By 
Town Foolery
The fact that Ava is so easily able to fool everyone with her disguise makes everyone around her a little less intelligent. And some of those folks need all the brain cells they can get. For example, Ava’s daughter Kiki did not need to be made more naive. Instead of an unobservant Kiki, we could have gotten a more aware young lady worried that she’s on the verge of getting her heart broken yet grateful that her mother is still alive. Kiki could be examining the choices she has made in Ava’s absence, learn from her mistakes and grow as a character. I don’t want a flaky Kiki. I want a messy one with some common sense. It’s bad enough that she has decided to forgive and forget that Sonny tried to violently murder Ava. Stop having her be so naive and mindless. That doesn’t endear her to the audience.
Oddly enough, Sonny seems to be the only one suspicious of the hoax. His suspicion seems more out of spite though that analytical thinking. He knows Denise is really Ava simply because he hates Ava. It’s the murderous version of Spidey sense. The story between Sonny and Ava should be more complex than that. Ava seduced his son and killed the woman he loved at the time, but they did also conceive a child together. Sonny refusing to allow Denise to see Avery was smart. Nobody would let someone they suspect to be a con-artist near their child. But Sonny not letting the mother of his child see her baby is something entirely different that says a lot more about his character than what we are currently being shown. Fans are expecting a gloves-off full on grudge match between these two lethal foes, but all we are seeing so far is the flaw in Ava’s plan.
Ava’s plan has gotten a little more complicated with the addition of her old flame Franco. Franco and Ava always had a kiss/kill relationship that was fun to watch. West and Howarth are great opposite each other so I’m glad they are sharing scenes again. Their scenes have been a hoot to watch, but would have had more impact with Ava as oppose to Denise. Can you imagine the hit it would have been to Nina’s (Michelle Stafford) ego (and heart) if Franco moved on with her enemy? It would have given a real reason for Nina to be upset and poured salt into an old wound. With how over-the-top Nina has been to Franco regarding what was a simple and forgivable misunderstanding, it would have shown his more volatile nature and given him some teeth. Ava and Franco’s strange relationship with each other would still be tons of fun just with more snarl. There’s something devilishly delicious about how Ava manipulates Franco, like she is playing with fire and doesn’t care if she gets burned. He of all people should have been able to figure out that she’s really Ava, but, now that he is in on her plan, I’m looking forward to some good scheming.
The only character that has gained some development with this story line is Silas (Michael Easton). I personally am not a fan of Silas. He’s boring and seems out of place in all his pairings. However, the ridiculousness of the situation is giving him a good opportunity to snark and roll his eyes with the rest of us. He’s still overly self-righteous, detached and unwilling to accept responsibility for his actions, but he’s not as flat. It’s worth also noting that as of right now Silas is less connected to this story than the others. He’s purpose seems to be for the big reveal that will no doubt come later. I’m a bit surprised by this but not complaining. With the “right to die” story line and Silas choosing to go against Ava’s wishes by saving her life, it appeared that romance was on the way for the two former lovers. This plan seems to have changed and that’s probably for the best as it appeared the potential pairing generated more mixed reviews than fanfare.
The Denise saga is not one that can easily be switched up now. At this point, it just needs to play out. The story is certainly not anywhere near being the worst that daytime has ever offered its viewers, but it’s the feeling that a great character’s natural story arc has been unnecessarily declawed that myself as a viewer is having trouble overlooking. It would be fabulous if it weren’t for the elephant, or in this case Denise, in the room. Denise is suppose to be fun. I understand that. But with an amazing character like Ava, nothing needed to be added to create entertainment.
The story that lies ahead for Ava does look like a good time. Things seem to be moving in the right direction and I don’t see Denise as a Fluke situation, taking too long to reach its conclusion. I think the real lesson from this is that when it comes to complex characters and multi-layered umbrella stories, less can be more. Sometimes it’s best to let the characters just be themselves and tell their own stories.
Photos courtesy of ABC.
completely agree, but I think these problems are true for ALL the stories on GH these last few months. Stories aren’t being told with dialogue and progress that helps ‘make sense’ of character changes or plot changes. Just a series of scenes with great actors and inconsistent writing. Lotd
personally, i’m not watching much these days, but kudos MW, RH, MS, RH and even BC try to give depth to these BADLY written, 1-dimensional stories. Except for a few duds, stellar GH cast. I never FF an ava/franco or scotty/franco scene, ALWAYS fun to watch.
I can only imagine how fantastic the show would be if they had good stories with great dialogue to tell.
Thanks for addressing this. GH often seems to have trouble with Campiness, and in this case it is interfering with any real relationship. Ava/Denise and Morgan have very little actual dialogue that would give their relationship some depth, instead they end up groping each other guiltily every time they are alone, with Kiki standing outside the door “about to find out.” Time to shake this up, send Denise back to Queens and bring back Ava, who we love to hate because she is worthy it, instead of a ridiculous “Aunt DaNiece” whose reasons for wanting to see her niece make little sense. This set up also puts Kiki in position of defending an imposter, while her mother is sleeping w/her BF.