Members Vee Posted February 10, 2019 Members Share Posted February 10, 2019 (edited) I was not a fan of the pairing with Jax (or of Skye on GH at all, until many years later), but I thought Skye was assassinated as a character in a lazy way. I thought the island follies with Sonny, Carly and Brenda were very stupid. And I thought Jax was rendered an impotent B-character from then on. I had never been a major fan of Brenda or Jax in the 1990s, but Guza had done a ton of good work to evolve her character beyond Sonny before her first exit and redefine her with Jax as her mature true love. But when Guza returned Jax was one of many characters who became irrelevant to him. Jax was the perennial loser on the outside from then on, clueless about the machinations of the latest story turn, and the Brenda return was the start of that. It was always ultimately focused on Brenda's relationships with Sonny and Jason (the Jason/Sam relationship was basically a copypaste of Guza's plans for Brenda early on). I had wanted Brenda with Jason in '02 - I'd been waiting for them since their plane crash in the late '90s - but I thought Jax and Brenda's relationship was shat on and Brenda regressed in her 2000s returns. I enjoyed Brenda's early return with Alcazar, the murder mystery, etc. - that all tied into her and Jax's exits in the '90s. They took the time to address the dangling threads, like Marcil's one day cameo when IR first left. I admired that. But I thought how they rushed things as Vanessa left again to keep Sonny in the lead was a mistake, and it hurt all the characters. Especially Jax and Brenda. I also think Jax and Carly was an unexpectedly fine pairing, and Carly has never recovered as a character from what she did to him near the end of their time together and then getting involved with Franco. But the fact is that by the time Guza paired them up, he had maneuvered Carly as a character into a secondary position. This made it acceptable to him to pair her with Jax, a character he had little regard for. Carly became the scheming town gossip/mother to her kids who was at that time not directly tied into romance with Sonny and Jason, and for a substantial amount of time she and Jax and her sons were islanded together. You could always tell when Guza lost interest or developed contempt for a character he once loved in the 2000s - Jax, Nikolas, Alexis, etc. Edited February 10, 2019 by Vee Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members juppiter Posted February 10, 2019 Members Share Posted February 10, 2019 I have to say thank you for posting this, because it sent me on a deep dive of Bloss 1992 scenes on Youtube and I just finished watching the entire playlist.... and, wow. I have loved watching this storyline over the past few weeks. And I did not realize that what you posted was Sherry Stringfield's last episode. It just sucks to see someone leave when a storyline is really peaking. GL did a slow buildup on this one, and while I'm grateful Sherry Stringfield stayed for the climax (pun not intended), it was lacking on the denouement due to her absence. But I thought the entire buildup was impeccably done and again I will say I miss stakes on soaps. This storyline was loaded with them. Watching just this storyline gives me the distinct impression that GL definitely had its [!@#$%^&*] together in 1992 and I would love to watch more from this era. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members cassadine1991 Posted February 10, 2019 Members Share Posted February 10, 2019 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Soaplovers Posted February 10, 2019 Members Share Posted February 10, 2019 Lots of good scenes in the early 90s on Y and R. And who could forget this scene (shame not the full scene). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Planet Soap Posted February 10, 2019 Members Share Posted February 10, 2019 (edited) 89-93ish Y&R had stong material!....Paul framed for murder/Cassaundra gaslighting, Sheila baby switch, David Kimble marriage con, Katherine and Marge the doppleganger, Christine sexual harassment, Bill Bell firing on all cylinders then Edited February 10, 2019 by ironlion Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members carolineg Posted February 10, 2019 Members Share Posted February 10, 2019 I can see where you are coming from. Brenda's return did sort of begin Jax's descent into being 2nd best and just taking on Sonny's sloppy 2nds. I was never invested in Jax/Skye because it felt like a rushed relationship that led to marriage just to be a plot point obstacle for Brenda/Jax once they secured Vanessa Marcil. Jax and Brenda's relationship was crapped on. Jax would never have done that to Brenda at the altar. The really missed an opportunity for Brenda and Jax to have meaningful scenes in 2010 about the implosion of their relationship but I digress on that...I could talk for hours about 2010 and Brenda's return. The island stuff was silly and a clear bone thrown to S&B fans when they had no intention of pairing Sonny and Brenda again. Brazen was clearly where Guza wanted to go and I was here for it. Sam/Jason was a literal rip off of the Jason/Brenda/Sonny plans he had for sure. I am not sure if Guza meant to marginalize Jax. There was just really no way around it with his Sonny/Jason propping. Literally no woman in their right mind would leave handsome, nice, rich, tall, non mobster Jax for Sonny but it happened all the time!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members j swift Posted February 10, 2019 Members Share Posted February 10, 2019 To me, this is the core of the issue. We were told that Jax was a viable alternative to Sonny but that never played out on screen. Every woman Sonny has ever dated has been willing to take either a proverbial or a literal bullet for him. Whereas Helena Cassidine is the only female character who actively pursued Jax. Everyone else seemed to choose him because he looked good on paper, but nobody ever seemed that excited to be with him. One can easily see the equal appeal of Jack or Victor (in their prime) on Y&R, or Bo or Sam (OLTL), or even Dr. Mike Horton and Austin Reed (DAYS). However, Jax never seemed as desirable as Sonny, according to the females of Port Charles, even though it defied logic in the real world to want a moody mobster versus a hunky rich surfer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Khan Posted February 11, 2019 Members Share Posted February 11, 2019 Please register in order to view this content Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members DRW50 Posted February 11, 2019 Members Share Posted February 11, 2019 I've never been the Genie Francis devotee that many are, but I finally watched these scenes yesterday after hearing about them years ago, and they're very strong. I especially like that we don't get a cliched "girl power" moment but that we also don't get her in hysterics - she instead is just completely numb, which underscores the trauma of what we've witnessed. And it's a real contrast to Tony Geary doing his "best" action hero theatrics. (this reminded me that I always liked Harry - didn't Guza or McTavish later reveal him as a traitor or something?) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members vetsoapfan Posted February 11, 2019 Members Share Posted February 11, 2019 Please register in order to view this content Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members j swift Posted February 11, 2019 Members Share Posted February 11, 2019 (edited) OK, OK, I was struggling to come up with a third example. I will edit more carefully next time Please register in order to view this content Edited February 11, 2019 by j swift Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members carolineg Posted February 11, 2019 Members Share Posted February 11, 2019 (edited) Harry was the one who told Lily's father that Sonny and Brenda were getting back together, so he basically was the catalyst for the car bomb that killed Lily. He left town but came back crazy and tried to kill Brenda and Sonny in the catacombs. Sonny killed him. Pretty sure it was Guza writing back then. Maybe Richard Culliton. Edited February 11, 2019 by carolineg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members DRW50 Posted February 11, 2019 Members Share Posted February 11, 2019 Thanks. Was that when Brenda was on pills? I guess that was Culliton. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members carolineg Posted February 11, 2019 Members Share Posted February 11, 2019 Yes. She was addicted to pills in the cave. It was Culliton I believe, but it aired in May 1997 I think so it could have been Janet Iacobuzio and Chris Whitesell. They are listed as head writers from May to December of 1997, so they even wrote Brenda and Sonny's non wedding which I never knew. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Khan Posted February 11, 2019 Members Share Posted February 11, 2019 All I remember from Iacobuzio/Whitesell is some damn business with origami. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts