Escaping Thanksgiving mayhem

As family and friends gather to celebrate the holiday and reflect on the blessings in their lives, the good people of Port Charles were busy breaking up lovers, snooping around an asylum, and doing escape room challenges featuring all the GH villains from the past. That's all well and good, but what about the pizza?

It was a short week but quite interesting and, at times, downright entertaining.

Hands down, my favorite episode of the week was on Tuesday. I love a good mystery, especially one featuring great villains. Nothing excites me more than the challenge of unravelling clues and getting to the truth of a matter, and the more diabolical the foe, the better. The escape room challenge is right up my alley, and throwing in all the illustrious archvillains of the past is like getting toasted sugar sprinkles on my Frappuccino's whipped topping. Yummy.

The Port Charles Museum of Mayhem could use a better staff and a mannequin upgrade -- perhaps Franco could be persuaded to help -- but I give it a solid 10 for entertainment. The clues were fun to unravel, albeit far too easy for the ringers that were in each of the rooms. It was far-fetched, even by soap opera standards, for those two particular groups to take the full hour to solve the two mysteries and unlock the rooms.

Anna Devane, who is an international spy, has gone up against Faison and the Cassadines over the years so many times that she is a bona fide leading expert on them. Plus, Lulu is the sister a Cassadine and the mother of another Cassadine, and Alexis is an actual Cassadine. And not for nothing, but they had the town's police commissioner in the room, as well. They should have been out of that room in a matter of seconds.

The other mystery room featured villains like Diego Alcazar, Franco Baldwin, and, of course, the infamous -- and currently on-the-loose -- Ryan Chamberlain (a.k.a. Todd Wilson). Sam was tormented by both Diego and Franco, while Nina is Franco's ex-lover. I expected the two of them to understand the clues much more easily than the rest of the players. That should have won them an even quicker escape than the first group.

Despite the minor flaws, the antics at the museum were fun to watch, and I enjoyed playing along with everyone. Kudos to the writers for finding a clever way to bring back a few deliciously evil villains.

Across town, the real Ryan Chamberlain was up to no good, stalking Ava and declaring his undying passion for her. Ryan seized the opportunity to kiss Ava just as Laura walked in. I think Ava likes the idea of "Kevin" crushing on her, but I don't think she has any real feelings for him. She prefers more of a challenge. Unfortunately for Laura, the incident is going to play right into Ryan's hand because she's going to assume that her husband is leaving her for Ava.

However, just how believable is it that Kevin Collins would develop feelings for Ava Jerome?

It's absolutely preposterous, which is exactly why I think Laura should realize that the man with Kevin's face is not Kevin.

In the real world, this would never even be remotely possible, but Laura lives in Port Charles, where as recently as a few years ago, Cesar Faison was running around in a Duke Lavery mask, making love to Anna without her being any the wiser. A town where people regularly return from the dead -- including Laura herself. A town where the people just got done celebrating the anniversary of her husband's identical twin's death -- a death that was surrounded in mystery because Ryan's body was never recovered.

In Laura's world, there is a very strong probability that someone is impersonating her husband. It's time for Laura to do more than tell Ryan that he's not the man that she married. She needs to realize just how very true her words are.

Luckily for Laura, her new BFF, Carly, just learned that the patient at Ferncliff who was locked up next to Carly has a very familiar name that Laura is certain to recognize. Let's just hope that it happens before Christmas. Laura should be reunited with her husband before her grandson is carted off to prison for election tampering.

I realize that Spencer won't actually do hard time for what he did, but I wouldn't mind if he was sent to a military school to serve out his probation. There should be some real consequences for his actions, but at the same time, I recognize that Spencer is a good kid under all that extreme behavior, so juvenile detention isn't the answer. Shipping Spencer off to military school is a good compromise, and it provides interesting possibilities down the road when the character is aged and returns to town a bit older and wiser.

Meanwhile, Ryan assured Ava that she would live to stir up trouble another day because Griffin and Sasha didn't have any proof of Ava's treachery, but is he right? I recall it being revealed during Nelle's reign of terror that there were cameras all over Metro Court -- except in Carly's offices. Wouldn't the various security cameras show Ava near or entering and exiting Sasha's room around the time of Griffin's arrival? Also, Ava deleted the text messages, but there are ways to retrieve deleted text messages.

There's also the matter of the soup that Sasha ate. Hopefully, Griffin was smart enough to take a sample to have it tested. Who knows, the drug that Ava used might just trace right back to Ryan.

Talk about killing two birds with one stone -- or in this case, drop of soup.

I like Ava, but what she did to Sasha and Griffin was wrong. There's no excuse for that, and she deserves to face the consequences of her actions. I just hope that Ava is prepared for what comes her way because she has unwittingly gained a diabolical serial killer for an ally. I can't see this ending well for anyone, least of all Ava.

Julian is also making foolish choices. In his case, it's in the name of love rather than vengeance.

Folks, Kim is driving me up the wall.

I fully understand that Kim is desperate to save her only child from an early and brutal death. I also appreciate that Kim believes that she is doing the right thing. She's willing to incur her own child's wrath to save his life. Got it.

