General Hospital Watching General Hospital

[Daniel Avery]

I think they have written Chase's "mystery" illness just so they can put him in those loose-fitting sweatpants. Jeez, talk about the swinging singles. They probably did write in this illness to accommodate his shooting that movie.

I thought for sure that Sasha would follow in Sabrina and Abby's footsteps (that is, straight to the cemetery) but she managed to escape in the nick of time. Willow's inability to commit might have something to do with the fact that when I watch this triangle, the most sexual chemistry appears to be between Chase and Michael.

 

[Daniel Avery]

Making the usual wisecracks about GH just doesn't feel the same without Ray&Donna around. :bag:

Now that Cyrus has his precious mother back (the same mother who hasn't wanted anything to do with him for twenty years), the logical storyline would be for Cyrus to kidnap Carly's mother, Bobbie in retaliation. I mean, Bobbie was Florence's nurse during the whole caper, so she was complicit in the whole scheme. There would be some parallel storytelling, and lord knows they don't use Bobbie enough. Maybe they can't use her due to financials--most of her tenure as Florence's private nurse was offscreen. The inability to use Jackie Zeman due to tight budget would be the only logical reason not to have Cyrus take the war back to Carly's family. Maybe he could just kidnap Josslyn and spare us from having to listen to her selfish carping. Within hours he'd have to dump her off a bridge somewhere, saying "Damn, and I thought *I* was self-centered."

 

[ChrisSumner]

I must say I'm LOVING Carly now that Sonny is out of the picture. I feel like I've struggled to love Laura Wright's Carly in recent years because her and Sonny have been so boring together. Not only do they not have chemistry, but I feel the writers de-fanged both characters and they felt so old. Now she gives me shades of Sarah Brown and seems tough and believable as the head of the family. I hope they keep Sonny out of town for a while so they can develop this.

Overall I have been enjoying the show, but the one part I can't stand are those damn teens. They got rid of Spencer because the actor looked too young, but they write these teens like they're 10-12 years old. I don't see what it mattered that Spencer looked young when they have no romance, no sex and argue over nothing. I feel all the teens are interesting actors, but on a show that gave us so many iconic teens with progressive stories, it feels odd. I also wish I understood why Molly, TJ and Kristina are extras, but Michael, Willow and Sasha are so important to the writers despite being dull as dishwater.

 

[Daniel Avery]

Molly should be younger than Cameron, and yet they're writing that she just finished up law school while he's not even done with high school. So it's hard to take it all very seriously. But then I've never liked "teen stories"---even when I was a teen!

I'm kind of hoping Nina won't end up once again as the regretful, shrinking violet once people find out she knew about Sonny. It's time we had Nina take up for herself and quit being everyone's doormat.

What would make my year would be for her to decide the whole situation wasn't working for her any more. She would call Carly and say "You know how you're trying to take my grandson away from me? Well, two can play that game. " She'd give Carly the address of Phyllis's bar and tell Carly to "ask for Mike....he'll tell you everything you need to know about what I'm capable of. You picked the wrong boss bitch to mess with."

 

[Daniel Avery]

I don't know why I did not make the connection sooner:

"Mike" was seen today breaking into Elijah's office with "Llantano Valley Property Development" prominently written on the door. Llanview (the setting for One Life to Live) was on the Llantano River. So the river that Sonny fell into (and exited as "Mike") runs through "Nixon Falls" and onward to nearby Llanview. "Nixon Falls" is an homage to Agnes Nixon, who created One Life as well as All My Children and set all her creations in eastern Pennsylvania. Granted, Port Charles is in western NY, but maybe that earthquake they had a year ago shifted the city more to the east.

