General Hospital Watching General Hospital

[Emelee]

Yes, I recall all that...I was simply commenting on how the writers skip a necessary step in Sonny's medication dilemma. Ava told the pharmacist to cut it back from 25% to 0% and it's like Sonny instantly started going further downhill, as if he got the newly-tampered 0% pills the same day. There would have to have been a period of time where he was finishing off the last 25% bottle before he got the newly-tampered 0% pills and began taking them. I guess the writers couldn't wait around for him to crack.

But 25% is a really low dose too. People around Sonny have questioned if he's taking his pills before Ava had it reduced to 0%.
I know if I got only 25% of my meds, I would have all sorts of anxiety attacks. I tried cutting back to 50% a few years ago, but that was one massive fail.

 

[Emelee]

Something terrible is about to happen in Port Charles. Too many characters are beyond angry, they're ready to kill.

 

[Daniel Avery]

Something terrible is about to happen in Port Charles.

And there we have it. Call it The Defenestration of Kristina Corinthos-Davis.
Related:

OLTL's Tea and Blair fight at 1:30. Blair falls out the window.

OLTL's Blair and Tea fight. Tea falls out the window.

 

[Emelee]

And there we have it. Call it The Defenestration of Kristina Corinthos-Davis.
Related:

OLTL's Tea and Blair fight at 1:30. Blair falls out the window.

OLTL's Blair and Tea fight. Tea falls out the window.

I guessed that Kristina would fall off Ava's balcony into the pool on another message forum. I saw the classic soap signs and made a qualified guess. So this cliffhanger didn't shock me.

 

[Jock Ewing Fan]

Yes, I recall all that...I was simply commenting on how the writers skip a necessary step in Sonny's medication dilemma. Ava told the pharmacist to cut it back from 25% to 0% and it's like Sonny instantly started going further downhill, as if he got the newly-tampered 0% pills the same day. There would have to have been a period of time where he was finishing off the last 25% bottle before he got the newly-tampered 0% pills and began taking them. I guess the writers couldn't wait around for him to crack.

Speaking of which, with Valentin and Brennan seemingly getting way with what they'd been up to, no one might ever know Valentin was the one who started the "cutting Sonny's meds back" scheme. If and when they figure out what happened, they'll jump straight to blaming Ava.


I've missed a few episodes and relied on online synopses, but I was under the impression that Pikeman and all its associated dramas are over. All the stuff on Valentin's satellite phone blew the whole organization out of the water (exposed their existence to the WSB and CIA/FBI) and those agencies shut the organization down. Brennan was said to have formed Pikeman decades ago using money he stole during a WSB operation that had involved Anna (which is why she got so involved). He'd been running it until he was sent to Pentonville for some reason I forget. Brennan enlisted Valentin to take the reins and was acting as Brennan's "man on the outside" until Anna exposed him (and by extension, Brennan). When Anna ran into Brennan in DC the other day, it was stated that the WSB wanted to wash their hands of all things Pikeman, so they got Brennan out of jail to help them shut it all down (and, I assume, inform on all the key players in exchange for his freedom). There was even a hint that Valentin was also being given a similar "Get out of Jail Free" card by the WSB, though I'm fuzzy on that one.

But the overall feeling was that we won't be hearing much more about the infamous, offscreen threat of "Pikeman industries" because the storyline has been concluded, just like the miraculous-yet-predictable shutdown of Carly's RICO charges trial was ended with the wave of a hand. Between newly-freed Jason and newly-freed Brennan, Queen Carly will have a pretty full dance card.

I am glad if the Pikeman story is over.
It seemed ill-planned from the start and it was poorly developed.
At first, I thought Selina Wu was in charge. I would have found that interesting, since she would be a far more worthy adversary for Sonny tha the Sorry lot
that passes for his opposition.

