Gearing up for the "General Hospital: Night Shift" finale: Your Dr. Kyle Julian primer

Tonight is the beginning of the two-part General Hospital: Night Shift season finale. The General Hospital spin-off has certainly been a pleasure for us to watch this season because of gay doctor Kyle Julian (Adam Grimes), while longtime GH fans have enjoyed the ability of the series' new headwriter, Sri Rao, to show an appreciation for GH history and skill at conceiving storylines not involving the mob.

While us die-hards have been enjoying the past twelve episodes, it's not too late to jump in on the drama. Here's a recap of Kyle's season-so-far so you can be caught up for the season finale fun.

Adam Grimes and Carrie Southworth

The new Night Shift season starts on the first day for new interns Kyle and Claire (Carrie Southworth). Unfortunately, it turns out that Dr. Leo Julian (Ethan Rains) is in charge of interns and Leo has graduated from the Dr. Cox School of Insulting Your Interns into Effectiveness. A quick friendship forms between Kyle and Claire: they make a marriage pact and to move into an apartment together. Unsurprisingly, Kyle turns out to be the Felix of the house.

Doctors Leo Julian and Perry Cox:
Is there something about curly hair that makes you mean to interns?

Leo seems to like to pick on Kyle more than other interns. After a fight breaks out in the prep room, Kyle and Leo admit to being brothers, with Leo's being adopted.

"Mom always liked you best!"

Lots more, including love for Kyle, after the jump!

Also new to the hospital staff is Dr Saira Batra (Azita Ghanizada), a doctor with a history of making use of alternative medicine techniques that Leo scoffs at. The two start off fighting, but it's the kind of bickering that turns out to be based in sexual tension. While that chemistry is brewing, however, Saira finds a connection with Jagger (gay-fave pinup Antonio Sabato Jr.) while treating Jagger's son for autism. Who to chose: the hotheaded guy whom she sees everyday at work or her patient's sweetheart of a dad? Saira opts for passion and peruses a relationship with Leo, keeping things professional with Jagger.

Azita Ghanizada and Antonio Sabato Jr.

Amid the various patients facing heartbreaking dilemmas, Claire's life takes a turn when she encounters Ryan (Joshua Snyder), a former high school classmate whom she ignored back in the day. Now in a doctor/patient relationship, Claire and Ryan discover some new romantic feelings. It turns out Ryan has four kidneys and he decides to donate the extra pair ... after FBI investigators swoop into the hospital because he first decided to put those extra kidneys up for auction.

Joshua Snyder

Unfortunately, Ryan dies from complications in surgery, leaving Claire devastated. Looking to numb her sorrows in the bottom of a glass of something 80-proof, she runs into Leo, who is starting to freak out about how serious his relationship with Saira is getting. Consolation sex follows and Leo won't have to be worrying about his commitment issues much longer.

Around the same time, Eric Whitlow (Chad Allen) checks into General Hospital needing a liver transplant. To try to help him, Kyle reunites him with his sister Sylvia, who was estranged from her family when became pregnant at a young age and decided to keep the baby. Sylvia now has three kids and two jobs. Unfortunately, Sylvia decides she can't give Eric a part of her liver because she doesn't want to risk the surgery. Her children are barely getting by with her care and she can't imagine what would happen if she died. Considering that Claire is still mourning Ryan, Kyle doesn't push Sylvia on the matter.

Adam Grimes and Chad Allen

Claire and Leo's one-night stand leads to the expected tortured glances and awkward stares until mama Juilan (soap legend Kathleen Noone) comes to visit. Naturally, mom arranges the most uncomfortable gathering possible, putting kyle, Claire, Leo and Saira at the same table. The tension leads Claire to confess to Kyle about the one-night stand, which leads to:

It always comes down to fisticuffs with Los Bros Julian, doesn't it?

Hurt, Kyle starts avoiding Claire, not sleeping at home and announcing his plans to move out. Guess it's far easier to break a lease than I thought ... or maybe Port Charles has special leases.

Meanwhile, Kyle's attempts at good beside manners turn into flirting which builds up nicely to a steamy kiss. The Kyle/Eric romance is exactly what good soap opera should be, with tender moments and personalities that just make sense together.

Here's a video of the big scene:

A good part of Night Shift is the patient-of-the-week. Usually, the story is pretty heartbreaking, like the lesbian couple kept apart by homophobic parents just as they need each other most. However, General Hospital got a patient that was hard to care about when Jagger brought in people injured when a skinhead rally turned violent. The leader of the gang refused treatment from Epiphany, an African-American nurse (Sonya Eddy), because of her race, prompting Chief of Staff Patrick (Jason Thompson) to kick him out of the hospital instead of listening to his demands for a white person to care for him.

Yes, I know, that skinhead is disturbingly hot.

The audience's cries of "Hell, yeah!" are cut short when Port Charles' Next Top Violent Racist dies offscreen from wounds left untreated. Since the gang blames the hospital for their leader's death, that means the entire hospital is threatened, leaving metal detectors to be intalled at all entry points. So far, the hospital hasn't been attacked but could that be why SOAPnet keeps describing the season finale as "explosive"?

So. Here's where Kyle stands: he still can't stand his brother Leo, he's no longer on speaking terms with his former BFF Claire for sleeping with Leo and if Eric doesn't find a liver transplant soon, the romance won't be lasting very long.

Since I skipped a lot from this season (I didn't even get around to bringing up the Scorpio family), I figure the comments might be a great spot to chat about other developments. What was your favorite moment this season? More importantly, is there a currently-working soap opera writer that Sri Rao doesn't put to shame?