Franco's highly anticipated art exhibit was unveiled on Monday's General Hospital, provoking a spectrum of reactions from observers. Luke assumed Franco was nothing more than a fraud, peddling shock in exchange for money, while Dante couldn't take his eyes off of the presumably fake crime scene photos hanging on the wall. At one point he noted their familiarity which makes me think that they were recreations of actual crime scene photos. One photo in particular showed a body positioned in the same way Franco arranged Joey Limbo's body. Taking this into account it would seem that either Franco is manipulating crime scenes in order to send some sort of message or he is manipulating current crime scenes to look like previous ones. And while this can be nothing more than an educated guess until more information is revealed, one can be certain that Franco is fixated on Jason. Even his brief conversation with Sonny did not seem to hold as much value as the mere possibility of meeting Jason. He even referred to Jason as an artist and essentially forced Maxie into arranging a meeting with him. When Jason refused, Franco appeared to become agitated and escorted Maxie out of the exhibit as he waved to Jason just as eerily as he had following the shoot-out. The similarities were not lost on Jason as he insisted that Spinelli show him side-by-side footage of Franco and the so-called homeless witness from earlier that night. Meanwhile, Franco blindfolded Maxie and took her back to his studio where he somehow talked her into laying on the floor while he photographed her. The floor, of course, was arranged to look like a crime scene with Maxie laying inside a chalk outline. And to her side was what appeared to be an axe handle, a clear reference to Claudia's murder.Earlier, at the art exhibit, Franco made an assessment about art and the meaning behind it when he referred to it as a mirror. And while this is certainly an accurate description, considering the highly interpretive nature of art in general, I think Franco may have been specifically commenting about his own art. I am not sure why or even how, but I think Franco may be trying to mirror Jason's crimes in his artwork. At the very least he seems to be trying to send Jason messages through his particular style of artwork, which will inevitably cause Jason to reflect on his own behavior. Another possibility is that Franco is simply making a statement about Jason's ability to manipulate crime scenes by making evidence disappear. If this is true it would imply that Franco's fascination with Jason is personal, a theory that holds many possibilities even as this storyline unfolds.
I'm glad that Maxie got upset and told Franco off about posing as a dead body. He seemed taken aback, but whether it changed his plans or not was unclear. It's nice to see they're not treating the character like the two dimensional-bad-guy-with-no-redeeming-qualities type they usually portray.
ReplyDeleteNow that the Franco character is getting more exposed, I'm tending to think that the fact he went in after the shootout and crushed Joey's windpipe, actually saved Jason from being accused. So perhaps Jason really IS Franco's "hero" in a sick kind of way, as opposed to an enemy as the commercials suggest.
ReplyDeletePaula said "Franco may be trying to mirror Jason's crimes in his artwork." This would kind of make sense in an ironic kind of way. Jason manipulates crime scenes to clean it all up. Franco, in essence, may be doing the same thing-- further manipulating the scene so that Jason himself isn't accused and in the process, Franco himself never comes to light as a suspect. Whew! Hope that makes sense!
Hi Peggy!
ReplyDeleteI was glad Maxie slapped Franco too. It is too bad she didn't slap him when he started talking like a pig later on, instead of ripping off his clothes! lol!
Hi Paula!
ReplyDeleteYeah, I see what you are saying. :) In fact, after I wrote my thoughts on Monday's episode I thought about how Franco was able to manipulate the crime scene so that Sonny and/or Jason weren't arrested. If this was his intention I'm guessing it was more for Jason's benefit than Sonny's. Any other shooting like that Jason would have been hauled into questioning without a second thought. There are a lot of complexities to this storyline and just when I think I have figured something out the rules change. I also think Franco is sending a message through the way he arranged Joey Limbo's body. They keep coming back to that photograph in the exhibit like it is an important piece of the puzzle.