 

[Jock Ewing Fan]

I assume Finn will leave his 90-day treatment program and send word that he isn't coming back to PC. He was so single-minded about the others "not taking his daughter away" when he was falling off the wagon, but in order to keep Jophielle Love (Violet) on the show they will have to write something that makes it look like he voluntarily gave her up. Maybe he will rejoin Doctors Without Borders and march off to cure some other tropical disease like he used to do all the time. I did find it odd (maybe an oversight of the writers) that Chase offered to bump himself down to part-time at the PCPD in order to "be there for Violet more," while Brook Lynn accepted a job launching/running a new record label while already working full-time at Deception.

Carly's never going to be a character I particularly like, no matter how much the writers try to push her as the "heroine" character overcoming all the odds, etc. Actually, I think part of the reason I've grown to dislike her is her over-exposure at the expense of other characters. That said, the now-infamous tape of Carly declaring herself as the new head of the Corinthos organization is not enough to base an entire trial upon, so the sooner that tape disappears (which I figure it will), the better.

How soaps are not real life: Ava instructs the pharmacist to replace Sonny's lithium with placebos, and almost instantly he starts going off the deep end worse than before. Unless he gets weekly prescription refills (which...no one does) he should not have been worsening until he got the next refill and spent at least a week taking them; typically such meds are refilled every three months. But I guess if Kristina can have a six-month pregnancy (while Maxie had a 13-month pregnancy) then I guess timelines can vary.

I could understand that you and others don't care for Carly.
For me, she is a character who is both good and also flawed, like many others
My main objection to Carly criticisms is not that she should not be held accountable,
but the people who oppose her are far worse and far more hypocritical.
I could fill the page with Nina, but for starters her lies about Sonny/Mike being alive has had
major negative consequences for Carly, Jason Michael, Sonny, Josselyn, Avery and Donna
not to mention the grief of many others.
Liz may not be her enemy anymore, but she gets promoted to head nurse
after committing acts that should have had her fired at the very least?
Ava - how is anyone civil to her after what she did to Morgan and Connie,
and how AJ's fate happened?

 

[Daniel Avery]

The show suffers for the lack of a "moral center" character. The bad guys are painted as the heroes, while the good guys are ineffectual and compromised to a point that the tradition of "good triumphs over evil" is totally ignored. I think Patrick Mulcahey was making a good-faith effort to change that decades-long inversion---but was shown the door for his efforts. The natural moral center of the show would be Laura Collins, but they muddy the waters by how she coddles and often supports the villains of the town (Sonny, especially, but also Esme, Nikolas, now Heather).

 

[Emelee]

I think the show has several good people (Laura, Kevin, Felicia, Mac, Maxie, Sasha, Cody, Chase, BLQ, Drew, Willow, Olivia, Molly, TJ, Kristina, Dante, Sam, Spinelli, Carly, Joss, Dex, Jordan, Michael, Trina, Curtis, Portia, Liz, Stella, Marshall, Alexis, Lois, Anna, Robert...), but I am glad they aren't too good or too perfect and too understanding. I like the gray zones.

However, I think it would be a good idea to have one strong uniting character who is almost notoriously good and kind and refuses to accept criminal behavior for any good cause. A loved and respeced squeaky clean character with an excellent moral compass. A Miss Ellie character.

 

[xab]

The show suffers for the lack of a "moral center" character. The bad guys are painted as the heroes, while the good guys are ineffectual and compromised to a point that the tradition of "good triumphs over evil" is totally ignored. I think Patrick Mulcahey was making a good-faith effort to change that decades-long inversion---but was shown the door for his efforts. The natural moral center of the show would be Laura Collins, but they muddy the waters by how she coddles and often supports the villains of the town (Sonny, especially, but also Esme, Nikolas, now Heather).

You mean Carly is not the moral compass of the show...?
Just kidding.

