GH and PC in Review: August by Amy McWilliams

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General Hospital

The Spencers

Lucky and Elizabeth

Bobbie

Port Charles

General Hospital

The Cassadines

• Nikolas asks how Stefan's investigation is going, and they talk about Katherine. Nikolas doesn't understand how Katherine could trust Helena and is worried about her. (9/1)
• Katherine visits Wyndemere and tells Stefan that she knows he never loved her. She says that he can now be with Laura because she doesn't want him back. Furthermore, she refuses to listen to his warnings about Helena. Later, Katherine talks with Nikolas, comforting him and assuring him that nothing is different between them. Afterwards, she is pleased that Stefan sees her hugging the boy. (9/1)
• Katherine arrives at Laura's back door. (9/3)
• Katherine announces that she doesn't blame Laura for anything, but that she also doesn't remember much about that night, other than the fall. Laura grows suspicious very quickly, but Katherine tells her nothing. Laura does likewise. Katherine congratulates Laura on her renewed relationship with Nikolas, however, and hints that she knows more than she's saying. Laura warns her about Helena, but Katherine brushes it off. Laura immediately calls Stefan and leaves a message. (9/4)
• Laura and Stefan discuss Katherine's visit to the Spencer house. They fear that she remembers the truth about Nikolas, and they fear Helena's part in it all. Later, Stefan visits Helena to warn her away from Katherine. The lady-in-red herself arrived to hear his threats and again make clear her alliance with Helena. (9/10)
• Nikolas and his mother discuss Katherine. (9/10)
• Katherine defends Helena to Stefan. (9/11)
• Laura and Lulu visit Wyndemere and look at pictures with Nikolas, who tells her just how much her testimony means to him. Stefan realizes that they're there and sends the boat away, giving Laura no choice other than to accept his dinner invitation. (9/11)
• Helena and Katherine meet about her new living arrangements, and it's clear that they were counting on Edward's hospitality and are developing some scheme. (9/11)

Nikolas: "And somehow she seems to think Helena's the good guy."
Stefan: "Oh, Helena is not the good guy."

It amused me to hear these two talking about the "good guy," both because it was slangy and Stefan typically doesn't do slang, and because it was a character whom some would consider a villain debating that good guy/bad guy set of terms. Too funny.

Nikolas's confusion about Katherine, however, drives me nuts. Surely he has wondered exactly what it was that caused Katherine's change of heart? Even if he chalks it up to Helena, wouldn't he wonder what Helena could have told Katherine, specifically? And with his own suspicions so conveniently and easily laid to rest, might he not be willing to air them out again? It seems not.

Stefan: "He's right. It is a miracle to see you standing there. It's the answer to all my prayers."
Katherine: "Let's be honest. You haven't been praying about me at all. You've been busy thinking about somebody else."

Stefan: "There is nothing for Nikolas to know."
Katherine: "I found out the truth that night, Stefan. I never stood a chance, did I?"

Katherine: "You didn't want me. You never did. It was always Laura. You were trying to turn me into her. And you want to tell me the truth? You start right now, and you admit it."
Stefan: "I--I wanted you to be my wife."
Katherine: "Why? Because you loved me? Funny--you never said so. Only once, when you came to serenity to convince me to come back. After that, you cared for me or you admired me or you found solace in me. It was like a broken record how many times you thanked me for loving you. Except you never managed to say that you loved me. I can't tell you how many times I ask myself, 'how on earth did I miss that?' It took lying in a hospital bed trying to rebuild my life for me to finally hear what you weren't saying. You never said you loved me because you never did. You could lie about everything else but not your love. Why was that? It was ok for you to give me everything that was Laura's--but not your heart. You saved that for her and her alone. And I gave you everything I had."

Katherine: "You're free to be with Laura now. Just be careful. I got everything I ever wanted once. Almost killed me."

I hate Kathy. Anybody who knows my opinions of GH knows that. I was not, therefore, excited about her return. She's a poorly conceived, inconsistently written character for whom an extremely contrived plot device was brought out so that she would be inserted without reason into the Cassadine sphere. She then, for no explainable reason, became the angel of the house, mooning over Stefan and playing the martyr. Now that she's back, I'd like to knock that smug smile off of her face myself; Mary Beth Evans' overacting has reached a new high--or low, however you want to look at it. I don't love to hate Katherine. I really do wish she had stayed dead. She is alternately boring and annoying, with no real storyline to fit herself into since Damien died.

The only positive thing about her return is the fact that now we get the truth: Stefan always loved Laura. And Stefan and Laura will now have to deal with that. Perhaps we'll also get to see him be ruthless, which is often a nice thing. It was nice to see the writers call him on the thing we (the editorial board) always noticed--that Stefan never said the words, "I love you." While she's not right, I think, that Stefan merely wanted to turn her into a Laura-substitute, she knows he didn't love her. If she's honest, she knows that he wanted to...desperately.

But speaking of slow Cassadines, how on earth can Stefan, after hearing the above, think that she really doesn't remember what she realized on the parapet? I don't buy it; the man's not that stupid.

Katherine: "Don't argue his case for him. And as for you I want to pick up where we left off. I don't want things to change between us. I want us to remain friends."
Nikolas: "You're more than just a friend to me. I love you."
Katherine: "I'm glad to hear that because I love you, too."

