4 minutes ago, carolineg said:

I would say KS's many absences are a bigger issue than the others.  Kelly, Pullos, and JJ are gone and they were more isolated incidents as far as time off regardless of reasons.  Kirsten has taken years off.  She owes me no explanation, but when she openly says I am getting 6-7 months to move and staying on contract while doing so it does look like preferential treatment. -especially when there is a story happening where she is quite relevant.

Idk, Genie stalling the Cassadine story was annoying.  But she is Laura.  Maxie can be recast.  And Genie was very transparent about her extended maternity leave.  I am not saying it's right, but it's a lot more believable than I need a year off for endometriosis, weeks off for psoriasis, and half a year to move across the country. 

I do wish Kirsten the best and it's not my place to judge.  I personally would have ditched her years ago even if Maxie did have a great renaissance these last few years.   I could just be a very mean and cynical person though lol.

Oh, no. Perhaps I worded it wrong. I'm on your side in terms of KS. As of right now, this time does feel like the ones I mentioned to me. But I do worry that it will become like what happened with GF due to them going ahead and starting the Nathan storyline. Where can that story even go when the emotional center (Maxie) is not even there? I would say recast for the most part except that for this particular story to work they would need this actress. 

 

That is not to slight GF at all because we know I love Laura. It was just a comparison. Part of that comparison for me was what you mentioned being in the back of my head. This situation with KS has been ongoing, but she has come back. The timing still is sooooo odd to me. And then to START a story where her particular version of Maxie should be here is even more 'curiouser and curiouser.' 

 

Now if, as has been mentioned, it is just a way to center Britt/Jason...there are better ways to do it. But that involves better writing. 

8 minutes ago, titan1978 said:

And the return at the ball was spectacular.

One of my favorite memories. The glamour. The gothic. The Wuthering Heights side of me was eating it up. It was well worth the wait. And I got to see it live when she walked into frame.

 

5 minutes ago, titan1978 said:

My fear with the sudden shift is that we are getting a classic Valentini interference reset. Lots of stuff is working but not for him or some other exec, and they derail it.

My worry as well. It made sense (and was long overdue) to shift to Monica...which is still using the Qs as a driving force across the canvas. But honestly, all things Q have been pretty A story for months now...from Dark Michael to Drew as Villain to Willow going crazy to Who Shot Drew. And since Jason is a Q...he still gets a focus as well. But I can imagine that so much reduced Carly/Sonny focus might make someone twitch so I have felt that fear. 

 

I really felt it when Monica's Death arc started, but the show pivoted while keeping it focused (where it should be) while making the stories around it compliment, rather than distracting from what was going on. Thankfully. 

10 minutes ago, titan1978 said:

I don’t have any ill will towards any parent wanting more time with their kids, especially newborns. And considering how much of a troubled time she had as a young woman, I assume this was a wonderful time for her. But I do remember Guza’s Michael Logan return interview in 1998, and when asked about her he said he would practically beg to get her back to the show. And the return at the ball was spectacular.

Add me to the list of folks that are kind of sad for Spinelli with this Nathan stuff. He was one of my favorite parts of the Britt nonsense last week, when he confronted her at the hospital. I like when they use his brain. I was already seeing the writing on the wall when James said he wished Cody was his father. Which is fine if they were going to explore it in any way. But I would like him to show a depth of feeling for Spinelli too. And as far as Chase or Nathan, Chase is at least more charming and engaged.

I don't have any ill will towards Genie either.   It was a bit annoying for viewers that she kept extending, but she was very clear.  She is Laura.  To me there is no comparison between her and Storm's absences.  Again, I wish the best for Storms and her family, but it might be time to cut the losses with her.  If she returns in a month or so I'll eat my words.

6 minutes ago, Taoboi said:

Oh, no. Perhaps I worded it wrong. I'm on your side in terms of KS. As of right now, this time does feel like the ones I mentioned to me. But I do worry that it will become like what happened with GF due to them going ahead and starting the Nathan storyline. Where can that story even go when the emotional center (Maxie) is not even there? I would say recast for the most part except that for this particular story to work they would need this actress. 

 

That is not to slight GF at all because we know I love Laura. It was just a comparison. Part of that comparison for me was what you mentioned being in the back of my head. This situation with KS has been ongoing, but she has come back. The timing still is sooooo odd to me. And then to START a story where her particular version of Maxie should be here is even more 'curiouser and curiouser.' 

 

Now if, as has been mentioned, it is just a way to center Britt/Jason...there are better ways to do it. But that involves better writing. 

If I were Kirsten or GH, I would have made a very brief statement about her needed some personal time off.  That's it.  Very understandable

But she went on instagram and made a couple of videos saying I am moving, I need 6 months off, I am still on contract, no recast, and I MIGHT be back by November.  Could you imagine any employer letting you do that?  Lol

21 minutes ago, carolineg said:

I do wish Kirsten the best and it's not my place to judge.  I personally would have ditched her years ago even if Maxie did have a great renaissance these last few years.   I could just be a very mean and cynical person though lol.