What I miss is a super-villain à la Helena Cassadine (there's no Cassadine left anyway...) I agree with Emelee about gray zones when it comes to a character in a show like "The Sopranos" or "Oz" or any show from HBO, because the quality of the writing fits with the whole stuff. But this is a daytime soap... Nothing is really realistic. Let's take Kristina's stunt : Carly should sue the architect for the window was obviously cheap prop and it shows. And considering the pool side and its depth, her head should have knocked the bottom... The show tries to look serious and grounded, exploring society topics, and characters are less cartoonish, but gray characters lead to a gray soap... I really miss the camp and the fun.
Let alone the fact that the show suffers from a lack of direction... Where does Pikeman leave us ? Nowhere. I couldn't tell the storyline to a friend... I don't even remember how it began. Now it's over ( is it ?) the plot looks very thin, but very complicated with many twists just for the sake of the twist... (Or to adjust to the neverending revolving door when it comes to the writing team) Anyway, much ado about nothing, even with the FBI involved in the plot.

 

[Emelee]

You mean Carly is not the moral compass of the show...?
Just kidding.

What I miss is a super-villain à la Helena Cassadine (there's no Cassadine left anyway...) I agree with Emelee about gray zones when it comes to a character in a show like "The Sopranos" or "Oz" or any show from HBO, because the quality of the writing fits with the whole stuff. But this is a daytime soap... Nothing is really realistic. Let's take Kristina's stunt : Carly should sue the architect for the window was obviously cheap prop and it shows. And considering the pool side and its depth, her head should have knocked the bottom... The show tries to look serious and grounded, exploring society topics, and characters are less cartoonish, but gray characters lead to a gray soap... I really miss the camp and the fun.
Let alone the fact that the show suffers from a lack of direction... Where does Pikeman leave us ? Nowhere. I couldn't tell the storyline to a friend... I don't even remember how it began. Now it's over ( is it ?) the plot looks very thin, but very complicated with many twists just for the sake of the twist... (Or to adjust to the neverending revolving door when it comes to the writing team) Anyway, much ado about nothing, even with the FBI involved in the plot.

The direction of GH changed too often, and I figure it is because the writers strike forcing ghost writers to take over, then back to the original, then they were fired and replaced by Mulcahey/Korte. And then Mulcahey was fired. Lots of changes in a really short period of time.

I hope that Elizabeth Korte will do a great job so that she can stay for a long time and keep to one direction.

The reason why no one can fully explain Pikeman must be because the writers didn't know themselves as there were too many writing changes.

 

[Jock Ewing Fan]

The show suffers for the lack of a "moral center" character. The bad guys are painted as the heroes, while the good guys are ineffectual and compromised to a point that the tradition of "good triumphs over evil" is totally ignored. I think Patrick Mulcahey was making a good-faith effort to change that decades-long inversion---but was shown the door for his efforts. The natural moral center of the show would be Laura Collins, but they muddy the waters by how she coddles and often supports the villains of the town (Sonny, especially, but also Esme, Nikolas, now Heather).

Good observation.
Laura - I think she walks a fine line since those characters are family connected.
I don't know that Nocolas is a villain. I think he was more layered when TC played him, but his character has been less effective since.
Having said that, I think Adam Huss is a good choice, I wish he has stayed.
AH has that look, that strongly resembles Stavros, and he seems to portray
a stronger version of the character

 

[Jock Ewing Fan]

The direction of GH changed too often, and I figure it is because the writers strike forcing ghost writers to take over, then back to the original, then they were fired and replaced by Mulcahey/Korte. And then Mulcahey was fired. Lots of changes in a really short period of time.

I hope that Elizabeth Korte will do a great job so that she can stay for a long time and keep to one direction.

The reason why no one can fully explain Pikeman must be because the writers didn't know themselves as there were too many writing changes.

Pikeman was a big fail. IMHO.
It seemed like there was no clear direction at the start and the story kept changing with no clear center.
At various times, the leader could have been Selina, Cyrus (where are they?), a Cassadine survivor (Stavros/Stefan?Victor?)
a returning villain (Julian Jerome? Jerry Jacks?)
What was even the point in the first place?

