Some important conversations were had in the February 4 episode of General Hospital. Lulu (Alexa Havins) asked Laura (Genie Francis) for advice aboout her feelings for Nathan (Ryan Paevey) just as he did the same with big sister Nina (Cynthia Watros), Ric (Rick Hearst) and Alexis (Nancy Lee Grahn) facilitated a mediation between Michael (Rory Gibson) and Willow (Katelyn MacMullen) that ended with the latter setting her ex-husband up to take a fall, Josslyn (Eden McCoy) fished for information from Obrecht (Kathleen Gati), Jason (Steve Burton) and Sonny (Maurice Benard) strategized on how to deal with Cullum (Andrew Hawkes), and Felicia (Kristina Wagner), Mac (John J. York), and Emma (Braedyn Bruener) were shocked by Anna’s (Finola Hughes) state when they got to her in France! Here’s the full recap:
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Payback’s A Bitch
Ahead of the custody negotiation meeting with Ric and Alexis, Willow put Drew’s house key in her pocket as Michael arrived at the Miller & Davis reception desk. When he thanked her for agreeing to meet, she made it clear that she hadn’t yet agreed to any terms. She stared at Michael’s keychain (a photo of Wiley and Amelia) as he pocketed his keys and hung up his coat, then suggested that they shouldn’t speak without their lawyers present. Once inside the office, Willow wasn’t happy to see Ric there and hear that Diane was in court. Clarifying that he was there to facilitate an agreement and wasn’t officially representing Michael, Ric explained that family court could take years for a custody arrangement to be hammered out. Then Alexis chimed in that they should reach an agreement today that could be presented to the judge. Willow scoffed that might be in Michael’s interest, since he was about to be charged with Drew’s murder and was dating a hooker with a record, but she was in a better position, and there was no reason why she shouldn’t take her chances in court.
At that, Alexis informed Willow that several arguments could be made against her in court, namely, how the police had evidence that Drew had paid off Judge Heran, then killed her to cover it up. Because Willow shared a home with him, Alexis added, it was unlikely that a judge would even give her half custody, so her case wasn’t a slam dunk. Again, Willow mentioned that Michael was about to be arrested for attempted murder. Alexis sternly replied that Willow was missing the fact that, in the eyes of the law, the case was about the best interest of the children, not her, and she should compromise with Michael. Reluctantly, Willow asked what Michael had in mind, but called his offer of every other weekend and one month in the summer ridiculous since Drew had a massive stroke and wasn’t going to be a part of the kids’ lives. As the exes argued over shuttling the kids back and forth between homes, Alexis interjected that many children of divorce do that and suggested a 60/40 split in Michael’s favor. While Michael quickly agreed, Willow said she needed a minute to think it over and stepped into the hallway.
Apologizing to Michael for how her defense of Willow put him in the PCPD’s crosshairs, Alexis told him that she thought he was a good man and admired how he always put his children first. As Michael stated that he hoped Willow would do the same, his ex-wife took his keys out of his coat pocket and slid Drew’s house key onto the ring! Returning to the office, Willow accepted the custody terms. Alexis said she’d write up the paperwork to present to the judge and told Michael to run the agreement by Diane. Parting ways in the reception area, Michael acknowledged to Willow that neither of them got what they wanted, but they’d compromised for the sake of the kids, and she replied that all she ever wanted was what was best for Wiley and Amelia.
Things were awkward when Lulu and Nathan ran into each other at Bobbie’s. He wondered if she’d avoid him after their kiss, but they both agreed they wanted to remain friends, even if it was going to be difficult with the attraction between them.
Meanwhile, over at Nina’s condo, she complained to Liesl that she didn’t think it was wise for Willow to take care of Drew herself at home. Agreeing that would only make the couple’s toxic co-dependent relationship worse, Obrecht suggested Nina convince Willow to find other care for Drew, but Nina didn’t want to risk ruining her fragile relationship with her daughter. Liesl advised Nina that it was a mother’s job to tell children the hard truths, especially when they didn’t want to hear them.
