Paula's Soapbox

Baby switches are nothing new in daytime. They provide months, if not years, of story, keeping viewers on pins and needles waiting for the "big reveal." Most are quite memorable and prompt hard-to-forget performances...when they're done correctly, like the As the World Turns baby switch between Gwen and Jennifer.  This was a beautifully-crafted, heartbreaking storyline where Gwen and Casey's baby died, but Craig switched their baby for his and Jennifer's. Hence, Jennifer thought her baby was dead, when really Gwen was raising him as a single parent. This baby switch worked because people sympathized with both parties. Viewers desperately wanted to see Jennifer reunited with her son, but felt sorry for Gwen and the inevitable loss she would face when that happened. Fortunately Gwen found support and comfort with her newly-discovered sister Carly and loving boyfriend Will. The ATWT baby switch stands in stark contrast to the one currently airing on G...

Well, I saw this coming about a mile away and I'm not at all happy about it. I am, of course, talking about Britt and Maxie teaming up to destroy Sabrina. First of all, I don't buy that Britt and Sabrina are at all in love with Patrick. Britt has never acted like Patrick was any more than a conquest; and I think what Sabrina is experiencing is merely a school girl crush.  I get that Britt is angry because she has such a massive ego, but that's all it is. She didn't just lose a husband, or some great love of her life. She's basically a stalker whose prey got away. And instead of throwing a fit like a toddler, she needs a major reality check and possibly some sort of medication.  All of this is bad enough, but I really hate that GH has decided to involve Maxie in this mess. This show had an opportunity to tell a story about a formerly selfish woman doing one of the most selfless things she could do for her best friend, be her surrogate. I think th...

Well, I was hoping GH wouldn't go there, but unfortunately they did. Of course I'm talking about Maxie being pregnant with Spinelli's baby. It's not that I'm against the idea of a Spixie baby, I just wish it had been a more plausible conception. The idea that Maxie would even sleep with anyone a few hours after miscarrying is unbelievable enough, but her getting pregnant as a result is just ludicrous! This almost makes Lucy's vampire story seem believable! I can't wait to see how Dr. Britt explains this. Speaking of Britt, is she some sort of jack-of-all-trades type physician? She's like in her 30's and not only specializes as a pediatrician, but an OBGYN, and a fertility expert - quite an overachiever! Obviously now that Spinelli has broken Maxie's heart she will use this opportunity to try to pass off her own baby as Lulu and Dante's, which is not something Maxie would do. The old Maxie probably would have just to save her own skin, but...

I doubt if I'm alone in saying that there is a lot wrong with General Hospital these days. While it continues to be one of my favorite soaps there are many changes I would make immediately if I had the power. Below is a list of the top ten suggestions I have for the way the show could improve. 1. The Claire/Sonny storyline needs to be dropped. It isn't working. Their conversations are boring and the context of their relationship is, well...icky. 2. Amp up Lisa's craziness. Despite my earlier distaste for a Robin/Patrick/Lisa triangle, the obsessed ex-girlfriend angle is working. It's interesting and very soapy. 3. Ronnie needs to be established as either a cop with a chip on his shoulder or someone who works for Franco. So far I haven't been able to tell whether Ronnie falls more on the side of good or bad because this character hasn't been clearly defined. 4. Brenda's life away from Port Charles and the people that surround it need to become an int...

With all the things that General Hospital has gotten wrong lately, they seem to have an uncanny ability of making successful matches out of the most unlikely couples. Before Georgie died, and Maxie was at her most selfish, no one would have ever thought about a Spinelli and Maxie romance, let alone a non-wedding, but somehow it worked and the audience loved it. And even though this lovable pair has seen less screen time lately and are likely headed for turmoil, I suspect they will follow the same necessary pattern of break-ups and reconciliations that most soap supercouples do. When Olivia Falconeri landed in Port Charles, I never would have predicted she would be involved with Johnny Zacchara. Olivia was not one to keep her opinions to herself, especially when it pertained to the mob lifestyle, so a relationship with a Zacchara seemed like a long shot at best. Moreover, Johnny is roughly the same age as Dante, so a pairing between him and Olivia wasn't even on anyone's radar ...

