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Welcome to J.Eneral Hospital

Here's where I'll be pic-posting & dishing about my favorite soap opera, ABC's "General Hospital." 
Note: Comments will be disabled on posts if discussion becomes hostile, off-topic or obscene.

See prior GH ARTICLES

Lunch in Port Charles 1.12.15-3.27.15

3/27/2015

1 Comment

 
PictureNikolas proves to Helena he's a Cassadine (Sean Smith/JPI Studios)
Thoughts & observations of Port Charles happenings.

Note: Guys, I'm raising money to attend GH Fan Club Weekend, which falls on my birthday this year, for the 1st time. I'd greatly appreciate any donations you'd like to offer; just follow this link: http://www.gofundme.com/oi2rm8. Thank you in advance.

Nikolas
On 1/13, Nikolas (Tyler Christopher) was revealed to be behind the rigging of the mayoral election in which Felicia was the true winner. Nikolas got Janice Lomax in, who promptly fired Anna (Finola Hughes) as police commissioner and replaced her with the shady Kyle Sloane (Grayson McCouch), so Nikolas can have someone to execute his dirty deeds and evade law enforcement. At first, I thought this was all a rouse to convince his grandmother, Helena, that he was conceding to her threats to his inheritance, but after he secured his assets under her nose and banished her to Cassadine Island (2/20), he began following through with the plot she hatched to acquire controlling interest of ELQ, which involves keeping the secret that Jason Morgan is alive and well. What broke the noble prince's moral code? Getting dissed by Liz and deceived by Britt. Sigh. Again, something I long thirsted for came in a disappointing and anti-climatic form. I've always wanted Nikolas to one day go to the dark side of his genes, but not like this. All of the sudden, he went from "No, grandmother, you won't extort me into evil-doing," to "You don't have to extort me. My post-widowing love-life has sucked, so I want to wreak havoc on PC." He went on about how goodness died with Emily and how much he loved her, but he's targeting her family's company and hurting the brother (Jason) she worshipped, who also happens to be the husband of his beloved cousin, Sam. This for ELQ? Nikolas doesn't need that company, he's a prince! He has his own island! Wasn't ELQ Luke's target anyway? When did it become of Cassadine interest or necessity? *face-palms* I need real goals with real motives. Additionally, anytime he expresses guilt over his actions, he hardly mentions Emily as a factor, which is a writing oversight. The best part of this so far was Nikolas holding a knife to Helena's neck on 2/5. In another random event, Lulu had faux beef with Nik and held him responsible for not alerting everyone that Helena and Luke were putting their heads together. *rolls eyes*Meanwhile, Spencer's (Nicholas Bechtel) hilarious and entertaining 10th birthday party (I couldn't with his Rocky entrance) went left in an accidental fire caused by Cameron (2/25) that resulted in Spencer needing the care of Shriner's Hospital.

Ric, Liz, Jake (Jason), Sam & Patrick
I've said many times that I can't stand how Elizabeth (Rebecca Herbst) is written to have a fair-weather heart and that the character is worthy of more. Once again, she questionably drops a guy-without even sweating-to explore an illogical option. Ric (Rick Hearst) survived being framed, hidden away in police protection, kidnapped from police protection and nearly killed to get back to Liz and his child, and she's given up on trying to make it work with him (3/13) for a stranger with amnesia that could be married (i.e. Jason, who thinks his name is Jake and required facial surgery after an accident, so no one knows his identity). Right.... that makes sense. She's already super jealous too; nosey and in JakeSon's (Billy Miller) grill every time he has a moment alone with Sam or Carly. She was going to take him to bed on 3/20 when a woman claiming to be his wife showed up on her doorstep (Rebecca Budig, formerly of AMC). I about died! They said Budig's role (Hayden Barnes) was going to be a doozy (hey, girl, hey! Welcome back to daytime)! Wait, I just realized something. Hayden Panettiere's character on Nashville, which is on the same network, has the last name Barnes. That's funny. Anyway, Liz's reaction to Hayden was intensely accusatory, borderline angry and territorial, when she should've been written as devastated, but concerned, to make sure he was going with the right person. Liz spoke to her like she was an evil intruder (which she is, but Liz doesn't know that), instead of a woman who's loved one's been missing for months. The audience knows that Jakeson's true wife is Sam (Kelly Monaco), so either Hayden was nuts (ala` Mary (Connor) Bishop) or a con sent by Ric. It was option B for $200, Alex (3/24). This is a fun angle; I just hate that Ric is digging himself in deeper ultimately with Liz and proving he hasn't changed much. 

