The fickle hand of fate - OR - Single ladies no more

While Michael married "Snow White," Nelle snagged herself a new victim -- err, husband. Meanwhile, Sasha's world slowly imploded, Robert had renewed hope that Holly was alive, and Nina made an important decision about her daughter. Drastic times might call for drastic measures, but the fickle hand of fate still rules the day.

Well, folks, Nelle is married. Again. Of course, the odds that Julian is the reluctant groom are quite high, since Nelle had been skulking around his bar long enough to overhear a juicy little secret, thanks to Brook Lynn's big mouth.

It's like soap people have absolutely no concept of what a secret actually is, much less how to keep one.

Despite all the women in Julian's life figuring out that he was responsible for Lucas' crash, the police were never able to establish that. The crash and Brad's car were extensively investigated, but it was ruled an accident because the undercarriage had been too damaged to reach any definitive conclusions. The viewers know that Julian messed with the brake line, but the lab could find nothing to explain why the brakes had failed prior to the crash. More importantly, they looked for wrongdoing but couldn't find it.

Even if Brook Lynn, Britt, and Nelle banded together and marched into the police station to tell Mac that Julian fiddled with the brakes on Brad's car, Mac couldn't press charges because he needs more than a solid theory.

In a court of law, you need evidence to convict a person of a crime, and to my knowledge, there is none against Julian. Sure, there might have been security cameras in the parking garage, but the police would have reviewed it all by now. If Julian had been captured in any of the frames, the police would have questioned him about it. Plus, Julian being in the garage before the fateful drive only proves that he had been in the garage, not that he tampered with the brakes.

Not that evidence is necessary when it comes to Julian. Just the accusation would be enough for Lucas and Sam to cut their father out of their lives again, and that's what makes him vulnerable to blackmail. The problem is, if Julian did marry Nelle, everyone will know that she's blackmailing him, and that might inspire some to start digging. At best, he's only bought himself time before Nelle throws him under the bus to save herself.

Let's face it, Julian's goose was cooked the minute that Brook Lynn put all the pieces together. If she can figure it out, it's only a matter of time before Lucas starts asking the right questions, and Julian is once again the outcast and town pariah with a cool pub that no one can seem to stay out of.

Excuse me if I seem a bit glib about Julian's crimes, but it's hard to muster up outrage when Sonny and Jason commit felonies all the livelong day as infamous mobsters. It might have been a different matter if Lucas had been killed or left permanently disabled, but instead, the truth about Wiley came out, and Brad was carted off to prison, freeing Lucas from that toxic relationship. Julian was sucked into a vortex of insanity by Brad, who, let us not forget, also plotted to kill Julian a time or two, as well as Liesl. From Julian's perspective, it was a matter of "It's me or him."

As for Nelle, she is a creature of habit and not capable of redemption. They say if someone shows you who they are, believe them. Nelle shows us every time that she's on our screens that she remains focused on the same motivations that drove her to kill her first fianc, take advantage of Chase's kindness, drug Sonny, frame Carly, nearly kill Michael, and give her newborn son to Brad. Nelle. Is. Crazy.

Nelle is fixated on punishing Carly because Carly didn't live up to Nelle's delusional fantasies. Wiley is merely the latest means to that end, and Nelle is no more bonded to her son than she is to her new husband. That's why she refers to him as "the kid" and hasn't made any effort to visit Wiley before the court hearing. Nelle is all about chaos and taking down all her perceived enemies, not preparing to welcome a child into her life. She wants to win, that is all.

The only consolation to Julian being married to Nelle is that he will be there if that judge is crazy enough to buy into Nelle's ridiculous antics and grant her visitation or partial custody. Julian would kill Nelle before he'd let her harm a hair on Wiley's head. Perhaps, in the end, that will be his salvation.

Killing Nelle would solve a lot of problems and make everyone happy -- especially Chase and Sasha.

