Paula's Soapbox

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...

The truth about Dante's identity was finally revealed on Tuesday's General Hospital, well sort of. Lulu overheard Dante and Ronnie talking on the pier, at which point she discovered that Dante is an undercover cop. Fortunately for Dante, Lulu will likely never remember making this discovery because, as it turned out, Lulu had been drugged during a Crimson photo shoot. Apparently she had mistakenly picked up someone else's drink, which just happened to contain a questionable substance. Strangely enough, Lulu obtained several moments of clarity while in this altered state. The first being when she deduced that Dante is an undercover cop, and the second when she admitted that she has feelings for him. Only on a soap can someone actually gain intelligence after being drugged. And only on a soap does an undercover cop meet with his superior in public every other day without expecting to get caught. How many close calls does Dante have to have before Ronnie finally tells him to j...

On Thursday's General Hospital Ronnie informed Dante that his undercover investigation would continue as planned because a senator had authorized it. Obviously when Olivia found out about this she was furious and immediately confronted Jax, knowing that he was the only one powerful enough to call in that kind of favor. Unfortunately Carly walked in during the middle of this confrontation, which I am sure will only serve as a reminder to everyone to keep their secrets for 6 more weeks. I am a little confused about something though. Carly was released from the hospital literally minutes before she walked in on Jax and Olivia, yet her reason for being at the Metro Court in the first place was because her doctor called her in for more tests. Dr. Lee must not be a very compotent doctor if she cannot remember to order all the appropriate tests before her patients leave the hospital. Moreover, if Carly had almost gone into premature labor the night before, one would think that she would b...

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 ...

On Monday's General Hospital Sonny and Anthony continued to exchange threats to each other about whose loved one was going to be killed. Sonny maintained that he would have Johnny killed if Anthony ever tried to take over his territory again, while Anthony insisted that Olivia would die. The threats against Olivia are really beginning to stack up. Johnny has repeatedly warned her to stay away from Claudia, fearing that Claudia will follow through on her threats against her. Meanwhile Dante continues to warn her to stay away from Johnny and Sonny to keep her away from his investigation and any resulting retaliation. Even Jason warned Sonny against the dangers of threatening Anthony with Johnny's life, noting that Anthony may decide to kill Olivia despite the consequences. All of this makes me wonder if Olivia is going to be the next Falconeri to somehow be caught in the crossfire of a mob war. If she is, it may happen sooner than later because Lulu found Dante's badge today ...