General Hospital - My Likes and Dislikes Part Deux

A few months ago, I blogged some of my likes and dislikes of General Hospital’s current state of affairs.  In my blog I had made reference to the following quote from Tristan Rogers:  “The underlying philosophy of GH had always been one of ‘hope.’ In this General Hospital there was none.”  The quote was taken from an article entitled The Going of Guza.  I had referenced this quote not only because it came from the very insightful Rogers but because I think it did a great job a summarizing what General Hospital had lost and needed to get back.  I am quoting it again now because I feel General Hospital has gotten its glimmer of hope back.

In looking back at my previous list, I was pleasantly surprised to see there has been a lot of movement in the story lines.  Over all I feel like the show now has good balance and tone.  Below is what I am liking, disliking and on the fence with:

Likes:

The Return of AJ Quartermaine - So happy to see someone tell Michael the truth about his mother and “father” finally.  This is HUGE and is going to have a lot of impact on a lot of characters.  AJ is not squeaky clean by any means but Sonny & Carly really did him and Michael wrong.  Love that time wasn't wasted having AJ tell Michael about the meat hook incident.  Michael didn’t want to believe him of course but I hope he starts asking some questions of his parents now.  Michael insistence to place Sonny, Carly, and Jason on pedestals has always seem unbalanced to me.  The kid needs lots of therapy and needs to have his eyes opened a bit.  I actually think that deep down Michael knows Sonny and Carly aren’t saints but just doesn’t want to admit it.  And let’s face it, his past experience with AJ was a bit traumatic.

I think this return will force Sonny and Carly to reflect on some of their past deeds.  They both need a good look in the mirror.  What they did to AJ and, as a result Michael, was really horrible.  Nobody knows what Michael’s life would have been like with AJ as a father but with Sonny as a father it was pretty rough.  I suspect things such as being shot in the head and raped in prison probably wouldn’t have happen had he grown up in the Quatermaine mansion.  The most that probably would have happened to Michael is that he would have grown up a bit of a spoiled jerk.

It is really nice to see Sean Kanan in the role again as well.  He looks like he could be Michael’s father and Jason’s brother.  I have loved Billy Warlock in other roles but he never felt right to me as AJ.  Warlock just has too much of a nice guy vibe for me.  He seems more like a guy who will help with the dishes and drive your kids to soccer practice than a hot, regretful one night stand.  Kanan just makes a better sexy bad boy type in my opinion.

The Luke/Tracy Friendship - I love the banter between these two.  I also enjoy seeing them scheme together and poke fun of each other’s relationships or lack there of.  They have great chemistry and great dialog together.  I’m happy that instead of focusing on dark and serious story lines for them, there is focus on the mischievous aspects of these characters.

In fact I could really extend this to all the friendships that are popping up in Port Charles right now.  Sure some of them are more like frienemies, such as Carly/Sam and Monica/Tracy, but I am loving not see so much back-stabbing and hating.  It’s fun to watch some of these characters just hang out and talk.

Todd and Carly - Both Blair/Todd and Carly/Jax where great couples that I loved.  That being said, I am really enjoying Todd and Carly together right now.  I think the actors have great chemistry with each other and the characters fit together well.  In the past these two characters have been rather dark so it is nice to see the light and fun moments between them.  They are both on the not-so-nice side and I can see them as a possible villainous pairing or as scheming partners.

Blair is on her way to Port Charles which could lead to an interesting triangle of sorts.  I like the idea of Carly and Blair as friends too so I’m curious to see how it all plays out.  Maybe the gals can gang up on Skye together.

SpinEllie - I know Spinelli hangs out with and works for the mob but he has a gentleness about him that I think makes it possible to label him as one of the good guys.  I like to see a nice guy not finish last for once.  It is great that the current girl-boy-girl triangles on General Hospital feature guys who aren’t hitmen or godfather types.  Also Ellie is adorable and likable.  It is so much fun watching Ellie and Spinelli geek out on one of their dates.  I was hoping that a character like Ellie would be brought on the show and am not disappointed.  I am getting a kick out of Maxie’s reaction to this new situation.  I like to think it is a dose of her own medicine.

More Hospital - As a whole now we have the follow characters that work at the hospital: Epiphany, Patrick, Steve, Liz, Sabrina, Monica, Britt, and Ellie.  What’s better yet is that we actually get to see them at the hospital.  This is great!  It’s just weird not having that much hospital in a show called General Hospital.

Liz and Sam and Jason’s exit - All three actors did a great job with their scenes when the baby switch was revealed.  I particularly loved Liz’s confession to Jason and the layers that were given to why she did what she did.  I know that some fans are not happy that she didn’t end up with Jason and that she switched the tests but I think that this was Liz’s rock bottom and now we’ll get to see her built back up again.

