The wardrobe department at General Hospital hates Julie Marie Berman. Don’t they have to in order to continue dressing her in things like this?
Does this look remind anyone else of someone special?
Seriously, how much do you have to loathe someone to dress them like a cartoon character? Dress Spinelli in a fury white parka and you’d have a matched set.
I needed to take a break from posting to try to get some perspective. This is only soap opera right? I can’t expect — I don’t know — quality in its writing, can I? This is purely a case of me not being able to let go of the past. General Hospital is a soap opera with a history of taking social issues and doing them well, but I need to remember that time is long gone.
Jason: It’s the same crap over and over again.
Yes, Jason, I tend to agree.
This plot line with Ric is basically the same crap, except even more disgusting than usual. Let’s see, what could be worse than sleeping with your step-daughter? Hmmmm…I don’t know, maybe coercively raping a woman and pretending it’s a game. I know that Ric is not supposed to be a good guy on this show, but when they try to redeem him from this — and you know they will — I’m going freak the hell out. I’m just glad that General Hospital hasn’t numbed me to abuse toward women enough to keep me from finding this utterly detestable and just plain sickening.
It really is hard to think of any positive points to the last few episodes when that was the weekend cliff hanger. So I’m going to reflect backwards to try to get this disgusting taste out of my mouth.
– First (or last) positive event to note: Sonny from the nineties came back, if only for a moment.
Although Sonny being Patrick’s confidant makes absolutely no sense in our current GH climate, for a few brief minutes I was able to pretend that Sonny was not the sociopathic misogynist we’ve all grown to hate. His care for Robin is just about the only thing left that I actually find good about him. And his advice was touching, although…No, Laney is not a good therapist and there is no situation where it would be okay for her to treat Robin! Please stop even pretending that is a good idea. And really, has Sonny changed at all since he went to therapy with Laney? If anything, he seems to be more controlling and angry.
Moving on…
– Robin calling Patrick out on talking to everyone in town about their problems was a long time coming and pretty satisfying. And this is a turn of events that actually made sense to me. Go figure. It was logical, no matter how stupid, for Patrick to talk with Carly about the PPD. And it was also in character for Robin to freak out about this. I also appreciated these scenes because it really showed how sometimes couples can’t get out of their own way — no matter how well intentioned they are — and end up fighting about the same stuff because the baggage isn’t resolved. Looking at these scenes separate from the overall plot, they were decent scenes.
But why the hell hasn’t Patrick learned his lesson about talking to everyone in town instead going to see a professional? See above. And why is it Robin that has to initiate going to counseling? Wouldn’t it be interesting and effective drama to have Patrick decide to go whether Robin does or not? Have we ever seen anything like that on television before? If we have, it is rare.
– Another bright spot: we’ve had two days without Spinelli and Winifred.
I guess the writers are at least trying to keep from adding insult to injury. Too bad I can’t get too excited about it. When last we saw them, Spinelli was proposing that both he and Winifred work with Sam as PIs. I wish I could find a screencap of Sam’s expression. It was as if someone had created a new kind of hell for her. Poor, poor Sam.
– Finally, I will end my post with the most positive parts about these last few episodes: Robin and Jason.
I have huge nostalgic reactions whenever they’re in scenes together. When Robin first saw Jason and ran to him, my heart skipped. These scenes have been so nice because I have no concern that they’re trying to push Jason and Robin back together. Their time is over. That pairing would make no sense at all now. I know I shouldn’t put anything past the writers, but I believe this to be true. And I really love how even years later these two characters have a special place for each other in their lives, much like that couple does in my teenage heart.
So I will try to hold onto this image until the next episode inevitably says “screw you, loyal viewer” and does something even more nauseating.
Sometimes it feels like the writers zero in on the one thing I think is positive about the show and blow it all to pieces.
On Wednesday, it was Liz’s advice to Patrick:
Liz: It is not uncommon for women with this condition to have an affair.
Liz: You know, women with postpartum, they feel overwhelmed, they feel like they are failures as wives and mothers, so they create this fantasy life where none of it exists and they can be whoever they want.
I just…I can’t…the words…where are the words? At least the dialog included the words “not uncommon” when discussing women with postpartum having affairs, but I read that as saying it is common. This is an illness when women often lack an interest in sex. I’m not saying it doesn’t happen, but you can have postpartum without even thinking of having an affair. And I believe it is dangerous to imply that an affair is a symptom of PPD. I have studied depression and though I am not an expert on postpartum, it is a specific type of depression. People who are depressed do sometimes do things like have affairs, gamble, shop, drink and do drugs to self-medicate their depression. This does not mean that it is a symptom. And none of the literature I found here, here or here ever indicated otherwise.
