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Last week’s General Hospital was pretty enjoyable to watch. Some Port Charles residents have some tough choices ahead of them and it’s hard to say where everyone will end up. February Sweeps shifted both story and point of view. A lot of characters are seeing more clearly now while some are heading towards further misunderstandings.
GH is not perfect by any means but I like most of the new story that is starting up. There has also been more use of the hospital thanks to stories such as Morgan’s bipolar shenanigans, Kiki’s coma and Tracy’s mystery illness. I feel like the hospital’s hub is being used as the show’s focal point, taking the place of the dreaded Pier 52. Now GH just needs to maintain its hospital characters so that the stories that take place at General Hospital will have full impact. There has been no news on Rebecca Herbst’s contract status yet but I hope that those in charge do what’s best for the show and her large fanbase. Newer characters such as Andre and Griffin are fitting in nicely and being tied to the canvas but I think it’s important to have a veteran character present. Michael Easton will be returning to GH soon and his new role will be a doctor. He has an interview in this week’s Soap Opera Digest (on newsstands now) and it’s an interesting read. I have some very mixed feelings about an actor returning for his fourth character in about five years but at least he’s being used to help rebuild the hospital cast even if it feels like we may be getting a repeat of his last character. Hopefully the plan is for GH to move further away from the Sopranos Lite era and more to its roots.
A lot happened this last week and I wasn’t able to write about everything. If you want to get my thoughts on something I didn’t mention or share your own thoughts, leave a comment below or tweet me and we’ll chat.
General Hospital Week In Review for the episodes that aired February 29th-March 4th.
Who is Griffin?
Readers, not to long ago I was convinced that Griffin was some how related to Stone. This of course stemmed from his conversation with Sonny regarding having lost a loved one to AIDS. Now I think that conversation was just done to remind viewers that Sonny once had humanity and layers. After seeing Griffin’s reaction to Anna, I’m thinking he must be her son. So the question of course is “Who’s the daddy?” I’m loving this unexpected twist and this story is about to start moving full steam ahead.
Anna has been feeling very alone and lost lately, but having a son she never knew she had come into her life could definitely change that. It would probably make her not want to go to prison as she has been contemplating. Griffin’s characterization is on a slow burn yet still very apparent. There is quite a bit about him that has been made pretty clear even if we don’t fully know him right now. He’s a religious and caring man that looks for the good in others. He has a passion for his work as a doctor and for saving lives. He’s kind even when others may not be, such as when Carly lashed out at him for keeping Sonny’s secret or when a frightened Tracy slung insults. What I like most about Griffin is that GH has managed to created a character with a strong moral compass who isn’t annoyingly judgmental or preachy, proving that good doesn’t have to equal boring. Griffin may be spying on Anna but it’s clear it is not being done with malicious intent. We don’t really know who Griffin is yet so maybe he isn’t Anna’s long lost lovechild and there is another twist coming up. Either way though I’m really enjoying the great new character as well as his portrayer Matt Cohen. This is how a new character should be introduced to the canvas – with gentleness.
God Save The Queen
For the last several months, Tracy’s story line has been about just talking to Hayden about getting ELQ so I’m glad to see the change in direction. I like the set up for Tracy’s health scare. It puts a character I care about in a life or death situation so I instantly have an emotional attachment to the story line. It’s also a great way to utilize the hospital more and feature the Quartermaine family, both things that fans have been begging for. The best part is Jane Elliot’s performance. Tracy is as snarky as ever but this time her tough demeanor is coming from a place of fear. Elliot does a great job of subtly showing us that difference. This is a whole new world for the woman who is so used to being strong. She’s going to have to rely on others to help her, something she isn’t very good at. Her dismissive and difficult behavior towards her family and doctors is her way of still trying to control what she knows she can’t.
I liked seeing Hayden’s sincere concern for Tracy when she had her seizure and later when she was in the hospital. This is a very real response. A person normally isn’t going to wish ill will on someone even if they have disagreements. It probably seems a little strange to Tracy who once taunted her father with his heart medication as he laid on the floor. I also think that Tracy doesn’t want Hayden’s sympathy because then that means admitting she needs it. Tracy’s venom towards Hayden’s concern leads to Dillon hearing Tracy call Hayden by her real name. It’s something that he easily dismisses as a mistake but I’m sure knowing that fact will come into play later. Dillon is very worried about his mother and it will be interesting to see how he handles the situation himself. I suspect that one of the first things he’ll do is call his brother Ned. I’m looking forward to seeing both of Tracy’s sons trying to reel her in while making sure she gets the help she needs.
French Poodle
It’s a little odd looking back on the last year for Maxie and Nathan. Not that long ago they were getting a lot of buzz for being the new hot couple on GH. PopTV had them as one of the choices for Most Romantic Duos for fans to vote for during last year’s Emmys (The Young and the Restless’ Devon and Hilary won). Then Naxie sort of stopped having anything to do as couple other than reacting to the collapse of their best friends’ marriage. Now it appears that story is going to finally pick back up for them in the form a third party who goes by the name Claudette.
A woozy Nathan drops a bit of a bombshell on Maxie when he utters the words “I love you too, Claudette.” Who’s Claudette? He covers by saying that she was a dog he had when he was a kid but she is really his ex-girlfriend. Nathan’s rich and handsome. The fact that he had a girlfriend before Maxie is not a shocker. What’s surprising is the fact that Nathan felt the need to lie about it. Perhaps he just didn’t want to have an awkward conversation with Maxie about it after a glove was found in his coat pocket followed by his slip of tongue. But it feels like there is much more to it. I have a feeling that glove was put into Nathan’s pocket much more recently than ten years ago. I’m not a big fan of the third party ex-lover trope because those stories tend to be sloppy. This could be interesting though because we’ll get to see a little bit of Nathan’s past which hasn’t really been explored outside of his mother/aunt switcharoo and sister Nina. Is Claudette an elegant socialite who loved and left Nathan? Maybe she was the Reeves’ sexy French maid that Nathan had a forbidden Downton Abbey affair with. Whatever Claudette’s story is, I suspect this will change the dynamics of Nathan and Maxie’s relationship.
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