Vodka, tears, and a little deadly revenge

Ava drowned her sorrows while craving retribution. Will she get it, or is Ryan gone for good? An action-packed week with the promise of more to come has our columnist eager to dish up Two Scoops of GH goodness.

Wow! Is it still sweeps? It sure feels like it is, which is why I'm going to take a page out of Ryan's book and just dive right in because we have a lot to get to.

The week kicked off on the bridge of sorrows, where Ava was blindsided by the revelation that "Kevin" was, in fact, his back-from-the-dead serial killer twin brother, Ryan. Ryan, staring down the barrel of Jason's gun, saw no other way out except to grab Ava and swan dive off the bridge and into the frigid rushing waters below. Jason quickly channeled his inner Hulk and managed to grab Ava's arm at the very last possible second and hoisted her back to the safety of a very popular style of bridge in the land of soaps.

Ava didn't have a chance to catch her breath before reality came crashing down. Initially, she just didn't want to believe that Ryan had tricked her, but Laura was having none of that because Laura knows firsthand just how dangerous denial can be.

The scene between Genie Francis and Maura West was powerful perfection. These women are soap opera goddesses, and watching them in that gut-wrenching scene, as Laura held a devastated and sobbing Ava, was completely unexpected and so incredibly beautiful. I was a mess, ugly-crying and hugging my poor confused little dog Hazel.

I suspect that having to witness Ava's reaction to learning of Ryan's reign of terror contributed to the anger that Laura is now feeling toward Kevin, but more on that later.

After leaving the bridge, Ava returned home and got herself good and liquored up because being numb is the only way that she can hold onto the tiny sliver of sanity that she has left. My heart bled for Ava as she stumbled around the hospital, looking for Kevin's room -- and a fight. Even Amy wisely disengaged.

By the way, where the heck did Amy come from? That was rather unexpected and random. Does this mean that Felix will soon be back in rotation?

I don't think that anyone on the show, or watching for that matter, believes that Ryan is actually dead, even if the Niagara Falls police wrote him off as soon as they looked over the bridge's railing. That, more than anything, told me that we will see Ryan at least one last time, which is why I'm not going to complain about being cheated out of an Ava/Ryan showdown. I am confident that we will get it. The scene practically writes itself, so it's a no-brainer for the show's scribes.

If I had to guess, I would say that Ryan is already making his way to Ava. She should just park herself on her sofa, sipping a martini, caressing her gun, and thinking of all the lovely -- and exceedingly painful -- ways that she's going to make Ryan suffer before she ends his miserable life. I want Ava to eviscerate Ryan. He killed her daughter, and that needs to be avenged. People on soap operas get away with murders all the time, and I honestly don't think that anyone in Port Charles would care much if Ryan ended up in the Pine Barrens. At this point, not even Kevin.

After Ava exorcises Ryan, I wouldn't mind if Scotty helped her to pick up the pieces. I forgot how much I liked them together, and Ava does want to be a better person. Scotty seems to have found the key to that path, so perhaps he can help her. Griffin was too self-righteous, and Ryan was the polar opposite of Griffin. Scotty is right in the middle -- a happy compromise and someone that I think would be perfect for Ava.

However, a friend of mine reminded me that Griffin is still floundering. My friend wouldn't be surprised if Griffin and Ava's grief for Kiki brought them back together.

I'm not sure how I would feel about that because things got pretty ugly between Griffin and Ava at the end. It was also why Ava and Kiki were on the outs when Kiki was slain. How do you get past that?

As for Jordan, she should be fired. Her plan with Franco was reckless and endangered lives, including Franco's. I know that Jordan doesn't care if Franco dies -- she said as much to Liz -- which only confirms that Jordan had absolutely no regard for his safety, failing to give him so much as mace to protect himself. The plan was for the killer to confront Franco, which is exactly what happened, yet Franco was left to fend for himself.

I was also disgusted by Jordan's attitude when Liz told her how Franco's confession had impacted Cam, Jake, and Aiden. Jordan's remark about how Liz should have thought about that before inviting an ex-serial killer into their lives was not only uncalled for, but wrong. Cam, Jake, and Aiden didn't have problems with their classmates and peers about Franco prior to Franco's arrest and public confession. Cam got into a fight because Franco went along with Jordan's plan. That's on Jordan and only Jordan.

And to be clear, Franco was found not guilty by reason of mental defect stemming from a brain tumor. More importantly, he has not killed since the brain tumor was removed years ago. Why does everyone fail to acknowledge that when they speak with such authority about the effects of a brain tumor?

It's also on Jordan that Franco nearly died and that Carly was kidnapped. All of that happened on Jordan's watch, while she was using civilians as bait instead of actually solving a crime using trained police officers. It's on her that she didn't include anyone in the plan, so that when something happened to her, the bait was left twisting in the wind.