As many of you know I recently had a bout with the flu, so forgive me if my latest assessment of General Hospital is less than accurate, or coherent. However, I have been getting this strange feeling of deja vu the past few weeks because when I watch this show now it seems like I may as well be watching episodes from a few years ago. Jax and Carly are involved in a power struggle within their marriage, which involves Sonny. Michael is the center of everyone's focus and concern. Spinelli and Maxie have been involved in yet another caper. Liz is struggling with the fact that she cheated on Lucky. Johnny is public enemy number one. And Tracy is once again obsessed with Lulu's love life. I know that soaps like to recycle their storylines, but I am not sure why this soap feels the need to go back over all their old storylines using the same cast of characters. Of course this might be tolerable if the dialogue was intriguing enough to break up the monotony, but I am not sure how many...

Like many General Hospital fans, I watch the show everyday in a blissful state of denial, never acknowledging the fact that Sonny and Jason are criminals. I find it easy to denounce Mac when he is urging Maxie to stay away from Spinelli, and I cheer for Diane whenever she keeps someone from the Corinthos organization from going to prison. However, as I watched the events of the week unfold, knowing that they were inevitably going to lead to Dante's shooting, my rose-colored glasses came off and I quickly snapped back to reality. I found myself repulsed watching Jason standing in the church during Josslyn's christening, knowing that he had just signed Dante's death certificate without giving it a second thought. I was even repulsed by Spinelli, whose detective work set everything into motion. Moreover, I was sickened by his cavalier attitude regarding Dante's imminent demise, and the fact that he never showed an ounce of remorse or regret until Maxie told him that Lulu h...

In the midst of all the chaos surrounding Franco's latest antics, more on that later, I could not help noticing Lucky and Maxie's reactions to the safety of his hostages. Neither one of them seemed at all concerned with Sam's well being. When Maxie thought someone might have died in an explosion her initial reaction was to hope that it wasn't Lulu. This made it seem like Lulu was the only one she was concerned about even though she and Sam were friends long before she and Lulu ever started speaking to each other. It seems rather strange to me that Maxie wouldn't at least be as equally concerned about Sam as she was Lulu. Still, I can kind of overlook a little insensitivity from Maxie, primarily because she has a tendency to be that way a lot, but also because Lulu has become like a sister to her since Georgie's death. In addition, Maxie feels guilty about letting herself be used by Franco, not to mention the fact that if that had never happened she would have li...

In the weeks leading up to the introduction of the Franco character on General Hospital, viewers were treated to countless montages featuring the mysterious CO77X graffiti. Since then there has been non-stop speculation about the meaning behind this tag and how it may affect the course of the show. Recently there have been fewer CO77X sightings, but there have been several episodes featuring Franco so I thought it would be a good time to revisit CO77X in an effort to unlock this mystery. This week Jason received a painting from Franco listing the seven deadly sins of vanity, envy, gluttony, lust, wrath, greed, and sloth. Seeing this made me wonder if one of the "7's" in CO77X represents these seven deadly sins. This may seem a bit obvious, but looking back on the scene where Franco is shooting red paint balls at the pictures of people close to Jason, there are seven people on the canvas besides Jason. Taking this one step further it seems logical to assume that Franco...

When Jason received the photo of Maxie laying inside the chalk outline, I expected that he would have an immediate reaction to the axe handle and basket that were in the photo. Instead, neither he or Sam seemed to notice them or their significance. In fact Jason's only reasons for thinking that this picture was somehow linked to the picture of "Claudia" seemed to all be based on the fact that he received both pictures within a short period of time. Never mind the fact that both of them contained elements from Claudia's murder scene. Franco may want to reconsider sending messages through his artwork because apparently symbolism, even in its most obvious form, is completely lost on Jason. These are scenes from when Jason received each photo. The axe handle and basket are clearly visible in both. Pause the first video at 1:33, and the second at :20 to compare the two simultaneously. "Claudia's" photo [no copyright infringement intended] Maxie's photo [n...

Spinelli should be grateful that Maxie did not want to marry him because obviously it does not take much to turn her head. Granted she and Franco have great chemistry. And of course General Hospital could not have a movie star join the show without giving him a "love" interest, but Franco made Maxie look like a foolish young girl. In fact as the days pass I think Maxie will find that she has a lot to be embarrassed about. Not only did it take very little for her to cheat on Spinelli, but she essentially slept with Franco on a dare, all the while convincing herself that she was in control of the situation. However, Franco was the only one that really got anything out of their encounter. He was able to use someone close to Jason for his perverse mind games and get that same person to basically insist on sleeping with him, all without ever having to agree to do the Crimson shoot. From the moment Maxie met Franco it was obvious that she was attracted to him and did not trust hers...

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...

