Paula's Soapbox

If the scenes between Lucky and Liz were meant to give viewers a sense that Liz was getting everything she deserved, then the scenes between Lulu and Liz were meant to evoke sympathy for Port Charles's latest femme fatale. Between Lulu, Ethan, the onlookers at the hospital, Liz's wounded expression, and her injured hand, General Hospital produced the soap opera equivalent of bullying Tiny Tim in the school yard. Ethan even began to feel sorry for Liz, as he urged Lulu to leave her alone and later offered her a ride home. I knew that this show was going to expect viewers to feel sorry for Liz sooner or later, I was just hoping it would be later...much later. Let's not forget that Liz has been the one walking around town the last few months with a smug look on her face, as she practically dared Rebecca to tell Lucky about her affair. And now that everything has finally come crashing down around her everyone is expected to pity her. This really should come as no surprise since...

It has been a year of look-alikes on General Hospital, from Sarah Joy Brown (ex-Carly) finishing her run as Claudia, to Natalia Livingston (ex-Emily) being cast as Rebecca. There was even an episode that featured Luke and Ethan look-alikes in the form of Link and Evan, replacements hired by Tracy who she jokingly referred to as re-casts. With all these doubles, one might assume that General Hospital would avoid doppelgangers for a while, but one would be wrong. Obviously the show could not let the year slip by without the inclusion of yet another counterpart, and Rebecca's exit provided the perfect opportunity for that. It is not that I dislike the way Rebecca was written off the show, in fact I think bringing Chad Brannon (ex-Zander) back was an excellent way to facilitate this exit. However, I think this would have been a bit more entertaining and would have seemed more clever if Brannon wasn't the third actor in recent history to return to the show as a different character. ...

Occasionally soaps contain scenes that are so off-putting and poorly constructed I find myself wishing I had either misinterpreted them or just skipped them altogether. Fortunately this doesn't happen very often, and when it does it is usually on a soap whose quality has been suffering for quite a while. On Friday, however, General Hospital, a show I consider to be one of the best in daytime, featured one of these scenes. If you watched this episode chances are you already know that I am referring to the scene where Liz's rape became the topic of conversation. It is not that I am against the show making reference to this tragic event because clearly it is a part of Liz's history and the show's history. I just happen to believe that television should handle sensitive subject matter in a responsible manner, rather than placing it in scenes simply because it is convenient. Careful consideration needs to be given to both the setting and the timing so viewers know what messa...

I know I have made this statement before, but after watching Thursday's General Hospital I think it bears repeating. It is simply a shame that Natalia Livingston is leaving the show just when the Rebecca character is becoming interesting. Not only has she made the Lucky/Liz/Nikolas triangle more intriguing, I am beginning to notice the potential impact she could have on the overall show. For instance, until now I never realized just how compatible she and Lucky actually are. Rebecca arrived in Port Charles as a con artist, which is something Lucky can obviously relate to because of his upbringing. In talking about this upbringing with Rebecca, Lucky revealed his inherent fondness for Luke for perhaps the first time in months. And these days any person that can make Lucky feel anything for his father other than resentment or embarrassment could have a positive effect on this volatile father/son relationship. One also cannot ignore the fact that if Rebecca helped Lucky reconnect with...

I never thought I would say this, but I think I am finally on board with the Rebecca character on General Hospital. It is just too bad that her portrayer, Natalia Livingston, is set to leave the show in the not so distant future. The last few episodes of GH have given viewers a glimpse of what Rebecca could have been like in a storyline that didn't somehow revolve around Emily. And for the first time since Livingston's return to the show I have been able to see her as someone other than Emily. Granted, my sudden affection for Rebecca has everything to do with her disdain for Elizabeth, which is something we actually have in common. And needless to say it was great to see Rebecca finally give Elizabeth what she deserved, even if she held back a little more than I would have. However, I wish this storyline had come along a lot sooner because now I actually feel like Rebecca is someone I could root for, rather than just tolerate. And let's face it, her involvement in the Lucky...

This post was first submitted in June when Natalia Livingston returned to GH as Rebecca. The following is my opinion about how she should have returned to the show as Emily. I thought it was appropriate to re-post this considering that the actress is once again about to leave the show. When Natalia Livingston decided to leave General Hospital, prompting the demise of her character Emily Quartermaine, speculation immediately began about how the show might be able to bring her back someday. Earlier this year, Natalia fans got their wish when she returned to the show as a new character named Rebecca. However, it remains to be seen what, if any, connection Rebecca has to Emily. And while I love the fact that General Hospital was able to bring Natalia back, I wish they had written her return differently, especially since they had already brought Sarah Brown (ex-Carly Corinthos) back as Claudia Zacchara last year. When soaps re-introduce actors as new characters it becomes confusing and dist...

