General Hospital’s Willow is not the victim in my book

What has happened to General Hospital’s Willow (Katelyn MacMullen)? I’m baffled at how she’s wrecked her entire life for Drew Quartermaine (Cameron Mathison). Nina (Cynthia Watros) was absolutely right when she said that Willow is acting like a hormonal teenager. And she keeps making the worst possible decisions, like taking Wylie out of state to attend Drew’s inauguration without even telling Michael (Chad Duell).

Now that Michael has filed for divorce and started a custody fight she had the absolute audacity to run to Drew crying because Michael’s petition for divorce calls her an unfit mother and asks for supervised visitation. Her ability to change the narrative and make herself the victim at the center of the story is extraordinary.

But Drew is indulging her delusions of victimhood, probably because it makes her even more dependent on him. I practically laughed out loud for real when he told Willow she’s a great mother.

Willow the good mother?

Objectively looking at Willow, she kissed Drew twice (on separate occasions) and hid that from Michael. Then, knowing her marriage was on the rocks, she slept with Drew and hid that from Michael too. And after her infidelity was broadcasted to everyone by Tracy (Jane Elliot) she takes the kids and moves into Nina’s instead of trying to repair the damage or at least talk to Michael about the mess they’re in.

Michael never wanted their relationship to go down in flames like this. He wanted to try and make up, until Willow took Wylie (Viron Weaver) to Washington, D.C. for Drew’s inauguration without even telling Michael. Willow’s schoolgirl-style infatuation with Drew is leading her to put the kids in situations that upend the stability and routine that kids need to feel safe. That’s not what a good parent does. If she wants to be with Drew, she should work out a custody arrangement with Michael and move on the way millions of other couples do.

Again, Willow is not a victim in any way in this. She chose Drew over her marriage, and now she’s putting her kids right in the middle of the mess she’s made. But hey, it’s possible she’s making herself a victim to keep Drew around.

Drew is still the worst

I have never hidden my "Drew-hate." But objectively, his behavior in this situation is shocking, even considering his long history of bad behavior. He was just ousted from his company and he’s at risk of losing his budding political career over the scandal of his sleeping with his nephew’s wife and breaking up their marriage, but he claims he doesn’t care. He hasn’t even started his work in Congress yet but he’s going to drop everything to fly back to Port Charles with Willow and Wylie and let the world know he’s committed to her.

He admitted that his new job isn’t as important to him as Willow. When did this happen? Because not that long ago he was desperate to keep the fact that he and Willow kissed secret so that it didn’t impact his political career.

If there’s one thing that Drew loves, it’s himself. And if there’s another thing he loves, it’s being the hero publicly. Willow worships him and loves to play “damsel in distress” so he can be the hero. Willow is giving him all the ego-boosting he can handle, so of course, he doesn’t need the ego-boost of being a public figure right now. And if his political career does take a hit, he can rebrand his bad behavior as him just supporting a desperate single mother as her husband tries to take away her kids.

Drew isn’t standing by Willow because he loves her. He’s purely motivated by self-interest. He has no interest in being a good stepdad to Wylie and Amelia (Sequoia & Serenity Mork Macko). Has anyone seen Scout (Cosette Abinanteately) lately? He doesn’t even spend him with his own child unless he can use her for a photo op or gain some kind of public cred for it.

Like mother, like daughter

Nina isn’t doing her daughter any favors with her actions. She was the one who jumped the gun and had Willow remove the kids from the Quartermaines and move in with her before Willow and Michael even had a chance to talk about Willow’s infidelity.

If Nina hadn’t been giving Willow such bad advice from the jump, Willow might have taken a beat and thought about her actions more carefully. Had Willow not immediately gotten a lawyer, Michael might not even gone straight to the litigation option.

Nina’s over-the-top actions are more likely motivated by anger and jealousy than concern for Willow. I’m not really sure what an appropriate response is when you find out that your lover is also sleeping with your daughter, but from what I’ve seen on the Jerry Springer Show, Nina is acting more like a jealous rival than a supportive mom in this situation.

It’s interesting that Nina liked the plan Curtis (Donnell Turner) suggested to release the video of Drew and Willow to the media in an attempt to force Drew to choose Willow or his career, because a concerned mother never would have wanted to see her daughter humiliated like that.

I hope that Michael recovers, because Willow shouldn’t be allowed to walk away with the kids and her new relationship with Drew and face no consequences.

New episodes of General Hospital air on weekdays on ABC. If you miss an episode, you can catch up on Hulu.