The truth is, in the real world, Ryan would have been caught five minutes after chopping up Mary Pat on the piers and planting her head in a barrel at the Floating Rib because there are cameras everywhere these days. Everywhere. Plus, it's almost impossible not to leave trace DNA evidence behind, even if you worked for the DVX for twenty years.

It turns out that is what Ryan was up to for the past two decades. According to Kevin, Ryan had fled the fun house explosion then gone to work for the DVX until he apparently went mad-der. What he did for the DVX remains a mystery, but whatever triggered his madness that got him kicked out appears to have resolved itself thanks to Kevin. Kevin confided to Laura that he had been working with Ryan since May 2018, which is just a few months before Ryan switched places with Kevin.

Laura was stunned -- and very hurt -- that Kevin didn't tell her that Ryan was alive. She tearfully, and a bit angrily, asked how he could keep that from her, but I'm like, "Um, Laura, you were in Paris!" I love Laura, but I don't think that she really has any room to point fingers when she wasn't there to help shoulder the burden.

This is what happens when you give a character a lame reason for being gone. It comes back to haunt them, so when they end up in situations like this, viewers have little empathy.

Not so with Liz.

First, I love Friz. It took me quite a bit of time to get on board, but eventually, they won me over. What was my issue? Ironically, the same issue that Liz is having with Franco right now -- trust. Franco's lack of trust in Liz to be exact, which results in him always keeping secrets from her instead of being honest.

Franco always has his reasons, but ultimately, it's all about trust. He doesn't trust Liz to stand by him if things get dicey, and Liz has finally gotten the message. Now, she has to decide whether to live with the inevitability that Franco will keep things from her or move on because she needs more from a partner than Franco can give her.

It's not this incident, it's all of them combined that has made this incident the final straw. Liz is tired of always being the last to know when she should be the first, and she's hurt that Franco doesn't believe that she loves him as much as she says.

Ultimately, I do think that Liz will try to make things work with Franco because she loves him. I also believe that Franco will endeavor to be more open and honest with Liz, but whether he succeeds in trusting in Liz's love and commitment to him will remain to be seen. It's a process, and that usually takes time. I am rooting for them in part because I like the relationship that Franco has with each of the boys. They are a really nice representation of a blended family, with a soap opera twist.

That brings me to the Dawn of Day storyline, which is heating up as Shiloh appears to be dropping all pretense of being a reformed bad guy and embracing lecherous cult leader with gusto.

Shiloh's shirtless scene turned my stomach.

It was the creepiness of a man in his mid- to late-thirties, who opens his home to minors (like Oscar), walking around in nothing but a pair of jeans on a cold day with an "I'm sexy and I know it" attitude. Ew. No. Worse, it was revolting the way that he suggested that Sam was bothered by his nakedness because she was attracted to him. Yuck. And again, no.

I have no idea what Shiloh is up to, but he has a strong sexual predator vibe. I just wish that I could figure out what his endgame is. Is he after money, or is he in Port Charles to seduce Sam and steal her fortune the way that she did his father? I don't discount it, even if it does appear that's he's been caught in his own trap. His arrogance makes him blind to Sam's apathy.

Then there is the little mystery of the woman that Shiloh asked Harmony about. The woman that he hopes Harmony can find. How much do you want to bet that the woman he's looking for is Willow?

It's a good thing that Willow and Chase have decided to make their relationship official and see where things take them. She's going to need a good guy in her corner if Shiloh turns out to be the father of her child. I like Chase and Willow. They are like a Hallmark couple, with a dash of Lifetime thrown in to keep things interesting.

Now, Ms. Krissy Corinthos.

I knew that the new enlightened, accepting, and civic-minded Kristina was too good to be true. Thursday and Friday's episodes proved that I was right. Between her breakup with Valerie and the argument with Molly, I saw that the old Kristina was alive and well. I had really hoped that someone would have called Kristina out on her hypocrisy because she expects everyone to accept her choices, yet she refuses to accept theirs. She wants people to keep an open mind, while hers remains closed. Additionally, the very fact that she had to mislead Michael about why she was borrowing money should tell her that what is going on with DOD is not on the up and up.

Molly was wonderful, but I'm afraid that her message was lost in the way that she delivered it. Molly has a way of talking down to a person that puts them on the defensive.

If you are doing something that feels right to you, then you don't hide it. The very fact that Kristina had to hide what the money she borrowed was really for tells me that -- at some level -- Kristina senses that something is off. The tragedy is that Kristina will ignore her instincts because her desire to prove to everyone that she's right is stronger than her desire to concede that she was wrong. This is not going to end well for Kristina.

In other news, Andre Maddox popped into town to give these sore eyes a treat. Seriously, can they give this man a storyline and a leading lady? Unfortunately, Andre didn't have good news for Anna because he confirmed that she's carrying around one of Alex's memories. I'm guessing that memory is of Alex seducing Cesar Faison and giving birth to his son.

