Vee

I thought it was a very strong episode for character, especially Xavier being reestablished so well (in all his moral complexity). His evisceration of the Shi'ar was brilliantly written and well performed by Ross Marquand - he will never be Cedric Smith's original voice, but he's close enough. I dug the dialogue lifted for him from Morrison's Genoshan genocide story.

I loved Alison Sealy-Smith's take on both Storm and the Adversary, but I wish that story and her romance with Forge had been spread across maybe 1-2 more episodes. That's the constraint of their episode order and trying to do much as they can while fearing for renewal though.

Not sure how I feel about Storm being in the Cockrum dress permanently, so I hope she's not - I would prefer the Outback costume or something like her recent Krakoa/X-Men Red look - but it's a neat change as a nod to her glorious past and was a lovely sequence.

@Darn was hoping for that too, lol. Anything that gets her back on daytime makes me happy, but I'll never give up on Carly tbh.

1 hour ago, janea4old said:

re Vanessa at 2024 fanclub weekend,  (Link to post) 
When was the last time she did such an event?

This has been my question since I heard about it. Curious and intriguing.

6 minutes ago, dragonflies said:

I watch off an on

So, no.

17 minutes ago, carolineg said:

I do think there is something there about soaps being entirely different than when she was in her heyday.  I know Vanessa mentioned the pace was difficult.  I still tend to think of Vanessa as someone who knows her worth and her character and that might rub people like Frank and Ron the wrong way.

It's no secret she can potentially be high maintenance or eccentric. But she's earned it at GH. And I am inclined to agree about the above. If an actor is powerful enough to advocate for themselves or the character it often turned FV/RC off, unless it was TG or MB where they couldn't fight it due to the network. Look how many times Frank has tried to dump Genie for wanting a contract.

18 minutes ago, carolineg said:

They left the whole thing on a cliffhanger, IMO, with Brenda on the plane recalling the incident which made viewers (at least me) think more happened than she said.

Me too. Typical Ron tbh.

3 minutes ago, carolineg said:

I could see Vanessa having issues with Brenda fake sleeping with Michael.  That was a bit much.

I didn't have a problem with it but it doesn't surprise me that she might. And the implausible insta-engagement to Jax offscreen (which went nowhere and ended immediately) was stupid. They did the same thing with Laura and Scott that same year. Some performers are big enough to have an audience impact where you might want to listen to some of their character concerns, for the same reason VM cracked down on the Dante storyline. From what I've often heard, FV historically does not do that. Especially back then when you couldn't tell him or Ron anything.

7 minutes ago, BetterForgotten said:

What was her behavior during the anniversary run for Frank to be so against her?

My assumption has always been he took umbrage in her being vocal about her story BTS, which VM often is especially in recent years. Frank also got pissed when John Stamos didn't just want to come back in 2013 to play drums and do a gag with Demi Moore (who probably would've said no) vs. having a meatier appearance during the anniversary, and was not pleased about Jack Wagner's complaints. If people don't show up and just do what they're told FV tends to ice 'em out in my experience.

It's sounding like they may be on the verge of announcing a hire allegedly for Trina. But I'll let other people investigate on that one. Not sure it isn't just fans being crazy online over what could merely be possible dayplayers.

3 minutes ago, DRW50 said:

He sounds decent (maybe just not the right use in that clip) - it's more comic characters don't age, so when the voice actors do, you notice more.

He has definitely aged, but due to the nature of the voice back in the day I think he sounds mostly the same as always. It's Lenore Zann (Rogue) that people have really been giving stick and she definitely sounds more than a bit different, but that criticism has mostly gone away since last week's episode where she carried the day.

I think Cal Dodd is still the greatest Wolverine VA of all time. People have just been imitating him since.

T.J. and Trina each had the same drawn-out, pointless xeroxed paternity story one after the other and tbh I still don't understand how they're related myself. But Shawn Butler is T.J.'s bio-dad and Curtis is, apparently, Trina's.

