I know the pairing was polarizing, but Ric seemed to get story and "meat" when paired with Alexis. His entire pairing with Liz seemed wasted on chaining Carly to a wall and stealing her spawn.

I will admit that Ric/Liz could work if someone actually invested in them, but that's the problem: No one seems to really give a damn. And, at this juncture, with his moral compass permanently broken, Ric seems better suited to Ava.

I do feel for Becky Herbst, even if I never liked Liz too much. She has been loyal to the show, but the Jason pairing was short circuited, Zander used Liz to get over Emily and was never really going anywhere, and she got paired with freaking Franco. And we know how Lucky shook out.

Liz just seems like an afterthought herself, no matter the writing regime.

13 minutes ago, carolineg said:

Well, I suppose the show had to do something.  Everything else has tanked and KeMo played her cards on the Jason/Sam situation and lost.  Becky still is around but a Liz/Jason pairing would be such a backslide-yet they are still teasing her with Ric.

Honestly losing Lucky feels like a gaping hole still for me. But you can tell the show is super relieved to have any excuse to get Liz back to a B or C-tier role. At this point (and in the spirit of the recent Michael switch) if Jonathan either won't commit or if FV burned that bridge or both, I'd be willing to accept a very very good recast. That would be the move for Liz for me, but I suspect Frank is relieved to have Lucky gone again. I also would probably bring Zander back for a stint. Chad Brannon is still very hot.

Britt or Britt-Adjacent means nothing to me. I've never been able to stand her or KT, but I will allow that she and Steve had real heat.

Edited June 29Jun 29 by Vee

48 minutes ago, Wendy said:

I know the pairing was polarizing, but Ric seemed to get story and "meat" when paired with Alexis. His entire pairing with Liz seemed wasted on chaining Carly to a wall and stealing her spawn.

I will admit that Ric/Liz could work if someone actually invested in them, but that's the problem: No one seems to really give a damn. And, at this juncture, with his moral compass permanently broken, Ric seems better suited to Ava.

I do feel for Becky Herbst, even if I never liked Liz too much. She has been loyal to the show, but the Jason pairing was short circuited, Zander used Liz to get over Emily and was never really going anywhere, and she got paired with freaking Franco. And we know how Lucky shook out.

Liz just seems like an afterthought herself, no matter the writing regime.

Ric/Ava are good as schemers and knowing who each other really are. I do think they'd be served well with a quad of people who serve them other uses - Cody presumably isn't happening as Josh Kelly is now off contract, but I think Ava being drawn to him because he's free in a way Ric isn't (due to Molly and his love for Liz) could have been interesting. Ric will always want Liz, but I don't think she would ever want him again - I assume she is going to cut him off for a while once the truth is out. I hope not entirely as there's a lot of interesting layers in their relationship. And otherwise, I don't know what Liz is going to be doing. If they'd been willing to try something different, I would have had Marco as bi and torn between Liz and Lucas.

Edited June 29Jun 29 by DRW50

11 minutes ago, DRW50 said:

Ric/Ava are good as schemers and knowing who each other really are. I do think they'd be served well with a quad of people who serve them other uses - Cody presumably isn't happening as Josh Kelly is now off contract, but I think Ava being drawn to him because he's free in a way Ric isn't (due to Molly and his love for Liz) could have been interesting. Ric will always want Liz, but I don't think she would ever want him again - I assume she is going to cut him off for a while once the truth is out. I hope not entirely as there's a lot of interesting layers in their relationship. And otherwise, I don't know what Liz is going to be doing. If they'd been willing to try something different, I would have had Marco as bi and torn between Liz and Lucas.

Ric and Ava are perfect matches because there’s no pretense about who they are. But I love that Ric and Liz undercurrent. Rick Hearst plays that absolute longing and soft spot for Liz to the !@#$%^&*]i.n and even with Liz knowing he’s not good for her, he and Becky still have chemistry in spades. I know that once Liz finds out what he and Ava have been doing she’s done with him completely but I will say that I’ve so enjoyed the current writing regime recognizing and playing Liz being so important to him this whole time.

8 hours ago, carolineg said:

I honestly don't even fully blame Guza.  I feel it's more on Steve.

I think Sonny and Jason's 90's popularity made writers afraid to mess with the entire plot.  It was all working until it wasn't.   Both were also coasting on very popular female leads and once Kim, Vanessa, and Sarah took a hike it stopped being as "romantic" or viable.  There were hints here and there Jason was getting his memory back like when he fixed the paper Christmas tree dove/bird for Lila and it didn't really pan out.

They likely felt they had few, if any reasons to take him back, as Jason Morgan was much more important to viewers than Jason Quartermaine had been, and Guza had already been working to deemphasize Monica and Alan (and anything with the Quartermaines beyond the foil of the "good" mobsters).

By the time they reached a point where it would have been logical to take Jason back, all the story impact was gone.

I do think, as I think @Vee mentioned, there could be a good exit story in Jason getting his memory back now that it is much too late and being full of deep shame and regret, which would lead him to cut ties with Carly and Sonny and leave Port Charles.

24 minutes ago, DRW50 said:

I do think, as I think @Vee mentioned, there could be a good exit story in Jason getting his memory back now that it is much too late and being full of deep shame and regret, which would lead him to cut ties with Carly and Sonny and leave Port Charles.

