General Hospital Watching General Hospital

[Daniel Avery]

Is it wrong that I think the goon who kidnapped Maxie is kind of hot? I'll call him "Jack" (for the lumberjack beard). Poor guy don't know what he's wandered into, though--as she pointed out, virtually every member of her family is in some level of law enforcement, from her fiancé to her stepfather and father, uncle, best-friend's husband, etc. She even has mob connections (Spinelli, Jason, Sonny) who'd help her out. Shame if Jack would end up getting rubbed out, since like I mentioned, he's a cut above the usual run-of-the-mill goon that GH usually sees.

Of course the Cassadines have a long history of hiring a higher-end level of goon. I thought it was Helena hand-picking better-looking thugs because she wanted the world to know she could afford to hire a higher-end, GQ-esque thug, but maybe it's just a Cassadine thing in general. I wonder if Kelly Services in Port Charles handles this sort of thing?

 

[Ray&Donna]

Is it wrong that I think the goon who kidnapped Maxie is kind of hot? I'll call him "Jack" (for the lumberjack beard). Poor guy don't know what he's wandered into, though--as she pointed out, virtually every member of her family is in some level of law enforcement, from her fiancé to her stepfather and father, uncle, best-friend's husband, etc. She even has mob connections (Spinelli, Jason, Sonny) who'd help her out. Shame if Jack would end up getting rubbed out, since like I mentioned, he's a cut above the usual run-of-the-mill goon that GH usually sees.

Nah, they probably wouldn't bring him back just to be rubbed out. Like the employee who left the keys in Julian's car to go for a smoke, he probably was just a day player. Also, Jason is now a "kinder, gentler" mobster. lol

Of course the Cassadines have a long history of hiring a higher-end level of goon. I thought it was Helena hand-picking better-looking thugs because she wanted the world to know she could afford to hire a higher-end, GQ-esque thug, but maybe it's just a Cassadine thing in general. I wonder if Kelly Services in Port Charles handles this sort of thing?

HAHA! I could just see the listing now: "Ugly thugs need not apply."

 

[Daniel Avery]

Instead of accessing the thug's rap sheet, she would demand his portfolio and six 8x10 glossies.

I was enjoying the shouting match/slapfight in the middle of the MetroCourt restaurant the other day. Imagine this was real, and you're having dinner in a supposedly four-star restaurant (yeah, whatever). All of a sudden, a famous mobster and his victimized wife have a drunken shouting match in the dining room, followed by the co-owner of the joint slapping the stew out of said mobster. She starts waving a beer bottle around like something out of a Clint Eastwood flick, ultimately throwing it at Julian (off-camera) as he left. Who knew the MetroCourt restaurant provided dinner theater? The extras, for their part, just went on with their fake eating/fake conversation as if nothing was happening.

 

[Ray&Donna]

Oh yes. I also enjoyed Charlotte coloring at the bar where, you know, denizens of PC are usually getting plastered. lol

I had hoped Valerie had disappeared into the great void, that place where Mac seems to be lost for much of the year, but of course they had to ruin it for me and include her in yesterday's episode.

 

[Daniel Avery]

Mac (or at least the actor who plays him, John J. York) was taken off contract around the same time as Marc Samuel (who plays Felix), though the word was that they'd still be involved in the plots. Ha! Mac was barely there as it was, and now that Sabrina is...um, gone we'll likely never hear from Felix again. Kristina Wagner has a part on another show, which may explain Felicia's absences, and it might hurt his chances of appearing more regularly when you can't get Mac and Felicia. Mac has turned into the male equivalent of "Gram" (Liz's grandmother, Audrey) who is referred to often but never seen.

Robin...your timing stinks. Another five minutes and we'd have all been better off.

 

[Ray&Donna]

HA HA! When Sonny walked to the edge of the bridge, I literally yelled "Jump! Jump" at my TV lol And Robin has been off and on so many times that I had to stop and think about whether or not this was the ghost Robin Jason conjured up, or the real one who now lives in California with Billy Abbott.

 

[Daniel Avery]

Someone online suggested that it might be fun to have Robin and Patrick visit together....with Patrick being played by Steve Burton!

