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Last week’s General Hospital had some great moments for couple fans and nice family drama. I loved all the emotion that was packed into the week. Jason and Sam faced tragedy as Scout was born; Tracy dealt with Finn and Hayden’s romantic woes; Robin provided much needed support to her friends and family; Franco and Liz took on their occupational dilemmas together; Alexis and Curtis played detective with the PCPD. The week did have its shortcomings though.
It was an interesting February sweeps not just for GH but for all the soaps. Story structure didn’t really follow what has come to be considered typical sweeps fair. Perhaps the era of Daysasters and Prattastrophes is gone. Big events are fun to watch but I’ve often wondered if the cost to the shows was worth the small bump in ratings. Speaking of ratings, with all the preemptions and political unrest, that scorecard couldn’t really be used to measure the month’s success. The only solid way to examine this year’s sweeps is to look at it from a creative stand point. Was the show entertaining? Did it invoke an emotional response and resonate with the audience? Did fans get the payoff they wanted? In the case of GH, it depends on which story line you follow.
I wasn’t able to write about everything that happened on GH 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 February 27th-March 3rd.
Scout’s Honor
Jason and Sam welcome a baby girl.
It was a rough week for Sam and Jason but a good one story wise. I was very happy with how Scout’s birth played out though seeing a pregnant Sam in peril was a bit stressful. Seriously can the woman ever catch a break? I liked that Jason was the one to find Sam and deliver the baby. The part that stood out to me the most was when Sam made Jason promise to leave her and save the baby. This was pretty true to her “ride-or-die” characterization, something that has been a bit polarizing for viewers. Jason didn’t let her ride or die for him though. I was glad that he broke his promise and didn’t leave. He needed her not to sacrifice herself and for them to fight together as a family. This is the kind of writing that I want for this super couple.
Little Scout was fine but her mother wasn’t in good shape after her tumble off the bridge. All a frightened Jason could do was wait and pray for a miracle. The miracle came in the form of Scout, who brought her mother back to consciousness when rested on her heart. It was a beautiful moment and great payoff for fans.
Jason holds his daughter.
The hospital scenes between Robin, Jason and Scout were very touching. I hope it was a peak at a new layer for Jason. The hitman with a heart of gold has been moving away from Sonny’s world lately. The relationship is still there but Jason is much less dependent on his friend. Jason’s focus is shifting more towards his family and that needs to continue.
What The Nelle
Nelle’s motives were finally revealed. She is the daughter of Frank Benson, Carly’s adoptive father who left her adoptive mother when she was three years old. Frank lied to Nelle and said that after Carly refused to help them financially, that she bought Nelle’s kidney. So Nelle decide to get revenge on Carly, blaming her for the impoverish life she lived. Carly angrily explained to Nelle that her father had lied to her.
Chloe Lanier and Laura Wright nailed the confrontaion scenes between the scheming blonds. Both did excellent work with the material they were given. Let’s talk about that material though…I’m not really sure what to say about this story. It lacked a lot of the entertainment value that it should have possessed and the amount of plot holes leaves a lot of confusion. Why would Jax look to Frank Benson for his daughter’s kidney? Frank isn’t actually related to Carly so why assume that his daughter would be a match? Why would Nelle think that Carly knew where the kidney came from when Carly had done an extensive search for the donor, the whole reason Nelle ended up in Port Charles in the first place? Why didn’t Nelle ever question what her father told her and check the facts herself? And if this was all over money issues, why has Nelle made no attempt in her scheme to cash in? Why do so many clues we were given during this mystery not fit the answer we were given?
Nelle and Michael get a shock.
A lot of fans not only expected but wanted Nelle to be Carly’s daughter. The clues seemed to lead to that conclusion and that was the story they were invested in. There was also speculation that Nelle was the long lost daughter to someone else with strong ties to GH history such as Jerry Jacks or AJ Quartermaine. The thought was that with as much precious screen time that was granted to this story, this new character would end up anchored to Port Charles’ history in someway. Many fans also seemed to have completely missed the romantic build up for Nelle and Micheal – either because they assumed they were siblings or just didn’t see any potential story for this pairing. I personally would have rather had investment go into Kiki and Dillon, the young lovers with the already existing fanbase, instead.
When I try to think of how the fallout will impact future story, I’m at a loss. What is next for Nelle now? A big romance with Michael? Their coupledom hasn’t been solidified so the fact that she sexual harassed his father and tried to destroy his mother is quite the hurdle to overcome. The only way I see to possibly salvage the character is to move her around the canvas a bit and see if she clicks with anyone new. As for the Corinthos clan, Carly is right to be angry with Sonny for not confiding in her about Nelle. She needed to be told that her assistant is untrustworthy. However considering that Sonny was deceived himself, I don’t really see this as something that will cause a believable rift between them. It would be petty for them to not mend things and end up right where they were before.
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