Roasted Holly, uncooked turkeys, and a Willow reboot

It's holiday time in Port Charles, the time of year when you want to curl up on the floor near a roaring fire. A time when loved ones gather together around the table. A time when even grinches see their hearts grow three sizes. But not everything can be wrapped up neatly in a little bow. Some things need to be exchanged. So, look for your gift receipts as we head into this mostly festive Two Scoops column.

Fermez la bouche. Dear readers, doesn't "shut up" sound much prettier in French? Okay, the exact translation is "close your mouth," but it's still the same meaning.

I know some of you love Nina and think she can do no wrong. I am not one of those people. When Willow took as much as she could and then screamed "SHUUUUTTTT UUUPPP!" into Nina's face, it was everything. I have been waiting for that moment.

I know some of you will call me a hater. But that's not accurate. I love Cynthia Watros. She was Libby on Lost! The love interest for my sweet Hurley! How could I hate her? I don't.

I used to love the character of Nina. Nina and Valentin were my favorite couple in their heyday. But now, Nina has changed, and I'm not so smitten with her anymore. But that's old news. I certainly haven't made any secret of my feelings.

The writers have turned Nina into a busybody. Nina spies on people and makes snap judgments about conversations she overhears. She butts in uninvited into everyone's lives and makes them worse. Remember the days of old when Nina was working at Crimson, writing important articles, and making social statements on women's issues like public breastfeeding? Where did that Nina go? Oh, yeah, right. That version of Nina went to The Young and the Restless.

The writers don't write for Cynthia Watros the same way they used to write for Michele Stafford. I don't really understand why. The new version of Nina was sent to Nixon Falls and rarely ever shows up at Crimson. Instead, she annoys people in the bar at the Metro Court, which she only bought to toy with Carly. If I were Carly, I would have 100% taken my half of the hotel, signed all the papers, and then said, "Thanks for giving me my hotel back, but I still hate you for stealing my husband."

This week, they sent Nina to pregnant Willow's home to harass her. The makeup team is doing a great job because you can look at Willow and tell she is unwell. Katelynn McCullough is playing tired and weak very well. Did Nina set out to yell at Willow? No. Like Carly, I can admit that Nina may have started out with good intentions -- trying to rally support for Sasha in a difficult season. But when Nina arrived, Willow barely had the strength to stand. It was hard to believe that Nina didn't notice and proceeded to berate her until Willow exploded and passed out.

How can I, as a viewer, sympathize with Nina when she's so mean and judgmental lately? And really, what does Sonny see in her? I can't even imagine why he likes her. I know why Sonny loved Carly. I see why he loved Brenda. I knew why Sonny loved Kate. I understand why Sonny slept with Alexis. I remember why he slept with Sam. I even somewhat understood why Sonny was attracted to Emily. But I don't see the thing in Nina that Sonny finds so fascinating.

None of that means I don't love Cynthia Watros. I think Nina is not being written well, and I find her character unlikable.

Our fearless leader Dan mentioned on Twitter this week that he's not especially emotionally invested in Willow's cancer storyline, even though, on paper, it seems like he should be. I think it's the fault of the GH writers. Having Willow keep this a secret means we aren't witnessing the sadness of the people who love her. We are disconnected from her pain because they aren't allowing us to see it.

On Friday, Michael insisted that they needed to tell people that Willow was battling leukemia because it would let people know to handle her with care. Willow inexplicably doesn't want that. But eventually, the news will come out. Finally, Carly will have to confess that Nina is Willow's birth mother. Sure, Carly can be prideful, but she won't let Willow die to cover up her lie. I anticipate that once Nina knows Willow is her flesh and blood, she will soften and change and treat Willow the same way she treats Sasha.

I like that version of Nina. I like the Nina that loves and protects Sasha. Eventually, Nina will feel that maternal bond with Willow, and I will be glad. But I still won't like Nina and Sonny as a couple.

As for couples, one couple I waited to see get together for months was Chase and Brook Lynn. Now, so quickly into their romance, they have broken up already.

Dante delivers the body blow to Chase that the board met and that Chase will never be a cop again, but Brook Lynn is on the phone, trying to right the wrong she did. I hope that Chase is back in blue by Christmas and that Brook Lynn is back in his arms. But I admit, when I saw Chase and Sasha, I realized I wouldn't be mad if those two had a fling because they have both been through a lot of heartaches and deserve a little joy. They have a history together, and it would make Christmas a little brighter.

Sadly, I think Sasha will have even more heartache and end up bankrupt when Gladys loses her fortune to Ms. Wu's poker game. Is compulsive gambling contagious? Did she catch it from Mike? Up until last week, I hadn't heard that Gladys and Mike used to play the ponies together, but that little anecdote is setting up Gladys to be the new mark in Ms. Wu's poker game.

