A hoedown of showdowns

Sonny and Elijah squared off, Shawn Butler lent Jason a hand -- with a shank, and Finn cut Anna out of his life for good when he learned the truth about Peter's deadly plot. It was a hoedown of showdowns this week, and Ms. Masters is here to cover all the action.

Well, ladies and gentlemen, it looks like we have a hootenanny of trouble brewing in Port Charles and Nixon Falls as alliances are forged and lines are drawn.

First up, Sonny and Elijah are vying for Nina's attention -- and affections -- as they each took to the dance floor to two-step their way into her heart. Alas, all the dancing was done off-screen, which was a crying shame, but we were treated to Sonny sporting a cowboy hat and flashing those charming dimples, which made up for it a teensy bit.

I would have given anything to see a dance-off between Sonny and Elijah.

Not to be outdone, Jax made his way to Nixon Falls and the square dance festivities because -- as I speculated in my previous column, Phyllis gave away Nina's location when Phyllis took the phone from Nina to tell Jax to back off. Rather than heed the sage advice, Jax hopped on his Cessna and popped over to Nixon Falls to let Nina know that he had persuaded Michael to give her a second chance with Wiley, which Jax hopes will earn him one with Nina.

I can't help but wonder if Jax might have a change of heart about patching things up with Nina once he learns the real reason that Nina has been hanging out in Phyllis' neck of the woods. Poor Jax is always having to compete against Sonny, even when Sonny isn't Sonny.

I get Jax's attraction to Nina; they had a long-term relationship, and he is in love with her. I also get why Sonny is drawn to Nina; he thinks she's the woman from his dreams. However, I'm mystified why Elijah Crowe (Dan White) would invest this much energy into snagging the attention of a woman whose eyes continually drift to another man. Is it the challenge of besting that other man? Is it her money, or is something else afoot? Don't misunderstand me; Nina is a beautiful and intelligent woman, but she's very clearly giving off a friends-only vibe to Elijah -- and she's only a visitor to town.

Where does Elijah see all this going?

It's Elijah's inability -- or complete unwillingness -- to read Nina that makes me question his motives. Also, he's a pretty shady dude with those surreptitious phone calls to an unknown person digging into everyone's background, and for his one-sided offer to Lenny and Phyllis when their bar needed a cash infusion. Decent people don't try to scam their friends, and I'm a bit surprised that both Lenny and Phyllis still talk to Elijah after that messy business.

As for Nina, I have no idea what is going through her head. I doubt even she knows why she's still in Nixon Falls, flirting with Sonny -- and certain disaster. Nina has to know that anything that might develop between her and Sonny has zero hope of lasting. Sonny's amnesia won't be sticking around forever, mainly because those dreams of Carly tell me that his memories are not buried all that deep. They are far closer to the surface than Nina realizes, and now Jax has seen him.

I cracked up when Jax realized that he was looking at Sonny. The way Jax raised his arm, pointed his finger at his nemesis, then muttered, "What the hell?" was hilarious. It was the perfect reaction, especially for those two. I have no idea if Jax will recall the incident, but Nina's time is running out. Even if Jax doesn't have a recollection of seeing Sonny, Jax will continue to fly into Nixon Falls to woo Nina. Jax can be like a dog with a bone when he sets his mind to something.

The more that Nina plays with fire, the worse her burns will be. Nina, more than anyone, should appreciate that a relationship built on lies and secrets is destined to go down in flames. I don't care what "Mike" says about the matter, Sonny will only care what was in Sonny's best interests, not what his amnesiac alter ego wanted. Carly might be all kinds of hostile and nasty to Nina, but Sonny loves his wife. Nothing will ever change that, which is why he's married her a half dozen times over the years.

Sonny will never forgive Nina if she doesn't reach out to Carly soon. It's not so much about Carly, but rather how this continued silence impacts his grieving children, especially the two youngest -- Avery and Donna. To Sonny, allowing his young daughters to needlessly mourn for their father will be Nina's worst transgression. He might forgive Nina meting out some payback to Carly, but he will never forgive Nina for punishing children in the process.

Let me be clear, though; I have zero interest in seeing a romance of any kind blossom between Nina and "Mike." I can't imagine any scenario where it would work for me, even if Sonny's memories never returned. They are simply two vastly different people who have painfully little in common. Can you imagine Nina taking "Mike" to a runway fashion show in Paris? Me either.

