GH and PC in Review: August by Amy McWilliams

View a section by clicking on the links below, or read the entire review by scrolling down. The review takes up 7 separate pages, but the navigation at the top and bottom of each remains consistent.

General Hospital

The Spencers

Luke and Laura

Lucky and Elizabeth

Bobbie

Port Charles

Port Charles

• When Mary stalls over the ring, Joe goes over her head and has the safety deposit box opened. He gives the ring to Karen, who loves it (though she still keeps the Cracker Jacks ring he gave her as well). (8/17)
• While Scott and Serena are at the hospital for her appointment, they meet both Lucy and Eve. Scott allows Eve to see Serena and asks her to the firehouse, while he keeps Lucy at bay. Serena says that it's not fair for him to keep Lucy away because he's mad at her (pointing out that she's not mad), but Scott won't relent. (8/17)
• Lucy whines to Ellen, who tells her to face the consequences of her actions. Lucy leaves when Kevin arrives, and Ellen tells him about their experience at the cabin. Lucy returns with the gift of a fancy nightgown for Ellen, and told Ellen that she vowed to be different. When she sees Eve with Serena, however, she grows sad (8/17)
• Frank tells Kevin that Suzanne (the bag lady--Lark's mom) knew about the button at Matt's apartment and the two go and visit her at the institution. She's no help, but they find out that Greg Cooper is staying at the hospital as well. (8/17)
• Kevin has a nightmare about Lark trying to stab him. He goes to the hospital to talk with Gail about the possibility that Lark is the killer. Afterwards, when they question Lark, she grows extremely angry. She says they don't want to think anything bad about Julie and so are pointing the finger at her. (8/18)
• Frank comes to Garcia with the news that the copy store owner has identified several people, but Garcia says it's not enough to clear Julie. Later, however, Frank finds a receipt for the voice activator in Lark's locker and gets Garcia's attention. (8/18)
• Eve comes to visit Serena, who's taking a nap. Scott softens towards her, then backs off, angry all over again. Eve turns to leave, but Serena hears her and asks her to stay. Serena has Eve carry her up the stairs, open her present, etc., and Scott tells Eve that he realizes that he's babying her. He's going to be firmer with her so she'll learn to do things on her own. (8/19)
• Karen asks Julie to be her Maid of Honor, and Julie agrees. Julie then tells Karen to keep an eye on Lark. Karen asks Lark some questions about her mother, and Lark says that she's only visited her mother once in the institution and will never go again. Meanwhile, a worker at the hospital tells Frank that Lark visits all the time--that she visits Greg Cooper. (8/19)
• Courtney is not happy to see Karen's engagement ring, although she pretends to be. She offers to help Karen plan her wedding. (8/19)
• Frank asks Lark about her visits to the hospital and she denies them. Frank goes to the lighthouse to fill Kevin in, and Victor accuses him of being the murderer. Frank grows enraged and leaves. Victor announces that he'll go undercover at the institution to find out the truth himself. (8/20)
• Scott refuses to help Serena up the stairs. When Courtney and Neil visit, Courtney gives him some support. After they leave, Scott refuses again. (8/20)
• Karen thanks Mary letting Joe give her the ring, and Mary is amazed to see it on her finger. Karen tells Joe that she's worried about Mary's response to her, and Joe sets his mother straight on his love for Karen and intent to marry her. (8/20)
• Kevin agrees to Victor's plan and has him admitted to the mental institution. (8/21)
• Lee tells Julie and Frank that he'll base her defense on the fact that somebody else could have committed the murders. When he says he'll point to Lark, Frank grows angry. Julie, in turn, gets angry with him for choosing Lark over her. (8/21)
• Lark speaks to her mother about the voice activator. Suzanne grows angry and confused and slaps Lark, who announces that she'll never let her mother hurt her again. (8/21)
• Chris gives Frank his next dose of DL-56 and Frank tells him about Lee's plan to blame somebody other than Julie. Courtney flirts with Chris, and when he's gone Frank grabs her and kisses her. He speaks of their affair while she was seeing Joe, and she tells him that Joe mustn't find out. They make love and are almost caught by Lark. Meanwhile, Chris visits Julie to find out if he's the one that Lee's going to blame for the murders. (8/21)
• Lucy visits Scott, who won't let her stay and visit Serena. Lucy then whines to Ellen, who helps her be positive. Finally, Lucy visits Dominique's grave and vows to be a better person. (8/24)
• After Serena drops the glass of milk and the plate of cookies she'd prepared by herself, Scott reads her "Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day." Serena goes upstairs by herself. (8/24)
• When Chris has to leave Eve to go to work, she asks to join Kevin at his table. She apologizes again, and though he's not completely forgiving at first, the two find their friendship again. (8/24)

