Goodbye is the hardest part

Sonny is facing the reality of Mike's situation, while Kim is desperate to deny Oscar's terminal prognosis. Saying goodbye might be the hardest part, but for some, acceptance can be equally difficult.

I'm completely over Brad. There is no excuse for what he's doing to Michael. None. Michael is as much of an innocent victim as Jonah is, which is why Brad is racked with guilt. He knows what he's doing is wrong, and he knows that he will eventually be exposed as the lying kidnapper that he is and lose Lucas is the process.

I won't shed a single tear for Brad when that happens. I hope he rots in hell and suffers the heartbreak of Lucas moving on with someone far better than the likes of Brad.

The truth is, I have always suspected that Brad's redemption was a sham, so I'm not exactly shocked by the selfish choices he's recently made. He's remaining very much true to form. He's a coward to his core and is willing to cheat at any cost in order to compensate for his shortcomings. Naturally, Brad opted to steal another man's child rather than do the right thing and tell the truth. Brad wants to play house because it allows him to cling tighter to a person who likely already had one foot out the door.

There was a reason that Lucas confided to Sam that he and Brad had gone through a rough patch. Sure, happy couples experience difficulties and challenging periods, but this is a soap opera, so Lucas confessing about his troubles with Brad is far more significant than simple relationship growing pains.

Will Julian get swept up in Brad's downfall when the truth about Jonah is inevitably revealed? Probably. No one walks away unscathed from things like this.

Of course, Julian has no idea that Brad lied about the random homeless woman, but that doesn't absolve him of wrongdoing because ultimately, Julian decided to deceive his son by keeping Brad's secret. There's bound to be a bit of backlash from that, but I hope that people will also be quick to understand that Julian honestly believed that the birth mother wanted Brad to have the baby.

Should Julian have questioned Brad's story? Certainly. No woman in her right mind would do what Brad claimed the unknown homeless woman did, not even Nelle. Nelle gave him the baby because she knew who Brad was, and she had a specific agenda in mind when she made the offer to switch babies with Brad. Brad wasn't a random stranger; he was a friend to Nelle, and, more importantly, a means to an end.

Luckily for Julian, he might have gained an unlikely ally by hiring Kristina. I can't see her disdain for Julian lasting, and she might be inclined to cut her new boss some slack when his role in Brad's chicanery is exposed. It's doubtful that Kristina would have taken the job if she thought for a minute that she would be miserable working for Julian. I'm not suggesting that Kristina has forgiven Julian, but I suspect that she's made peace with what happened in the past and is ready to give Julian a second chance.

Molly's head is going to explode when she gets wind of what her sister has been up to.

I like the idea of Kristina working as a bartender. It suits her personality.

I get grief because of my love for Julian, but his actions this week perfectly illustrate why I enjoy the character. Julian had two perfect opportunities to cause real trouble for Sonny, but he didn't. In fact, he went out of his way to keep incriminating information about Mike to himself when Chase asked probing questions about the broken gas line that nearly blew Charlie's Pub to smithereens. The second time was when Julian gave Sonny the heads-up about the skeleton that was unearthed in the basement.

True, Julian used the information as leverage to force Sonny to let him out of the contract with Corinthos Coffee, but I don't really hold that against Julian. He has a right to determine what he sells in his establishment, and Sonny had only forced the issue as a power play. Julian is never going to like Sonny, and the feeling is more than mutual, but I'm hoping they can learn to peacefully coexist from this point forward.

As for Kristina, I think it's great that she's finally taking control of her life and finding something to do with her time that gives her life purpose.

It didn't escape my notice, nor I suspect anyone else's, that Valerie Spencer popped up just as Kristina is settling back into life in Port Charles. Is that a portent of more to come? I realize that Valerie is into guys, or at least she has been since arriving in town, but she's also been shown to be an open-minded person who might follow her heart -- wherever it might lead -- regardless of gender. Could her friendship with Kristina evolve into romance?

I honestly wouldn't mind if it did. I like Valerie, and I have always thought that she had a far more interesting vibe with Kristina than Kristina ever did with Parker.

Moving on, Kim is furious that Drew told Sam about Oscar's brain tumor, but I don't think that she has any right to be angry. Drew is as much Oscar's parent as Kim is. Sure, Kim raised Oscar by herself, but that's not on Drew. He had no idea that she was pregnant, let alone had his baby, and his memories had been stripped away. Literally.

Just because Drew hasn't been a part of Oscar's life for as long as Kim has doesn't mean that he loves his son any less than she does.

I think Oscar deserves to know the truth because he's old enough to make decisions for himself. Perhaps Oscar might choose to travel rather than focus on an education that he's never going to use. There are hopes and dreams that he might want to pursue if he knew that his time was limited, but he'll never get to explore those things as long as Kim remains silent about his mortality.

