GH50: January 2014 Discussion - HAPPY NEW YEAR!

[Vee]

Crossposted:

With me and Ron Carlivati it very often goes back to one thing, and that's execution.

Obrecht becoming Chief of Staff is something I've known was coming for a while now, and I didn't mind the twist on its face. It's obviously not a permanent state of affairs, but here and now it ties back into more classic GH intrigue with spies and terrorists and such, because it's obvious the only thing that could have gotten an international terror suspect like Obrecht out of custody and placed at GH is some kind of ongoing diabolical conspiracy. The bigger issue is what a lot of these events indicate about the show's overall trajectory, and what it's choosing to prioritize.

Doing a Laura-style return for Robin this past fall - with action, intrigue and weeks upon weeks of sneaking around - was fine with me provided Kimberly McCullough was locked in for a long enough stretch. Just like Tristan Rogers and Genie Francis and many others, she wasn't. They spent the lion's share of the time they had her to tape with Robin isolated and imprisoned, unable to be with her family. The moment Robin finally reclaimed her husband and her daughter - again, cutting into more of Kim's taping time with the unnecessary deliberation by Patrick - we discovered Sabrina was pregnant. Now the story is all about Sabrina and her pregnancy, again, and that's wall to wall, day to day while Kim is getting ready to go. I may not be Scrubs's biggest fan but I like the couple. I like Jason Thompson, but Patrick has never quite worked without Robin, largely because the stories he has without her either were designed to disefranchise her (Guza) or because the show was holding her back for a return (Carlivati). If the playing field were more equal he might do well, who knows. But that's not what this is. And as it is, Robin and Patrick had exactly five minutes of happiness, and while it's true soaps are about drama, you supposedly can't have happiness, etc. and all that [!@#$%^&*], at this point those old chestnuts have become cliches jaded, tired soap writers and bloggers return to to patch over the holes. The reality is that after everything Robin went through and after how very long she's been gone (and given how mind-numbingly boring the Patrick and Sabrina stories were without her, I doubt even the most ardent fans of the first round will be too keen on Round 2) GH handling her return and parceling out the time this way was a huge error in judgment. And the Obrecht situation compounds that, and here's why.

Sure, I love Kathleen Gati, I think they should use her a lot. (Of course I said that about Robin Mattson and Heather once, and now she never leaves and I can't stand her awful storyline.) And I like the Obrecht twist. But we're dealing with a larger long story now where, after Robin was imprisoned for almost two years by Obrecht and Faison, after she won her family back - Robin is now about to leave again, almost immediately after getting back, while her husband is almost surely about to be dragged back down into a love triangle with the other woman. Meanwhile, Obrecht takes her place at GH and is out scot-free. And Robin? Well, Robin will be back sometime, whatever, but here's fan favorite Obrecht! Coupled with the ridiculous Woes of Franco storyline, it's a bad message to send and a bad tone to set with the show.

And they didn't have to handle it this way. They could have sent Robin, Patrick and Emma off together, if they were ready to finally cut JT loose and let him be a companion to McCullough for future returns; if they want to keep using Thompson, they could have let Robin reunite with Patrick earlier, dispensed with the pregnancy subplot, and then, around February or March, had Robin go off to a medical conference or a family vacation, and had Patrick and Emma return solo while Robin is off on doctor business. No big thing. You can still use Obrecht in this COS role, you're just not grinding Robin down some more to do it. But they misused the time they had Kim, just like they failed to lock in Genie or Tristan Rogers the way they truly needed to. They gambled and lost. They thought they could just keep treading water and that as long as they threw in enough Friday twists and fan favorites, the story would hold and not sag under its weight. Everyone would be distracted, everyone would clap their hands, no one would mind. That's a lazy, bullshit way to run a show. It may not be lazy manpower-wise - I know how hard GH works - but it absolutely is intellectually lazy.

You've got a GH where Robin did a blink and you miss it return to her family, Sabrina is still eating the show, Robin's captor is hamming her way across the hospital and Franco is the most sensitive, misunderstood serial killer Port Charles has ever known. That's a bad message, and a bad tone for the show. It's just a mess of big ideas - some of them good - done most poorly. And it's got to stop.

I don't know how many times situations like the Robert or Robin or Laura scenarios have to happen before people stop excusing the scheduling or the timing or the pacing. Ron could structure and pace this [!@#$%^&*] better with these returning characters and their arcs, he just doesn't. And no one makes him. And you still have most of the online voices out there scared shitless that if they dare to critique it ABC will cancel the show next week. Give me a break. I don't think the man is the Great Satan like some do, I think he has some value, I think he changed GH for the better, and I think the show is a lot of fun, either good or bad fun, even when it often turns to [!@#$%^&*]. But it is [!@#$%^&*] right now, and it's less fun all the time. And people have to say it, just like people do about Y&R. These are recurring, massive issues with this team that have only gotten worse.

I like the Obrecht twist. I do. What I mind is the show it's been brought into, the way the show is going, the way it handles the overall mix. With Ron more and more I come back to Robert Redford chiding Dustin Hoffman in All The President's Men. "I don't mind what you did. I mind the way you did it."

[John]

Ok that will explain it but I believe that was a last minute thing that RC decided on to keep O around. And if this is the reason given what about her fasion fascination and the fact that Britt has spolen of how evil her mom has always been

Just doesnt fit to me

[quartermainefan]

That was a silly twist. Maybe Heather can get her job back at GH too.

[Cheap21]

How is Obrecht not even still in jail. There were PLENTY of witnesses to her crimes. Britt, Nikolas, ROBIN, Anna, Duke, Robert

I hate the twist but if I had to choose one psycho, Id rather have Obrecht around than Heather. Yikes to both of them onscreen at the same time though

[ChitHappens]

What it boils down to is that O is another pet created by Craptini, and they have found a "clever" way to retain the character. PUKE!

[DRW50]

I read about this a few days ago. Classic Ron. Empty shock value for one of his pets, who, frankly, is not quite as adorable as he seems to think she is.

[John]

Dr O spoiler doesnt fly. What about all she did before & her twisted love for Fasion? If thats how it plays out, just seems like a lazy plot-point to keep her on GH. Where are the character driven stories and moments?

[Cheap21]

um spoiler tag that stuff

[dragonflies]

Cheap I already dropped GH its officially off my dvr

[Cheap21]

Faison used to be a writer. How soon till he is put in charge of the PC Herald? Heather can get her job back there as gossip columnist as part of her work release program out of Ferncliff. See, I just thought of two ways to have them viable on the show. While working together, Heather develops feelings for him. Obrecht/Faison/Heather triangle for 2014. He of course only has eyes for Anna, so the two women put their differences aside to kidnap and torture her. Comical hijinks ensue

[cassadine1991]

RC would do something like that

[Mr. Vixen]

That might not be terrible if a good writer was writing it.

[Errol]

‘General Hospital’ Executive Producer Frank Valentini Teases Plans For Show’s 13,000th Episode and February Sweeps!

[alexisfan07]

NLG mentions a possible return on Twitter. Didn't want to start a thread about it cause I wasn't sure if she is joking.

[AlexElizabeth]

My god, William deVry is still bugging Shatner about coming to the show. He needs an intervention.