Goodbye Luke, Hello Franco

Ah, the return of Franco. I've been looking forward to it for weeks now, although it didn't seem to have quite the same build-up as it did the last time around. Maybe it was just because "Mad World" didn't play on a continuous loop for weeks leading up to today. We actually saw a lot more of Franco on his first day back than I thought we would. In fact, he opened the show, in his now-standard homeless guy disguise. Since Franco is a man of only a few disguises, it might be wise at this point for the Port Charles PD to issue a statement to the town's residents: "If you see a hot, young homeless guy, he's most likely this world-famous artist/serial killer we've been searching for."


Not quite sure why Diane engaged in conversation with him for as long as she did. Certainly when he reached into his jacket for something to "entertain" her with, I would have done a 40-yard dash right out of that alley. Especially creepy: Franco caressing that toy monkey after Diane finally did leave.
While Port Charles said hello to Franco, it also said goodbye to Luke Spencer. I always get a little sniffly right along with the Spencer kids when Luke takes his annual summer leave from The Chuckles. The scenes with him and all three Spencer children were sweet, but especially touching was his earlier goodbye with Lucky. Ever since Jonathan Jackson returned as Lucky, I love the interactions between him and Luke. I read in a recent issue of ABC Soaps in Depth that Tony Geary said he DVR'ed today's scenes with Jonathan Jackson so he could go back and watch them, and now I can see why.Maxie returned to her favorite spot since her foot injury--a bench on the docks, this time to meet Matt. Honestly, I'm not sure why Matt continues to pull out all the stops for Maxie after her long history of mistreating him (other than that it's the only way he gets a rare few minutes of screen time). And while I do think they have a cute dynamic together, Matt fits Maxie's "bad boy" bill even less than Lucky. I'm just not sure how he'll solve the "danger" factor that she continuously reminds us that she's missing with Spinelli.

Speaking of Spinelli, I always thought his adoration for Jason was endearing, but it kinda creeped me out a bit today (although not as much as Franco caressing that monkey). Upon hearing the news of Stone Cold's release, Spinelli suddenly came to life after weeks of being holed up in a dark condo. He blew off Maxie to go to the market to stock up on all of Stone Cold's favorites, returning just in time to interrupt Sam fantasizing about seeing Jason again as a free man (an awww-worthy daydream that I actually thought was real for a moment):
Oblivious to the fact that Sam might want some alone time with Jason when he returns, Spinelli begins to do some fantasizing of his own about being reunited with his man-crush:
When Jason actually does arrive home with Dante in tow, he finds Sam, Spinelli and a room full of cops, including Ronnie Domestico, who informs Jason that he'll be watched so closely, they'll know when he scratches an itch. By the way, why is Ronnie still in Port Charles? Wasn't it established that he had a wife and kids back in Bensonhurst? Anyways, they weren't the only ones waiting for J-Morgue. Unbeknownst to our lovable enforcer, Franco himself was directly behind him as he returned home to The Harbor View Towers. Ooh, hottie homeless guy alert. OK, fine, GH, I'll just hum "Mad World" to myself.
One last note on today's episode: Was it odd that Lisa and Patrick picked their flirting right back up after their earlier indiscretion on Doc Niles' couch? Patrick didn't even look the least bit guilty about almost getting real busy with a woman other than his wife. Have we not seen the last of these two and their awkward attraction to one another?