carolineg

I preferred yesterday's show to today's, but I obviously prefer the John/Marlena/Steve/Kayla set over the current Hortons. The flashbacks were fabulous though.

I am sorry you had to sit through the Tin Man saga. It's rough-for everyone lol. So, yes, Sonny was being a callous dick, but he was doing it on purpose. I am not defending him or anything, but he clarifies his actions a bit when Brenda/Sonny meet again in 1998. I won't lie. Those are probably my favorite Sonny/Brenda scenes of all time. He tells her he had to leave her in the worst, most humiliating and heartbreaking way because otherwise she would have followed him and found him and he would have let her. And there was a hit on her and she would have been on the run forever and she would have eventually died. So he did all this to save her life. In 1998 as a 15 year old I was all over it. It was a coward's way out and the last 25 years of Sonny have not helped his cause, but those scenes were fantastic. If you want to skip through Brenda's awful, awful breakdown and 6 months of cat and mouse games with Jax it happens in May 1998. Otherwise be forewarned the breakdown is the most cringey Brenda story of all time. Even worse than her possibly sleeping with Dante. And Jax/Brenda drag on (romantically) for endless amounts of time to lead to the obvious eventual reunion. IMO, GH massively wastes VM's 1 year extension on her contract, but that's an entirely different post and subject lol.

I liked today a lot less than @AbcNbc247 did lol. I wasn't crazy about the people at the Horton house, but I guess that's all the Hortons available. I don't understand why Everett was there. While I give the show a shout out for making Everett Jewish, why on Earth would Doug invite him to Christmas Eve? He doesn't know anyone in town, but he...doesn't celebrate Christmas so who cares? Theresa/Brady/Tate were okay. I don't understand why Brady/Theresa act like children and fight in front of Tate all the time. EOB is definitely struggling hard with the accent still too. Flashbacks definitely give the episode a real upgrade in my opinion. I would give it a C but flashbacks up it to a B+

You make a lot of interesting and excellent points. The more that I think about it I don't think he resented his coworker or the show exactly-as long as he got to do what he wanted. I would agree both Mo and Tony probably stayed a little too long. Mo especially. I have always said when Mo left the first time in the 90's that was the perfect ending to the character. The last 25 years have been a descent into awfulness for the Sonny character. Also, Baby Ace has a bigger spine that Valentin! Stop crying all the time! I think Tony probably resented his own failures more than the show, but Bill Eckert was a silly idea from the jump. That's not want anyone wanted to see.

It's sad he couldn't come around and embrace the situation. He was employed very well for years past getting any other roles. Even men with huge egos like MB and SBu who tried and mostly failed outside of soaps have come to accept that's how they are going to pay the bills and they will be big fish in a small pond. I guess he can be resentful in Amsterdam next to his 20 emmys.

Yes. There is nothing wrong with them and it's nice to have a happy couple, but my mind immediately starts drifting when they appear. It's strange because I thought Tripp/Wendy had chemistry in Beyond Salem 2. Wendy was just presented much differently on that show and she's lost all the cool attributes she had now. I would argue the show makes the least amount of effort in expanding Wendy's family. Li and his dad was an issue but not explored until the day before he died. It still hasn't been explored since Li's death. Did his parents come to Li's funeral? Why isn't this conflict happening in person? A phone call from China is pretty lame.

Well, yes, that's true. I have also heard the concerns came more from Genie's husband than herself, but that doesn't make it much better since she's still married to him. It seems like TG/GF worked it out enough to at least be cordial and act together though. Even if Tony hates daytime there is a reason he didn't hit it big-and it's not because he's too identifiable as Luke. I understand it must be frustrating to be boxed into one single role, but I also think he got a ton out of that one role so he can stop complaining.

Some of TG's behavior sounds abusive and awful. Other actors seem to praise him, but I wonder if they are just towing the company line. There is a difference between being passionate about the fictional character you play and actual violence. Maybe it's easier all around on set for Tony to be gone. Also, I hope you are doing much better these days! None of this behavior should have ever been accepted. I can't go into my work and start being violent and throwing things around lol. That would be a quick way to relieve myself of a job. The show might have been in a bit of a bind with Tony, but I think JDP could have been shown the door.

They are cute and perfectly nice, but I don't find them exciting at all. Wendy has lost all her spunk. Tripp needs a sassier girl to balance him out. They definitely need some conflict or adventure.

You know, there are ways to make Luke viable without being in a romance. It's just Tony's idea to make Luke an awful person with no growth. He retroactively cheats on Laura, drinks too much, goes off on adventures, and barely cares about his kids. I really wish someone pushed back more on him. TG left anyway. It was worth a try.

I think people have a right to be offended. I just still see Luke/Laura on all the anniversary covers and specials and the mainstream public hasn't seemed to cancel them. It's still considered to be the most iconic and famous GH pairing. I am just curious how the audience at large feels about it. Most posters on here seemed to be very against the pairing. I am so sorry. Thank you for your input.

I was honestly okay with Brenda ending up with Jax before Ingo ruined it. You are absolutely correct and Sonny is the worst. I just want to believe the love of Brenda will change him in the end lol. I have invested too much in this to just let it go now🤣 I don't know if I actually want to watch years of Sonny/Brenda onscreen doing the same old thing over and over. Either Sonny completely changes (doubtful) or they leave the show together. It can be when Mo leaves or when the show ends I just still want it to happen.

