find something to complain about, whether it's a pairing or the direction of a character. The best the writers can do is focus on what works and stop trying to fix what isn't broken. The rest will fall in line.

Let's start a drinking game. For every flashback we see, we take a shot of our favorite beverage -- mine is coffee. We get flashbacks in every episode except when we actually want to see them. Example: Luke's goodbye.

Why exactly is a top-rated neurosurgeon the on-call doctor in an ER?

Call me silly, but I wouldn't want the attorney who represents my worst enemy to represent me in a murder trial. That said, I really do hope Diane returns to defend Ava. It should be quite interesting to see these two ladies exchange barbs.

The best-dressed honor for the wedding goes to Sabrina. Teresa Castillo looked positively radiant.

One of the best parts of GH is the relationship between Julian and Ava Julian

: 'Well, I, um, I come bearing good news."Ava: "You got the recording?"Julian: "Not that good. But Diane Miller did agree to represent you."Ava: "Oh, swell."Julian: "Well, don't get so excited. I wouldn't want you to pull a muscle or anything."

Tracy proves to be the paragon of understanding when Paul opens up about divorcePaul: "The decree itself is not the problem. The feeling that I'm a failure -- that's another story."Tracy: "A failure because of a divorce? Ha! Look who you're talking to."Paul: "My other ex-wife?"Tracy: "Yeah. The Quartermaines have racked up failed marriages in record numbers, both before and after your stint with our family."Paul: "Yes, but our breakup was so acrimonious that you basically went on the run with our son and kept me from being a part of his life."Tracy: "Okay. So, in retrospect, perhaps I was a little -- I overreacted."

Tracy weighs in with her thoughts about Sonny and Carly's nuptialsTracy: "Oh, it's quite all right. We were only discussing failed marriages. Why don't you tell us about Sonny and Carly's latest trip to the altar. I can't believe that Michael went. I bet his real father is rolling over in his grave."Sabrina: "There was no wedding."Tracy: "You're kidding. Carly came to her senses?"

Kyle pays Nikolas a visitNikolas: "Look who's back. How can I help you, Sloane?"Kyle: "I require an audience with the prince."

Take care and happy viewing,Liz Masters

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