The Stunning Rebirth of Willow Tait: General Hospital Two Scoops For the Week of January 5th

While so many General Hospital fans were looking for a complete shocker of a reveal in the 'Who Shot Drew?' mystery, we knew from the start (a year ago) that it had to be Willow. If it were anyone else, the story would have fallen flat. That's because this story wasn't plot-driven; it was character-driven, and that's the best kind of soap story there is. Now, let's take our two scoops and dig into a monumental week of GH.

Is Weeping Willow oh-so wicked?

Callie Miller, aka Willow Tait Chase Corinthos Cain, has been reborn. It was everything that needed to happen to a character who started as a new beloved young heroine eight years ago, before transforming into an aggravating shrew on the audience's hit list, whom many wanted to punch for one reason or another over the last few years. Well, punch no more because Willow will fight back, and that's exactly how it should be.

If there has ever been a character who has needed a rebirth and reset, it's Willow. Over the last year, we wondered who she even was, and perhaps, so did she. Heck, even over the last few years, she infuriated at least half the audience. Then, over the last 12 months, she worked on the other half. And the last year or so has sure been a doozy in the World of Willow.

While everything that happened to Willow has been her fault, due to her own stupidity, she sure had it rough. She foolishly fell for a man, thinking he saved her life when she had leukemia. But if she had been in Greenland in 2023, she would have known that this man did absolutely nothing but stand there and then get himself conked on the head, while trying to save her bone marrow, aka Liesl. It was Holly who rescued Liesl while Drew was out cold, and anyone watching with their own eyes could see that. So, believing Drew was her savior and hero was Willow's first mistake.

As she got more drawn into this creepy predator's sadistic world, Willow lost any sense she had. From taking Wiley to DC without asking Michael first and Michael's near-fatal burns as leverage to see her kids to moving those children from home to home to be with Drew or not be with Drew, Willow made mistake after mistake. She even believed Drew over her own son when Drew emotionally abused Wiley. And she did everything because Drew told her to. That was it. If Drew said it, Willow did it. And shooting Drew in the back twice? Yeah, Willow did that, too.

After Willow's meltdown in court when she lost custody of her kids, she woke up in the ER with a look on her face that told us straight out she'd had some sort of mental break. A few weeks later, when she flashed back to stalking Baby Daisy, we knew she was not our Willow anymore. The transformation was complete when she got on that stand and told her tale this week. Willow was calm, cool, composed, and collected — when she lied, lied, lied, and lied some more.

Who is Willow? What is Willow?

We have seen the smirks for months. The pleasure Willow takes in doing something naughty and getting away with it. In fact, those smirks remind us all of her twin sister, Nelle. Could that be who Willow is? Does she have a common case of soap opera DID or is this all Willow, one woman, but transformed? For the last few years, we thought that Willow might be even nuttier than Nelle, but now we are convinced.

That performance Willow (or Nellow, if Nelle and other personalities are floating around in there) gave on the witness stand was masterful, and we are sure the jury bought every word. Suzanne might have pointed out that Willow has a history of courtroom meltdowns, but she decided she needed to change her trajectory on a massive scale.

The Willow we saw was humble and sweet, telling her story with all the calm of someone who knew they were innocent, all while flashing back to holding a gun at close range and pumping two bullets into her now-husband's back. The sneer of disgust she gave when he pulled the trigger a second time was EVERYTHING. This is a whole new Willow we are dealing with, and we can't wait to see what happens next.

So, what happens next on General Hospital?

Well, Tracy will surely learn that Marty is the one who ratted her out to Alexis, so that will be loads of fun as the Tracy and Marty Comedy Hour continues. And Alexis will learn that her client really is the culprit and has to decide what to do about that. And that is going to be a major decision for Alexis, who could lose her law license, her granddaughter, or both, depending on what she chooses to do.

And Willow? If she ends up walking free, Drew is hobbling around with another target on his back. Willow only married him so she could get off scot-free and get her kids back. Watching her smile and sigh, and bring on the crocodile tears while telling Drew how golly gee awesome he was at the Port Charles Grille was nauseating. But then we had to giggle when she displayed that little smirk as she watched Carly throw a drink right in Drew's face. That's the new Willow we want. Keep going, girl. Destroy him!

