Making the Rounds at General Hospital – Planning For the Ball

On Friday's General Hospital:

Just like in Cinderella everyone wants to go to the ball and Prince Charming comes to the realization he's lost his princess for good.

When Spinelli failed in his attempts to harvest his uber-intelligent DNA for Dr. Robin, he called Jason in to pinch hit. Jason, on the other hand, knew he couldn't do it for the emotional reasons brought up by many of the show's male characters. Robin completely understood and he seemed genuinely touched to learn he was her first choice, but she confided she always knew he wouldn't be able to detach himself.

At the same time, Spin was regaling Epiphany, Dr. Lee, Nadine, and Patrick with Jason and Robin's long history, reminding them Robin only returned from France when Jason needed her medical advice to save his life. While Nadine and Dr. Lee were up for the gossip, the story seemed to touch something deep in Patrick. After Spin and Jason left the hospital, Patrick tearfully admitted to Robin he had experienced a moment of clarity when he feared Jason might say yes. Aware of the close connection between the two, he could envision a child bringing them together and he realized this was a decision he didn't have any voice in. (Finally! She's only been telling you that for weeks!) Though it was obvious this hurt Patrick tremendously, he stopped short of saying the obvious, he really wanted her back.

With this latest disappointment, Robin seemed completely defeated, and Patrick's epiphany seemed to be a knock-out blow. Will she continue with her baby attempts, change her approach, or will something happen at the upcoming Black and White Ball to completely change the course of events?

Nikolas snapped out of his blind rage before dropping Sam off the wall of Wyndemere. While most women who had almost been pushed their death would have run screaming from the scary castle-like home, Sam stayed around and kept pushing Nikolas to tell her what was wrong. (Remember five minutes ago when you pushed Nik, he almost threw you off the building.) This didn't cause him to snap again; instead he confided the recent events to Sam, who then tried to convince him to move the Black and White Ball to the Metro Court instead of having it on the island. He refused.

I have to admit seeing Sam hang over the edge of Wyndemere didn't really affect me too much. I had an 'if she falls, she falls' type of attitude. I did find Nikolas' reaction to the argument to be even more out of character than the previous ones and as he was quick to point out, Sam is family. Is this a setup for what's to come later this week? I'm betting yes.

After watching the exchange between Lulu and Johnny and becoming keenly aware of just how fascinated his son is with the woman, Anthony questioned Johnny. Later, when the guard brought Anthony his dinner it was discovered he was missing.

Jax and Carly argued over whether or not they were going to the ball. When Jax said he had to be out of town, Carly said she would go alone. He then outright forbade her to go. (Yeah, Jax, that pretty much seals she is going, doesn't it?) She insisted she was. Later, after a conversation about hypothetical legal situations with Diane, Carly decided she would take Jason as back-up and meet with Leticia's killer at the ball.

After promising Kate he would be home from Puerto Rico in time to take her to the ball, Sonny left. After getting off the plane there, he approached the car and the viewer saw a huge explosion followed by Trevor getting a phone call that Sonny was dead. Yeah! Right! I'm not sure how, but I do know that Sonny did not fall victim to Trevor's hit.

Warning! News and Spoilers!

Late this week the Black and White Ball will commence. I am hearing and reading it's going to be presented much like the Metro Court explosion was last February, not only in true sweeps style with a lot of fanfare but in a framed flashback format. We will see a climactic ending, Nikolas coming to after a rage and then immediately flash back 11 hours as the story is told in a 24-esque style, an hour of real time given in each of the following 11 episodes.

As if the storylines don't move slowly enough, we're going to slow it down to a crawl. Though I suspect a lot will be going on in those 11 episodes with Zacharra on the loose, Nikolas raging, and the text-message killer also in attendance. Yes, I'm asserting that we are dealing with three separate deadly threats here. We'll see if I'm right as we roll into sweeps.