There's nothing to be gained from keeping Carly in the dark about Sonny's fate except more misery for Nina. Unless, of course, that is what is really driving Nina. It is possible that Nina has subconsciously found a way to punish herself for failing Nelle. I don't think that she did, but that doesn't stop Nina from carrying tremendous guilt for not saving Nelle from herself.

That doesn't justify Nina's silence about Sonny in any way, but it might explain her self-destructive choices. The writers have put Nina in a position where the proverbial shoe is on the other foot. Now, she is the one keeping the secrets and deceiving others about life-altering matters. Unfortunately, we've been down this road countless times with numerous other characters. They might learn their lesson in the short term, but it seldom ever sticks.

That's why, eventually, everyone sounds like a great big hypocrite when they call out others on their transgressions. I just hope that Nina's interlude with Sonny ends before the two sleep together, because we all know how potent and fertile Sonny's sperm can be. If anyone can give Nina her miracle baby, it's Sonny, and that is just not something I'm emotionally or mentally prepared for.

One thing Sonny won't have to worry about, when his memories resurface and he returns to Port Charles, is his criminal empire. Carly has taken control of things, and she's been calling the shots, including cooking up a scheme to get Jason out of prison as the battle for control of the Five Families heats up.

Carly has fully embraced being a mob boss. She is ordering men around and locking horns with Cyrus, and she managed to pull some strings to get Shawn Butler reassigned to Jason's jail cell, which paved the way for Shawn to shank Jason into a stay at General Hospital. At this point, it wouldn't surprise me to learn that she's packing heat everywhere she goes, but it does make me question just how prepared Carly will be to step back into the shadows once the danger passes, because from where I'm sitting, Carly seems quite comfortable being a queen-pin.

I think Carly fully intends to rule the organization at Jason's side if they should manage to neutralize Cyrus as a threat. Frankly, I don't think she has a choice because she can no longer claim to be an innocent bystander in the organization if she's making power moves and handing down orders. That's why Cyrus enjoys taunting her. He sees her as his opponent and Jason's partner in crime. You can't always put the genie back in the bottle, and I think this is one of those times.

I have no idea what Jason's next move is going to be, but I hope that Britt will be at his side. I enjoyed the expression of horrified shock on Carly's face when she barged into Jason's hospital room and saw him squeezing Britt's hand. I also loved how Britt stood up to Carly. That's exactly the kind of woman that Jason needs because Carly has a habit of steamrolling over everyone who gets close to him, especially women.

Of all the potential pairings at the moment, Jason and Britt are my favorite.

Britt is going to need Jason because Cyrus is onto her. He busted her checking into his designer drug, and that can only mean that he's going to be doing more than locking her out of files. Since Britt made a beeline for Jason's hospital room, it won't take Cyrus long to figure out that the two might be in cahoots. Will Cyrus make a move to eliminate Britt as a threat by using her as a pawn against Jason? That's a strong likelihood, but Britt is also the daughter of two diabolical supervillains, so she has a few tricks up her own sleeve.

That brings me to Anna and Valentin, who are currently in a holding pattern with Peter's downfall. Peter is keeping the antidote for the serum that Chase ingested until Anna can get Maxie to agree to let him be in the delivery room when their daughter is born. I'm so disgusted by Peter that I was rooting for Anna to put an end to his miserable life right then and there in the stairwell.

Peter never loved Maxie, and his behavior since their wedding went bust only proves that it had all been an act. He has no respect for the woman who carries his child, and he doesn't even care that much about his child. The baby is merely a pawn to manipulate and control Maxie.

Luckily, the stars are aligning for Maxie, Brook Lynn, and Britt to come together and help each other out. Brook Lynn needs a baby to get controlling shares of ELQ, and Maxie needs to find a way to hide her child in plain sight without Peter being the wiser. With Britt's help, Brook Lynn will even be able to provide Valentin with a paternity test that shows he is the child's father if he should ask, and Britt has access to the morgue, which means that she can get her hands on a dead baby for Peter to weep over.

It will be a great plan, except we all know nothing is foolproof -- or in this case Peterproof.

Peter is unpredictable, and he really has nothing to lose, especially if Maxie and Britt can convince him that his daughter died. Make no mistake, he wants to be in Maxie's hospital room not because he's eager to see the birth of his daughter, but rather because he doesn't trust people to not try to pull a fast one on him.

If Peter genuinely cared about his child, he would recognize that he's not fit to be a parent. He'd want better for his daughter than for her to have a father like him.