I don't think I've ever seen a soap actually attempt to plug the plotholes they created with this whole "Heather attacked Lucas" ret-con. Someone obviously pointed out to the writers that Lucas and Bobbie had NOTHING to do with the motivation they established for Paul's killing spree. They had no plausible way to tie those two in, so they had to go back afterwards and write a last-minute (and kind of sloppy) explanation using all-purpose nutcase Heather. Most of the time when they have plot holes like this, they just ignore them and hope viewers will forget; in this case, they likely felt they had to do something to salvage the mess. I found the whole thing weak, and the resolution was a letdown because no one really knew or cared about Susan and her plight was totally off-screen. It was a waste of screen time and we lost Sabrina to it, which doesn't help. Lucas may have survived, but I wonder if he and Brad will ever return from this "extended honeymoon" they've been on since...July?

 

[Ray&Donna]

Someone online suggested that it might be fun to have Robin and Patrick visit together....with Patrick being played by Steve Burton!

LOL. I think that would actually be worse than poor Michael Easton playing five different characters within the PC universe.

I don't think I've ever seen a soap actually attempt to plug the plotholes they created with this whole "Heather attacked Lucas" ret-con. Someone obviously pointed out to the writers that Lucas and Bobbie had NOTHING to do with the motivation they established for Paul's killing spree. They had no plausible way to tie those two in, so they had to go back afterwards and write a last-minute (and kind of sloppy) explanation using all-purpose nutcase Heather. Most of the time when they have plot holes like this, they just ignore them and hope viewers will forget; in this case, they likely felt they had to do something to salvage the mess. I found the whole thing weak, and the resolution was a letdown because no one really knew or cared about Susan and her plight was totally off-screen. It was a waste of screen time and we lost Sabrina to it, which doesn't help. Lucas may have survived, but I wonder if he and Brad will ever return from this "extended honeymoon" they've been on since...July?

Yes. The whole story was slapdash, as was the resolution (if that's what you'd call it). It would be good to have Lucas on just to populate the hospital with doctors, but if Brad has been "redeemed" (he no longer has his partner-in-crime, Britt) then there's probably no story purpose for him. Either that, or he's secretly hanging out with Felix these days...lol

 

[Daniel Avery]

I fear we will get some off-the-cuff remark from Bobbie or Sam claiming that Lucas and Brad took jobs at some hospital out of town, since GH seems to be in no hurry to re-open. The line will be the last anyone mentions of them. They did something similar with Rosalie (remember her?) when she was off screen for a long period. Which was too bad, because that actress was really good!

During the time Rosalie was on screen, I recall her making furtive phone calls to her father, leading the viewer to believe she was keeping some big secret about her family. Moreover, we got the impression she was operating under an assumed name, and when Nikolas learned her "big secret" she was petrified he'd reveal something embarrassing if she didn't do his bidding. Sound familiar? This is the story that was ultimately given to Hayden after she woke up from her coma. They changed Rosalie's big secret to something...not big...and wrote her out. Then they had Hayden reveal her assumed name, her infamously criminal father, etc. Hayden's back-story was likely originally supposed to be Rosalie's.

 

[Ray&Donna]

Ah, that makes a little bit of sense. Not a lot, mind you, but some. I do remember Rosalie and how she just kind of vanished. I almost forgot her until I saw the actress in a DirecTV commercial and wondered what the hell happened with her "marriage" to Brad, off-screen divorce, and subsequent disappearance. I guess she was a victim of the head writer change. It was funny how over-the-top they were concerning how she and Brad could never, ever divorce, and then suddenly they did, as though that criminality had vanished.

 

[Daniel Avery]

They also started laying the groundwork to say Brad was part of the Asian Quarter crime families/syndicates that were part of GH in the 1980s, and that he was trying to dissociate himself from them (implying they were still active). Again, plotline was dropped because the new HW's had different priorities. I'm guessing Ron C was getting pressure from above to write mob plots again, so he was going to give a giant middle finger to Maurice Benard by writing for other mobsters. But again, I'm willing to bet we won't see Brad again, and money's also pretty good Lucas will be barely visible if he returns at all.

 

[Ray&Donna]

That was my assumption, too--once Ron was out the door, the writing really started swinging back toward Corinthos-land again. Brad was mentioned yesterday, of course, but only generically as a lab technician. At the end of the day, Griffin wound up swabbing his own mouth and giving the DNA to a nurse.

