General Hospital Watching General Hospital

[xab]

It's not GH anymore. It's The walking (back from the) dead.
I don't watch the show any longer and I hardly read the recaps anymore... The thrill is gone. Too many retcons that make no sense. Ok, it's a soap, but we're not that dumb. Creativity has collapsed to ground zero. Another long lost twin ? The story repeats itself, month after month. Yawn.
Too many new faces (no offense to the newbies, they need to work and the production needs to save money).
I'm off the hook. The end.
I'm back to vintage episodes on YT, these were entertaining (Leslie Charleson, Jacklyn Zeman, Tony Geary, Stuart Damon, you are certainly missed) and storylines didn't drag forever.

 

[Emelee]

Why was Maxie calling Michael? And why hasn't she hurried back to PC after hearing about Cassius and that James now knows the truth? (Yes, I know Kirsten Storms isn't available. But temporary recast Maxie again. They've done that numerous times before.)

Trina has a stalker now. Quinn or Simon or someone else?

Charlotte moving in with Valentin AND she seems to have fallen for Gio. Watch out, Emma! We all know how Charlotte felt about Anna...

 

[Daniel Avery]

Why was Maxie calling Michael? And why hasn't she hurried back to PC after hearing about Cassius and that James now knows the truth? (Yes, I know Kirsten Storms isn't available. But temporary recast Maxie again. They've done that numerous times before.)

What I don't understand is why they didn't just avoid having to do that scene with a temp recast of James when the easier way to handle it would have been to send James to Maxie and the family in Arizona as soon as all the you-know-what hit the fan with Cassius. It would have bought the family some time and of course there would have been no need to recast him for one episode.

Maxie's absence from this whole plot arc has been a series of missed opportunities, but I'm not sure having a recast doing all that heavy lifting would have been very satisfying. That said, I don't think KS is coming back.

 

[Emelee]

Maxie, Spinelli, Georgie, James & Bailey are moving to Australia. So they had James recast because they wanted to wrap up the story with Cody & James. The kid who played James was in an accident and hospitalized. That's why they recast. The scripts were already locked when the kid had the accident, so it was too late to postpone and wait for the kid to recover.

Nice thing that Maxie chose to sell her stock in Deception to Michael. A bit of Quartermaine drama in the future of Deception?

I do wonder how much stock everyone owns of Deception. It has not been made clear. We know that Tracy had 51% a few years ago, but she gave some or all to Brook Lynn. BLQ in turn only accepted the stock so that she could give Maxie and Sasha some. How much? When Sasha stepped down from Deception, she sold her stock. To whom? And when Lucy helped BLQ with framing Willow, she got half of BLQ's unknown % of stock. And Michael bought Maxie's unknown %.
Today, it sounded like no one has over 50%, which is why they will need to vote on everything.

 

[Emelee]

So mean Drew is finally out of his frozen state. And with Martin back by his side. With Danny convincing Tracy to tolerate Drew for Scout's sake, I wonder if GH will make Drew any kinder on the Quartermaines. Maybe very slowly turning into one?

Jack and Nina finally hooking up. As well as Ava and new Ethan. Good.

New Scout, I wonder if they aged her only so they can have her and Rocco as a new couple in the near future? There were not many others there for him as he is related to Charlotte, Avery and Donna.

Too bad GH didn't recast Maxie because Georgie could also be thrown in the mix of young adults.

Then there is Jake too.

It was great to the the Quartermaines gathered for the news about Drew. I want more Quartermaine drama.

Serena Baldwin is arriving in town today. Considering Jacinda isn't a contract character, and she's being used against Michael in the custody fight, I wonder if GH is planning to pair Michael with Serena? Especially if they will both have an interest in Deception.

 

[Daniel Avery]

So mean Drew is finally out of his frozen state

....and despite spending 99% of the past six months indoors, sporting a tan like a Costco Rotisserie chicken.

New Scout, I wonder if they aged her only so they can have her and Rocco as a new couple in the near future?

I think this is the direction they're trying to go, as well. They're being a bit heavy-handed with the integration of Scout into the current teens group--having her hang out with them as if she's always been there, when in fact they were depicting her as 10/11 years old as late as two month ago. But the actress is really good.

I laughed and laughed when Carly found out Jason had returned to town but immediately left on a road trip with Danny. She was genuinely mad that Jason didn't just step off that plane and immediately report to her house to "clock in".

 

[Emelee]

The Ethan recast was very temporary. His last episode was today. Just to introduce that dangerous Hudson who is Phoebe's biological father. It will be nice to have another bad guy eye candy on GH.

Jason has officially left his job as Sonny's henchman. Who will replace him? Ethan has left. Ric is a lawyer. Tristan is WSB, which Jason knows. Or will Sonny no longer need a hitman?

Lucy is pimping out her daughter for control of Deception? While I am not against age-gap romances, I do think Serena is a bit too old for Michael. I want Michael to be able to start a new little family. He'd be a great character in storylines where his children - and their mothers - demand conflicting things of him. He is a Spencer/Quartermaine/Corinthos afterall. But then again, Serena is only in her 40s. On a soap, she still has 10 years to have a baby the natural way.

