GH: January 2024 Discussion Thread

[janea4old]

Bobbie's soapcentral bio
Born July 8, 1957
Bobbie was 16 when her daughter, Carly, was born.
Bobbie's birthday was acknowledged on-screen on July 8, 1996
 

Carly's soapcentral bio:
Born on November 5, 1973
Was said to be 22 years old in July 1996
 

Felicia's soapcentral bio
(birthdate not listed)
Felicia first arrived in Port Charles in 1984 disguised as a boy while on the hunt for a family heirloom that Frisco Jones had in his possession. 
I think she was supposed to be around 17-22 then?
 

Maxie's soapcentral bio:
Born on October 31, 1990
Birthday revised to October 31, 1986, when she was aged to 16 in 2002
Graduated from high school on June 9, 2005
Birthdate confirmed as October 31, 1986 in Maxie's patient files [Jan 26, 2022]

Basically, Felicia was about 8 years younger than Bobbie.
Felicia married the younger brother Frisco,
and Bobbie married the older brother Tony.
Felicia and Bobbie were friends
and thought of themselves in the same generation as each other despite the age difference.

Carly was only about 16 years younger than Bobbie, so Carly is about 8 years younger than Felicia.
Carly and Felicia aren't that far apart agewise but ...
Felicia thought of herself as Anna's contemporary. 
Carly would have seen herself as in a different generation than Anna.
 

[ranger1rg]

Uh...I think I already addressed how tough I was on the first 3 days of the memorial and how good day 4 was.

Embarrassed? As I just stated, I don't take back anything I said. Our complaints were valid, and an exceptional episode doesn't erase those problems.

 

[DaytimeFan]

 

I thought that's what it reminded me of and compared it on YouTube - what a great choice by Kristina Wagner to deliver the line like that. 

The 'champ' scene with Lucas and Kristina's line were so poignant.

[AbcNbc247]

Another moment that gets me misty eyed

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Agreed 

Edited January 12 by AbcNbc247

[AMCHistory]

Ryan Carnes knocked this out of the park. All the dramatic close-ups were on him. Even with few lines, his brooding and sadness, was so complex, was such a feeling. He out acted many of the vets. Gosh, I wish they could entice him to come back. I understand that in every other run he was a b-player in storylines. He can really shine. 
 

The way I would bring him back is through a dark secret. Similar to Tony and Helena all those years ago with Stavros, let’s reveal that he has been working with Nikolas this whole time on an experimental treatment to help bring his beloved cousin Lulu back. As a result, he’s been helping Nikolas stay on the lam too. In close quarters, a mutual love for Lulu alludes to a growing attraction. 
 

At the same time, GH comes calling and interviews him for a prestigious job, maybe head of neurosurgery like his dad. He does not have a good excuse not to arrive. When he gets to the board room for the interviews, it’s with Tracy and Ned as the hospital board. The other candidate in the running? Dillon Q, who completed his medical training while away from GH, continuing the long tradition of Q doctors. 
 

The Q’s decide the best thing to do is to have both men do a 6 month trial run so as to not have any signs of impropriety since they want Dillon in the job. The old friends form a friendly rivalry, and Lucas is impressed by Dillon’s natural abilities. They spend more and more time together outside of the hospital. Dillon moves into the Brownstone basement apartment with Lucas after having enough meddling about his personal life between Tracy, Ned, and his nosey cousin Brooklynn. 
 

Dillon notices Lucas sneaking out at night, and realises Lucas is helping Lulu. Dillon reveals himself to Lucas and promises to keep his secret so long as he can help save Lulu too. The long hours and sneaking around, make Dillon realise that he has feelings for Lucas too. They kiss, something Nikolas sees from the shadows. Lucas pushes Dillon away, blaming his grief about Lulu as the driver for the kiss  

A jealous Nikolas threatens to out Lucas as helping him with Lulu and keeping him on the Lam.  It turns out Lucas had promised to help Nikolas so long as Nikolas helped him get back Wiley from Michael. With the blackmail on the table, Lucas wants to know why Nikolas is turning on him. Nikolas reveals his feelings for Lucas, and they fall into bed. 

The next year is a journey for Dillon as he wrangles for his feelings for Lucas, and coming out to his family. Meanwhile, Lulu wakes up and relies on Dillon since Dante is happy with Sam now. 

Lucas is still not free from Nikolas’ blackmail even with Lulu back. He finds himself jealous of the time Dillon is giving Lulu. He is under Nikolas’ thumb both sexually and with his continued escape from authorities. Dillon knows something is wrong, but Lucas pushes him away. 

When Nikolas is spotted by Ava, he needs to go on the Lam again and forces Lucas to go with him. Lucas reminds Nikolas of his promise to help him get Wiley, and Nikolas keeps his promise and kidnaps the boy. On the airplane tarmac, Dillon catches up with Lucas when he puts all the pieces together.  Nikolas is in the plane with Wiley, and Dillon begs Lucas to turn on Nikolas and free himself from his control. 
 

What path does Lucas take? How broken is his family with his betrayal of Michael? Is Dillon his true love, or is the dark Prince’s influence too hard to escape. 
 

 

[AbcNbc247]

Joss still makes me sick but I gotta admit, the temp actress is doing a good job. She makes Joss seem like an actual human being. 

Glad that Spencer is beginning to realize that Esme got her memory back. I hope he keeps that up. 

And yeah, Sonny was just annoying today. 

Really good cliffhanger though.

Edited January 12 by AbcNbc247

[Beachstorm]

I'm betting all of this Dex being loyal to Sonny by making a killing is just leading straight up to Jason coming back. Dex needs to take a seat soon in order for whatever version of Stone Cold is returning. That was my immediate thought today when Dex struggled with the decision to be loyal to Sonny's orders to kill. 