I was happy to see Sam and Jason get their baby back.  Babyswitches are common in the soap genre and not particularly my favorite story lines but this one played out well.  I liked that Liz and Sam didn’t attack each other in the end.

As luck would have it Steve Burton’s exit happened right as Jason’s story line was getting really interesting for me.  I’m glad that he was shot and kicked into the water.  It seemed fitting for the character and better than having some awkward scene of him leaving town when it didn’t make sense.  No body was found so he can return later.

Jasam and Liason have never been my favorite couples but in the end I found my self rooting for both.  I think this is largely in part because there was a shift from Jason being the focal point of both relationships.  The stories became more about these two women and their flaws.  It became more relatable for me.

Sonny the Family Man - Sonny trying to get through to his angry daughter and telling his son that he wants better for him than the mob, is the Sonny I want to see.  I would much rather see Sonny challenge his daughter’s shady suitor to a boxing match than challenge his rivals to a shoot out.  I still want Sonny to be tough but I want to see his softer side more.

I remember in the ‘90s that Sonny really wanted to have a family.  It was something he seemed to want more than anything.  This was before Guza decided to give Sonny so many lovers and messed up little children.  I’m not sure how accurate my memory is on all of this but I imagined Sonny being a lot different than what he ended up.  I had imagine a father who was still a mobster but was protective of his children and didn’t let them come anywhere near the business.  I wanted him to have more of a nurturing soul when it came to his family yet still be brutal when it came to the business.  I’m starting to see glimpses of this Sonny now.

I like seeing his interaction with his baby mama Alexis.  Maurice Benard and Nancy Lee Grahn have great ease and comfortableness with each other that really shows through in their scenes.  They seem like a divorce couple who have managed to become friends.  It makes me want to see them play house a little.

I also think that with recently losing Jason (and Kate for that matter) and the return of AJ, we are going to see Sonny do some reflecting on his life.  Would Jason and Michael have been better off without him?  Should he hang up his mobster hat?  Is he such a nice guy after all?  Should he let Michael go be a Quartermaine? I can see some really interesting stuff coming out of all this.

Lulu and Dante baby story - This story had me happy, excited, and then crying when it was revealed that Lulu would not be able to carry a baby to term.  I like that we get to see this couple go through this together.  It is being played as Lulu and Dante not being able to have kids instead of as just Lulu not being able to have kids.  This is a couple that is going to weather this storm together.  The story seems very real and I wont to see how they get over all the bumps in the road ahead.

On the Fence:

Trey/Kristina/Michael/Starr - I actually like Trey now.  It was nice seeing his vulnerable side come out in his interactions with his father and when his mother cruelly told him that she wished he was dead.  

The Trey/Kristina relationship still has potential but I’m not quite feeling them yet.  Michael and Starr are cute together but they haven’t been given much in terms of story line to move their relationship along.  It would have been interesting to see a Johnny/Starr/Michael triangle but I’m not sure how that could ever happen now.  I do want Starr to be less vanilla.

As far as this young adult cast goes, I like all the characters individually well enough but haven’t been wowed by any of the couples yet.  I get the feeling that there is a love triangle in the future but I not sure that would make much impact with things currently the way that they are.  It does seem there may be some other excitement thrown their way though which should hopefully help.

The DID Story - I’m really enjoying Connie and Kelly Sullivan is a riot.  However while I feel like we are being given a lot of fun and interesting scenes with this story, I’m not sure where the heck it is going.  The reveal that Johnny and Connie were married at the Kate and Sonny non-wedding was great soapy stuff but not all the pieces are fitting together for me quite yet.  Is there suppose to be romance developing between Connie and Johnny?  Are we ever going to find out exactly why Connie can’t stand Sonny?  Wouldn’t Johnny be better off if he just confessed?

Duke Lavery - Duke’s got me a little confused right now.  It’s really too early for me to have a really opinion on this story line but I’m scratching my head at a lot of things.  I’m not really sure if I should be convinced that this is the real Duke.  It is great to have Ian Buchanan on the canvas again though.

Dislikes:

Dr. Keenan’s exit - I really like Nathin Butler and would have rather he were revealed to be a Jacks brother.  He is attractive and talented and I think they should have found a way to keep him on the show.  Plus I really liked the Liz and Ewen pairing.  His exit also seemed a little clunky to me.  It would have had more impact if Liz and Ewen were further along in their relationship.

The Exposition - General Hospital has been doing a lot of explaining lately.  While I understand some exposition makes sense and is necessary, such as in situations when veteran characters are brought back, there seems to be too much of it.  There has been exposition at times when a characters action would have easily told the story instead.  A good example of this was when Jason told Sam that their baby wasn’t dead.  There was a hold episode of Jason relaying the past events to to Sam.  I would have prefer a few quick sentences, some hugs and kisses, and then a quick rush out the door to find the baby.