Making the Rounds at General Hospital – Michael Remains in Coma

This entire last week focused on the after-effects of the attempted hit on Sonny that landed Michael in a coma — one the doctors are insisting he will never wake up from.

While the entire storyline that revolved around a twelve-year-old child being shot in the head as a result of mob violence was very hard to swallow, I was actually appreciatively watching the shock waves that ripped through the cast of characters. Sonny finally began to see that he can't protect everyone around him and Jason and Carly seriously questioned all the choices they made that put Michael in a life filled with violence. Laura Wright (Carly) delivered heart wrenching scenes of a mother losing a child and Maurice Bernard (Sonny) expertly portrayed a father trying to lessen a mother's grief while wrestling with his own guilt.

Then I came across this Entertainment Weekly interview with head writer Bob Guza, Jr.

In the interview Guza explains that this arc started while he was out of the office during the writers' strike. Replacement writers ran with a storyline that had twelve-year-old Michael purchasing a gun from a street gang and eventually accidentally shooting Kate while trying to dispose of the gun. Michael fled and later returned. Much to Jax and Kate's distress, Michael was never punished and only saw a therapist once, off screen. Many a fan was outraged (including this one, as I've ranted about on these pages). So, Guza claims he was left with no choice but to deal with that lack of punishment… by having Michael take a bullet. He says the fans demanded it.

Like any wife and mother who has been watching General Hospital in the last two weeks jumped for joy and said, "Michael got what he deserved." The child deserved to never be put in the line of fire in the first place. I sort of resent the insinuation that this story was an answer to the viewers' distaste for the previous arc. Like guns and bombs aren't business as usual for Guza and company. Why doesn't he try, just for one ratings period, answering the fans' cries for less mob and more hospital? See if maybe that will pull the ratings above the dismal 2.1 they've settled at recently.

I'm happy to report there are a few other storylines that saw progression this week. Through this crisis of treating Michael, Patrick got closer and closer to the realization he wants to be a daddy to the baby he's fathered. He leaned on and reached out to Robin, who warmly welcomed him and even picked him up from Jake's when he drunk dialed her to ask if she 'wanted a father for her baby.' I couldn't be happier to see my Scrubs getting back together.

April 25 is being reported as the day Finola Hughes returns as Anna Devane. She'll drop into Port Charles for five or six episodes to deal with becoming a grandma. ABC teases in a press release available on their website that her love affair with Noah on her last visit will be addressed, but there is no word if Rick Springfield will be making any appearances as Daddy (soon to be grandfather) Drake.

Another highlight of the week was Alexis leaning on Diane while sorting through her realization that Kristina could be the next child of Sonny's to be hurt or killed for the association. Anytime we get to see these two smart, witty women together on the screen it's a good day, but these scenes were only topped by Diane and Max comforting each other in a way fans have been screaming for – the most intimate way. Too bad poor Alexis had to walk in on it, though.

Coming up: Scoops and Spoilers

• Carly will continue to hold out hope for Michael this week, even though all the doctors and Jax encourage her to accept the fact the coma is permanent and to seek out a long-term facility for him. Carly will remain at odds with Sonny and heavily lean on Jason throughout.
• Jason will be so moved by the whole situation he will cut off all contact with Liz and Jake and go so far as to burn everything he has connecting him to his son.
• Luke reopens the Haunted Star and Dr. Scorpio and Dr. Drake Jr. will attend together. Sonny will show up as well, on the hunt for the person who shot Michael. Look for Robin and Patrick to steam up the screen after their date.