Chase and Sasha are hurting. They sacrificed their own happiness to ensure that Wiley had a picture-perfect Disney family. As Nelle so aptly put it, Michael married Snow White, and in return, Willow ended up with the closest thing to an American prince that a soap opera can create. Despite everything being thrown together at the very last minute, it was nothing short of a royal wedding, right down to a sapphire and diamond ring very reminiscent of Princess Diana's extravagant engagement ring -- and the one that Finn gave to Anna not too long ago -- a lovely spring wedding frock that Brook Lynn rustled up in her closet, and a stunning bouquet of flowers plucked from Lila's garden.

To Monica's horror, Alan's ex-wife Lucy Coe officiated the wedding, but no one seemed to notice that Jason was missing. What gives? Did I miss the scene where someone explained that Jason had been abducted by Finn's alien? That's the only thing that I can think of to keep Jason from attending Michael's wedding.

Also conspicuously absent was the bride's mother. Are Harmony and Jason together, hurtling through the stars on their way to Lumina?

Back on planet earth, Willow's slightly stunned expression when Michael kissed his blushing new bride suggested that it won't be long before she's in love with him, thereby fulfilling Sasha's prophecy that Willow will soon be living the dream at the Quartermaine mansion. Michael appears to be equally smitten with his wife, so Willow won't be alone in her wedded bliss. They just have to convince the judge that Nelle isn't fit to care for an air plant, much less a human toddler.

While Michael embraces married life, Sasha continues to spiral. After nursing a bruised nose, compliments of Brook Lynn, Sasha reached for something stronger than alcohol to numb herself from the pain of heartbreak. I have no idea what that powdery substance in the vial was that Maxie's assistant, Suzanne (Thanks to Jessica Galinas, the actress who played Suzanne, for the correction on this) handed to Sasha, but Sasha appears to have taken all of it. No doubt, those were Cyrus' drugs.

I feel awful for Sasha. She's a genuinely nice person who deserves better. I hate that she is trying to escape into drugs because that will just create more problems rather than make the ones she has disappear. Luckily, Sasha has Chase in her corner, and he has access to Finn, who can help guide Chase to get Sasha the help that she will need.

That brings me to Charlotte, who proudly announced this week that all her anger toward Sasha has suddenly vanished. What?!

What happened to Charlotte the bully, the girl who planted a snake in Ava's purse, and the young girl who angrily took a pair of scissors to a photograph of Sasha? Those impulses are rooted in something far deeper than "mommy and daddy don't get along" issues. Charlotte saw her father attempt to kill a woman by shoving Ava off a parapet! That kind of stuff needs to be addressed. At the very least, Charlotte should be in therapy.

Scarlett Fernandez is an incredibly gifted young actress, and I was looking forward to delving into Charlotte's view of the world, which I had hoped would force Valentin to take stock of his own life and how his actions impact his daughter.

Hearing Charlotte proclaim that she's all better is disappointing. In real life, it doesn't work like that. Charlotte exhibited some very disturbing behavior that should be addressed by a therapist. Valentin and Lulu's relationship wasn't at the root of Charlotte's troubles, so it doesn't make sense that it would be the fix. No doubt it helped make things better in the way that a Band-Aid helps a child's boo-boo feel better, but it doesn't cure it. I hope, when the hiatus is over, the writers revisit Charlotte's behavioral issues because it's a storyline worth delving into.

I want Valentin to be pushed to examine his own actions and perhaps be inspired to change course on a few of his current endeavors. Laura was spot-on when she told Valentin that he has been given a second chance and an opportunity to become the man that he claimed to want to be -- a man who put family first rather than the kind who nursed a vendetta against those he blames for his misfortunes.

Sasha and Michael aren't the reason that Nina left Valentin. It was Valentin's actions and his lies that cost him Nina's love. This push to punish Michael and Sasha is more of the same kind of nonsense that got him into trouble with Nina in the first place, and if he doesn't turn things around, it will only push her further away. It's become abundantly clear in recent weeks that Nina still cares about Sasha, so Sasha's possible addiction is going to bring out the mama bear in Nina. If Valentin in any way contributes to Sasha's hardships, Nina will never forgive him.

