prefab1

I really like how Ric and Ava are putting together the pieces so quickly about what Kristina did. If they can use this as leverage against despicable Kristina and Sonny, all the better. I liked the Lucky-Kristina scenes, although I think his softheartedness will backfire big time (and maybe spark some conflict with Elizabeth). I don't recall Liz and Lucas ever having a very close friendship, but their scenes discussing their dating lives were very cute today.

I recently watched the climax of the Rebecca/Mona storyline, where she takes Amanda, Mark, and Quint hostage, and I thought those scenes were fantastic. They seem to be from the very brief period when Gary Tomlin and the Cullitons were headwriting, and I like them a lot more than the touches of Gothic storytelling I've seen from Marland:

Same here. That and the Anna/Duke/Faison stuff got me back watching the show for several months, though I tuned out again once it seemed to be returning to its status quo.

While I agree that Rick often seemed to be just one of several sad-sack men hovering around the canvas in the show's final years, I also think that MOL could be excellent when given the right material. I actually thought both he and Yvonna Kopasz were riveting in this 2006 Inside the Light episode about the state of Rick and Mel's marriage. The problem is that they should have played these scenes over months, rather than just cramming them into a single Wednesday episode that many viewers probably missed.

I always assumed that Frank/ABC must have some audience research showing that a significant number of viewers tune in specifically for Sonny. He just shows up in so many more episodes than anyone else--on average, he appeared in more than 3 episodes a week last year! I doubt that they're researching the equally important question--how many lapsed GH viewers are staying away from the show because of the intense focus on Sonny? (Until a few months ago, I was one of those lapsed viewers; I didn't come back until they killed off Sam, another albatross character). Maybe they could just compromise and just cut his episode count in half; even then he'd still be showing up in 80 episodes a year!

The only time I've found Sidwell interesting is when he had some scenes with Lucas a few weeks ago where Sidwell was clearly flirting with him. So if they plan to make Sidwell bisexual, that would give the character some layers. And it would also be hilarious if homophobic Natalia ended up with a daughter, a son, and an ex-husband who are all part of the LGBTQ community.

Don't get me wrong, I really like today's special anniversary episode. But I do find it utterly bizarre how it's in a time continuum of its own, with no connection to yesterday's episode. We get Anna on the phone to Robin, but it's just to tell her about the new Cardiac Center at GH and not about the fact that Robin's daughter was arrested yesterday. And no one mentions that GH's head nurse was just in a serious car accident or that Sonny's brother and Alexis' ex-husband is currently fighting for his life in the ER.

That is something they might try, but god, I hope they don't go there. Although honestly, if the roles were reversed and they killed off Sonny to give one of his organs to Ric, I wouldn't mind. Sonny's been on for over 5000 episodes in the past 30 years, and they've just run out of storylines for him (and Maurice's acting skills have visibly degraded over the years). On the other hand, Ric is still a vital character, the best of the various "amoral lawyer" characters they have scattered around the canvas, and Rick Hearst has real chemistry with his costars.

I thought today had a nice mix of plot-driven scenes (with the car crash aftermath, Kristina's inadvertent confession to Lucky, and Lucky's reaction) and intimate character moments. I love when the show remembers its own history, and those scenes with Emma and Anna helped to establish Emma's motivations and showcased Braedyn Bruner's best acting to date.

I'm also appalled by GH's indifference to its long-running black characters, like TJ, who's been on the show for 13 years and has been in a relationship with Molly for most of that time, but who never seems to be mentioned by Molly or her relatives or even his own relatives. But to be honest, aside from Trina, I can't think of many black characters on GH I'd actually miss if they disappeared tomorrow. I don't actually miss seeing TJ onscreen, just like I don't miss seeing Michael onscreen; but Michael gets mentioned several times a week, whereas TJ is never mentioned onscreen. I think the key word is "token". I'm not sure how many African-American writers are on the GH staff, but it certainly feels like no one behind the scenes is really invested in these characters. I get the sense that the writers are afraid to give them any cultural specificity that might mark them as different from the white characters, and they're afraid to give them deep character flaws that might make them interesting. So instead we've got this group of bland buppies who are mainly there to react to things that the white characters do. I hope that someone on GH's writing staff is watching BTG and taking notes, but I doubt it.

Keep in mind, Natalia Livingston has a Daytime Emmy, and even at her worst, Satra could act circles around her.

I've been enjoying the show a lot this week, but the past couple of days of Jason/Sonny scenes remind me how much more I would be enjoying it if they didn't have to feature Maurice Benard three days a week. Some of his line readings today were just painful.

