The 2024 Port Charles Pal Awards: General Hospital Two Scoops Best and Worst of the Year

The year 2024 brought lots of familiar faces back to General Hospital and Port Charles, while we lost a few favorites, as well. With head writer changes during the first half of the year, it took a bit for GH to find its footing, but the soap now seems to be on an even keel as it heads toward 2025.

Now, it's time to delve into all things wrong and all things right on GH this past year.

Best storyline (with only one sympathetic character)

GH gave us every classic element of a good soapy scandal needed except a group of characters with whom to sympathize. Michael learned that his wife kissed his uncle so he took off to a bar, got drunk, and slept with his drunk ex, who had just learned she was in love with her cousin. Now, that ex is pregnant. Does it get more soapy than that? Why, yes it does.

After his drunken one-night stand with Sasha, Michael went home and had sex with Willow on the couch. Weeks later, Willow couldn't contain herself and had sex with Uncle Drew on the playroom floor the night his ex-wife died and his little girl lost her mom. So soapy! But wait! It gets better.

Michael soon learned about the romp when the nanny cam app alerted him to a new video to view. Yes, it was an X-rated one of his wife and his uncle in various stages of undress. OMG! It can't get more soapy, right?

Sure it can. During the Q Christmas party, everyone wanted to watch football except Tracy. When the cable was out, Michael streamed the game from his phone. When Tracy grabbed the phone to turn it off, she accidentally streamed the nanny cam video instead, exposing Willow and Drew (literally) for the whole family to see.

Oh, so much soap! We love it. We really do. We just really wish we liked most of the characters involved in this scandal. So far, the only one we feel for is Sasha. After all that she had been through the last few years, including losing her newborn son just before Christmas two years ago, Sasha deserves this baby, but nobody else in this tawdry tale deserves a damn thing except to get caught and live with the consequences of their actions.

Most shocking moment we never saw coming

When a very pregnant Kristina barged into Ava's hotel room to give her hell for subpoenaing her to testify against Sonny, we thought it would be another run-of-the-mill fight with little consequence. If something momentous were to happen, we thought Kristina might double over in pain to indicate she was in labor.

We never expected clumsy Kristina to lose her footing over a duffle bag and fall out the window down into the Metro Court pool. It was a shocking moment for us and everyone on the deck enjoying a leisurely sunny day by the pool one fateful afternoon. It was even more shocking that GH chose to kill the baby Kristina was carrying after Sasha's baby died not even two years prior. The fallout from Kristina's plunge into the pool can still be felt now as Kristina is still hellbent on enacting revenge against Ava for what even the jury saw as an accident.

Best breakup

Kristina's fall was the impetus for TJ and Molly breaking up after a dozen years together. The domestic partners who met in high school and seemed inseparable couldn't seem to survive the tragedy of losing the baby Kristina was carrying.

When they finally decided to split, they broke our hearts because it was apparent that they still loved one another. However, TJ wanted to try for another baby and Molly couldn't imagine putting herself through that again. They were on two different life paths with opposing goals and knew their relationship finally had to end.

Best bickering

Molly and Kristina's mother and Molly's father still have it in spades — and by it we mean a strong and palpable distaste for one another. When Alexis and Ric get together, it's a war of words we can watch forever. Each one tries to out-wit and out-quip each other, as well as see who can deliver the best and most acerbic insults. We'll take more of that in 2025, please.

Best partners in crime

GH made the colossal mistake of breaking up BFFs Nina and Ava all over a guy. It never made sense that Ava would suddenly want Sonny after their years of battling for Avery and made less sense that she would sacrifice her delightful friendship with Nina just to land her enemy/baby daddy.

Thankfully, the show realized the error of its ways and reunited Nava so they could take each other task for their poor choices once again. Nina and Ava are forever getting themselves in trouble both separately and together, and they love calling each other out, which is just what best friends are for.

Best couple that never was

Jason and Elizabeth are right there, and for 25 years, they have had a legion of fans who want to see them find their happily-ever-after together. As always, they shared some wonderfully quiet and tender scenes that showed off the undeniable chemistry GH has been trying to deny since 1999.

Their scene by the pool after Jason rescued Elizabeth from a drunken Finn didn't have many words, but it did have a lot of unspoken love and affection. There is still no reason not to put this pair together once and for all. Wasting this chemistry was the most missed opportunity this year — and every year Jason and Elizabeth look like they are going to come close, but then never do.

Best comeback

Who knew Port Charles needed Ric Lansing back so badly? As soon as he arrived back in town for baby Irene's funeral, the fun began. Yes, it was a funeral, but that didn't mean he didn't get a few digs in at Alexis and Sam. Within days, he had taken on Heather Webber as a client and was soon representing Ava Jerome. Proving he is good at his job, both women are now walking free — even serial killer Heather.

Ric also couldn't stay away from Elizabeth and couldn't stop himself from sending Alexis to jail for a few weeks because he had to fulfill his civic duty. Ric has been nothing short of a delight, showing the best comebacks don't really need a lot of hype. They just need a fantastic Emmy-winning actor and good writing.

