 |
WELP. Here we are-- what has the Olivia Jerome story boiled down to? A damsel in distress laying at the bottom of a ravine, waiting for her hero to arrive. You'd think that in 2017 someone could have come up with something more exciting and detailed.
Nope.
I'm back for this week anyway--and I'm not holding back!! So let's go . Breakfast needs to be hearty because it might be awhile.
(this was last week's photo)
So-- let's go story by story. I'm going to start with a promising one: The Nurses' Strike. It had legs-- was fun for 2 days, then...??? Nothing. Absolutely nothing. This is so maddening and so GH's M.O. They have the actors come in for a day, shoot a few scenes...then? I guess we surmise what's happening off camera. Glad that the Qs are involved. Glad it could have the Ned/Olivia connection and engagement even tho they won't be on again for awhile. Hard to get any investment with that.
Julian's "Goodbye Tour". Julian wanders around town to hand deliver notes/messages because he thinks he might be killed. You know what I would have liked? Maybe an old-school type sting on Olivia where he enlists people in this plane. Not this whiny, weird ramble that isolates everyone.
The villain in the room: Olivia Jerome. Yet again, I was anticipating a great story arc. What did I get?? Long, drawn out, full of holes and....boring. I just NEED to really bitch about this. Tonja Walker had such a history on the show. If they would have had Olivia just blow into town under the guise of the GH buy-out, she could have been ALL over the canvas! But? Nope...show her hands for a month-- lock her in a room with some nobody goon and then do a predictable "revenge" plot story. Did you see what happened when Anna ran into her? This is someone she had history with (we saw real flashbacks) and.....she didn't recognize her because of the cancer scare. Really? Hey-- and get this. Maura West and Tonja Walker have had ZERO --you heard it--ZERO scenes together so far. That right there is a crime. First or second day in they should have had Julian introduce the two and let the fur fly. Ava posturing for her place in the family upon finding out she had a devious older sister that wasn't really dead. Why do that when you can spend time on framing Ava for the car bombing and then sticking her in jail? Ava's been in jail four time since being on the show. SNORE.
One thing that was done ok ..(and just ok) was having Olivia be Alexis' 'sponsor' for AA. It got them in scenes together. I'm still waiting to see how all of this will 'redeem' Julian because it seems that's the direction they are going.
This brings us to the bridge scene. Could there have been a more formulaic device? UGH. Not only that Sam's pregnant. We could have told you she wouldn't just have that baby normal-style. Something was bound to happen. Falling in a well, trapped in a cabin, yada yada. This time it's down a ravine after fighting for a gun on a bridge. She'll lay down there talking to herself for awhile until she's rescued. Wasn't she just laying at the bottom of Liz's stairs doing the same damn thing??? *sigh* . This is sweeps month?
Hammy Finn is an addict story. We all thought he was an addict when he first came on and was injecting himself with giant ass'd needles. It took eons to find out he was really dying of some weird disease, find the cure, give it to Hayden --and now? HE'S ADDICTED. So, ??? How is this entertaining. We saw Finn inject, pass out and cover up for months. We are seeing it all over again. Hayden confronted him but that's one scene. I was honestly having a better time watching Brad try to get money for the discovery than this stuff.
I have no idea what they are doing with Griffin. I have no interest in Curtis and Jordan because although they have chemistry, they are isolated and have 2 on 2 scenes together where they talk about the same stuff they've talked about since he came on the show. They don't even bother to mention TJ anymore. Kiki and Dillon are boring me to no end-- there's just no strife there. No reason for me to root for them.
Speaking of boring...here's another story that was written so poorly that I really don't care what happens. It could have been epic. Another example of taking way too long with too many gaps and just plain dull plots. The character of Nelle is just so blah-- she's not vixen enough to be a sizzler, she's not angelic enough to be the good/evil girl and she's so one note it hurts to watch sometimes. Even the bathtub scene lacked any kind of sexual tension. She legit could have stood up stark naked in front of Michael and I'd be all...meh. The pacing is so off that there's no anticipation/excitement about the Sonny "affair". They didn't really even sleep together (we know that fact will come out) so..???? Carly and Sonny will break up again for a hot minute until the truth comes out and they make up. One saving grace? Bobbie and Felicia. At least I can find a sliver of silver lining!
Anna's cancer. I was really intrigued and enjoying the whole Valentin back story until they turned that into such a boring drawn out mess, unless they step it up it will just be another bore. Now Anna has this rare blood disease. Let's start something else!! You know I love the fact that Robin came back for it. The story at least got us that.