I enjoyed the Haunted Star bomb scenes in early February; any day we have action, which GH is known for, it's a good day. It was supposed to be Luke's show, but the exchanges between other characters, like Jason and Sam, were more interesting. Miller and Monaco play off each other well; I loved their deliveries on 2/3 and 2/4, as Sam went from angry and afraid, to concerned and compassionate, learning that Jason was under Helena's mind control when he held her hostage to free Faison, broke into her home with the intention to kill her and planted a bomb on the Haunted Star. 1 handcuffed to the table and 1 free, Jason tosses Patrick into it when he shows up trying to be a tough guy, which made me moist (it gave me happy memories of him doing the same thing to Carlos too). The break-in was also nicely done (1/19 & 1/20); Jason nearly had a memory breakthrough, pacing around the familiar surroundings of his home and seeing photos of himself. The swaps between Sam and Patrick making love and Jason having a hallucination of Robin as he last saw her was a great directing/editing choice. Jason recognized the Dragon and Phoenix figurines he and Sam received on their wedding night and took the Phoenix. Sam was naturally distressed when she realized it was missing. Despite her explaining the sentimental value of it to Patrick, he referred to it as a "knick-knack," and she didn't check him. In fact, he practically convinced her that she was overreacting (as usual when she has a hunch) and she used the phrase herself. Totally out of character. She would've been extremely insulted by Patrick's passivity. Full of resentment towards Robin, Patrick (Jason Thompson) has been on this "screw my ex" tour and wants Sam to buy a ticket. It's as if he wants Sam to be as dismissive of all things Jason as he currently is of all things Robin. On 3/24, when he suggests Sam move in with him and she asks if it would be weird for her to come in the house he shared with Robin, he says it would be no weirder than the time he's been spending in Jason's home. Patrick is so pressed to move on (literally and figuratively) that he didn't think twice about how such a decision would affect his daughter Emma; Sam had to bring that up. Sam mentions that Emma (Brooklyn Rae Silzer) lost the presence of her mother yet again and a live-in girlfriend with a baby might be a hard adjustment for her. Patrick shrugs this off and emphasizes that Emma likes her, as if that changes the situation. In just 3 years, this little girl has endured 3 serious girlfriends and 2 failed pregnancies right along him. That's a lot of changes. I love when Sam's motherly instincts are displayed, like when she was able to soothe Spencer into telling what he knew about Luke last September. 

PictureHayley Erin is the new Kiki Jerome
Sonny, Michael, Kiki & Avery
Sonny and Julian had a short-lived bromance in prison, fighting like Batman and Robin against Johnny Zacchara's men (I thoroughly enjoyed that). I'm still confused at how a disabled mobster had more pull than active ones, but ok. Wanting to save their sons (Michael and Lucas) from the Haunted Star bomb, the pair broke out of prison with Ava and Franco (1/29). The bust-out and subsequent scenes where Johnny (Brandon Barash) and Carlos (Jeffery Vincent Paris) corner them and it culminates in Ava (Maura West) being shot off a bridge and presumed dead (2/3) were exciting to watch. Julian (William Devry) was caught by police, while Sonny (Maurice Benard) made it to the boat and jumped off-deck with the bomb as it detonated (2/4). Whatever returned fuzzy feelings Michael (Chad Duell) had as he feared Sonny died were gone when Sonny was pardoned by the governor for saving his daughter and the other passengers (2/6). Yes, this is a soap, but talk about getting away with murder. It was a bit much. In the last "LIPC", I explained how the downfall of Sonny Corinthos could be used to bridge the gap between pre and post mob era fans, should he have to work his way back to reign. The gap is being widened with Sonny's kingdom intact and retribution barely being paid in a ridiculous custody battle over baby Avery (Ava's daughter with Sonny) that does nothing for the characters involved. Michael isn't biologically related to Avery, saw her once on a fluke prior to the case, has never been a guardian, is only around 21, has no college education and eradicated any legal ties to Sonny, but he was able to successfully submit a petition for custody at minimum. He won by wrangling in a biased judge (3/4 & 3/5). Instead of Kiki (recast Hayley Erin), Avery's biological sister and original caretaker, reactivating her petition, she's conspiring with Morgan (Bryan Craig) to drug Michael to make him appear like an unfit substance abuser (3/23). I'm sure jail-time will be the upshot. This storyline may provide irony and poetic justice (Sonny took Michael from AJ) and give everyone something to do, but there wasn't something just as dramatic that was more logical and less around-the-mulberry-bush? I thought Michael was going to tell the feds where the bodies and damning paperwork was and put a hole in Sonny's organization. By the way, I gasped for air laughing when Julian called Michael a "son-of-a-bitch" and an "ungrateful bastard" for dismissing Sonny's efforts to save his life (2/10).