Some of the stans on Twitter are nuts. That's just the truth, like any online fanbase. If Trina bats her eyes in a way they don't like they get mad. I think the fanbase has been good for the character and the show, I think keeping pressure on the show is important, but like many couples fans before them for some it's reached a saturation point where anything she does that isn't the show in their heads is wrong and Laura (who had a lot of material with Trina after Spencer died) should be sent to the Hague. I'm not going to get behind that, so I don't think every complaint is created equal. Some I can sync up with, others I think are unreasonable and unrealistic. Especially when I think Joss has been doing a lot less lately.

5 minutes ago, DRW50 said:

Unfortunately, I think that Frank and ABC do not see that as worthwhile, similar to Mulcahey's GL run where JFP and P&G never let David or Gilly be too prominent or in pairings with white characters. 

I suspect ABC is probably increasingly okay with it, though I could be wrong. I think FV is still trapped in the 2000s, wishing Joss could be Starr, Dex could be Cole and Trina could be Langston, the "ethnic sidekick".

6 minutes ago, Antoyne said:

In regards to Curtis, maybe I’m missing something but I’m not seeing the disinterest everyone is talking about from the actor. He’s still giving the same performances I remember from when I was last watching the show and Sean was on as the black Jason.

He's been slightly more engaged lately. Slightly.

38 minutes ago, DRW50 said:

I think you will get an improvement on what came before - I wouldn't question that. I just think the fans who want real changes, like moving away from Carly/Jason/Sonny being the center of the universe, aren't likely to get them. If they were big fans of GH around 1998-2000, then this vision may ultimately appeal to them, even if I don't think Carly will ever work the same way as she did back then (although I don't believe the show even really wanted her to become as prominent as she did at the time). 

Fans who are, for instance, clamoring for more Trina are also likely to be let down.

I'm going to wait and see on Trina. I think a lot of what is going on there now is typical FV guarantee shuffling and her mourning period getting caught up in the HW change. I'd be very surprised if PM doesn't end up making good use of her, if he has any control. But we'll see. Her grave scenes were very good.

52 minutes ago, DRW50 said:

I think with the leads GH has, Valentini's issues, and as others have mentioned, the incredibly fear-based nature of the show when it comes to diversity or avoiding the status quo, you are never going to get a huge leap forward. 

I (and I think several other posters) would argue the show has made a lot of strides in terms of dialogue, character work, family connectivity and some more even-handedness re: the mob over the last month-plus. The issue right now is necessary cast cuts, bigger changes and new stories. Whether these things materialize remains to be seen. I do think TA got her most prominent and strong scenes in quite some time at Spencer's gravesite with a very good monologue across several segments a few days back.

6 minutes ago, carolineg said:

In some ways the AJ/Carly is the unfulfilled pairing on GH.  And then they just go back to Jason/Carly or Sonny/Carly.  I didn't think SK was FV's enemy, but more Ron's.  I thought Vanessa was Frank's #1 enemy lol 

I think SK pissed them both off, or that shít they wrote in would not have been allowed to stand onscreen every day for months. Not saying he's the easiest person on Earth to deal with based on some talk over the years about his outspoken politics, but he's clean and sober these days at least AFAIK and clearly is not lacking work. I'll always hope for his return. And yes, I think FV lives in mortal fear of Brenda lol. If she comes back that's when shít will get really real.

21 minutes ago, carolineg said:

I have never seen Laura phone in a pairing either.  She tries no matter what.  I just wish the show were give her something a bit different with a love interest.  And, yes, Jagger needs a haircut.  It's giving 2010 Dante Chachi hair vibes.

The true north will always be Sean Kanan's A.J. for me, but he is otherwise occupied and Frank's mortal enemy. Ah well.

@DRW50 @Faulkner apologies for all the @'s - EW cover story with the cast and RTD interviewed. They confirm Ruby is in for two seasons (in some fashion at least), and even Bonnie Langford gets a word in.