SCENE OF THE WEEK: Yeah! So happy they wrote KM's real life pregnancy in! So glad Robin comes to visit now and again. This made me smile.
WEIRD MOMENT OF THE WEEK: Sniffing of the water jug.
FLASHBACK OF THE WEEK: Robin sees Olivia St. John. Talks about Cheryl (Lucas' bio mom). This is what legends get you. If they're not recast that is...
COMEDY DUO OF THE WEEK: Curtis and Jason and the empty tomb. Stephen King Jokes? Squeemish tough-guy! Hilarity ensues!!
So, that's the week that was. GH is filled with flipflop and fast scenes. I started timing them. I really did. The average so far is ....29 seconds. I'm going to do it again next week and see what I come up with. Start to notice how short every scene is. Maddening.
I finished Sneaky Pete, great series on Amazon Prime. Saw Hell or High water on DVD last night and it was really really good. Glad it got a nom or I wouldn't have watched! Speaking of--OSCARS tonight. My super bowl. :) Oh, going to Hidden Figures later today. I hear that's great too. Which nominated films have you seen? The only other one I watched was La La Land which wasn't my fave (I don't like musicals that much). Lion, Moonlight and Manchester are too sad for me--I'm a baby and I don't like to cry at the movies if I can help it!
GH did some shorts to honor the Oscars and they are fun-- something different for the cast! Go to the General Hospital page on FB to see them all.
Anti Joan where are you? LOL! ;)
ReplyDeleteHaha loved weird moment of the week, yes! What was that about?? Definitely weird!
I thought maybe he thought it was poison? Or ?? booze? LOL
ReplyDeleteall the couples on gh are boring. time to break them up. sam and jason. kiki and dillon. nina and valentin(like watching an adult with a 15yr old).also maxie and nathan. lulu and dante. did I leave anyone out? best scene robin and anna. love them. also i think griffen is anna's son,the way robin said brother.
ReplyDeleteI missed the whole brother scene, which day was that?
DeleteMichelle, fear not, here I am!! I went out with my girls yesterday and we saw LION! SEE IT!! IT IS AMAZING, it is NOT sad, just AMAZING, everyone MUST see it!! I also saw Hidden Figures with my girls, and LOVED, LOVED, LOVED! My best friend in LA, who actually votes on the Academy, voted for Hidden Figures. She saw them all, of course, and didn't love LaLa Land or Moonlight, which I haven't seen.
ReplyDeleteMy husband would not see Hidden Figures or Lion, actually I don't think he would see anything nominated this year, not violent or bloody enough, thank God I have my girlfriends!!
Witch: You left out Sonny and Carly!! PLEASE have them break up, and bring back Sonny's OTL, Brenda!!
ReplyDeleteI think you will really like Hidden Figures, Karen. My hub and I saw it together a couple of weeks ago. We have talked since about how a person has to know it was probably much WORSE for those women, but the movie was excellent.
ReplyDeleteMy girl and I saw Lion this week. We can't figure out why Dev Patel is nominated as best SUPPORTING actor. Who would the best ACTOR have been, the little boy? (he was fabulous, and too cute, too.) I don't understand all the fuss about LaLa Land. I am not a fan of musicals, but that one wasn't even well done in my opinion. It featured clunky dancing, barely tolerable singing, and a stupid story line. (White boy saves jazz????) Haven't seen all the others. But I think it would be hard to beat Hidden Figures.
Oh, yeah, this is a GH blog. Love Robin and Anna. Sorry to see the wasting of the actress who plays Oliva J. But I keep hoping. After all, I am still watching.
People are thinking that Dev put himself (or the studio did) in the supporting category because he had a better shot at being nominated. The Actor category was too packed.
ReplyDeleteExcellent commentary on last week's mostly disappointing shows. With seemingly a zillion writers they should really be doing better. On the other hand, I thought LaLa Land was highly overated. Manchester is so brilliant -sad but funny and really worth seeing.
ReplyDeleteLindaV
Worse than Olivia Jerome not having a scene with Ava is Olivia Jerome not having a scene with Lucy. Now there is some history they could draw on. Instead they have Lucy come back last week for a scene where she is plotting to have the hospital sold. This is the same Lucy that organizes the nurses ball every year right? Now plotting to sell the hospital? Great character integrity and consistency writers?