Times where I sympathize or agree with Kiki are very rare and 1 came on 3/12, when she was furious to find that Michael was soliciting Sabrina (Teresa Castillo) to be Avery's nanny. Thinking Ava was responsible for the car accident that caused the premature delivery/death of her son, Sabrina tried to inflict the same pain by switching Ava's meds with faulty pills. I like Sabrina, but it IS pretty twisted that she'd accept that job offer. Sabrina's been around Michael a lot lately; I hope the writers aren't thinking of making them a couple. Between the age difference and trajectory of these characters, it just doesn't work. Plus, they have 0 chemistry. I've said this before: they need more late teens and early 20-something's on GH. Michael, Morgan and Kiki need more (and realistic) dating and social options besides each other. "Daytime Confidential" suggested Morgan come into bisexual realizations and they add a male character to suit to broaden things. Maybe they're onto something.

Fluke is Luke? Tracy's Racist?
Ugh...the story that won't go away, but we're afraid to have go away because it reportedly is keeping Anthony Geary (who portrays Luke Spencer) on the show. Given the topsy-turvy disjointed details, I've drawn the conclusion that either the writers didn't have a full plan prior to starting this "Luke isn't himself; imposter or what?" thing or their original plan went to hell when Geary's back surgery/recovery resulted in a deferment. Nothing makes sense anymore and every time it seemed the dust was going to settle, it stirred back up again. At the present, Luke isn't being impersonated, he's just lost his mind after a delayed psychotic break from childhood trauma. His doppelganger cousin Bill Eckert being not-so-dead and behind the shenanigans dating back to when Julian Jerome resurfaced was a better idea. He had motive to conquer ELQ and Sonny's territory, and could be better connected to the background, explanatory events over the last 2 years, like being in WSB custody the same time as Julian. Luke apparently comes to himself sporadically, without recall of what he's done before. If you watched One Life to Live, the soap head-writer Ron Carlivati used to be over, you know that split personalities are his M.O., which he's already done with the late Connie Falconeri. To understand what might have triggered Luke to snap, Tracy (Jane Elliot) and Lulu searched for the residence of his older sister, Patricia (3/20). When a toasty-complexioned young woman named Valerie answered the door and said Patricia was her mother, Tracy insisted they were at the wrong apartment. Once Valerie (Brytni Sarpy) verified her identity, Tracy said "it never occurred to me that Patricia would have a (pauses as if to skip around saying "black" or "biracial") child. I was taken aback! Surely, with all of her cultured experience and no shortage of biracial people in her family (i.e. the Wards), Tracy wouldn't be so ignorant?! Someone tweeted me right away with a link to a scene in the 90's where Justus Ward (Tracy's nephew via an interracial affair) called her out on her prejudice. Disturbed my inner peace. Tracy used to be my boo. No mas. No bueno. 

PictureRyan Paevey as Det. Nathan West (IMBD)
Nathan, Spinelli, Maxie, Johnny, Lulu & Dante
I'm happy to see Bradford Anderson back on canvas full-time as Damien Spinelli. What I'm not happy about is that I don't recognize the character. Out of nowhere, he arrives in Port Charles after having a strangely amicable split with Ellie (given the circumstances, it should've been anything but peaceable) with the intention of being a family with Maxie (Kirsten Storms) and knocking Nathan (Ryan Paevey) right out of the picture (2/16). Harpo, who this woman? Not only was this the most abrupt and fastest-developed love triangle I've seen in a while, but Spinelli would never show up and say "Hey, dump your boyfriend that you're perfectly happy with and get with me." Since when was Spinelli rude, selfish and intrusive? In a twist, Nathan's been the most gracious, making multiple attempts to step aside. Spinelli's interference is on the heels of Maxie foolishly comprising hard-fought visitation with her daughter and Nathan's badge by giving Johnny her keys to get out of town and escape arrest (2/11). When Nathan highlights the potential consequences and questions her reasoning, she accuses Nathan of calling her a bad mother and has the audacity to assume that he'll lie for her again and not arrest her for being an accessory. He gives into her expectations, but was greatly unsettled by her behavior, which she rationalized. This could've been milked a little with the gradual threat of 'Spixie' (Spinelli and Maxie) history to explode in tension, but it was sped past. Johnny also caused problems for Dante (Dominic Zamprogna), setting his eyes back on Lulu (Emme Rylan)in late January. Fans were divided as they loved 'Lante," but had fond memories of 'JoLu's' wild, young romance. We blinked and the war was over before it began, though. Lulu took some shots (1/7) and Johnny made Dante look like a controlling cave-man when he pushed Lulu to give up her family business to avoid working with Johnny (1/19), but that was about it. Johnny was in and out of PC so quickly, I wondered what the point of his return was. Maybe it was just so real-life couple Barash and Storms could have a scene where they name-drop their daughter, Harper, who's now portraying Georgie Spinelli (1/20). Lovely idea, cutest thing ever. Harper is perfect and looks just like her mother.

