1 hour ago, DRW50 said:

I think they just don't care. It takes time and effort to write romances and those at the show now don't seem comfortable with the concept.

I think it's both lack of interest/comfort and perhaps money. They want to keep a zillion friends of Frank, longtime perennials or faves of the writers around, and they also just seem allergic to writing strong romance unless it's for one of a handful of FV hires - and even then it's pretty hard to come by now. Last time Roger Howarth got a new character they barely made an attempt to pair him with Maxie, in an awkward 'romance' that ended up barely seen onscreen but for a kiss or two. Then came the equally slow-walked thing with Ava. Kate Mansi's Kristina with Lucky never got off the launching pad, nor did the attempt to put Eva LaRue with MB. The BLQ/Dante connection is equally molasses-like despite 2026 magazine spoilers putting him solely with BLQ and Chase.

I don't know why they're so gunshy about romance or sex now. Frank's shows didn't have a problem pushing it in the early-mid 2010s, or at OLTL.

As Alexis is made so powerless in the ongoing Victorian-era traumas of her grandchildren, I appreciate how much NLG still does to play the pain and other buried emotions of the character. That bit where Scout told her she couldn't understand what it was like to lose a mother so suddenly the way she and Danny did, you were reminded without a word just how much Alexis understands this.

GH keeping so many characters for longer than necessary and giving them too many children actually pays off in moments like these. There are stories which could be told about Alexis having to see Scout play out her life all over again. If Scout did shoot Drew, I wish we could get some of that reflection, although I know that's not very likely.

It's also very surreal to see Danny and Cody having pep talks in the Q mansion and Danny talking about how he has been happy there after losing his mother. A year or so back I watched that Q Thanksgiving where Sam and Jason arrived in their matching leather jackets and Jason was so repulsed at them (due to Sam's rape) he almost immediately walked out. Now here we are.

1 hour ago, carolineg said:

To be clear, I don't think TA is tanking scenes or not doing her job. It just seems like her material doesn't inspire her much these days which I don't blame her for.

Oh, I didn't think that you thought she was tanking scenes. I found TA too professional to do that tbh. I also don't think the material inspires her, either. Which is why it's noticable in the episodes I've been binging of a different energy. She might not like being used as a plot device, but TA is running with it and I do like her acting if I don't like the reason...if that makes sense.

1 hour ago, carolineg said:

It's the 100 recurring players taking up space. You honestly don't need a big budget to hire actors that have chemistry. I am sure GH can afford an actress that didn't get her SAG card yesterday for Michael.

THIS. ESPECIALLY the 100 recurring players part.

2 minutes ago, DRW50 said:

As Alexis is made so powerless in the ongoing Victorian-era traumas of her grandchildren, I appreciate how much NLG still does to play the pain and other buried emotions of the character.

I completely agree. I always appreciate that as well. And the layers that pop up like Helena's dagger.

1 minute ago, DRW50 said:

As Alexis is made so powerless in the ongoing Victorian-era traumas of her grandchildren, I appreciate how much NLG still does to play the pain and other buried emotions of the character. That bit where Scout told her she couldn't understand what it was like to lose a mother so suddenly the way she and Danny did, you were reminded without a word just how much Alexis understands this.

They have given Nancy a lot to hang on her this past year with so little return for her, like a proper love interest. I have made a lot of sport on this forum of Alexis' various romantic humiliations but I do think it's time again, be it with a man or a woman.

There have long been rumors that Nancy is loath to do stories which play up Alexis' Cassadine past these days which I'm not convinced are true, but frankly she has played far worse so I would do it, including bringing some strange Eurotrash cousins in or something. More importantly, I would say the Natasha of the late '90s or early 2000s would have taken more extreme steps against Drew when pushed to the brink like this long ago. If she and Luke in their heyday had to deal with him, they would've by now within a hair's breadth of what they did to Katherine Bell. She should be nearing that extreme, and NLG can still play it.

I would be more interested in the idea of Scout having shot Drew (an unfortunate riff on Rachel having just shot E.J. on DAYS months ago, or the aborted plan for Little Al Holden to shoot Carlo Hesser at OLTL when Frank was starting out there) if Scout had literally any personality to speak of or character like some of the other kids, as opposed to being a sad cipher. I just don't care about her; like Donna, Avery, Bailey or Amelia, I regularly forget she exists when she's not onscreen. If it's anyone it should still be Willow IMO.

Edited 1 hour ago1 hr by Vee

2 minutes ago, Vee said:

They have given Nancy a lot to hang on her this past year with so little return for her, like a proper love interest. I have made a lot of sport on this forum of Alexis' various romantic humiliations but I do think it's time again, be it with a man or a woman.

There have long been rumors that Nancy is loath to do stories which play up Alexis' Cassadine past these days which I'm not convinced are true, but frankly she has played far worse so I would do it, including bringing some strange Eurotrash cousins in or something. More importantly, I would say the Natasha of the late '90s or early 2000s would have taken more extreme steps against Drew when pushed to the brink like this long ago. If she and Luke in their heyday had to deal with him, they would've by now within a hair's breadth of what they did to Katherine Bell. She should be nearing that extreme, and NLG can still play it.

I would be more interested in the idea of Scout having shot Drew (an unfortunate riff on Rachel having just shot E.J. on DAYS months ago, or the aborted plan for Little Al Holden to shoot Carlo Hesser at OLTL when Frank was starting out there) if Scout had literally any personality to speak of or character like some of the other kids, as opposed to being a sad cipher. I just don't care about her; like Donna, Avery, Bailey or Amelia, I regularly forget she exists when she's not onscreen. If it's anyone it should still be Willow IMO.

I so often see fans asking for her to go Natasha on him. There are many reasons it won't happen, especially that characters being more assertive would mean less time filling up 5 days a week, but I do wish they would.

You aren't wrong about Scout, or many of these kids. At least the current traumas give them story for the future and give them some reason to be there (unlike, say, Maxie's kids, who are presumably doing fine with her being in a months-long coma or one of their fathers returning from the dead), but you still aren't going to get story payoff for a long time, if ever.

Kids shooting adults is very overused on soaps and none have ever worked as well for me as Lizzie doing this on GL because Hayden Panetteire was a great little actress. I agree with you that Willow would be a more interesting choice. I just hope if it's Scout they play the beats that should be played and could write themselves about the generational patterns and pain in that family.

Awww a Lizzie mention.

I really enjoyed the renaissance that Alexis and NLG had a few years back. And it's just sad to see her on the sidelines really...waiting for her to (hopefully) raise again.