1 minute ago, carolineg said:

Anyway, it's just another man that's at odds with Sonny and Jason, another guy who was with Brenda (although that's completely non-relevant at this point), another guy that's going to be sad when she runs to Jason/Sonny eventually and protects them etc.  It's just so obvious and done before.   I just don't know how the show is going to make this pairing new or different.  I am willing to see it out though.

I don't care that much about it either, but I do think they have some chemistry and nice interplay. But I have also never seen Laura shortsell a pairing yet, ever. She didn't put him down or disengage, she was right there. Dear God he needs a haircut though.

3 minutes ago, carolineg said:

I have to say I did enjoy the Carly/Wagger scenes as well.  I just think it felt too predictable.  

At least Nina got the point of view yesterday that the hotel took up too much time and effort and that she didn't like it.  It makes me feel better about Carly taking over.

I am tentatively open to more Carly/Wagger but I agree that blond on blond is a hate crime lol. And yeah, I don't care about Nina giving it up. Giving it to her always seemed arbitrary on par with the endless job carnival nonsense on Y&R; just a timefiller, not something she would actually care about. I still prefer Carly going back to her humbler roots at Bobbie's though, so I hope she'll keep that.

4 minutes ago, carolineg said:

I thought JJY's Lucky was the Deception photographer for a minute, but I could be wrong

I believe he was. I will never forget his and Dr. Sarah's kinky softcore photo session where she like ordered him around under the hot lights lol. But I thought someone had him model for half a second too.

As far as the last week or so goes I actually enjoyed a lot of the Carly/Wagger chemistry test, with the exception of the occasional rambling about Nina. The stuff with Carly talking about how much she'd invested in her time with the Metro Court was solid character work for me, and I could see something of the throughline from Sarah Brown's working-class Carly to the older woman who finally got to live out her dreams of being at the center of a luxury hotel and then lost it. I of course liked Drew and Nina, and the stuff with Alexis re: her license and talking about it with Molly and others has been consistently character-based and well-written, almost making me forget the presence of Contest Winner/Crewmember's Relative Molly #8. I think Tracy and Stella was in there too, and I have been very surprised to enjoy the Heather recovery stuff. The rest is a blur, but there's also been too much Sasha for me to tolerate and a lot of silly stuff I just don't care about, like goofball Nina rushing in to tell 3 different men in a business meeting all about Carly and Wagger. I like Nina as the crazy socialite but who cares? Why did they all sit through that lol?

Also pleased to hear that apparently Cyrus' radio preacher man thing is over. Thank you, PM/EK.

Just now, titan1978 said:

Me too! But a year of terrible stories and the last two days in overalls have left me beyond numb to poor Sasha. Time to cut that character. Let her get an amazing job offer from Home and Heart that takes her out of Port Charles and we wish her the best!

If this was really PM's Santa Barbara, Comet the horse would trample her to death.

1 minute ago, titan1978 said:

I have no doubt Frank Valentini is still very much the EP here. But his show is starting to look and feel like GH did before his time, including stronger day to day writing and way less focus on his friends from OLTL. 

I'll agree with all of that. I'm going to be very curious to see how May and the BLQ/Chase wedding stuff goes, even if I find him infantile and boring for her. I expect fireworks next month at least, possibly in conjunction with that wedding. And I hope Drew and Nina kick it up in and out of bed and the office. It's very strange to be suddenly invested in those two of all people.

I hope they step it up with Natalia being the momager from hell tbh. That could be fun and actual conflict vs. the magic of Sasha, and it would give KM bigger story than waiting for this baby to either pop or preferably die.

I thought JY's wooden Lucky might have modeled a little in the early 2000s, but I may be totally wrong.

Circling back to GH re: these crossovers, I still can't get over how the strike business with Martin (remember him?) being married to Blair from OLTL went absolutely nowhere. He has some big dumb secret about getting alimony from her and does Lucy ever find out or learn that the Deceptor was apparently stolen from Blair by him? I don't recall so. Pointless.