Partners in crime -- and love

It was a short but action-packed week with tons of juicy twists and delightful developments, so let's dive right in.

Folks, I want to like Margaux -- I really do. I've been a fan of Elizabeth Hendrickson since her days on All My Children as Maggie and Frankie Stone, and she's been cast in a very favorable role as one of the good guys. Plus, she has great chemistry with Billy Miller, which suits me just fine because I'm desperate for Drew to move on from Sam. I was definitely predisposed to liking Margaux and Drew. Unfortunately, the spark of romance is not catching flame. Not with me.

My main issue is that it's hard to root for anyone, let alone a pairing, when one of the parties is acting as duplicitous as Margaux is.

I'm certain that Margaux is going to have all kinds of brilliant excuses for why she had to keep Drew in the dark about the flash drive with his memories, and she will no doubt be filled with all kinds of remorse for hurting him, but what I see is someone who is motivated by self-interest, not the greater good. Margaux wants to make a name for herself by taking down the biggest, baddest criminal in town, and she will use any means necessary, including holding an innocent man's past hostage.

There's no honor or integrity in that. What Margaux is doing is wrong, and she knows it, which is why the flash drive is hidden in a safe in her room rather than in an evidence locker at the police station. She can spin and twist things all she likes, but I don't see someone acting to protect the public from imminent danger.

If you polled the people of Port Charles, I bet my bottom dollar that the majority of residents view Sonny as a living saint or Robin Hood, not a threat to their well-being. Heck, there's an opioid crisis sweeping the country, and Sonny has a zero-tolerance policy against drug trafficking in his territory. An argument could be made that Sonny is single-handedly keeping the crisis from gripping Port Charles.

I kid. Sorta.

My point is, Margaux has no reason to use Drew the way that she is. Doubly so if she's truly attracted to him, which I suspect she is.

Drew deserves to have a happy new beginning after losing his wife, past, and future to Jason through no fault of his own. I hate that Drew is rebounding with someone who is lying to him, because he's been lied to more than enough already. Then again, rebound relationships seldom last, so perhaps Kim can help him pick up the pieces when Margaux's little deception blows up in her face. I have a feeling that by the time that rolls around, Julian's attempts to help Brad will have backfired in spectacular fashion.

Why is Julian not questioning Brad's cockamamie story about encountering a random homeless woman on the side of the road who happily handed over her newborn son, no questions asked, to a weeping man with a dead baby? Nothing about that story makes sense, especially the part about a mother handing over her newborn to a man with a dead baby. Who does that?

I have no idea what will happen in the short-term with Jonah/Wiley, but the absence of the birth mother at the hearing, combined with Julian's confession that he urged the woman to stay away, suggests that Brad will get to live his dream with Lucas and the baby a little longer until a medical emergency, family birthmark, or competent coroner bursts his bubble, and everything comes crashing down around his ears. I really don't see Lucas sticking around when he learns that Brad conspired with Nelle to keep Michael from his son. No amount of tears, apologies, or excuses about being shocked and panic-stricken is going to save Brad. I'm afraid he sealed his fate when he failed to speak up at the party welcoming Wiley to the family.

Jason received an interesting welcome to the family when Oscar opened up to his uncle about his troubles with Josslyn. Yes, it's odd for a grown man to give a teenage boy advice about a teenage girl, but I went with it because it was a sweet moment, especially when Jason offered to give Oscar a lift on his motorcycle. Unfortunately, disaster struck before Jason could solidify his status as coolest uncle in the universe when Oscar suffered a seizure and collapsed.

I have no idea what's ailing Oscar, but I do recall thinking how frail he seemed because it took him weeks to recover from being locked in a freezer with Josslyn, who bounced back from the ordeal in a matter of hours. Was it a sign of an underlying illness? Epilepsy? Brain tumor? Dire genetic illness? I have no idea, but I hope it brings Kim and Drew closer because she once loved him enough to let him go. Even after they reconnected, Kim downplayed their relationship because she respected his relationship with Sam and accepted that he had moved on.

I respect that, and I like Kim. A lot.

