General Hospital Watching General Hospital

[Daniel Avery]

Though I would cry foul over someone so anti-establishment working for the WSB, he would most certainly factor into any send-off for Tristan Rogers's Robert Scorpio. I'd like to see him return angry enough at Sidwell to help bring him down. So much of Port Charles is in defensive mode where Sidwell is concerned, so it would be nice to have someone in offensive mode, leading the others in a charge against him. If all the people being pushed around by Sidwell were able to compare notes and form alliances, they could drive him out of town.

 

[Emelee]

I am OK with Ethan returning, but how does he fit any story?

Something to do with a final Robert story?

I think that alternative. Robert's death should be in planning right now. GH needs to find dates for the central actors to come in and film that. Emma Samms, Sofia Mattsson, Finola Hughes, Kimberly McCullough, John J York etc. And Nathan Dean Parsons.

But I think they may have a second idea for Ethan to do while he's in town. Possibly as the biological father of Delilah's baby? Or some secret that Luke left behind that he needs Lulu's help to sort out?

 

[Daniel Avery]

In today's episode, Nathan took James to a batting cage for baseball practice. While talking about Maxie having chosen Spinelli, James expressed how much he liked Spinelli, and Nathan said (paraphrasing) "I don't know him very well" or maybe "I'm getting to know him better" as if he didn't know Spinelli prior to his resurrection. Spin tried and failed to compete with Nathan for Maxie's affections back then, even famously (hilariously) challenged Nathan to a boxing match in order to "win" Maxie. Spin actually officiated at Nathan and Maxie's wedding. So Nathan saying he "doesn't really know" Spinelli was a rather glaring mistake---perhaps another effort to let the viewer figure out something's up with this person they think is Nathan. A while back he also mentioned not really knowing Charlotte, when in fact there was a brief story where Claudette (the surrogate who secretly carried Charlotte) named Nathan as Charlotte's father, since she and Nathan had been briefly married. This was before we learned Claudette was a surrogate Valentin had hired.

They also established that "this" Nathan can't play baseball for s#!+, despite his legendary skills when playing for the PCPD in years past.

 

[Emelee]

In today's episode, Nathan took James to a batting cage for baseball practice. While talking about Maxie having chosen Spinelli, James expressed how much he liked Spinelli, and Nathan said (paraphrasing) "I don't know him very well" or maybe "I'm getting to know him better" as if he didn't know Spinelli prior to his resurrection. Spin tried and failed to compete with Nathan for Maxie's affections back then, even famously (hilariously) challenged Nathan to a boxing match in order to "win" Maxie. Spin actually officiated at Nathan and Maxie's wedding. So Nathan saying he "doesn't really know" Spinelli was a rather glaring mistake---perhaps another effort to let the viewer figure out something's up with this person they think is Nathan. A while back he also mentioned not really knowing Charlotte, when in fact there was a brief story where Claudette (the surrogate who secretly carried Charlotte) named Nathan as Charlotte's father, since she and Nathan had been briefly married. This was before we learned Claudette was a surrogate Valentin had hired.

They also established that "this" Nathan can't play baseball for s#!+, despite his legendary skills when playing for the PCPD in years past.

Many clues are dropped that suggests that Nathan isn't Nathan. What convinced me most was his scenes with Maxie. He seems so detatched. Not like a man who was married to her one day and woke up 7 years later thinking no time had passed. I had expected him to rush to her bedside and sat with her at least once a week.

 

[Daniel Avery]

I can't help but worry that Steve Burton's time away (forcing Jason off the canvas for the next 3-4 months) is going to turn this "Faison's final project" story into a disaster. It's a soap fan's prerogative to second-guess the producers, so I can't figure why they didn't just temporarily recast the role of Jason and keep everything going at the intended rate/speed.

Years ago the Days producers recast Alison Sweeney's Sami character with an in-story explanation that she had to don a disguise to avoid some bad guys, with an actor playing Sami-in-disguise. In GH's case, they could say Jason got hold of one of those Faison-style masks and the temp recast could be seen around town claiming to be someone else (maybe an employee at the Q mansion?) but reveals to friends and family that he's really Jason in disguise, hiding in plain sight. They could claim that Jason is out of town or "missing" while disguised Jason helps Britt and the others.

