GL: June Discussion

[jfung79]

Time for a new monthly thread!

[jfung79]

I'll start things off by gushing about Rafe on Monday June 1st. It was quite a treat to see the character take such a sprawling emotional journey in just one episode, from reverence and hope at his dad's grave to disappointment at the police station to defensiveness at the Beacon -- with concern for and connection with his mother running all the way through that. Finally, after hardly any airtime for so long, Rafe gets a decent amount of material, and boy does he shine!

I loved his wanting to following in Gus's footsteps and his insecurity about it. I loved his scenes with Natalia where he was all about not wanting to disappoint her -- first not wanting to get her hopes up at the cemetery hiding his application, and then not being able to tell her that he couldn't be a cop after talking with Frank. I loved how he wasn't angry when Frank told him he couldn't be a cop, more disappointed and desperate -- I can totally see less good writers and a less good actor going for "angry young man" in that scene instead of the sensitive character that Rafe is and has been since his introduction.

It was his scene with Olivia talking about a job for him that showed Rafe at his most interesting, however. I loved the mix of emotions in that scene (grateful yet with more than a dash of spoiled Spaulding ... a young man wanting to build a future for himself and not wanting to disappoint his mother, yet lying to her ... a polite boy saying "please" even as he is angrily telling Olivia not to interfere in his life ... the juxtapositions were fascinating!). Olivia, too, was a delight to watch in that scene -- more than a bit arrogant at the beginning, trying to coax the truth out of Rafe, perhaps bordering on needlessly mean and condescending in order to achieve that coaxing out of the truth -- then concerned for Rafe once he did admit Frank told him he wouldn't be able to be a cop, to the point that Rafe felt smothered.

Also from Monday:

- I was glad to see Vanessa.

- I was disappointed that Daisy agreed so easily to be part of James's plan instead of trying to talk him out of another scam. I like James' amoral feelings about the conning and lack of real gratitude to his dad though, it is appropriately twisted Spaulding.

- I liked Natalia asking Alan to stay out of Rafe's life, and Alan (pretending?) agreeing. It's about time that they remembered Rafe is a Spaulding.

- I loved the cliffhanger with Phillip finding James and the investor, and James's "now I'm in trouble" look.

[jfung79]

OMG, more Rafe today! I'm getting spoiled. Clayton's desperation is also interesting, as is the clash between Phillip and James/Daisy. I side with Natalia on the Olivia vs Natalia argument over "coddling" Rafe. Natalia is hardly coddling! I had forgotten how much of a b*tch Olivia is, this is very in character for her. I think she was like this about Marah and Shayne too. And Cyrus, I didn't realize how much I'd missed him!

The show is firing on all cylinders so far this episode.

[jfung79]

The episode is over now, and it got even better after that great start.

I'm glad Olivia realized the error of her ways by the end of the episode and apologized to Natalia -- although I wish she had went in for coffee. Natalia's passive-aggressive confrontation with Father Ray at the mini-mart was awesome too!

Daisy talked to Olivia about Rafe and wants to see him and hang out as friends, she hasn't forgotten him! Just when the show was starting to let me down on that front by ignoring her history with Rafe. I'm also glad that Olivia suggested Daisy and Rafe hang out, it shows she does care about Rafe. Rafe and James had the rivalrous interaction, with James throwing in digs in about jail, not answering about where Alan was, and hiding that Daisy wanted to talk to Rafe, that I had just been posting about wanting. And uh oh, Rafe is becoming more Spaulding by the minute, looking for Alan, talking about Edmund having loads of money, referring to his mother dismissively (though still loving her), and talking about how he's different now.

It is a sign that he will probably be cool with Otalia, though, that he told James that his mother needs to realize she needs to get a life.

There's the appropriate level of mystery with Cyrus and the new character. I liked Buzz and Cyrus's talk the most out of all of Cyrus's interactions. (Minor quibble: I don't like how everyone refers to Cyrus leaving before, considering we never saw him leave unless I totally blanked. This is one of those few times where I agree with Mitch about things happening off-screen.)

