Peace, love, and understanding

With Dominic Zamprogna leaving and Nathan already gone, who will be the good cop in Port Charles? With Chloe Lanier leaving and Ava trying to reform, who will be the bad girl in Port Charles? Many vacancies abound -- all heroes and kooks, please apply! Lots of exploding Fourth of July week fireworks in this week's Two Scoops.

Dear readers, after hearing Liz talk about her best childhood male friend (or as my male bestie and I say, BBFF and BGFF, and their brother and sister relationship, I was expecting some hunk to show up at her door and become a roadblock to her marriage to Franco. Boy, did I guess wrong! Instead, a beautiful young woman showed up at the door, and it became instantly clear that Liz's friend Terry is transgender.

I'm so happy I was wrong. I am happy GH is tackling this storyline. As the Nana of a beautiful transgender granddaughter, I want the world to understand and accept transgender people, and I think seeing storylines like this on daytime is a great way to open viewers' minds to new ways of thinking.

I confess that before my grandson told us that he was transgender and wanted to transition to a female, I had never given the topic much thought. But when it suddenly impacted someone I deeply loved, I began reading, researching, listening, and trying to understand. Do I completely understand? Nope, and that's okay. We aren't required to understand everything in the world, but we should learn to accept people and love them, just as we want others to love us, even when they don't understand.

My granddaughter is a beautiful young woman: smart, talented, funny, and courageous. I said to her, "I loved you when your name was Sam; I will love you when your name is Samantha. I will always love and accept you. Period. The end." (Names changed to protect the innocent...) We share shoes and makeup tips, and she calls me "My one true Nana." ♥ I adore her. But she's a teenager, and kids aren't always kind. She has endured bullying and heartache. Shows like GH bringing a transgender character onto the screen helps open people's hearts and minds to those who are different from them. It matters.

I trust Liz will react the same to Terry. While Liz did not expect a female visitor, I am delighted that when she realized the woman at her door was her old friend Terry, she led with a warm embrace. I know she will listen to Terry's story and try to understand her journey. I know Liz will accept her friend. I'm excited to hear Terry's story, and I am hopeful that GH fans will embrace this storyline, too.

However, some other storylines are wearing on me. I'm really ready for Peter to be out of that cabin. I bet Wes Ramsey will be happy for the day when he goes to work and is told he can walk upright again. While it's amusing to watch Liesl taunt him with cheeseburgers, it's time for the story to move along. I would have chewed my arm off by now to get free.

Here's my fun storyline idea: right now, Peter is hallucinating that he sees Maxie while we know that she is at her baby shower. Someone just walked into the cabin, and if they call 9-1-1, maybe Peter will end up in Ferncliff with Carly, his real-life girlfriend. Wouldn't that be fun?

Really, I just want him out of the bed and interacting with other people in Port Charles again. There are some big scenes we have been waiting for, and I'm impatient to see them. I want him to be redeemed. I believe he can be redeemed. He's such a compelling actor, and I don't want to lose him from the canvas.

Anna needs to get to know her son. Maxie needs to know that Peter really was trying to make amends. Drew needs to know Peter really was trying to start a new life, just as Drew is trying to start a new life now. Get him out of that cabin!

I know Carly will be in Ferncliff for a minute and that Mary Pat and Rupert will become constant fixtures in our living rooms for a while. Thankfully, Sonny paid off Rupert to keep an eye on Carly, but Mary Pat strikes me as someone who would inject him with sedatives if he crosses her. I think she's probably nuts herself.

Readers, who do you suppose is sending SOS signals from the next room? Maybe Morgan? Maybe Mary Pat is Nelle's mom, and she hates Carly as much as Nelle did when she came to town, and Morgan is alive in the next room? No, that would be too far-fetched, because Kevin wouldn't keep that from Carly, right? I don't know about him these days, either. He's been acting a little squirrely since Laura left.

Which reminds me -- Spencer's damned broken leg or arm or whatever should be healed by now. Bring Laura and Spencer home for the summer!

Even if he does come home, he won't have many playmates, as Josslyn was SORAS'ed (soap opera rapid aging syndrome), and now rumor has it Cameron will be aged, as well, to add a third to the teen triangle of Oscar and Josslyn.

Two more people who might end up in Ferncliff are Ava and Franco, who are sitting around in their free time, contemplating ways to murder Dr. Bensch and dispose of his body. I like the two of them together, although they bring out the worst in each other, for sure. Franco has successfully turned his life around from being a serial killer to a guy engaged to the sweetheart of Port Charles and will most likely wreck it by doing something crazy like helping Ava murder someone.

I keep waiting for Ava to find out about Kiki and Griffin, and since Dr. Bensch has a photo of them kissing on his phone, I feel like he's the one who is going to break that news to her. I don't think I want Griffin and Kiki to end up together, though; they don't really have much on-screen chemistry, and their characters are overall pretty dull together. Great in real life, but not as soap opera fodder for fantasy.

