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Last week’s General Hospital, brought the end of the Cassadine Island story arc, the return of fan favorite Jax and a twist in the hospital murder mystery. Overall it was a good week with only some minor complaints. I was entertained and it felt like some of the more plot-driven story has moved back towards the character-driven writing that it deserves. I think GH is the best of the four soaps right now but I long for tighter story lines.
In GH news, an interview with Kelly Monaco posted last week on Michael Fairman On Air On Soaps. Fans don’t have a chance to get Monaco’s thoughts that often but when we do, it’s always delight. If you’re one of the few who have not read it yet, you should check it out. I found her comments on the fan wars particularly insightful.
A lot happened last week and I wasn’t able to write about all of it. If you would like to share your thoughts on anything I did or did not mention, please leave a comment below or tweet me and we’ll chat.
General Hospital Week In Review for the episode that aired August 1st-5th.
Swoonworthy
Sam confronted her father before having another fainting spell.
The Cassadine Island adventure came to an end after Jason crashed the plane on another island, Kevin took a nap behind a rock, Dante pounced on Sam, Laura found out that Luke may be dead and a boat rescued them. I’m not really sure how I felt about this story line. It started out really well but ended with kind of a whimper. I suppose the delay in the crew getting back to Port Charles right away allowed for Valentin to get there first but I wish there had been a little more going on. Something interesting that happened before they were finally rescued was Sam fainting again. Hmmm… do pregnant women faint all the time? Is something else going on like an infectious disease or dehydration? Maybe it’s a combination of things. Sam wasn’t present enough in the island adventure for my taste (the fact that she is related to Valentin wasn’t even brought up until she got back home) so I’m looking forward to her next story arc hopefully having a bit more purpose.
The interaction last week with her parents was a nice treat. I loved Sam becoming involved with Julian and Alexis’ messy story line. After talking to Alexis, Sam went to jail to confront her father. She told Julian that he was expendable and that he belongs in prison for what he did. When Julian tried to play the bone marrow donor card, she told him that Jason is a match for Danny so she doesn’t need him anymore. As Sam turned to leave, she past out again. I’m intrigued and crossing my fingers that Sam will be the center of her own story now.
Casual Encounters
Valentin seduced Nina.
Valentin may have not gotten Ava to be his queen back in Greece but he got over it quickly by moving on to an unsuspecting Nina. Feeling unloved and a bit tipsy, Nina bumped into Valentin in the Metro Court hallway and invited the handsome stranger in. After he told her all the things she wanted to hear, they ended up in bed together. Nina had been rather frisky lately but it didn’t take long for her to regret the encounter when she found out her one night stand was literally an evil bastard. Something tells me she’ll be more cautious before she leaps next time. Maybe this is what she needed to move past her taste in bad boys.
Valentin seems like a master of disguises, a con man. Taking the alias of Theo Hart, he’s able to behave in a manner that passes as normal. He reminds me a lot of Frank from the Leonardo DiCaprio film Catch Me If You Can. Not really the sort of chap that would have Helena shaking in her high heels. The writing holds the character back from being as terrifying as he should be. However, his attempt to kidnap Spencer was rather loathsome so maybe this has all just been the clam before the storm. We never really knew what his intent was though in trying to take Spencer.
Thanks for commenting Toya! Sam is one of my favorite characters when she’s given a good story. Hoping her pregnancy leads to a lot of good Davis girl scenes. Would be nice if this was a happy, trouble-free pregnancy too but this is GH LOL
The actor who plays Valentin is sexy and talented but I would like the character to get a little bit more villainous.
Completely understand what you’re saying about Franco & Friz. I love the chemistry between Becky and Roger and love the sweet moments they get to play. The writers really need to keep it on track though and be very careful with their choices.
I enjoyed the article. I agreed with just about everything. I’m not happy about this pregnancy for Sam because I loathe baby stories, but I’m happy this new story focuses on Sam and maybe it’ll give her the chance to get more family scenes with Danny and Davis Girls. I hope that they allow her to have a POV and no make it all about Jason’s man pain.
I’m disappointed so far with Valentin. He’s not what was expected hoping for a plot twist.
I’m on neutral standing with Friz. So the writing is gonna sway how I feel about this couple. I hate the character of Franco for past crimes against my Queen Sam lol but I love RoHo and his spin on the character. I also love Liz. I love the artistic aspect of their relationship and Franco’s drawing was romantic and sweet. Something Liz need… But it’s Franco you get my dilimma right? 😅😅😅
I hate how they’re writing Jax. I hope it’s a good reason he’s being so shady about the kidney business.
Overall GH is lacking in depth, and family and friend connections. The writers and script rewriters keep missing important emotional beats. Plus GH is boring and the SL don’t flow well together.