I don't know if the crushed fragments of the vial that Anna gave to Finn had residue of the antidote on them -- or just water and sugar, as Finn suspected -- but I hope a cure is found for Chase sooner rather than later. Finn is scared and hurting, so I don't take his harsh words to Anna seriously. He knew who she was when he proposed to her, and more importantly, he knew there were risks because she had the kind of enemies that killed.

Once Chase is on the mend, I'm confident that Finn will make peace with Anna.

Some questioned why I was so hard on Chase last week. They disagreed with my assessment that he was a manipulator, and they pointed to Willow as the one who has been stringing Chase along these past few weeks.

I want to be clear that I don't think Chase is a bad guy. He isn't. I also don't think he's a Machiavellian mastermind who enjoys playing with people's lives. He's not. However, he does have a way about him that gets people to do his bidding without conscious thought. It's similar to the way a newborn comes home from the hospital then promptly changes everyone's sleep cycle from night to day.

It's not an intentional thing on the baby's part, but it happens, even with experienced parents.

Chase walked in on Michael and Willow the first time that they made love. He knows that Willow is not the type to engage in casual sex, especially with her own husband, so it stands to reason that Willow slept with Michael because she had feelings for him. Chase knew that -- or he should have -- when he confessed the truth about his deception with Sasha then asked Willow for a second chance. Willow agreed, but she was honest with Chase that she and Michael felt that they owed it to each other as well as themselves to see if they still had feelings for Chase and Sasha.

I understand why Michael and Willow decided to keep mum about their romp in the gatehouse, but they need to focus on what's best for Wiley, not Chase.

I strongly believe that Finn will find a cure for his son, even if that broken vial doesn't yield results. I'm also certain that Chase will find love again. He's a sweet guy, and he has a great job, a nice home, and a loving and supportive family. Plus, he's easy on the eyes.

Finally, Shawn Butler is back on our screens, and I find myself quite frustrated with how things are playing out. Shawn should be at a parole hearing, not shanking Jason. Yes, he pleaded guilty to shooting Hayden, but as he reminded Jordan, he didn't do it. My jaw dropped when Jordan callously told him that it didn't matter because he took the deal. What? How can Jordan say that to the father of her child, knowing that T.J. loves Shawn as much as Shawn loves T.J.?

There is actual proof that exonerated Shawn of shooting Hayden. The bullet that Shawn fired was recovered from the wall of the garage, so why is Jordan acting like there wasn't a second shooter that day?

I realize that Shawn wasn't an innocent man. He went to the garage that day to kill Drew, but he missed. More importantly, the man who ordered the hit -- Sonny -- walked away without any repercussions. It's not right.

I don't blame T.J. for not being thrilled with Molly's decision to pursue a career as a district attorney, given his father's incarceration. I wouldn't have any faith in the justice system, either, if people like Nelle were paroled while my father continued to languish in prison for a crime he didn't commit. Heck, his own mom won't lift a finger to help his father, and she's actually in a position to make a difference.

New code word for a booty call: Oktoberfest. Thank you, Scotty. This is why Scott and Liesl are gold. I love their budding romance.

Where did all the people go? A shot rings out at a community dance, and no one rushes outside to find out what's going on? At the very least, I expected Lenny to come running to check on Phyllis.

What kind of jail allows the police commissioner to visit/question a suspect while he's still in his jail cell? I'm fairly certain that Shawn still has the right to have his attorney present during an interrogation, even if he's locked up behind bars.

As much as I don't care about the Mobster [Sonny], it's not Nina's place to play God & decide he's happier now. He was happy with Carly, his kids and his life before... -- Lucky Lady

Sonny did it to the Q's when he turned their son against them. He and Carly basically brainwashed Jason into thinking the Q's were evil when they were just a goofy family. It's called karma. -- Doreen2

Going back a few weeks, Peter gave Maxie a teddy bear for the baby. I hope that Maxie threw it out after Britt told her that it had been a gift from Faison! No putting it past Peter to put some kind of tracking device into the bear! -- Beth Beach

I love hearing from readers, so please feel free to leave a comment below or email me.

Take care and happy viewing,Liz Masters

What are your thoughts on General Hospital? What did you think of this week's Two Scoops? We want to hear from you -- so drop your comments in the Comments section below, tweet about it on Twitter, share it on Facebook, or chat about it on our Message Boards.