A dark and complicated past

GH's past converged with its present as viewers were treated to classic episode, and Jordan closed in on a serial killer who was intent to hide his presence at any cost. Will Laura be caught in Ryan's web? Will Oscar get his dying wish? Will Jason and Sam be able to save Kristina from herself -- and a cult? Our columnist checks in with the first Two Scoops of the New Year.

Before I dive into this week's chicanery, I want to take a minute to reflect on the past and the December 31, 1997, throwback episode that General Hospital treated us to on this New Year's Eve. It. Was. Perfect.

The episode mostly focused on the events surrounding Michael's life-saving heart surgery shortly after his birth -- before it was revealed that A.J. was his father. The episode included Edward, A.J., Alan, and Emily Quartermaine as well as Tony Jones, Stefan and Nikolas Cassadine, and Katherine Bell, characters who are all now deceased. It was great to see their beloved faces. Each was a sight for sore eyes, and the stories were timeless.

My heart broke all over again for Tony when he realized that he couldn't possibly be Michael's father because their blood types weren't a match -- likely the last accurate DNA test to come out of that hospital. The scene was all the more poignant because I know that it was the catalyst for Tony's breakdown. Shortly after that, Tony went home, shaved his head, then jumped into the deep end of the temporary-insanity pool.

It was also difficult to see the disappointment in Alan's eyes and to hear the scorn in his tone when he spoke to A.J. because it was all due to Carly's machinations. I recall that Alan and Monica both had deep regrets about the way they had handled things with A.J. when Michael was born, but that was after A.J. had died -- or at least they thought he had. It turns out that A.J.'s deaths tended to be greatly exaggerated. The first couple, anyway.

Oh, how I had hated Carly in those days. I wished for nothing more than for her to get her comeuppance, but that was never to be. Carly always ended up being rescued by Jason then Sonny. Always. And A.J.? Well, he was the trio's favorite whipping boy, who would ultimately meet his end at the end of Sonny's gun barrel. The 1997 episode was the very beginning of a war over a child that would last for decades and destroy lives. Literally.

I love that the powers that be have decided to air these classic episodes because they remind us of the rich history that this awesome soap opera has.

Now, back to the present day, and Ryan Chamberlain's killing spree.

This week, Ryan's latest victim was a filmmaker named Peyton Mills who was in town, finishing up his documentary on none other than Ryan himself. From what I can understand, Ryan offed the guy because Peyton intended to close the documentary with a suggestion that Ryan had survived the blast and continued to walk the earth. Fearing that it might expose him to the authorities, Ryan took action.

The murder wasn't exactly premeditated, yet miraculously, Ryan managed to once again escape detection. No one saw him coming or going on the piers, making me wonder if Ryan travels in an invisible car or a cloud of mist. How does he get around without being noticed?

In this day and age, when nearly every home and business has a security camera and people are documenting every aspect of their daily lives with their smart phones, Ryan has managed to violently murder three people -- one on the piers whom he also dismembered -- and transport the body and/or parts all around town, including large gatherings, and no one has seen or captured even a grainy image of the killer.

Fantastical, especially when we are also expected to believe that Ryan has somehow avoided leaving behind any DNA on his victims. Not a hair, broken nail, drop of blood, or fiber, despite brief struggles with each of his victims. In Kiki's case, she even left a bruise on his wrist.

To my knowledge, there's only one door that leads to the Metro Court Restaurant's balcony, so unless Ryan lowered the body with ropes and pulleys from a window above the balcony, he had to pass through a roomful of partygoers, many of whom know him personally, with a body in tow, and not be spotted. Twice, because after he dumped the body, he had to sneak back through the room to an exit.

And don't forget, this is a man who, until a couple of months ago, spent decades locked up in an asylum, isolated from the modern world. Yet, somehow, he's up to speed on all technology and crime scene cleanup. It's pretty unbelievable, I know, but that's exactly what the writers would have us believe.

Apparently, Ryan isn't just a bloody genius, he's the great and powerful Oz!

