Dear Readers, my dear mother was a big fan of murder mysteries. Her bookshelf was filed with Agatha Christie and Mary Higgins Clark novels. She was always searching for clues and was thrilled with herself if she picked the right suspect and disappointed in herself if she guessed wrong. I loved watching her love each story, so excited to see if she had followed the clues to the killer.
Right now, I am mirroring her delight with the Silas murder mystery. Mind you, I am still peeved that Silas had to die at all. But since that ship has sailed, I can enjoy the intrigue and the list of suspects as it continues to grow.
At present, the list of possible killers includes Nina, Franco, Morgan, Ava, Ric, and Madeline. My head has another possible suspect -- Delia Reed Ryan Ryan Coleridge Crane, who may have wanted to shut Silas up to save her daughter's life and her own skin, since she was in on Ava's Denise DeMucchio scam.
Each suspect has a viable motive. Each suspect had an opportunity. Each suspect makes sense. But which one actually did the deed? No idea, although Fridays' cliffhanger showing Madeline at Silas' door and his signature on her financial document seemed like a pretty promising lead to me.
I will enjoy following each clue and considering each suspect until they are eliminated one by one and the true killer is revealed. Right now, Madeline seems like the most likely suspect A) Because she isn't a core character, B) Because she's pure evil, and C) Because I don't want it to be any of the other suspects.
For instance, let's start with Morgan... Readers, I know that Bryan Craig is in some hot water right now for some angry tweets, but storywise that's a non-issue to me. I am very inspired by his new bipolar storyline, and I think he's knocking it out of the park. I have a friend with bipolar disorder, and the jittery "I'm okay, I'm fine, I'm not sick!" speech he did on Friday's show was spot-on. I've heard that speech before -- right before my friend landed in the hospital after a meltdown.
The scenes on Friday with Maurice Benard, Laura Wright, and Bryan Craig were Emmy reel scenes. It was a vivid portrait of a family in crisis, trying to navigate rough waters. All of their performances were passionate and powerful and persuasive, especially when Carly and Sonny started listing all the questionable things Morgan had done in the past couple of years.
I wondered if this had been the writer's plan all along, to take us on a slow journey of discovery as Morgan's bipolar disorder emerged. But then I thought, probably not, because in truth, you could take a list of any soap character's choices and prove them to be mentally unstable. I do not believe that Morgan's bipolar disorder caused him to commit murder.
I love the fire that Maurice Benard brought to the scenes when Sonny held Morgan's face in his hands and looked him in the eyes -- it was just so potent and moving. Because of Benard's own struggle with bipolar disorder, he brings that struggle into Sonny's world, and it magnifies the truth of those words. A brilliant bit of soap opera drama on Friday -- the whole episode was riveting and these scenes in particular.
And now Nina; I can't deny I have a girl-crush on Michelle Stafford. I just feel pure joy the instant she comes on the screen. I'm delighted by her and have been for years. Her character, Nina, also struggles with mental illness, but I absolutely do not believe that she killed Silas. I believe she would have confronted him about framing her for stealing baby Avery. I believe she would have slapped him or kicked him, or maybe even bit his ear off. But would she murder him? I vote no.
Her girlish enthusiasm for Franco is adorable to watch. I have heard people critiquing this and think it's over the top. But consider the fact that Nina was in a coma for 20 years. Let's assume that Nina is 40-ish. If she went into a coma at age 20, it makes absolute sense that she still behaves emotionally like a 20-year-old girl. Nina didn't have those 20 years of living that emotionally matures a person. She fell asleep at 20 and woke up at 40, and the entire world has changed around her, and clouds hold things, and she can't have a baby because her body is in pre-menopause, and she is emotionally unequipped to deal with any of that. But a crush? A love affair with a boy who likes her back? That she understands. That lights her up inside. I think this is completely realistic due to the character's history.
How about her boyfriend Franco? Nope. We viewers know he arrived after the fact and thought that Nina committed the crime at first, so if he had done it, he would have known that Nina didn't do it. His confession, which was hilarious, was only intended to save Nina. I love me some Roger Howarth or "RoHo," if you prefer. Franco and Nina are my favorite GH couple right now, even though they are both truly crazy.
How about the most recently arrested suspect, Ric Lansing? Readers, I just weep at what the writers have done to Ric. Do you recall when he was in love with Alexis? When they went to look for a Christmas tree? Oh, my, they were so adorable together. I don't mind Ric being a bit shady, but I hate him being evil for greed's sake. He's been evil for love's sake, trying to steal Carly's baby to give to Liz, but never just for a buck. I just hate this version of the character and I am praying the new writer's can somehow move Ric out of the villain track and back into the slightly shady anti-hero track. Is he a killer? No. I believe he would have had Molly in his heart and would never want to risk not being able to be her father.