By the way, not for a second do I believe that Skye would willingly relinquish her shares of ELQ or Lila Rae's without raising an alarm. Skye would never dishonor Alan's memory like that. If nothing else, Skye would give Michael a heads-up if she'd been blackmailed into selling those shares.

I think we need a visit from Skye (Robin Christopher) to clear things up!

Finally, Nina has decided to search for her daughter, but she doesn't want anyone's help. After what Valentin and Sasha pulled, I don't blame Nina for not trusting anyone with the project. However, I fervently hope the writers have a few more tricks up their sleeves than Nelle being revealed to be Nina's long-lost daughter.

Frank Benson was at the center of at least two illegal adoptions -- he secured Carly for Virginia Benson and presumably took Nelle off Madeline Reeves's hands -- and one illegal organ transplant when he sold Nelle's kidney to Jax for a tidy sum. Just because Nelle has the other half of Nina's necklace doesn't mean it belongs to her. Perhaps Frank gave it to Nelle to keep her quiet while he was facilitating the adoption of Madeline's real granddaughter. It's not like Frank would have understood or cared about Madeline's wishes or the sentiment behind the necklace. Again, this was a guy who sold a child's organ on the black market.

What if Willow is Nina's daughter, and Frank gave her to Harmony to raise? Imagine Nelle's fury when she's told that Nina is her mother only for it to be revealed that Frank had lied about the necklace, and Nina's true daughter had been given to Harmony to raise. Nelle would hate Willow more than she does Carly because Willow will be living the life that Nelle, no doubt, would believe rightfully belonged to her.

The writers have a really good opportunity to shake things up and really change the direction of the current storylines. I would love it if the show returned from hiatus, but instead of picking up where the stories left off, they instead fast-forward a few months to a stormy night and Nelle's body in a bloody heap at the bottom of the Quartermaine staircase.

Kick off the return of GH to the airwaves with a great murder mystery and a slow unfolding of what has been transpiring while the viewers were away.

Yay, Holly Sutton is alive, and Robert is on a mission to rescue her! Does anyone ever truly die while on a WSB mission? Not to my recollection. Go, Robert! I can't wait to find out who was behind this.

Line of the week goes to Chase when he asked Nelle, "How did you become more delusional? I'd honestly thought you'd hit some kind of threshold by now." Amen!

They will never be best friends, but I loved the scene between Sonny and Ava when Ava took Avery to visit Mike. For Avery's sake, Sonny, Carly, and Ava need to find a way to get along.

Double kudos to Olivia and Dustin for burying the hatchet. I think Olivia has treated him unfairly, so it was nice to see them talk things out and reach an understanding. Olivia is so much more likeable when she's being reasonable.

First of all, I was really offended by both Michael and Willow abusing that poor tree! ?? It was so not cool damaging the bark on it for a dramatic scene on a soap! It totally took me out of the scene and not like Michael for encouraging Willow to take part in it! -- Marlene

I don't understand Sam's attitude toward Brando. I partially agree with Brando that she is projecting some of her issues with Jason onto his situation with Molly, but she was badgering him too hard for it to be just about that. The comment he made about not understanding how someone could get involved in a cult is not a good excuse either, because she knows that he wasn't aware of Kristina's past and he wasn't trying to offend anyone; he just stated his opinion. Maybe the writers are trying to build sexual tension, but I don't see anything between them at all. -- Maci Robin

I'm all for Jerry Jax retuning to PC. I miss him and he is far more exciting than Sonny Corinthos. -- Nona

Thank you for taking the time to read my thoughts. I love hearing from readers, so please feel free to drop me a line or leave a comment below. Take care and happy viewing,Liz Masters

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