Fifty shades of change

It was a week of confusing changes as Michael resumed his role as Sonny's son with seamless ease, Sam realized she still had hope that Jason was alive, and Paul was revealed to be Sonny's true enemy. Is this a sign of things to come, or is there more going on than meets the eye?

Watching General Hospital this week practically required a scorecard to keep up with all the changes that suddenly transpired.

Paul, a seemingly decent guy who had popped into town to finally build a relationship with his son after Paul's marriage to Jenny fell apart, turned out to be one of the bad guys. Or is he? I don't know because that phone call at the close of Friday's show was rather curious.

Could Paul have been talking to Jenny, the true wizard behind the curtain, pulling the strings? Is the queen, Helena, back in play? Or, was Paul simply talking to a trusted enforcer about what Ava might or might not do? Time will tell, but it's clear that there is more to Paul's desire to remain behind the scenes while Ava acts as the figurehead to the Jerome organization than fear of his son discovering his nefarious deeds.

It's also possible that Paul might be working undercover, but that's highly improbable because of his history with the corrupt Janice Lomax. They are more likely to be in cahoots than on opposite sides of the law. I doubt that their association and presence in Port Charles is coincidental. Coincidences like that on soap operas tend to be as rare as unicorns riding rainbows and sprinkling fairy dust.

I don't buy that Paul didn't know that Janice was the mayor because she's been all over the news lately, between the musical chair game with district attorneys and the scandalous twist in the Silas Clay murder case. More importantly, it was the mayor who pushed Ric to make a deal with Charlie then cut him loose without any police protection. Charlie turned out to be Paul's minion who had framed Julian then carried out the failed attempt to lure Sonny into an ambush by using T.J. as bait. Additionally, Paul was certain before he had even met with Janice that he would replace Ric as district attorney. Almost too confident, so this tells me that it might have been part of a grander plan.

Besides, if Paul is working undercover for the good guys, it's unlikely that he could get away with shooting a guy while skulking in the shadows -- even if the target is a crime lord.

I was really disappointed that Paul has turned out to be one of the bad guys. I'm with Alexis; we need genuinely good people around, especially in the law enforcement field. You know it's bad when Scott is starting to look like the best district attorney in eons.

My heart is broken for Dillon because he's going to be crushed, no matter how much he tries to protect his heart, when the truth comes out about Paul. And it will come out because people are going to be asking questions about Ava running a crime syndicate while she had been on the run and battled cancer. Sure, Julian is being framed, but the fact that Ava showed up at a mob meeting speaks volumes about Ava's, not Julian's, role in the organization.

Meanwhile, Sam is full of angst about her relationship with Patrick because she suddenly realized that there's a part of her -- buried deep down inside -- that still holds out hope that Jason is alive.

So much for all that talk about how Silas had helped Sam to move forward and open her heart to love -- twice -- by accepting that Jason was dead.

I suppose Sam could be having a resurgence of hope because she senses, on some level, that Jason is Jake. However, that's not really how it's being portrayed on-screen. Instead, Sam is claiming to love Patrick, while Jake has set a wedding date with Liz. If there's any attraction between Jake and Sam, then it's minimal because neither appears to be carrying even a flicker of a flame for the other to make them question their relationships. Sam is pining for Jason, not Jake. Jake's brief flashbacks of Sam aside, I don't see him sharing the same deep connection with her after all these months that he instantly felt with Liz when he woke up from his accident.

I also can't understand how a woman, who was so devoted and in love with her husband as Sam was with Jason, doesn't recognize things about him that can't be altered by surgery, brainwashing, or amnesia. Jason's face has changed, but not his eyes. I would recognize my husband's eyes in an instant as well as his hands, his hair, his voice, and even his butt. Sort of like Spinelli did when he saw Jason from behind.

I don't care if someone told me that my husband was dead, I would know him if he stood before me with a different face. That would be doubly true if I lived in Port Charles, where almost everyone has been "dead" at least once.

What does that say about the great love that Jason and Sam shared if she can't recognize him after all this time and he was drawn to another woman instead of his wife?

Not that Jason should necessary stay with Liz once the truth is out, which appears to be slated to finally occur around November 6 when Liz hopes to skip down the aisle to marry Jason without anyone, except Nikolas and possibly Hayden, being any the wiser.

Liz lied and betrayed Jason's trust, so there has to be a price to pay for that. However, has Jason's head injury from the car accident forever altered him the same way he was altered when A.J. drove Jason into the tree decades earlier? If so, then all bets will be off when it comes to an instant Jason and Sam reunion and the path that he takes once he knows the truth. As Jason is now, he doesn't want to be part of the mob. More importantly he has a traumatized son who was just reunited with his family after being abducted years ago and raised by Helena.

It's already been established that little Jake has abandonment issues because Jake had to reassure little Jake that he wasn't going anywhere when little Jake woke up from a nightmare about losing Jake the same way that little Jake had lost his "other fathers."br>I would rather the new writers tweak Jason than have him do a sudden turnaround simply because all his memories bubbled to the surface, including his buried feelings for Sam. That would be a huge letdown and a waste of wonderful opportunity. I think it would be far more interesting to see Jason carve out a new identity for himself by trying to come to terms with the man he once was and the man he has become without the luxury of memories to influence him.

Instant personality changes are frustrating.

Kind of like what happened with Michael this week when he had a complete shift in attitude and went from Michael Quartermaine to Michael Corinthos III. Literally.

I'm so disappointed with the turn of events regarding Michael because I didn't want his forgiveness to mean that he would jump back into Sonny's world with both feet. Even more disgusting is Carly's hearty approval of Michael taking charge of everything, including Sonny's business, while Sonny recovers.

