My journey as a General Hospital fan really got going around the time Frisco Jones arrived in Port Charles, but the show was part of the weekday ambience in my home for years beforehand. My mother was a devout Love in the Afternoon viewer, so even though I wasn't totally hooked yet — probably owing at least in part to the fact that I wasn't even ten years old yet — I do have memories of Luke and Laura on the run, the Ice Princess saga, and Laura escaping from Cassadine Island. Even though they weren't really "my" characters, I absolutely understood their importance, even as a kid, and they were responsible for some of my earliest formative moments with the show.
I'm bringing this up now in order to try and explain a little of how I felt watching Friday's GH, which was basically a clip episode that found a handful of Luke's loved ones gathering to pay tribute to a character whose arrival on the canvas did a great deal to shape the show's subsequent trajectory. Like a lot of you, I had my issues with Luke, especially as time wore on and it started to feel like his scummier aspects were given a greater emphasis in order to satisfy Tony Geary's unwillingness to redeem him. I'm definitely not arguing that a rapist ought to be redeemed; that's a conversation for another column entirely. But Luke's arrival heralded the dawn of the age of the daytime antihero, and with it, General Hospital's growing tendency to sideline morally straight characters — to treat them as boring, really — in favor of ones who trafficked in progressively darker shades of gray. You don't get to Todd Manning — or, lord help us, Sonny Corinthos — without Lucas Lorenzo Spencer leading the way.
As evidenced by those other names, Luke's arc wasn't unique. Tons and tons of soap characters have debuted as dark and dangerous types, often with very short stints planned, before proving so popular that producers found a way to keep them around, usually by sanding off enough of their hard edges to make them viable romantic leads. "It’s sort of a trend," Bob Woods laughed when we spoke for the One Life to Live book. "You come on as an angry young man, and then you fall in love with someone and she changes you. You spend the next 30 years trying to get your mojo back."
Of course, that only happens if the audience starts to care about the character, and in order for that to happen, you need a really charismatic actor bringing that character to life. In Geary, GH found one of the most eminently watchable performers in the history of daytime television. No matter how selfish or cruel Luke could be, he was never less than magnetic, thanks to the person playing him. It would be impossible to sum up that legacy in a single hour, and to its credit, Friday's episode didn't really try; instead, it just offered up a series of memories, presented through a slew of flashbacks that ran the gamut from Luke and Laura's early adventures through their '90s return and on into Luke's years with Tracy. If you've been a fan of the show for any real length of time, I'm not sure you could watch it without being emotionally affected on some level.
I personally found it to be a fairly moving episode, although those feelings were tempered somewhat by annoyance at how rarely GH bothers to leverage its history in this type of truly meaningful way. The writers love to echo storylines of the past, but it's almost always in glancing, surface-level fashion, which means those things rarely land as impactfully as they should. Knowing they can do something like this when they really want to makes me upset that they really want to so rarely… which ultimately means, I guess, that even in death, Luke Spencer and Tony Geary remain more than capable of prompting a complicated swirl of mixed emotions. They were both one of a kind, and Friday's episode underscored that rather beautifully.
Welcome Back, Kotter Maxie
With Friday reserved for the Luke tribute, most of the rest of last week was spent focusing on Maxie's sudden return to full health. Basically, the writers went from one set of characters to the next, giving people time to talk about their feelings along the way, and in a lot of respects, I appreciated this tactic, because it didn't really emphasize anyone at anyone else's expense. Maxie is an important character, one whose story is intertwined with a long list of other characters, so it felt good to see the show taking the time to let us see the news of her recovery making waves across town.
On the other hand, none of that can cover up for the way Maxie's absence was mishandled. The show is pushing us toward a love quadrangle involving Maxie, Spinelli, Nathan, and Lulu, but the writers haven't established the stakes this type of story needs in order to make us care. The situation Maxie's waking up to has shades of the conflict Felicia faced when she married Colton, only to learn Frisco was still alive — but Felicia and Colton's relationship was allowed to build for over a year before we reached that point, so even though Colton never had a prayer, you could still feel what he was fighting for. In comparison, what we're looking at here is silly middle-school stuff.
