By 
Back In Business
Franco is jealous of Dr. Handsome Man of God.
The hospital opened it’s doors again and it didn’t take long for the workplace drama to begin. Franco’s insecurities are getting the best of him and he’s having a hard time keeping his jealous tendencies in check. I think Franco really wants to be seen as the good guy, the type of guy that Liz deserves. Unfortunately for him a lot of people are just never going to accept him because of his past. Monica refusing to give him accolades for his part in saving General Hospital and Dr. O dishing out hard truths about their pariah status didn’t help matters either.
I’m glad that Franco’s jealousy is focussed on Griffin. The father/doctor is very handsome and very good so it seems fitting that Franco would be envious. I thought Roger Howarth, Rebecca Herbst and Matt Cohen all played off each other well. I hope Franco doesn’t stay resentful towards Griffin too long though because I always thought that they would be fun “odd couple” friends.
Other than her jealous boyfriend, Liz also has to deal with her newly discovered sister. Hayden has been hired as General Hospital’s financial advisor to keep the hospital from going over its budget. “That’s why they hired me. To trim the fat. I do hope we don’t need to make any cuts to the nursing staff.” I don’t think these two are going to enjoy working together nearly as much as I’m going to enjoy watching them snark at each other. Giving Hayden a job at the hospital was a smart move. Not only does this add another character to focus hospital story line around but it puts Hayden in the same playground as her sister and nemesis as well as her potential suitor Finn. After nearly making love, Finn and Hayden are back to their undefined relationship status. I don’t expect this to last though seeing as they’ll have to face their temptation on a daily basis now.
I was a little disappointed that Epiphany wasn’t there on General Hospital’s first day of business. Neither was Felix, Brad or Lucas. Brad did get a small shout out but it would have been nice to actually see him. Perhaps they were all still working shifts at Mercy?
Jason stays by Sam’s side when she is brought to Mercy.
Speaking of Mercy – that hospital looks scary! GH used the same set it used for Silas’ old hospital and I had forgotten how American Horror Story it looked. Jason and Alexis took Sam there when she started having abdominal pains. Tests were ran and she spent the night but everything came back okay. Sam was worried she had lost the baby. I’m still a little worried about the baby. Mercy doesn’t look like the most trustworthy medical facility. It would be wise to get a second opinion.
Couples of the week: Valentin and Nina, Valentin and Anna, Valentin and Alexis, Franco and Liz, Lulu and Dante, Jason and Sam
Lines of the week: “Okay you are making this so much more awkward than it needs to be.”-Valentin
“Now I need a drink. Who’s with me? Sis?”-Valentin
“My friends dared me to go trick or treating at the godfather’s house.”-Zombie Dayplayer
“When we are together it’s just so polite. It’s just so controlled. Don’t you want more?”-Franco
“Morgan is dead because of something I did.”-Sonny
“I think my actions stem from child abandonment issues.”-Valentin
“How’s the whole priest thing going? Because I knew you were a father but I didn’t know you were a daddy.”-Franco
“Goodbye Dad.”-Morgan
“Oh Julian you know as well as anybody that sometimes the guilty go free.”-Ava
“I think I’m a kind of agreeable but something about my reputation seems to put people off.”-Valentin
“Look Franco. We’re home.”-Liz
“That Dracula charm that some people might find amusing? I’m not amused. I’m a Cassadine remember? I know exactly who you are.”-Alexis
“We deserve to inherit everything.”-Valentin
“Our father – may he burn in Hell – was an unrepentant misogynist so we wee women aren’t allowed to inherit anything.”-Alexis
“Oh and sorry about the case of wine. I only meant it as a gift. I didn’t realize that you weren’t drinking anymore.”-Valentin
“We’re only the hero in our own story.”-Dr. O “That doesn’t mean I have to be the villain in everyone else’s story.”-Franco
“I tell you if I ever had the chance to glaze his strudel…oh my!”-Dr. O
“I didn’t take you for the fig jam on a burger type.”-Curtis “I love the fig jam.”-Jason
“Well you know karma’s a bitch and so is Claudette.”-Nina
“Are you who you say you are? Because up until about five years ago there was no record that a Valentin Cassadine even existed.”-Anna
“You should come with a trigger warning.”-Valentin “Yeah I do Mr. Cassadine.”-Anna
“If someone gets so much as a papercut and I think ur behind it I will have you locked up in Steinmaur faster than u can say extradition.”-Anna
“I hope you know that if there was a little girl out there I would move Heaven and Earth to find her.”-Dante
“We will not be having a ‘bastards unite’ moment.”-Alexis
“It’s in Greek.”-Alexis “Then download an app and translate it.”-Valentin
“There might appear to be some misunderstanding. You see Charlotte is my daughter.”-Valentin
Best Hair: Liesl’s pony tail
Scene of the week (Reader’s Choice): Alexis vs. Valentin
For a look at what’s ahead, check out our General Hospital Spoilers.