What happened to all that talk of Michael honoring A.J., building the memorial clinic to offer free medical care to those in need, and reclaiming ELQ for the Quartermaines? In the blink of an eye -- or more accurately the course of a week -- Michael went from being a businessman to acting mob boss.

A part of me almost hopes that Ava gets custody of Avery because Carly and Sonny are lousy parents. Morgan is out running around with a gun, threatening vengeance and murder, while Carly tries to send people to stop Morgan and, if necessary, cover up any crime he might commit. After Morgan was thankfully stopped and marched back to the hospital, all Carly did was have a conversation with him about seeking psychiatric help -- and she let it drop when Morgan flatly refused. Hello, he's a menace and danger to the people of Port Charles, so he should and can be legally committed for a mental evaluation.

It bugged me that twice this week people justified Morgan's outrageous and violent behavior with the excuse that he was just reacting to Sonny's shooting. Alexis and Sam each should have been livid by what Morgan had done to Julian, but instead they both shrugged it off as Morgan being upset about Sonny's shooting, even though Morgan fully intended to pull the trigger and kill Julian.

I was proud of Michael when he calmly talked Morgan down, but then Michael decided to kick Julian in the stomach while Julian was down. These are the men that Carly and Sonny have raised.

Jax would be wise to keep Josslyn in the outback of Australia, camping, until she turns eighteen.

I despise Morgan more with each passing day. I don't care if he has bipolar disorder or not. He's dumber than a box of rocks, violent, selfish, obnoxious, loud, arrogant, and immature. Bipolar disorder doesn't create those characteristics, but it can intensify them. On medication, Morgan will not suddenly become smart, polite, giving, and mature. He'll likely just be a calmer steadier version of what he is now -- a faithless, lying mooch with an annoying sense of entitlement.

Not everything was confusing and frustrating this week. I love having Kristina back and really hope that the new writers give her a fun and interesting romance. I could easily see her with someone like Nathan, which would drive Sonny nuts.

Don't get me wrong, I love Nathan and Maxie together, but I see sparks between Dillon and Maxie, especially after this week, which reminded me of how much history they share.

Then again, Dillon and Kristina could be interesting too. I'll have to wait until they have a scene together to decide, but I do know that I don't want him with Valerie. Valerie is all about Dante and being jealous of her cousin. I continue to loathe Valerie, despite her efforts to play martyr -- as if not pursuing your cousin's husband with whom you've had an illicit one-night stand is somehow a great sacrifice.

I'm also happy that Alexis believes Julian, even though Paul is doing a bang-up job of framing him. More importantly, I'm thrilled that Julian is innocent and truly out of the mob, which proves that Sonny was wrong when he told Patrick that once you were in, you couldn't get out. Yes, Julian is being set up because he was once a mobster and Sonny's enemy, but his family is not being targeted, and that is ultimately the point.

Couldn't Spinelli retrieve Ava's confession from Carly's email, even though Carly deleted it?

I'm impressed that Ava was not only able to strip that black dye out of her long tresses with one box of blonde hair color but also give herself a snazzy new haircut in the process. For that matter, I'm amazed that Ava even had long hair, since she had undergone aggressive chemotherapy before her bone marrow transplant.

Avery is absolutely precious and a natural in front of the camera. Her timing was perfect this week when she said "Mama," while Ava was reminding Carly who Avery's mother was then when Avery uttered "Uh-oh" as Carly broke the news to Sonny that Ava intended to fight for custody.

Why are Dante, Morgan, and Michael not in jail for assault? Anyone?

Tracy tries to downplay her relationship with Paul when Maxie questions it Maxie

: "Don't try to deny it. I saw the sparks."Tracy: "What sparks?"Maxie: "The ones that were flying between you and Dillon's father."Tracy: "Oh, please. Those were extinguished long ago. Of course, there was that night -- drunken night -- when Paul first got back to Port Charles."Dillon: "Can we please stop talking about that?"Maxie: "Grow up. It's just sex."Dillon: "Oh, okay. How about Mac and Felicia doing it?"Maxie: "Gross."Dillon: "Yeah, see?"Maxie: "No, no, not the image; just that you said 'doing it' -- You and Paul, go on."

Even Ava has noticed that Tracy has a typeAva: "Forgive me, did you just say your son is a Quartermaine?"Paul: "I did."Ava: "Well, of all the names you could've dropped, I didn't expect to hear that one."Paul: "I understand. Obviously, this whole conversation has taken you by surprise."Ava: "That's an understatement."Paul: "Dillon is my son with Tracy Quartermaine. Uh, Tracy and I did not part on good terms. Dillon and I have been estranged for most of his life, but that's starting to change. Tracy has graciously welcomed me into the family home, despite our, uh, complicated history that we share."Ava: "She does have a soft spot for gangsters, doesn't she?"

Ava and Scott are quite entertainingScott: "If you're looking for an update on the flash drive, I haven't got one for you."Ava: "Oh, no, no. No, that issue can be tabled for the time being. There are other issues that I'd like to discuss."Scott: "Tabled? What are you driving at, Ava? Yesterday, you were yapping like a little poodle, so what's changed?"

Alexis reminds Paul why she is wealthyPaul: [Clears throat] "Yes, yes. Yes, yes. It's coming back to me now. It's taken me a minute. If you can imagine, I have a full caseload on my docket. I'm just getting myself up to speed."Alexis: "Well, there's no shortage of crime in Port Charles."

Take care and happy viewing,Liz Masters

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