What's frustrating, as is so often the case with GH, is that under the right circumstances, this could really work. I actually like Lulu and Nathan together, and I also think there's a lot of drama to be wrung from the premise of a woman waking up from a coma to find that her dead husband has returned to the land of the living. Like I said last week, it would have been very easy to lay track for this by having Nathan and Lulu work together to investigate the shady circumstances surrounding Maxie's collapse, developing feelings for each other along the way; instead, they kissed once during a snowstorm, and now they suddenly and supposedly have deep feelings for each other. And yes, I get that they've known one another for a long time, there's a history there, blah blah blah — the fact remains that the show hasn't done the work to make us care about them as a couple.
And then there's Spinelli, who's being positioned as the presumed odd man out now that the love of Maxie's life has returned, even though his relationship with her goes back further than Nathan's. The subtext here, of course, is that Nathan is tall and dashing, while Spinelli is a nerd, which… I mean, enough already, right? This is Afterschool Special material, and it's offensive to anyone who has an adult grasp on enduring romantic love. When the web the writers are spinning is less evolved than the storyline of a Taylor Swift video, you've got problems.
Anyway, Maxie's homecoming party ended with Spinelli haltingly telling her that she didn't need to rush anything, and her thanking him before heading out for a walk, which naturally led her to the cemetery, where of course she found Nathan visiting his own grave, which is somehow still there even though Anna had it exhumed and it contains no body. We'll see where that conversation leads this week, I assume, although the way this show tends to let plot points dangle, I'm sure there's a chance we won't even see either character at all.
The Lies End Right Here, Right Now
Friday was the highlight of the week for longtime fans, but the best performances of the week aired on Monday, when Lucas confronted Marco over his lies about only being his father's lawyer. In my last column, I theorized that Marco would end up keeping Lucas on the island by force, but what actually ended up happening was so much more interesting: Lucas erupted at Marco, demanding the whole truth with a level of raw emotion that surprised me in the best way. As I've said before, Van Hansis is doing terrific work, he's being matched in some respects by Adrian Anchando, and the two of them together have given the Sidwell story the only emotional anchor it really has.
More than anything, Lucas and Marco's argument showcased the real feelings both characters have for each other, and even when Marco played the dead mom card by unwisely invoking Bobbie's name, you could understand why Lucas eventually softened to his pleading. When Marco vowed to abandon his vendetta against Sonny and walk away from Sidwell's business as soon as they completed Faison's final project, Lucas agreed to stay — a decision that will likely end up being detrimental to his health, because Pascal went to Sidwell last week and told him about seeing Lucas snooping. When Sidwell shrugged it off, saying Lucas would have gone to Marco if he'd heard anything, and Marco would in turn have come to him, Pascal suggested that perhaps Marco might be suffering from divided loyalties. Sidwell didn't like hearing that at all, but you can tell the wheels are turning.
Because Lucas is a stand-up guy, he later went to the Metro Court and apologized to Carly, telling her she was right about Marco all along — which led to a really funny moment when Carly, trying to get Lucas to leave Wyndemere ASAP, called Marco a criminal, and Lucas pointed over his shoulder at Sonny to give her a wordless reminder that she's in a glass house when it comes to criticizing people for getting involved with men on the wrong side of the law. For now, Lucas is insisting he won't leave the island without Marco. Here's hoping it doesn't get him killed.
Aside from dealing with Pascal's concerns, Sidwell had to tangle with Tracy last week. With Maxie on the mend, Ms. Quartermaine made her way out to Wyndemere to inform him that she wanted to go back to his previous arrangement with Deception — and she also demanded a complete in-depth audit of the shipments he's been ferrying in and out of the pier. He refused, but I have a feeling that won't be the last time those two argue about this.
After having Tracy escorted off the island, Sidwell saw his next guest: Willow, who responded to his invitation immediately after handing in her resignation at General Hospital. As she told Elizabeth, now that she has partial custody of her kids and she has Drew convalescing at home, there just isn't enough time to maintain her nursing career — but all that "focus on the family" stuff went sailing off the parapet when Sidwell told her why he'd asked her to come. Turns out he wants her to replace Drew in Congress.
If you're surprised by this development, well, join the club: I don't think it's much of a stretch to say that out of all the characters on the show, Willow ranks near the bottom in terms of anybody anyone would ever think of as cut out for Congress. More to the point, it's hard to imagine why Sidwell thinks she'd be useful — Drew ended up under Sidwell's thumb because he's a petty, vindictive, power-hungry buffoon, but Willow, whatever her other faults might be, lacks his long list of imagined grievances. Sidwell needs someone corrupt enough to do his bidding, and he also already has Ezra in his pocket, so why not just go that route?