I do believe that Kim wants Oscar to live life to the fullest, without the weight of his mortality looming over him, but she's also being driven by fear. She doesn't want to tell Oscar the truth because then she can no longer pretend that everything is going to be okay. She clings to the excuse that she's giving Oscar the gift of a carefree life because as long as she keeps up the charade then she doesn't have to face the very real fact that she's going to lose her son.

Kim is not acting out of malice, so it's not too late for her to make things right with Oscar. The greatest gift that she can give him is the freedom of choice.

Speaking of choice, Franco needs to do the same for Cameron.

I adore Franco, but I'm stunned by his lack of insight with Cam. The same can be said about Liz, but to a lesser extent, since she seems to be only getting half the story from people lately.

It's as clear as the smirk on Cam's face that his issue with Franco is Franco's determination to step into the role of Cam's father -- a fatal mistake to make with teenagers, especially surly ones like Cam. Liz isn't really helping matters by placating Franco's desire to take a more active role in raising the kids.

Establishing boundaries is pointless, Liz, if you aren't willing to enforce them.

Franco should be focusing on getting to know Cam and building trust. Trying to rush things and discipline a teenager that doesn't trust you is a recipe for disaster that usually ends up with the teen redoubling their efforts to rebel.

Luckily, Cam is a soap opera kid, so his fate is determined by the whims of the writers rather than his choices.

Elsewhere, Ryan is on the loose and posing as his brother. How long can Ryan keep up the charade of being Kevin? Not long, if you ask me, because the man is clearly unhinged and barely keeping it together.

I adore Lulu, but she is not a very observant reporter if she didn't pick up the admiration dripping from Ryan's tone as he talked about Ryan's misunderstood genius. Her reporter-senses should have been tingling that something was way off with Kevin.

I can't wait for Laura to return home and rescue her husband from this mess. I have high hopes for this storyline.

Was anyone surprised by Margaux's confession that her father was a consigliere for an infamous mobster at the time of his mysterious disappearance three decades ago? Yeah, me neither.

Naturally, Margaux's father vanished right around the time that Joe Scully ordered Sonny to carry out his first hit, which happened to be on Joe's consigliere. Are the two incidents related? Absolutely.

Now, thanks to Mike's attempt to help Sonny by tamping with the gas line in Charlie's Pub, Margaux's father's body has been unearthed. However, the gun with Sonny's fingerprints remains missing. Could Mike have disposed of the gun elsewhere? It's certainly possible, but somehow, I don't think that Sonny's going to get that lucky. The gun will eventually turn up.

That said, I can't see how Jordan and Margaux think that they can get away with questioning a man who is mentally incompetent, especially without his attorney present. I hope the first scene that we see on Monday is Sonny tossing both Jordan and Margaux out of his home.

Hands down, the best scene of the week was on Friday when Carly and Mike convinced Sonny that it's time to start making preparations for the next phase of Mike's illness because his lucid moments are growing fewer and farther apart.

It's a difficult conversation to have. I remember when my own family had to have similar talks with beloved family members who faced the same grim prognosis as Mike. It's an incredibly hard journey to travel, and watching Sonny grapple with accepting the reality of Mike's future dredged up a lot of heartache for me.

I wept for Sonny as he tearfully looked at his father and confessed that he wasn't ready to say goodbye. It is really the hardest thing to do.

Was Curtis foreshadowing that Kiki is Nina's long-lost daughter when he told Valentin that Nina's daughter is being raised by a single mother?

It's been ages since we've seen Avery. I can't help but wonder if she's off somewhere with a severe case of SORAS (Soap Opera Rapid Aging Syndrome). Will Josslyn soon have competition from her younger stepsister? We shall see.

I'm stunned that a blast can be powerful enough to unearth a skeleton buried beneath a concrete foundation, but not jeopardize the integrity of the structure as a whole. It's a miracle that Julian was able to open for business the morning after his basement blew up.

How does an old man with Alzheimer's manage to always give trained professionals the slip? More importantly, why isn't there a tracking device planted in Mike's watch to help make finding him easier?

I wish the episodes that ABC ran instead of new episodes of GH were Ryan/Felicia related in order to get new viewers up to date. Yeah, the flashbacks were good, but the actual episodes were SO good! Specially the scrabble scene. Also, I never got to see the whole funhouse episodes when they aired and [would] love to see them. -- rob

Being angry with Ava about the blanket is one thing. But the extent to which [Griffin] had to demonize her -- to the point where he denied her having a soul AND going to Sonny if she hurts somebody, knowing the consequences that means for her -- is all about mitigating the damage he and Kiki caused with the ONS. He ripped apart her world when he screwed her daughter, but it's okay, because "Ava never changed anyway". I really do hope Griffin has to eat those words someday. -- P.J.

Did anyone else notice that when Wiley's mother filed to reclaim her baby it was mentioned that 30 days were almost over, yet Michael was at the same time attending the funeral of his baby? Who waits almost 30 days to prepare a funeral! -- Becky Krieman

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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