The worst part is that I believe Sasha has more money than Sonny after her windfall from the Deception stock sale. This means if Gladys loses it all to Ms. Wu, Sonny won't be able to buy her out of trouble. Instead, he will have to pay it off by doing Ms. Wu's bidding or losing his territory. I predict this will be a much larger storyline than Gladys losing a few hands of poker.

Another storyline about to blow up is the Sonny/Michael/Dex/Joss/Cam fiasco. Despite Michael's warnings, Dex can't seem to stay away from Joss. We still don't know who Dex is -- Michael hired him to infiltrate Sonny's organization, but where did he come from? He was working for some security firm -- is it the same one Valentin approached Sonny about? Is Dex working for Michael, Sonny, or his original parent firm? Where does his true loyalty lay? I am interested to see how this all plays out.

I like Joss and Dex together, even though I feel sad for Cam. But imagine if Cam overhears Liz talking to Nik about Esme being held at Wyndemere. He may be the one to bust her out and rescue her. I still feel like there is something there. She is so evil, and he is so pure and decent. It could be like when Ava and Father Griffin Monroe hooked up. Cam's heart will be broken, but he will find love again.

When Michael said he'd rather see the whole operation go down than hurt his mom and his sister, I wished he would just pull the plug and reconcile with his dad. That's what I want for my GH Christmas gift, for Sonny and his family to reunite. At least as far as being able to be in a room together and get along. Do they remember how crushed they were when they thought he was dead?

Readers, I think the most beautiful scenes of the week were between Dom Zaprogna (Dante) and Maurice Benard (Sonny). Dante is a cop, and Sonny is a mobster. They truly love one another, but their interests are divergent. Dante explains to Sonny that the closer they get, the more conflicted he is between his duty as a cop and his love for his father. When Sonny promised Dante that if Dante ever had to arrest him, Sonny would expect nothing less than for his son to fulfill his duty and that he would still love him, it made me a little verklempt. I hope this is not foreshadowing, but it probably is. There will come a time when Dante can't look the other way and will have to bring Sonny down. Sonny doesn't have Jason to take the fall for him anymore.

Meanwhile, across town at Wyndemere, where other crimes are being committed, Uncle Victor showed up with his suitcases and announced he was moving in. His timing was such that he caught Liz leaving. Victor jumped to conclusions and assumed that Nik was having a fling with Liz. It delighted him to think Nik was moving on from Ava. Leave it to Victor to celebrate infidelity.

Instead, of course, Liz was tending to the medical needs of captive Esme and her unborn child, Ace. Liz is now an accessory to kidnapping and could end up in jail or worse once Ryan finds out who hurt his daughter.

The scenes with Esme and Liz make me feel a little sorry for Esme. Sure, she's a monster, but she never had anyone like a nurturing mother figure caring for her. Over these months of Esme's captivity, could Liz grow to feel compassion for Esme, knowing how it feels to be abandoned by her parents? Liz had a soft landing here in Port Charles with Gran, but Esme didn't have a Gran to lean on. I am interested in watching Esme's storyline unfold.

Is Esme the Hook? The killings have stopped since she has been captive. It was risky for Ava to agree to be bait for the PCPD with Ryan, but Ava has nerves of steel. She is willing to do it to help protect her pseudo-daughter Trina from psycho Esme.

If Esme is not the Hook, was it Heather, on behalf of Ryan? The look that passed between the two at Spring Ridge this week was downright chilling. I can't decide if Heather feared Ryan or if she was in awe of him. How did you interpret that look between them? I don't care; I was happy to see Alley Mills back and to know that GH isn't done with Heather yet. I am enjoying her take on this character so much. I bet it's a ball to play.

When Scott agreed to see Heather at Spring Ridge, I said, "Oh, no, this can't be good." And I was right. Heather proposed that Scott help her sue Port Charles, to ostensibly gain her freedom and a significant settlement that would make them both rich. Scott declined and talked about his German girlfriend, Liesl. But is Scott the scoundrel still in there, and will he rethink Heather's plot and decide to go for the money grab? Heather being free to roam Port Charles could be fascinating or terrifying.

My husband, who pretends he doesn't watch GH, said he knew there was no way they would kill off Lucy, Queen of the Nurses Ball. He was very relieved to find out she was still alive. How did he even know about this if he doesn't watch GH? This week we went to Disney World to celebrate our 34th wedding anniversary, and he was trapped in a room with me and had to watch GH on Hulu after the park closed.

Fun fact -- there is an actual club at Disney called Disney Day Drinkers for adults who like to roam Disney sans kids and drink adult beverages. There is a plethora of bars at Disney with unique cocktails, especially now for the holidays! It's so much fun. We went to Disney's Sangria University this week with a bunch of our friends. We learned to make (and drink) all the Disney Sangria recipes. We even got to create a sangria of our own! A jolly good time was had by all.

But back to GH!

