Vee

Swickard has a nice body and is willing to play ball with AS' restrictions. Therefore, since Setton is clearly still Frank's favorite, they're supposed to be the central couple of the show. It's very weird and conservative/Quiverfull-esque. Again: If this were Guza II or any other regime (or any other soap) Dante and Lulu would absolutely be heading up the show, especially with a past ABCD star as a well-done recast. But instead they're second fiddle to this. It's just bizarre. And I'm not someone saying BLQ can't be a key lead, or that Setton was miscast. Neither is true, but the way she's been handled due to the offscreen restrictions, the very dull but bland pairing, and the prioritizing of her over Alexa Havins and Lulu or DZ is just crazy.

There's nothing and he's an overgrown little boy. But Setton is Frank's favorite, so they're supposed to be leading the show. It would not happen in any other regime lol.

I don't either. But I think it's largely a question of priorities. Dante and Lulu were one of the closest things to a supercouple GH had after the 2000s, not counting the Jason wars, Scrubs or Spencer/Trina. Even when I disliked JMB's Lulu and couldn't invest in them as a result, I knew they were popular and very capable performers. My ability to invest changed when they got Alexa, and given how hard Dominic has worked for almost two decades. It's a no-brainer given that lasting popularity and two very talented and present actors now in the roles to have them leading the show. They're not (or rather, are distinctly soft-pedaled for months) because neither actor or character IMO is FV's priority. That's malpractice to me.

Thanks. The archives are invaluable.

Like, I'm pretty sure some part of the major BTS drama last year had to do with keeping her lol. The instant PM was gone she's a Scorpio, and she's having Michael's baby! So much for that. I do think she could've gone a little longer now given the Willow/Michael situation, but I would've dumped her with a happy ending pretty quick (my silly little idea before this was to write her off after a whirlwind romance with a nu-Sly Eckert, lol). I would have to think his patience has limits there, given her past antics (and not just quitting). I think she is back because Jason is that hard up. They're lucky he's slotted in so well with the Qs.

The difference is that in the 2000s and early 2010s Lulu was popular with both a large portion of the audience while also a star in the show's eyes, at the same time as many of us also found JMB's Lulu unctuous, cold and insufferable. Technically I could acknowledge Berman was talented and that Dante and Lulu had real chemistry and were quite popular, but the handling of the character as they tried to mold her into mini-Carly (without any of the perceived flaws or hard times) always put me off. Today, Alexa is an excellent recast I think the audience embraced but the writing and BTS focus has changed. Amanda Setton is Frank's favorite, the Qs are ascendant again and he clearly has little time for Laura or her children. So he has no problem treating Lulu's longtime failings much more honestly. I don't have a problem with that aspect of it - what I have a problem with is consistently making Lulu the heavy or downgrading her and letting her take a huge hit, possibly in fear of BLQ losing her perch as the central below-middle-aged heroine of the show. While Setton is talented and I think BLQ should be a leading character whoever is in the role, I think it is undeniable that Alexa is more talented and capable and I also think Lulu's a stronger character warts and all. I don't want to see her go under the wheels for Brook Lynn and her muumuus, lol. Dominic and Alexa should be leading the show in that age range, not Setton's weird BTS preferences and the amiable but uninteresting Josh Swickard as her arm candy. There's simply no comparison performance or chemistry-wise between those duos. It's a far cry from the 2000s, when Lulu was untouchable and BLQ was treated like a disposable sex worker or joke whenever she was rarely seen. There is something cyclical and organic about that change in fortune at a soap, sure. But it doesn't have to be one extreme or the other.

I wonder what spurred this now after they clearly went to the wall to make her more relevant and keep her in the back half of last year. Budget, I suppose.

Bye!

They are, which is why I have no use for either.

I remain convinced Carlivati's original plan with all this a decade ago was to cement Nina and Nathan (who Cartini lusted after endlessly back then) as both a new tier of Cassadines. We know Obrecht had an affair with Thaao Penghlis' Victor, and they openly hinted at that idiot lunkhead being Victor's son. I suspect Nina was not far behind - maybe Victor slept with both sisters - to try and make her work. Thank God it didn't happen. I can't imagine them hanging out at Wyndemere with her calling him "Jay" or "Bro".

I would not be shocked if Corday rehired him just as that show began to allegedly improve, lol. That's classic Corday. I would not be super shocked if he mended fences with Frank, either. Y&R under Carlivati would be uniquely bizarre.

Inexplicably, yes. I have never bought into that whole bizarre family Carlivati created.

Tristan looked very, very frail last year and tbqh I wasn't sure he was in any condition to perform during that recent story. I cringed when they had Robert carrying his own bags in his and Holly's exit, which did feel like a final farewell and something they probably did knowing whatever condition he was in. There was talk of him returning soon, but I suspected it wasn't going to happen. I'm glad he made an appearance, but I think it may be his last. I hope I'm wrong and I very much hope he gets well.

I know there was talk or maybe rumor of Malone using Susannah when he came back in 2003-04, but I can't remember if anything ever came of it onscreen or if she was even mentioned by name again. I tended to keep track of those random mentions he did at the time of long-forgotten or unseen characters he likely had plans for, like Tina and C.J. (both of which got scrapped) or the mostly-aborted influx of Marcie's father and brothers, which though several appeared I think was originally supposed to be a much bigger family than it ended up being onscreen. (Possibly pairing the father with Viki and the gay brother with C.J., etc.)

Ugh. With that cast I really want to see that.

She's also tough as nails and seems like the most capable person at GH next to Liz, when she's not being blackmailed or something. That's what caught my eye from the beginning: Her forcefulness. She's not a neutered character in the way, say, '90s Simone often was, or someone to be taken down a peg for being haughty, as Lainey Winters was treated in her terrible sexist pairing with Mfundo Morrison's Justus. If it was me BK would be leading a lot more story there.

I think they just don't seem to like Portia vs. the other (boring) characters, and consistently make her the heavy. Which is wild since she is easily the best actor in that little triangle by a hundred miles.

A bit late, but Elizabeth Dennehy (Blake Thorpe Marler #1, GL) has a supporting role as Michael Rooker's wife in Horizon: An American Saga, the first film in Kevin Costner's possibly doomed, very strange (and soapy) Western quadrilogy (now streaming on HBO).

Well, Tracy goes without saying.

The stuff with Willow and Drew picking up again and Michael scheming is always what locks me in to watch again these days. That and stuff I think might be good drama with Gio, preferably minus shirt. As opposed to just BLQ and Lulu screaming at each other.

I've definitely thought of him.

I did think she had real chemistry with Redaric Williams but we know how that ended.

Monica's birth family has always been mostly enigmatic and unknown. Viki's entire bloodline has decades of massive history. How exactly would tying Viki and Monica together be beneficial to either one? It feels like bad convoluted fanfiction. I don't particularly love the idea of Erika coming on playing anyone other than Viki given her massive footprint, but the idea I l like even less is suddenly saying Viki has yet another secret relative and it happens to be the late matriarch of General Hospital.

John, there is no way that is even remotely necessary.

Easily the area of the canvas I kept trying to catch up for, lol.