Port Charles chemistry test

You know the scenes in old horror movies when a mad scientist has a laboratory filled with smoking test tubes? That's a lot like General Hospital right now. There are some couples testing their chemistry, and we even have our own spooky ghost. But is everything working in harmony, or are we inching toward combustion? Let's dish all about it in Two Scoops.

Dear readers, last week, I scooped for The Young and the Restless, and I was so envious that my friend and co-scooper Liz got to cover the kiss we have all been waiting for. I am a grandma. I am the same age as Spencer's grandma, Laura, but let me tell you, my old heart turned 19 again when I saw that scene, and I was seriously crushing on Spencer. He was so tender and gentle with Trina -- a true gentleman refusing to give her anything but the best experience, and I adored him for it.

The love story between Spencer and Trina has held us captive since the day they met. There is immense chemistry there. It's taken so long for them to arrive as an official couple. Still, now that they have, I will drink in every romantic and magical moment.

Romance aside, I just want to wax poetic about Nicholas Alexander Chavez. First, Genie Francis is a queen; on this, we all agree. For an actor as young and green as Mr. Chavez to walk into a scene and hold his own with her, and to do a scene as mesmerizing as the one that left Laura and Spencer both in tears, is a marvelous thing to watch. I jumped when Spencer screamed at his grandma that he was to blame for Nikolas' disappearance. Then I clapped.

My husband, who pretends he doesn't watch GH, was in the next room and heard me cheering "YES" and clapping like I was at a Broadway show. He asked me if I wanted a glass of wine to calm down. (Yes, of course. Never say no to wine.) It was just so fantastic.

Spencer's beloved Trina, played by the exceptionally talented Tabyana Ali, also did incredible work this week. It's hard not to sympathize with all the players in this storyline. My heart breaks for Trina, who has been lied to her entire life and had her identity shattered. I feel for Taggert, who raised this child as his own and may not be her biological father. I feel for Curtis, who was probably robbed of raising his child. I feel for Portia, even though I really wanted her to get busted. I feel for Jordan, who is taking the brunt of Curtis' anger, even though she tried to do the right thing. I am waiting for the scene when Stella confesses to Curtis that she was the one who didn't mail the divorce papers! Why does poor Jordan have to take the heat all the time? In fact, if Curtis isn't returning to Jordan, we need a new love interest for her. I would love it if Portia's hot brother took a shine to Jordan.

BFFs Joss and Trina finally caught up and filled each other in on everything that had happened. I'm missing Cam in these scenes. In my humble opinion, he was a victim of Esme's crimes and deserves to be involved in these scenes.

One thing Joss does not tell Trina is the fact that Dex is planning to take down Sonny. Dear readers, if I wrote GH, I would make Dex the son of Brenda and Sonny, have Brenda catch wind that Dex was working for Sonny, and come to town to rescue him. Sonny would take one look at Brenda and dump Nina, and I would be happy. Yes, I know this would be like Dante, Olivia, and Sonny, but that doesn't make me want it any less. 1) I want Brenda back. 2) I don't like Sonny with Nina. 3) I want Dex to be related to Sonny, since they are already forming a bond, eating dinner together, and whatnot. 4) How pissed would Joss be to find out her new boyfriend is Sonny's kid? 5) Imagine Michael's face. It would be so good.

A little ditty about Robert and Diane...if GH is doing a chemistry test with them, the results are in. It's a big YES from me. It's been far too long since our swashbuckling action hero of the 80s had a genuine love interest, and Diane fits the bill. I was so happy to see the two of them at a table together, and I'm excited to see where this goes.

Meanwhile, Diane's former drinking buddy Alexis has a dud chemistry test. Gregory and Alexis are a major snooze to me. I have said this before, and I'll repeat it, I feel like Alexis is being punished. She has had beloved pairings with Ned, Jax, Ric, and Julian and a blip with Finn -- all were heads and tails better than her pairing with Gregory. There are zero sparks there. When their scenes come on, my buddy Max Updates GH plays with his Pokmon cards, and I play Merge Mansion on my phone. I adore Nancy Lee Grahn. I want to see her with someone who matches her passion and energy. Bring Julian back from the dead. Bring Ric home when he finds out Molly is pregnant. Let her have another go at Finn. But please, give Gregory something or someone else to do. He should go hunting for Jackie Templeton. But I get why she cheated on him with his hot son.

We had a pregnancy riddle -- is Molly pregnant? Or is it Sam? Or are they both pregnant? Right now, the mystery pregnancy test appears to belong to Molly, and Sam is just an innocent bystander. But she asked Dante how he would feel if she were pregnant. If Sam is also pregnant, you can bet Lulu is about to come out of her coma.

Poor Laura now has two kids in a coma and possibly three because we have not heard a peep about Lucky in ages. Why are all of Laura's kids in distress? Can't she get any happiness? Well, at least her creepy serial killer brother-in-law is dead. That's something.

Another chemistry test that I think is highly successful is Ava and Austin. Roger Howarth and Maura West are delightful together. Sadly, I think Austin's boss is Ava's nutty sister Olivia. Suppose it turns out that Austin is doing the bidding of Olivia. In that case, I suspect Ava will no longer want to be his partner in crime. When Dante opened that stable door -- the look on Ava and Austin's faces was priceless.

Finally, Austin's creepy cousin Mason is living up to his villainous vibes -- Nikolas is alive, as we all suspected, and comatose under Mason's watch. This gives the writers a chance to redeem and recast Nikolas. Spencer and Laura are already beside themselves, knowing that Ryan orchestrated Esme's takedown of their family. So, they have softened their judgment on Nik's actions. Spencer regrets pushing his father away, so when Nikolas finally returns, hopefully, he will be played by Tyler Christopher, and father and son will have a tear-jerking reunion.

