GH: May 2024 Discussion Thread

[Contessa Donatella]

Good for him. 

[Khan]

Amazing!!

I haven't been watching again long enough to come up with plans so expansive, but I'm down for anything (and I mean anything) that would prune this cast, lol.

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Edited May 12, 2024 by Khan

[Vee]

It's not that expansive, lol. Just a quick and relatively adept way to clean things out fast lol. I can do it faster! We can do a hurricane or a plague!

[Khan]

Why play it safe?  Screw the budget and do both!

But seriously.  I'm at the point where characters literally could stop appearing with no explanation and I wouldn't even bat an eyelid.  There's just too damn many people, GH!

Edited May 12, 2024 by Khan

[dc11786]

I find a lot of stuff just fades together or fades from my mind quickly. 

While I definitely find there is action missing, the plot that I find the least intriguing is the actual investigation into Pikeman. I just don't care. I think if the setup that was presented in the scripts by Cates/Jason was followed up on (Jason is a sitting duck out in the open) I would be more intrigued. Jason purposely pushing people away to keep them safe and not explain why could have produced at least some of the typical family conflict that PM seems to thrive on. For instance, had Jason basically told off Danny in order to keep him away from Jason's dangerous position only for Jake to confront Jason and really tell Jason off for being the dead beat dad he is only for Jake to be harmed in an attack on Jason could have been some nice angst. Instead, none of that dramatic tension is present. I think the Anna / Valentin dynamic in it has some potential for a psychologically complicated sexual dynamic that Finola Hughes plays well but the end basically leaves her alone so why bother if there isn't an obvious next stage to the story. 

The Blaze / Natalia stuff continues to work for me. I don't need Natalia spouting Bible verses or carrying around Chik-Fil-A to know what her views are. She was a woman from a generation of people who were raised to believe being gay was deviant behavior. I know many women like her among my parents generation who ask me (a middle school teacher) if there are cat litter boxes in the school bathrooms for kids that identify as felines. There are generally ignorant people out there. I do find the Natalia / Sonny stuff mildly intriguing only because I am not sure what the hell we are suppose to think. Sonny is unmedicated so I don't see this as a long-term relationship and I felt Ava's departure was too much of a non-event for it to be an actual end to that thread of the story though a bit of time has been spent building the Natalia/Sonny connection. 

Regarding the wedding date stuff, I liked that an added piece of the puzzle seems to be that Natalia's desire to attend as Blaze's plus one is also about her own need to be the center of attention (similar to how I intrepret a lot of Kris Jenner's behavior). The moment where Natalia was asking about the dress really hit that home for me. I am wondering if they are going to go with an actual medical diagnosis for Natalia like narcissistic personality disorder or something because her sense of importance in terms of her daughter is wild. But like @Vee said, she needs to start doing more. I am hoping she arranges some photo at the wedding with Adrian DeWitt with Blaze and some dude (maybe Dex, because I need Joss to go after Blaze to bring out another round of Joss/Kristina). At this point, I am ready for some actual moves being made on Natalia's part.

The Drew / Nina stuff is going well with Willow taking the New Tomorrow Institute spokesperson job with Drew arranging the interview with Nina and Willow. I feel like that angle is working, but I would escalate some of the stuff between Nina and Drew by pulling the cord and letting Drew and Jordan start seeing each other romantically. Maybe PM & EK want to let Nina get some footing on the ground after signing her divorce papers, which I could respect if any of the other stories were moving, but they aren't. I'd throw a fundraiser for the city project in June and let Jordan attend as Drew's date and let Nina lose her mind. 

I liked that Jordan brought up that Laura's potential support of Heather could come back to bite her with the consituents of Port Charles. I think having a conversations around whether or not Heather should be absolved is interesting if more people were calling out the possibility that this is just an act, like Portia did. It would also have had more impact if Marshall's story had been allowed to play out after the racism reveal to show that even though Marshall was never ill he is still struggling to regain his life, while white Heather who has murdered people is getting a free pass. I wish the Ashfords would come to the forefront in this element and lean into the Trina / Spencer connection and allow Laura to be more torn. Has Trina been told this possibility yet? That is some angst that could be played out over several days. 

Gregory and Tracy's scenes the week before were really well done with Tracy being regretful and Gregory reminding Tracy she had time to fix things while alluding to his own impending death. The fight this week about Jackie with Gregory and Finn while Finn runs to Alexis, Gregory's current romantic interest, works for me. I don't even like Easton, but I am curious if Finn and Alexis will end up hitting the sheets before, or after, Gregory's eventual demise. I am still hoping that Gregory asks Tracy to help him die with dignity leading to some infighting between Chase and Brooklyn with Chase deciding to bring charges against Tracy in a civil trial (at the very least) out of anger over Tracy's interference, in Chase's mind. 