It's too bad that "twins" Jason and Drew look so radically different, because if they looked alike they could have Cameron Mathison sub-in as Jason while Drew languishes in his bed at Willow's House of Torment. Can you imagine the publicity such a "stunt recast" would create? There would be the added interest of seeing CamMath doing the "action hero" stuff Jason always gets involved in, which would be a nice change from smarmy, bug-eyed Drew in his too-tight suits. But it would look ridiculous, considering how SB and CM have opposite body types.

 

[xab]

Obviously GH never heard of birth control and menopause doesn't exist in the soaps universe (unlike SORAS).
Brooke Kerr is 52.
Is Carly going to be pregnant AGAIN after her one-night stand (or was it love in the afternoon? ) with Valentin?
Laura Wright is 55.

 

[Daniel Avery]

* Alexis is shocked to learn she's pregnant---not because of her age, but because she hasn't had sex since 2019.
* Tracy confides she's having a baby because, in her opinion, none of the Q's are worthy of carrying on the family name and measures must be taken.
* Not to be outdone, Aunt Stella decides to have twins so that both Jordan and Portia's babies can be switched with hers at the hospital.

Meanwhile at the hospital, Felicia is desperately searching the computers to see if Medicare pays for pregnancies.

 

[Monzo]

I never liked Ethan and shudder to think of his love stories with Kristina, Maya, and Irina, but at least I prefer Nathan Parsons to the last Ethan, who, with his blond curls, was supposed to look so much like Luke. Since soap budgets are so tight, I wonder if they can only afford Nathan Parsons (whom I actually thought was quite good in The Originals and Roswell) because two other lead actors are taking a break. I assume that neither Steve Burton nor Cameron Mathison are being paid for their time off, but what about Kirsten Storms? Since she was absent for health reasons, shouldn't she be paid, or is it different in the soap opera world?

Is anyone actually taking the story about Molly's book seriously? First, it seems highly unlikely to me that Cody's book club would read and discuss Pride and Prejudice in just two weeks, and second, I can't imagine that Molly's book is any good. I actually read Molly's first book, Love in Maine (I bought it later on sale), and it wasn't as terrible as I'd expected, but nowhere near as good as it was made out to be in the show. I wonder what Justine thinks about Molly publishing a cheesy romance novel while working as a district attorney. I haven't read anything about the new book actually being published, so I suppose Love in Maine didn't sell very well back then.

 

[Daniel Avery]

I assume that neither Steve Burton nor Cameron Mathison are being paid for their time off, but what about Kirsten Storms? Since she was absent for health reasons, shouldn't she be paid, or is it different in the soap opera world?

Not to mention that Finola Hughes is said to be off-contract during this extended break she is taking. Historically the contracts said how much the actors get paid for episodes in which they appear during a certain time period, plus an agreement on how many episodes they would be expected to appear in (a "guarantee"). The guarantee is set for the number of episodes they will be paid regardless of whether they actually appear in them, but if they end up in extra episodes, they get paid extra at that per-episode rate. Mathison probably welcomed the break, given how heavily he was featured the past year. In any normal workplace KS and SB would have to "take the hit" financially (unpaid leave) in order to get approval to take time off for personal reasons (KS to move, SB for family time) but knowing how Frank V coddles certain actors* I can't say for sure that they went totally off the payroll. I'm pretty sure their names stayed on the cast list that airs every Friday, which shows they're still on contract. It might be a case of "everything is negotiable" and we'll never know what agreement they came to. Due to KS's other health issues prior to this most recent one she would have been a fool to allow her work-paid health insurance to lapse, which could have happened if she went off-contract.

* There is increasing evidence piling up that behind the scenes, there is a lot of politics at GH having to do with certain actors getting preferential treatment and likely using their higher status to their advantage, whether in having a higher guarantee or a better schedule, or just getting stories they want. What started as whispers has occasionally spilled onto social media like Twitter/X with comments made by departing actors commenting/complaining about the situation. Obviously the ones on the "favorites list" aren't going to complain; in fact, certain actors sing Frank Valentini's praises so often and so loudly that it practically gives the game away.