And saying that women with postpartum create their own world? Yes, some do. When they have postpartum psychosis. This means that they have a break with reality. They may not interpret the world in the same way as most people would. They have delusions that could lead to them hurting themselves and their baby. Robin does not appear to have this, or at least her symptoms are not completely consistent with this level of PPD. Robin seems fully aware of her life and that she is making choices. Hey writers! DON”T MAKE BLANKET STATEMENTS LIKE THAT. It’s just wrong.
Ultimately, you shouldn’t listen to me or General Hospital if you think you might be depressed. Go see a doctor. Please.
It’s so difficult watching Patrick right now. I cringed when he said this:
Patrick: She has HIV. I wonder if she even told the guy.
Now, he hasn’t seen Robin like we have so he doesn’t know she hasn’t completely lost her awareness of this stuff. And if Robin did have postpartum psychosis, this would be a reasonable statement. But it was really hard to hear him say that about her, even if it is reasonable for the character at the time. And his tone was so nasty. Granted, I don’t think I would be able to be showing too much concern if I thought my significant other was having an affair, even if I knew they had a mental disorder. His line about not having his head and heart in the same place, I thought, was pretty accurate for this type of situation.
Also, does the baby have to be there when they are talking about all of this? I know that she can’t understand the words that they are saying, but babies are extremely attuned to the emotions of the family, which is why most literature says that babies whose mothers have PPD are often more irritable and have behavioral issues. I know he can’t ask Mac to watch Emma, you know, because he might not bring her back, but what about Matt? Or put her down for a nap? Something. And while we are on the subject, why do they have to make Matt awesome and then take him away for a week? *shakes fist*
Fortunately for everyone, Emma is the calmest, chillest baby ever:
And this is surprising, since everyone seems to want to unload their problems on her adorable little shoulders.
I get that talking to Emma allows for a heart-felt monologue and I appreciate seeing that from Jason Thompson. But she’s a baby! Hasn’t she already had enough adults going nutso in her short life?
This outrage was interrupted by Patrick’s emotional turmoil. And then I became a mindless puddle of goo. Men crying are my kryptonite. Once Patrick turned on the water works, my ability to think critically just went out the window.
And seriously, is this baby not the cutest?
She kind of yawned before she took the pacifier out of her mouth and I was completely distracted from the nonsense.
Stay strong! Back to the rage:
Of course, right when they seemed to be on the brink of getting everything out in the open, Patrick decides not to tell Robin that he thinks she is having an affair. Ugh.
The one shining light at the end of the tunnel? All the pain and suffering the writers have put us through for MONTHS finally paid off with Robin giving us yet another verbalization of the writers’ crazy ideas of what her symptoms were and then admitting that she thinks she has postpartum depression.
Too bad we all know that there will be some idiotic drama with Patrick not admitting that he saw her with lame-o carpenter guy and this will get dragged on for a few more weeks before any real progress can be made. *sigh*
Yesterday’s episode drove me to the edge of my proverbial cliff with GH. I was so close to turning the television off. My discomfort with the Scrubs plot rose to new heights. It was like seeing a car accident in slow motion. God, I hate this show.
I had resolved that if Robin slept with carpenter dude, it would be time for another GH hiatus. But, for better or for worse, the show stopped short of my point of no return.
In the end, Patrick seeing Robin with this guy will hopefully result in finally bringing this issue (whatever the writers seem to think it is) to a head and maybe push the story in a different direction. Maybe.
I guess this commentary is a bit backwards, and I did have a few reactions to the previous scenes:
I still enjoy Liz helping Patrick with how to handle this situation. I think she continues to make great points and has been a good friend. From my experience, it is really difficult for loved ones to deal with mental illness and I feel like there is a bit of an attempt here to demonstrate that in these scenes. And in comparison to other parts of the story, the scenes with Robin and Patrick’s friends and family have been so much better than the story that Kimberly McCullough and Jason Thompson have had to play together. What a waste. I miss them together.
