Daily Updates

General Hospital Update for Friday, 9-Jun-2000

My my my...what a momentous occasion for me as an ep reviewer! My first sex scene...anyway, more about that later. On with the pithy comments!

1) We begin this Friday with Chloe, who is doing one of the things she does best: lying on the couch and furrowing her brow to denote that she's having a nightmare. In typical Tumour-Vision, we see that she's dreaming about that damn music box again--but not as a focus. The camera pans to give us a view of Helena's yacht, where a bottle of port and two glasses sit unassumingly on a table...

2) ...And suddenly, we're really there! Helena and Andreas discuss the port--special stuff, from Mikkos' secret stash--which is only to be used on "special occasions", such as the murder of troublesome offspring. (Would that be the *offing* of offspring? Oh well.)

3) Said offspring--Stefan, for those of you playing the home game--is engaged in remarkably civil conversation on the docks with Laura. Of course, after the usual five seconds someone brings up the island where their love affair began oh so many years ago, and the two of them drift off into careful reveries. The present is never far away, however, and Stefan reminds his Lasha that her heart has always belonged to Luke--a statement which she counters by telling him that she *did* love him...their relationship is intellectually healing, if not emotionally.

4) Over at the Scorpio residence, Maxie is gleefully reading the divorce papers and constantly reminding her mother that both she and Georgie would *like* to live in noxious cesspools of corruption and depravity--but since they've done that the past few months with Felicia, they'd much rather go live with Mac. Felicia's response is to gently blame Mac for further dividing their family--but Maxie jumps to his defense, with Mini right by her side. It is revealed that Georgie has been sick to her stomach lately--generally during the night, after Filly and Mac or Filly and Maxie or Filly and Mariah have fought. Felicia, of course, is crushed that she didn't know about this, and in the face of this development and Maxie's too-reasonable attitude about leaving her mother, she promises to try to work out something the kids will like.

5) Speak of the devil, Mac still has Luke and Schmuc--er, Lucky in his office. The tension is thick enough to spread on toast, and with much glaring, Mac gets Lucky to sign his statement about the kidnapping despite Luke's vocal objections. The rather indignant parent utters one more menacing imprecation against Stefan and all Cassadines, then barges out, leaving his son to retread Helena's--what am I thinking, *his own* version of his kidnapping. Much fun is had by both men as they bond over bashing Luke, then admit that they'd both like to just put the whole year behind them. Lucky then leaves the cop shop.

6) Out back of said shop, Luke angrily kicks at some convenient trashcans--then jumps as he hears a scream from behind said cans. He takes a look--and finds Felicia cowering on the ground, crying. He assumes the worst, but she sets him straight by telling him about being served with the divorce/custody papers. From there the scene just gets incredibly surreal, as Filly loses it entirely and speaks of the humiliation she'll be subjected to in court if Mac goes after custody; her exact words (and I'm not making this up), "He's really mean!" Luke tries to get her to calm down, to get angry at Mac, to do anything but blubber hysterically in his face--but she's too far gone to listen, and insists on going to Mac and grovelling until he relents. Anyone with half a brain cell can see that this is a Bad Idea when she's in such a state, and with a little more talking Luke manages to get her to go somewhere to calm down. He leads her out of the alley.

7) Back on the docks, Laura and Stefan retread a few grievances--most notably, their regrets over how the Lucky situation was handled. She tells him yet again that she can't trust him, and he points out the irony of his lies--why he lied, and what they ended up doing. The end result is that Laura leaves, making it possible for Andreas to make his appearance to "lure" Stiff to Helena's yacht. A little turnaround coersion, and the Cassadine runt is on his way to meet his doom--the woman he calls "Mother".

8) A little further down the docks, Nikolas and Elizabeth rehash their conversation and Lucky's eavesdropping. After a few moments, however, the man himself shows up and displays some of that unhealthy paranoia in thinking that they were lying in wait for him. He tries to brush past them, but Nik stops him, demanding that he talk to them.

9) Chloe's still napping on the couch, and not having a good time of it--but a knock at the door soon wakes her up, and she discovers Alexis at her doorstep. The lovely lawyer asks if she's all right, and Chloe responds that her nightmares are getting worse. The amazing cure-all medication that is currently in Helena's tight fist is mentioned, and surprise surprise--Alexis states that the only hope they have of getting the old bat to give them access is via Stefan.

10) Over on that fated yacht, Helena pours the special port--then makes Stefan's that much more special by adding those crucial drops of paralytic to his glass. As she finishes, her son arrives, and she greets him warmly; offering him the spiked drink, she welcomes him with a toast to their reconciliation.

11) Maxie, who appears to have been left to the wolves at the house, calls Mac for help deciphering some of the longer words on the divorce papers Felicia left behind. Mac, although dismayed that Filly would be so careless as to leave the papers in a place where the girls could see them, tells Maxie that he'll be there to talk it out in person--a fact which makes the preteen very happy. Mac leaves his office for home...

12) ...Not knowing, of course, that his wife and Mr Spencer have found themselves in a hotel room. After making sure she's settled in, Luke tries to do the honorable thing and leave--but Felicia's not having with honour these days, and begs him, "Please stay." He does, and they start talking about Mac, the girls, even a gratuitous Frisco mention for good measure. Then, again, things start to get wierd as Felicia blames Mac for everything bad that's happened, and finally declares plaintively, "I don't know what he became!" She then displays some not-inconsiderable jealousy over Mac's place in her children's lives, and becomes quite venemous when she considers everything *Mac* has done to destroy "their" family. (Holy revisionist history, Batman!) Luke, of course, is sympathetic to her, and tells her that Mac will never take her kids away from her.

