Paula's Soapbox

So obviously I haven't posted a blog about GH in a while, for a number of reasons, but mostly because I was afraid my head might explode if I started ranting about everything that is wrong with this show right now. I could go on and on about the horrible Robin exit storyline and how this character has all but been destroyed by it, but I won't. I could scream and yell and pitch a fit about how useless almost every new character on this show is and how we're overdue for a serial killer, natural disaster, or mob war to wipe out some of the dead weight, but I won't. No, I'm not going to get into all of that right now, but I do want to talk about the incredible ickiness of Molly and TJ's almost escapade. As if seeing TJ with a backpack full of essentials for his big night wasn't creepy enough, then there's the image of Molly, in a nightie. Let's forget for a moment that they look like they're about 12, which they were four years ago, but what was with...

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 ...

Even though I don't agree with the way Dante went about telling everyone that Michael killed Claudia, I can sort of understand his reasons for doing it. After all no one has ever really taught Michael the concept of taking responsibility for his actions. Moreover, the guilt over killing Claudia has been making Michael act out in such self-destructive ways that a life in the mob seemed inevitable. And if Carly and Sonny were really honest with themselves they would realize that Michael has been wanting to confess for months, not just to protect Sonny, but because of all the guilt. On the other hand I can understand Carly, Sonny, and Jason's impulse to cover up what happened to Claudia because Michael had already lost a year of his life and was still dealing with the repercussions of that when he killed her. And if they had gone to the police at that time it is reasonable to assume that because Michael is Sonny's son someone would have taken the opportunity to make an example...

As one of many General Hospital viewers I know that Sonny is a central part of the show, just as I know that at some point I am going to find him likable again and perhaps even feel sorry for him. However I think that the show has been trying a little too hard to make this happen earlier than it should. I was particularly frustrated with the dialogue on Wednesday's episode, especially the sentiments expressed by Carly and Luke. "Sonny, like Dante, is complicated and sometimes he does the wrong things for the right reasons." ~Carly Carly could not have picked a more inappropriate time to seek sympathy and understanding for Sonny than in the hospital the day after he shot Dante. I could overlook the conversation she had with Olivia in which she made excuses for Sonny's lifestyle because, quite frankly, that is what a lot of viewers do on a daily basis, myself included. Carly crossed a line though when she told Lulu, in Dante's hospital room, "that Sonny, like ...

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...

As I watched Wednesday's General Hospital it occurred to me that the only person Michael should be living with is Jason. Michael's behavior has been out of control for a while now and Jason seems to be the only one who knows how to grab his attention for even a second. And even though Carly has finally decided to do the right thing and tell the truth about what happened to Claudia, it isn't going to accomplish much unless she can get through to Michael. With his remorseless attitude, no one is going to believe that Claudia's murder was justifiable homicide. Of course in order for Carly to be able to get through to Michael, she is going to have to stop letting him get away with everything. After all that is one reason his behavior continues to get worse. I am constantly astounded by how much freedom Michael is allowed to have despite his actions. And every time he leaves the house following an argument about why he should be allowed to join the mob at 16, I am shocked th...

Ever since Johnny found out that Olivia has been keeping her son's identity a secret he has been offering ominous warnings of the danger that may result from this secret. Based on these warnings I am inclined to believe that someone, likely Johnny, will die because Olivia cannot bring herself to tell the truth. And while I hope that this assessment is incorrect, a variety of factors indicate otherwise. First of all, now that Claudia is dead, Johnny is the only Zacchara in Port Charles, with the exception of Anthony who remains in prison. And Johnny's death would effectively remove the Zacchara family from the canvas of the show, should the writers be so inclined to make this happen. One can also not ignore the fact that with Olivia's gravitation toward Sonny, and Lulu's infatuation with Dante, there really does not seem to be a place for Johnny at the moment. Granted he could have a storyline that didn't involve either of his love interests, but I have seen no evide...

I knew that it was only a matter of time before Lulu crossed the line and revealed Dante's secret. For weeks she has talked about his undercover assignment in the most inappropriate places as if she were hoping the wrong person would find out about it. And today someone finally overheard her. She told Dante that she had warned Johnny against trusting him, a statement that quickly provoked an argument. It was during this argument that Lulu blurted out everything Dante has worked so hard to keep hidden, including the fact that he is Olivia's son. Johnny, who had secretly overheard this argument, went to Olivia's where he confronted her about what he had heard. I have to say as annoyed as I am by Lulu, in fact I am dangerously close to hoping that Dante finds someone else, Olivia hasn't exactly been a walk in the park either. And today I was reminded of how ridiculous it has been for her to be so worried about Dante's safety when she has the power to ensure it. Months ...

Thursday's General Hospital began in true, classic soap form, beginning with an old-fashioned cat fight between Olivia and Claudia. The so-called "cat fight" used to be a soap staple, but for some reason is rarely ever seen these days. If there was ever a need to bring one back, Claudia and Olivia's ongoing feud certainly called for one. Unfortunately before Olivia could get too many hits in, the police busted through the hotel room and promptly arrested her for assault, or attempted murder, depending on whether they believed Claudia's claims. Nevertheless, Mac quickly let Olivia go, while Claudia finished getting ready for her birthday party, unaware that it might be her last. Meanwhile, Jason replayed the CD implicating Claudia in Michael's shooting, so that Sonny could hear it again. Afterwards Sonny became eerily calm, so much so that it was difficult to tell whether he was in denial or plotting revenge. Jason assumed that he was in denial, or worse, that ...

