GH: Classic Thread

[amybrickwallace]

Just like the first Kristina!!

[carolineg]

I liked OG Kristina for some reason.  She was super aggressive about telling Sonny the truth about Alexis and the baby which was really none of her business but I liked her.   I think I am easily bewitched by people with red hair although I hated Siobhan and demon young Michael.

Jamie Ray Newman won an Oscar for producing and still acts, so I think it turned out okay for her.

BTW, my fave Alexis scene of all time is when she throws the ashes of Kristina at Sonny at her funeral.  And Alexis says something super racist about Sonny being a peasant or worker for her family.  But that scene was good.

Edited September 27, 2021 by carolineg

[Vee]

I don't necessarily think Carly is all that far removed from who she was. She got money and power and she used to it to create a lux hotel home/world for herself which she controls and always has a place for her and her family, unlike where she came from, and can lord it over others as needed. She's still poor white trash if you scratch the surface and I think Sarah can play it all easily. I think it's the stories that got weak.

I always liked Jaime Ray Newman even when fans mostly hated her at the time. I had wanted JJ to come back and be paired with her - Spencer and Cassadine, in love. I thought losing her was a huge waste.

I think the original baby Kristina secret was dynamite, and kept hidden for a good long stretch. Unfortunately they've failed Kristina completely as an adult. It didn't have to be that way. I have also not forgotten that racist peasant line lmao. It ages worse by the year!

[j swift]

It is always annoying to me when writers forget the initial specialization of characters.  For example, Lucy Coe became so silly and dumb, but started out as a university law librarian.  At the very least she should have known that Ian Thorndike was cribbing the works of Irish poets.  Similarly, Carly went through the nursing training at GH as a physical therapist, but you'd never know it when she is either in an emergency medical situation or creating a spa for her hotels.

[Vee]

I could swear I remember Laura's Carly using her training to sneak into the hospital and examine the records re: the monkey virus in 2006(?). I think that's the last time I remember her referencing it though.

[amybrickwallace]

That was a real tour de force by NLG. Alexis calling out Sonny, Jason and Roy. It was Luis Alcazar who was responsible for bombing that warehouse, right?

[Vee]

I believe so, yes.

[carolineg]

Yeah that racist line does not age well at all, but NLG really killed that scene and spoke several non racist truths to Sonny.  I liked the idea of Kristina and the actual initial story, but they truly have failed her as an adult on the show.  I liked that it was right around the time Sonny thought he would never be able to have a biological child and Kristina was his first.  Little did we know................

I think LW plays Carly more soccer mom than poor white trash, but I don't hate it.   There is just something more polished about her than SJB's Carly.  I can't really imagine SJB's Carly interacting with Josslyn or even Michael.  I am sure SJB is more than capable of making it work, but I just have a hard time picturing her doing it. 

I think Jamie Ray Newman falls in line with a lot of young heroines in that basic era that weren't well received at first and GH just ditches them almost immediately.  Chloe, Hannah, V, Miranda, Angel, Kristina, Reese, Summer etc.  That's why the show has a hard time finding a female lead outside of Carly because the only leads they tried to make work in that era were Courtney and Sam.

Yes. This was the beginning of the set up for Brenda's return.  I believe that's why she's even referenced in Alexis's tirade even though they didn't ever really interact before this.

[Vee]

LW has always had that rough and tumble Maryland girl pumping gas deep down IMO. It's there in every role she's ever played on daytime. The soccer mom stuff (or Cassie the stripper becoming an island princess on GL) is just what she (and Carly) have come up into. I've always seen beneath.

I can imagine Sarah playing opposite the kids but it would be very different. The writers never really had to be challenged by LW's portrayal because Carly, since both of the kids came of age, has mostly been written very poorly with virtually all the old writing staff gone.

In fairness, I think the only ones worth a damn were Chloe, V. and Kristina Sr. I don't think Hannah ever fully worked and I liked LV with Billy Warlock.

Edited September 27, 2021 by Vee

[amybrickwallace]

Thanks. I don't recall Alexis actually throwing Kristina's ashes at Sonny, though I do recall her very visceral anger in that scene.

[DRW50]

I barely watch GH anymore but I remember a scene - and I barely watched then either - after Guza left and before Carlivati came in, where Carly  overheard various characters basically calling her trash, and she proceeded to have a somewhat humiliating meltdown at somebody's wedding. It was one of those rare times viewers could be reminded of Carly's roots, and it was much more interesting than what they tend to do with the character once she became all about mob men. 

[carolineg]

I can see what your saying with Carly and the character trajectory has changed for her.  I just see them almost as two different characters, but that sometimes happens when a character is on screen for so long.  I find that SJB's Carly was so insecure she made awful choices, but LW's Carly is very confident.  Again, it's probably just character changes over the years, but she's less vulnerable than SJB for sure.  LW just lacks something SJB had that was more rootable as the scrappy underdog which Carly isn't anymore.  BUT I like LW and she saves the character of Carly for me when I generally wouldn't be a fan since I am so pro-Brenda. 

I don't think any of those female characters were big losses, but it seemed at the time if they weren't immediately a big hit GH just dropped them.  Characters like Carly/Brenda need time to develop and I am not saying any of them were even in that potential, but it was like one failed pairing-bye!

She drops the urn and the ashes fall.  Actually she might knock it over and freaks out, but I would have to re watch the scenes.  It's been awhile.  I just remember her screaming at Sonny A LOT

Here it is.  She does throw the ashes at Sonny lol.

[j swift]

I would add that the power differential has changed between Sonny and Carly as the role has been recast. 

Brown's Carly usually seemed insecure that she was Sonny's second choice after Brenda.  It felt as if she was chasing Sonny to try to get him to commit to her.  Brown's Carly came to Port Charles yearning for a connection after the difficulty of learning that she was adopted.  From Bobby to Sonny, her motives were always written as if she wanted to hurt others as a defense against the constant fear that they might abandon her.  This fit well with the manic energy that Brown brings to most of her acting parts, she always seems on the edge of breaking apart.

Whereas Wright's Carly has been pursued by other men and is no longer burdened by an insecure relationship with Sonny, because they share the bond of children together.  And no matter who else they date, marry, or have children with, having Michael as their oldest child, and experiencing the trauma of his childhood, as well as loosing Morgan, has created a lasting bond that Carly never needs to doubt.  Which fit well with Wright's cooler energy.

Edited September 27, 2021 by j swift

[amybrickwallace]

Thanks for posting the video. Yes, that's what I remembered the most - Alexis screaming at Sonny.

[Vee]

Another interesting thing to note re: the long conversation caroline and I have had re: Sonny, Brenda and whether he could leave the mob for a woman - I saw the scenes the other day with Benard and Cynthia Watros/Nina at his 'grave'. While Mo struggled to perform dialogue as usual, she really got to him and he was quite emotional as she talked about him having had the option to leave his old life and the underworld behind. The material surrounding Amnesia Sonny and his life with her in Nixon Falls may be shitty hackwork, but there was something there in his reaction that could well be used as a lead-in someday to choosing Brenda over that world.

All of this. I think that's the real difference in the Carlys, it's not about Laura Wright (though she has often played hardscrabble characters who come into power).