9.5/10, GL is on a roll .... Too bad it's about to be abruptly cut short when all the returns happen and the story shifts to wrap up the show. That will still be good, I'm sure, but in a different way.

[baller]

We really must be watching two different shows. All Rafe has been is one note anger, and it's lame. And the Rafe/James/Daisy triangle I saw from a mile away--and rolled my eyes.

I thought that the Fr. Ray/Natalia conversation was the first real moment for a while with the characters.

And seeing BethAnn made me sad for about .2 seconds that GL was canned because I FLOVE her on screen. This is one story that will most likely end up tanking but I might just watch her on mute.

[jfung79]

I wish it was a triangle, but I don't think the show will be going there. They aren't committed enough to Rafe to make it a triangle. This is the first time Daisy has even mentioned Rafe in like a month.

Actually I don't wish it was a triangle, I think Daisy and Rafe should just be together given their history. I don't get the appeal of James except for that one time when he was the artist and drew her picture. Daisy is doing her typical "blame the good guys for your bad boy's problems" thing blaming Phillip for her and James's problems though, which is both annoying and in character.

I guess Rafe is just too much of a good boy for Daisy.

One-note anger? Are you kidding me? He's palling around with Frank and joking and laughing about Edmund having cash one day after having his dream crushed - with Frank as the messenger. That is one-note anger? Last week, talking about playing some "Angelica" video game with "munchkin" Emma is one-note anger? I can see a recast or less good writers making Rafe a one-note anger boy, but he is anything but, he is the least angry and most sensitive "juvenile delinquent" daytime (at least the soaps I watch) has seen in some time.

[Mitch]

Good God I really do believe that you are watching an alternate reality GL.. .I get absolutely none of your gushing on this limp biscuit of a show...please, can you let me know which dimension you are getting your GL beamed in from?

I guess you might like it if you even remotely care about Rafe..but about 99.9 percent of the viewers could care less if he spends all his time laughing with Frank and playing cute with Emma, the freaki show is dying and they waste airtime on Rafe (and even if this was written before the cancellation, when you are on the bubble you dont waste time with characters like Rafe/Daisy/etc.

[DRW50]

I don't mind Rafe, but I think he becomes one-note.

My favorite part of the recent episodes was seeing Vanessa again. Vanessa with longer hair, wearing that shiny power suit, standing up to Alan -- all this time with Billy is turning her back into the pre-Matt Vanessa I loved so much. I just wish the confrontation with Alan had been longer and we could see her more often. When she said Maureen would be so thrilled to be a bridesmaid, I got confused and thought she meant Marina! We never even see Maureen.

[P.J.]

I couldn't even sit through that eppy to see Billy and Vanessa.

Sigh...poor Frank. He can't even have five minutes alone with a woman like Blake to get some. He's got Rafe chasing after him like a lost puppy. Did that kid ever finish high school? Who doesn't know you can't be a cop if you've been convicted of a felony?

I do love how Phillip and Beth both use "Susan" instead of "Daisy". Just because it's obviously irritating to the little guttersnipe.

[Mitch]

Can you tell me why we get all this time with Rafe while Billy and Van and Blake get like three lines? Are the vets being payed by the line? Why are we wasting time on Rafe to begin with..did anyone at the studio actually think that viewers would be interested in Rafe and what he feels about squat?? Was that going to save them from canellation?

No one at GL cares enough to worry about the details, so the felony thing is small potatoes compared to the fact that Dim Daisy used to change James diaper and now they are the same age. Does anyone at GL ever get embarrased by the product they put out?

My question is, now with Ed and Michelle coming back, are we going to get a reconstructed Bauer Kitchen? Is the BBQ going to take place in Harley's junked up back yard? (who the freak ever thought that it would make a good location to begin with??) Will we see Ed, Van and Billy get two lines while we watch Daisy and Rafe and the dumbass new "jewel," plot with Cyrus???