Holly did not die in an explosion. It was part of an elaborate plan to get her out of town and out of Victor's reach. I hate to see Emma Samms depart so soon; I loved having her back in Port Charles. But I am thankful we got to see her and that the storyline of her being captive is finally resolved. I hoped for an Ethan or Luke sighting, but alas. Maybe someday.

It's incredible how many health issues people have on a show called General Hospital, but we rarely see hospital scenes. This could be because of a distinct lack of doctors and nurses available on the show. Britt is battling Huntington's and being co-CEO. Terry has one patient, Willow, and is co-CEO. Finn is busy caring for Liz and Violet, T.J. seems to have the bulk of the patients these days, but he's only a resident. Monica and Bobbie are retired, Lucas has vanished, Brad is no longer a lab tech, Kevin Collins sees about two patients a year, Willow is sick, Epiphany is studying, and Portia is mostly fighting with Jordan and spying on Marshall. Austin is mostly MIA, with occasional shady conversations with his creepy cousin Mason. Joss did more doctoring this week than any of the doctors. Quick, someone give Liesl her job back. She would whip GH back into shape pronto.

Speaking of Liesl, this week's scenes were heartbreaking between mother and daughter. Kathleen Gati and Kelly Thiebaud are such sparkling gems. They have such great chemistry between them and are so believable as mother and daughter. If Britt is about to be killed off, I will weep with Liesl as she mourns. Do you think Victor will spill Britt's secret or use it to blackmail Liesl into a romantic interlude to buy his silence? Whatever he plans with the Ice Princess must include his crush, Liesl.

I can't decide where things are headed with Marshall in other vaguely medical storylines. Is he not Curtis' dad? Does he not have schizophrenia? Why is Portia still so up in his grill about his health? What will be the catalyst for Portia finally discussing Trina's paternity with her? We have had multiple scenes discussing Marshall's symptoms and diagnosis, without a clear path to where it's all heading.

Readers, this week was Jackie Zeman's 45th anniversary on GH. She was the vixen of the show back then, a former hooker turned heart-of-gold nurse. The rivalry between Laura and Bobbie over Scott was legendary. When will Bobbie get her stand-alone episode? She absolutely deserves it. Give me flashbacks of Laura, Bobbie, and Scotty. Let me see B.J.'s death and Tony and Bobbie's romance. Give me some scenes with Bobbie and all four Carlys. I hope GH chooses to honor her decades of work and give Bobbie a showcase to celebrate her character.

I was happy this week to see the writers' take on the time-honored tradition of the Quartermaines having pizza on Thanksgiving. I loved the take that Olivia had worked so hard to ensure they had a traditional turkey dinner and then had a live turkey delivered! This episode was so much fun, except for the part where Chase called out Brook Lynn on her deception (no pun intended) and dumped her on Thanksgiving Day.

Now to my beloved Spencer. Aren't his 90 days up yet? It feels like they should be. He better be released in time to kiss Trina under the mistletoe. Preferably In front of Bory. I enjoyed the spirited showdown of the uncles in Pentonville. I don't really trust Uncle Victor. I don't really trust Uncle Cyrus. But I'm 100% Team Spencer, so whichever of them genuinely has Spencer's back wins my undying loyalty.

What will happen tomorrow, dear readers? Will Laura fire the deputy mayor and appoint Lucky to come back from Ireland and help her lead? Will Holly and Anna be "on the run" roomies and bump into each other somewhere in Canada? Will Joss become a doctor before Epiphany does? Where is Epiphany, anyway? Will Diane be able to be there for Robert as he misses Holly and make him forget she ever existed? Will Leo end up with a pet turkey named Mr. Wattle?

Will Drew and Carly's undeniable passion cause them to spend Christmas in prison for insider trading? Will Victor discover Valentin is moonlighting with some outside security firm, brokering deals with Sonny instead of keeping his eyes on the prize? Will anyone find out what happened to Charlotte since she was sprung from boarding school? Will Michael and Drew offer Ned the CEO job to make peace with him for Christmas? Will Diane and Robert ring in the New Year together? (Yes, please.)

Will Cody tell Mac he's really Cody's dad once Cody finds out the necklace is missing? Will I keep watching any Hallmark movie that Ryan Paevey is in? (Absolutely.) Will anyone ever look for Aunt Stella and Phyllis, as they seem to have gone missing? Will Ryan spell out messages to Esme on a Ouija board she finds in the attic? Will I go back for another holiday spiced old fashioned at Disney? (Yup.) Will Prince Nikolas set Esme up in style on Cassadine island to raise Ace? (Nope.) Will Ryan's caregiver ever find a news story that interests him in Alexis' paper other than the letter from the Hook?

Only tomorrow knows, dear readers, and I will tune in tomorrow as long as there are tomorrows.

What are your thoughts on General Hospital? What did you think of this week's Two Scoops? We want to hear from you -- and there are many ways you can share your thoughts.