The beat about Kristina potentially wanting to keep the baby was unfortunate though I thought it provided a nice moment for Diane to tell Alexis that she needs to stay out of it, which I don't see Alexis being able to do. 

I like how they are still maintaining the stance that Sonny wants to be philanthropic and keeps getting shot down. Jordan being the next one was nice as it led me to believe that the tax return scene may have meant something is coming down the line there. I may be wrong just as it won't seem to matter that Willow stole the meds from the hospital if she's no longer nursing unless the scandal causes harm with her new spokesperson job. 

I'm hoping this coming week will be a bit more exciting, but I won't be too shocked if the best we get is strong conversations between characters with lots of potential for something more.

[Contessa Donatella]

In general whether I agree or not, I have a great appreciation of your take on the show his week, but I have one pressing question. Has Trina been told WHAT possiblity?

[dc11786]

The possibility that Heather might be released from prison. I remember Trina going to visit Laura and Ace, but I cannot remember if it had been said to Trina that Heather might be released. 

[Contessa Donatella]

Thanks for the reply. I do not think Heather will be released so I've sorta blocked that possibility outta my head! I think she will be moved from prison to mental health prison. But, I don't think Trina has been updated at all about anything regarding Heather & probably she should be! 

Edited May 12, 2024 by Contessa Donatella
Trina

[ranger1rg]

Gotta love it that Natalia is worried about Blaze's brand when she says she shouldn't be with Kristina.

Meanwhile, she's flirting bigtime with the biggest mobster in town.

What a joke.

[Contessa Donatella]

M is for many opinions

O is for opinionated

T is for Too controlling

H is for How many ways can I say opinionated?

E is for Every girlfriend's nightmare

R is for Real Genuine Stage Mother

H should have been for Hypocrit! 

Edited May 12, 2024 by Contessa Donatella
forgot something

[Khan]

Doesn't really make a whole lot of sense, does it, lol?

If anything, Blaze should be concerned about what Natalia's brewing relationship with Sonny will do to the brand.  Although, in this day and age, having a mobster in your circle practically gets you nominated for sainthood, lol.

[Bright Eyes]

Maybe I'm being naïve, but I feel like the writers have been very careful not to mention Sonny being a criminal whenever Natalia is around and when she finds out, that will be the catalyst to her actively doing something nefarious to get Kristina out of Blaze's life. 

[cassadine1991]

Apparently last week the cast got scripts that have the start of PM/EK’s true stories

[DeliaIrisFan]

I can't disagree with those who say the pacing is off, but for now at least, I'm having no trouble wanting to tune into the next episode.  The dialogue is much better, at least 50% of the cast is good, and there is a sense of community.  That counts for a lot for me after all we've lost of soaps. 

I wish there were more compelling stories, and maybe that will happen.  I certainly don't like how every character is being written (see Lucy), and there are more characters than I can count on both hands whom I have no interest in whatsoever.  Maybe I'm more curious about what a writer like PM is going to do with a show with this history, whatever confines he may be dealing with, than I'm ever going to be about what happens next in an actual story on a network soap at this point—at least until The Gates premieres.

The idea that they're foregoing cliffhangers because of the previews is interesting to me, especially because I've been watching almost exclusively on Hulu and haven't seen previews.  Do those only air on the network broadcast, or do you actually have to wait until after the end credits?

As far as the show itself, can someone explain to me the history of Anna and Jason's friendship(?)?  From my perspective, she seems way too trusting of him, especially when they've made a big point that she's finally seen the light about Sonny.  And the explanation that she has given for why her judgment was clouded where Sonny was concerned (because of Robin) actually makes Anna's ease with Jason stand out even more, considering how Robin and Jason ended.  That is one of my biggest issues with the Pikeman story honestly.

One more random question, that I meant to ask last week: Did I mishear or did Aiden drop off cupcakes for the birthday party (that we didn't see) of a nurse named Amy?  He repeated the name several times and I could swear that's what he said.  Is Amy Vining supposed to be alive and working at GH?

Edited May 13, 2024 by DeliaIrisFan

[Vee]

"True stories?"

This is where I'm at. The show is considerably improved on the fundamentals and generally engaging even though it's got a lot of work to do. It feels a lot smarter, even if the canvas is so messy.

They're never on Hulu, sadly.

Jason and Anna's bond isn't really friendship IMO, but it is still too tight for me. Their connections with Anna were always there to put the two men over to the audience in the last decade via a fan favorite, and IMO Finola had played too much into it with Maurice. The Jason thing I can at least say she respects his skills in combat, as Anna is a highly skilled covert operative.

That's a new Nurse Amy, no relation but who clearly is supposed to be a homage to Amy Vining. They introduced her maybe ten years ago. She has all the same character traits as Amy Vining but is far more annoying. Amy Vining was acknowledged as having passed away and was honored by Lucy along with Jessie Brewer onstage during the 2013 Nurses Ball.

Edited May 13, 2024 by Vee