Another excellent recap. Like you, I’m very intrigued by Valentin and am enjoying his varied interactions on our GH canvas. His scenes with Alexis have been especially rewarding.
This week I’m going to respond to your invitaiton to speak to some stories and situations not mentioned significantly in your recap. One response is a rave – the other a rant – well more an expression of disappointment than a rant.
First, in addition to Valentin, my highlight this week was having strong women back – women who are standing up for themselves and not being contorted into plot points by the men in their lives. Alexis’s scenes with Valentin have been a solid example of a woman figuratively
getting her balls back. (Can I say that without offending?). How I wish we had seen this Alexis with that Julian!! How I wish we could see her maintaining control instead of slipping into the bottle.
And how great is it to have our strong, wise, capable Anna back instead of the woman who compromised and guilted herself for months over Carlos and who aligned with mobster Sonny in the process. This is the Anna Devane we long time fans know and love.
As well, I’m going to add a lesser player to this list partly because she showed character growth and strength this week – and I do like to celebrate character growth. That person is the rarely-seen Valerie who, this week, showed that she had the integrity and courage to stick to her principles by calling Curtis out and walking away from him. As well, she showed substance in owning her mistake with the file and doing the right thing by reporting the event to Jordan even though she knew doing so could jeopardize the career which has come to mean so much to her.
As an aside, I listened again to an interview session first aired in late January and noted the pride and enthusiasm with which the actress who plays Valerie embraced being a Spencer and said that Spencers aren’t victims. Too bad that she (the actress) has been victimized by the writing – or lack thereof.
Another reason I included Valerie in my rave is that her scenes are intertwined with my “rant” – my disappointment in both Jordan and Curtis, especially Curtis. While I have not warmed up to Jordan’s brusque, sometimes judgmental manner as Police Commissioner, I have to give
her credit for her very true statements to Curtis about how he had jeopardized Valerie’s career and about how he too easily resorted to self-serving expediency to further his own needs. (As an aside, we’ve had PIs take shortcuts many times on GH; however, have they compromised their current significant other when doing so?)
But, at the same time, Curtis was right to call her a hypocritical B because she, too, has had her serious moral transgressions; and she, too, has blurred the professional and personal in this story – both with her anger at Curtis and with the way she used her anger (and perhaps her rather libidinous subconscious) to try to influence her rookie cop.
Curtis remains the more difficult one for me to process considering the loss of my favorite quality about him – his rather old school aura of chivalry and honor with women. While he may have been being a typical PI taking advantage of a situation, he compromised his personal ethics – his sense of common decency – when he made a sincere promise to his girlfriend that he would never compromise her career to advance a case – and then, in the very next scene, he broke that promise. He was always kind of an enigma with a shady past, but still an upstanding man who seemed to respect women and had his own kind of integrity. He even went out of his way to protect and defend women who were messing with the law and behaving badly. Yet, with the law abiding woman with whom he supposed to be closer at this time, he
breaks a sincere promise and risks her career to do so. There sure isn’t any sense of chivalry or honor in this action!!
I didn’t think that Curtis and Valerie were particularly serious or long term, but didn’t think he’d betray her so easily. To quote a comment I read elsewhere, “He showed a dark side that I did not think he possessed. I certainly do NOT set my moral compass by GH and I can happily embrace delightfully wicked characters like Valentin. However, sometimes there is a character quality which becomes a defining point for us as individual viewers – and Curtis’s WAS his unique sense of chivalry.