I always thought it was odd that Phyllis and Lenny's bar was called "The Tan-O". I only watch about once a week so I figured I had missed Phyllis's explanation of what the name meant. Now I recognize it as The (Llan)Tan-O. [/smacks head]

 

[Monzo]

There's something about Chase's storyline I just can't stand: Jackie and Gregory are missing in action without being mentioned. At least when it comes to Felicia MIA at Maxie's wedding it was said she was with an aunt in Texas, but where are Jackie and Gregory? Jackie really would put pressure on Finn to confess what's going on. Jackie would take care of her son, so he doesn't have to live with the Quartermaines.

 

[Daniel Avery]

Their MIA status is glaring, considering they were at that ill-fated dinner (where Chase got poisoned) talking about how they wanted to make the best of their bad situation (that is, the belief that Finn is actually Chase's father, when we know he very well might not be). So-called investigative journalist Jackie would be spearheading the search for the antidote to the poison (trying to locate the source of the poison and thus find scientists who developed the antidote) and Gregory could be making plans to take revenge on Peter once he learns what happened.

I think it would be a fun "turning of the tables" if Anna and Finn slipped Peter a similar chemical that gave him all the other symptoms of the poison Chase ingested, but was not lethal itself. That would force him to produce the antidote (fearing he would die too). Someone would switch the vials before Finn administers the drugs to Chase and Peter, so while Chase would get the antidote, Peter would be given something else that actually does kill him. Everyone would think Finn killed Peter, but of course the long, long list of suspects means a long, drawn-out investigation. DA Robert Scorpio, in a rare moment of clarity, realizes that no one really cares who killed Peter, that having him out of their lives was reward enough and that the investigation would be closed.

 

[Monzo]

I enjoy GH tribute episodes. It's never too much in my opinion like right now with Sean or with Gail and Lee before. It was really nice to hear Tiffany's voice again, but to be honest I don't need to see Annie on GH more.

 

[Monzo]

Today's episode was so good! Can't wait to see what happens next!

If Peter is really going to die, my bet is on Gregory. He's become useless and might overhear Finn and Peter on the rooftoop.

If this is Cyrus' end I hope Laura is the one killing him and not Jason again.

Not sure about Roger Howarth's return so far. It could be the same issue I had with Michael Easton: I don't need him on the show, but there are bigger issues I don't like. Looking back I never enjoyed this Franco recast, for me James Franco is the only real Franco.

 

[DallasFanForever]

I wish they would put Willow and Chase together finally. Willow and Michael are just so boring to me. I just can’t get vested in them as a couple.

 

[Daniel Avery]

Boring ol' Michael and Willow would be just fine if Michael were not a legacy character connected to so many core families. Pairing her with Chase would be fine since they're both second-tier, likeable characters who interact well with the main characters. They seem to make the same mistake over and over with Michael's love interests (goody two-shoes boring, just like him), which is why most of them end up getting killed off due to viewer disinterest. It's sort of a running gag at this point, but a lot of people think there is more romantic chemistry between Michael and Chase than Michael and Willow.

I'm reminded of boring ol' Jamie Frame on Another World being paired with boring ol' Lisa Grady and causing us all to doze off---until scheming heiress Vicky Hudson set her cap for him and stole him away before Lisa knew what hit her. Anne Heche's Vicky had enough personality and charisma for both characters, so people actually started to care for Jamie again. Their stormy pairing wasn't meant to last forever, but she did more to make people care about Jamie than anything he could have done on his own at that point. If GH could find someone equally tempestuous and problematic to keep Michael guessing, he could show more layers and be more than everyone's "straight man". I've suggested Maxie in the past, but her life is in such tatters right now that he does not need that added baggage. There will never be another Vicky Hudson, unfortunately, but maybe something along the lines of a younger Ava?

 

[Monzo]

Bob Hearts Abishola is on its summer break, so Vernee Watson is available and Stella already got her groove back, telling Portia what to do and what not. Until now we don't know who Stella's relative in Port Charles is and I really hope it's not Trina, meaning Curtis is Trina's father. I still don't like Finn and Chase as father and son, don't want another paternity change on the show. I enjoy Taggert and Trina as father and daughter, they both got fire.