During Nelle's reign of mental torture, it was revealed that Metro Court had state-of-the-art security everywhere -- except right outside Carly's office and the stairwell on her floor -- so why aren't the police scouring every frame of the security footage? There's no way that Ryan evaded all of them while schlepping a body around.

Instead, of reviewing security tapes, Jordan decided to invite her civilian husband to help her comb through boxes of evidence, hoping to figure out who the killer is. Evidence that I assume Margaux hopes to one day use in court when they charge the killer with the multiple murders. A defense attorney is going to have a field day getting all the evidence tossed out because of Jordan's questionable procedures, but that's for another day.

Despite Jordan's decision to let Curtis work on the case, she has made progress. Jordan figured out that the recent victims had something in common with Ryan Chamberlain's victims: each was missing their driver's license. What makes that significant is that it's something that Jordan only now realized. For whatever reason, the police in 1995 never noticed that common thread. I guess they were too busy with Cassadine mayhem.

Will Jordan put the pieces together before it's too late?

As the show drew to a close on Friday, Ryan followed Laura to Volonino's Gym, where she had planned to meet Sonny. Not only was Sonny not there, but the gym was eerily silent. Will Ryan kill Laura? He seems eager to claim another victim, and she had promised to make more trips to Ferncliff in her effort to reform the mental health care system. Ryan can't have Laura making regular treks to Ferncliff, so his solution is to kill her.

Not for a second do I think Laura is about to meet her end. Fans would take to the streets, rioting, if the writers killed off Laura, so I'm pretty sure she will live to tell the tale of her insane brother-in-law and how she saved her husband. However, I do think Ryan is going to slip up. As his blood lust grows, so does his arrogance. He's confident in the knowledge that he has everything firmly under control, and that will be his downfall. I'm certain of it.

I'm equally certain that Shiloh is exactly what Jason and Sam fear he is -- bad news.

Is Shiloh aware that Daisy sent Leland Powell's obituary to Sam? Probably. It's beyond coincidental that Shiloh and Daisy suddenly have a connection to everyone in Sam and Jason's inner circle. Kristina, Oscar, Drew. They have to be in cahoots, and if I had to guess, it's the Quartermaine fortune that they are after.

What I'm interested in learning is what is motivating this quest for money. Are Shiloh and Daisy driven by greed, or are they religious zealots? If it's the latter, that could spell trouble for Kristina because Kristina is easily influenced by anyone other than her family, and already, I see abject devotion glazing her eyes when she looks at Shank (Shiloh/Hank).

Knowing Kristina, she'll chug the poisoned Kool-Aid before she ever admits that she got herself sucked into a cult. And that smarmy smile that Shank flashes tells me that he's not going to have any problem throwing Kristina to the wolves to get what he wants. However, as much as I distrust Shiloh, I did enjoy watching Krissy put Sam in her place. Sam is a hypocrite, even if she is right.

My favorite scenes this week were the ones between Scott and Monica as they remembered Gail Baldwin. They were the true definition of bittersweet.

I was a kid, but I still recall the shocking storyline when it was revealed that Monica had slept with Gail's first husband, Greg. At the time of the "affair," Monica was sixteen and living with Gail and her husband, but Gail didn't find out about it until after his death. Naturally, she was devastated and felt betrayed by both Greg and Monica. It was a different time with a completely different mindset, and I recall despising Monica for hurting Gail the way that she had.

In those days, there was a name for teenage girls who seduced "innocent" older men -- Lolita. Shockingly, Lolitas were considered the sexual predator, not the older man, which shows you just how far we've come as a society. These days, a story like that would never have worked because we would have instantly seen Monica as the sexual assault victim that she was, but not then. Then, she was viewed by many, including my mom and myself, as a homewrecker.

It wasn't until later, when Gail made the realization that Monica was as much a victim as she was because Greg had wielded all the power, that I was able to understand that power could be abused and used against people. It was a message ahead of its time, and for that I'm grateful.

The bond between Gail and Monica was powerful. They might not have been biologically related, but Gail was Monica's mother in every way that mattered.