 

[Emelee]

Jason killing Cullum and setting Brennan up to take the fall is bound to fail. I think Britt will be kidnapped to Wyndemere instead and Jason ending up somewhere else. And the people of PC won't even know the plan went wrong.

I think a good story is for Jordan to abort her baby without telling Curtis. Then she'll find out (again) how Curtis expects everyone to be perfect and tell him everything. I hope he dumps Jordan. Then Jordan can move on to better options.

Speaking of better options, why on earth is Ava fighting Lucy for terrorist Sidwell?!

I hope that Josslyn will come down from her high horses regarding Sonny. She sees him as evil, but Jason the hitman as a good friend? It makes no sense.

 

[Daniel Avery]

Cullum is constantly threatening to "throw people into Steinmauer" (the high-security prison), so I'm thinking that's where Jason will end up. I wonder if Carly will once again show up at the prison in her Susan Banks disguise to see Jason when SB returns.

 

[Jock Ewing Fan]

Jacinda mentioning her prior relationship - Ethan?

 

[Daniel Avery]

That would be "soap-opera coincidence", for sure, since
* Michael and Ethan are cousins
* Michael's previous girlfriend is Ethan's sister
* Ethan's previous girlfriend is Michael's sister

 

[Emelee]

Even more coinsidence if Ethan is both Jacinda's ex AND Baby Jane Doe's biological father. Or Phoebe, as BLQ now calls her.

 

[Daniel Avery]

I saw someone online call her "Baby Phooey".

I think we will learn shortly that Britt's "medicine" is just a placebo, that she never had Huntingdon's Disease. They will test the vials and declare it's saline solution or something, which will make Britt and Co. think someone switched the vials....when in actuality there never was a "cure for Huntingdon's". If these goons (Siddy, Cullum) are all about making tons of money, they would have formed some kind of shell company to market The Cure For Huntingdon's Disease and made potentially billions off it (think: Novo Nordisk and their GLP-1 medications). Curing Huntingdon's "for real" would be akin to curing Alzheimer's or ALS. Why keep such a moneymaking medication under wraps all this time? Britt certainly isn't THAT special. That's why I think there is no "medicine". Which is a shame because it looks like Marco's about to get murdered over it.

Instead, I think they slipped her something years ago that mimicked the symptoms, then doctored a test result to make her think she was developing the disease. If they're going to "keep" Britt around then they have to undo her terminal disease, right?

 

[lbf522]

I loved it when Jordan was police commissioner. A few years ago, Alexis wanted to research her father but they dropped that storyline. I could see Kristina being curious about her Cassadine roots.

 

[Monzo]

Is it known whether new writers have been hired for the dialogue, perhaps from CBS soaps, because some of the dialogue has become quite lame lately. What bothers me most, though, is how much uninteresting stuff Sonny says, like his conversation with Rick about Justine, or when Sonny and Jason giggle like high school drug dealers about their rival Jenz being distracted by two chicks. Incidentally, I like that Sidwell, even though he's a cartoon villain, has a different taste in women than expected: Holly, Lucy, and Ava prove that young women don't excite him.

After Nina and Natalia (whatever that was with Natalia) I didn't think Sonny's love life could get any less interesting, but Justine has managed it. Looking back, even Natalia was more fun! Actually, there are only two women for Sonny anyway: Brenda or Carly, but I find Carly more interesting right now without Sonny, and will we ever see Brenda again? I just imagine her happily living with Jax in Australia.

Not only are the dialogues somewhat boring, but even some small storylines are a bit weird, for example, when Jason suddenly (a year and a half after Sam's death) starts thinking about who should take care of Danny if he dies. Jason has apparently been putting off the decision, but so has everyone else (including Alexis!). And when Danny's school calls, Jason doesn't answer the phone, and he doesn't even call back later; so many little things just don't make sense.

 

[Daniel Avery]

Is it known whether new writers have been hired for the dialogue, perhaps from CBS soaps, because some of the dialogue has become quite lame lately.