My issue with Kim is that she hasn't even tried the other way. All this time, arguing and fighting Oscar, could have been spent doing exactly what Monica did. Monica took a day to just listen to Oscar and offer him the chance to reach out for help rather than forcing it on him.

I know I've been hard on Oscar because it seemed to me that he took pleasure in hurting his parents and being cruel. I still think that's true, but I also recognize that he has a brain tumor, and that streak of cruelty might have been a side effect of the tumor. Time will tell, but I'm thrilled that the secret is out of the bag and that others, especially Josslyn, know the truth.

It was a ridiculous plot point because Oscar is about to take his parents to court to be emancipated to avoid being forced to undergo experimental treatment. A story like that is bound to be front-page news. Heck, I wouldn't be surprised if Lulu didn't end up at the courthouse, covering the trial.

It was stupid to keep Josslyn in the dark for long, especially with Oscar's illness rapidly progressing.

I'm not sure what Daisy is selling, but I do not trust her. Something about her rubs me wrong. She's too much of everything: good, happy, and eager to help. On a soap opera that almost always means that the person is the opposite of what they seem. My soap senses tingled when Daisy encouraged Oscar to stick with the teachings that she introduced him to because it would give him the power to heal himself. It was the way she said it more than the words themselves that bothered me.

There's a darkness in Daisy that she hides behind those sweet smiles.

I was also troubled by the way Josslyn blew up at Cam when he finally came clean to her about Oscar. Cam wanted the kiss that they had shared to mean something, so he decided to be honest.

Cam is officially my favorite teen on the show. William Lipton is absolutely wonderful and such a talented young man. I can already tell that he's got a bright future ahead of him because his performances are a joy to watch.

Cam's confession to Josslyn about Oscar -- when he had much to lose -- showed what a truly decent guy he is. He's such a sweetheart, and I felt terrible for him when Josslyn blasted him for not breaking his promise to a dying guy.

When Josslyn calms down, I hope she realizes how unfair she was to Cam because Cam was stuck between a rock and a hard place. Oscar was equally unfair to Cam, so he owes Cam an apology, too, but in Oscar's case, I think he's going to end up paying a high price for lying to Josslyn.

Cam's kiss with Josslyn, and the fact that Josslyn liked it, suggests that Josslyn's feelings for Oscar have already shifted. No doubt, Josslyn will follow in her mother's footsteps and make a mess of things by insisting on standing by Oscar's side as he fights for his life, but it will be out of duty, not true love.

Finally, no pizza? A Thanksgiving without our traditional Quartermaine pizza is like mashed potatoes without gravy, Jason without a gun, Olivia without cannoli, Finn without Roxy, Spinelli without a computer -- you get the idea. I realize that GH's official Thanksgiving episode is on Monday, but I would have preferred it to air on Wednesday to kick off my Thanksgiving because by Monday, I'll be in Christmas mode.

As Laura just learned, timing is everything.

Genie Francis' return. I hated the way Laura was written off, so I'm delighted that she's back and fighting for her marriage. I'm rooting for her to be the one who figures out Ryan is impersonating Kevin and rescues her husband. That will make up for letting Genie go and giving Laura a crappy send-off.

The resurrection of the Quartermaines. With the addition of Drew, Oscar, and Jonah to the family, the Quartermaines are once again flourishing. Granted Oscar has terminal cancer and Jonah is currently living with his great-uncle as Wiley, but miracles happen -- and Brad acts way too guilty to keep up the sham for much longer.

Sonny's sojourn down the road not traveled. I hope now that he's decided that he made all the right choices and saved his son from a life of crime and a loveless marriage to Sam, we won't have to endure any more of Sonny's self-justifying fantasies. It's not that I don't enjoy Maurice Benard's performances, it's that Sonny never really changes. Sonny reflects to justify, not to learn.

Nelle has been neutralized and sent off to prison. I enjoy a good villain, but in small doses, not every day. Nelle is getting everything that she deserves, and these brief glimpses of her misery are a joy.

Romance. I'm not thrilled with all the pairings, but I am tickled that there is romance back in the air after what seemed like a long drought when there were only one or two happy couples. One of the main reasons that I enjoy watching soaps is the love in the afternoon.

Exciting cliffhangers. I'm a sucker for a good cliffhanger, and GH has been delivering them on a regular basis every Friday. For years, Fridays ended with a whimper rather than a bang, which was quite disappointing and often made Mondays not must-see-TV. However, that has changed in the past year or so, especially in recent months. Fridays tend to be much more exciting these days, and I, for one, can't wait to find out what happens on Monday when Ryan and Ava pull apart from their kiss.

We saw Ryan with a drawer full of mementos of all the women he killed. Where have these items been for the last 25 years while he was locked up in a mental institution? I seriously doubt that Kevin has been keeping them in a drawer for him, and I know he wouldn't have been allowed to have them at Ferncliff, so where did they come from? -- Daffy Sez

No matter who ordered the hit on Margaux's dad, Sonny still murdered him. Not only did he murder an innocent man, but now we know that it was not mob related. But Sonny justifies his crimes, always. -- Meghan Patricia

Even in an alternate universe Pozullo's does not have any customers. -- JDF

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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