Carly's case is dismissed; General Hospital recap, Tuesday, July 30, 2024

Carly walks free as John goes off the rails

Sonny and John's confrontation continued in the courtroom halls. John warned Sonny that Carly was going to lose everything, including Bobbie's, unless Jason turned on Sonny. John insisted that Jason would do it because he would do anything to protect Carly.

John did his best to goad Sonny until Sonny tried taking a punch. Michael stepped in to stop him. "He wants you to hit him. Don't give him the satisfaction of putting you behind bars," Michael said. Michael finally got Sonny to walk away while Molly, who was watching the whole incident, stayed behind.

John demanded to know why Molly would protect Sonny, so she insisted that she couldn't give John records on Sonny unless he filled out an official request. "Waving your badge around and making demands feels more like an abuse of power and misrepresentation of service to the government to fulfill a vendetta," Molly said.

After Sonny's confrontation with Jagger, Sonny and Michael met with Diane and Josslyn outside the courtroom, but Sonny turned his back and went inside when Jason joined them. Michael quickly asked if Jason was sure that Sonny was taking his meds. Jason assured Michael that Carly had checked, but Josslyn pointed out that the meds might have stopped working. John listened in on the conversation, knowing that Sonny wasn't getting the meds he was prescribed.

Finally, everyone entered the courtroom and saw Carly led in by a guard. She reunited with her family for a brief moment before the hearing began. Carly assured them she was okay, and she checked in about Donna. Diane coached everyone to be on their best behavior. She didn't want to hear even a word or a whisper, so the judge would look at Carly favorably. When Michael mentioned his meeting with the congressman, Carly made a vow: "If I'm going down, Cates is going with me."

While Diane made an argument for dismissing the case, a man arrived and whispered in the prosecutor's ear. When it was the prosecutor's turn, he didn't oppose the motion to dismiss, meaning Carly's time as a defendant had come to a close. It turned out that the audio file of Carly at the Five Families meeting had mysteriously vanished.

Carly and her family were over the moon when the judge dismissed the case, but John was incensed. The judge threatened him with contempt, so he finally piped down. John warned Carly and her loved ones that he was pretty sure he knew who had tampered with the evidence.

After the proceedings ended, Carly and Jason embraced but didn't talk much because Michael and Josslyn wanted attention. The prosecutor soon approached them and told them that John's behavior would be looked into. When Michael suggested they celebrate at Wiley's birthday party and invited Sonny, Sonny turned cold. "What is wrong with you people?" Sonny asked.

Sonny insisted to Jason that he could have told them what had been going on three years earlier. He said he would have made sure to stop John then. "You didn't trust me, and that hurt me. None of you did, but that's all right. And you know why? Because I'm going to take care of Jagger myself," Sonny said as he walked away.

Anna's shocking discovery

Anna arrived at a WSB office in search of the truth. She wanted to know why Jack Brennan had been removed from Pentonville. Anna explained how Brennan's records seemed to have been wiped from both Pentonville and Port Charles Police Department records. "That sort of thing can only happen if someone very high up wants it to," Anna pointed out.

The WSB told Anna she was seeking information that was likely highly classified, so it was doubtful she would have much luck. Anna asked for help from people she knew from her years at the WSB and said she was happy to wait until she could speak to them. Just then, Brennan appeared, shocking Anna. He invited her into what seemed to be his office. Anna mentioned that all evidence of his existence had disappeared from Port Charles. Brennan claimed there was a reasonable explanation.

"I was never there," he said, as he mimicked performing a magic trick. Anna claimed she'd kept hard copies of all his records, but Brennan didn't buy it. Anna told Brennan he had clearly won. He was free, and she couldn't do anything about it because she was nothing but a local police commissioner. Anna deduced that he had allowed the FBI to take Pikeman down so the WSB would come out clean, and he could resume his place with the bureau.

Anna then asked Brennan for a favor and wondered if he had leverage over John. He claimed that, as a WSB agent, he had no pull over the FBI . Anna told him that John was "off the rails" and had targeted Carly to get to Sonny. "He's like a wrecking ball, and I'm not going to stand by and let him play out this vendetta," Anna said.

General Hospital's Alexis tries to smooth the water with Molly

While Anna looked for answers with the WSB, Dante made phone calls from the PCPD to try to solve the Brennan mystery on his end. After Dante hung up, Molly arrived looking for Anna, so Dante asked what he could help her with. Molly told Dante all about the "rogue FBI agent roaming the courthouse," and Dante knew she was referring to John. Dante was alarmed when Molly informed him that John and Sonny had nearly gotten into a physical altercation.

Alexis soon showed up to drop off paperwork. Dante was thrilled to learn that Alexis was a practicing lawyer again. When Dante walked away, Alexis took the opportunity to talk with her daughter. Molly immediately knew that Alexis had spoken with Kristina.

Alexis and Kristina sat down in the interrogation room to chat. "What were you thinking? You jumped the gun by trying to force her to sign the termination of her parental rights on the spot?" Alexis asked.

Molly countered that she had only handed Kristina a document that Kristina had already agreed to sign once the baby was born. "It is very obvious that Kristina wants to keep this baby. At the very least, she is strongly considering it," Molly said. Alexis defended Kristina, saying she had just been trying to protect Molly and T.J.'s privacy with the vague answer she had given on Perez Hilton's talk show. Alexis insisted Kristina hadn't wanted to talk about Molly's fertility issues in public.

Molly insisted that Kristina had known what she'd been doing with her answer. Alexis pointed out that Kristina's pregnancy hormones were screaming for her to protect the baby. However, Alexis was sure that in the end, Kristina would give the baby to Molly and T.J. as promised. Alexis asked Molly to back off so Kristina didn't dig her heels in.

Wiley's birthday pool party

Wiley and Willow enjoyed Wiley's birthday party at the Metro Court pool, but Wiley wanted to know where his dad was. Willow tried telling him, but Wiley was distracted and excited as soon as he spotted Nina. Wiley ran into Nina's arms, but he wasn't the only child who wanted her. James soon approached his Aunt Nina. As Wiley and James vied for Nina's attention, Nina presented Wiley with his birthday gift. While he played with his new toys with James, Willow and Nina made small talk.

Nina told Willow it was the middle of her work day, so she would get out of everyone's hair, but Willow asked her to stay. Willow also thanked Nina for helping set up a meeting between Michael and Congressman McConkey. Willow assured Nina that Michael just wanted the congressman to look into how John was abusing his power.

Maxie and Spinelli looked on, pleased that Nina was getting along well with everyone. The subject soon turned to Carly's court case. Maxie wanted to know why Carly had been arrested, and Maxie could tell Spinelli knew more than he was letting on. Spinelli told her all about the evidence John was using against Carly to get Jason to do his bidding.

When Maxie asked Spinelli if there was any way to make the audio file on Carly disappear, Spinelli insisted that "not even the Jackal could pull that off."