After leaving Bobbie’s, Nathan stopped by Nina’s and confided in his sister that he had feelings for Lulu. Although happy to see how smitten he was, Nina understood why Maxie was an issue. Nathan revealed that he’d always love Maxie, and when he first came back, it was as if no time had passed for him. But she’d moved on and created a family with Spinelli, and he had no intention of interfering with that when she recovered. Nina questioned if Nathan had feelings for Lulu because it made him feel closer to Maxie, but he insisted that he was attracted to Lulu because of who she is. Even though they’d both agreed it couldn’t go anywhere, it didn’t change how he felt about her, Nathan said, and his friendship with Dante further complicated the situation. Nina thought he could start out dating Lulu quietly, but Nathan didn’t want to build a relationship on lies. Then, she advised her brother to trust his heart if it was leading him to Lulu, and Nathan declared that was what he was going to do.
Mother Knows Best
Josslyn interviewed Laura about how the blizzard impacted Port Charles, and once they’d finished, she packed up her laptop and took out The Crystalline Conspiracy from her bag. When Laura asked where she’d gotten the book, Joss pretended she’d picked it up at the library because the woman on the cover looked like Anna. Explaining that it was Anna, Laura told her that P.K. Sinclair was Cesar Faison’s pseudonym, and he was obsessed with Anna. Laura added that even though Faison was dead, her family still had a connection to him through Rocco’s relationship with Britt and Liesl.
Later, Lulu arrived with coffee in hand and unloaded on her mom that she was falling for Nathan. They’d been growing closer lately, she confided, and when they took cover during the storm in his friend’s café, they kissed. Although they’d agreed it was a bad idea to pursue whatever was between them because of Dante and Maxie, Lulu was now having second thoughts about staying away from Nathan after running into him at Bobbie’s. Laura noted that Lulu and Dante were divorced, and Maxie’s marriage to Nathan was only a legal technicality. But Lulu still fretted that being with Nathan felt like a betrayal of her best friend and would affect the guys’ friendship. Laura wondered if the hesitation was because Lulu still had feelings for Dante, but her daughter said that she’d always love Dante, but his heart still belonged to Sam. Pointing out to her daughter that there were fewer obstacles than she thought, Laura told Lulu that she deserved to be happy.
An Eye For An Eye
When Jason told Sonny about the situation with Anna, Sonny wondered if she’d had a nervous breakdown. Jason added that he’d planned to go to France, but changed his mind to stay in Port Charles to help Britt. She’d finally opened up to him, and it was just what they’d suspected: that she was being forced to work on her father’s final project by Sidwell. Then, when Jason revealed that Sidwell’s partner was WSB Director Ross Cullum, Sonny realized that he must have been the one who tried to kill him and nearly killed Michael. Jason confirmed that Brick was able to connect Cullum as one of the people with access to the WSB slush fund that paid for both the assassin and the fire-bombing. Sonny wanted surveillance placed on Cullum to take him out, but Jason warned that they couldn’t do that yet because Cullum was the one doling out Britt’s medication. Next, he told Sonny how he’d planned for Brick to reverse-engineer the drug, but now Cullum had restricted Britt’s access to it, and he needed to figure out how to get a sample. Sonny agreed not to make a move on Cullum until Jason secured Britt’s medication, but didn’t want to lose whatever advantage they had since Cullum and Sidwell were under the impression that they were in the dark. Jason promised his friend that as soon as Britt was in the clear, they could kill Cullum.
Fishing Expedition
Back at Bobbie’s, Josslyn was reading P.K. Sinclair’s book when Liesl entered the diner. Calling her over, Josslyn asked about her connection to Faison and if he really smoked “those nasty cigarillos,” but Obrecht quickly assumed Josslyn wanted to know about more than his nicotine preference. Joss revealed she’d checked the book out of the library after seeing a copy at Wyndemere, but Liesl brushed it off since the castle had once been Faison’s home. Josslyn added that she’d seen it during the snowstorm, along with a pack of cigarillos next to the book, which had the inscription “For my muse.” Trying to tamp down her long-seeded loathing of the other woman, Liesl hissed that Cesar’s one and only muse had been Anna Devane. Noting that the pack of cigarillos was new, Josslyn asked for reassurance that Faison was dead, and Liesl replied that he was unquestionably deceased, but his memory lived on in those who revered and cursed him. When Joss wondered if someone was impersonating him, Liesl chuckled that perhaps he had a very passionate fan who was emulating him.