However, I like Michael with Jacinda.

Willow wants to reopen the investigation in Drew's shooting? Arrogant. Psychotic. She needs to start paying for her crimes.

Curtis's trial is coming up, and boy do I hope that Isaiah gets cleared of all suspicions regarding the car crash. And without revealing that it was BLQ. I am tired of Curtis conceited attitude.

 

[Daniel Avery]

Jason has officially left his job as Sonny's henchman. Who will replace him? Ethan has left. Ric is a lawyer. Tristan is WSB, which Jason knows. Or will Sonny no longer need a hitman?

I'm going with the final option, much like Sonny (seemingly) doesn't need the docks he guarded so ferociously before Sidwell claimed them. I think they're using this thing with Jason stepping down as a way to de-emphasize Sonny's mob activities. Now would be an ideal time for Selina Wu to return to run the 'bad side of town' mostly off-camera, since it was Sidwell who bullied her out of PC. They could still have her around in the background in case they need a few shoot-em-ups and an occasional underworld plot, but it would not be as prominent as in decades past.

There has to be more to this thing with the recast/write-out of Ethan, don't you think? Something juicy that is being kept hush-hush? I recall Marcus Colona's tenure as Nikolas ending in a similar fashion, and we got several different versions of why he left (and will likely never come back).

This thing with Wacky Willow just kills me. She waved off Nina's concerns about something by claiming she "would be fine until the next election" when in fact she ought to be in full campaign mode right now since the election is three months away!

 

[Emelee]

I think this really was it with Ethan, for now. Nathan Dean signed on for 4 months only and GH wrote a story for him that would last only 4 months. For some reason, he couldn't tape the final 2-3 episodes and had to be replaced. Much like James West before he moved with Maxie to Australia.

Sonny left the mob??!!??? What just happened this week? If he really left for good, that is HUGE.

Though, I suspect that people will try to attack him in various ways so he will have to defend himself. He can't go completely nice and defenceless. Same with Jason. They may quit with illegal deals and trying to be on top. But not quit being ready to defend themselves and their families.

 

[Daniel Avery]

One detail they did not address (at least not yet) is the "legitimate" side of Sonny's business: Corinthos Coffee. We're led to believe it is a popular brand in their world, and Jason is said to be 50% owner. When he returned the previous time (after that stint in the FBI), he wanted only to work at the coffee warehouse. If PC's "Golden Couple" has really broken up then who gets custody of their child?

 

[Emelee]

Jason and Sonny can actually continue to work together now that Sonny also left the mob. They can always start a completely legit company, aside from the coffee. They have money to get one started fairly quickly.

Seems like leaving the mob really is it. Maurice Benard (Sonny) wrote this on X regarding Sonny's huge decision and fans worry that things will get boring:

"There’s nothing wrong with doing another profession or change as long as both characters still have power. And that is the plan.”

 

[Daniel Avery]

When Frank Valentini took over as EP in 2012, it was fairly well known that he wanted to end the "mob era" of GH. Part of the reason he brought Ron Carlivati along to be Head Writer was because they both disliked the show's over-reliance on mob wars and wanted to "re-set" the show. Well it sure took him long enough.

 

[Emelee]

Jacinda out. Paige Herschell has exited GH according to Soap Opera Digest. I don't want Michael with Serena. She should be with someone in their 40s, like she is. Dante or Tristan?

Sidwell seems to be out as well, considering the plea deal he took off-screen, sending him to Pentonville for 31 years.

Assuming that means that Justine Turner is also out.

And soon also

Spoiler: Spoiler!!!!

Jack Brennan

 

[Daniel Avery]

Though I have heard nothing indicating that Nazneen Contractor (Justine) would leave alongside her RL husband Carlo Rota (Sidwell), I would not be surprised. That....thing with Sonny was not lighting any fires, and Kristen Vaganos has shown she can play Molly as a strong prosecutor well enough when needed. That said, she isn't ready to be the new DA, so if NC/Justine leaves they might have to hire "from outside" when/if they write out Robert Scorpio, who technically is still DA.

Not long ago there was a spoiler/speculation site that made a comment that stuck with me: The decision to send Maxie to Australia was not as random as it seems. Would it be ridiculous to have Josslyn hand over Jasper Jacks Enterprises to Maxie to run in her place? No more ridiculous than Willow as a Congresswoman, and Kristina as a doctor, for sure. Maxie seemed like the only sane one working at Deception, and she certainly has sufficient ambition.

 

[Emelee]

Curtis is sent to Pentonville. Just like Sidwell was. Sidwell wants revenge on Jordan. Target: Curtis! That's how Curtis will be released early, right? He gets harmed and Isaiah decides to put down his case against Curtis for everyone's sake.

Michael just demanded that Willow move back to the Quartermaine estate?! Why, Michael? Either it will end up hurting Brook Lynn and Chase, or Michael and Willow end up getting back together. Both alternatives are bad.