Two of a kind

General Hospital is full of relationships. There are newlyweds, newly-wed-and-blackmailing-each-others, reunited loves, former lovers, and lovers-to-be. There are also relationships that don't involve romance, and those interactions can sometimes prove to be the most enjoyable. So do not pass go but head directly to this week's Two Scoops commentary with a special guest columnist. No, it is not the wheelbarrow.

If you spent any time on Twitter this week, you saw... well, pretty much what you'd see on any given week when it comes to General Hospital: fans arguing about a couple. But what made this week different is that it wasn't the usual Jasam vs. Liason factions who were waging war, but rather those who have enjoyed watching Anna and Sonny working together to bring down Carlos and those who believe that this storyline has ruined Anna forever and ever. (Let's face it, when it comes to opinions, we soap fans are rarely subtle about expressing our beliefs!)

As Dr. Phil is so fond of saying, no matter how flat you make a pancake, it still has two sides. And this is a great example of that. Personally, I'm a big fan of watching characters who don't normally spend a lot of time together forced to do so. And if those two characters have every reason in the world to dislike one another, all the better. Remember when One Life To Live's McBain and Todd would butt heads while sharing storylines? It worked beautifully because portrayers Michael Easton (now GH's Finn) and Roger Howarth (now GH's Franco) had fantastic chemistry. And the same is true of Finola Hughes (Anna) and Maurice Benard (Sonny).

What makes this story work for me is that Sonny and Anna each have their own reasons for wanting to find Carlos. For Anna, Carlos coming back from the dead means that she didn't actually kill him -- try though she did -- and she can now see him brought to justice the right way. As for her reluctant partnership with Sonny, it almost feels as if she's saying, "Well, you know, he's along just in case I need this guy whacked... again." It helps that she clearly does not trust Sonny. But she's a woman on a mission, and a gal's gotta do what a gal's gotta do, right? (And do we even need to say that Anna proved herself a total boss with that whole chloroforming of Paul thing? This is a woman who clearly can handle herself, thank you very much!)

On the Sonny side of the equation, my real interest arises from the question of how Carly will react if her husband actually kills Carlos. She's made it pretty clear how she feels about the violence in their life. A lot of fans have struggled with Carly's epiphany, wonder why it took so long given how often Sonny's career has gotten people they love hurt. But the answer involves a reality that exists outside of Port Charles: new writers can't undo the past. They can only find ways to move forward that they believe make sense. In this case, head writers Shelly Altman and Jean Passanante decided that Kiki's shooting and Morgan's downward spiral were the proverbial straw that broke the camel's back for Carly. And that means that in scenarios like this, there's an extra emotional heft, because Sonny's actions could have major repercussions on his marriage and even on his fight to retain custody of Avery.

If Sonny and Anna were the only odd couple being played this week, it would be fun and interesting. But there was also the ongoing saga of Tracy's medical woes and her interactions with Finn. Now, I'll freely admit that I wasn't all that psyched about Easton playing a 500th character in the Port Charles universe, but so far, it's really working. And one of the main reasons is that they've done a great job of playing him with Tracy. Think about it: if the most irritable woman in town, who hates everyone, likes Finn, then that sort of tells us, as an audience, that it's okay to like him, too. As an added bonus, this story -- like many more of the tales being told on GH lately -- actually allowed us to spend a healthy chunk of time at the titular institution, and that is never a bad thing!

I don't think that anyone believed for a second that Tracy was really going to die, but stories like this really only work if the show plays it as if that is a very real possibility. And if you didn't tear up when Tracy woke up after her surgery and said "I love you" to longtime nemesis Monica, then you might very well be dead.

Hmm. I feel like something else happened this week that should probably be discussed. But what was it? Oh, right... Jason and Sam made love for the first time since his return! The result? Let's just say the scenes were so steamy that I needed a cigarette when they were over!

It's no big secret that a whole lotta fans -- whether hoping to see Jason connect with Liz or Sam -- have felt as if the hunky former hit man's rise from his premature grave was lacking in the emotion department. But Jason -- and portrayer Billy Miller -- seems to have come to life over the past few weeks. The scenes in which Jason tried to separate Nikolas' head from his body were intense, and those in which he and Sam shared post-hitting-the-sheets pillow talk were sweet and funny. (And how perfect was it that Carly interrupted shortly thereafter? Of course she did!)

• Big shout-outs must be given to Nancy Lee Grahn and Lexi Ainsworth for the scenes in which Alexis and Kristina had one of the most honest mother/daughter talks to hit this soap in ages. Altman and Passanante may have their shortcomings (would it kill them to let a storyline have a major, jaw-dropping pay-off?), but bringing family dynamics back into fashion is definitely not one of them. Ashley Jones's Parker also plucked the heartstrings as she tried to help Alexis come to terms with what Kristina's feelings did -- and didn't, necessarily -- mean.

• Who else gagged during that dream sequence in which Ava woke up with a bloody feather in her mouth? Also, can we have more of Ava and Scotty? #PleaseAndThankYou

• Nikolas and Hayden going to bed, clutching matching letter openers, was... well, we can't decide. Either it was epic, in a War of the Roses kind of way, or just plain silly. Could go either way. And I'm not sure how I feel about Curtis moving into Wyndemere. I get that it's a big place, but this type of "let's put all these characters under one roof" rarely works. Remember when every Pine Valley resident under 30 was moved into Wildwind on All My Children?

• Michelle Stafford again proved how easily she can take us on a roller-coaster ride when Nina went from thinking she might be pregnant to furious at Franco's disinterest in the notion of becoming a parent. Stafford played sexy, coy, playful, frustrated, angry, and furious... all in a single episode.

Which leads us to a few burning questions regarding what will happen next week. Will Sonny and Anna find Carlos? And will poor Paul emerge from his ill-fated run-in with Anna with a new appreciation for 50 Shades Of Grey? Now that Nina knows she can't have a baby of her own, will she swing back through CrayCray Village and see if there are any toddlers in the local park she can swipe? And with Sonny out of town for who knows how long, will Carly wind up spending all her time preventing Jason and Sam from mounting (so to speak) a repeat performance? I'm dying to hear your thoughts, so hit the comment section!

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