All you need is love

Can the love of soapy drama serve as a guide to teach the world how to get along?

My dear readers, if you have been with me for any length of time, you will know I can't just write a GH column and not address the swirling madness in our country right now.

There is fear, violence, mistrust, anger, rage, sorrow, and many more powerful emotions dancing down the streets of America, and we all feel powerless to change it.

And then, I look at us, this big diverse community of soap fans. I have been writing this column for over a decade, and I get letters from soap fans all across America. Black, White, Asian, Latino, Gay, Straight, Republican, Democrat, Christian, Muslim, Atheist, etc. Here we are, in harmony, united in one soapy, sudsy little community. Sure, we sometimes bicker about the fate of our beloved characters.

What do we have that we can take into the world? A common love. We all love watching General Hospital, and we are invested in the crazy characters and their hijinks around Port Charles.

Will getting the whole country to watch GH solve our problems? Probably not, but there is a lesson here: if people find the thing they have in common, they don't fear each other anymore. "Oh, you like soaps? So do I!" Our common affection for this silly soap opera binds us into a family of sorts, of all different races, religions, age groups, sexual orientations, and party affiliations -- and we don't even ask each other the divisive questions that are tearing our country apart. Sure, there are a few bad eggs that write hateful things on the message board. Just stop engaging with them. But there is a sense of community here, and I think we have something to teach America.

My challenge to everyone reading these words is to go into the world this week, find what you have in common with your neighbors, and don't let fear take hold of your hearts. Love each other. Shine your light. Walk in peace.

Sermon over. Now to the mess that erupted in Port Charles this week.

If you follow me on Twitter, you will have seen this "Fact: I loathe the #GH writers today with the heat of 1000 suns burning in my chest. #Julexis is toast."

When I tweeted that, it clearly struck a chord with many of you, and my mailbox began filling up with comments of solidarity.

It kind of seems to me like ABC has said, "Hey, let's get out of the soap game and kill GH." Alexis and Julian are a very popular couple. Why would the writers completely destroy them otherwise? I know soap writers purposely create tension in relationships to give the story some depth, but having Julian with a knife to Alexis' throat, planning to murder her, is something you can't come back from. I don't care what fancy writing moves you have up your sleeve; I can never root for Julian and Alexis again now that you've shown me he is abusive and prone to murder.

I won't accept a Franco-like brain tumor as an excuse. I won't accept Alexis waking up in August like on Dallas and saying it was all a dream. The writers just effectively ruined their most popular couple for no discernable reason.

I could have accepted Julian dipping his toe back into the mob to save Ava and having Alexis find out and fight with him about it, but letting her take the fall for his crime and then trying to kill her? Nope. I'm out.

Sonny swept in and saved Alexis' life, even after he swore she was dead to him. There are some readers who get angry when I write nice things about Sonny, but you have to admit, he was a hero on Friday. Is he a hero overall? No, of course not. He's a criminal, but there is good in him, and Maurice Benard plays Sonny's internal struggle between the light and dark side of the force that burns within him well.

Why did Sonny have to save Alexis? Because Jordan, Paul, and Anna are incompetent at their jobs. Are there any cops in the audience out there? If so, I have to know -- after Julian confessed to killing Carlos, couldn't they have run in and arrested him at that exact moment, knowing the person wearing the wire to get that confession was in danger?

Instead, they waited for Jordan to drive across town on the Fourth of July and try to obtain a warrant. I mean, seriously, is that a thing? If a cop is out on the street and someone confesses a crime to them, do they have to go get a warrant, or can they just cuff them on the spot? I honestly don't know.

You know what else I don't know? Why the writers couldn't wait for Kirsten Storms to return to introduce Claudette. (OLTL's Bree Williamson) They have been dangling her name in front of us for months, and Maxie has been trying to track her down.

Then, the instant Ms. Storms leave, they bring Claudette in and cheat us out of the moment we have been waiting for. GH has a history of that, and I have a long memory. One of the times it truly infuriated me was when Michael was kidnapped (Carly was then played by Tamara Braun), and we saw Carly crying for months over her kidnapped son. Then, she leaves GH, and about three days later, Michael comes home to have his happy reunion with the Carly (Jennifer Bransford) that only lasted about six months.

