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“Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.” – 1 Corinthians 13:4-7
This verse felt fitting as it is often recited at weddings and General Hospital’s big sweeps story lines involved broken vows and a doomed wedding. It’s also the best description of love I know and this past week of GH focused a lot on love. Unconditional love is something that the fictional characters of soapland all crave. It’s the motivation behind every character’s actions regardless of how messy the results.
I’ve seen fans comment that all the couples in Port Charles have anvils hanging over them and I agree. What incentive do we have to invest in a pairing’s love story if it feels like all will be lost once some big secret is revealed? I certainly don’t want a boring couple, free of any conflict. Yet, I don’t need every romance to have a clear expiration date either. This is why it’s so important to play the emotional beats to a story. The audience needs to see what is at stake and why they should root for a couple to overcome tribulations. Couples on soaps break up and get back together all the time. Knowing what these characters look like when they are happy, what they are striving for, is what keeps fans hopeful that love can indeed conquer all.
We saw a lot of those anvils fall this past week but the heartache was balanced out by thoughtful moments that came from family and friendship. Epiphany, Felix and Sabrina gathered at Elizabeth’s house to share happiness on her wedding day. Maxie helped her best friend Lulu get to her feet after she had collapsed in tears. Carly discovered that Jason was alive and came to what she felt was his rescue. Kiki curled up in her father figure Franco’s lap for safety and comfort after a rough night. Dante’s family expressed concern for him in the wake of his affair being exposed. Sonny even sent a caring text to his son, “Heard what happened. Call me. I love you. It will be okay.” It was a selfless moment for the Teflon Don, a rarity in recent years. These gentle moments are what made the week good.
There was a lot packed into last week’s GH. I couldn’t touch upon everything but please feel free to share your thoughts on anything I did or didn’t mention in the comments below or tweet me and I’ll chat with you.
General Hospital Week In Review is for the episodes that aired between November 2nd-November 6th, 2015.
Scenes From A Marriage
Love is patient, love is kind…unless your husband slept with your cousin. Then love really hurts. Dillon’s goal may have been to win Lulu’s heart but instead he humiliated her. I don’t think she’ll be opening her heart to anyone for awhile until her wounds heal.
Lulu didn’t hold back when she expressed her anger about what Dante had done to her. She not only feels completely betrayed by Dante but she doesn’t feel like she knows him anymore. The man she thought was the perfect husband decided to cheat on her instead of trust her.
As far as soap couples go, Dante and Lulu have been married a long time. They tied the knot on December 23, 2011 and up until this year they had a faithful marriage. That’s unique for a soap marriage. Their conflict came from their unusual families, balancing work life with home life and struggles to have children. These are things that a lot of real life couples go through, although in less soapy fashion. There was a lot of effort put into building their life together. Dante cheating on Lulu was probably the last thing either of them expected to happen.
Luckily for Lulu and Dante and all their fans, love can also be very forgiving. Someone asked me what I thought the future looked like for Lante. I said I thought they would be back together in six months after trying and failing to move on. I based this off the fact that GH wants to avoid stories going on too long in the future. But I thought about it a little bit more. Super couples often break-up, move on to other relationships and sometimes take years to get back to each other again. I’m not saying that will happen in this situation but Lante’s reconnection needs to be earned. Lulu wouldn’t be Lulu if she just quickly forgave and forgot. And Dante wouldn’t be Dante if he didn’t work to get Lulu back. I do believe that eventually they’ll come around.
The Love She Deserves
Elizabeth feels like she’s gotten a raw deal in life and she’s not wrong. She’s lost a lot and been pushed aside for those less deserving more than once. But Liz’s choices have really driven a lot of her anguish as well. The choice to lie to Jason about his identity so that she can finally win his love is definitely at the top of the list of bad decisions that Liz has made.
Even though what Liz has done is really wrong, I don’t see her as a villain. She’s very broken. After seeing the many bad deeds of the Port
Charles’ citizens being rewarded, convincing herself that this is okay isn’t that far of a leap. After everything she has had to let go of in the past, shouldn’t she deserve to take what she wants just like everyone else? A life with Jason represents something that Liz was told she would never have. But then Jason comes back and, without anyone whispering in his ear, he falls in love with Liz not Sam. How could Liz not take this as a sign that she is the one that Jason has really wanted all these years?
Jason’s current love for Liz is based on lies. Is all the manipulation to get Jason worth it? Not at all. Liz has other men who would love her and choose her without her having to play any mind games. Nik wanted to be her prince and she turned him down for AJ and later Ric. Ric felt insecure in their relationship due to Liz’s lack of commitment and…well he tried to do almost the exact same thing that Liz is doing now but with much less successful results. If Liz wasn’t so stuck on the one that got away, she would be able to have a happy marriage with someone who truly loves her.
Now before all the Liason and Jasam fans get excited and think I’m advocating one pairing over the other, let me be clear that I’m not. If it were up to me neither of these women would end up with this “prize.” In looking at Liz’s actions, this story (for me anyways) is less about who gets Jason and more about why these women want him and what that says about them.
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