ReplyDeleteAs for Michael and Nelle I think the actor that plays Michael is the total opposite of the actress that plays Anna. While Finola Hughes seems to ooze chemistry with everyone she shares the scene with I have yet to see any chemistry between Chad Duell and anyone they have tried to pair him with (the closest Ive seen to him having chemistry with anyone is with Lexi Answorth but they are too close to be family to go there). He's a good actor, just zero chemistry with anyone they pair him with. Perhaps time to shift off of a romance for him as it obviously does not work, and instead put him back in the ELQ / Quartermaine sphere, somewhere where the actor seemed to do okay.
Lucy has always been a many-sided character, and, while she is wonderful with the Nurses' Ball, she always has been self-interested, and not shy about going after what she wants.
ReplyDeleteRe Dev Patel, I also couldn't figure how the star of a movie can be in the running for best supporting actor. Also, I thought he looked NOTHING like the little boy who played his younger self.
robin said brother to griffin on friday's show
ReplyDeleteFinally watched last night but guess I totally missed it.
DeleteI think the oh brother comment is near the end of Thursday's episode. IMHO, seems to be foreshadowing.
ReplyDeleteFuck all this. Bring Parker back for Kristina
ReplyDeleteBring Parker back for Kristina
ReplyDeleteAntJoan said...
ReplyDeleteLucy has always been a many-sided character, and, while she is wonderful with the Nurses' Ball, she always has been self-interested, and not shy about going after what she wants.
** Yeah, unfortunately the people that haven't watched for a long time, generally just pretty much know her as the "wacky, silly, and mostly harmless" Lucy that she's been primarily written as for quite awhile now. They've never seen just how sneaky and self centered she used to be. Just how much she and Bobbie used to hate each other, is a prime example. Though, she has mellowed considerably over the years. I suspect though that writers might be trying to take her back to her "roots" per se. Between this, and when she was blackmailing Ava over the pills it looks like maybe they're doing that with her.
Also, great column this week Karen, you're so spot on! I completely agree they should have gone with an old school "sting" operation to bring Olivia down with, storyline. As I read that, I flashed back to when Robert, Anna, Sean, Duke, Frisco, and Felecia worked together to take down Burt Ramsey. Something like that would have been FANTASTIC. It wouldn't have needed to be that flashy and in depth (with the budget being damn near non-existent as it is) they still could have done SO MUCH better than what we were given instead.
As far as the lack of anything great happening for sweeps goes, sadly all 4 shows were definitely lacking. Y&R has definitely been getting back on track, after being such a huge mess for so long, but as horrible as the state of it had been left in (Especially after JFP and Pratt were running things, and had just about decimated it), of everything that culminated after the last 10 years, making it hardly recognizable from what Bill Bell created. It's definitely making strides, but it's not their yet. B&B has been a mess for ages, and DAYS is...I dunno where to begin with DAYS, so I'll just leave it at that.
Again, great column this week Karen!
K.
Burt Ramsey...wow, blast from the past. Now that was a surprise!
DeleteI remember the takedown of Burt Ramsey - really shocking! And the reveal of Lucy Coe was shocking, too! Also, when we though Sean Donnelly had gone bad and then he ended up saving Frisco's life. Can't even remember when we were surprised like that since. Yes, Lucy was a schemer and self centered but she had a heart. As I have said many times before, the writers have no clue as to what real drama is and how to sustain it.
ReplyDeleteLindaV
LSV422 said...
ReplyDeleteI remember the takedown of Burt Ramsey - really shocking! And the reveal of Lucy Coe was shocking, too! Also, when we though Sean Donnelly had gone bad and then he ended up saving Frisco's life. Can't even remember when we were surprised like that since. Yes, Lucy was a schemer and self centered but she had a heart. As I have said many times before, the writers have no clue as to what real drama is and how to sustain it.
** At the time when it aired, I remember being completely floored that Burt Ramseu was really "Mr. B", it just came out of nowhere, and flipped everything I knew/had seen of him over the previous several years, completely on it's head. But not ridiculously, the way things are being done these days. The only thing offhand that's had actually surprised me in some time was Faison revealing himself to Robin, under the Duke mask. It wasn't nearly as powerful, but i admit, I was actually surprised at that.
Lucy has always had a heart, yes. I was just trying to say that the idea of her thinking of herself financially first, when it comes to the GH sale wasn't that out of character for her. Particularly since she thinks that it's impossible to save GH at this point, as much as she would love for it to be saved. So she's thinking since the sale is unavoidable, she might as well do whatever she can to get whatever she can out of the situation, for herself.
K