 

[Daniel Avery]

And the nurse was neither Felix now Epiphany...just some day-player. You'd think they would have been there for the re-opening of GH. Granted, I would gladly swab the inside of Griffin's mouth any time he asked.

They dropped that "someone wants to buy GH and turn it into condos" story point like a hot potato. I would have enjoyed seeing Tracy buy the hospital--or better still, Laura selling Wyndemere/Spoon Island and using the funds to partner with Tracy. Now that Valentin claims to own the ol' pile of bricks, that's not happening. I certainly hope HE doesn't buy it; they're already handing him too much screen time as it is. They did this same "he's involved in everything" over-exposure when Paul Hornsby returned to town, and look how they botched THAT.

Maybe, now that the hospital is open again, the idea of it being for sale has been forgotten.

 

[Ray&Donna]

I wouldn't give them too much credit in their planning of stories, since they clearly don't do that. If Valentin did buy the hospital, he probably would fire everyone and make Charlotte the new chief-of-staff lol

 

[Daniel Avery]

Ah, but if Dr. Obrecht indeed shares a "torrid past" with ol' Val, he'd make her CoS again just to get back into her....good graces. Of course she would be scared he will discover Nathan is his son, which will nevertheless give Dr. O more screen time (which is always good).

 

[Maryann]

I am trying to catch up with the episodes but to tell the truth I am losing interest in GH these days, however have a question are they still going with the story of Kiki bring Nina's daughter not Ava's?

 

[Daniel Avery]

I'm guessing they won't go that route after all. With Silas dead, Madeline in prison, and neither Ava nor Nina hurting for storyline, that's a plot idea that they need not explore. In order for it to play out, they'd at least have to bring back Madeline, which I don't think they can afford these days. I will say that unless they're going to put Keeks back with Dillon, she has no real purpose on the show and could be written out easily. I think the show is being steered back to Corinthos-land and the extended Reeves/Westbourne family is being back-burnered for the most part.

Speaking of Silas, though---it's been almost a year since Hamilton Finn turned up in town, and I have yet to see Nina lose her s#^% when she sees him and thinks Silas is back from the dead. How do they manage not to run into each other?

 

[Ray&Donna]

LOL Nina wouldn't run into him unless her uterus steered her in that direction. With Finn having that (fatal)illness, he might not have the most viable swimmers.

 

[Daniel Avery]

When Michael Easton gave interviews describing his re-re-return to GH, he characterized the Dr. Finn role as short-term. He said the EP called up and said "I've got this little role coming up that I thought you might like to play," running it past him as if it was a guest stint and not a long-term, contract role. In fact, the word "contract" never even came up because it was implied Silas was killed off due to budget cuts. Now here it is a year later and he's still around. My only guess is that they extended his mystery illness in the wake of Tyler Christopher's departure, since that insufferable Hayden (Rebecca Budig) would need a storyline and love interest. Talk about lose/lose.

Friday: Only Sonny Corinthos could manage to make it 'all about him' and steal the spotlight from the guest of honor at a funeral.

 

[Ray&Donna]

When Michael Easton gave interviews describing his re-re-return to GH, he characterized the Dr. Finn role as short-term. He said the EP called up and said "I've got this little role coming up that I thought you might like to play," running it past him as if it was a guest stint and not a long-term, contract role. In fact, the word "contract" never even came up because it was implied Silas was killed off due to budget cuts. Now here it is a year later and he's still around. My only guess is that they extended his mystery illness in the wake of Tyler Christopher's departure, since that insufferable Hayden (Rebecca Budig) would need a storyline and love interest. Talk about lose/lose.

He said in a recent interview that he signed a one-year contract, so conceivably he could still be gone before spring comes again. I didn't like Hayden at first, and am still lukewarm on her presence, but I will say that Finn has made her slightly more tolerable. Hayden is like Kiki, Nina, and Franco--they are all expendable in my eyes, and I probably wouldn't miss them if they were gone. The same goes for Claudette, who does seem to be gone for the moment. It also wouldn't hurt my feelings if they shipped Kristina back to college, preferably in Siberia. lol

Friday: Only Sonny Corinthos could manage to make it 'all about him' and steal the spotlight from the guest of honor at a funeral.

I never had any doubts that things would go down in that manner.