 

[Emelee]

Great episode with Sonny & Morgan. And the ending with Sonny calling Kevin for help. The truth is coming out!!!

 

[Jock Ewing Fan]

A casting call for someone that sounds like Lulu
What if it Karen, who is somehow still alive?
Or does Lulu wake up with a drastically different personality,
especially when she learns Luke is gone.
Not that excited about Emma Samms returning. What is the story?
JJ returning- it will help the show, but all I see is a boring reunion with Liz, who has no real function anymore.
Ava may be meeting her demise and a story about who did it is likely.
Prediction: Maura West returns as a new character

 

[Emelee]

New writer seems to want the Spencer family back. Lucky & Lulu. I hope the Cassadines will also regain some characters. At least Valentin & Charlotte.

I think a Lulu recast might be good. She's been in a coma for a long time. No better time than a recast now. I didn't like Emme & Dominic as "Lante". I now prefer Dante with Sam. So they better cast a perfect Lulu for me to cheer for Lulu & Dante.

Liz & Lucky should be over forever. I don't see them as relevant anymore. But it's nice for Aiden to get his dad back.

 

[Daniel Avery]

The casting call was definitely for Lulu. Emme Rylan (the most recent actress to play her) said online that the show was recasting rather than hire her back. Since so much money has been spent to bring back several favorites (not just JJ and ES, but also Rick Hearst) that I'm guessing they will go with a cheaper relative unknown for the Lulu recast (NuLulu?). A whole lot of things have changed in Lulu's absence, so there might be several months of her just getting re-acclimated. There is another character in town who had to resume her life after being in a long-term coma, so I hope they might attempt some realism by having Lulu gain some perspective from her and maybe even go back to work at The Invader (where Lulu was working prior to the bombing).

I MUCH prefer Sam and Dante over Dante/Lulu. In fact I'd rate Sam/Dante (when written well) as one of my favorite GH couples. Granted, there is pretty slim pickin's at the moment, but if they bring her back solely to disrupt Sam/Dante, then I will not be very interested.

 

[xab]

Stephanie Gatschet is rumored to be the next Lulu... She's no rookie and her resume seems as strong as Emme Ryland's one. So why should she come cheaper ?

Something must have happened behind the screen we're not aware of. Obviously.

First, Lulu is abruptly put in a coma and Emme Rylan fired (Why ? What was the point ? It really looked unecessary : the actress didn't ask to leave and Lulu medical crisis didn't lead to any significant storyline) and now the character is being recast (though Emme Rylan is available and would be glad to return)

This is weird.

 

[Daniel Avery]

Emme Rylan's dismissal was part of a cost-cutting measure they had to employ after ABC cut their budget again. The bombing of the Floating Rib killed Dustin (Lulu's boyfriend) and Dev, a street kid from Turkey that Sonny had semi-adopted, so at least they didn't have her die as well.

 

[Jock Ewing Fan]

Stephanie Gatschet is rumored to be the next Lulu... She's no rookie and her resume seems as strong as Emme Ryland's one. So why should she come cheaper ?

Something must have happened behind the screen we're not aware of. Obviously.

First, Lulu is abruptly put in a coma and Emme Rylan fired (Why ? What was the point ? It really looked unecessary : the actress didn't ask to leave and Lulu medical crisis didn't lead to any significant storyline) and now the character is being recast (though Emme Rylan is available and would be glad to return)

This is weird.

I never thought ER was more than average in the role, and it just didn't work IMHO, and I hope it is a new actress I think a recast is a better idea
Sam/Dante - I don't think it is a great coupling, but I like Dante better with Sam than with ER Lulu

 

[Emelee]

Wow, GH really is wrapping up long dragged out storylines now when the new writing team's work has begun airing. Pikeman, the surrogacy story & Sonny is finding out about the placebos. Rapid resolve of the old storylines.