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Bad Goodbye: GH

Words cannot express how much I hate the way GH is writing Steve Burton out of the show. I realize his leaving sort of came as a surprise, but in my opinion they could have given him a better send off than the one he is getting. It feels extremely rushed and quite frankly a little convoluted. First of all we have Bernie with his sudden hand-wringing over something that supposedly happened almost a year ago; and he just has to meet Jason on the night he finally reunites with Sam...on the pier no less.  And don't even get me started on how Joe Scully and "Duke Lavery" are involved in all of this. Up until a few months ago Joe was an antiques dealer working in a little known shop that probably wasn't even being used as a front. In addition there is no way Jason would ever allow himself to be shot in the back. He would have looked around the pier to make sure he wasn't walking into an ambush before ever trying to talk to Bernie. However the most upsetting thing about this whole exit is that it is happening so quickly. We had to listen to Tea screeching for a week before anyone told her that her baby was dead, yet we barely get any scenes with Jason and his loved ones. Note to writers, this is General Hospital, not One Life to Live. Jason and Sam barely got any reunion at all and to make matters worse Jason still doesn't know that Danny is his son! There were only a few moments between Jason and Monica, Jason and Carly, and Jason and Sonny. And where were the scenes between Jason and Michael or Jason and Spinelli?? Granted Jason was only shot on Friday, but I think we can all see where this is going. I don't expect that he will speaking to anyone again given the way he waved goodbye to Sam as he was leaving. This is a shame because this is definitely not the way an exit should be written for someone who has been a major part of the show for so many years. Steve and his character deserve better, and so do the fans!  

Comments

  1. UnknownOctober 21, 2012 at 7:00 PM

    Absolutely. I'm sure Steve could have stayed for a few more days/weeks to try and put a better ending together! I'm really annoyed that Jason didn't find out about Danny. And maybe they could have had sex and she could have gotten pregnant?? I don't know, it is just very unsatisfying. But I would never find Steve's leaving to be acceptable no matter how it was written :(

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  2. BarbaraOctober 21, 2012 at 7:09 PM

    Sadly this isn't the first time this has happened. I had watched a little bit years ago since I would check out soaps on other channels when I wasn't in school. But yeah they could have done a better job of writing him out. I had wondered if Jason was going to be recast with Sean since Jason and Sam were finally acting like a couple.

    I started watching because of the OLTL people but I have to say I'm liking it and enjoy most of the characters. So I never really got to see much of Jason where he didn't come off as a total dick. It has only been recently that he actually seems human and gives a damn about his wife. They just seemed to throw something quick together so I'm sure that longtime fans are pissed and I don't blame them one bit. I know I was pretty ticked about the way chracters were written off of Days without even having them say goodbye.

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  3. Paula's SoapboxOctober 21, 2012 at 7:31 PM

    Hi Unknown!

    Thanks for commenting! Absolutely I'm sure Steve would have stayed long enough to wrap things up appropriately. It was like when they found out he was leaving they just said ok we'll kill you off and that will be the end of it.

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  4. Paula's SoapboxOctober 21, 2012 at 7:34 PM

    Hi bardgirl!

    Thanks for commenting! Yeah, Jason hasn't been written very well lately. And you're right Days is notorious for giving their characters poorly written exits! Also those exits are hard to invest in because you never know when they are going to bring someone back from the dead, because they do that a lot too, more than most shows I think.

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  5. BarbaraOctober 21, 2012 at 7:40 PM

    Days probably does have the most returns from the dead than any other soap. I do like Steve. I first saw him on this weird show called Out Of This World and he was on Days for about five seconds.

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  6. MerlinOctober 21, 2012 at 8:12 PM

    I agree this was a very bad send off for a character and actor that has been part of GH for 21 years.
    Also, I think a few other actors got shafted with the story line/story arc. Poor writing, poor planning and most definitely no creativeness when coming up with the exit.

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  7. Paula's SoapboxOctober 21, 2012 at 8:22 PM

    Bard,

    I've never heard of Out of this World. What is it?

    ReplyDelete
  8. Paula's SoapboxOctober 21, 2012 at 8:23 PM

    Hi Merlin!

    Thanks for commenting! I couldn't agree with you more!!!

    ReplyDelete
  9. blOctober 22, 2012 at 12:48 AM

    Out of this World was a sitcom that Steve was on before he was ever on a soap opera.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Paula's SoapboxOctober 22, 2012 at 1:00 AM

    Thanks for the info. bl! :)

    ReplyDelete
  11. ~Cyber~November 1, 2012 at 4:12 PM

    Have to say I agree re: Steve's Jason storyline exit; I had already assumed he too (like Robin) would be presumed dead leaving it open ended if Steve decides to return for another stint (short or long one).

    I guess its not that much they can do storyline wise but I'd hope for a bit more creativity. I don't know how long they had to wrap his exit up; maybe it was short notice.

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  12. Paula's SoapboxNovember 1, 2012 at 11:15 PM

    Hi Cyber!

    Thanks for commenting! Yeah, I agree it could've been short notice, but it looks like they could have cut out a bunch of stuff no one really cares about seeing in order to wrap this up a little better. Oh well, at least it seems like they might be thinking about bringing back the Nurse's Ball.

    Paula

    ReplyDelete

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