I see "strange names" mixed in (that is, names I'm not familiar with) when I'm able to catch the opening credits. There are some writers who've been there for a long time (so I recognize the names) but some new ones do pop up occasionally, often paired with a longtime writer. It's possible that the "drop-off" in the quality of dialogue might be because of the adjustments having to be made in the long-term, projected stories for Burton's time off and such. Having to come up with quick explanations for major changes in story often leads to some out-of-character behaviors from characters that even the best writer might have trouble justifying in dialogue. There are also weird "about-face" changes in character arcs where we're apparently expected just to forget what happened a week before. One minute Chase is punching Michael in the face and trying to frame him for attempted murder.....and a week later no one even mentions tension with Michael as he and BLQ is obsessing over that baby that dropped from the sky. No one is following up on that nonsense with the key, I guess.

After Nina and Natalia (whatever that was with Natalia) I didn't think Sonny's love life could get any less interesting, but Justine has managed it. Looking back, even Natalia was more fun! Actually, there are only two women for Sonny anyway: Brenda or Carly, but I find Carly more interesting right now without Sonny, and will we ever see Brenda again? I just imagine her happily living with Jax in Australia.

The Sonny we see nowadays reminds me a lot of "Mike From Nixon Falls". It would be interesting if he and Nina became friends again---not necessarily lovers again, but at least friends. The brutal way he broke up with her left a lot of unfinished business and part of me would love to see him apologize for essentially making HER the villain in the Insider Trading story. He's also never really thanked her for getting him to stop drinking, which has done wonders for his attitude. Sonny pats himself on the back for how he gets along with all his (many) exes, but Nina somehow keeps being left off the list.

 

[Emelee]

Woah, the twists in today's episode! Did not see them coming. I never thought Cullum would stab Sidwell's son and leave him to die. And what if he doesn't die and names Cullum? Risky!

But then again, Rocco of all people made sure that no one else has to avenge Marco's stabbing. Wait till Dante and Lulu find out what happened... Turns out Rocco is more like Jason than Danny is.

If this is the end of Cullum, who else will Sidwell have as a partner in crime? Marco has abandoned his business. Pascal is only a minor character. Will it be.... Nathan? Will we finally find out what happened all those 7 years? Is Nathan dating Lulu with a secret agenda? Cause the real Nathan would not treat Maxie with so little emotion! Something is very off. Is Nathan a twin-Nathan? Britt did say Faison had 4 children. Who is number 4? A Nathan twin would explain why this Nathan is so little Nathan-ish.

 

[Daniel Avery]

When I heard Britt mention "four children" I thought perhaps KT messed up a line which was intended to highlight all that was left behind (of Faison) are four surviving 'children' meaning two adults and two grandchildren (Britt, Nathan, James and Bailey Lou)....but who knows? I'd have to cry foul if they go the "Liesl had twins and did not know it" route because that woman is too much of a control freak not to have known. I picture her delivering her own babies single-handedly!

It WAS quite an action-packed episode. A press conference pre-empted about half the episode where I live, so I saw the first ten and the last ten minutes. Still, here's hoping Cullum is toast, because all this "Faison's final project" nonsense seems to be spearheaded by him. Maybe if he dies, the others will lose interest in the whole matter. There's no reason to have some upstate New York gynecologist building cold fusion prototypes in a drafty old castle basement. Jason can cool his heels in Steinmauer as the WSB tries to cover their tracks (again) as another director has gone rogue with a world domination plot and gotten himself killed for it. If Cullum manages to survive, I have to wonder if Sidwell or Brennan (maybe even Valentin) would 'finish the job' to further frame Jason. 'Cause you know Jason won't let Rocco take the rap. Cue memories of Michael/Claudia. Thank goodness they have a young actor (Finn Carr) up to the task.

Sorry to see it looks like Marco ain't long for the show. It's been almost exactly a year since he started, so this would be...on schedule. But will he live long enough to point the finger at Cullum? One thing for sure: Carlo Rota's going to be feasting on every piece of scenery in the studio, no matter who Sidwell thinks did it.