Worst comeback

Jonathan Jackson had the fantastic Emmy-winning actor part down, but his comeback didn't come with a good story. Did we really care about a new villain in Africa running an illegal diamond mine? Did we really care that Lucly spent weeks cuffed to a table playing poker and then months telling Elizabeth he was going to leave town again only not to leave town?

And why has everyone forgiven Lucky so easily? He abandoned Elizabeth and his son for the last decade and just waltzed back into Port Charles so they could fall at his feet and act like he was a saint and father of the year. Elizabeth had one moment where she read him for filth but seemed to be over it in a day. Now, she welcomes this deadbeat into her home after he's shown almost no growth.

Most pointless return

Yay! Elizabeth's brother is finally out of jail and returning to Port Charles, where his ex-fiance is now married to Ned, and his crazy mother just got out of jail. But boo! Steven Lars and Liz shared about two scenes before he took off again for Arizona with Heather in tow.

Steven had more scenes with Curtis, a man he'd never met before, than his own sister. He didn't even get one scene with Olivia. We love Scott Reeves and wanted to see more, but alas, within two days, he was gone.

Best erasure of history

Jason's first big GH scenes after his long-anticipated return this year were with Carly, and thank God they never mentioned the fact that they were married for a hot minute before his latest alleged death. In fact, it's not been mentioned at all since March, and we couldn't be happier.

Jason and Carly should never have married because their entire relationship is based on being a best friend pair, in which Carly does something dumb, and Jason needs to rescue her.

Most "that's just icky" couple

Diane summed it up best on the penultimate episode of the year. Willow and Drew are just icky. Everything about them makes our skin crawl. From their romp on the playroom floor the night his daughter's mother died to the creepy way Drew stalked Willow throughout the summer and fall.

Perhaps nothing about them is more icky than Willow's hero worship of Drew. First, he did not rescue Liesl in Greenland and bring back bone marrow for a desperate and dying Willow. Drew got himself knocked out, and Holly had to rescue both Liesl and Drew before Drew quickly hopped on a plane and flew home with Liesl. That myth needs to be dispelled.

Aside from Willow falsely believing Drew saved her life, to her, he can do no wrong. Drew seemed like a sexual predator with Willow for much of this year and she still doesn't know he was having sex with her mother on his office floor cause Drew apparently can't find a bed.

Most bland and boring pair

It took so long for Brook Lynn and Chase to get together that nobody really cared when they finally wed. It was a beautiful wedding for a boring couple. They never even made it to the honeymoon because his dad died the night they married. After Chase attended his father's funeral and got his addict brother into rehab, Brook Lynn and Chase's fresh marriage was saddled with a child.

After being Violet's guardian for a few months, Brook Lynn got baby fever but hasn't gotten pregnant. Could it be because she wears layers upon layers of clothing whenever she is in bed with Chase?

It looks like we are about to find out that Brook Lynn is Gio's mom, so at least this couple will get a soapy story in 2025. However, we don't want to see them have fertility problems because she just went through that with Molly and TJ.

Best character transformation

We like what we saw from Curtis Ashford this year. In 2023, he was an unforgiving man filled with self-pity. On his wedding night, he learned Portia had lied to him about Trina's paternity for years. Just as he was ready to forgive her, a bullet left him paralyzed and he shut Portia out of his life.

In 2024, Curtis regained the use of his legs, as well as the use of his backbone. First, he paid Steven Webber to make his crazy mother go away without anyone knowing what he was up to. Then, he switched gears to become a corporate giant running Aurora. However, when he learned that his best friend Drew was about to screw him over, Curtis took charge and screwed Drew over instead. He is the new Aurora CEO and he's smiling all the way to the bank.

Worst character transformation

Who is this frequently crying woman and what has she done with super spy Anna Devane? Anna began the year as a police commissioner with a mission. She was going to stop helping the bad guys and do everything by the book. Well, she didn't.

Anna and Sonny formed a beautiful friendship in 2023 but she was ready to throw him in prison by 2024 with her newfound attitude toward crime. However, that went out the window the second she thought Valentin could be in trouble. She has bent the rule and the law multiple times since, all in the name of finding Charlotte and making sure Valentin wouldn't end up behind bars or dead. She's still preaching law and order, but not practicing what she preaches. That is not the Anna Devane we know and we want the real one back.

Most anticipated story with absolutely no payoff

Jason Morgan is back, something we knew would happen once ABC/Disney lifted its COVID-19 vaccine mandate. With Steve Burton no longer required to be vaccinated in order to work, the network announced his triumphant return during a GH primetime special.

When Burton began airing again in March, we couldn't wait to find out what Jason had been up to for the last two-and-a-half years. It turned out he was an informant for the FBI working to bring down the infamous Pikeman Group. Ok, what did the FBI have on him to coerce the mafia hitman into working for them? Oh, they had information on Carly's little white-collar crime when Sonny was presumed dead. So, Jason stayed away from his sons and played dead all in the name of Carly's freedom. Awwww? (Not so much.)