I loved Gail. Susan Brown was a wonderful actress, and she and Peter Hansen (Lee Baldwin) had fabulous chemistry. They were perfect together, and it always made me smile when Scott would talk about Lee and Gail growing old together in Florida. I'm happy that GH is honoring Susan's memory with a little storyline. I can't wait to find out what she has in store for Monica, Scott, and Lucy.

I'm also eager to find out if Sonny is going to be foolish enough to start something up with Margaux. Please don't misunderstand. I have zero desire to see Sonny and Margaux as a romantic pairing. In fact, I will be furious if Sonny goes down that road, because personal struggles are not an excuse for having an affair.

Carly has every reason to worry about Sonny. I know he never slept with Nelle, nor was he particularly attracted to her, but he does have a long and sordid history with plenty of other women, a few of whom he cheated on Carly with. She forgave him, true, but she can never forget. No one can.

That said, I have no idea why Margaux would be attracted to Sonny. Not only did he kill her father, but the man is a criminal and married. Heck, he's got kids everywhere from toddler to darn near middle age. Not to mention his wife is a jealous shrew who has her own very checkered past (see above), so why in the world would Margaux go anywhere near that train wreck? Surely, she can do better than Sonny.

Julian is fresh on the market after breaking things off with Kim. Julian decided after his talk with Josslyn, when she insisted that it was Oscar's dying wish to see his parents get back together, then seeing the kiss between Kim and Drew, that he'd do the honorable thing and step aside. Only he did it quite shabbily by claiming he'd slept with someone else.

Then there's Drew. He claims his kiss with Kim meant nothing to him.

It's clear that Kim still loves Drew. It's the way she talks about the past, the way she looks at him, and the way her expression clouds with sadness when she's reminded that he doesn't remember their connection. Despite that, I also believe that she loves Julian. Not with the same passion that she does Drew, but enough that I think she and Julian might have been happy if Oscar hadn't gotten sick. Unfortunately, Oscar's illness changes everything.

Sadly, I suspect that Oscar is slated to die. It's just a feeling that I have. However, I can see Drew and Kim finding their way to each other in their grief and perhaps Kim helping Drew to recover his memories just in time to help his twin take down Shank.

Frankly, I look forward to seeing more of Billy Miller, and I'm more than ready to learn about Drew's life before the abduction. Will I be sad to see Oscar go? Yeah, but I think his death will be soap opera ratings gold.

What's with Willow grumbling about her students' mothers one minute then being all chummy and smiles with Liz the next? It's not the first time that I've noticed Willow grouse about people, and it seems a bit catty.

How did Shank recognize Drew when he arrived at GH if he'd only known him with Jason's face? Did he stalk him on Facebook? Would Drew even have a FB page?

Do Jason and Sam ever sleep? They were at the New Year's Eve party then changed clothes and popped over to check out the cult house without skipping a beat. And where are Sam's kids?

Cameron is the Best. Soapy Big Brother. EVER! Cam, Jake, and Aiden - "Those Webber Boyeeze" are AWESOME! They're going to be breaking hearts all over Port Charles for years to come. I love how close they are. Clearly, Aiden ADORES his oldest brother, and vice-versa. Jake too, of course, but Cam and Aiden seem to have a special bond. -- Scrimmage

I hope that they did not rewrite the story about Sonny actually murdering the DA's father because they are laying the groundwork for his having an affair with her. If he does, I am done with Sonny's character. Plus... ew, he's way too old for her to be interested in (although she is pretty screwed up). -- Savannah loves GH

If Drew does finally regain his memories with this Sci-Fi flash drive "of knowledge." Am still waiting for an answer to the question. "How and when did Andrew Moore become Andrew Cain if he was raised in a (non-existent in the 80s) foundling home? Where and Who were the Cains and why did Drew take their surname. -- Dreyne Smythe

I agree that Ryan's apparent super powers are ridiculous but even more absurd is that Lulu has been writing a series of articles about Ryan Chamberlain, no doubt including photographs, yet nobody at Ferncliff has questioned the fact that "Todd Wilson" looks just like Ryan and has the same name as the alias Ryan used, and "Todd's" doctor looks exactly like him too. Mary Pat can't be the only one who makes the connection, especially when there is now an apparent serial killer on the loose in PC -- Daffy Sez

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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