General Hospital: May 2023 Discussion Thread

[Khan]

Genie herself has said that the lack of respect goes all the way back to Luke & Laura's peak.  She learned just how much (or how little) TPTB cared about her when she developed a serious drug problem, nearly died, and all they could do was remind her that Tony, and not Tony plus Genie, was the reason why the show was number-one.  That's why she quit GH the first time: to prove everyone at the show and the network wrong.

ABC also showed their lack of respect when they fired her from AMC -- a job that Genie loved (even if I don't think Ceara was much of a character) -- and told her she was worth more to them as Laura on GH than she was as Ceara on AMC.

Edited May 7, 2023 by Khan

[Soaplovers]

Agree to disagree about Ceara.. and actually was realistically written based on several people I knew that went through the same thing as her character did.

[Khan]

Oh, God.  Vanessa Marcil with the Hallmark/GAC dude who always thinks he's hosting "The Newlywed Game."  She'd lose her [!@#$%^&*] mind if that were to happen, and so would we, lol.

Now, if they weren't so busy giving Gonzo Gates a depressing, incurable disease, I would say that a Gregory/Brenda hookup has potential.  Certainly, Finn and Chase could raise objections to their father falling in love with and eventually becoming engaged to a younger woman, especially a younger woman with a past like Brenda's.

I didn't say the incest storyline wasn't well-written, or even well-acted.  In the long run, though, I think it took a lot of the fire out of Ceara that had been there in the beginning, when she arrived in Pine Valley as the scheming, bed-hopping fundraiser lady.  That, and her relationship with Jeremy, really watered her down to the point where she became yet another weepy, hapless heroine; and I'm really hard-pressed to remember what she did once those stories played out.  There was some stuff with Erica at Enchantment, and that one time when Janet beaned her with a hospital desk lamp, but that's about it.

But, on the plus side, at least AMC gave her an actual character at first, which is more than you could say about what DAYS did for her, lol.

[carolineg]

I was throwing Drew out there because he is kind of the Jax good guy/white knight.  Brenda might go for that.  I would never pair Brenda with someone old like depressing ass Chase's dad.  I'd give her Chase before the dad.   

[Khan]

But, you see, Brenda would be just the woman to bring that spark into his life.  Ah, well, it's all hypothetical anyway, lol.

[carolineg]

Hypothetically, I honestly just don't see Brenda going for that much older.  I picture younger rather than older just because of her fake romances with Dante/Michael.  Unless it was some sort of gain for her or way to piss Sonny off I don't see her going for a man like that.  

[Juliajms2]

I was just thinking that the other day. I enjoy the touch of humor the actor brings to the role. He goes on and on about family, but the look of disgust on his face when Ace had colic was too funny. I hope they don't kill Victor. He can come back and cause more trouble if GH is around in 5 years.

[Khan]

Or if the "Nanny" revival still doesn't happen.

Fair enough, lol.

Edited May 7, 2023 by Khan

[j swift]

I like the prop that they used to hold the pathogen.  Having a tangible item for an abstract concept made it much more dramatic.

But, in the end, was the Ice Princess a critical factor in the plot?  I know it had the coordinates, but everyone seemed to find the bunker with or without the diamonds.  Mikos didn't reuse his password (ice princess is more than 8 characters, but it didn't contain a special symbol or a number).  And I have no idea who has it now...

To reiterate an earlier point, I dislike that we have two melodramatic plots involving the real illnesses affecting Willow and Gregory and this sci-fi plot with Valentin at the same time.  It is a lot to ask the audience to suspend their disbelief that an antidote for a global pathogen can be magically produced by a single person in a 40-year-old bunker in Greenland, but they can't use the same magic to cure Willow and Gregory

Edited May 7, 2023 by j swift

[Vee]

In early '22, when Victor had just returned and was mostly a jovial bon vivant with nefarious schemes that didn't seem too cliche, I was very into CS' take on the role. (Which, I think, also has some roots in the early Victor from the '80s who IIRC was not super committed to the whole 'take over the world' thing vs. being a playboy?) He was a villain that was also having fun while also trying to play patriarch and manipulating the whole Cassadine clan. At the time I even proposed they pair him and Genie Francis together, with Victor forcing Laura into some sort of nasty marriage of convenience for plot purposes, just to bounce them off each other non-romantically for a year's time and have them sniping at each other nonstop; I thought it would be a lot of fun, and you could play the drama with Kevin, slowly reunite him with Lucy and bring in a real new love interest for Laura at the same time.

Now, though, it's gone on way too long. The story was partly delayed due to CS' health issues, but he's just hung around forever doing very little for a long stretch, and now his aims feel more boring than his original introduction. It's lost a lot of the pizazz for me. So for me it's time to retire Victor and bring on someone truly scary - which is what Valentin was first advertised as in the first place, around 2009.

I don't think it's needed either. Everyone knows where this would be going and Brenda can stir up plenty of mischief on the larger canvas all by herself. Few characters can accomplish that. I might let her date a bit in the meantime, but not Drew. Drew has already had enough pairings of Jason's women/almost-women he's standing in with. I'm still holding out hope that if they make CM regrow the beard and keep him away from watching his entertainment news shows that he can regain some ability, because I'd banked a lot on pairing him with Tognoni's Sarah Webber on the show that exists purely in my mind lol.

[Khan]

"Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you the Biggest, Baddest, Most Dangerous Cassadine of Them All: Stacey!  She's come all the way from the Sherman Oaks Galleria and she is, like, so totally pissed!!"

[carolineg]

Honestly, Drew is the only person on canvas at the moment I could even imagine Brenda with outside Sonny.  It's not ideal for me, but I can't see her on the show just hanging around waiting for Sonny either.  I wish there was a Johnny or something more her type, but VM could just happen to have fire chemistry with Michael Easton randomly too.

[Khan]

If VM can make that happen, then Jesus can kick rocks, because Vanessa is clearly the messiah.

[Vee]

FV would 100% try to put Vanessa over with Roger or Easton before getting to the Sonny reunion.

I think there's plenty of guys you can bring on short-term for her to fool around with. I'm not sure Brandon Barash would say no to a couple months tbh, or there's always someone else old or new. I wouldn't hate seeing her idly date a new Dr. Steve Webber for example, since I intended to bring him back long-term anyway. Or A.J.! Brenda welcoming A.J. back warmly in 2013 still sticks with me.

Edited May 7, 2023 by Vee

[carolineg]

I don't doubt her power.  She's done more with less lol.