13) Meanwhile, the junior Spencer has become aloof yet again, and Nik, fed up, leaves so that Lucky and Liz can work things out. Lucky insists--again--that Liz needs to move on; she repeats that he won't make her give him up...and then he drops the bombshell: he recommends that she get over him, because he's let her go.

14) Alexis and Chloe don't take the idea of Stiff as saviour very kindly; they briefly discuss his merits (and lackthereof), then Alexis heads out to see him, suggesting that Chloe try to get some more sleep. After she's left, however, the petite blonde remains wide awake.

15) Back on the yacht, Stefan accepts the proferred glass, but doesn't join in his mother's merriment: "At the risk of sounding dim--did I miss something?" The reconciliation she speaks of sounds as far-fetched to him as it does to the viewing audience, and remains so as Helena launches into her own Felicia-esque rewriting of history--this time, Stefan's childhood. She doesn't seem to be breaking down his scepticism, however--so she plays her trump card, and suggestes that they work together for Nikolas' sake. Stiff seems intrigued, and goes so far as to clink her glass in near-toast--but then he pauses, with a simple question: why should I trust you? He continues with a few more Oedipal musings--including a few compliments, which Helena brushes off with a smile and a self-deprecating, "I was simply a dedicated mother...with a strong fashion sense." Her charm soon wins Stefan over, and the two clink glasses again, a move which prompts Helena to call Stefan her beloved boy. The Cassadine black sheep raises an eyebrow, and responds by proposing his own toast: to the survival of the fittest. With much meaningful eye contact, they touch glasses...and drink.

16) Liz doesn't like what Lucky's telling her, and lets him know it. Unfortunately, he's said his piece, and with a parting admonishment to stop loving him, he leaves her alone on the docks.

17) Mac and Maxie have a discussion about Felicia and the legal papers; despite everything, the man still sticks up for his wife when her kid starts trash talking her. He assures young Maxie that no matter what, she and Georgie will always come first with him...oh yeah, and Felicia too.

18) The lady in question is hardly thinking about her children at all; instead she's apologising to Luke for being "unfair" to him over the past while. The two bond a little more, then snuggle in close for some lip action. (Okay, who says "Hold me" in real life?? Anybody? Absolute worst moment of the entire show was Filly telling Luke to "hold" her. What, do hugs not exist in soap opera vocabulary?? / end rant)

19) Nikolas, having left his brother and friend to hash things out, soon comes across his mother on the docks. They have a brief Lucky/Liz discussion which quickly jumps to the supposedly universal truth of no one being able to understand Stefan. (Not as universal as they want us to think; heck, I understand Stiff a hell of a lot more than I do Filly these days!) Anyway, Nik discovers that love is not usually something that makes sense; he alludes to his feelings for Liz, and Laura corroborates with her leftovers for Stefan. Bonding occurs.

20) As it also does at the Scorpio residence, where Mac, Georgie, and Maxie are sitting down to a Flea-less meal. After carefully sounding out the girls' opinions on his going after custody, Mac decides that he'll go through with it.

21) After all, he doesn't want them living with the woman who's currently getting hot and heavy with Luke Spencer, does he? 'Cause that's what's happening in the hotel room; windows are fogging, candles are mysteriously being lit and placed in arty places around the room, and music is swelling in the background. But then--Luke up and jumps off the bed, muttering excuses about heading for home. Felicia stops him once more, and with assurances that this time she won't run away, they fall into each others' arms and give in. (I have no clue if this is the title of the song used, or who the artist is; I think it's called 'Everytime I Come Around' or something.) The thing with this sex scene is that it was done very clearly, obviously with much fun and willingness on the part of the participants--but during the petting/undressing/heavy kissing foreplay bits, there's an awful lot of Felicia-introspection; she gazes into a mirror or off into the distance for a moment or two until Luke's ministrations bring her back into the present. / begin editorial / My thing with this pairing is that Luke doesn't take sex as seriously as I'm sure Felicia does, and I'm not sure that she's thought that aspect of him out as well as she should have before taking this step. This is the man who frequently seeks out the company of hookers, and the woman who clung on to the fact that she hadn't *physically* betrayed Mac as her shield against her husband's accusations. Will this discrepancy in their basic characters be dealt with in the aftermath? Let's hope so. / end editorial /

22) Despite her best efforts, Chloe's fallen asleep again. This time, her nightmare is clearly Helena's point of view. She watches Stefan drink the poisoned port, she sees him realize that something is wrong, she follows his body as he collapses on the floor--and then she wakes up, gasping and frightened.

23) The poison has done its work, and Stefan lies motionless on the rich carpeting of Helena's yacht; Andreas enters the room and watches as Madam kneels down next to her stricken son, smiling and gloating...and sipping at her port.

Next Episode: Mr "My Personality is Attached to my Badge" is getting insufferable to his captive; if only Hannah weren't tied up, she'd go Renaissance on Larkin's ass! (I'm holding off on "medieval", judging by the non-moves she's shown so far... ;)

Jeneva (Jayne Leitch)
< jleitch@netcom.ca >