It would appear that time is running out for Claudia, as the truth about her involvement in Michael's shooting finally comes to the surface. Unfortunately the one person who may be able to save her has been kidnapped by rival mobster, Joey Limbo, on orders from Anthony Zacchara. Anthony instructed Joey to lock Johnny away in a safe location so that Joey could go after Sonny and Jason without Johnny getting caught in the crossfire. Johnny almost managed to escape, but was quickly forced back into captivity, effectively preventing him from warning Claudia that her life was in danger. Meanwhile, an oblivious Claudia was preoccupied with the birthday party Sonny decided to throw her. Of course she managed to make a little time to threaten Olivia, convinced that she knew were Johnny was. Claudia even made plans to tell Sonny about Dante at the party, but something tells me that she may not get that chance. On the other hand, Sonny didn't appear to have much of a reaction to hearing ...

On Monday's General Hospital Olivia finally tried to tell Sonny the truth about Dante. And of course Sonny thought she was just trying to complain about Claudia, which prompted Michael to interrupt and come to Claudia's defense. I have to say that this was the first day that one of Michael's outbursts actually annoyed me. He has already been having memories of Claudia admitting to being responsible for his shooting and I cannot believe that he would be so easily manipulated by her that he would completely disregard all of that. Perhaps Alexis and Olivia have been right all of these years in keeping their kids away from Sonny because it seems like his naiveté has transferred to Michael. Meanwhile, Claudia was in her hotel room trying to force Dante into sleeping with her by threatening Olivia. Surprisingly enough Dante turned her down and walked out of the room, making another sound argument for nurture over nature. Later on Olivia was summoned by Anthony so he could determi...

On Friday's General Hospital, Helena started playing more mind games, proving that she is not as frail as she let on in Greece. She informed Elizabeth that she knew about her affair with Nikolas and implied that she would tell Lucky. She even dropped hints of the affair to Luke, who all but ignored them. This did not stop Elizabeth from panicking and contacting Nikolas to tell him that Helena knew about them. Meanwhile, Helena summoned Lucky and implied that she had information that would be valuable to him. Obviously Helena is not going to spill any secrets just yet. She likes to manipulate people too much and enjoys watching them panic. In that respect she is like a female Jerry Jax, using secretive information in order to get what she wants out of people. What is so funny is that everyone seems to know how evil she is, yet Nikolas and Elizabeth seemed shocked that she knew about their affair. Is it so far beyond the realm of possibilities to think that Helena had spy equipment s...

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 Thursday's General Hospital Sam took Kristina to the clinic to get birth control pills. I won't even attempt to count how many things are wrong with that sentence. However, I do want to point out how disconcerting it was to hear Kristina drop hint after hint that Kiefer was pressuring her into having sex and Sam only telling her that she should wait until she is ready. Kristina already had the birth control in hand so obviously she is planning on doing this whether she is ready or not. Sam should have made a point to tell Kristina that if Kiefer was the right one for her he would not be pressuring her into doing something she was not ready to do. Moreover Sam should not be the one having this conversation with Kristina in the first place, Alexis should. Of course it is kind of difficult to be a mom to your own kids when you are busy trying to play mom to someone else's. While Sam and Kristina were at the clinic, Alexis found Michael on the waterfront and took the opportu...

I am beginning to have serious doubts about Dante's abilities as a detective. In fact I am beginning to think that the only reason he was ever promoted to detective is because his superior, Ronnie, is actually a criminal and knew Dante would never suspect criminal activity. Not only has Dante not been able to figure out that his boss is obviously a crook, but he blindly accepted orders from him to blame the leak in the Corinthos organization on an innocent person. I understand that Ronnie alluded to the fact that Olivia could be in danger if Dante did not do this, but does Dante not find it the least bit suspicious that Ronnie is so careless when it comes to protecting his identity? Moreover, when Ronnie told him to blame the leak on someone else, Dante should have known how Sonny would want to handle that situation. Instead, Dante actually looked shocked that Sonny ordered him to kill Tommy, the person "responsible" for the leak. One would think that since Dante is inves...

After overhearing a drunken Kate spill the beans about Dante yesterday, Claudia showed up at the Metro Court just in time to hear this same information again today. With this secret ready to explode Olivia needs to take Kate's timely advice and come up with a plan B because Claudia made it clear that she has no intention of keeping this secret. She even went so far as to tell Dante that she had important information that he would be interested to hear. However, knowing Claudia and the way she likes to play Zacchara mind games I cannot see her just blurting out this information. She will most likely try to use what she knows to her advantage somehow which will undoubtedly blow up in her face, probably just in time for Sarah Brown's exit from the show. Of course Claudia is going to have to work fast in order to exploit this secret before hers are exposed because Michael's memories have been returning rather quickly. And on today's General Hospital he remembered a visit he...

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 ...

On Tuesday's General Hospital Nikolas and Liz stopped fighting their attraction for one another and slept together. Of course the idea that they ever tried to fight it in the first place is debatable. Even Jake being in the hospital was not enough to keep Liz away from Wyndemere. I am not sure which is worse, the fact that Liz left Jake's hospital room to be with Nikolas or the fact that Lucky left Jake to go home alone. At this point I think that Sam and Jason need to be raising Jake. They did not even kiss until everyone they cared about was safe and accounted for, and they have been apart for years! When Liz and Lucky finally made their way back to the hospital to check on Jake, Liz told Lucky she would marry him if he agreed to go to counseling with her. Good idea Liz, maybe you can sign up for some parenting classes while you are at it. Unfortunately Lucky and Liz were not the only ones having dysfunctional family issues. While Olivia was visiting Dante at GH, Sonny walked...

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...