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This last week of General Hospital was kind of a mixed bag for me. It certainly wasn’t dull to say the least. It felt like there was too much of a clash between the good and the bad story lines but perhaps that is because there seems to be an apocalypse brewing in Port Charles. On soaps things are never black and white so when it comes to good versus evil there tends to be an overwhelming amount of grey.
Michael Logan posted an excellent interview with Jane Elliot on Tuesday. If you haven’t read it already, do so now! The actress dishes on her lengthy soap career as well as her alleged fling with Elvis Presley. She’s truly someone who not only enjoys what she does but respects the genre. Unlike some in the industry, she understands what soaps once were and what they should be still. I particularly liked what she said about GH’s current state of affairs, “This is not the best that we can do. Yes, there are limitations in daytime with budget and time but then we need to write material that accommodates those limitations. Don’t write shootouts on the pier. Don’t write explosions and fires. If you don’t have the time and the money, make the stories small and intimate and heartbreaking. I also find it completely irresponsible to play guns the way do on GH and as often we do.” Slay a little bit Ms. Elliot.
In other GH news, two new actors have been cast – John DeLuca as Aaron and Risa Dorken as Amy. I’ve been a pretty strong advocate for soaps being an ensemble and I enjoy most of the new characters (some even more than a few vets). That being said I hope this is the last of new characters we see in awhile. The trick to utilizing a large cast effectively is balance and GH is not getting that done at all. It’s a weird mix of trying to be an ensemble while still having just one lead. You can’t always have your cake and eat it too. I do think that GH needed to expand its younger set a bit because a lot of the romances are falling a little flat, but I feel that could have been done by removing the age brackets placed upon existing characters. I am 100% here for more hospital though so I’m looking forward to Amy’s debut.
A lot happened this past week on GH. If you would like to share your thoughts on anything I did or didn’t mention, please leave a comment below or feel free to tweet me and we’ll chat.
General Hospital Week In Review for episodes that aired April 4th-8th.
Dr. Evil
Griffin attempt to make friends with Finn is meet with a cold shoulder.
Finn is kind of a creepy dude. I’m not saying that to put the new character down in anyway because I’m pretty intrigued by Finn at the moment. This story line feels really different for GH, almost more down its former sister soap Port Charles’s alley. The weirdness has my attention though and yes, this story is weird! Between Finn’s nasty outbursts, flirtation with the Quartermaine ladies, steampunk drug habit and lizard loving, there’s a lot of WTF moments. It all has an underlying supernatural tone.
There were a couple of things that really struck me last week about Finn. For starters, he seems way too interested in Tracy. Maybe he’s just someone that just cares a lot about curing his patients but there seems to be more to it. He gets agitated after Tracy’s surgery, yelling at her to wake up and throwing a tray. When to his relief she opens her eyes, he tells her, “You still have time to change your evil ways.” What an odd thing for him to say to a woman he barely knows. Later, he begins to tremble in the locker room and Griffin interrupts him before he can shoot up with his mystery drug. Finn is rude to Griffin and scoffs at him when the subject of God is brought up. Either Finn is a complete jerk or he’s evil. I’m going with the later.
Wrong Choices
Some fans seem to feel that there is another evil in Port Charles in the form of a rather surprising chemistry testing. Sonny and Anna have people talking but most of those words seem to be obscenities. I’m not really sure where Sonny and Anna’s new bond is heading but I am getting a romantic vibe from it. It is always nice to see two characters who barely interact sharing some screen time. It keeps things from getting boring but I completely understand why fans are calling foul. Anna is suppose to be a complex heroine so her leaning on a criminal like Sonny for support seems a bit wrong. Duke did choose a life of crime with Sonny instead of her after all and it was a choice that cost him his life. For me, it would make more sense for them to be enemies not buddies. Plus being paired up with Sonny doesn’t usually bode well for the female in question. Does GH really want to take that risk with their strong female lead?
Strange bedfellow aside, I had a lot of fun seeing Anna go into her badass spy mode this week. I had to watch the last part of Thursday’s episode a couple of times. There was something very satisfying about seeing Anna take Paul down when he threatened to get in her way. I especially loved how she dropped the rag she used to chloroform him with like she was dropping a mic. Still I can’t help but feel like this could come back to bite. It was very nice of her to loosen Paul’s tie and leave a bottle of water next to him before heading out on her mission but probably not the best thing to do legally speaking. Of course Anna may feel she has nothing to lose because once she brings Carlos in she’ll more than likely be arrested herself for attempted murder. I found it interesting that while she was doing bad things and running away with a bad man, a few good people stopped by her house. Before she left, Andre paid her a visit to tell her that Jordan felt uncomfortable with their friendship and to show concern for Anna’s well-being considering the news about Carlos was out. Later, Griffin stopped by and left a teddy bear for Emma, completely unaware that Anna had a man tied up on the other side of the door. It seems Anna has her own battle between good and evil going on and unfortunately she’s listening to the devil on her shoulder rather than the angel. Instead of chasing down Carlos, she could have invited Andre in for a cup of coffee and leaned on him for support during a stressful time. She would have been home when Griffin stop by with his kind present for Emma and could have spent time getting to know the newest part of her family better. Anna wants revenge but she’s forgotten that sometimes the best revenge against those who have wronged you is living well.
thanks for your weekly posts, I FF so much of GH on hulu, keeps the me updated on what’s going on.
Andre and Anna have a nice chemistry. I would dig that pairing. Thanks for commenting.
Completely agree with the ‘mixed bag’ of GH, but I truly can’t stand hayden/nik. I mostly FF it on hulu, but I watch ALL curtis scenes, so I saw those pieces. The actors are great, the chemistry is genuine, but it’s not the 80’s, once you shoot or rape a woman, no one’s buying the romance. frankly, it’s sad soap writers ever sent that twisted message to female viewers in the past.
So agree, quirky finn with carly, I kind of like a lot. Creepy finn, I just don’t. Andre and Anna are SOOOO good, the sonny stuff is simply getting in the way of really good stuff.
Thanks for commenting Mel! I’m really enjoying Franco and Nina’s relationship complications too. Michelle Stafford and Roger Howarth are soap stars for a reason and I love what they are doing with this material. Looking forward to seeing what NiCo does next on their journey. If there is a breakup I expect to those scenes to be heart wrenching.
With Liz off the canvas, Franco and Nina are my sole reason for watching but they haven’t been communicating properly for months now – another organic way couples fall apart sometimes. Seeing Nina break down like that was heartbreaking and, still, I can’t fault Franco completely because since the baby issue’s come up he’s maintained (for the most part), he’s not ready. I don’t know what to wish for with these two. Their ups and downs have made for great TV, and I like that the writers aren’t afraid to break them up the same way they are with other pairings, who just aren’t as interesting, imo (Naxie, Lante, Carson). Like you said, this is a soap, what great soap couple hasn’t had obstacles to work through?! Even if that means they might be apart for a while, I’m enjoying the ride.