GH: November 2024 Discussion Thread

[Liberty City]

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[Contessa Donatella]

What a day! Yesterday's GH, I don't have enough adjectives to do it justice. Korte/Van Etten/Nigel Campbell/Lepard/Anne they outdid themselves. The writing was solid, tight, filled with emotion, high drama, catharthis inducing tears. Then the actors, OMG! Nancy Lee Grahn had me bawling. Before that, I was all choked up. Those fans who do not believe that Steve Burton can actually act were shown they are wrong. Van Hansis was a marvel, his being so dismayed. Even Becky H brought it with Head Nurse vibes.

[Planet Soap]

It was a great episode and tragic conclusion to the Jason and Sam super couple.

But Why kill Sam off in such a permanent fashion? Could she not be brought back at her requested pay rate under a new regime? Does Frank assume he will run GH until the end? Why not recast with Lindsay Hartley to give Sam some new blood??? So many questions.

Regardless, despite Kelly's recent dull acting and little storyline, it still hurt to see a character that I grew up with killed off.

[Contessa Donatella]

What was said about Lindsay Hartley was that once before Frank made the offer to her & her reply was that she enjoyed the occasional time to keep her hand in but most of her time is spent directing. So, there's one question down, many left to go. Personally I have enjoyed it when she was temp Sam. 

Also, it is my understanding, despite what so many KeMo fans insist, that it was not Frank's decision. The decision, supposedly, was handed down by Disney. So, that is maybe one more of your stated questions. I have found the people who have said this about the network to be very reliable fans & show supporters. So, I at least give this serious consideration.

I do know that Disney was very unhappy with its numbers from last quarter & that is why they handed down pay cut & episode minimum changes, across the board.

[Liberty City]

The continued disrespect of veteran actors on General Hospital is alarming. Anna Lee, Stuart Damon et al. It's a continued pattern of this soap to disregard its veteran cast. Yes, I'm not upset with Kelly Monaco's exit nor the [all-too-obvious permanent] death of Sam McCall, but it's leaving a real pit in my stomach that this is happened, yet again, knowing what we know from the past with Lee & Damon.

This is the kind of exit we needed, controversial or not, but the pit-feeling in my stomach does feel a bit... concerning overall.

[prefab1]

I saw the Alexis scenes GH had posted to their YouTube channel, where she's asking for a blanket because Sam is "cold." And I appreciated what they were trying to do, but it just didn't work at all for me. Maybe if it were a scene from a 1920s melodrama that I was watching onstage, I could suspend my disbelief and just go with it, but as it played out on the screen, I just didn't find it believable enough to be moving, and I was mainly thinking about how this was probably going in NLG's Emmy reel. 

[Liberty City]

I've seen in many shows, daytime and primetime, where people in denial about the recent death mention how they're "cold" and want to warm them up. And do feel it's realistic, as grief and denial are not linear. Grahn sold the material. To me, it mirrored the work of Sally Field in Steel Magnolias, especially in remarking how mothers are not meant to bury their children and losing them. It was well-scripted dialogue (which I don't often credit this soap with, especially under the present regime).

It was Burton that came off as cold and did nothing for me.

[Contessa Donatella]

So, you only saw clips? But, yes, I would estimate that her entire monologue will be the biggest part of her Emmy reel. 

[prefab1]

Yeah, and it might have played better in context of the whole episode. I did think the scene I saw improved as it went on, when NLG gave a monologue about holding Sam as a baby in the hospital. 

[Contessa Donatella]

I mention it because it was really a quite long monologue. I personally found the writing to be solid, tight, emotional, catharsis-inducing & then NLG totally rose to the occasion of this writing which to me was unusual for current GH. I can be quite critical of today's GH but this was not the case yesterday, at least to me. 

[Aragorn]

I believe that Alexa Havins will debut today and Lulu will wake up.

Will will not see Sam again. Yesterday was Kelly Monaco's last episode.

Sam exits 10/31. Lulu enters 11/1.

[Liberty City]

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[detroitpiston]

I think if you’re gonna kill a long term character off you should get your money’s worth out of the fall out and they’ve been hitting the right emotional beats for me so far, starting with the rounds of pre-surgery visits with all of Sam’s important connections on canvas last week up to the devastation shock and grief we’re seeing now.

I had gotten spoiled that she would die Wednesday but they caught me off guard with Sam and Alexis chatting about Sante’s engagement in one scene then jumping to Alexis signaling Jason to send Danny and Scout away while the hospital staff tried to save Sam. Some of the acting (namely Van Hansis) and directing during the actual death call was a bit hammy but it still hit the right spots for me.

I thought Alexis and Jason’s reactions to finding out she was dead were great performances from both actors. Alexis asking Portia for a blanket then lying in bed with Sam’s dead body was devastating. Now personally I would have cut the rant at the universe for taking her daughter part because it just felt a wee bit too…hey lets get an Emmy but again, it all still worked for me. NLG clearly knew what she was supposed to do and went for it (I did get distracted by KeMos eyes fluttering though

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)

Jason’s scenes were the ones that really sold the whole death for me, Burton played it all to perfection IMO. Jason hesitating at the door, not even being able to look at the body was heartbreaking, then him saying he slept better next to her the same way she had told him, woof. The real kicker was the montage with their old theme song. Hadn’t heard that damn Rie Sinclair track in over a decade and it used to annoy the hell outta me back in the day but man oh man I legit got teary eyed when it played. JaSam has always been my preferred Jason pairing and I still think its criminal it took Sam getting killed off for them to give us a real scene with the two of them for the entirety of this Burton return.

Danny distracting Scout and Dante and Rocco talking about how Sam got them out of an emotional hole after losing Lulu to her deep slumber was also devastating. I’m looking forward to the rest of the reactions and Alexis going for legal vengeance against the hospital.

The rest of the show? Meh. They took all the gas out of the Nina/Drew/Willow/Michael/Sasha story by not having Drew and Willow boink, sidelining the whole thing then rushing this reveal. Michael going full torturing heel on Drew and Willow is the only thing that could reinvigorate my interest.

Edited November 1, 2024 by detroitpiston

[dragonflies]

Edited

 

Edited November 1, 2024 by dragonflies

[Liberty City]

Credits for Friday, November 1, 2024:

Created by: Frank & Doris Hursley
Executive producer: Frank Valentini
Head writers: Elizabeth Korte, Chris Van Etten
Writers: Celena Cipriaso, Kate Hall, Anne Schoettle
Director: Allison Reames Smith

Edited November 1, 2024 by Liberty City