Natalia Livingston won an Emmy for her potrayal of Emily Q ...Because everyone spills their guts, literally & figuratively, at Pier 52.
January 20, 1995 marks the 1st appearance of one my absolute favorite characters, Emily Bowen, a youngster adopted by doctor-couple Monica and Alan Quartermaine after her biological mother died of cancer. Thanks to the (mostly) heartfelt and riveting writing of the character and the beautiful portrayals of Amber Tamblyn and Natalia Livingston, Emily was a joy to watch develop for many “General Hospital” fans, as she blossomed from a troubled orphan to a literal princess-and doctor-who was the calming glue of the often quarreling Quartermaine family. It seemed like there was never a dull moment in Emily’s storyline: she abused drugs, was in the center of a murder investigation and blackmailed, had a couple of boyfriends from the wrong side of the tracks, was paralyzed, kidnapped, beat breast cancer, dodged murder attempts, survived two train crashes and was sexually assaulted by someone physically identical to her husband.
Plots play a central role in seizing a viewer’s interest, but seductive, captivating and/or relatable characters are what propel a story. In my opinion, Emily Quartermaine is one of the most well-written female leads. A symptom of societal gender politics and stereotypes, most female soap figures are either warm-hearted pushovers or immoral and a bit icy. Every now and then, there’s an Anna Devane, who’s a powerful match of brawn and dogma. Emily had all the right ingredients. She was a happy medium between the extremes of a Robin Scorpio and a Carly Benson. Emily was kind and noble, but she’d sass you and get you together if she needed to-verbally or physically (Carly is a hard person to shut-down and Emily was doing it when she was barely legal). She was respected by most, but wasn’t self-righteous or boring (the girl had some edge). She loved with all her heart, but the men in her life never became her identity. She gave you a girl-next-door image, but she could turn on the sex.
Her super-couple love affair with Prince Nikolas Cassadine (Tyler Christopher) was equally well-composed. Their relationship started under unusual circumstances, (he was avoiding an arranged marriage and she was recovering from cancer and wedding vows made on her deathbed), but they were such a perfect fit, that all their other pairings are pale in comparison and are barely discussed, which is rare in soap-fan land. Even the infinitely-famous Luke and Laura had other pairings people debate over. Definitely princely, Nikolas was handsome, debonair, romantic, a pure spirit and a brute protector, ideal for the poised and smart heroine heiress. Unwaveringly dutiful to and enamored with each other, Emily and Nikolas (AKA “NEm”) were nothing short of a fairytale. It took her rape by Connor Bishop to pull them a part, and still, they eventually found their way back to each other. Emily’s familial and peer bonds were just as endearing and special (particularly those with brother Jason and friends Lucky & Elizabeth); a dynamic noticeably missing from GH today (I want to see more close friendships!).
January 20, 1995 marks the 1st appearance of one my absolute favorite characters, Emily Bowen, a youngster adopted by doctor-couple Monica and Alan Quartermaine after her biological mother died of cancer. Thanks to the (mostly) heartfelt and riveting writing of the character and the beautiful portrayals of Amber Tamblyn and Natalia Livingston, Emily was a joy to watch develop for many “General Hospital” fans, as she blossomed from a troubled orphan to a literal princess-and doctor-who was the calming glue of the often quarreling Quartermaine family. It seemed like there was never a dull moment in Emily’s storyline: she abused drugs, was in the center of a murder investigation and blackmailed, had a couple of boyfriends from the wrong side of the tracks, was paralyzed, kidnapped, beat breast cancer, dodged murder attempts, survived two train crashes and was sexually assaulted by someone physically identical to her husband.
Plots play a central role in seizing a viewer’s interest, but seductive, captivating and/or relatable characters are what propel a story. In my opinion, Emily Quartermaine is one of the most well-written female leads. A symptom of societal gender politics and stereotypes, most female soap figures are either warm-hearted pushovers or immoral and a bit icy. Every now and then, there’s an Anna Devane, who’s a powerful match of brawn and dogma. Emily had all the right ingredients. She was a happy medium between the extremes of a Robin Scorpio and a Carly Benson. Emily was kind and noble, but she’d sass you and get you together if she needed to-verbally or physically (Carly is a hard person to shut-down and Emily was doing it when she was barely legal). She was respected by most, but wasn’t self-righteous or boring (the girl had some edge). She loved with all her heart, but the men in her life never became her identity. She gave you a girl-next-door image, but she could turn on the sex.
Her super-couple love affair with Prince Nikolas Cassadine (Tyler Christopher) was equally well-composed. Their relationship started under unusual circumstances, (he was avoiding an arranged marriage and she was recovering from cancer and wedding vows made on her deathbed), but they were such a perfect fit, that all their other pairings are pale in comparison and are barely discussed, which is rare in soap-fan land. Even the infinitely-famous Luke and Laura had other pairings people debate over. Definitely princely, Nikolas was handsome, debonair, romantic, a pure spirit and a brute protector, ideal for the poised and smart heroine heiress. Unwaveringly dutiful to and enamored with each other, Emily and Nikolas (AKA “NEm”) were nothing short of a fairytale. It took her rape by Connor Bishop to pull them a part, and still, they eventually found their way back to each other. Emily’s familial and peer bonds were just as endearing and special (particularly those with brother Jason and friends Lucky & Elizabeth); a dynamic noticeably missing from GH today (I want to see more close friendships!).
