I would not write Leslie out in that way myself. Unlike Hayley who I think could come back for future on/off stints but needs to leave the regular canvas, I don't think TMG needs to become a recurring player as she's been one of the breakout stars. The issue is simply making Leslie pay for some of her crimes. She could easily do a white-collar Martha Stewart prison or a sanitarium arc as part of that while remaining on contract.
The other problem with what they've done with Leslie is how janky the writing can be day to day. Leslie vacillates between a) genuine tears and emotion about her hard-done life, upbringing and struggles as a young parent and b) mustache twirling camp often in the same episode. Plenty of soap villains or antiheroes have fluctuated from day to day, but there is no real transition for Leslie allowed in the writing. She is either in Gear A or Gear B depending on the day or even just the scene, like flipping a switch. TMG can play all of it, but the writing has not allowed for nuance. There's simply a) "here is a scene where Leslie is being wacky and conniving" or b) "here is a scene where Leslie is showing pathos, sympathize with her". It's awkward.
Like, say what you will about Ron Carlivati's messy work at his other soaps but even he allowed some air and subtlety between his scenes where he expected people to feel for his crazier villain characters at GH or OLTL. It's not great when I'm looking back at his less than stellar tenure with Robin Mattson's Heather Webber or Kathleen Gati's evil Dr. Obrecht and the beats where he'd allow them to be human that I used to roll my eyes at, and suddenly I'm thinking 'yeah, that's what Leslie needs.'
tbqh I wonder if it's an NAACP note.
By
Vee ·
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