Spencer @ soapcentral.com

                   I've been watching General Hospital for well over 30 years now and I've seen it go through a lot of changes. Some have been good while others have left me gritting my teeth and hoping for a change in writing & executive producers. Most of the time my prayers for better leadership at the show have been answered.....such as when Luke and Laura returned back in 1993. I along with every other Luke/Laura fan was doing cartwheels when the news came out they were coming back to the show [even though Anthony Geary had been back for a number of years as Bill Eckert]. The only thing that could have made my world even brighter would have been the return of Lesley Webber [Denise Alexander].....so you can imagine my surprise when Lesley DID come back in 1996!!! Granted, the storyline that brought her back was a bit along the lines of "you've got to be kidding me", but I didn't care. My two favorite characters AND actresses were back where they belong!!

                     During the years of 1993-2002 I found myself not being too crazy about some of the Luke/Laura storylines [and I was REALLY disappointed that Lesley was only around sporadically at best], but I was really out of sorts when they divorced! That's when the thought of "oh God, is Genie going to quit again?" started creeping back into my head. My worst fears were confirmed when Laura started going off the deep end and it was announced that Genie Francis was once again leaving the show. I was crushed. Again. I was also a bit miffed because Genie Francis seems to have had an irritating habit of quitting the show.....of course this was before she went public about her drug abuse that had lead to her departure in 1982....AND before the revelation that she'd only left the show [in 2002] because the producers wouldn't give her the summer off to take a trip to Europe with her husband and children!! My 'miffedness' shifted from Genie Francis to the boneheads at GH that let Genie Francis leave rather than give her some WELL DESERVED time off!! What was the harm in giving her the time off?? It's not like Anthony Geary doesn't take a few months every year!!

                        So for the next four years, I found myself once again hoping beyong hope that Laura would return. That hoping grew more intense by the day as the focus of GH shifted almost entirely to the whole mob storyline. For a while there I was actually expecting the name of the show to change from "General Hospital" to "The Sonny Corinthos Show"!! So then in mid 2006 the news of Laura's return was released....she was coming back, but only for a limited run. Hey, I'll take it. I figured that the response to Genie Francis would be so great that the producers would be persuaded to ask her back full time. No such luck. Poor Laura went right back into catatonia after having participated in one of the most idiotic storylines that I'd seen on GH in quite a few years. Each episode that Genie Francis was in was very clearly 'rushed' and it was apparent that she'd only been brought back for November sweeps.

                          As disappointed as I was that neither Laura or Genie were sticking around very long I figured that it was Genie's decision and went on about my business. And then I read that Genie actually DID want to come back, AND had made it known to GH that she wanted to come back....but they said "no thank you........."                                             

  HUH?? WHA??? I had to read the article TWICE to make sure I hadn't MIS-read it!! Nope. I'd read it correctly. So I gave the GH brass the benefit of the doubt by dismissing the article as just heresay, but then I saw Genie Francis on "The View".....and then I got the info straight from the legend's mouth. She WANTS to come back!! And those buffoons at GH are STILL saying, "no thanks"!!!! Are you kidding me??!!! HOW can a producer say NO to one of the most legendary actresses to grace the soap opera world??! Dude...this is GENIE freakin FRANCIS!!! These folks at GH and ABC should be on their hands and knees BEGGING her to come back! They should give her ANYTHING she wants in her contract just to get her back on that show......but instead we viewers are still inundated with a cheap rip off of The Godfather.

                          Perhaps the brass & writers at GH won't bring Laura back because they can't figure out how to work her into the show? If that's the case, then I've got a suggestion for the storyline that would bring our beloved Laura back:

• Jason suddenly remembers his former life and is infuriated that Sonny had taken advantage of his brain injury all these years. He lures Sonny into a warehouse, along with every other mobster on the show. Jason then blows the warehouse up, sending little bits and pieces of mobsters all over Port Charles. The force of the explosion is so loud that Laura is jolted out of her catatonic state and returns home to her family.
  

                           Now see how easy that was??!!

I am gonna start with Robin Scorpio

I am not a big fan of the character, I have to admit that I actually hate her at times.

I have found her too controlling and sometimes a little to stuck up for her own good. But yesterday I have to admit that Kim Mc sucked me in and made me admire her for a minute.

The first thing that made me took notice of her Yesterday was her scene with Jason. I haven't been abble to feel any emapthy for Jason lately, but the scene where she was talking about Em and Jason just got to me. He was kind of like both of them were reliving those scenes at the same time. I could see them imagining AT's Emily coming to see Jason and rambeling on and on to him about one thing or the other.

But her stand out scene to me was with JT's Patrick. Wow just wow.

