11 hours ago, titan1978 said:

I also think the whole mess with Laura and Jackie Templeton and David Gray would have best been avoided entirely.

I agree. I also think AMC's production team saw how miserably GH had handled GF's departure and resolved not to make the same mistake when Kim Delaney (ex-Jenny) decided not to renew her contract, as Jenny's death in that jet ski explosion left ZERO room for doubt.

Thanks, @Paul Raven , for another, great article!

11 hours ago, titan1978 said:

It was noticeable almost immediately that Claire Labine slowed things way down when she got to GH. But it facilitated rich dialogue and exploration of the characters. I feel like we really got to know the characters during that period of time. It wasn’t boring to me because it was a deeper look at all of them.

ICAM! Characters I had written off as one-note - such as Sonny and Brenda - gained new dimensions under her pen; and how she was able to recapture the spirit of Luke and Laura while still acknowledging the passing of time remains a masterclass in how you handle those kinds of situations, too.

35 minutes ago, Khan said:

ICAM! Characters I had written off as one-note - such as Sonny and Brenda - gained new dimensions under her pen; and how she was able to recapture the spirit of Luke and Laura while still acknowledging the passing of time remains a masterclass in how you handle those kinds of situations, too.

Everybody was just fully realized! Labine made me actually care about Tony Jones, which was pretty incredible because I never liked his judgmental ass!

That Luke and Laura return was so smart. We meet them again and Lucky for the first time and they are living full (although faked) lives before the danger starts again. They used Frank Smith as the villain, and we get a little mini adventure reintroducing them. They smartly had them on their own so the audience got to see them closer to how they were versus as parents now, while Lucky also gets to show off who he is. Then they hit town and hide in what will eventually be their home, Laura sees visions of a black family living there before it was abandoned setting up the Ward’s, and Sonny gets a purpose by being connected to Luke from Frank. It’s one of the most brilliant reintroductions in daytime history. They were still larger than life compared to the rest of Port Charles, but also more grounded and facing down to earth dangers.

I know Geary pitched the story and some of the details. But it’s also so clearly what Labine and that team did the rest of their run that they also took the idea and fleshed it out. I have said this before but I think because Luke and Laura were originally designed as more grounded characters they fit in better with what Riche was doing than let’s say Robert Scorpio would have. Had Wendy convinced Tristan and Finola to not leave, which she reportedly tried to do, I think things would have been very different.