[P.J.]

I don't think TIIC give a crap about Rafe, except as a c***block for O/Nat. Someday, when somebody dissects what went wrong with GL, they're going to point to a whole slew of bad actors getting way too much airtime as one of the factors. Ashlee, Rafe, Remy excuse me Remington, Ava, thisDaisy, Cyrus, Grady, thisMallet, thisMarina to name a few.

I love seeing Van and Billy...but when's the last time she even bothered to speak to Dinah? Why don't TIIC play up the Dinah/Bill split more?

[Mitch]

So true, but obviously someone at GL still has the boneheaded delusion that people care about Remy, Ashlee, Rafe and Daised and not about Van and Billy. While I think there is pressure from the network to make GL a younger show, I dont think they are telling Wheeler to focus on the nonentities that she does. Why have Blake's kids not been aged while we see freakin' Rafe and Ashlee??? Wheeler has stuck to her boneheaded decisions and she actually thinks, despite what we see with the ratings that people care about these characters. If it wasnt for Wheeler stubbornly sticking to the assumption that Phillip would still be the crazed Big Bad, we would have had GA before. She is also intent on keeping people she personally likes, like the Ashley actress on contract, despite the fact that their character's usefullness is over.

[RoseVioletDaisy]

I don't think the Dinah/Bill split is brought up much because to the writers it was just a plot point in the atrocious kidnapping story which was completely couple-based. It was a story mostly for Bill/Lizzie but there were also a few monkey-wrenches thrown in for the extremely unpopular M&M pairing with Dinah using and manipulating Mallet to throw suspicion off of herself. Now Bill is far too busy being with Lizzie and Dinah with Shayne for a little thing like family drama to get in the way.

While I agree with you for the most part I also don't really care that much now. Before cancellation, yes, I was angry over this but at this point, why bother SORASing Kevin, Jason, and Clarissa or anyone else? There's no time left to do anything with any of them. I don't think CBS is touching GL at all right now. They've canceled it, it's almost over. It's not their problem anymore. As bored as I am though, I do understand Wheeler's focus even if I don't agree with it. The ratings are at or near all-time lows. With the show canceled, history tells us that the ratings are only gonna go down, not up, as the end gets closer. More people will tune in for the absolute ending but not for the three months leading up to it. She knows that. She also knows that the most veteran-focused fans are probably long gone already and might only tune in for the last episode or two if that. Given that, she's wrapping things up for the characters she has now, for the viewers who are still here watching them rather than grasping at straws trying to re-attract viewers who left in disgust over what she's done and is still doing with the show. That kinda makes sense to me even though I don't like it and wouldn't have done it myself.

[Mitch]

While I would agree with that, all of these stories were at least planned and written "before," the cancellation. This was the time when I would have thought "[!@#$%^&*], this show is on the bubble so I am going to go balls out, and even if they do cancel us it will throw egg on their faces if our ratings actually inch up a point as they do it!' So no, I think this was Wheeler's plan on "good soap," and something the viewers really care about. God, I would love to have a one on one interview with her to see if she is really as delusional as she comes off as.

[DRW50]

Why would Marina hire Cyrus at Company?

BAB looks hot with the sexy librarian glasses. I know this role will go nowhere but I wish OLTL had put her to better use.

That scene where James confessed to impersonating Bill and Beth said to Phillip, "My God, what have you done?" was almost like a joke scene. Weird.

I enjoyed that brief scene between Matt/Vanessa/Billy, and the slight tension between Billy and Matt. Now all they need to do is give them a story of their own, and have Vanessa and Billy get back together.

It was nice to see Alex again. Marj Dusay looks great for her age and I always like the brief interaction she gets with Buzz or Lillian. Lillian also looked great, considering she was wearing an Easter egg color. Marj, Tina Sloan, and Maeve Kinkead are aging or have aged very well.

I loved that bit where Reva was having fun while taking her mug shot. That was such a classic Reva moment.