Friday's General Hospital showed a much quieter Port Charles than the one viewers have seen all week, providing a momentary break from the chaos. As for the citizens of Port Charles, they are oblivious to the fact that the carnival disaster was only the beginning of their problems, as was apparent throughout this episode. Fortunately for Edward, Robin informed Mac that he was not to blame for driving his car through the midway, injuring and killing dozens of people. What is so sad about all of this is that Edward is still left with the guilt even though he was as much of a victim as everyone else at the carnival. It is touching to see the way Rebecca is looking out for him now though. The only downside to this is the fact that I feel like we are seeing Emily again, not Rebecca. It is not that I was not a fan of Emily, but if the show wanted to bring back the Emily character they should have just brought her back instead of introducing viewers to Rebecca. That being said, it did pro...

The moment that JaSam fans have been waiting for, and Liason fans have been dreading, finally arrived on Monday's GH. Of course I am talking about the kiss that was shared between Jason and Sam at the end of the episode. I have to say that I was somewhat surprised by the way the kiss happened. Even though everyone knew for weeks this was coming, it still seemed to come out of nowhere. I think that GH could have used another day or two of awkward JaSam moments before the kiss finally happened, at the very least that would have given Jason more time to heal. This storyline portrayed him as being far too injured for him to heal that fast and I thought his speedy recovery took away some of the realism of the scenes. Perhaps that is the reason why the JaSam kiss felt a little too rushed. I was prepared for a longer build up than what was presented. Having said that, the JaSam reunion itself was long overdue, especially given the fact that the Liason saga failed to deliver any real story...

As soon as Lucky explained to Rebecca that he told Nikolas the truth about her out of "sibling loyalty" I knew those words would come back to haunt him. And after Tuesday's episode of GH it looks like that might come sooner than later. Things heated up rather quickly for Nikolas and Elizabeth after she gave him a much needed dose of reality concerning his behavior since Emily's death. Little did they know Lucky had just arrived at Wyndemere to check on Nikolas. I wonder how Lucky is going to feel about sibling loyalty after he discovers what Nikolas and Elizabeth have been doing behind his back. Again, as I have said in other posts, I find it very strange that neither Elizabeth or Nikolas have thought about how their actions might affect Lucky, not to mention the kids. Meanwhile the search continues for Dante's love interest. After meeting Lulu at Jake's a few weeks ago he must have decided that she was too much trouble because he ended up leaving that same ba...

If you thought Nikolas was a wreck when Emily died, that was nothing compared to the way he reacted after learning the truth about Rebecca. Nikolas turned cold as he confronted Rebecca about her original intentions to con him and the Quartermaines out of their fortune. And after he kicked her out of his house it was as if he had lost Emily all over again as he proceeded to destroy every object in sight. After Rebecca left Nikolas's she headed over to the Quartermaines' where she confessed her plans to take money from them. Monica and Edward were surprisingly understanding, although Edward reminded her that she still owed him ten thousand dollars. Later on Emily found Lucky at Jake's bar where she slapped him across the face for telling Nikolas the truth about her. Meanwhile Elizabeth was at Wyndemere pulling Nikolas off the balcony and trying to calm him down. I am having a difficult time figuring out where this storyline is going. It seems as though Nikolas may be turning ...

Things began to unravel on Thursday's General Hospital as Lucky decided to tell Nikolas the truth about Rebecca, Robin continued her investigation of Andrea Floyd, Kiefer revealed his true colors to Morgan, and Johnny witnessed a conversation between Olivia and Dante. After having a conversation with Elizabeth, Lucky decided that he needed to tell Nikolas that Rebecca came to Port Charles in pursuit of Emily's fortune. Lucky's timing in revealing this information could not have been worse for Nikolas and Rebecca because Nikolas had just made the decision to introduce Spencer to Rebecca then take them on a trip to his native Greece. Speaking of Nikolas introducing Spencer to Rebecca, I thought the way he did that was a little odd. Anyone who has been watching GH since the Emily character was on there knows that Spencer and Emily were close so one would assume that he would need to be prepared before introducing him to her doppelganger. This idea obviously escaped Nikolas bec...

I am not sure I like or understand the direction of the writing for GH's Lucky and Elizabeth. This is a couple that presumably reconciled months ago, yet we have seen very few scenes where the two of them have been together. I am also not sure I like or understand how they are being written as individuals. I was always under the impression that Lucky was basically a decent guy but lately every time he is on screen he comes across as kind of a jerk. I first noticed this when he openly laughed at Spinelli just before his performance at Jake's. This just seemed unnecessary to me and totally out of character. Lucky's unusual behavior continued this week when he and Ethan made the impromptu decision to beat up Dante because he was talking to Lulu, laughing and giving each other high fives the entire time as if they were high school bullies. Never mind the fact that Lucky is a police officer and could face serious consequences if he were charged with assault. I guess he momentari...