Assuming Steve comes good on his vow to retire in a few years (which given his messy divorce I highly doubt), I would actually kill Jason after he got his memory back in full. He would still be a mix of the two men, still love Sonny and Carly, but he would be deeply remorseful for some of his actions and want to serve some of his debt to society, and would plead with Sonny to consider the same. On his way to the PCPD he'd be gunned down by some old enemies and die in his estranged son's (Jake) arms. It would be a short arc to try to get Steve an Emmy on his way out the door. Why not? He can act when he wants to, and he's been better this last year.

As it stands now, though: Steve's role is marginalized and could frankly lift out of the show at any time. As I said a few posts ago, he is now, shockingly, in an inferior and weakened position within what has become a massive Quartermaine resurgence. Whether it's good story and characters or bad they are now the central core family and multi-plot apparatus within the show again. Jason has been subsumed into that end of the canvas and actually fits very well playing off Tracy, BLQ, etc. for all the reasons I have stated. Steve also seems reasonably at ease with it and is not switched off or disinterested in those scenes; Jason is generally respectful of the family and seems invested in some of them. So I can live with Jason for awhile, depending on his role. I just don't see a point in romantic prospects or long-term story.

But I'd still probably bring back a recast Keesha Ward, to scandalize his warring fanbases, screw with them and put Jason with her again for awhile, someone totally unlike him, as Keesha would still be a socially conscious, morally upright person. But then I'd probably still kill him down the road lol.

Edited June 29Jun 29 by Vee

@Vee Those are great ideas. Sad to say I keep forgetting Jake even got to interact with Jason this time around. 

I'd love to see Keesha back, especially to break away from how segregated the current dynamics are.

I always preferred Keesha with AJ.  A good recast could change that though.  Keesha hasn't been seen in years, so you could pretty much give her any backstory.  Tbh, I don't even know if Keesha got an exit or why she left-she just stopped appearing at some point lol.

I don't think I would kill Jason off even if Steve left.  It's still another dead Quartermaine.  I'd consider killing Sonny off first (if they can't get Vanessa back).  Even marginalized like he is today, I feel like Jason is less played out than Sonny.

50 minutes ago, carolineg said:

I always preferred Keesha with AJ.  A good recast could change that though.  Keesha hasn't been seen in years, so you could pretty much give her any backstory.  Tbh, I don't even know if Keesha got an exit or why she left-she just stopped appearing at some point lol.

I don't think I would kill Jason off even if Steve left.  It's still another dead Quartermaine.  I'd consider killing Sonny off first (if they can't get Vanessa back).  Even marginalized like he is today, I feel like Jason is less played out than Sonny.

I’m with you. I would kill Sonny tomorrow over Jason. Sonny is more of an albatross to me on this show than Jason and Steve actually knows his lines. I’m also not down with anymore dead Quartermaines as we’re literally about to lose Monica.

For some reason when the talk of Keesha came up, actress Kelly Jo Minter from Summer School popped in my head

Kelly Jo Minter is a lovely lady I enjoyed in horror movies 35 years ago but in no way is right for Keesha in 2025.

11 hours ago, carolineg said:

I always preferred Keesha with AJ.  A good recast could change that though.  Keesha hasn't been seen in years, so you could pretty much give her any backstory.  Tbh, I don't even know if Keesha got an exit or why she left-she just stopped appearing at some point lol.

I liked AJ/Keesha too (both AJs). Probably more than the show did.

Keesha did get an oncamera exit. A very brief one. In early 1998 she told AJ or Justus she was moving to, I think, DC.

9 hours ago, DRW50 said:

I liked AJ/Keesha too (both AJs). Probably more than the show did.

I would probably play with the possibility that one of Keesha's children is A.J.'s. (And might likely bring A.J. back eventually yet again, as a counter to Drew on Tracy's side - I already wanted to bring back Justus and a son plus we have kind of a surplus of Qs now, which is weird to think about.) It just seems an obvious route.

1 hour ago, Vee said:

I would probably play with the possibility that one of Keesha's children is A.J.'s. (And might likely bring A.J. back eventually yet again, as a counter to Drew on Tracy's side - I already wanted to bring back Justus and a son plus we have kind of a surplus of Qs now, which is weird to think about.) It just seems an obvious route.

I've always wanted AJ back too, although with Monica gone it may not have as much impact (I suppose as long as Michael is there the story is still potent). I doubt Gio will be on longer than another year or so...if GH is still on then and Frank is willing to stop the segregated writing, bringing in Justus and some kids for him would write itself.

47 minutes ago, DRW50 said:

I've always wanted AJ back too, although with Monica gone it may not have as much impact (I suppose as long as Michael is there the story is still potent). I doubt Gio will be on longer than another year or so...if GH is still on then and Frank is willing to stop the segregated writing, bringing in Justus and some kids for him would write itself.

I am sure that they considered bringing back a male descendant of the Ward family. I just wish they'd gone through with it. Granted, it was a time when they seemed to do a lot of cogitating about things & people - Wards, Cassadines - but not nearly enough pulling of triggers to make some of those things happen. Lately, they have done some better in the doing things category. 

Segregated writing? If you ask me what GH has is systemic racism at the level of the organization which is arguably worse. See, I think they think they're in fine shape, racially. Only they're not.

Edited June 30Jun 30 by Contessa Donatella