General Hospital in Transition: What’s Working, What Isn’t, and What the Hell Is Going On Here?!
It’s been six months since General Hospital replaced headwriters Chris Van Etten and Dan O’Connor with Elizabeth Korte and Patrick Mulcahey (the latter of whom exited stage left in May). How is the show doing post-switch(es)? Let’s review, using some of our observations and some that we gleaned from our always hopping message boards.
What’s Working
Brook Lynn and Chase’s wedding was a total hit that brought together almost the entire canvas and made Port Charles feel like a real community. And we’ll always be grateful that the show plays Sasha and Cody as actual have-nots. Their talk about how he could probably never give a woman such a big, fancy wedding came off wonderfully real. (Are you listening, Young & Restless?)
It was smart of the new scribes to chemistry-test Carly with Brennan and John. (We’re kinda rooting for the erstwhile Jagger, considering how pissed it would leave Sonny.) Using Tracy a lot more is a supremely good move, and her friendship with Stella belongs squarely in the “wins” column. And we’ll give kudos, too, for re-pairing Maxie with Spinelli after her mismatches with Peter and Austin.
Moving Alexis back into the legal arena was a no-brainer. Now that all the Molly recasts have settled down, we’re liking her and TJ more and more. Finally, though we were hoping against hope that it would turn out that Gregory had been misdiagnosed so that he could live on and explore his and Tracy’s feelings for one another, we’ll still give General Hospital credit for actually killing off a character — and presumably having him stay killed off. If even death isn’t final, storylines can have no stakes, and if there are no stakes, why should we care?
What Isn’t Working
If Nina and Drew could never again have hate sex, that would be swell, thanks. (Why isn’t the show taking advantage of this opportunity to reunite her and Valentin?) It made zero sense that Kristina would be so shocked that Sonny isn’t a saint. What did the former star of Mob Princess think that Daddy did for a living? Why in the wake of Spencer’s death has Trina been relegated to the backburner and her grief, so underplayed?
The Pikeman story feels like it’s been written and rewritten a dozen times, and we still haven’t landed on a through-line that makes sense. Why is Laura making nice with Cyrus, who put her daughter in a coma, and Heather, who was a piece of work long before she had cobalt poisoning? It doesn’t track that Ava, who helped get Morgan killed by messing with his meds, would repeat history by keeping Sonny in the dark about his tampered-with bipolar Rx.
It also doesn’t make a whole lot of sense that Ava would undermine Nina with Sonny since (a) that’s her gal pal and (b) she doesn’t seem all that interested in hooking up with Avery’s dad. It ruins a great friendship and makes enemies of Ava and Nina, and for what? They already had that friction going with Carly. Oh, and before we move on, is anybody ever going to solve Austin’s murder?
What We’re On the Fence About
We like that the show is playing the impact of Jason’s latest “death” and resurrection on his kids. But what exactly is Jason’s storyline? Why were he and Carly friend-zoned rather than allowed to pursue the feelings that had reawakened before their “marriage”? It’s hardly as if he and Sonny haven’t traded love interests back and forth before.
As lovely as it is to see soap vet Eva LaRue back on screen, we’re not sure what Natalia brings to the canvas that wasn’t already being brought by Carly, Ava, Nina or Lois. How did Natalia manage to cut in line and get a shot at Sonny before old pal Lois did?
More: Special message for Kelly Monaco from [Spoiler]
As into “Jex” as we are, we’re all for the young lovers having obstacles thrown at them. But having Josslyn be so shocked that murder might be among Dex’s duties while working for Sonny was a head-scratcher. The godfather was her stepfather for most of her life, and she’s no dummy. She should have known exactly what Dex (and Jason before him) might be ordered to do.
There’s so much potential in Deception — potential that goes beyond the constant state of frenzy in which the company finds itself. Perhaps it’s time to bring in new management — calling All My Children’s Erica Kane — and turn it into the kind of company that runs on ambition and profit instead of squabbling and chaos.