Mind Games
In France, Felicia, Mac, and Emma had Anna transferred to a private clinic, where Dr. Laurent told them Anna had been through a traumatic ordeal and warned them not to upset her. Felicia and Mac went inside to see Anna first, and she immediately begged them to get her out of the facility so she could stop Faison. Telling them that the WSB mission they’d all been told she was on was a lie, Anna explained how she’d been kidnapped on Halloween but had no idea where she’d been kept all this time. She assumed she’d been in France because the attendant had spoken French, and he was working with Faison. As an emotional Anna continued to rant about her escape attempt and how Liesl Obrecht had given her a phlebotomy treatment, Felicia and Mac grew more concerned that their friend had suffered a mental break. When Felicia gently informed Anna that Liesl had been in Port Charles for quite some time, Anna declared that she must have left town for a few days to treat her. And it was after Liesl left that Faison began talking to her through the intercom, Anna added. Mac insisted that Faison was dead, but Anna insisted it wasn’t true, just like Britt and Nathan’s deaths weren’t true. Through tears, she told her friends that she’d also been visited by Peter.
Mac then asked where Peter was now, so Anna tearfully shared that she’d passed out and was tied up in the trunk of a car when she came to. She managed to escape when the driver pulled over for gas, and she ran until she found a farmer, who then took her to the local police. The altercation happened when the police officer refused to listen to her and grabbed her, so she fought back. “And now I’m in a mental clinic, and Faison is out there somewhere,” Anna shouted, then grabbed Felicia by the collar and begged her friend to get her out so she could stop him. With a tear streaming down her face, Felicia told her friend okay.
While waiting outside, Emma told the doctor that her grandmother was one of the best agents in the WSB’s history and one of the sharpest minds she knew, so she was sure Anna’s breakdown wasn’t what it seemed. But when Mac and Felicia rejoined them, Mac shared that Anna was convinced Faison had been holding her prisoner, and Dr. Laurent suggested that paranoia had caused Anna to break with reality. Still believing that it was all part of a ruse, Emma pointed out that Faison had faked his death more than once and done horrible things to Anna and their family. Then, Dr. Laurent suggested it was possible Anna was reliving her past trauma and created a new reality out of pieces of history, and Felicia confirmed that Anna’s story was a mashup of her previous encounters with Faison. Mac wanted to know when they could bring Anna back to the States, but the doctor insisted that she wasn’t going anywhere until the assault charges were sorted out in court. Plus, Anna was grounded in the knowledge that she was in a French clinic, the doctor added, and might think she was being held captive again if they tried to transport her before she was more mentally stable.
Insisting that she wanted to see for herself that her grandmother was okay, Emma entered the room. Freaked out that Emma was in France, Anna instructed her granddaughter to keep her distance because Faison had made a veiled threat against her. Emma then began crying, since Dr. Laurent wouldn’t let Anna go home with them, and Anna replied that it was better, because Faison would only be fixated on her. But then she urged Emma to leave before it was too late. Emma tried to reassure her grandmother that she was safe, but Anna grew manic, screaming that Faison was a monster and wasn’t going to leave her alone. Then, Dr. Laurent and an orderly burst into the room to sedate Anna, causing Emma to scream at them to leave her grandmother alone. Mac and Felicia came in next to usher out a distraught Emma as Anna shouted that they needed to tell Jason that Faison was alive before passing out.
Are Lulu and Nathan decide to explore their feelings? Can anyone find a way to get through to Anna? Will Michael notice the extra key on his keychain? Share your GH thoughts and predictions in the comments section below!
