Making the Rounds at General Hospital – Sam Schemes, Diane Dances

On Friday's General Hospital:

Sam continued to work over Lucky, playing on his grief and sympathy for her and his own pain to forge a bond between them. Alexis, with a bit of encouragement from Elizabeth, tried to sway her daughter, but Sam would hear none of it. She was determined to exact her revenge, even though Alexis warned she could be hurting herself the most. All the while Nikolas was giving Liz some sage advice, encouraging her to give Lucky space and time to come to terms with what happened between her and Jason.

The thing is there really isn’t one innocent party in this whole mess, save poor baby Jake. They've all played some part in their relationships falling apart, so it's really hard for me to place sympathy anywhere, though I'd find it just if all four of them ended up alone for awhile.

While trying to give Spinelli pointers on how to answer Diane's questions when he's called to testify, Sonny discovered he gave Carly information before she headed to Venezuela with Jerry. Sonny's threats to off Spin if anything happened to Carly terrified the poor kid. If there is anyone with more on-screen chemistry with Spinelli than Jason, it would have to be Sonny. It's so much fun watching these two interact.

Diane's goal of the day was to shake the testimony of Ric's eyewitness, the one who Jason suspected was cooperating with Ric out of vengeance. She did a pretty good job of it too. She got even better news, however, when a package was delivered to her in court. At episode's end she asked to admit evidence that would prove Lorenzo is still alive.

Sort of hard to convict someone of murder if the supposed victim is alive. Rest assured this is all an illusion put together by Carly and Jerry however. I've heard of no plans to actually bring Alcazar back from the dead in typical soap style.

It was the kind of high tension Friday ending you can expect from GH. While Lulu was telling Spinelli she's interested in pursuing a relationship with Logan, Cooper walked in on Logan and Maxie in a passionate embrace. While I'm glad Coop is getting an eyeful of the Maxie we all love to hate, I hate to see Lulu's heart broken when she finds out the truth about Logan and Maxie's on again, off again, back on again plan.

Across town Kate was doing what she does best, resisting Sonny's temptations as she packed to run away from him and her feelings when Mac showed up with an arrest warrant. What could the fashionista be wanted for? We'll have to tune in Monday to know for sure.

Warning! News and Spoilers!

• The verdict in Jason's trial comes down this week. Do you really have to ask?
• Fans have been hoping for a pregnancy story line for Robin and Patrick; it looks like we'll have to wait even longer. Though she will think otherwise this week, the test will be negative.
• Irina continues her vengeful plan against Jerry. Carly and Jerry team up again to save Jax.
• Don't forget the big pay-off to the Eli Love story will happen August 24 when Rick Springfield will perform "Who Killed Rock N Roll" from his new album due out next year. The real question is which will role will it be in – as Dr. Noah Drake or rock star Eli Love? Personally, I got a sneak preview Friday night when I caught Springfield at Meadowbrook Music Festival where he opened his show with the song in question, and now can't wait for the mini-concert on General Hospital. "Who Killed Rock N Roll" is also available as a single on iTunes.