GH: Classic Thread

[Franko]

Ah, thank you, @will81.

[j swift]

One imagines that behind the scenes, once production knew that Kin Shriner was not going to re-sign his contract, they knew that there was only one direction for the story.

[Franko]

Of course. What was the factor behind Kin leaving, anyway? He wanted more money? Wanted to go to New York? Needed a time out from Gloria Monty?

[Paul Raven]

Kin was the hot hearthrob at the time, although he was being diminished by Geary and the turn in writing away from Scotty and Laura.

I'm sure he was a little miffed that he was no longer the center of that story.

His contract was up and P&G offered him a record salary to move to Texas.

So he probably thought why not?

It was only for a year and as it happened he went back to GH anyway.

[amybrickwallace]

I think it ended up working out well for Kin. He's got to be one of the most adored by his peers actor to ever appear on daytime. Soap actors, past and present, West Coast and East Coast alike just love him.

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[titan1978]

Doesn’t Luke bring Laura flowers after the rape?  She is still in the hospital.  I think it was pretty clear as early as that moment the show wanted Luke to be seen as tortured by what he had done to her.  Even though he still acts awful towards her after that, I think the writing was already on the wall.

I still find it disgusting that people would yell rape me to Tony at events.  

[j swift]

Setting aside the rape for a moment, Luke's motives to flip on the mob were also only logical if the writers were trying to rehabilitate the character. 

Luke came to town with a history of mob connections.  He benefited from the mob's involvement with the disco, and it wasn't as if he was an entertainment entreprenour who suddenly had to pay for mob protection, he worked at the disco in hopes of moving up in the organization.  So, to suddenly gain a conscience and try to bring down the mob seemed to come out of nowhere.

The murder of Tony and his forced marriage to Jennifer were further motives to want revenge.  However, the Luke who arrived in Port Charles originally did not have the morals to want bring the mob to justice.  I could understand if Luke wanted to kill Frank, but it seemed implausible that he would work with legal authorities to get him arrested. 

[slick jones]

Did you mean the murder of Roy?

[amybrickwallace]

As a survivor myself, I don't even have any words. It's beyond the pale.

[j swift]

Yes, my phone autocorrects to my least favorite Jones brother

[victoria foxton]

 

  

[j swift]

Can we discuss the legal and economic realities of Port Charles mobsters?

Example #1, Frank Smith - The Smith Organization was shown to be involved in classic mob activities including money laundering and gun running.  However, Luke stole Franks's black book from his office on Founder's Day.  It does not take a legal scholar to know that stolen evidence is inadmissible at trial.  Then, Luke "decoded" the book to find gold bouillon hidden in a statue.   Correct me if I am wrong, but, while hiding gold in a statue is not a smart investment strategy, there is nothing inherently illegal about the practice.  So, how did this bring down Frank's mob?  Admittedly, Frank hired hitmen to kill Luke which would be cause for prosecution, but the stolen evidence would undoubtedly effect that case because the prosecution could not provide evidence of motive.

Example #2 Sonny Corinthos.  So, we know that Sonny is an ethical mobster because he refuses to engage in selling drugs or guns.  Thus, most of his operation is involved in the importation of coffee through the port of Port Charles.  Presumably, because it is illegal, he is importing coffee but not paying tariffs on the import.  I googled it and the tariff for coffee is 0.3464% of the cost.  So, even it was being illegally imported, nobody would be saving much on the cost of the coffee bean.  The other logical flaw in this business plan would be finding a buyer.  Large coffeehouses would not buy non-tariffed good because they have to report their sales to the IRS.  Smaller chains could not buy enough coffee to support the import, warehousing, and transport of the goods (as everyone who has ever bought coffee beans knows, they go bad after a short shelf life).  So, how is this considered mafia tactics?  They don't charge local business for protection.  They don't engage in racketeering or gambling.  Where's the organized crime here versus just a company with a very flawed infrastructure? 

Edited October 14, 2021 by j swift

[Vee]

I don't believe for one second Sonny's organization doesn't work with drugs and guns. My personal take has always been that he takes a cut of them through subsidiaries and other partners, turns his head and pretends.

I was under the impression Sonny has always been named as being involved in racketeering and gambling. They've gone after him on RICO charges more than once. I remember intimations that he used to be involved in the sex work trade in PC too and 'keeping the girls safe', but they may have dialed back on that in recent years.

Edited October 14, 2021 by Vee

[carolineg]

He def was dealing in the sex trade when he first appeared.

Again, they make a point of saying no drugs or guns.  I know they say coffee but he literally could be selling fake handbags for all we know.  There are a lot of things that could possibly be imported and it's just not exciting, but there are ways for him to make money.

I also thought there were arms being shipped back in the day in the 90's and Rivera dealt with drugs and weapons and Sonny inherited that so he either changed that entire cartel and process or it's just still happening.

[amybrickwallace]

They're still calling it that?

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They're still calling it that?