Even so, Nik will be a criminal, since Liz implicated him when she confessed her crimes to the D.A.'s office. That confession earned her a slap from an enraged Dr. O. Her venom toward Elizabeth doesn't make much sense, but Liesl has warped logic many times. Her reasoning is that since Liz helped hide Esme, the cops focused on finding Esme instead of the actual Hook killer before Brita was murdered. Pretty convoluted because even if Liz had not kept that secret, Nikolas would still have had Esme holed up in the North Tower. But Dr. O needs someone to hate, and she has chosen Liz. Sadly, this ruins the delightful love affair between Scotty and Liesl, which is disappointing because their romance tickled my heart.

Readers, I know Heather is a villain, she has been for years, and I should hate her. But Alley Mills played her with such pizazz, I really hate to see Heather go. The thing I loved about her performance was that while she was over the top with crazy, which is precisely who Heather is, she also gave Heather such heart and passion for her daughter and grandchild that I found myself feeling sorry for her. In all my years of Heather viewing, that's never happened before. I think that casting Ms. Mills in this role was a stroke of genius, and I hope Heather escapes again soon or that Laura takes pity on her and lets her visit Esme and Ace occasionally.

Dear readers, I am glad Dr. O is a bone marrow match for Willow, but if the doctors say, "It's too late, and her cancer has progressed too far," I'm kind of okay with that, too. Cancer stories typically make me weep. I lost my precious mother to breast cancer, and I know cancer all too well. Seeing cancer storylines is usually a grief trigger to me, but I haven't shed one tear over Willow. They drew some dark circles under her eyes, and she fainted a couple of times, but that's about it. It just hasn't captured my heart. Is it just me? Or has this storyline left you a little flat, too? I'd love to hear your input.

On the other hand, Ghost Anna haunting Eileen Ashby is fun. The GH makeup and special effects team outdid themselves this week with Anna. She looked like she had stepped right out of the Haunted Mansion ride at Disney. Super creepy and delightfully fun. Felicia did the trick in Ghost Anna's makeup and a projection of Ghost Anna. She haunted Eileen Ashby into a taped confession.

It was hilarious watching Felicia peeling pieces of her ghost face off. At the same time, they convinced Eileen to help them take Victor down. Eileen has agreed to clear Anna's name and partner with Anna and Felicia to entrap Victor.

Meanwhile, Victor is cooing and snuggling baby Ace, whispering sweet Cassadine promises into his little ear. Technically, it's not such a little ear because that supposed newborn is probably four months old. I'm no baby expert, but I know that is not a newborn. What an adorable little baby face, though. It's hard to believe that an innocent child has so many psychotic relatives. My favorite line of the week belongs to Laura, as she warned Victor, "Your day is coming, and the fallout will be glorious."

Laura tries to convince Spencer that he is too young to take on the role of parent. Grandma Laura now cares for Charlotte, Spencer, and soon, Ace. Truthfully, she should probably have Liz's kids, too, because Aiden and Jake have been missing for quite a while. Liz has been so busy committing crimes with Nikolas that she misplaced them.

Readers, the Chase and Brook Lynn relationship, frustrates me to no end. I mean, it's so junior high. They spent a year with the two of them having a crush on each other and never saying it, only to have them together for a month and then break them up again. Now we are back to where we started with the overheard and misinterpreted conversations. Brook Lynn sees Chase talking to Sasha and assumes they are involved. He hears Brook Lynn telling Sasha she's over him (even when she isn't), and he slumps away dejected.

I want to say the F word, but this is a lovely, family-friendly column, and my late great daddy, the pastor, would frown down on me from heaven. I don't want another year of watching these two pining for one another with no forward motion. Brook Lynn rightly assumes Chase will be mad at her for signing an NDA, but Maxie advised her that signing an NDA doesn't mean you cannot talk about someone who has abused you or mistreated you in the workplace.

I was delighted to have a Kristina sighting this week, as were many of you, according to your social media posts. Lexi Ainsworth is very popular with viewers; every time she is on, the audience is delighted. So, why is it that she's not on more? Please explain. I wish someone would write an actual storyline for her because every time the writers have written for her, she has knocked it out of the park.

Not enough time? Well, give her some of Gregory's minutes. Have Kristina tell her mom, Alexis, that she's too feisty to date a lying, unemployed professor. I don't care why he's not teaching or what ailment he has. I do enjoy him as a supportive father figure to Chase and Finn, but beyond that, he hasn't captured my attention. Someone said I had an age bias, and I laughed and laughed. First, I am AARP-aged myself. Second, I think Robert Scorpio, Victor Newman, Eric Forrester, and many other older characters are still smoking hot and not at all snooze-worthy. Note I didn't add Sonny to that list. Why? Because Maurice Benard is my age, and we aren't old yet.

What will happen tomorrow, dear readers? Will baby Prince Ace Nicklosovich Cassadine have to go to prison with his jailbird mommy? Will Anna and Felicia have enough makeup wipes to get all the ghost paint off their faces? Will Sam and Molly be pregnant together and make Kristina feel left out enough to join another cult? Will we find out that Gregory's migraines are really brain tumors? Will T.J. be excited that Molly is pregnant, or will he freak out, as she fears? Will Spencer ever figure out the baby carrier?

Will Brook Lynn quit working for Deception right before Lucy is about to return triumphantly? Will Gregory face some consequences for pretending to be a working professor when he isn't, or will he just be elected to Congress? Will Anna and Felicia decide it's fun playing ghosts and open their own haunted house this Halloween? Will Chase think it's over with Brook Lynn and hit on Sasha, after all? Will any women in Port Charles face serious health consequences from delivering such giant newborn babies? Will Mason be Nikolas' caregiver, or will he use Liz's guilt to coerce her into caring for Nik?

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

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.