Sorry, I meant to write that she spends her time taking care of others as a nurse and mother, but you get my point. As a young woman, Liz used to be driven by her own ambitions and desires, but she gradually sublimated that and moved into a caretaking role, a supporting role. And so it's sort of thrilling to see her reconnect with her old "main character energy" again.

GH isn't very good with romance these days (and honestly that's been one of the show's weak spots for the past 25 years, since the Guza/JFP era). But those Liz/Lucky scenes today were powerfully romantic and poignant. I love how they're showing Liz, who spends most of her time now caring for others as a wife and a mother, getting to return to a time and place where she was led by her own desires. And the fact that they're showing us the flashback footage is just icing on the cake.

What I loved about that short scene was how her speech was very theatrical, right on the verge of camp, but she managed to connect it to real emotion, so that just in a 30-second span you could get a sense of Ava's self-pity and fear and rage.

I think that between yesterday's episode and today's, Maura West has her Emmy reel sewn up. Iconic scenes where she's standing over Sonny's prostrate body. I just wish they'd gone on a little bit longer, but such is the short-attention-span editing of GH.

Like most of us on this board, I think Sonny is an albatross around the show's neck. But I have to say that Maurice Benard comes alive in his scenes with Maura West. Their scenes today were electric, and I appreciated how the writers weren't afraid to show Sonny's petty, vindictive side.

God help me, but I'm actually starting to like those WSB training scenes with Joss. They're just so bizarre and tonally very different from everything else on the show, but the actors are committed enough, they're selling it. The guy playing Vaughn is pretty good, and he's got a sarcastic edge that sets him apart from most of Frank's generi-hunks. And these scenes are really playing to Eden McCoy's strengths, as her steeliness and stubborness actually work in this context.

Unpopular opinion, I guess, but I think the show has been really good this week. A number of plots the show has taken time to set up--Brook Lynn and Dante's baby, Valentin and Brennan's Spy Vs. Spy thing--are finally paying off. And I think the show has been good about balancing its traditional strength--cliffhangery, plot-driven action stuff where someone pulls a gun on someone else, or someone ends up in the hospital when they're poisoned with Polonium--with quieter, character-driven moments. The show is using a lot of its veteran actresses and their history really well. Tracy is the obvious case, but we also got a great scene with Felicia today talking about her own tumultuous time with Frisco in an attempt to convince Carly to dump Brennan. And even though Laura seemed a little too empathetic towards Valentin yesterday, I did love how she brought up her own past with Luke and Lucky to talk about the psychological tolll of a life on the run. It's definitely not perfect, and sometimes plot points take precedence over character logic. As someone pointed out upthread, it makes no sense that Sonny wouldn't just shoot Valentin. But I do think GH is doing a lot right, and I'm enjoying it more than I have in years and years.

Okay, the fact that Valentin has a fake passport that reads "Will Cortlandt" made me laugh out loud. Also a nice touch that Charlotte has a fake passport that reads "Melanie Cortlandt."

As I said in the other thread, we need a poll on exactly when he's going to die saving Joss from a fiery explosion and/or mob shootout: February 2026 Sweeps May 2026 Sweeps November 2026 Sweeps

I still can't get behind a Brad/Lucas recoupling, but I thought Van Hansis really sold the hell out of those scenes, making me believe that (for whatever far-fetched reason) Lucas was ready to jump Brad's bones. I guess all those years being paired with Jake Silbermann really taught him how to generate onscreen sexual heat with a partner who's not giving you much to work with. Now if they'd just give him a love interest who could match his intensity--is Eric Sheffer Stevens still available?

I knew that Frank must get his casting ideas from watching old David DeCoteau movies! This guy was one of the male leads in 1313: Cougar Cult, which must be seen to be believed (but probably should not be seen at all): Anyway, I give this guy 18 months tops before Frank gets bored with seeing him shirtless and replaces him with a fresh hunk. The only question is, will Vaughn die saving Joss's life in a tragic explosion and/or mob shootout during February 2026 Sweeps, May 2026 Sweeps, or November 2026 Sweeps?

Yeah, I felt Ric was really speaking for the audience when he told Kristina point blank that she needed therapy. (Too bad that GH's resident therapist has temporarily departed for places Beyond the Gates).

Boy, this Sidwell stuff might just be the dumbest storyline on the show right now, and that's saying something. What's more, it's making most of the characters involved with Sidwell seem much dumber than they should be. Sasha comes up to the table of Deception execs and says, "Why are you doing business with this man? He kidnapped me and held me in a room with a bomb," and Lucy just brushes it off, and Natalia kind of shrugs and rolls her eyes a bit like, "Yeah, that sounds like my ex-husband!" And it doesn't help that Carlo Rota plays Sidwell like a Dollar Tree version of a James Bond villain.