I liked today's episode. The Pub scenes were nice. I do love John/Marlena reminiscing about the early part of the Affair at the table with Roman. Nice. I kind of agree John needs to get over his past. I get that it really sucks, but at some point just move on. Poor Holly. I feel bad for Nicole/Ej, but that was cold to leave Holly alone on Christmas Eve/her b-day. It would have been nice if Abe came to stay with Paulina too.

I think there is input by actors and just total disregard for the material. NLG just can't walk in one day and say, hey Alexis should be able to drink today because I don't like being an alcoholic anymore. Tony did just that. Luke showed little regard to killing his own grandchild (at the moment) and it completely turned me off to him. More than the rape. More than the wacky ne'er do well hijinks that a 60 plus year old man should have long grown out of. Even more than retcon Ethan (thanks again Tony!). At the time I did think it was very full circle the way they had Lucky find out about L/L's past while he was helping Liz with her rape. Did I enjoy the story? Yes. Was it the best thing for L&L and their future? No. Hindsight is 20/20. I still think the show could have worked past it if they had moved a little quicker with reuniting L&L instead of dragging it out until the point of no return. I don't disagree that it would be a bad look to reunite Laura with her rapist, but I do wonder how much of the current audience would be offended by it.

That's the day a lot of feelings I had for Sonny died lol.

@Khan-you aren't wrong about Sonny lol, but I did enjoy their friendship. For me it's not just Tony playing against being a family man. It worked for me, but that might be his character take. It's Tony also ignoring the writers entirely like with the alcoholism plot. It's not my favorite by any means, but when you actively go against Luke having a problem with alcohol after that lengthy Emmy bait storyline its disrespectful to the show and the writers. Tony is free to disagree with the story, but he was going out of his way to show Luke drinking when the scene didn't even call for it. That sort of behavior has soured me entirely on Luke and Tony and I am fine with him coming back at the very end and finishing his plot off with Laura. You are right. It's not cute or funny. It's pathetic. Grow the eff up Luke.

Even if this pairing was popular, why would it be important? It's your average run of the mill love story with two attractive middle aged white people. The SEC angle? That just makes them two attractive middle aged white people that are idiots about business.

I thought Tracy/Luke were at least unexpected and miles better than the attempted Felicia, Skye, and Anna pairings. It was age appropriate and it broke Luke out of the 'romantic lead' pattern he had post-Laura. Once the scamming and wacky hi-jinks kept going on and on I was completely over it. I did think their 2010 wedding was quite lovely though. I am still not exactly sure why the show treats it as this great, once in a lifetime love even today. I am all for Tracy finding someone new and I would be thrilled if it was someone without any agenda.

Yes! They were great until Luke became this scammer and cheater and just appeared to be using Tracy. But Luke was treated almost like a loveable screw up and I hated it. I also hated the L&L trash talking. It was just so unnecessary. Tracy/Luke could have stood on their own as a different type of romance, but the show or Geary needed to get jabs in about L&L. There was no reason to negate one romance to make another work. I would probably find someone new for Tracy, break up Kevin/Laura for some reason and move him back to Lucy and bring Luke on at the very end and just make L&L endgame.

I agree they were kept apart too long as well. It's not only the amount of time, but the lack of any real hope or move towards reconciliation during that period. But Genie/Laura would have ended up in the same holding pattern with Tony's vacations as well if they could have worked something out with her. I honestly felt like Luke did have a lot to do during Genie's maternity leave tbh. He did have a lot of story with Bobbie/Carly, whatever him and Sonny were doing, and the whole Katherine Bell shooting. After GF left "for good" I have no problem with the show pairing him with Jane. Tracy/Luke were great until they weren't and fell into this weird toxic cycle. I just felt TG starting playing against most Luke/Laura material (outside the wedding anniversary stuff) and it does not feel right to have Laura/Kevin and Luke dead right now. I am not a huge shipper of L/L, but it only feels right for them to be endgame. Tracy seems to be the only one mourning Luke while Laura just goes about her business. As of this moment the show treats Tracy/Luke as this great love and I am just not buying it. I don't exactly have a solution, but this ending for Luke/Laura isn't it.

I tend to agree. I always knew about the rape and when the show decided to re-explore it I thought Luke/Laura would work through it and end up together again. I was pretty young, but most of the audience knew that part of their history and accepted it. When the rape was revisited I thought it was a way to acknowledge it, own it, and move on with their lives and family without their 'secret' looming over them. It obviously would never, ever work today and I still don't think that storyline irrevocably broke them. Tony Geary did.

I'll be honest, I find Tripp/Wendy so boring and I like both characters. I just don't really like them together.

I have said before and will say again-almost all of 1997 was a mess. The only bright light was the Carly/AJ/Michael saga. Miranda being entirely dropped threw off the intended Cassadine story and it was handed to Alexis, the Stefan/Katherine debacle, Genie being gone, the absolute stupidity of the Sonny/Brenda/Jax nonsense, Kevin/Lucy being on their way out, the Pierce Dorman mess which I still don't understand (he's a drug lord?). Somethings couldn't be helped casting wise like Rena leaving, Genie's maternity leave, KMc going part time, LH/JL going to PC, LH as Miranda bombing and VM and MB being wishy washy about staying or leaving, but, man, the momentum was lost. 1998 even with Guza had some moments, but also a lot of iffy stories like Brenda's breakdown and the Tale of 2 Macs. I really think Guza had a pretty good idea of where he was headed and I wouldn't be surprised if he kept it to himself. Casting issues may have taken him out too, but I think it would have at least been more coherent that year if he had stayed.

Maybe they can just ask John/Steve to take on the drug case for free too. Then they will just ask Shane to solve it😂

Agreed. As long as he takes Violet with him though.