In watching General Hospital sometimes it is easy to forget the kind of life that Sonny and Jason lead, and how that life permeates the existence of the children in their inner circle. However, if the amount of violence that surrounds them was ever in question, Wednesday's episode left little room for doubt. To say that I have mixed emotions about this episode is an understatement. And this comes as quite a shock considering that I knew beforehand what was going to happen. I was just unaware of many of the specifics and the overall tone that the show would adopt. Claudia's death and the moments leading up to it were quite simply tragic. There really isn't a more accurate description than this. It was, without a doubt, a tragedy no matter how you look at it. Claudia helped deliver Carly's baby even though she could have just as easily made her way out of the country, avoiding retribution from Sonny or Jason. And in these moments it was easy to recognize the good in Claud...

On Friday's General Hospital Claudia continued to try to seduce Dante. When he resisted her advances she told him that she knew his true identity and that if he didn't want Sonny to know he had to do everything she said, whenever she said. Fortunately for Dante, Ronnie decided to act like a cop for perhaps the first time in his career and sent some officers in the hotel room to arrest him. Later on, Ronnie told Dante that he was off the case. Of course Dante protested, even insisting that he would resign from the force if he had to and collect evidence against Sonny as a citizen. As hard as I try I cannot imagine a world where a private citizen could collect evidence against the head of a mob organization and expect to have that evidence be admissible in court. A while after Dante's "arrest", Claudia walked into the Metro Court lobby, still buttoning up her shirt. Unfortunately for her, Sonny was in the lobby talking to Carly and saw this display. Of course these ...

As far as soap weddings go, the moments leading up to the Spixie ceremony were quite understated. There were no snipers waiting in the balcony, no explosions, no ex-lovers, no arrests, and no one kidnapped the bride on her way to the altar. Still, when the big day arrived Maxie was in a nightmare, literally not figuratively. This nightmare brought forth every doubt and fear she had suppressed about marriage, including every warning Mac had given her about marrying Spinelli. She awoke with Robin and Lulu standing over her in full wedding garb waiting to help her get ready to walk down the aisle. And as she got up and readied herself for the wedding she appeared every bit the nervous bride, but after a while something changed. All of her doubts and fears seemed not only suppressed but abolished and she became a much calmer version of herself. Whether this meant that she had simply come to terms with her decision to marry Spinelli or something inside of her felt truly ready to take that l...

After watching Tuesday's General Hospital it seems that Maxie may have to marry Spinelli whether she wants to or not. It was obvious that she accepted his proposal because Mac forbid her to do it, but when Lulu told Kate about the engagement she insisted on marketing the Spixie wedding for Crimson. Speaking of Kate, what a waste of talent it is to have Megan Ward only appear on the show once every few months or so. I am amazed that they could not find a storyline to place her in that keeps her on screen more than that. I remember watching her on Season 1 of Party of Five and thinking that they should have extended her storyline rather than killing her off. Perhaps she and Johnny will pair up once Olivia gives in to Sonny's advances. Wouldn't that make for an awkward work environment at Crimson ?

Fans of GH's Maxie and Spinelli, or Spixie as they are affectionately referred to, received a treat on Monday as Maxie finally accepted Spinelli's proposal, or did they? Spixie's long anticipated engagement was bittersweet because in the minutes leading up to Maxie's acceptance of the proposal she was hoping that Mac would forbid it so that she had an excuse not to marry Spinelli without breaking his heart. That plan fell apart when Mac ultimately did what Maxie wanted and she insisted that she could marry whoever she wanted, including Spinelli. She then accepted Spinelli's proposal but it was clear to everyone in the room that she only did so out of spite. Spinelli was the only one who was blissfully unaware of what had just occurred. As a fan of Spixie myself I am unhappy with the way this is playing out. I was hoping that Maxie would either whole-heartedly accept Spinelli's proposal or he would agree to momentarily put that aside until she was ready. With the...

On Tuesday's GH, viewers finally got to see Spinelli serenade Maxie in what can only be described as one of the sweetest, most sincere moments in daytime supercouple history. After having received a special microphone from Patrick that would enhance his voice, Spinelli was ready to sing his heart out at Jake's in the name of courtly love. Upon arriving at Jake's, Spinelli accidentally dropped the mic in a pitcher of beer causing it to malfunction. Fearing that he would embarrass Maxie as well as himself, Spinelli put off performing as long as possible, but in the end his fears proved to be unfounded as he belted out the ballad "I Want to Know What Love Is," by Foreigner. Shortly before Spinelli's performance it was obvious he was nervous, almost to the point of being ill. This sight did not escape anyone's attention, least of all Nicholas and Lucky's, who were holding back laughter and throwing up their hands in confusion. Quite frankly, I felt like sm...