General Hospital: January 2023 Discussion Thread

[Vee]

He quit the first time, IIRC; Frank just didn't beg him to stay because he was exerting his power. I think he thought Steve would come around in a few months and become part of the classic Frank/Ron in-and-out players like they'd begun doing with people in stints at OLTL and then GH, and that they could keep teasing Jason a la Robin, or Victor II's fake death on OLTL until he came back on contract. But Steve has a huge ego and immediately jumped to JFP's Y&R. I don't know that I believe Steve was ever disempowered til COVID got him fired. You could be right about him trying to leverage his antivaxx stance, but it doesn't explain why they jumped from Britt to Carly (or then immediately dropped that, unless it was because they knew Steve was being fired).

[Darn]

I think the intention was to just make conflict for Britt and Jason. Jason and Carly were never going to be an actual thing, they were just playing with the audience. 

[Vee]

I don't know about that. They seemed to almost totally drop Britt and Jason very abruptly until Sonny came back and they were going full tilt with the idea that Jason and Carly were falling back in love (very very quickly). Then he swung back to Britt for a couple weeks.

In other news: Lord, apparently a dude from Jamey's show Ambitions was on last week!

Edited January 9, 2023 by Vee

[carolineg]

I considered the fact that they knew Steve was going to be let go and they went all in on Carly because MB's story needed to be ramped up since he was going to be the main leading man again?   Perhaps it had something to do with the uncertainty of KT's contract status at the time?  I know people said she was recurring, doing a short stint, then reupped, but I am not sure when that happened and how it lines up with story.  Perhaps they were eventually going to circle back to Britt and Steve got fired.  Another odd thing to me is that once Sam/Jason broke up there wasn't any hint there were still feelings nor has there been much to Sam/Drew since CM came on.  

[Vee]

I don't think they would go so hard at Jason and Carly - a forbidden pairing for years - without some sort of reason, I don't think it was just a feint. But I also don't think Jason/Britt was. It seemed like they switched gears multiple times. I do agree they very very quickly cut all bait on Jason/Sam after years of keeping them inseparable and there had to be a reason.

[carolineg]

I would love to know, but I am sure we never will.  Like you said, Jason is not a character that the show has ever been cavalier about especially with love interests.  I wonder if post-Covid the tension and chaos was too much behind the scenes and some things got rewritten.  Even if KT was talking up Jason/Britt in her exit interview perhaps she was uncomfortable working with Steve until he was vaxxed?

[titan1978]

It seemed to me we were setting up a classic Guza type emotional twist with Jason and Carly just as Sonny was returning.  But they didn’t take it all the way and have them sleep together.  All that chaos onscreen has to have been because of bts issues.  But again, we will never know. 

[Liberty City]

That's my thought. Steve Burton's return, along with the D.U.D. storyline... Monaco just looked DONE with working. Plus, I am sure Miller's exit was off-putting for her. Since being paired with Dominic Zamprogna, it does appear some of the spark in her eye is back.

[AbcNbc247]

After watching Michael and Willow, and then Esme, all I’m gonna say is, PLEASE GOD, no baby switch!!

[Forever8]

That ran across my mind too and I hope not. We just went through all of that with Bailey-Louise and "The parental switch." 

[Forever8]

Remember when they had Michael said to Carly that he always wanted her and Jason to be together since I was a little boy. And I was like, "So those clips and episodes I've seen of your red-haired version were just lies about wanting your parents together for about four years straight?" 

 

Jason's stories in his last year or so definitely changed on a dime, likely due to BTS.

[Vee]

Willow and Sasha are two indistinguishable white chicks to me. Willow can simply die of her cancer or more mob shenanigans to drive the point home about the mob problem, and sadsack Michael needs a long break from the canvas, same as Maxie. Sasha can vanish in the ladies' room like Beth Ehlers on AMC.

Edited January 10, 2023 by Vee

[Forever8]

In a way, they're still like that to me. I remember before one of them got highlights, I used to get them mixed up. I will forever say this, but I feel like I should be seeing Serena and Christina Baldwin on my screen. Yeah, I know Christina doesn't exist anymore due to "Port Charles" being a figment of imagination, but they did mention Christina when Ron was there twice. And Kristina and Molly don't have any story whatsoever. I see more of Lexi Ainsworth on Instagram than I do on my screen. Since Krissy is involved with LGBTQ causes, Stella appears on an episode to advise her that she should consider becoming a social worker at GH. Or perhaps we finally get to see Molly argue a case as a lawyer, or perhaps TJ is tempted by a new nurse or doctor. But instead, we get Sasha and Willow. Sasha could've left with Gladys and Brando to Corinth, and Willow can die.

[Vee]

She exists. Kevin and Lucy have referenced her. The Port Charles connection is complicated and I think the point of that very confusing and muddled story was to suggest that the magic ring from PC had made people forget a lot about those characters and that world. I don't think anything suggests Christina does not still exist or is not recalled though. And Karen is still dead. So characters who directly overlap with core characters and are relevant to their GH continuity have been retained IMO. It's only characters like Livvie, etc. who have either been wiped from existence or forgotten due to the spell. So Serena and Christina are still in play.

Edited January 10, 2023 by Vee

[Forever8]

I hope so! I know Serena is definitely still in play although I don't get why they don't recast. I always wanted Christina to come to town as a doctor following the footsteps of her stepfather Kevin and bio mother Julie. I remember the rumor going around years ago when Ron was there when Kevin was keeping going off to Seattle that he was visiting Christina who was dealing with mental issues. Don't know if that was true or not. Not to mention around that time they were talks to bring back Carly Schroeder as Serena. But we all know how that turned out.