Other Notes
Duke, Anna & Jordan: Ooh, I love bad-butt, boss dog Duke (Ian Buchannan), but Anna won't let him be great. In a storm, Duke stifled Julian's attempt to ambush 1 of Sonny's areas and gave an unbothered look as Julian's men drew their weapons (3/11). Duke and his team easily overpowered them and when he finally got Julian alone at gunpoint, Anna arrived and added to the rain on the parade. Another timely Anna appearance heightened Shawn's (Sean Blakemore) suspicions that Jordan (Vinessa Antoine) is an informant. To sniff her out, Duke challenged her to kill Julian. V is for vendetta with this group. In a well-performed and written scene on 3/16, Anna admits to Nathan she's compromised Jordan's safety and ignored her constant requests to be released because she wanted to punish Duke for staying in organized crime. All Duke's ever wanted to do is avenge Anna's miscarriage and other crimes committed against his family by Julian. Now to help Jordan and herself, Anna plans to get Duke on tape setting up the hit to finally sink him, while Carlos has orders to kill him. *Shakes head* Without reprimand or being snitched on, Anna broke the law to even the score and protect her family by holding Faison captive (who got free and brought more mayhem) but she's waving her finger (and the book) at Duke? Get out of here.

Sabrina: Whoa, have things gone downhill-and rapidly- for Sabrina. The character rose to popularity in 2012 with a duckling-to-swan Cinderella story where she captured the heart of a widowed Dr. Patrick Drake and freed him from the tentacles of Britt "The Britch" Westbourne. She brought back the cherished Nurse's Ball and gained the adoration of most of the hospital staff. Exhibiting strength of character and spirit, she somehow managed to take getting dumped at the altar while pregnant (Patrick discovered his wife was alive) like a G. An emotionally-charged fall from grace and rekindled bond with handsome devil Carlos was in store when she poisoned Ava Jerome, but the story wasn't fledged. Now, she's just a fired nurse who's only hope (and opportunity for camera time) is HS graduate-to-CEO, Michael Quartermaine. Sabrina detractors on Twitter often described her as a "glorified babysitter" (referring to her relationship with Emma). Now, she really is. This character deserves better. 

Alexis, Julian, Olivia & Ned: Alexis (Nancy Lee Grahn) had a lot of nerve to call Ned (Wally Kurth) a cheater, chastise and spurn him when he claimed to have conceived a child with Olivia (Lisa LoCicero), when she toyed with his emotions and used him as a band-aid in between spats with Julian (2/20). Ned is indeed pretending to be the father Olivia's child (Julian is really the baby-daddy), but what concern of it is hers? I hate the way she treats him.
Ava and Silas: Maura ruined me when she urged Silas to medically kill her (she has terminal cancer) and he just couldn't bring himself to (3/23), but when does she not ruin me? When is she not amazing?

Someone tell Tracy coffee's good for her; it will give her a boost.

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1 Comment
lovesam1122
3/30/2015 04:39:58 am

Great analysis! Some of the stories I don't care about so won't comment on them. The best part of the HS bomb was Monaco/Miller at the PCPD. I am not sure I agree with your take on Patrick but we shall see later on down the road. I am waiting on that story to develop.
Nik right now absolutely makes no sense. They started this story and then all of a sudden we have him in Boston with Spencer. Once again they start good stories and then drop them. I think this could have been a good story but really what has it accomplished so far.
As Silas/Ava, I see this as a repeat of Danny story other than they have added suicide to it. No donor again, who didn't see that coming. How Silas so amazingly gets all the meds he needs for Ava and no one seems to notice it.
I can't even comment on the Jason reveal because it gets more ridiculous as time goes on.

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