How about Denise? Um, I mean Ava. Let's see, Silas saved her life and was the love of her life, but he did know some stuff about her she didn't want to get out, and she has killed before in such circumstances. I'm not willing to rule her out, so let's say, "Maybe." Ava is already on the hook for killing Connie unless Julian can snake the recording away from the D.A.'s office, but that seems an unlikely solution. Maybe Ava can get something on Ric and blackmail him into giving her the recording? But even so, Scott has heard the recording, so without the flash drive with Sonny's firsthand account and Scott backing up that he heard that tape, wouldn't that still be enough to convict her? I don't know the legalities of such things, but if you do, by all means write in to me and let me know how that would work!
Madeline. She seems like the most likely suspect right now, she had everything to gain from Silas being out of the way and nothing to lose, as her motive wouldn't be as obvious as some of the other players'. But Donna Mills is magnificent, and I'd hate to lose her -- I keep hoping Helena will come to town, and they can have high tea and commiserate about the little people, together in designer gowns with red, red lips. To Madeline, I say, "Probably" But as I mentioned earlier, there may be more suspects yet unknown, like Delia -- or maybe Lucy Coe went mental and thought Silas was a vampire, or Stephen Clay was back to life and killed his brother to take over his life, or the ABC lawsuit that took away John McBain is over and now Michael Easton can come back as McBain. It's so fun to make wild guesses!
In other GH news, Dillon is making a movie, and with his 50 million bucks, he is going to hire either Lulu or Maxie to be in his movie vs. an actual trained actor? Um, okay. So are they going to have Dillon break up Maxie and Nathan, or Lulu and Dante? I don't think the writers have decided what they want to do with Dillon yet. They haven't even started filming this movie yet, and I am already bored.
Speaking of which, are we on new writers now, or still the old writers? When does/did the switch flip? Will it be obvious? Will we even notice? Will the ratings go up? Will they go down? It's such a crapshoot. I have said before and I will say again, no writer can please the entire audience. Just like with politics, our country is split between conservatives and liberals, and one or two percent usually wins elections. About half of the audience wants Jason with Sam; about half want him with Liz. Whichever way the writers write it, half of the audience will be mad. It's not a career for the faint of heart. I just pray the ratings go up enough that ABC doesn't decide to cancel GH for an annoying cooking show or mediocre talk show.
Back to Port Charles. So, readers, what think ye? Is Julian still in the mob? He didn't deny it when he visited Ava. He also didn't tell her he could see her blonde hair under he black wig, but we all know he could, because we could. I think it's fair to assume that Julian is indeed still in the mob. Do you agree?
Now to Kiki, I have been less than accepting of Hayley Erin in the role. I was peeved that Kristen Alderson left, and she was a powerhouse with years of experience. But this past week, in the scenes after Silas died, in the courtroom, in the jail cell with Franco, I saw a flicker of something genuine. I thought, "She's getting better." Do you agree? Did you see potential, too?
I am an impatient woman, and I know it's a character flaw. (I have many.) When I get the trainee making my coffee at Starbucks, or when I'm behind the student driver on the road, I become antsy and impatient. I want everyone to move as fast as I do, and sometimes they don't.
I have been watching soaps for many years, and I have two types of actors -- people with genuine, raw, explosive talent, and people who were hired because they are ridiculously attractive. I don't have a lot of patience with the latter. I have felt that Ms. Erin was hired because she's super pretty vs. her substance as an actor, but maybe I was too quick to judge. I caught myself liking her once or twice this week, or better said, feeling compassion for her character, which meant that in that instant, I believed her as Kiki. I think she has potential. I think she is growing. I'm going to try and be patient and kind and supportive of her efforts from here forward.
One more shout-out -- Kin Shriner and Maura West in the courtroom scenes where Scott badgers "Denise" into admitting that she is Ava? That was magnificent, and if you know GH history, a clear nod to the past -- this isn't Scott's first dance with the Jerome family.
What will happen tomorrow,dear readers? Will anyone tell Ava never to pull a wig into a ponytail? Will Spinelli come to town and hire Liesl as his new P.I. intern, since she was so spy savvy when revealing Ava's true identity to save Franco? Will Scott get to go back to being D.A. when it's revealed that Ric is a con man with a fake baby crying on his phone to drive his rich wife mad? Will Jason see Li'l Jake playing with his motorcycles and take him on a ride on a real motorcycle and remember everything? Will Nikolas be unable to resist sleeping with Hayden, and the sex is so potent her memory comes back? Will Laura ever come back and move into Nik's guest room as earlier teased? Will Nina's friend in Shadybrook start talking? Will Morgan break up Brad and Rosalie's fake marriage after Kiki dumps him and he's looking for a new babe? Will the Port Charles Baby Stealer who kidnapped all the kids of Port Charles for the past few months bring them back in time for school? Spencer, Emma, Cameron, Aiden, Avery, Li'l Jake, Leonardo, and Josslyn have not been spotted in weeks.
Only tomorrow knows, dear readers, and I will tune in tomorrow as long as there are tomorrows.
Tamilu
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