• Victor calls Kevin but has to act crazy when Cooper comes in the room. He tries to get info out of Cooper, but learns nothing. Kevin comes to visit and they put bugs in Suzanne and Cooper's rooms. Suzanne catches them, but they lie their way around it by saying Victor was wandering around. (8/25)
• Frank tells Lark about Lee's defense strategy and she gets angry. She confronts Julie, who makes it clear she wants Lark to take the fall. (8/25)
• Julie's trial begins. (8/25)
• Frank and Lark go to the institution to see Suzanne. Back on her medication, Suzanne is lucid and says Lark didn't ask her to buy the activator. When Frank leaves, Lark tells her mother that she did a good job. Later, she finds Suzanne dead. (8/25)
• Garcia questions Lark despite Frank's protests. Frank tells Garcia what Suzanne says, but Garcia isn't convinced, since the woman is dead. Frank comforts Lark. They then look through the sign-in sheets and see that somebody has been signing Lark's name to see Cooper. (8/26)
• Victor loses a bug, but from the recorder in Victor's room Kevin and Victor can hear Suzanne clear Lark. Kevin takes the tape to Garcia, who chastises them for working alone. Meanwhile, a gloved hand changes Victor's medication. Victor's condition is no longer faked. (8/26)
• Karen tells Courtney that she believes Julie is innocent. Courtney then removes a note Karen left on a chart for the nurses, and when Karen blames Mary for not following her instructions, Mary puts up a fight. Joe steps in and calms the situation as Courtney looks on. (8/26)
• The doctor won't let Kevin take Victor out of the hospital. It helps him to find out that Suzanne died of natural cases, but Kevin refuses to leave and the doctor has him removed. (8/27)
• Lucy tells Ellen that she's going to apologize to Eve, but when she sees all the good wishes toward Eve in the hall, she backs off. Later, she goes to the apartment to apologize and overhears Eve and Chris cheering their successful fake alibi. (8/27)
• Frank and Lark talk to an orderly at the hospital. The orderly doesn't recognize Lark, and describes the woman who came under that name: short dark hair, curvy. (8/27)
• Garcia told Lee and Julie about Suzanne's death and her remarks to Lark. Frank then arrives with the orderly's description and Lee decides to base his defense on the idea that Eve could be the killer. (8/27)
• Scott won't listen to Lucy's information about Eve, and neither with Garcia. They both think she's just out for revenge. Frank and Julie will listen, though, as will Lee. (8/28)
• Eve brings a new leotard for Serena, and at their encouragement, she dances for Scott and Eve. It's a warm moment until Lee arrives to talk to Scott. After Eve leaves, he tells Scott that he will have to testify about Eve.
• Meanwhile, Frank confronts Chris about the fake alibi and they fight. Frank knocks Chris unconscious with a lamp and leaves him in the floor, quickly making it look like a robbery. (8/28)
• Lucy arrives at the hospital after hearing about Victor and Kevin explains what has happened. Lucy offers to help. She returns in a padded disguise, posing as Victor's relative, and exchanges places with Victor. In a dress and heels, a drugged Victor leaves with Kevin. Lucy causes a distraction and ends up in restraints. She can't convince the orderlies that she's not crazy. Later, she's scared to be in the same room with Cooper. (8/31)
• Frank arrives home and fights with Courtney, who threatens to tell everybody about their affair during her relationship with Joe. (8/31)
• Meanwhile, Eve comes home to find Chris unconscious and calls 911. Frank gets the call, and Chris refuses to go to the hospital. Eve insists, and he goes. At GH, Chris threatens to cut off Frank's supply of DL-56. When Eve wants him to call the police, Chris tells her that Frank knows about the fake alibi so that she won't. (8/31)
• Back at the Scanlon house, Lark finds Frank tearing up the house looking for the formula. She admits that she tore it up, and Frank has to tell her that he never went off the drug. Courtney listens in. (8/31)

Due to time constraints, I'm going to say very little about these two weeks. The only scene I want to notice is the sequence with Lucy and Kevin getting Victor out of the hospital by way of drag! I wanted so much for a mention of Norma and Eve.... The scenes were wonderfully done, and Nicholas Pryor continues to do amazing work. Bravo!

The rest of these two weeks were fine, but things were starting to feel a bit drawn out with the Lucy stuff. I get the picture, already! The murder mystery, while it continued to be great stuff, was on a streak with the death of Suzanne and all the voice activator mystery. It was at this point that I became confident that one person was not behind all the bad things going on. Somebody (Julie?) was the murderer and somebody else (Frank?) is covering up for her, or for some other reason stirring the pot and clouding the issues. But I was ready for this storyline to come to a head, and I wondered if we'd have to wait for November sweeps for it to pan out entirely.

Finally, it was about this time that Matt and Ellen dropped off the face of the world. They showed up every once in a while, but they have no storyline at all.