We have to admit, the reaction of General Hospital’s Michael (Chad Duell) to the revelation that his wife slept with his uncle has been pretty tamed. While he’s unloaded on Drew (Cameron Mathison) for his betrayal, Michael hasn’t taken any of his frustrations out on Willow (Katelyn MacMullen).
In fact, despite her being a willing participant in her affair with Drew, Michael hasn’t placed any blame on his wife for all the hurt and betrayal. Now Michael’s mind-boggling reaction may be due to the guilt he feels for sleeping with Sasha (Sofia Mattsson), but we’re still shocked that he doesn’t appear to be angry at Willow at all.
The same can’t be said for Carly (Laura Wright). During the week of December 9 on General Hospital, she eviscerated both Drew and Willow in some must-see-moments of daytime. She even was savvy enough to follow Willow and Nina (Cynthia Watros) who snuck off to try and rush Michael and Willow’s children off the property. Nina convinced Willow to take the kids to make her position strong in a potential custody battle, and Carly suspected that’s what the women were trying to do.
That brings us to the episode that aired on December 16. In it, Carly stood face-to-face with Willow and Nina as the mother/daughter duo tried to sneak Wylie (Viron Weaver) and Amelia (Sequoia & Serenity Mork Macko) of the Quartermaine Estate. After some posturing between the two sides, Michael walks in and gets Carly to stand down.
Once Willow and Nina are gone, Carly tells Michael he just made a mistake letting the children leave as it could come back to bite him in a custody trial. However, Michael defends his actions, not wanting to put his kids through what he went through when Sonny (Maurice Benard) took him away from Carly.
With all that being said, we can’t help but think as civil as Michael may want to keep things between him and Willow for the children’s sake, Carly may be proven right. We can imagine a scenario in which Willow and Drew don’t cut each other off and start to carry on an open romance. After all, Willow and Drew still have feelings for each other, and Michael may soon inform Willow that he actually cheated on her in retaliation. Should these things happen, you better believe the tension between Willow and Michael will heat up.
If tensions run high and a custody war breaks out, Michael may not have the upper hand as Nina suggested. Yes, it’s Willow’s fault her marriage to Michael fell apart, and yes, Michael is well-connected and wealthy as a Quartermaine, Corinthos and Spencer. However, Michael’s past isn’t so squeaky clean, nor is his family’s.
Michael once spent time in Pentonville for murdering Claudia (Sarah Joy Brown) in self-defense of his mother. Then when you look at Carly, Sonny and Jason (Steve Burton), the trio have their own history of arrests and convictions (in Sonny’s case). Plus, the Quartermaines have decades' worth of scandals to analyze. With Nina being wealthy and able to hire the best attorneys (which we assume will be Ric [Rick Hearst]), Willow could try to paint Michael and his family as unsuitable to care for children.
Oh, and we can’t forget Drew in this equation. As a bonafide politician now, he may be able to pull some strings to help influence a judge into awarding custody to Willow.
Either way, a win for Willow could devastate Michael and make him a desperate father. Could Michael be pushed to take his children and leave Port Charles if the legal system works against him? It’s something we have to consider, especially since Duell is slated to exit the role of Michael at the top of the new year, and no plans have been announced for a recast.
Now we also have to consider that Michael with all his Quartermaine, Corinthos and Spencer backing does actually win custody of the kids despite what Willow and her side throws at him. If that proves to be the cace, we can still picture Michael leaving town with Wylie and Amelia for a while to regroup after a nasty custody battle. Perhaps he’ll take the kids to Sonny’s island for a bit, which again sets up an exit for Duell’s Michael.
This is all largely speculation at the moment, but we can’t help but think that Carly’s words were foreshadowing rough times to come.
New episodes of General Hospital air on weekdays on ABC. If you miss an episode, you can catch up on Hulu.
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