Best Story: Maxie and Spinelli's non-wedding. We waited and waited for the Geek to finally get the girl and pop the question, only to be greeted with Maxie's hesitancy regarding the big day. In hindsight, perhaps it was best to allow this story to take the humorous turn that it did because the results were nothing more than touching - and rip-roaring hilarious. Beginning with Maxie's nightmare ("I just saw my future and it included granny panties," she gasped upon being awakened), which by itself merits mention, to the reception at Jake's where every single resident of Port Chuck let loose and had fun, this was one non-wedding we were happy to be a part of. On a show that seems to enjoy being firmly entrenched in dark violence, this light and funny story is proof that even GH can make us laugh out loud.

Worst story: The Toxic Spheres. One thing that GH is definitely known for is it's all-out February sweeps story, if being witness to the hotel fire, and the hostage crisis at the Metro Court is any indication. And this particular story started out with the same edge-of-your-seat suspense as it's predecessors. A patient is admitted to the ER and discovered to have ingested three spheres which contained a lethal biotoxin. Victims of the disease began falling left and right as the toxin was released into the hospital's ventilation system. Sounds great, right? Not really. What actually aired was nowhere near the bang for your buck that the show is famous for delivering and the story quickly degenerated into FBI-riddled nonsense. We did get a new hospital set after the hospital caught on fire, but that was about the only good thing to come out of this story, which basically gave new meaning to the word "disaster."

Best Single Performance: John J. York in Maxie's nightmare. Yes, we've had some off the charts acting this past year, but it takes a great player to steal an entire dream sequence that wasn't even about his character. Maxie had a nightmare about her future with Spinelli - She was bogged down with kids, Lulu was a shallow fashion designer, Jason a disinterested sideshow to a confident Spinelli. The best part by far was John J. York as Mac, who lost his mind after Maxie and Spinelli were wed. "You have the right to remain silent," Mac kept babbling over and over, and managed to make off with the entire scene, even when he was only in the background. Now that's impeccable comedic timing and talent, something we knew York possessed but haven't been treated to in a long time.

Worst Use of History: Ethan is Luke's son. You just knew that no best and worst anything on GH would let this one slip. The cocky and arrogant Aussie Ethan was introduced and Luke immediately took a shine to him - until Ethan mentioned Holly, which immediately sent the imaginations of viewers into overdrive. Suddenly Ethan's appeal increased dramatically as we hoped he would turn out to be the son of Robert and Holly, a move that would've made a lot of sense. Finally, a new tie to Port Charles royalty, to say nothing of a much-needed sibling for Robin! But for reasons we can only guess at, the show decided to make Ethan the son of Luke and Holly, not only implying that Luke cheated on his beloved Laura at the happy time of Lulu's birth, but also managing to take the important history of the Spencers, and of Robert and Holly, and reducing it all to rubble in one fell swoop. We don't know what show the writers have been watching but we've been watching GH - and we'll thank you not to blatantly rewrite history like that ever again.

Most Shocking Casting Moves: The Dismissals of Greg Vaughan and Rick Hearst. Let's start with Hearst. Described by cast mates as an actor's actor, a formidable talent that any show would kill to have, and he has three Emmys to prove it. His character Ric was a writer's dream: A goldmine of complexity and internal conflict and that's just for starters. Ric was Sonny's brother, had a budding romance with Skye and a sleazy side fling with Sonny's wife Claudia (and may or may not have been the father of her baby). So much story, so much wasted potential. Why the show decided that Ric (and Hearst) were no longer needed remains a baffling mystery but the actor was, not surprisingly, quickly snapped up by another soap. As for Vaughan, over the years we grew to love the sexy cop Lucky that Vaughan brought to the screen. He looked beautiful with Liz, tormented with Maxie and downright gorgeous with Sam. Out of nowhere, the show suddenly dropped Vaughan and ushered in Lucky's first portrayer, Jonathan Jackson. We have no problem with recasts, even sudden ones, but the conflicting stories on how this particular recast came about (the show claims Vaughan left on his own, Vaughan himself and a few of his cast mates have said otherwise, Jackson was reportedly kept in the dark) only succeeded in further eroding our faith in the show's powers-that-be and the network. But Greg got "lucky" as did his fans, you can catch Vaughan on the newly revived 90210.

Most Over-Exposed Character: Olivia. Our problem is not the fact that we see so much of Olivia. Our problem is that we see so much of Olivia - doing essentially nothing. She is still fretting over Dante being exposed, still pining for Sonny, and wash, rinse, repeat. Olivia had the potential to be an entertaining character when she was first introduced but watching her play what basically amounts to the same scenes over and over with little change in dialogue (or story, for that matter) has now turned an engaging character into overkill.

Best Single Scene: Sonny exposes Claudia. From the affection that Sonny was showing Claudia, you would've never known this scene was coming. At Claudia's birthday party, Sonny addressed the crowd. He began by acknowledging various people in the room that were part of his life, making us wonder just what he was up to. Suddenly he turned to Claudia and called her out for her role in Michael's shooting. Claudia feigned innocence and Johnny even attempted to throw himself on his sword to protect his sister. "I heard the evidence," Sonny stated flatly, "She arranged the time, she arranged the place. She tried to kill me and my son was shot in the process!" When Claudia began to protest and try to turn the blame back on Sonny by pointing out everything he did wrong with Michael, Sonny finally snapped. "Don't you ever mention my son to me," Sonny seethed, "You psychotic piece of trash!" These kinds of must-watch moments are the stuff that soaps are made of.

Most Unnecessary Character: Franco. GH all but wet themselves when film actor James Franco agreed to appear on the show for a brief stint. The prospect sounded exciting on paper, but what has transpired on screen has been anything but. The character of Franco has turned out to be a psycho with a penchant for crime scenes and a fixation on Jason. Sadly, nothing we have not seen before seems to be emerging from this five-car-pile-up on the freeway: Someone after Jason? Check. Jason forced to protect loved ones? Check. Been there, done that. Franco may have a long list of criminal activity on his resume' but it doesn't compare to the real crime: The entire cast pretty much being sacrificed at the altar for this story. Call us when we have our GH back.