‘General Hospital’ Recap: Franco’s sinister plan; When Carly met Jakeson (It’s like old times)

Last week on General Hospital was a bit of a slow-burner kind of week compared to a week before. Finally, after months of pussyfooting around, there is a possible end in sight for a handful of storylines, many of which a lot of viewers have grown tired. But since when have soap operas ever been generous?

Never too old for a high school love square

As I grew older, I realized that everyone in an ensemble cast has some kind of potential. Sure, there will be characters that you do not like in the beginning of your viewing experience, but as storylines shift and new elements of personalities come out, the charm of those characters may finally dawn on you. Julian Jerome, Ned Ashton, Olivia Falconeri and Alexis Davis were those four characters to me (Julian didn’t begin that way, he was much more enigmatic and electric at the start of his time on the show). I didn’t really mind if they were not on screen for a day or two at a time but these days I’m getting more and more sucked into their love square. This week displayed that this complicated knot of feelings is close to being unwound and the square soon to be demoted to a triangle if Olivia doesn’t act quickly.

Olivia was too busy this week butting into Carly’s relationship at the Metro Court, doing her utmost to force her into getting back with Sonny instead of marrying Franco. Why? Because apparently marrying a reformed psychopath who loves you is much, much worse than being with a sociopath plotting the murder of an expectant mother that just wants you because someone else has you is the best option. Olivia trying to play matchmaker to the CarSon couple just feels so unrealistic, for had it been just a few weeks earlier, then Carly might have been the woman Sonny cheated on Olivia with. But Olivia has been doing her best to move on, attempting to woo a Ned Ashton that only seems to have eyes just for Alexis Davis – as does Julian Jerome.

That point is further driven home when Alexis gets news from Sam and Patrick that Jerry Jacks might be Julian’s boss and that he’s aiming for control of ELQ. Feeling the need to be the messenger, Alexis rushes over to the Quartermaine Mansion to find Ned and Julian in a childish tussle over her. Julian had just confessed to printing false rumors about Ned canoodling with Monica, and even threatened as much as posting child molestation allegations against Ned in his paper should he not leave Port Charles and Alexis behind. Alexis tries to make Julian understand that they can go no further as a couple, that there’s no trust there but Julian lets her know that he won’t take no for an answer when it comes to her.

Meanwhile, Olivia has grown frantic after having an LSD premonition of Heather at the Metro Court holding a knife. After letting her son Dante and his wife Lulu know that she’s growing fond of Ned, she also begs Dante to check that Heather is locked up tight at Fernclif. After the family breakfast, Olivia presumably decided to pay Ned a visit at the mansion but instead she stumbles upon Alexis and Ned in an embrace after booting Julian from the premises with a security team. On his way out, Julian had just one warning for Alexis: to keep clear of Jerry Jacks but for what exactly, we’re unsure.

Franco’s truly his mother’s son

If you had said to me a months ago that I’d find myself liking Franco later on, I’d probably walk away in disbelief. But after this week, there’s really no denying Roger Howarth’s charm. He took a messy recast and made it his own, charming through his creepy means right into our hearts. It’s true what General Hospital’s Twitter fans say; Roger Howarth can spark chemistry with just about any actor on canvas and his scenes with his on-screen mother Heather Webber showcased that wonderfully.
When Franco visited his mother a week ago to trickle details of “Snarly” and her current betrayals, it was clear to every viewer that the cooky apple did not fall far from the tree (though with his murderous tumor removed, Franco is a lot less volatile than Heather). Easily agitated, Franco’s mother falters in her agreement with his Halloween wedding plan when Franco admits to still having feelings for Carly even when she’d repeatedly betrayed him. Heather was so excited for a mother-son dance at the wedding after destroying Carly but now she’s not quite sure if Franco can stick to the plan.

Quick on his feet as always, Franco reassures her that his plan is still intact. Franco not only promises a clean escape from Ferncliff for Heather but also promises a film presentation that will perfectly ruin Michael’s relationship with his two conniving parents; this promptly perks Heather right back up again. Desperate for more information, the bouncy Heather does her best to break her son’s wall but Franco’s closed off, assuring her that everything would come to fruition and all she’d have to do was go along with it. Unfortunately, when everything does go wrong (Shawn knocking out the bribed guard set to spring Heather, taking her to the planned safe house and ultimately setting Sonny’s plan in motion), Heather keeps quiet while Franco is in the dark.

Recently Franco has been two or three steps ahead of everyone, that’s why I don’t see Sonny’s plan going off well in the long run. Heather is a smart woman albeit with a one track mind, but even she was fooled by Franco who so expertly plucked her strings until she was thrumming with joy of potentially ruining Carly’s life. At this point in his plan (video footage queued, Michael as his best man and Heather in the wings), I don’t see Franco letting it all come crashing down now. I have no doubt he’ll fix things.

Michael on a mission

A week ago, Sabrina Santiago told Michael Corinthos that it was not Carlos Rivera who killed his father. Though when pressed for more details, she obviously has nothing concrete, just a feeling that it could be Ava Jerome. Initially Michael does not believe her because Sabrina could very well be covering up for her longtime friend but doubts begin to spring up in his mind anyway. Remembering that AJ Quartermaine was killed in Ava’s apartment, Michael begins to wonder if Ava had been lying about her alibi and sets out on a mission to track her down. He later does his best to pump information out of Kiki Jerome, asking for anything even just a hint as to where Ava might be hiding but Kiki does not budge. He really begins to think that it might be Ava who shot AJ and wants to check on her alibi. When Kiki gives him nothing, he instead leaves a message for Commissioner Devane about possible new developments in AJ’s murder case. He gets the chance to tell Anna his theory in person at the Metro Court later and she promises to look into it for him.

At Kelly’s later that day, Michael is in the middle of making calls surrounding Ava’s disappearance when Rosalie arrives. The two of them have a friendly chat before he explains what he’s up to as the talk naturally shifts into Rosalie airing her own suspicions about Ava. As if on cue, Madeline turns up needing to speak to Rosalie alone so Michael leaves. He resurfaces at the Quartermaine crypt to find Sonny Corinthos doing what looks like talking to himself. I can see Sonny writing that moment off as one of his bipolar episodes to keep the heat off of him, though we all know what he was doing there. Sonny had just finished having an imaginary chat with his dead love, Connie Falconeri. Through her quick talking ways, Connie had Sonny admit he only wanted Ava and Franco dead for his own selfish reasons and not Michael. It’s refreshing to see Michael doing things on his own without having Kiki attached to his hip though I do not think this will be the way he tracks down his birth father’s real killer, at least not if Franco has his way.