General Hospital amateur detectives on the beat

And of course we have....The Ringtone. That was always going to be the key to all of this, but GH got a little clever by having Kai and Trina, the two wild cards in all of this. As of now, nobody knows they were in Drew's house the night he was shot, hiding in the bedroom. They heard it all, including "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star." Now, let's be real, would Michael really have "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" as the ringtone for his nine-year-old son? Of course not. But Twinkle, Twinkle Little Willow sure would.

We were so fearful that GH would neglect to think of it, and Kai and Trina would just assume that Michael was the culprit if their little trick with Gio worked. And Gio? How surprisingly genius was it that he was somehow worked into this story out of nowhere? Who would have expected Gio to be dragged into this mess, a story he had no part of until this week? That's a clever use of a large canvas, as well as friendships and family relations. Gio is Trina's buddy, but he is also Michael's cousin, which made it all work.

By the time Willow took her satisfied stroll out of the courtroom, we knew we were going to hear "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" come from her purse. And that is exactly what happened. And even though we saw it coming a mile away, it was so very satisfying to watch. It's also why we watch soaps.

Feeling foolish yet?

When the truth about who shot Drew really does come out, there are going to be quite a few people with egg on their faces. We're specifically thinking of two men. First, there is Chase, the bumbling professional detective who got himself suspended from the PCPD (again) in a quest to prove Willow was still the sweet and innocent flower he married back in 2021. Oh, wait, she cheated on him then with Michael, the same way she cheated on Michael with Drew. The woman duped you twice, Chase. So, apologize to Dante and Brook Lynn, now.

And then there is Drew, who some of us like to call Ewww Drew. There is nothing attractive or appealing about this man, as he has become the most arrogant and abusive character we have seen on soaps in years. Everything about him makes our skin crawl. But oh, the satisfaction we will get when he learns his precious wife detests him so much she shot him twice, that's how much she wanted him dead.

So, about Drew's testimony...

And let us not forget about Patriot Drew taking the stand to channel Jack Nicholson in A Few Good Men...or someone, we are not sure who. We just sat there with our eyes wide and our jaws on the floor, just like our Port Charles pals in the courtroom. The dude was absolutely unhinged, and somehow thought he was doing Willow a favor.

The looks on both Willow's and Alexis' faces were priceless. Willow was stunned, but Alexis had basically thrown up her hand at this point, and could just roll her eyes cause she knew this would happen.

And Justine? We now ADORE her. She took what she heard in Sonny's house that night months ago and completely used it to her advantage. She was well aware of who Drew really was because she heard him threaten and blackmail Sonny. Justin knew just the right buttons to push to cause him to go berserk, and that is exactly what happened. Justine's eavesdropping was another clever forgotten plot point, inserted perfectly into this story.

Juxtaposing Drew's maniacal testimony with Willow's calm and cool witness stand performance in the same episode was just one more brilliant GH move.

Why it all worked

No, the shooter was not someone out-of-left field culprit nobody ever expected. Instead, it turned out to be the person who was on trial (which could be a shock unto itself because that almost never happens on soaps). And the trial? It did what it was supposed to do.

First, it brought in Portia as an alternate suspect. All Alexis did was blow up Pregnant Portia's life by getting her to admit to an affair on the witness stand. In one fell swoop, we got a big reveal for the Ashford clan when one of the Ashfords now knows who the shooter is. Again, a very clever use of storyline threads that co-mingle.

It also kept our eyes on Michael the entire time. From the fake alibi to the chance to plant the gun, there was a lot of uncertainty, but it had to be Willow — and it was. And we got Michael and Jacinda out of it, so who can complain?

In the end, General Hospital changed the game this week with a perfectly executed reveal and year-long build-up that transformed a character into a force to be reckoned with, and we can't wait to see what she does next. (Welcome home, Nelle?)

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