Huffington Post: General Hospital: A New Beginning or a Dead End?

[DRW50]

The bad -

Lack of energy and emotion. This is not a new problem for GH, but when you have a dead baby and a longtime, beloved heroine dead in the same week, it stands out. There were huge energy drains every time Sonny or Sam were onscreen. I don't have a problem with Kelly Monaco and I think Sam is an interesting character with the right material, but the amount of time spent on Jason's handmaidens really killed any limited momentum other stories had.

Lack of emotional fallout. If I did not watch this show before I would have had little idea that most of the town cared about Robin. Many of the comments about her, what there was, seemed fill in the blank. This is where the sense of community which Guza spent over a decade destroying really hits home. Random and somewhat empty scenes of Edward and Sonny talking about Robin don't work for me. And beyond Robin, I felt absolutely nothing when a young father and his 3 year old daughter went off a cliff. Most of the town didn't care - including the people at the scene! Starr has been an afterthought in the story, and something tells me her grief will just be a romantic obstacle, if even that. Michael was mostly worried about his "promise," which could mean anything from giving Starr his varsity jacket to saving her baby from death. If no one on the show cares, why should I?

The Holly/Luke/Ethan mess. 2-3-4 days of incredibly embarrassing acting from Geary, Parsons, and Samms, and apparently, all for nothing, since Helena wimped out and Ethan is still Luke's son. There's no real reason to rewrite paternity at this point anyway, as the affair still happened and Robert, Holly, and Ethan will all be gone soon, so why tease it in the first place? These scenes were not as showkilling as all the dead drama surrounding Sonny and Jason, but they were just ridiculous and out of place.

[OldGHFan]

Great article. They were dead on. I had high hopes that Cartini would send GH off on a high note but was immediately disappointed on how they handled Robin's death. Sonny's latest gunshot seemed to get more airtime than Robin's death. I knew Sonny, Jason and Carly wouldn't be backburned but to see them STILL get more airtime when a 25 year vet was being killed off is just wrong.

As you can see by my name, I'm an OldGHFan who loved the 80s and everything about them. I just loved all the supercouples from Luke & Laura to Robert & Holly to Duke & Anna. So, I am definitely going to tune in when they bring back Anna, Robert and Holly. They all look amazing. I've enjoyed the Anna and Robert scenes but they're way too short. And I was hoping for something better than the Guzafied Holly we got in the 2000s, but I'm still not seeing that. Maybe they'll be a twist in the end. I'm hoping Ethan will end up a Scorpio simply because historically, that's how it should be. And get Holly away from Luke. Ugh! I'm so sick of those two sharing scenes when it should be Holly and Robert sharing scenes together.

At this point, everyone knows GH won't last too much longer. I fast forward all the Sonny, Jason and Carly parts anyway. Just fix some of Guza's messes, bring back Felicia and Alan, reunite the supercouples even if they have to do it offscreen and I will be content. And then I can be done with this show forever.

[Vanguardian]

Shaun being shot was part of that Russian mob storyline that OLTL was telling. Starr and Hope were kidnapped by these thugs. I found this mob storyline to be so much more bloody and violent than any mob story on GH and it's quite ironic actually. It makes me think that there is no way that GH is going to abandon its mob element now that they've hired people from OLTL who wrote their very own mob story which was much darker. If anything, Carvilati and company will probably make GH an even darker entity by incorporating the mob even more.

[Juliajms]

IDK, I can see writing an article like this 2 months after RC took over, but two weeks? That doesn't seem fair.

[Antoyne]

Well when a writer kills four characters in his first two weeks...

[Juliajms]

Robin's death was in motion for a long time. Hope and Cole were basically day players in the eyes of the GH audience, so I'm not sure they count. Not to mention the rampant speculation that all three of them are still alive. TBH, I really don't much care Cassandra died. Finally, we have a reason to think Helena is more than just talk. The lady in white story was pretty damn bad and I see bringing it to a rapid conclusion as a plus in the RC column.

Really, I guess I'm not expecting RC to radically change the GH landscape, because I don't believe he's been brought on to save the show. I believe he's been brought on to bring the show to a decent conclusion for the fans that are left.

[JaneAusten]

SSDD. Its no diff than Guzas stunts lots of meaningless deaths and contined focus on Sonny, Jason and their entourage.As for Helena Luke, Ethan, and Holly are still alive or did I miss her doing anything important?

[Khan]

My theory: Garin Wolf probably had it in mind to rewrite/retcon Ethan's paternity, but the changeover in production and writing regimes probably meant some stories were rewritten. (And no, I am not a GW fan, so don't think I'm saying this in order to defend him or his work.)

[Khan]

Also...? Not only do I oppose bringing characters from one soap to another under ANY circumstances, but I really, really, REALLY hate that they had to kill off Cole and Hope just to give Starr something to do in Port Charles. Even if it's a "soap death," and it probably is, it just leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

[BigBangFan]

According to Kim Mc, they killed Robin off 2 months earlier. So I put that all in RC/FV's shoulder.

There was no need to kill Robin off that soon. They could have used those 2 months. I don't buy into this FV/RC had no choice. Cause they did

Then they went and killed off Hope/Cole. And the only reason they did it was so they could set up Starr's new pairing

There is nothing new or original about RC/FV. I'm sure they'll get praise for their little ratings bump. But it will fade, much like everything else this show has done

[R Sinclair]

I just don't get the logic. Sucker punching OLTL/Sole(?) fans like that? Somebody honestly thought that was a smart idea? If RC/FV wanted to give Kris Alderson a job, they should've just created Sunn Tanning, a brand new character for Michael to get all doe eyed over and left Starr Manning in Llanview.

[DRW50]

On paper, I get the idea - a shock value death spree to coincide with Robin's death. Yet more drama for Sonny, and some type of "war" with Todd. Michael finding a new salvation. It's a bad fanfic idea, as RC is a bad fanfic writer. Outside of bad fanfic, you have problems like a) most GH viewers not caring about new characters in a week when a longtime heroine died b ) these deaths being given a collective shrug by the entirety of Port Charles, c) viewers already having enough Sonny "wars" d) this being kind of hard to write when Roger Howarth is only making a few appearances and the show will probably not have enough time or money to bring him back in any major way.

[Khan]

"This" to everything Carl wrote. And you're right, R: the logic on this move is sorely missing.

[Soapsuds]

So I wonder if the whole Todd mess will be explained. The last we saw him he was being arrested by John.

[Khan]

Whatever they do, I hope they do it as quickly as possible. Otherwise, GH is gonna get bogged down wrapping up one of OLTL's last stories, and that will please NO one.