If they try to put Liz and Patrick together, however, I am going to scream. Not because I don’t think Liz and Patrick wouldn’t make a pretty couple or anything. I think they would be somewhat interesting, as we saw in the Thanksgiving fantasy episode. And yes, it has a little to do with the fact that I am obviously a bit too enamored with Robin and Patrick. But the real reason is Robin and Liz’s friendship. They don’t allow women to have too many close relationships on this show, even mothers and daughters.
Pairing Elizabeth with Patrick would have a drastic impact on one of the few positive female relationships on this show and that would anger me to no end. Because all women do is fight over men, right? I should prepare myself for the worst, since history tells us nothing is sacred. Not friendship, not wedding vows, hell, not even the sacred mob oath, apparently. So I guess the show is consistent in its devaluation of any kind of relationship when it is convenient to create so-called drama.
And speaking of the crappy mob-fest, it really is too bad that they have made this show such a mobapalooza that most of us could give a rat’s ass about Jason wearing a wire around Sonny. Considering this act really should be a significant moment for this character and is kind of a shout-out to some of the greatest GH drama: Sonny and Brenda. But really, except noting this fact, it doesn’t matter to me. I wish I could watch those episodes from the nineties. *sigh* Hello, YouTube, here I come…
Oh, one more thing: Do you think Jason, Sonny and Johnny called each other before the mob summit to coordinate outfits?
I mean, really? How lazy are the wardrobe people on this show?
As Tenillypo mentioned, I was away for a bit last week. When I got home yesterday, I settled in to catch up on the gazillions of shows my DVR recorded while I was gone. Included in this was Lost, the finale of Battlestar Gallactica (sob!), Ugly Betty (the best evening soap opera ever) and two days of General Hospital. I usually watch GH first because I don’t want to watch it and have it ruin the other television enjoyment. But, when I went to watch it, it was gone! My first thought was – “well there’s two episodes I get out of watching.” I have to admit, I was a bit thrilled by this idea. Then I realized that my other shows weren’t there either. On top of that, those that were wouldn’t play. After banging the TV for a bit and jumping up and down, it finally occurred to me to unplug the DVR and reboot it. The good: TV shows back, no more TV meltdown. The bad: I had to sit through two more episodes of GH.
I actually fast forwarded through most of these episodes. Knowing I had fabulous TV to watch lowered my BS tolerance. I did, however, watch the Scrubs scenes. In addition to what Tenillypo said, which I wholeheartedly agree with, here are my thoughts:
Go Liz! It is amazing how the side characters in this story easily provide some clarity to this mess. Without them, this whole story would be useless. Unfortunately, the number of times we get this is significantly less than the misinformation provided. Will Patrick please go to therapy already?
Go Maxie! In her usual too-honest-for-her-own-good way, she told it straight to Mac. Where has this Maxie been? As Tenillypo mentioned, the writing for Maxie has been all over the place lately. Let’s stick with this one, shall we?
WTF, Mac? Here we go again, with the Mac gets waaay too involved and overbearing. Maxie even mentioned his past crazy reaction. I’m glad I missed the writers doing that to this character. Unfortunately, they are now making me side with Patrick in this discussion by portraying Mac as so off the wall controlling in his reaction. Mac’s questions are actually valid. Patrick really was not dealing with this. He was pretty much acting like a jerk. But that fact is overshadowed by Mac’s craziness. You are going to do what with Patrick’s baby? I actually found myself wanting to yell at Mac and defend Patrick, a weird sensation to have considering Patrick’s recent behavior.
As for all the Robin in Rochester scenes, I’m barely watching those. The whole premise is ridiculous. If she believes she is doing what is best for her baby, why would she be planning on coming back? I’m assuming that she was thinking about her return at some point since she mentioned wanting to see a movie that would take forever to come to Port Charles. What are they trying to say here? She called Mac to tell Patrick she is okay, which shows concern for Patrick, but then kisses some random dude, which seems to indicate the opposite feeling. This makes absolutely no sense.
I’m starting to think that the writers are just throwing words and character names into a hat and then picking them at random to come up with the plot. Like “Robin” “Bar” “Carpenter” and “Patrick” “Advice” “Liz.” Where is the dramatic arc? Where is the build up? Where is the ability to relate at all to what any of these characters are going through? For me, that connection continues to be lost.
Things I was more excited about than watching General Hospital this week: pulling hairs out of the shower drain. Cleaning my guinea pig’s cage. Menstrual cramps.