If Dex is to remain the love of Joss' life, then he won't participate in this Cyrus killing. Something else will come up (Nina, possibly?).

Welcome home (soon) Jason Morgan!

Anyone else notice that the flowers on the restaurant tables in Port Charles were the same little green pom-pom flowers that were shown on the tables in Amsterdam? LOL

Edited January 13 by Beachstorm

[Faulkner]

Totally agree and I admit I came in with a lot of skepticism. The way the episode came together was beautifully executed, and the “journalist interview” actually managed to be a smart device. It was like a little self-contained movie. I even teared up when Carly and Felicia found the woman who’d been trafficked. (Talk about making a lot out of a minor character!) Makes you wonder what these people can do with more time, thought, budget, and care, as they managed an episode so powerful even within the limitations of the show.

I do think GH does tributes to its departed performers well. This was better the Sean/John Reilly tribute, which had a similar feel with the self-contained WSB story with Reilly’s real-life daughter. GH employs these personal touches in these tributes that really resonate deeply.

Brighton Hertford looks so much like JZ. She’s beautiful. And a fine actress.

Ryan Carnes really nailed it. He’s the real deal as an actor. I wish they’d find a way to keep him, but then you realize that day-to-day GH is absolutely trash. Love him, but his talents would be wasted.

Edited January 13 by Faulkner

[ranger1rg]

Cannot tell you how much I agree with you about Ryan Carnes. It's a shame that the Emmys never reward performances like his, instead choosing actors who (over)emote. Carnes' realness brought me to tears.

 

[Contessa Donatella]

And, I wonder how they got the Pine Valley teleporter?! 

 

Meanwhile here is a totally hilarious edit of Spencer visiting Esme in jail & realizing she has remembered. I know UglyX (formerly Twitter) isn't working right but I don't know how to fix it up. 

Spencer Esme hilarity

https://twitter.com/i/status/1746144153040228822

[Darn]

How old do you think Maxie is?

And I appreciate that you and @ranger1rg recognized yourselves in my "wah wah flashbacks" comment. I didn't even need to tag you!

[vetsoapfan]

ITA. After seeing so many botched "tribute" episodes to beloved characters/actors over the years (from all the soaps, not just this one), I wasn't expecting much of anything from GH's send-off to Bobbie.

(Considering Jessie Brewer's death was not even acknowledged by other characters in Port Charles until years later, when she received a brief mention in an anniversary special, even a beloved vet's receiving the respect she deserves cannot be taken for granted. Did Amy Vining receive an on-screen send-off when Shell Kepler died, or did the character simply cease to exist, without acknowledgement? I forget.)

I agree that when GH actually chooses to do them, the tributes tend to do justice to the departed characters/actors. When that sad time times, I hope the show honors our dear Rachel Ames.

To me, GH is top-heavy with irrelevant characters who could and should be pruned out. But Lucas is a legacy character and should definitely be on contract and featured regularly. I'd take Ryan Carnes over Steve Burton in a heartbeat!

[DRW50]

At 2013's Nurses Ball Lucy acknowledges Jessie and then Amy, around 9 minutes in, and there are blown up photos.

It still saddens me that Jessie got nothing at the time. I wonder if she had just been phased out so much over the years that many of the remaining viewers did not understand her importance or impact.

I can only echo what others have said about Ryan Carnes. Carnes was not actually there for most of the important moments in Bobbie's history, but you still felt the weight of his performance. Considering how close Lucas and BJ were, I'm glad, if pleasantly surprised, they gave that final moment to him, instead of Carly. 

[Vee]

I was very satisfied with Day 2, which made me very satisfied with the show's handling of the tribute overall. Sure, I would've liked Sarah, Tamara, Brad Maule, Tony, Jonathan, etc. But I don't want to be ungrateful for what I thought was another in a series of several strong tribute episodes to departed cast (Sonya Eddy, John Reilly, etc.).  Even when the show is a disaster or crushingly boring, they have pulled these off very well over the last several years IMO.

You could’ve filled a week with Brighton just interviewing the cast about Jackie, but that wasn't needed. Still, I would’ve maybe done a third day of mostly just her interviewing more people, and in that you could’ve either broken the fourth wall for Sarah, Brad, Tamara, etc. or found some flimsy way to allow them to appear in some other capacity. I even might’ve considered letting Sarah sub in for Laura for part of the scenes with Felicia talking about her early years (theirs was a wonderful dynamic that has never been explored before), the way they did back in 2014 when all 3 Carlys swapped during scenes with Maurice, or maybe let Sarah and Tamara take different parts of Carly's final sendoff to Bobbie alone at the end of the episode before closing on Laura.

Still, that's nitpicking at this point. It was a lovely tribute.

[vetsoapfan]

Thank you for the link. I had heard about this respectful Amy/Jessie mention from a friend of mine who also watched GH during the 1960s, '70s and early '80s, but I had never seen it. I suppose I shouldn't quibble about it happening more than two decades after Emily McLaughlin's death. As a long-time fan, I always appreciate when shows honor their roots.

I'm sure that was a significant part of it. The network was determined to pander to the youth market, but as well, McLaughlin did have various issues over the years which interfered with her work life. That also factored in to her dwindling presence on the show. There were times in the 1980s when Jessie was off-screen for extended periods of time, without explanation. The show cast actress Lisa Figus as Nurse Georgia Price as a standby for when McLaughlin couldn't appear, so there still must have been some interest in using Jessie, at least from time to time. By the early 1990s, however, Jessie had dwindled so far into the background, she might as well have been an under-fiver.

Carnes is an actor whom the show should be trying to keep. Lucas is a legacy character with built-in rooting appeal, and Carnes is a) a good performer and b) beautiful.