I've never liked the relationship between Kathy and Nikolas either. It was always already inappropriate, and while I could understand the idea of an adolescent crush on his part, her interest in him has never made sense to me--nor have I ever much trusted it. Now we see that she is quite willing to use him to goad Stefan. She lies to him, rather than telling him the truth about his parents, because it serves her purposes. She gleefully notes Stefan's gaze on them, hugging the boy closer for good measure. And I hear that it will only get worse. Somebody kill this woman again, already--I nominate Helena.

Stefan: "I think a woman knows when she's loved--without the words."
Laura: "I'm sure that Katherine knew how you felt."

Of course, Laura continued to willfully understand the situation with Stefan (or at least pretend to), while he continued to speak about that which he did not truly mean.

Laura: "Nikolas, I think a lot of things have changed for her."

Nikolas: "I never had a chance to tell you what that meant to me."
Laura: "You don't have to."
Nikolas: "Ya, I do. I just don't know how. I could say that I'm--I'm grateful for my uncle's freedom, but it goes much deeper than that. For the first time in my life, you put what I needed ahead of..."
Laura: "Ahead of my other family."
Nikolas: "Look, I--I don't want to compete with lucky, ok?"
Laura: "I know."
Nikolas: "I'm not some jealous little kid who counts how many cookies his brother gets."
Laura: "I know. I don't think of you that way."
Nikolas: "Well, I hope that you don't."
Laura: "I don't."
Nikolas: "And I'm so sorry that--that your testimony made trouble for you at home."
Laura: "Thank you."
Nikolas: "But you didn't just help my uncle. You helped me, too."
Laura: "How?"
Nikolas: "You gave me a mother, one that comes when you need her."
Laura: "I love you, Nikolas."
Nikolas: "I know."

This was a beautiful scene with mother and son. This may be the first time he wasn't blaming her for something or regretting something. It's the first I can remember. Laura's waited a long time for this, and it was beautifully done (not overdone). I was glad to see Nikolas able to tell her what this meant to her before something else added the distance back into their relationship. Perhaps now even when that something happens (the truth, perhaps?) he'll be more willing to try and understand, or at least not push her away so far. Finally, I think that Laura, when she asked how she had helped him, expected him to say that he needed his uncle. It was, perhaps, more than she hoped for--and at the same time everything she'd hoped for. In this moment, Nikolas understood exactly what she meant to do for him. It was lovely.

Helena: "Well, can I get you something? Coffee, tea? My strategy for your downfall?"

Stefan: "We're all prisoners of our obsessions, mother. Yours is your need to control. Now, your prodigy are free of your clutches. I'm not surprised you're looking for a surrogate child to overpower. But do not use Katherine. Do not try to manipulate her to your ends."
Katherine: "Why not? That's what you always did."

I enjoy Helena and her un-favorite son, and their dialogue is always entertaining. I assume that Stefan's guilt made him go to Helena and attempt to defend and protect Katherine, but I'm amazed that he thought he could succeed. He has no leverage in this situation anymore.

This storyline had a bit of promise here at the beginning--Katherine and Helena plotting something. But we've been shown too few pieces of the puzzle over too long a time for me to have remained interested in what Helena was planning.

Katherine: "While you were slipping Laura's ring on my finger, all the while lying to me about how old it was, I--I don't recall Helena standing there with a gun to your head. Are you saying that she forced you to do that or to give me Laura's ball gown and insist that I wear it? While you see Helena manipulating me, I see her testing you. And thank god she did, because you failed miserably."

It was quite clear that Helena had sold Kathy a bill of goods, but I have to admit her words made sense. We know that Helena's intent was not to test her son but to cause him pain, but Kat's description of the situation I like.

Katherine: "But this I want to keep--Laura's emerald engagement ring that you said you were giving me as a symbol of your undying love. Just so I'm clear--undying love for whom?"
Mac: "Laura."

This was such a nice cut from this scene to the one in Mac's office that I just had to include it.

Stefan: "Katherine, I have no idea what the future holds for us, but if nothing else, you must believe that I never intended to harm you--physically, emotionally--in any way."
Katherine: "You know, this has such a familiar ring to it. Isn't this the same speech that you gave me after you shot me?"
Stefan: "I came here to protect you and to tell my mother if she wants to do battle with me, to do it with me and not through you."
Katherine: "Oh, Stefan, you don't need to worry about me. I'm not as helpless as you'd like to believe. In fact, I'm moving forward, armed with the truth--a weapon I picked up on the parapet that night."

No, I just don't see how he can think she doesn't remember. Perhaps he's just trying to put Laura's mind at ease? Nope, I don't think I buy that.

Nikolas: "You know, there's about a million of these in here. We can't look at every one of them."
Laura: "Well, we can start, can't we? So what were you doing?"
Nikolas: "Uncle was teaching me how to dive."
Laura: "From there?"
Nikolas: "Well, he wanted me to learn how to--how to test my eye, my courage, and my strength, I think it was."
Laura: "Oh, my god. Were you ever hurt?"
Nikolas: "You're such a mother."

We got an adorable follow-up to the reconciliation when Laura came to visit. I enjoyed this dialogue, as well as the looks on their faces as they talked openly and in peace about each other. Over-anxious Stefan ruined the scene again, with his plea that he'd sent the boat away and she'd have to stay to dinner even though she made move to leave when he arrived. I don't like that he doesn't give her a choice, and he's doing that more and more often.