Port Charles Discussion Thread

[dc11786]

Louise Sorel's Donatella Stewart's stay may have also played a part in the Lucy / Rachel battle for a seat on the hospital board, but maybe that was later. 

The scene @Franko shared is a bit of a trip. More lesbian undertones to Lucy's relationship with women. I am assuming Sorel's character is a combo Donatella Versace / Martha Stewart. The short run patient arcs in 2000 are pretty strong from what I've heard. Linda Purl is the next one, I believe, with her right to die story that was suppose to echo some of the Dominique story with Scott acting as Claire Wright's attorney. 

It was very interesting seeing Sal Viscusco later in the episode as the tabloid reporter that Alan catches snooping around. 

2000 is a pretty decent year despite the insane turnover in the writers seat. I wish Harris and Bloom had been given another year or two to continue telling their version of "Port Charles."

[dc11786]

I watched to episodes from late in Harris/Bloom's run (September 29, October 2). The episodes were well constructed. The September 29th episode in particularly smoothly moved between multiple stories by keeping the characters in two main locations (the nurses' station and the Scanlons' bar). I thought it was an effective way to move between stories without cutting to different locations. It created a sense of movement while also sorta building longer scenes. 

I forgot how good Alison and Jamal were. Erin Hershey was very energetic early on as Alison and Kiko Ellsworth is just smooth. It's a shame he never landed another leading role (I don't think his GH part was more than supporting). Anne Jeffreys as the heavy is a delighful use of the character. 

The show is also tackling the HIV storyline with Joe testing to see if he contracted the disease from his one-night stand with Nurse Jill. I was surprised to see that Jill was still around and given such a point of view. It was really nice to see the layers even to such minor supporting players in the story. Alex Mendoza is passable as Joe, and probably more age appropriate than David Gale as the younger brother. He still just doesn't feel right, though he seems fine enough opposite Ion Overman as Gabriella.  

The Livvie story is just really well constructed. Harris had been present for the original Grace story on GH I believe, which helps. I think Kevin's intense interest in Livvie causing tension in his marriage to Eve was the perfect way to segue marital discord while also setting up Lucy to swoop in with her own daughter missing. 

Ian is actually a lot of fun as the renegade doctor who thinks outside the box to help his patients. He is a necessary firework that I imagine Rachel couldn't stand, but I could see why Eve is drawn to this version of him. They are searching for the missing patient, which I think ended up intersecting with Alison and Jamal's story. 

Harris not being offered another position is disappointing. She would have done well on the P&G shows if she was given the freedom. 

[Khan]

Wasn't it revealed years ago (by somebody) that Karen Harris almost took the HW'ing gig at GL before hearing from others how awful the working conditions were?  Or am I getting that story confused with something else?

[dc11786]

I caught a couple episodes last week. 

I watched a little of May, 2000, episodes. There were two major plots in the episode: (a) Lucy showing up at the park during Julie's supervised visitation with Christina leading to the social worker taking Christina away from both women and (b) Serena ending up in Claire Wright's room. 

I don't hate the custody story as much as others, but the comment that this isn't the material that suits Lynn Herring best. I think it is still rather intriguing. Herring and Lisa Ann Hadley are fun as rivals. Lucy being willing to keep Christina safe from Julie that she is on the brink of destroying everything. In her desperate attempt to keep tabs on Christina, she has forgotten to pick up Serena from school leading to the other story. 

Serena wanders into Claire Wright's (Linda Purl) room. Serena is aware that Scotty is doing the legal work so that Claire can die at home. This is a rather poignant moment as it was clearly playing on the Dominique story, but this is going with a very different angle. Serena's point of view on the issue (she seems deeply aware of everything) asks Claire if she is scared and if she is in a lot of pain. Purl does well in this role and she has nice chemistry with Carly Shroeder. Something like this moment would be easy to skip, but it makes the story very heartwarming. 

In addition, I watched two October, 2000, episodes following the other ones I had been watching. The fall out of Joe's HIV test is very interesting. It is coming to light who was behind it and it's a desperately ugly move by a character who 100% would stoop that low. Alex Melendez isn't terrible, but he doesn't really excite me as Joe. To a lesser degree, he seems more age appropriate for Joe compared to David Gail who came off as too old for me. Melendez cast as the son of the Irish Scanlon clan is definitely a choice. 

The mystery of Livvie's paternity is unraveling very nicely with each episode giving a bit more of the story. Each piece seems to be building to a very obvious conclusion, but I think it's such a fun journey. It is also interesting that it seems to be driving Kevin and Eve apart and Kevin and Lucy together. This is just really nice. Herring and Lindstrum have great chemistry in this story and Lucy's point of view (re: Christina) makes this material meaningful. 

I really like Jamal and Allison. Amanda Barrington is desperate to keep them apart even threatening to have Allison committed to an asylum. I am curious how far Harris and Bloom were going to go with this. Allison shows some signs of PTSD after the Cedric situation and I think this would have eventually lead to Allison / Kevin. Jamal pushing away "Spunky" to keep her safe from her controlling grandmother is sad. It kills me to know what they will do to Allison and Jamal down the line. 

I would be curious what a modern reaction to all this would have been. A lot of 2000 is a variation on some of the best of Riche from 1992-1996.