Also, the petty side of me wants Sam to have a front row seat to the wonderful life that she could have had with Drew instead of the dysfunctional life that she chose with Jason.

I do believe that Jason loves Sam, but I don't think that she will ever be a priority over Sonny and Carly. Sam will always hold a second-place position in Jason's heart because he loved Sonny and Carly long before he ever met Sam, and he formed an unbreakable bond with them that has stood the test of time. That won't change until or unless that bond is broken, and the only way I can see that happening is if Sonny, Carly, or Jason died.

That might not matter so much to Sam right now when things are quiet and there's no pressure of being in a relationship with Jason, but I suspect that will quickly change once Margaux starts digging up dirt and bodies.

I realize that the heart wants what the heart wants, but sometimes the heart is stupid and doesn't see the big picture. Sam is in for a big disappointment if she thinks that Jason will make the same choices and sacrifices that Drew made for her when he was faced with the inevitable choice between Sam and Sonny/Carly. Jason won't. He can't. His first loyalty will always be to Sonny and Carly.

Loyalty is something Madeline Reeves never had the foggiest idea about. Not only did she put her daughter in a coma in a botched attempt to force Nina to miscarry Silas' child, but she coldly gave her granddaughter away on the black market once the poor child was born. My heart breaks for Nina because it's clear that her mother never loved her. You can't claim to love your child and do the horrendous things that Madeline did to Nina and Nina's daughter.

I get that keeping silent was an act of self-preservation when Madeline was footloose and fancy free to wreak havoc on unsuspecting souls, but once Madeline landed behind bars, all bets were off. She had nothing to lose at that stage and everything to gain by revealing that Nina had a daughter. Instead, Madeline kept silent, and in doing so, sealed her fate. I hope Nina doesn't shed a single tear for Madeline. The woman doesn't deserve it.

However, there is a specter of foul play surrounding Madeline's death because her last visitor was Valentin -- something Nina is currently unaware of. Did Valentin have a hand in Madeline's demise? It's possible because he made it very clear that he no longer had any use for Madeline, not even with locating Nina's daughter. Valentin despised Nina's mother, and he believed that Nina was infinitely better off without the wicked witch in her life. I don't disagree; Madeline turned out to be the far eviler sister of the Schwestern Obrecht.

Speaking of which, will news of Madeline's passing draw Liesl out of hiding? Remember, Liesl knows the truth about Nelle's baby, including that he was born alive and well.

In other romance news, Peter is back in action, reviving old ghosts from the past at the Invader. It was somewhat out of left field, but I went with it because it allowed the writers to treat us to the chilling flashbacks of Ryan Chamberlain's past, stalking and terrorizing Felicia, which had the added benefit of catching new viewers up to speed on just how truly evil Ryan is. And not a minute too soon because the writers pulled a fast one on us by revealing that the man locked up in Ferncliff was indeed Ryan -- not Kevin.

I was so certain that it was Kevin. Well played, Altman and Van Etten. Well played.

No doubt, that will soon change because the show ended on a cliffhanger when Ryan managed to wriggle free of the straitjacket -- that the orderly clearly hadn't properly secured -- and got the jump on his brother. Will he trade places with Kevin? Could Ryan even keep up the pretense of being Kevin long enough to make it to town? Doubtful. Ryan hasn't been a part of the outside world for what I assume has been decades, so he has no idea how anything works. Keyless cars, Lyft and Uber, smart phones, and keycards are all foreign concepts to Ryan. Not to mention, Kevin is married, and even though Laura isn't around at the moment, Lucy is.

I hope Ryan simply escapes, and Kevin is forced to admit the truth about his evil twin. I want to know how long Kevin has known that Ryan is alive, how Ryan survived the blast without a single burn scar, how Kevin learned that his brother was alive, and when exactly Ryan ended up at Ferncliff. So many questions, so few answers.

I'm also praying that Ryan's escape will force Laura to finally come home from Paris. Spencer's broken legs have got to be healed by now. Heck, Cameron aged five or six years in the time his grandmother has been gone. I miss Laura, and she's needed at home. Her husband needs saving from himself.

