Dr. Lisa Niles's inability to take "no" or "never again" for an answer may turn out to be the thing that finally makes this character and her storyline worth watching. I really hope General Hospital is planning on taking the psychotic ex-girlfriend route with her because it would finally give me a reason to care about this otherwise boring triangle. Not to mention the fact that it would teach Patrick a valuable lesson of why it is a bad idea to cheat on his wife.
The crazy, unstable ex-girlfriend plot almost always makes for an entertaining soap storyline. In fact some of the most memorable performances from soaps have been given in the context of demented exes seeking revenge or vindication of some sort. I can still recall many of the scenes in which Cynthia Watros portrayed Josh Lewis's jilted wife Annie on Guiding Light. She made a near seamless transition from mild-mannered nurse to Josh and Reva's worst nightmare overnight. And who could forget Annie Parisse as Julia Lindsey on ATWT? She transcended unstable when she kidnapped Jack Snyder and strapped him in a horse sling as part of her efforts to become impregnated by him. The precedence set by these storylines makes me wonder what torture Lisa might have in store for Patrick if she doesn't get what she wants. After all she is a doctor and has access to a variety of instruments and medications. Of course considering the current state of General Hospital's storylines it is more likely that any revenge Lisa might seek will involve Emma.
I recently finished reading the book Young, Restless, and Broke by Blossom Kan and Michelle Yu, the acclaimed authors of China Dolls. It might seem kind of strange that I would be talking about a book considering this is a soap opera blog, but I assure you this book is relevant. It is about a young, aspiring actress named Sarah who dreams of starring on her favorite soap one day. Sarah is the ultimate soap fan, as is her friend Chad, so this book is filled with soap references, most of which are based on actual soaps, their storylines, and their actors. Sarah's dreams of becoming a soap actress take her on an unexpected journey that often mirrors a soap opera, leading her on a path of self-discovery and self-worth.
I really enjoyed this book. It's the perfect summer read because it's relatively short with less than 300 pages, more importantly it's easy to follow. It's something you can pick up and read for a little while, then put down without having difficulty regaining your place later on. This makes it ideal for trips to the beach where you'll likely encounter a lot of distractions. Above all, I love the fact that this book presents soap operas as being just as relevant and important as any other television genre. That is a rare assessment given the current state soaps are in so it was refreshing to read a book where the characters had such respect for them.
This is a light, summer read. You aren't going to find the meaning of life in this book, but if you are looking for something that's entertaining and provides an escape I think you'll enjoy it, especially since it contains so much soap related content. If you are interested in buying Young, Restless, and Broke it is available through Amazon.com, which is where I purchased my copy. I have provided a link below which leads directly to this book in the Amazon store, so you can buy it right from this blog post if you choose. Of course you can always go directly to Amazon.com and purchase it there, I just won't receive credit for having referred you. Either way, I hope you enjoy the book as much as I did. And if you do choose to read it or if you have already read it, please share your thoughts with me because I would love to talk about it with you!
With the rest of the country setting off fireworks to commemorate Independence Day, Port Charles had an explosion of a different kind on Friday, symbolizing the tendency for Sonny's plans to blow up in his face - pun intended.
It baffles me that anyone who claims to love their kids as much as Sonny does could be so clueless when it comes to their well being. It's not as if Sonny hasn't had a plethora of opportunities to learn the lessons that would make most people stop and think about how their actions affect their kids. He just refuses to learn those lessons, no matter how high the cost. In that way he and Claudia were a lot alike, except in the end her mistakes caught up with her, Sonny's never will. There will always be someone there to make excuses for his behavior, ensuring that he is never far from redemption. That certainly shouldn't be too difficult this time, considering Kristina's recent behavior. It's easy enough to see that if she hadn't been so focused on destroying Sonny she never would have been at the wrong place and time when Johnny's car exploded, but ultimately that is irrelevant.
Sonny's plan was ill-timed and doomed from the start, not to mention the fact that "he is the adult", a phrase he was all too eager to use whenever he pointed out how wrong it was for Johnny to use Kristina. To be fair, Johnny shouldn't have encouraged the continuation of the relationship facade. In fact Kristina's name shouldn't have even been brought up in conversation with Sonny. As an adult Johnny should have known better.
Then again Sonny is an adult and a parent, which should have made him at least twice as motivated to do the right thing. Furthermore, Luke reminded Sonny that his plan to kill Johnny was inherently flawed, given the likelihood that Kristina would be near him when it was carried out. Of course Sonny refused to see that as a problem, convinced he could keep his out of control teenage daughter, who hates him, by his side for an entire night.
Then when Sonny finally realized that his daughter was with Johnny on that fateful night he discovered it was too late to have the bomb dismantled. At that point it seemed like the only way to save Kristina was to warn Johnny about the bomb, but in the interest of self-preservation I presume, Sonny decided to take a chance and try to get to Johnny's before the bomb went off. Since that didn't happen I can only assume Kristina was hurt, another harsh reminder of the dangers in Sonny's world, another lesson he won't learn.
