GH: March 2024 Discussion Thread

[Bright Eyes]

Watching this month has been compelling soap opera, so I'm happy I decided to tune in with Jason's return. I never would have thought I would care about a US soap in 2024, but here we are. Whether it lasts long or not, I'll enjoy the ride while I can.

It must be said, I find the actor that plays Rocco leaps and bounds more natural then all those other damn children.

[Vee]

I thought that kid might have it in those scenes with Laura a couple weeks ago. It's nice to see more of him.

If it is true that both Valentin and Ava are working Sonny that's pretty awesome.

[dragonflies]

NAC is officially off contract

 

 

[John]

Not shocked. Bring on the recast. Oh i already posted this in the spoilers section. 

[Vee]

I wasn't expecting him back for long, if he turns up at all. I think they'll wait to recast though and they should.

[Bright Eyes]

It's very exciting to me, too. I eagerly await the day we get to see inside Ava's brain and what her goals are. As for Valentin, you know this means his days are numbered, but I'm here for the journey to get there. Again, I'm most interested to see where Ava will play during all this. Will she team up with Valentin at some point? Will she get rid of him to further her own interests? I can honestly see her killing Nina, too, but maybe I'm just hungry for her to be full-on bloodthirsty again.

Edited March 29, 2024 by Bright Eyes

[Vee]

I'll believe Valentin's gone when we get the notice. If they actually cut JPS loose things really have changed. Frank has angled a ton of stories around this guy’s primetime outs off contract and thinks JPS hung the moon and is some major get. OTOH PM/EK may feel Valentin works as a pure villain for the Cassadine fold, and that's a valid idea. Anything that ends the soppy sob stories about poor misunderstood Hunchback Billy Joel (who came on the show trying to murder Nikolas and unveiling Lulu's test tube rape baby) is good by me.

I think there's a distinct possibility she is already in on it. Her behavior is still far too suspect. And yes, I think she could kill at any time.

It remains to be seen what new stories will appear following this mob arc but it is nice to see a soap can actually be good again. Not perfect, of course, but it's improved by leaps and bounds for me over the last month.

Edited March 29, 2024 by Vee

[Contessa Donatella]

I am amazed at what has happened in only 11 days.

My problem with Rocco is that he looks so much like Aiden. I figure which it is either by family context or by dialogue. Rocco is not the one worrying whether his sourdough starter will work. 

[AbcNbc247]

Gotta admit, that was a great twist. I didn't see it coming.

And it doesn't even come off as a clunky, sudden character change, like Dex wanting to be a cop or Drew being friendly with Nina.

Whether or not Valentin is on his way out, this is definitely the shot in the arm that the character needed. He's been a whiny, blubbering mess for far too long and I'm glad that GH appears to finally be remembering that he's supposed to be the worst Cassadine of them all.

[titan1978]

This reminds me so much of Guza’s first official week back during his second EP run. Calm down, no show has that overall quality today. But they started that week with Nikolas being shot in front of Luke’s, and then we had Carly leaving Tony with the brilliant twist claiming Jason was Michael’s father. I can still see the way Sarah Brown played that scene in my mind.

The twists that have happened in the last 7 days have been one good story turn after another!

Wasn’t Pikeman behind Anna’s difficulties this summer too? If that was Valentin I cannot wait for the fallout, because she also has a personal stake in this now.

Ava and Valentin conspiring together is a fantastic twist. I hope Laura gets to slap Valentin again before this is all over.

[Vee]

He has never lived up to that IMO, including his early days running around in a hoodie with a mustache and 'killing' Nikolas. But JPS' most famous soap role is a villain and he gives creepy in every scene to me, so they might as well finally lean in and give it their best.

I don't find Dex as a cop to be such a huge reach. He did not set out initially to join the criminal underworld; he was career military before coming to Port Charles and taking the undercover job for Michael. Servicemen to police is a common pipeline and this show has had at least a dozen characters with more checkered pasts join the force. (Please do not take this as a defense of himbo simp Dex, who I would love to see take hot lead from Valentin tomorrow.)

Fill me in. I know very little about the Pikeman saga, other than that every time I tried to tune back in people seemed to stand around saying "Pikeman" for years on end with no actual movement (much like the saga of Cyrus, the world's oldest and most infirm mobster with family trauma). I do know Valentin introduced the issue of Pikeman the PMC/weapons dealer to Sonny in the first place. And I think the subtle ways they tied up all the dumb stuff of the past few months in the story (Brennan showing up in town, "Stone") is very smart.

Edited March 29, 2024 by Vee

[VelekaCarruthers]

So Mulcahey wrote today's breakdown and got separate credit for it?  I didn't see who wrote the script. Was it Kate Hall?

[titan1978]

After his first couple of months I knew he was probably going to be a one contract and out person. He has the charisma/talent on daytime, which is a factory production at this point and very hard on newer folks. His size makes him good for mid 20’s roles and his face was still youthful enough for him to play younger. I could easily see him in a Marvel movie.

The only thing that would make me believe he might have come back was the tone of Hollywood right now- less projects being made across the board means way less roles going around. Plus his Ryan Murphy series won’t be airing until the fall at the earliest. Which is a long time if he doesn’t book anything else big due to lack of projects.

[AbcNbc247]

I see what you mean. Maybe JPS was miscast from the very beginning lol but at this point, I still would much rather see him at least try to be a villain than crying and being all mushy most of the time. 

[Vee]

That's how I feel, yes. I don't think he was necessarily miscast on paper - again, his most famous part is as a villain on AMC. But they wrote him as such a wuss from the start and have kept him in that vein for most of his run. JPS is capable of doing more with proper writing, what he is not capable of (IMO) is selling this bizarre, convoluted, ugly character as a romantic lead. And everything that's been done to try to put him over as one has been mortifying and hilarious to watch for me. But hey, his fanbase and Finola (and Frank) seem to love him. Either way if PM/EK have decided to finally write to his creepy strengths as an actor, good. Speaking of I'll be curious to see what @carolineg thinks of this twist.

I think they'd be wise to wait on a recast, as they did with JJ. A year, 18 months. The industry is in heavy flux and if things go cold Chavez may be looking to pay the rent soon enough.

Edited March 29, 2024 by Vee