On Wednesday’s General Hospital:

As this episode opened and "one hour earlier" flashed over the external view of Wyndemere, Nikolas' voice droned on about what he would sacrifice for love and all I could think was I was so happy we'd soon be moving off Spoon Island and back to civilization to deal with the aftermath of the deadly ball.

With gun in hand, Johnny turned from Lulu and put it to his father's chest. Unfortunately, when he pulled the trigger, he discovered it was out of bullets. Anthony seemed devastated Johnny would betray him, as devastated as a psychotic nut-job can seem anyway, and told his son he had until daybreak to say goodbye to Lulu before he killed her. After Anthony disappeared, Logan showed up and Johnny told him to take Lulu to safety while he put an end to his father's madness.

Bruce Weitz's portrayal of wacky Anthony Z has been one of the few bright spots in this story arc, which for the most part has been February's hostage crisis story rehashed and recycled. The character is so off kilter and unpredictable he has become a spontaneous wild card. Too bad his exit will most likely be in death as often happens with the uber-bad guys. The good news is I think he will outlast the black and white ball.

When Lucky brought Sam back to the stables to protect the others, Liz was having no part of being locked away with her and the two continued their ongoing fight. Liz stopped short of telling Lucky Sam had watched Jake get kidnapped and did nothing, but I don't expect she'll be holding her tongue much longer.

It was also a day of declaring love. Patrick and Robin admitted to each other they were having a hard time letting the other go, unaware that Leyla was awake. Jerry also admitted affection for Carly, which was quickly set aside when Jax returned to Carly's arms, not nearly as dead as Jerry had insisted he was. Carly was glad to see he was alive, but the joyful reunion was soon dampened by Jerry's worsening condition, a pierced lung.