​

 

[Daniel Avery]

It would have been fabulous if Portia had listened to Stella's meddling and "suggestions" intently...then asked her where the heck she got off telling anyone (especially a room full of grown-ass adults) how to live their lives. If any of them needed her "advice," they would ask. And since none of them asked.....Stella can fill in the blank on that one. Curtis, Jordan, TJ, Shawn, etc. always felt obligated to humor her or at least pretend to listen, but Portia has no reason to be nice to her.

 

[Daniel Avery]

I confess I did not know there was a super-secret, abandoned lab underneath General Hospital (the hospital, not the show). I guess that was before my time. Whatever the case, it's a nice nod to continuity that Liz and Finn tossed Peter's body into the secret lab. It's a solution worthy of two very smart people (Finn and Liz). Oh, how I hate it when soap writers dumb down its smartest characters in plots like this (you know...like how they've made Anna so stupid in this plotline). I fully expected some kind of half-baked "solution" of propping him up in a broom closet. I still have fingers crossed that Peter is "dead dead," rather than "soap opera dead". I have not heard a single member of fandom defend this storyline or the Peter character, which is rather remarkable when you can usually find someone, somewhere who enjoys even the most dismal storyline or actor.

 

[Monzo]

I feel like Valentin is dumbed down right now. The Valentin we used to know would have done a paternity test.

Cyrus is gone sooner than I expected. I thought we'd see him in prison torturing Alexis, but maybe Jeff Kober got another gig, because GH is known for torturing viewers with villians for a very long time like Lisa Niles a decade ago, that was really torture in her last few months. Anyway, I enjoyed Cyrus, but it's good that he's gone. He didn't overstay his welcome like Peter or Nelle or Shiloh or The Balkan or so many others.

I wonder once Mike will be Sonny again if he's going to have a soft spot for Nina because she was kind in Nixon Falls or if he will despice her forever because she kept him from his family.

 

[Daniel Avery]

I have seen no confirmation from the actor, but I've seen it written elsewhere that Jeff Kober quit because he no longer liked the direction his character was taking. He must have been working on 13-week extensions rather than a conventional contract.

It would be so refreshing if Sonny were to give Nina a pass for this whole thing, but I won't hold my breath. Carly is the one who will be hell-bent on revenge, playing the self-righteous card on her at every opportunity and she will just drag Sonny along for the ride. Nina should assemble a committee of allies to be ready for the all-out assault from Carly.

 

[Monzo]

Carly & Jason's road to marriage is not exactly must-see these days. Only good part so far was Sam's reaction, even though I'm not a fan of Kelly Monaco's look anymore.

Don't know yet if Nu-Spencer is working for me. When he's in scenes with Trina he seems so weak in acting.

 

[DallasFanForever]

I was a actually rooting for Jason and Britt as a couple. I thought they had really nice chemistry together.

 

[Emelee]

Carly & Jason together is a joke. Who in PC really believes they're marrying for love? Come back soon, Sonny!

 

[Daniel Avery]

I'm struck by how much NuSpencer looks like both the actors who played/play Nikolas. When you're as new as he is, I cut them some slack in their first month or so. They have to learn all these characters and relationships, adding those relationships into their acting choices, and of course they have to learn tons of dialogue. I recall Amy Carlson was dreadful in her first month or so on Another World, but ended up becoming a breakout star in primetime---which I never would have expected from how she started out.

I have this image in my head of Carly and Jason's wedding becoming something along the lines of Patrick Drake's wedding to Sabrina Santiago. Patrick's presumed-dead wife Robin showed up at just the right moment to shock the whole town, and of course Patrick/Sabrina fell apart instantly. I'm still wondering how Nina will factor in, though. Jason/Britt is indeed one of the show's best stories right now, and if I'm reading things right, there's soon to be a "Who's the Daddy?" story to make things even more uncomfortable. Britt seems to have been injected into the whole Sonny/Jason/Carly story bubble as Sam was finally pulled out of it.