By the time Anna and Jason figured out that Valentin was the head of the Pikeman Group, Valentin left town in a flash, Jason was released from his FBI duties, Carly got off scot-free, and then...nothing.

Jason has had no real storyline, no real love interest, and his return plot turned out to be a dud nobody really cared about. Ho-hum.

Most HELP! MY EYES! kiss

Jason and Anna kissed and the fandom screamed in collective horror. Anna is the mother of the first girl Jason Morgan ever loved. She should not be kissing the boy with no past who fell for the girl with no future. If Jason and Robin fans had their way, she would be his mother-in-law and not the woman he's locking lips with in an African jail cell. The audience let out a collective sigh of relief when they agreed to never speak of it again when they returned to Port Charles. Phew!

Worst character assassination

What the heck happened Drew Quartermaine? The man who started out as Jake Doe a decade ago was kind, upstanding, and decidedly not power-hungry. We did see a more obnoxious side of Drew when Franco had Drew's memories and thought he was his former foster brother, but Kim Nero had to see something in that version, so we assumed he was a decent guy.

Well, he is a decent guy no more. Instead, this Drew is a convicted felon billionaire sexual predator politician who pays off people to keep his sex scandals a secret so he can win an election. He is also a guy who will sleep with his nephew's wife and her mother all in the span of a few months. This is what we have to say to Drew: Ewwww...

Most senseless death

Why is Sam McCall dead? We could live another hundred soap years and we may never know. Even if Kelly Monaco and GH were parting ways, there was absolutely no reason to kill Sam in such a permanent way. She could have left town, been presumed dead in a plane crash, been kidnapped...anything but dead dead.

And Sam is dead dead. While we would have liked to believe Sam was mistakenly declared dead before her still-breathing body was whisked away somewhere, we got to watch two full episodes of Alexis, Jason, and Dante saying goodbye to a very dead Sam. While those scenes were incredibly well done and ripped our hearts out, they left no doubt Sam's loved ones were talking to a woman who had most certainly died.

Most we hardly knew ye death

Dex is dead too. So far, his cause of death matches Sam's. He had a sudden heart attack while recovering from a routine surgery. While we are bound to learn he also died from an overdose of Digitalis, we never learned much about Dex at all.

Dex was in Port Charles for nearly three years and in that time all we learned was that he was in the service, he liked college football, and his parents had a tumultuous marriage. For a split second in the fall, it looked like we might meet Dex's mom, but it was never meant to be. Now, the only person who even cares that he is dead is his girlfriend, Josslyn. Everyone else in Port Charles has moved on from the man they hardly knew.

Most inept police investigation

Sonny shot Jagger Cates in cold blood right outside the Quartermaine boathouse and Michael covered up the crime. Now, it's as if that never happened at all. Alexis even went to jail for killing Cates when the police mistakenly believed that the gun she threw in the water was the gun used for the murder.

When the gun was miraculously retrieved and found to not be the one that killed Cates, the murder was never spoken of again. Sonny got away with it and so did his accomplice son. Great job, PCPD.

Worst retcon

Holly and Robert are Sasha's parents?!?!?! Say WHAT?!?!?! That story came out of nowhere in about half an episode. Holly began the hour looking at photos of Sasha and Cody in a Deception ad and ended it by dropping in on her stunned daughter at the Quartermaine mansion.

We can't even imagine how this all happened. Holly claims she learned she was pregnant just after Robert was presumed dead all those years ago and then left the baby with her mother so she could run cons. First, Holly's mother was supposed to have been dead since the mid-1980s. Second, Holly was a regular part of the show for at least a year after Robert's alleged death and she was most certainly not pregnant during that time. Soaps will often play fast and loose with character history, but this plot is a tad too extreme with the loose part.

Most sanctimonious hypocrite of 2024

Willow Tait, please look in the mirror and tell us what you see. A third-grade teacher who tells off parents? A nurse who can't make up her mind whether she wants to be a nurse? A woman who didn't bother telling her husband she had cancer? A nurse who didn't bother treating her cancer and then wondered how it progressed to stage 4? A woman who decided the woman who handed her over to be raped was a better mother than the woman she was stolen from?

Willow likely doesn't see any of that. Instead, she sees a woman pure as the driven snow with perfect hair and nails who never does anything wrong. Cody found out about her kissing Drew, but it wasn't her fault for kissing him. It was Sasha's fault for telling Cody.

"Is this my life now? People judging me?" When Willow uttered those words to Drew after Lucas read her for filth, our jaws fell to the floor. Yes, Willow. People are judging you. You know what that's like because all you have done for the last six years is judge everyone else.

As 2025, gets ready to begin, let's hope Willow gains self-awareness and all our Port Charles pals get everything they deserve.

Catch all-new episodes of General Hospital weekdays on ABC and Hulu.