I wish her the best too. I don’t fault her for the show’s poor decisions. They chose to put Maxie in a coma a couple of weeks before her husband returned from the dead, being poisoned by the big bad which is another stalled story. She was in the middle of the Deception story about Sonny, all tied together and then just dropped. On a balanced show, we would still be seeing the other Deception characters dealing with this, and Sidwell gloating, or at least talking about what happened. Sonny/Jason/Spinelli trying to figure out the mistake with the laundered money and the dead judge. They even have these characters on screen since Maxie left, and nobody talking about any crossover stories. I assume it’s because they film so out of order that it makes it to hard for Frank to puzzle the episodes together.

Also- I like Marco. But increasingly I see the need for these supervillain characters to have a confidante that can add to the push/pull. Celeste with Stefano comes to mind.

Minority opinion, maybe, but after last week’s cliffhanger, I think it actually works better with Maxie incapacitated.

She would’ve clocked Nathan instantly. So now she’s Chekhov’s Gun.  We know the moment she wakes up, the whole secret detonates. That makes her absence a source of tension. We’re not just waiting for the reveal; we’re waiting for her to deliver it. The anticipation builds with every scene she’s not in.

It’s like when Laura Spencer wandered Port Charles for a week to the strains of Christopher Cross’s “Think of Laura,” and we all screamed at our TVs for Luke to just look left already.

Maxie needs to stay off canvas to preserve that suspense. If they recast her mid-arc, it flattens 

Edited October 13Oct 13 by j swift

3 minutes ago, carolineg said:

But she went on instagram and made a couple of videos saying I am moving, I need 6 months off, I am still on contract, no recast, and I MIGHT be back by November.  Could you imagine any employer letting you do that?  Lol

She said MIGHT? At a job that does waaay too much block filming? When you say it like that...

 

4 minutes ago, carolineg said:

If I were Kirsten or GH, I would have made a very brief statement about her needed some personal time off.  That's it.  Very understandable

Same. If she's not coming back in a month's time (or by end of year)...yeah, knowing that I will be joining you on the side-eye department. 

2 minutes ago, j swift said:

Maxie needs to stay off canvas to preserve that suspense. If they recast her mid-arc, it flattens 

Yeah, this storyline is very actress specific so a recast won't work.

 

I haven't binge last week's episodes yet so I take it those anvils are indeed correct. I just hope the rumors are not. 

8 minutes ago, titan1978 said:

it makes it to hard for Frank to puzzle the episodes together.

Oh how I shadily just chuckled.

 

8 minutes ago, titan1978 said:

Celeste with Stefano comes to mind.

God, I love a good right-hand henchwoman. 

10 minutes ago, titan1978 said:

They chose to put Maxie in a coma a couple of weeks before her husband returned from the dead, being poisoned by the big bad which is another stalled story. She was in the middle of the Deception story about Sonny, all tied together and then just dropped. On a balanced show, we would still be seeing the other Deception characters dealing with this, and Sidwell gloating, or at least talking about what happened. Sonny/Jason/Spinelli trying to figure out the mistake with the laundered money and the dead judge.

I barely remember the story myself. Sidwell really has fallen off of Frank's Flavor of the Month List. Which is funny since he was adamant about making his next move with Maxie out of the way. And barely a mention.

8 minutes ago, Taoboi said:

She said MIGHT? At a job that does waaay too much block filming? When you say it like that...

I believe her words were she's hopeful she will be back by November.

2 minutes ago, carolineg said:

I believe her words were she's hopeful she will be back by November.

Oh. Ok. I was about to say  

5 hours ago, carolineg said:

I mean, we can insert a joke about Paevey's acting here, but I think he's acting the same?  I remember Nathan and some of his stories, although the character and the actor never made an impression on me.  If he's going for sinister, I am not getting that either.

I remember some clip from when he first woke up and Britt meeting him, and she seemed nervous and he had a kind of smug of dark look on his face. There was another where everyone left him alone in his hospital room and I thought he looked the same way once they were gone. Who knows where that's meant to lead, but I took it as some hint.

Yep. Those as well.

I had to laugh at my favorite soap trope.

Nathan’s been unconscious for anywhere between a week and seven years, yet somehow he’s rocking a fresh high-cut fade, clean-shaven face, and gym-honed muscles. The man’s been in a coma, but his grooming routine hasn’t missed a beat.💪

Meanwhile, over at GH, no one’s bothered to check for scars, run an MRI, or even ask basic questions. Maxie is still in a coma, not because the actress is unavailable, but because apparently the standard of care at General Hospital is to let patients sleep it off and hope for the best. Note: IRL the average coma is 3–5 days. 🛌

Edited October 13Oct 13 by j swift

Credits for Monday, October 13, 2025:

Created by: Frank & Doris Hursley
Executive producer: Frank Valentini
Head writers: Elizabeth Korte and Chris Van Etten
Writers: Emily Culliton, Scott Sickles and Cathy Lepard
Director: Jillian Dedote