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Writing the review for last week’s General Hospital was a little hard. There was a focus on reinforcing current story lines and a lot happened during the week yet stories didn’t really move much. I’m glad that emotional beats are being played but some aspects are starting to feel a bit repetitive.
I’ve notice a trend with GH the last few years. Right before May sweeps and the Nurse’s Ball, stories start to stall a bit as if not to do anything that will disrupt what’s to come. That issue doesn’t seem to apply this year for the most part but a few stories could use a bit of a jolt. There are definitely some parts of GH that I am growing impatient with. I think after the whole Fluke debacle followed by the slow Jason reveal, I have a fear of stories dragging on longer than they should. Maybe GH just needs to work on its ebbs and flows. Not everything has to happen during sweeps.
While the week didn’t have any major shockers or reveals, GH did focus pretty heavily on the psychology of its characters. Andre was asked to do an evaluation of Anna and declare her incompetent as part of Paul’s plan to avoid prison. He declined. Griffin is struggling with how to deal with the situation with Carlos and Anna. His odd behavior in regards to Nathan continued. Franco and Nina can’t understand each other anymore and continued to argue. Kiki’s got a nasty case of PTSD. Finn carried on with his weird drug habit and implied rage issues. Lulu and Dante proceeded with couples therapy. Sam’s anxieties about Helena’s curse cumulated into a nightmare. Julian and Alexis tried to stay strong despite the possible repercussions for past transgressions. It seemed everyone was being put emotionally into place for the next chapter.
I wasn’t able to write about everything that happen last week. 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 18th-22nd.
Criminal Insanity
Carlos’ reappearance in Port Charles is causing a lot of stress for everyone that is connected in one way or another to Duke’s death. Anna has been arrested for attempted murder and it will take a lot of creative thinking on Scott’s part to get her out jail. Paul found himself both in and out of jail and is now trying to cover his back. Griffin is struggling with whether or not he can forgive Carlos while also dealing with his disgust at the violence that has been committed. Jordan is in hot water at work and concerned about her boyfriend’s involvement with Anna. Julian and Alexis are worried that Carlos will name Julian as the one who ordered the hit on Duke. The couple just got married and he has a baby son. They don’t want their family torn apart. Alexis has agreed to be Carlos’ lawyer in exchange for his silence but I suspect this partnership isn’t going to go very smoothly. It will be interesting to see just how far each party is willing to push the other. The character that seems the least worried about Carlos is Sonny who is just as smug as ever about the situation and keeps saying hypocritical things about how murder is wrong (AJ says “Hi”). He’s disconnected from the story because the events have had no effect on his behavior.
It’s Scotty to the rescue. Sort of.
The acting for this arc has been on point. William deVry showed off his range when Julian teared up as he watched Olivia’s video of Leo standing for the first time. Nancy Lee Grahn is doing a wonderful job of giving Alexis vulnerability and strength. Alexis is pissed about the situation that Julian has gotten himself into but she loves him anyways. Leading lady Finola Hughes has really been bringing it home in her portrayal of the tarnish herione. Anna made a lot of poor choices and we’re seeing her struggle with that. Jeffrey Parise is adding vibrance to the tale with his take on the slightly cray Carlos. And ushering Kin Shriner into the fold was a perfect solution for lightening the mood and adding a dash of fun.
This story line has had a lot of twists and turns or as I like to call them “rewrites”. It’s hard to keep track of who did what to whom and what side everyone is on. Duke’s murder and its fallout had significance so I understand why resolution is needed. However, in the attempt to clean-up a messy plot things got even messier. This is certainly not my favorite part of GH right now, but I feel like the narrative has finally tightened up. Returning Carlos to Port Charles managed to bring a lot of what felt scattered together. There’s more of a continuity to what’s driving the characters. For example, Griffin is a son who lost his father due to an awful crime and the sons of those who are responsible may now lose their fathers too. Julian really wants to be a father to Leo, something he missed out on with his other children. Carlos might not ever get to see his baby with Sabrina again. Paul may never get the chance to reconnect with Dillon. Now that we can see what’s at stake, the story is less flimsy. I’m hopeful that this tale can turn into something memorable.
Nearing Boredom
GH isn’t awful by any means but it needs to be careful not to be too subdued. If you hate something at least you’re engaged right? While some stories feel like they are rising at the right pace, a few others seem to be in a bit of a waiting period which could lead to the audience losing interest if the writers aren’t careful. For me the two story arcs right now that really need to start hopping are Griffin’s secret/Claudette and Finn’s mysterious drug problem. I’m not saying I don’t like these story lines because they are actually on the list of things I’m enjoying on GH. It’s just the feeling that if more insight into why these guys are acting strangely isn’t provided soon, I might get bored.
Finn is a much better character than Silas but I don’t feel like I’ve been given any substantial clues as to what’s going on with him. He has a service lizard, itches a lot and has outburst of crankiness that can only be sedated by shooting up with some sort of drug. It’s all interesting and a nice set up for a mystery. But the fun thing about mysteries is trying to guess the answer. Can’t do that if I haven’t been given enough breadcrumbs to follow. The same goes for the Claudette mystery. I know that Claudette married Nathan to get a green card, she was unfaithful and there is a connection to Griffin being shot. I can do a lot of speculating with that information but it would help the story if the audience was given a few more pieces to the puzzle. These stories are both fairly new so I’m not too worried about them lagging but hopefully in the next few weeks things will start to make more sense.
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