‘General Hospital’ Week In Review: What’s Love Got To Do With It

Last week was a short week for General Hospital but the three days we got were good. It felt there was a small shift in the tone of the stories with the overall result being a better quality product. Stories felt tighter and the directing was on point.

The romantic stakes in GH’s story lines were visible again. Carly and Sonny gave into their passion for each other amongst their repeated conversations about Sonny’s occupational hazards. Franco declared his love to Liz and set out to clear his name so that they could be together. Nina decided being in love never did her any favors and settled to marry for motherhood instead. Nathan and Maxie discussed their plans for overcoming their latest wedding obstacle. Julian reflected on how his actions caused Alexis’ downward spiral. I hope that GH continues to focus on matters of the heart rather than hollow plot. This is a soap after all.

I wasn’t able to write about everything that happened this last week. If you would like to share your thoughts on anything I did or did not mention, please leave a comment or tweet me and we’ll chat.

General Hospital Week In Review for the episodes that aired January 4th-6th.

Down With Love

Nina tells Nathan and Maxie that she highjacked their wedding.

Will third time be a charm for Nina? Well considering that she’s entered into her latest marriage for all the wrong reasons, I’d say this isn’t probably going to work out in her favor in the end. Nina and Valentin are super sexy and attracted to each other but they aren’t in love. Maybe they’ll eventually fall in love with each other but for now their relationship has a foundation of only lust. Nina claims she doesn’t want more than that. Her focus right now is on being a mother and that’s something Valentin can provide for her. That may be enough for her now but I doubt it will always be. If Nina thinks being in a loveless marriage means she won’t get hurt, she’s wrong.

Nina has morphed into a successful and respected career woman, a far cry from the crazy gal that she was when she first came to Port Charles. However, she seems to still toe that line between sanity and insanity, being both incredibly strong and fragile at the same time. A little bit of Nina’s former self made an appearance last week. Valentin is dangerous and manipulative but so is his lovely new bride. I don’t think Valentin knows what he’s gotten himself into any more than Nina does. If he wrongs Nina, she could start making a list again. Or maybe these two weirdos are perfect for each other. Time will tell.

Nathan is concerned about his sister’s latest marriage and rightfully so. As he points out the last time she decided to get married to someone she barely knew ended in disaster. “Why are you bringing up Ric Lansing?” Nina exclaimed. “Because Nina this is another marriage out of nowhere and that guy tried to get you committed,” Nathan responds. Despite being younger, Nathan is much more mature when it comes to relationships than his sister. Nina is better at making sure her divorces are final though. Maybe they should help each other out.

New Year, Not So New Beginning

Sonny and Carly spend the night together.

Carly decided to spend New Years in bed with Sonny. Clearly this couple is heading to a reconciliation but Sonny’s still hiding what he thinks happened with Nelle. The longer Sonny waits to say anything to Carly the worse he’s going to look later. If he told Carly, she would probably be the one to figure out Nelle’s scheme. She used to be like Nelle after all and it takes one to know one. I think fans can expect Sonny and Carly to be happy together for awhile before the big secret is out.

I’m not sure that I like this particular obstacle for them. Maybe I’ll change my mind later. It’s not that this situation seems out of character in anyway or anything like that. It just doesn’t feel like anything new for them or that it’s going to create any sort of character growth. I feel like Carly and Sonny are constantly doing the same dance. Carly wants Sonny to give up the mob live for their family and Sonny is unwilling to do so. History tells us nothing will change but a change could do this pairing some good. It would be interesting to see Sonny actually decide to go legit for his family and watch his struggles and possible failures to do so. Since it’s doubtful that will happen, it’s a little hard to invest in the constant back and forth discussion about it. I’d like to see something different for them. What story would you like for Sonny and Carly?

Tom Foolery

Franco and Liz worry about their future.

I loved the dialog between Franco and Liz in Tuesday’s episode when he visited her to explain himself. It was sweet how he unselfishly said he loved her simply so that she would know she was loved without wanting her to feel obligated to say it back. I also liked the honesty about who he is post-tumor. “I’m not a monster.” “No, you’re not.” “But I’m not a particularly good person.” “Well if we’re being honest not always.” I thought his decision to keep his distance from Liz until he could clear his name was a nice touch too. As for Liz, she’ll need to decide whether to follow her heart or not. All of that added the needed romantic factor that I feel hasn’t been played enough in this story.

Franco’s quest to find who really killed Tom lead him to Gene’s. That tracking device that he put on Tom’s cellphone did come in handy after all. He had thought Tom would go after Liz or Kiki in retaliation not knowing that Tom mistook Alexis as a friend. Tom went to the roadhouse the night of his murder and found a very drunk Alexis. Alexis didn’t remember what happened that night until a news article about Tom jogged her memory. Franco caught Alexis speaking to the bartender and put two and two together. We don’t really get much cause for Franco and Alexis to interact but Roger Howarth and Nancy Lee Grahn were awesome in those scenes.

Couples of the week: Franco and Liz, Sonny and Carly, Valentin and Nina, Jason and Sam

Quotes of the week: “Because 2016 was literally the worst year ever.”-Lulu

“Did they say Sonny’s great?”-Sonny “No. Nobody said that.”-Carly

“We’re going to grab one last celebratory drink. You guys what to join us?”-Valentin “Naw that’s cool.”-Dante

“Nina and I are married.”-Valentine “What?”-Dante

“You don’t have to physically stay away from me.”-Liz “Actually I do.”-Franco

“How are you suppose to divorce someone who’s vanished into thin air?”-Maxie

“So you meet Tom Baker at a bar and then what happened?”-Diane “I don’t remember.”-Alexis

“Maybe we should go to Canada.”-Maxie

“What is so great about love? I loved Silas. He broke my heart. I loved Franco. So what is so important about love?”-Nina

“October 29th? Is there something significant about the date?”-Andre “Yes. It’s my birthday.”-Anna

“Thirsty much?”-Franco

“I never pictured you the roadhouse type.”-Franco “I don’t really care how you picture me.”-Alexis

“I’m the kind of priest that takes confession Buzz.”-Curtis

Best scene stealer: Ginger Gene the bartender

Video of the week: Franco and Alexis at Gene’s.

For a look at what’s ahead, check out our General Hospital Spoilers.