Little known fact, I used to tour in a repertory theatre group in the 80s. Do you know what we could do? Change things on the fly. As in "We were going to do this scene, but this guy isn't here tonight, so let's do this scene instead." So, let's assume the actors in question gave GH a two-week notice of their plans. "Oh, Kirsten Storms is leaving at the end of June for a few weeks? Then let's shoot this scene with Claudette today instead of next week." And since Kirsten Storms is already back at work now, they could have postponed it for a week, too. It's certainly not earth shattering, just slightly anticlimactic.

I think Claudette is going to be trouble, yet I already kind of like her. I am just waiting for the day when she discovers Griffin Munro is also in town. Or does she already know? My hunch is she is going to be a Britt type of girl, which is the type of conniving, feisty girl who always livens up a soap.

I like Molly Burnett, the replacement Maxie, aside from the fact that she's a brunette. And before you write me hate letters and assume I hate people with brown hair, I'm merely saying if an actor is temporarily filling in for someone else, they should at least have the same hair color as the person they are replacing, in my humble opinion. Mind you, she can't replace our beloved Kirsten Storms, but knowing she is just filling in for a bit for a health issue makes me less inclined to reject her. Haha.

On to other fill-ins. Over in Greece at Cassadine Island, Nick Stabile, the temporary fill-in for Tyler Christopher has his hands full. His plan to fake his death and slink away was ruined the minute Ava sat next to him on the flight and took an "ussie."

To add to his problems, Jason and Sam found him and are planning to tell the authorities he is alive and well, thereby exonerating Jason of murder charges.

Readers, what do you think? Is Helena still alive? If not, who is roaming about on Cassadine Island, conking people on the head in the wine cellar? Man, it sure would be great if it were Luke who had taken over her lair, but sadly, I haven't heard any whispers about Tony Geary coming out of retirement.

Again, while Nick Stabile is doing an okay job filling in for Nikolas, I would prefer to have Tyler Christopher back in the saddle as soon as possible. This absence was first said to be the result of contract negotiations and then it became "personal" reasons. Is Tyler being a divo and asking for something unreasonable? Is ABC being greedy? I guess we'll have to wait and see.

In other Helena-related news, Sonny tracked down a woman named Ramona to try to get Carly info on Josslyn's kidney donor. She lied to Carly and said Helena was the person who paid her and arranged for the kidney. Immediately after that conversation, we saw Ramona calling someone she is in cahoots with to let them know Carly bought their lie. Who was she talking to? Did Jax himself arrange for the kidney for Joss? My husband, who pretends not to watch GH, said he thinks it's Heather, since she told Franco she had a large sum of money in the bank. What do you think?

In other Cassadine lies, Spencer has been busted for having a second secret cell phone. Readers, I just absolutely adore Nicholas Bechtel. That kid makes my heart happy. I wish I was his Nana. I would buy him oodles of toys.

I'm really enjoying Kristina (the fantastic Lexi Ainsworth) and her new boyfriend Aaron (John DeLuca). When she finally tells him Parker is a woman, will he be able to handle it, or will he run away in fear? I hope he has the character to hear her out and listen to her story. Although, with Ashley Jones off of maternity leave and heading back to Port Charles, I am not sure Parker is actually in Kristina's past.

My heart has gone out to the two youngest Davis girls this week as they waited for news on their mother. Both Haley Pullos and Lexi Ainsworth are such strong performers, and I love watching their sisterly bond. Molly has been sounding the alarm about Julian for months, and now her predictions came true. I think Molly should call her Daddy Ric home to console her and his ex Alexis. Mostly, this is a selfish wish just because I really miss Ric. But I do remember the sweetness of the relationship between Alexis and Ric back in the day, and since Julian should end up in prison for a long time, I wouldn't complain if Ric became Alexis' friend with benefits.

What will happen tomorrow, dear readers? Will Kiki's bullet hole scar disappear in a few months like Maxie's heart transplant scar? When everyone comes home from Greece, will Ava fight Hayden for Nikolas' affection? Will Laura and Dr. Collins get back to decoding Helena's creepy message after they realize Spencer doesn't need consoling? Will gossipy Nurse Amy find out that Hayden is sneaking in to get drugs for John Mc... Silas... er, Hamilton Finn? Will Franco bring Heather a bag of Kelly's BLTs to get her to hand over her fortune to him? Will Heather be the new manager of Kelly's when she next escapes, since no one is running it since Shawn went to jail?

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

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.