GH in Review: July: "Much Ado About Nothing?" or "Much Doing, But Accomplishing Nothing?"
by Judy Ellison

I used to complain, during Guza's second tenure as headwriter, that stories were ambling along aimlessly. A stray plot point would drop now and again, but in the end, there was nothing. Now, we are being bombarded by plot points (more like plot torpedoes, really), with stories careening off in a million different directions and characters scurrying around at a dizzying rate, yet I'm still getting the impression that we're headed down that same road to nowhere.... Only this time, I'm feeling carsick.

1. The Quartermaines

In a nutshell: Em and Zander say "goodbye," after which Zander gets shot, takes a long nap, and has nightmares about guns. Alan and Monica and Skye fight on the odd days, and make up on the even ones. AJ and Skye co-conspire, leaving Ned and Edward to wander the halls with nothing to do.

The month started off well for the Qs: Emily's departure was touching and sweet, and I grew a bit misty over the prospect of losing one of my favorite couples. Chad Brannon and Amber Tamblyn are very well matched, talented actors, and it's been a pleasure watching them work together this past year.

Before leaving, however, Emily takes aim with this month's Big-Q plot-torpedo: She denies that Skye had anything to do with her and Zander's ill-fated bus trip, saying she'd stolen the money from Skye's purse. This makes AJ (who was still anti-Skye at this time) suspicious. He searches Skye's room and finds Emily's letter, proving Skye knew about the Big Runaway all along. In true-Q fashion, he uses the letter to blackmail Skye into helping him get Michael back. But when Skye's lies are finally exposed (by Ned, who stopped wandering the halls long enough to trick Zander into telling the whole story to Alan), AJ defends her and tears up the letter.

I was looking forward to a lot of great plotting and evil cackling from the two stepsiblings, particularly when AJ started to genuinely like Skye, but I was disappointed. I'm know there is a plan to get Michael back, and that it involves Skye befriending Carly, but that's about the extent of it...I think. I do like the two characters together, however, as they have much in common and play well off one another, but I was hoping for more. The scene with AJ defending Skye to Alan (and attacking Alan in the process) was nicely acted, though like many of the events this month, it seemed a little out-of-the-blue. The last I heard, Alan and AJ were getting along, and had supposedly reconciled a lot of the points rehashed in the scene...I think.

This scene led to another touching but odd moment between Alan and Skye at the AA/NA meeting, where they vented, confessed, hugged, and made up, all in about 5-10 minutes of dialogue. Now, Monica and Alan are at odds over Skye, but they haven't a common addiction, so we might have to wait a little longer for their reconciliation.

They did team up to save Zander in OR, however, with Alan saving the day by suggesting the use of a "harmonic scalpel" when dear Zander wouldn't stop bleeding. Being a former medical professional, (I was a radiographer in a cardiac/angio catheterization lab; thus I had to scrub in for minor surgeries such as pacemaker insertions and balloon angioplasties) I had to find out what a "harmonic scalpel" was, so I did an Internet search. It turns out to be a new type of scalpel that uses ultrasonic waves to cauterize (i.e. seal off a vessel so it won't bleed) as it cuts. The main advantage it has over the old type of cautery is that it doesn't sear (burn) the vessel (a process that smells a lot like a barbecue), so there's no smoke obstructing the surgeon's vision, no electrical current (which can wreak havoc if it's too close to the heart), and supposedly less vessel spasm--Zander's problem--associated with its use (though there were some surgeons who disagreed with this). I got the impression that it's used mostly in "bloodless" surgeries, like those done through a scope (i.e. laproscopic surgery); but it sounds like a fun toy, and I'm always amazed at how far medicine has advanced since I took my first x-ray 21 years ago.

Getting back to AJ and Skye (and Michael and Carly): I think that, this time, given the circumstances (i.e. Sonny not being in as strong a position to help Carly), we could have a decent custody battle between AJ and Carly, with both sides evenly matched. I'm a bit dubious that we'll actually get it, but I think it would be nice if there were a joint custody agreement and AJ did finally get to play father to the son who barely knows him (Michael's what? Eighteen by now?). It could be a nice story, but I'm doubtful that McTavish can pull it off.

Oh, and there was the Q's picnic on the 4th of July, which started in Emily's room, and then moved to the park. There was the usual bickering and I believe the words "It's my house, etc.," were uttered.

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