But I finally managed to sit down and power through four episodes in two hours. Boy, that was two hours of my life I’ll never get back! Let’s review:
I’ve had a love/hate relationship with Kate for a long time. When she’s on…she’s on:
During the early days of their relationship, she actually had me enjoying Sonny for the first time in years. Of course, that was back when she had a back bone and a moral compass. Not to mention hair that I could never pull off, but desperately wanted.
More recently, however, she’s been reduced to a mindless mob cheerleader who’s in such deep and inexplicable denial about so many patently obvious things (like…if the danger to Sonny’s three existing children — and a fourth getting blown up in the womb — weren’t enough to force him to change his ways, then why would exposing a fifth fully grown child to danger do any good?) that she’s easily become one of the most infuriating characters on the show.
(To top it all off, she cut bangs into her perfect hair. The world mourned.)
Her latest bout of determined stupidity — endlessly taunting Claudia about that goddamned DVD instead of just telling Sonny about it — has been both painful and boring.
This show’s specialty combo!
But since Kate’s epiphany the other day, she’s been rapidly regaining her previous awesomeness. Case in point: Continue reading
So, so bored now. Does anyone else think it would be more interesting to watch paint dry then watch another episode like yesterday’s? I’ve heard it all before, I’ve seen it all before. The only highlight, in my opinion, was Alexis showing that she can be a pretty awesome mom. Other than that, it was 40 minutes of my life I won’t get back.
And I admit, I’m more likely to feel this way when there is no Scrubs story. And honestly, I’m not sure which I would prefer, no scenes or the horrible crap we’ve been getting. I’m starting to think given the way the PPD story is going and how anxious the writers appear to be to SORAS all the children, Emma will be eighteen years old before Robin gets any help.
And speaking of the rapid aging, I’m all for aging Michael. I think it could create excellent drama. And even though I know I shouldn’t be, I’m kind of excited about it. However, I have heard a few rumors about aging Kristina and this is something that I can’t abide. I probably should consult Tenillypo, our resident GH historian, but I’m pretty certain that Kristina is only a year or two older than Morgan. And in my mind, Cameron is around the same age. So what, will they age all of them? I doubt it. But then it will be so weird that the next generation is splintered. Why? Because they feel like they need new young blood on the show? They have plenty of younger cast members to use and they barely use some of their best actors! It’s just so infuriating.
(Note: Tenillypo found this information on the children of Port Charles. It states that Kristina is now seven year old. She is one year older than Morgan and two years older than Cameron.)
Seven! Seven years old! Are they really considering doubling her age? Ultimately, it makes me mad because when things get really bad on GH, I imagine what awesome storylines could be told with the next generation of characters. I often thought Kristina and Cameron — both very cute children — could grow up and have an interesting story together. And of course, Emma and Jake are already betrothed in my mind. And there is still Molly, Spencer, and Morgan to throw in the mix. Although most of these children are related to one another in some way, which is illustrated below:
*The above graphic is credited to my boredom and confusion about the incestuous relationships on this program.
If they age even some of the children, then they will screw up all those plots and take away even my faintest hope that this show could somehow turn it around for the next generation.
So I’m crossing my fingers that this is just a rumor, but I don’t have a good feeling about it.
Lacking the senses of sight and hearing would have made watching yesterday’s GH 100% more enjoyable.
As I watch GH, I often wonder what a day is like for the actors. Do they get their scripts and go cry in a closet for a few moments? Are they dead inside? Are they secretly planning their escape? Did Sarah Brown rue the day that she came back to GH when she read these lines:
Claudia: We should do that more often. Consummate.
Consummate? Excuse me while I go throw-up.
And then the gratuitous shot of Sarah Browns ass, although lovely, followed by Sonny looking at her like a piece of beef was just…how many words for vomit can I come up with? I don’t even think I can bring myself to include a screen cap of this event, because a visual reminder would just be more than I can take.
I wish had something positive to talk about to off-set this train wreck, but alas, I have nothing.
Unfortunately for us, today is another day, and that means another episode for the suck-fest to continue.
I can’t decide if this statement applies more to my attitude toward the show, or the show’s attitude toward its viewers. I’m thinking it’s both.
The Spinelli plot is just boring garbage. None of this stuff about Winifred taking credit for catching the art thieves makes sense. Um, how did she do this herself, exactly? I guess there is a chance the art thieves won’t want to incriminate themselves and I don’t know, say there were other people involved. Not like sense and reason ever got in the way before. So why start now?