From GHsecrets.tumblr.com As many times as Emily evaded death, the character finally got caught in the crossfire of (then) head-writer Bob Guza’s ridiculous “Text-Message Killer” November-sweeps ploy (Cooper Barrett & beloved Georgie Jones were also victims). Avenging his father’s murder, Diego Alcazar anonymously text-harassed and stalked those connected to mobsters Sonny Corinthos and Jason Morgan (Lorenzo Alcazar was later hinted to be secretly alive). On the night of NEm’s 2nd engagement, Alcazar knocked Nikolas unconscious and strangled Emily. The immensely gifted cast so deeply conveyed anguish, that every scene in the upshot of the murder was gutting (although, I wish it was in the script that Jason lost it when he 1st saw Emily’s body). Burned in my memory is the scene where Jason tells Monica (Leslie Charleson) what happened. Monica was so distraught, she banned Jason from the funeral and disowned him, increasing his building guilt and self-blame. Tyler Christopher’s performance was just…shattering…rending. How he didn’t get nominated for an Emmy after that, I will never understand. At the time, Nikolas was having rages and blackouts from a growing brain tumor and he was unable to recall the minutes before the strangling. In response to audience shock and backlash, Guza touted to wait because fans were going to “fall in love with Nikolas and Emily all over again.” That led a few, like me, to hope that Emily’s murder was a tumor-related hallucination. Nikolas would have a hallucination, alright. For the next several months, Nikolas would be able to see, touch and converse with Emily as an apparition and he refused surgery to keep it going. After he came off of the operating table, she was gone and we didn’t see Emily again (until the 50th anniversary episode, which I’ll get to). Of course it was all very touching, but it didn’t make me “fall in love with them again.” It just hurt. It just worsened and prolonged my mourning. The months before the surgery were like an excruciating countdown. The “confession” photo from GHsecrets.tumblr.com is one I submitted. A while back, “Fictional Deaths I’ll Never Get Over” was trending on Twitter and I quickly posted “Emily Quartermaine & Jason Morgan” as my answer. I couldn’t deal then and I can’t now. I was devastated. It was a while before I could watch GH regularly again. My reaction might seem a little bizarre, but I think soap or TV series die-hards know where I’m coming from. I still shake my head in disbelief anytime Emily’s death comes up or I see old clips. 1 clip from YouTube births a whole Emily Q binge. Darn you, Guza!
Amber Tamblyn's Emily described on this GH postcard Guza did some good during his tenure, but I guess every hey-day ends. The Text Message Killer was in the beginning of GH’s millennial drought with an onslaught of sagging and disappointing story angles. The ripple effect of Emily’s death included the (continued) elimination of the Quartermaines, the end of the Lucky, Liz, Emily and Nikolas friendship quartet and the useless (sorry) presence of Rebecca Shaw. Lucky and Liz’s marriage became very rocky, and in a juvenile love square that involved Shaw, Liz (Rebecca Herbst) and Nikolas started an adulterous affair (I wonder what Emily would’ve thought of that). Not only did that damage the group’s collective friendship, but Nikolas and Lucky’s sibling tie. Livingston allegedly exited as Emily to pursue other opportunities, but she was back less than a year later as Rebecca Shaw, who of course was Emily’s vampy, separated-at-birth twin looking to con Nikolas and the Quartermaines (am I the only who suspected something fishy was happening behind-the-scenes?). We had had Natty back, but it just wasn’t the same and the plotline was written terribly. After 11 months, Livingston was out again under the same “other opportunities” pretext (again, kind of fishy to me, but I could be wrong). Emily should’ve been re-casted and till this day, I don’t understand why she wasn’t. If Livingston did depart on her own terms and they wanted to leave the door open for her return, they could’ve temporarily re-casted; it’s been done before. I assume it wasn’t a budget issue because Livingston was brought back and came with a new contract character, Ethan Lovett. It wasn’t that fans weren’t interested in Emily Quartermaine because she had been around for over ten years and was on the front burner for most of that time. A major character was sacrificed for sweeps. Sweeps.
Emily Quartermaine didn’t have to die, especially in the prime of her life. She had just become a doctor. She hadn’t had children yet--there’s no remnant of her memory on canvas. When she appeared in the April 2, 2013 50th anniversary episode with Alan (Stuart Damon) to visit Monica, it caused a raucous. “Lenalu22” of Tumblr best described my sentiments: “Emily. On my screen. I screamed. I cried.” I gagged more than Monica (that’s a good “gag,” I promise). Ugh, I so wish upon a star shooting across a rainbow-covered Disneyland sky that lands on a Michael Jackson glove in a garden of four-leafed clovers that Emily could be brought back somehow. Duke Lavery, AJ Quartermaine and Robin Scorpio-Drake ended up not dead, so she could. This is soap-opera; dreams do come true.
Emily Quartermaine didn’t have to die, especially in the prime of her life. She had just become a doctor. She hadn’t had children yet--there’s no remnant of her memory on canvas. When she appeared in the April 2, 2013 50th anniversary episode with Alan (Stuart Damon) to visit Monica, it caused a raucous. “Lenalu22” of Tumblr best described my sentiments: “Emily. On my screen. I screamed. I cried.” I gagged more than Monica (that’s a good “gag,” I promise). Ugh, I so wish upon a star shooting across a rainbow-covered Disneyland sky that lands on a Michael Jackson glove in a garden of four-leafed clovers that Emily could be brought back somehow. Duke Lavery, AJ Quartermaine and Robin Scorpio-Drake ended up not dead, so she could. This is soap-opera; dreams do come true.
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