I like Peter. I like him quite a bit, but I'm also okay if they change Peter's maternity. I'd much rather that be changed than any of Anna's history that I watched unfold. For example, if Alex were to reveal that Anna had never married David Hayward or given birth to Leora, I would be pissed because I was invested in that storyline and absolutely heartbroken when Leora died and Anna's marriage to David fell apart. Worse, if they undid Robin's birth and made that Alex's memory.

As much as I would like for Peter to remain Anna's son, I'd rather have that memory be Alex's than any of the others.

Speaking of children, Jason managed to get to Carly in the nick of time and rescued her from the ravine then whisked her to the hospital before anything happened to the baby. Josslyn was stunned when Carly told her about the baby, and Josslyn's reaction was pretty much what I had expected -- shock followed by immediate acceptance.

Folks, I don't know why, but I get the feeling that something is just going to go terribly wrong. Carly is a bit too happy, and so far, there haven't been any scares, not even after being kidnapped, being thrown down a ravine, several hard tumbles, and hypothermia. That is not a normal soap pregnancy. There are always miscarriage scares. There are always threats to make fans hold their collective breath for nine months, waiting to see how the pregnancy will be used to create drama.

There is no such thing as an uneventful pregnancy on a soap opera.

Also, Carly and Sonny just seem so blas about it all. I mean, Sonny took off on a dangerous mission five minutes after finding out that his wife, who has had every pregnancy complication known to mankind birthing the three children that she had, is pregnant. Meanwhile, Carly acts like her biggest concern with being pregnant in her 40s with seriously high risk factors is getting someone to bring her a shake instead of a smoothie.

Frankly, I can't believe that Sonny isn't pissed that Carly just stopped taking the pill without discussing it with him. At the very least, he had a right to know that each time they had sex, there was a possibility that she could get pregnant. Making a baby isn't just up to the mother. A father has the right to decide if he wants more children, too.

Maybe that's why Sonny decided it was a good time to go to Turkey.

Unfortunately, things didn't look good for Sonny when last we saw him. He was able to track down Dante, thanks to a ham-fisted pickpocket named Dev who undoubtedly will end up in Port Charles to give Cam a little competition for Josslyn's attention.

I fear poor Oscar's fate is sealed, despite Shiloh's bold talk of miracles to heartbroken parents facing their only child's mortality. Frankly, I think Shiloh was lucky to walk out of that room with his front teeth intact after all that passive-aggressive nonsense about Oscar reaching out to his DOD family. Shiloh's faade continues to slip.

I digress, because Sonny, too, is facing his mortality if Raj has anything to say about it. As Friday's episode drew to a close, Dante was holding a gun -- with one single bullet -- while a room full of bad guys waited for him to pull the trigger and kill Sonny.

I'm just confused by why Raj has a problem with one of the most powerful mob bosses in the United States showing up to rescue his son? Why not just do business, since I'm quite sure that would be far more lucrative than having Jason Morgan breathing down your neck, avenging Sonny's murder. Also, I don't think that Dante will actually kill Sonny. If Raj thinks so, then he's a fool and deserves to die.

I can't wait to see how things unfold on Monday. My money is on Robert Scorpio swooping in to save the day.

I hope the first thing that Laura does as mayor is to make sure that everyone at Ferncliff is fired, starting with the nurse who didn't report a doctor for withholding medical treatment after a patient was inexplicably struck blind.

Did it seem like an unusual number of flashbacks during Friday's episode? It was a little -- odd. Mainly, because flashbacks are pretty rare on GH then suddenly there were several in one episode, and about events that happened quite recently.

Explain to me how Willow and Chase ended up caught in a storm when the storm was shown to have started just as they were leaving Chase's apartment? Did they not notice the dark clouds, raindrops, and lightning that we saw through Chase's apartment window when they reached the building's front door?

How do you have a private conversation in a public place? Just like Laura and Lulu did when they were at the hospital and spoke in hushed tones about Laura's anger toward Kevin. Take lessons, soap peeps!

Molly always steals the scene. More Molly please! -- Jane

Franco getting away from Ryan reminded me of ALL the times Todd Manning escaped from 'the coppers' and was presumed dead but was really on the run. Roger Howarth has the ability to BRING it when things get physical. -- evave2

Sure wish the Mayor would have accepted Jordan's resignation. Then she could appoint Mac as interim top cop. -- Kim LaSota

I can't say I blame Cameron for feeling justified in his misgivings about his mother's relationship with Franco. Based on the information he has, Cam has every right to believe that Franco is a confessed serial killer, and that his mother is in denial about it. Even so, I find it fascinating how young people can be so passionate in their "righteous indignation," as if they're the first people to discover that life ISN'T always fair, that people make mistakes, and that sometimes, bad things happen to good people, and in the end, there's nothing you can do about it. -- Scrimmage

Thank you for taking the time to read my thoughts. I love hearing from readers, so please feel free to email me or leave a comment below.

Take care and happy viewing,Liz Masters

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