One of the most surprising twists this week was the confrontation between Ava and Griffin when he realized that the blanket Leo had seen Julian hiding was the infamous blanket that Nelle had used to torment Carly.

Can we just take a moment here to recognize one important fact? The existence of the blanket doesn't prove that Carly didn't push Nelle. It merely reinforces Carly's argument that Nelle had goaded her. It's Nelle's admission that Carly didn't push her that exonerates Carly of wrongdoing. Nelle has done that repeatedly, so Carly is in the clear. I mention this because of what Griffin said when he mounted his high horse and cast stones at Ava for hiding the blanket.

Griffin acted as if the absence of the blanket was the only reason that Carly went to Ferncliff. He repeatedly blamed Ava for vindictively holding onto the blanket because she wanted Carly to remain locked up in Ferncliff, but he's wrong on both counts. The blanket -- or lack thereof -- was not why Carly was sent to Ferncliff; she pleaded guilty by reason of insanity.

I understand Griffin's anger at Ava for going to Monica with the unauthorized paternity test, but lest he forget, he's committed a few peccadilloes of his own over the years, so he has zero room to judge anyone else. Whether he likes it or not, Nelle was blackmailing Ava, and Ava was trying to protect him. True, Ava was also covering her own behind, but that doesn't mean she was protecting Griffin any less.

I adore Griffin, but I hated how self-righteous he sounded in the park. The truth is, he wants to believe the absolute worst about Ava because it makes him feel better about sleeping with her daughter then lying about it.

So, Kristina has finally realized that it was a mistake to rush into a relationship with Parker and move to Oregon. Good for Kristina, but where do I recall hearing those words of warning when Kristina first announced her plans to pack up and move across the country with Parker? Oh, right -- Alexis.

I wonder if Kristina plans to acknowledge that her mother was right about giving everything up for Parker and moving away. Probably not. The only thing Kristina hates more than being wrong is admitting that she was wrong.

I don't know how I feel about Kristina moving back to Port Charles. I'm happy for Sonny and Alexis, but I worry because Kristina can be a frustrating character to watch, mainly because she generally invites all the trouble that follows her. However, she is older, and she seems somewhat wiser, so fingers crossed that she's a less-destructive version of her former self.

I never really liked Kristina's relationship with Parker because all the angst seemed unhealthy, and it was wrong of a professor to pursue a romantic relationship with a student. Under any circumstances. A healthy relationship doesn't bring out the very worst in people. I hope that Kristina recognizes that now.

Sonny and Carly should have Avery's hearing checked if she managed to sleep through the commotion of the alarm going off and the brief but tense standoff when Sonny and his men thought Mike was an intruder.

I think the writers are making things up as they go. Case in point, the custody hearing for Wiley. It was repeatedly stated that the mother had 30 days to change her mind, which was why Lucas and Brad were hesitant to enjoy fatherhood. No mention of a court hearing to determine what was in the best interest of the child was ever made until Alexis announced that the birth mother had changed her mind. That's not the way the law works nor is it the way Diane works. No way would Diane have put her own client at such a disadvantage.

I'll wait for hell to freeze over before Carly says she's sorry to Liz. As for Ava I am always #TeamAva. I'm glad Kiki won her case, but she doesn't get a pass from me for sleeping with Griffin. They were both at fault. And Kiki also has a lot to make up for already, all of the times she cruelly sided with Sonny and Carly over Avery. -- nancejb

I am not sure if I missed something or not, but I thought Bensch would have used that recording he had of Kiki since we had to hear him play several times in the past. -- Kelly Ann

It's going to get old REALLY fast if Maxie lives the rest of her life asking herself "WWND?" (What would Nathan do?). Maxie needs to do what MAXIE would do. THAT'S what Nathan would want. -- Scrimmage

Based on Kim's reaction to Margaux, and Drew's speculation that the mustard incident may have been planned, I wonder if Margaux is part of Drew's past, and her interest in him and Jason (who Drew looked like then) is not only about wanting to take down Sonny. -- Marci Robin

Thank you for taking the time to read my thoughts. I love hearing from readers, so please feel free to email me or leave a comment below.

Take care and happy viewing,Liz Masters

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