The fall of the House of Corinthos

As Sonny retreated into his grief and contemplated suicide, Carly held tight to her anger. The aftershocks of Morgan's death continued to tear apart his family while a dark cloud of danger loomed on the horizon in the form of Valentin. Can the House of Corinthos survive the crippling blow they've been dealt, and what exactly is Anna's connection to Valentin?

Before I delve into a week of heartache, shattered dreams, and troubling twists, I want to take a moment to thank my wonderful Two Scoops partner, Tamilu, for stepping in and helping me out when I needed a short hiatus to focus on my family as we dealt with a death and a wedding in the span of a few short weeks. You are the best, Tamilu, and I'm eternally grateful to be a part of your team these past years, especially the last few weeks.

Now, on to the show.

I must confess that it's been a bit difficult to watch the show lately because of my own recent personal experiences. I understand Michael's frustration, and Carly's anger, and even Sonny's regret. However, I'm cautious because the writers appear to be making an effort to leave room for doubt as to Morgan's exact fate. Even Sonny raised the possibility that Morgan might still be alive, since the authorities haven't found any really credible evidence that he perished when the car exploded.

In real life, it would be impossible for anyone to survive that kind of blast, but in real life, there would also be significant DNA evidence to confirm that someone had died -- or at the very least suffered the loss of a limb or digit.

However, this is a soap opera, and on a soap opera, if there isn't a body, then there isn't a death. Even with a body, there's a 50/50 chance that the person will at some point pop up alive, which is why half the town are zombies -- people who have returned from the dead -- like Anna, Robin, Jason, Jake, and Laura just to name a few.

It's hard to get invested in someone's pain when there's a very real possibility that it will all be for naught when the person everyone is grieving returns in the not-so-distant future none the worse for wear.

That said, there have been quite a few powerful performances as a result of Morgan's tragic "end." Sonny and Carly's scenes when she accused him of killing their son and then later when she told him that she couldn't look at him without seeing the man responsible for Morgan's death were raw and gripping. Maurice Benard and Laura Wright are at their very best when they have emotional scenes to sink their teeth into like the ones over the past couple of weeks, so the storyline is working despite some weak points.

I was also moved by Michael's pain -- and his anger toward Sonny. He was right when he told Carly that Sonny never intends to hurt his loved ones, and he's always sorry when it happens, but it continues to happen despite all the promises that Sonny makes. This has been my main gripe with Sonny for years; he talks a good game, but he never backs it up by making any effort to leave the mob. Sonny is arrogant enough to believe that he can actually protect his family.

At this point, I think that Sonny does deserve to be alone, but he won't be if Nelle has anything to say about it.

Does anyone else get the feeling that history is about to repeat itself with Nelle in the role of Carly and Sonny playing poor clueless Tony? I don't know if it was the tidbit about Nelle doing research on the town's history or Bobbie's insightful observations that Nelle had made herself indispensable to Carly, but I'm certain that Nelle has a much stronger connection to Carly than merely donating a kidney to Josslyn.

Did Carly have a secret child like her mother did? It's possible because Carly was quite traumatized by what happened to her as a teenager when her best friend's father seduced her. She suppressed a great deal about that time, so she might have easily blocked out the birth of an unwanted child. That would also explain why Nelle was a match for Josslyn.

Speaking of long-lost children, I'm more convinced than ever that Charlotte is Lulu's child via the frozen embryo with Stavros that Helena stole from Crichton-Clark. If I had to guess, Helena struck a deal with Valentin to have the embryo implanted in his chippie, and that surrogate was none other than Claudette. Sadly, Claudette had the great misfortune to end up seated next to Valentin on a flight bound for Calgary.

What Valentin did with Claudette is a mystery, but I doubt that we've seen the last of her, since Claudette will likely be the key to Lulu learning the truth about Charlotte before Valentin gets his hands on Stavros' sole heir.