I always tought that Robin gave up too soon. I really tought that she should use gentle persuausion to make Patrick see the light. What a wonderful father he could be. I tought her jumping right after their break up to want to have a baby was just too rushed. But I finally understand. It is so strange but sometimes I do forget that Robin is HIV positive and that in a blink of an eye her situation can go from bad to worse. I understand why  it is so important for her, like she has said before she never tought she could ever carry a child to term and now that she can w/o risking to transmit her disease to her child, why should she wait???

She is healthy, she is happy, she has a nice family support. Patrick won't come onboard  so what???

Robin go for what u want and I hope it makes u happy and fulfills ur life.

 

Last but not least Lucky Spencer.

I am a fan of Lucky and have always understaood many of the choices he has made in his life.

Many people may not understand what it is for him to accept Jake, Jason's child, and still want to raise him as his own.

For me it just proves  what I have always known about Lucky. He is a great guy who has been put in some difficult situation but as always come back on top. For me he is the real Hero Luke Spencer has never been. Can we imagine seriously Luke doing this??? Never in a million years. He finally accepted Nik after how many years???

Now coming back to Lucky, what he did yesterday, just prove to me that deep down inside he still loves and wants to protect Liz. She doesn't want to stand up for what is right for her child and he forced her to come to grip with that just like he used gentle persuasion back in the days to help her  come to terms with her rape. Liz loves jason, he knows that. She wants deep down inside to have a family with Jason, he is aware of that. Is she capapble to live that life??? Can she really ??? No. Lucky knows that and gave her an out that she was so willing to grab onto.

Lucky for me is a better man than Jason because I have seen him over the years trying to overcome the worst in Him failing at times but always  at the end being able to stand up and face reality. He as seen 1st hand what Life as a outlaw can do to a family and do not want that for his children.

He tries his best he is knock down by life but always stand up a better man than who he was before.

 

Best Line

Lucky: You know, you didn't have to make this so difficult, Elizabeth. And you probably won't even give a damn, but I love your kids, even if they aren't mine

 

Mel

 

 

It's over.  Stick a fork in them.  Liz and Lucky are done.  

For now...

But I have hope for the future, bc LL2 is real love.

So Jiz can kiss my ass!

I thought the breakup scene rocked from Greg.  The scenes where they told Cam they weren't gonna live together anymore were sad, but a harsh reality for a lot of kids.  Kinda weird since Cameron won't remember any of it, but I digress.

Yesterday, between 3 and 4 pm, I came to a realization. It's over. It came to me, bit by bit over the hour, little fissures and cracks, which built up to the resounding conclusion that my "relationship" with General Hospital has ended. And it is a relationship in some respects. It lasted a heck of a lot longer than the majority of my friendships and relationships from high school and college. It was constant. We grew up together, GH and I. Robin and Brenda were my older sisters. Lucky and Liz and Emily went to high school with me. We raised children: the Maxies and Georgies and Lulus of the world. We celebrated Thanksgivings with pizza, and Fourths of July with picnics, and Christmases with parties at the hospital. We put on Nurses Balls. There were good times, and there were bad times, and there were ridiculous times, and then somewhere along the way there were only frustrating times.

Coming into Friday, I thought that I might take a break. I knew the Eli Love story was ending, and really, I wouldn't have anything to look forward to for a while. Until Alexis came back. Until Luke came back. Until they decided to show Tracy and Ghost!Alan again. Until Georgie finally got that storyline they have been teasing. Until maybe they hauled the Quartermaines back out, or Bobbie, or Ned came back to visit for a few days. Until Carly and Jax rid themselves of Jerry and that crazy Russian woman. Until Scrubs figured out some reasonable conclusion to their cold war. One day, things were bound to get better, right?

And so I watched Friday's show and I had a momentary high as Noah/Eli performed. It was just reminiscent of real 90's GH for me. The whole set up was reminiscent of the 90's GH that I loved. Anna had a touching speech about being so grateful for having a daughter living with HIV, and all of a sudden GH was about family again, and had heart, and real emotion, and was sweet and had social relevance again. And there was music, and happiness, and Robin and Anna were dancing in the background, and I could close my eyes and imagine for a second that it was Luke's club, and things were good.

...And then Anna left. And it felt permanent. Really permanent. Like...I don't know. Like a graduation maybe. There were tears and smiles, and just a sense that someone was moving on permanently, never to be seen again. And Noah had a wistful look about him as well...as if to say "Well, I don't know if I'll ever see you again, but it has been a blast." And in a mere second it felt like all the air had been sucked out of GH. They killed the last unicorn. Looking out over the canvas, there were no vets, no constants, no links to the former glory of the show.