The one good thing about this: Kirsten Storms’ acting. I can do without all the claws toward Winifred. Seriously, is that the only way the writers know how to write women? Even Robin is catty with Carly. And who can forget the famous girl fight between Sam and Liz? Ugh. I’m so glad that is over. We should have more Sam/Liz adventures! But, I’m getting off topic…
Kirsten Storms really got me to feel Maxie’s emotion about losing someone else in her life. It was a great scene. It was very true to Maxie’s back story and despite myself, in that moment, I didn’t want her to lose Spinelli.
Although, I swear, if I have to hear one more monologue about how amazing and awesome and innocentSpinelli is, I am going to yak. I don’t dislike this character. I just dislike the annoying garbled dialog and the overused hero worship dynamic, both between Maxie and Spinelli and Spinelli and Jason. It’s old. It’s tired. It isn’t entertaining. And I really do think Bradford Anderson has the potential to make Spinelli a good character, but the writers have screwed that up, per usual.
Considering the fact that Matt is still one of the only good parts of the PPD plot, I can understand why there are groups of viewers who want Matt/Maxie together. Today was yet another, when the only words that made sense in this story came from his mouth.
Matt’s and Maxie’s individual intensity in this week’s scenes indicate to me that they would have some good chemistry, so I’m all for that now.
And it would be nice for someone to have something exciting and hot going on, since apparently only Sonny and Carly are the ones on the show who get to have sex. And having a montage where they have sex with other people mixed in with one another is just…gross.
This was followed by the writers having one of my favorite characters abandon her baby, hide it from everyone, lie to her husband and then take off, I’m assuming, without her child. Wouldn’t forgetting your baby and leaving her alone to possibly be kidnapped maybe be a wake up call? Wouldn’t that be the so-called rock bottom? I’m praying that it is, because I’m so tired of this story. But since I rarely get what I want on this show, I’m assuming that Robin, instead of admitting she has a problem, is running away. Great. I guess that isn’t the most implausible thing this show has done, but it just sucks. It’s good to know that the writers think PPD will completely change your personality and ruin your relationship. Way to help mothers everywhere admit to themselves that they have a problem. Ugh.
After an episode like that, I’m usually so angry that I head to my computer and rant about how horrible this is, but this time it look me a day to digest because I honestly think this story is breaking my will to blog. Instead of rage, I just feel nothing….and not even this could make it better:
Thanks GH, for being so soul-suckingly bad that you take away the one moment of pure joy I could always count on from your show.
Tracy: Well, did it ever occur to you, if you’d been a better son, he might have been a better father?
I never thought I’d say this, but:
FUCK YOU, TRACY.
Lucky Spencer is far from my favorite character. In fact, there have been times over the years when I actively disliked him. But the one thing I would never have said about him, even at the height of his most assy, controlling douchebaggery, was that he was in any way a bad son.
But I guess Tracy must be the expert on child raising, right? I mean her own two sons have such a great relationship with her…oh, wait. Nevermind.
So how exactly is Lucky supposed to have wronged Luke? By not growing up to be a con man? By not reacting with grace and understanding to the news that his father raped his mother? By having the bad taste to get kidnapped and lose a year of his life because one of his Luke’s old enemies?
You know, I really don’t have any desire to revisit the rape revisited any time soon — especially without Laura on the scene — but it does strike me as particularly disingenuous of the show to continually have Luke acting like he has no Earthly idea where he went wrong with Lucky. Like he doesn’t know the exact moment he stopped being a hero in his son’s eyes. The exact moment Lucky made the conscious decision to never grow up and be like his father.
YEAH, THAT’S A REAL PUZZLER, LUKE.
There’s a wealth of Spencer story potential here, between Lucky’s gradual disillusionment with his father and all the reasons why, the leftover effect of the lost year and intense brainwashing he suffered at the hands of Helena and Faison — which has never been fully explored by the show, IMO — and Luke’s complete denial about all of the above. If I thought the writers had any intention of delving into all that, I’d be ecstatic.
Instead, we get crap like this, and from out of the mouths of characters I normally enjoy, no less. Ugh.
Screw you, show.
Fortunately, there is a silver lining.
Whenever the rest of the show is particularly egregious in its suckitude, I like to go to my zen place:
I swear, Rebecca Herbst is so goddamn gorgeous, sometimes it almost hurts to look at her. (Okay, that’s a total lie, I could stare at her all day.)
Hell, even little babies are mesmerized by her effortless prettiness. I feel you, Emma. I really do.
Despair in the Afternoon 