A truly spectacular twist would be if it was revealed that Dante and Lulu's frozen embryo had miraculously survived, and that was the embryo that Claudette had been implanted with, but it's a long shot, since Helena wouldn't have had any interest in an embryo that wasn't part of her precious Stavros.

So, what is Anna's connection to Valentin? Is he a long-lost lover, or is there something far more nefarious to their association? I'm rather surprised that Anna never saw a picture of Valentin prior to this week. The Cassadines are an infamous family of criminal masterminds, so I would have expected an ex-agent and top law enforcement official like Anna to have familiarized herself with every single leaf on the Cassadine family tree, especially the rotting branches where Valentin fell from.

In other bastard Cassadine news, Alexis continued to spiral out of control with her drinking when she ordered an industrial-sized box of booze to reward herself for cleaning the house. Prior to that, she got sloshed at the Haunted Star, where she had a rather touching conversation with Sonny, and then made her way to Metro Court Restaurant, where she went off on Julian in the middle of dinner hour by shouting that he should have been killed in the explosion.

I'm not sure how long it's going to take Sam, Kristina, and Molly to realize that Alexis lied about her drinking habits, but I can't imagine that it will be much longer because Alexis is a hot mess even on her best behavior.

It's true that loved ones of an addict can sometimes be the last to know because the addict takes advantage of their trust, but Alexis' girls would have to be deaf, dumb, and blind not to see that Alexis is in crisis. If nothing else, Alexis' nervous energy is enough to set off alarm bells.

I'm thrilled that Nathan and Maxie finally set a wedding date, but will they actually make it down the aisle, or is this another empty promise?

I hope it's the real deal because I really love Nathan and Maxie as a couple. Maxie has come such a long way from the scheming brat she was, and this is the first genuinely healthy relationship she's been in. Nathan is good for her because she's always striving to be a better person, and she actually takes responsibility for her wrongs.

As for Maxie's influence on Nathan, she draws out his lighter side, which I haven't seen with anyone else, including his sister Nina. Nathan and Maxie complement each other on every level, and I can't wait to see what their future holds.

Finally, my apologies for an error that I made in my last column when I wrote that Nathan and Valentin were cousins because Victor was Nathan's father. As several astute readers pointed out, that was incorrect. On September 15, 2014, a DNA test revealed that Victor was not Nathan's father -- a fact that had completely slipped my mind.

I get that Carly is grieving and needs to stay busy, but why isn't she at home with Josslyn, who is completely devastated by the loss of her brother?

I get a perverse sense of pleasure out of watching soap opera children behave like real children. This week, Charlotte won me over when she complained that she was tired of sitting quietly and coloring while the grown-ups talked.

Did Griffin camp out in Claudette's hotel room, or does he live at the hotel like the rest of the single people in town?

I turned on GH for the first time in a while, due to the writers' obvious favoritism toward Sonny as a mobster while butchering every other one. The JuLexis break up was not only heart-wrenching, but was a huge slap in the face to every single JuLexis fan. -- Meghan Patricia

I don't think Morgan is dead. I think he is gravely injured and will be placed in a mental hospital to recover until he is recast. The characters have to find out about the pill switch and that won't happen unless Morgan survives. Also, I don't think that Sonny was responsible for planting the bomb. In order for it to be interesting someone else has to be responsible for planting the bomb, my money is on Alexis. Also, I don't think the writers are about the breakup Carson and in order for that to work Sonny can't be responsible for the bomb. -- RAH

I've seen a lot of comments expressing disgust for the way Ava continues to get away with murder -- LITERALLY -- but what's truly baffling is that TPTB have spent months bending over backwards trying to "soften" Ava's image in an attempt to put some distance between her and her image as an unrepentant, remorseless killer who got away with murdering Connie, only to squander all that effort by having her do something else that was almost as despicable, just as unforgivable, and TOTALLY unnecessary. -- Scrimmage

Now, I turn the spotlight over to you. Please share your thoughts about the show in the comments section below. I love reading what everyone has to say.

Until next time, take care.Liz Masters

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