And then, the other big thing that happened yesterday, came for me, as a shock...something that I sort of knew was coming...but I figured that was sometime way off in the future, so I was shocked when it came out of nowhere and bit me. Things were going pretty darned well as a Liz and Lucky fan yesterday...well, as good as can be suspected considering the situation of late. They had an argument...but it was a good argument. There was some good reasoning, and some good confrontation, and far less lies than usual, and they both seemed to care about each other for the first time in a while. And Liz got to bring up some good points about Lucky. And Lucky got to bring up some good points about Liz...and for a while...I don't know why...but I had an inkling of hope. And then GH took that hope, put it on a nice bed of lettuce, and smashed it with an anvil big enough to take out Wisconsin. When Lucky kissed Sam, I literally felt something inside of me snap. Why? People can, and do, argue, that he cheated before, but Sarah wasn't really cheating...he moved on with her after he had been brainwashed not to love Liz, and tried to make it work for the longest time, despite that. And the second time, with Maxie, spoke more of a man in a desperate situation than one who loved and wanted anything but his wife. That's something I held onto with Lucky. He loved Elizabeth. He was devoted to her. He never wanted to intentionally hurt her. And then he goes, for no good reason, and kisses the woman who he knows has sworn vengeance on his wife. And a part of me that still held out hope for anything good and redeeming characterwise just burst into flames. It's like finding out that there is no Santa Claus.

So now, the last of the honorable men have left PC. Lucky is now a malicious, selfish cheater. Patrick is now an unsympathetic ass for witnessing Robin and Anna's conversation and not once maybe feeling a little empathy for her. Jax will be sacrificed for Jerry. Sason are evil but will never pay for it. Jerry and Ric are psycho. Nik was willing to cheat on his raped wife. Alan is dead. Luke is a deadbeat, gone for half the year. Spinelli worships an idiot. Mac has been reduced to a glorified role player. Ned is in California.

And there is nothing to look forward to, for me. I have no hope anymore. The Quartermaines will be killed off one by one, or move away. They will never be featured in a storyline again. The name will vanish from the canvas. Alexis will die alone in her cottage. No one will love her. Ric will raise Molly. The wolves that eat Alexis' cold corpse will raise Kristina. Skye will move to another town to find her real father. Emily will probably do that as well. Sason will get a new enemy with a delightfully ethnic sounding name every year. Jason will kill another 12, 000 people in the name of "saving his family". Georgie will fade into obscurity busing tables at Kelly's while Lulu is surrounded by young men of various acting capabilities, who all are in love with her and fighting over her. Maxie will continue to sleep with the PCPD. Felicia's grandmother will outlive us all, despite being very sick. Mac will drift away, as will Bobbie and Audrey. Hell, the whole hospital might drift away. Robin won't get her baby. Scrubs will break up and leave the show. And then it will just be Sonny and Jason and their womenfolk and a cast of newbies who are all in love with Lulu. And they will have won.

But, for me the battle is over. The outcome is now an inevitability. GH has jumped the shark for me. And surprisingly, it's as freeing as it is devastating.

I want people to be wrong about Tommy being Todd’s biological son. It could come out during the custody battle that Spencer meant to put everyone on the wrong trail and that Todd’s son is actually another child. Mike and Marcie can then keep Tommy and Todd and Blair can raise his son.

I’m glad that Starr and Cole are back together because it was tiresome to see two teens pining away for each other as if it was the end of the world. I actually find the pairing of Langston and Markko more interesting.

I don’t care for Miles or Marty and so I hope they stay together and continue to make each other miserable. I definitely don’t want Marty to be with John. He was angry with Natalie when she tried to suppress evidence that may have implicated him yet John the supercop hasn’t been forthcoming with what he knows regarding Marty’s involvement.

It’s my guess that Paige will leave the country to join “Doctors without borders” and then be revealed as Spencer’s real killer. Since she is away and Spencer was a jerk, they can let her be. Bo will then be free to reunite with Lindsay.

Tate’s father is stupid for putting the focus on himself. Even if Tate stops terrorizing others, his idiotic associates will continue. “Generations”, a now cancelled NBC soap, had a storyline involving a racist white man who was sexually involved with a black woman. It was then said that a man like him believes that a woman like that is “only good for one thing”. So I could see if Tate was using Adriana and/or Layla as such but he is helping them advance their business; which goes beyond a front. Due to his ridiculous racism, its obvious that he would want to break-up Adriana and Rex yet he is helping a minority owned company to prosper. Tate was a public figure, who went through a steroid scandal, so why didn’t all of his junk come out at that time? His wife divorced him supposedly because she is unlike him yet she continues to keep his secret. This storyline wasn’t well planned.

Now that Nigel will soon have an abundance of time on his hands after Asa’s passing, he and Roxy can resume their relationship.