I am glad that another witness came forward to accuse Bensch, but I am still unconvinced he will be caught. I predict that Scotty purposely trying to tank his case will backfire and lead to a mistrial, and Bensch will be free to harass again. Which will cue Ava and Todd (oops, I mean Franco) to try to boil him in oil or something.

We have had a sad little run of departing favorites, and losing Dominic Zamprogna's Dante is a big blow! Other than his tryst with Lulu's cousin Valerie, Dante has been a solid hero during his run on the show -- the good guy, the one we could count on. Even in his departure, he is leaving to do good work and to solve a crime. But losing him so quickly after losing Ryan Paevey and having our two favorite cops out of sight leaves a big hole in our hearts.

I think Jordan should call Lucky Spencer (seriously, call him) and see if he wants to leave Ireland and come home to the PCPD. Lulu has been wholly abandoned by her family, and with Dante gone, she needs a brother -- and the PCPD needs a good guy cop to keep us safe.

I like that they recreated part of Lulu and Dante's meeting scenes with Emme Rylan, scenes that actually happened with Julie Marie Berman back in the day -- if you're interested, here is the original. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8TYnpa8ai0A&list=PL78DC6F35482AE2BE

I was hopeful that since they didn't kill Dante off, maybe DZ will come back at some point. At least they left it open for a recast. I don't really want a recast, but since DZ quit, I can't be mad at ABC for trying to keep the character alive. What about you? Would you be able to accept a new actor in the role, or would you prefer Dante stay off-screen if he's not portrayed by Dom Zamprogna?

We are also losing Nelle. Chloe Lanier has also opted to leave GH. Will she steal the baby and leave town, or will Sonny kill her rather than see her hurt his family again?

I'm not really sure how this will play out, I just know she is leaving, and I have mixed feelings. Do I detest Nelle? Yes, but in the soap villain way -- she's a great soap villain, and I hate Nelle because Chloe is really good at her job. The best soap villains have an element of tenderness in them, so you despise their tactics but feel al little sorry for them, too.

Another thought is that Detective Chase might do her in, which is why he can't fill the role of Good Cop in Dante and Nathan's absence. I get the feeling that he is not in Port Charles to reconnect with his brother, Finn, but to stalk and take down the woman who done him wrong. Maybe Sonny's hands will remain clean, and he will just owe Chase a huge favor for ridding his family of Nelle.

What do you think, readers?

There was so much chaos in Port Charles this week! Liesl and Nina nearly missed the baby shower they were hosting. I confess to you that I detest showers and would not have been at that shower, decorating onesies, unless Maxie was my very own daughter. Oh, I'd totally send a gift, but being in a group of women talking about how they felt in their first trimester and how sore breast feeding makes their boobs is torture. I'm more at home in a room full of guys watching baseball.

But I digress. My husband, Jeff, who pretends he doesn't watch GH, was very perturbed this week about the state of the gym equipment at Sonny's gym. He noted that most of the equipment was new and shiny but that the punching bag was all dilapidated and covered in duct tape. He was so worried about this issue that he went on Amazon.com to price new punching bags and concluded they could have replaced it for under $200. But he doesn't watch GH and gets mad when I suggest he does. I'll take "Denial" for $200, Alex.

Speaking of denial, Spinelli wants to move back to Port Charles. I know when Bradford Anderson wanted to leave originally, they had to have an exit plan and hooked him up with Ellie, but I think it's time for that to end. "Ellie has decided to go to Doctors Without Borders and save the world, so Georgie and I are moving back to Port Charles." Clearly, he wants to add Jackal P.I. to Sam's new venture with Curtis. I want him back full-time, he wants to be back full-time -- make it so.

Spinelli made a magic potion that finally proved that Carly wasn't losing her mind -- the secret message on the Noodle Buddha flier appeared, and I was glad because I was starting to think I was hallucinating it, too.

If we had played a GH drinking game this week, picking the phrase "Invisible Ink" would have scored us more shots than anyone could have anticipated at the beginning of the week. Noodle Buddha would have gotten you a little tipsy, too.

Nelle must have had a lot of free time at her job in Ava's gallery because she was able to order a replica scarf and soak it in fake blood, order invisible ink and doctor up Noodle Buddha fliers, knit a baby blanket to replicate one she saw in a passing photo, and research how to fall down a spiral staircase without killing her baby. I hope someone remembers soon that Ava and Nelle are pals and finds that blanket.

What will happen tomorrow, dear readers? Will we find a connection between D.A. Dawson and Peter, since she immediately took up residence in his room? Will Carly keep using what's left of her cell phone battery that can't be charged to decode Morse Code signals from her wall-banging neighbor? Will Nina cut Valentin some slack and give him some credit for turning her office into Morocco? Will Charlotte have to go see Dr. Collins because all her parental figures keep disappearing?

Will Grandma Bobbie throw Nelle a bridal shower? (Of course, she won't) Will Drew plan a bachelor party for his new BFF Franco? Will the Fourth of July fireworks in Port Charles be at the park or in Ferncliff, cabins, and gyms? Will Olivia lose her freaking mind when she realizes Dante left town without saying goodbye to his beloved Mama?

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

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