Well, the writers have an idea, and it's got something to do with Alexis.
While Sidwell was putting a bug in Willow's ear about going to Washington, Alexis had her own offer to think about. Laura, asked by the governor to recommend an appointee to finish out Drew's term in advance of a special election, told Alexis that she'd be perfect for the job. Although Alexis begged off at first, telling Laura she "isn't very political," she was eventually worn down by Suzanne and Molly, who countered all of her fears and insecurities until she finally admitted she was very much interested in seeing where Laura's offer might lead.
By now, you see where this is going. Alexis and Willow's fragile truce — one that's being held together by Willow's gratitude toward Alexis even as it's being fatally undermined by Alexis' knowledge that Willow shot Drew — is destined to be blasted to smithereens as they duke it out for the right to represent Port Charles' district. While I'm not all that excited about the idea of either of these characters starting a career in politics, I can see the dramatic possibilities inherent in pitting them against each other like this. It could get interesting. At the very least, I have to believe it'll be a lot more interesting than all the bloviating about Measure C and the goddamn esplanade. This is classic story-driven behavior, but there might be enough of a payoff to justify it.
Meanwhile, Drew's fate hangs in the balance. Wiley and Amelia had their first dropoff at Willow's place last week, which meant that Ric and Alexis were on hand; while she was there, Alexis paid a visit to Drew's room, cutting things short when she noticed he was blinking like crazy. Although she initially wondered whether he was trying to tell her something, she eventually just assumed he was agitated, and told Willow on her way out. This earned Drew an extra doping of whatever magic potion Willow's using to keep him locked in — which was sufficiently creepy as a scene, but also raised the question of what the hell Willow's thinking. She needs Drew at home so she can make sure he stays incapacitated; how does she expect to run for office at the same time?
Ah well, I'm sure those pesky details will be ironed out in time. Right?
The Keys Uncle Chase Took?
Ric and Alexis were there when Wiley and Amelia were dropped off, but Michael wasn't — he was at the PCPD, where he'd been called in for questioning by Nathan. And why did Nathan want to talk to Michael? Well, because earlier in the week, Chase said he thought Nathan might have overlooked the possibility that Michael could have a key to Drew's place, which led to Nathan getting a warrant for Michael's keys, Michael handing them over, and a forensics test proving one of those keys worked on Drew's front door.
This was all obviously news to Michael. Fortunately, he had Ric there to shark up, shut down Nathan's line of questioning, summon Turner and Dante into the interrogation room, and demand that the department stop wasting his client's time with their baseless allegations. In classic Ric fashion, he was showboating with a secret weapon in his pocket: Unbeknownst to anyone else in the room, when he told Wiley that Michael was at the station because the police had his keys, Wiley asked, "The keys Uncle Chase took?"
Finally, toward the closing moments of Thursday's show, Ric dropped that bomb, telling Turner and Dante that not only did they have no chain of evidence for the key, but he could produce an eyewitness putting Chase in possession of them.
While all this was happening, Chase and Brook Lynn were with Alexis, renewing their push for adoption. If you're a real soap fan, you know where all this is heading, and it's nowhere good for Chase; by this time next week, there's a real possibility that he could be looking for a job as well as a new place to live. I won't be surprised if he's written off before long, and while that prospect would have made me kind of sad once, it now feels like the most merciful option for the character, the actor, and the audience.
That'll just about do it for this week. See you next time!
- Spinelli and Obrecht need to have more scenes together
- Jacinda and Michael went on a date to the axe-throwing place, as did Elizabeth and Ric
- This "Ava and Lucy fight over Sidwell" stuff gets more tired by the minute
- Britt and Jason met and hooked up at the cabin or whatever where they holed up during the storm, and we still have no idea who owns this place or why they're allowed to be there
- After being forced to sit through Sonny and Turner's gross banter, Ric asked him what's going on between them
- I believe Ryan Paevey and Dominic Zamprogna were given fresh dye jobs, and I am upset about it
- A thrilled Nina offered to be Willow's "secret weapon" in her political campaign
- Cody and Kristina wasted our time with another long conversation about Molly's book
- Aiden baked cupcakes offscreen
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