GH Rundown Weekly Blog

They both reached for the gun! (ABC)

The GH Rant from March 23 – 27:

With next week being the 52nd anniversary of “General Hospital” and a pivotal episode planned for the Luke storyline, this week seemed to be the calm before the storm. Unfortunately it was filled with a lot of repetitive dialogue that recapped the major storylines and left fans that tune in daily twiddling their thumbs waiting for something to happen. Let’s discuss the few things that actually went down in Port Charles this week.

Liar, liar pants on fire.
Hayden blew in to town with claims of being Jake’s missing wife and threw his relationship with Liz into a tailspin. Fans are already fed-up with the fact that Jake’s amnesia has been dragged out as long as it has, so to bring in an over-used plot device like the fake wife has them even more frustrated. What’s even worse is the predictability that she’s been hired by Ric in order to get Liz away from Jake, which sadly seems to be working. Now we are left waiting for Liz to slink back to Ric, causing us to shout obscenities at her and the television screen. I really enjoyed the on-screen chemistry between Jake and Liz, but her actions often make it difficult to like or care about her. Liz needs to stop being such a doormat.

Hayden may find herself having a hard time gaining sympathy as well. She claims to only be working for Ric due to being left in debt by a cheating husband. Even if she’s down on her luck, it’s hard to feel sorry for the character and it leaves the audience not wanting to invest in her in the long run. That’s a shame as Rebecca Budig has been a fan favorite since her role on “All My Children.”

One character that actually blew me away was Carly. Normally I find her yelling and screaming like nails on a chalkboard, however this week she was amazing in defending Jake and going after Hayden. Hopefully Carly will nail Hayden and Ric sooner rather than later.

The one ring.
Patrick asked Sam multiple times to move in with him, but every time she tabled the discussion and said she needed more time to think about it. She then turned her focus towards her wedding ring and whether it was the ring that Jake spoke about before going into surgery. I really enjoy Sam and Patrick as a couple, but man do I feel for this guy right now. Every time these two are alone together, especially in an intimate way, Sam always ends up dwelling on Jake. It may be time for Patrick to move on with his life. Otherwise he’s going to find Sam rambling on about Jake when he tries to propose to her, and having Jake stand up for them at their wedding as her best man.

Uncle Luke and cousin Valerie.
In last week’s GH blog I had pondered that Valerie might not be a Spencer and was just some poor woman that Luke forced to lie to Lulu and Tracy. However as it turned out she really is Pat’s daughter. I am looking forward to the show exploring her history and roots. The inclusion of this character will help carry the storyline past the reveal as to what really happened years ago in the Spencer house. I can't wait to see Dee Wallace as Pat, but I have been worried that it was going to be nothing more than a casting gimmick the show used and that the character would basically be a glorified guest star for a few episodes. By introducing Valerie they’ve now paved the way to make Pat more than just a quick ratings grab.

Shall we dance?
Anna and Jordan's undercover sting has finally blown up in their faces, though neither realizes just how badly. Watching Jordan try and coax Duke in to incriminating himself on tape was painful, and he clearly figured out she was wearing a wire in about two seconds. However he hasn't revealed this to Shawn or Sonny, so what's his plan? He could threaten to expose her to Julian or Sonny, which would put a target on her back, but something tells me he will find a way to use this to get something from Anna instead. Meanwhile Anna and Sloane continued their tango, and now Sloane finally knows that Jordan is Anna's informant. Even though Sloane's methods are underhanded, I think he really does want to clean up Port Charles, and I doubt he will put Jordan in danger. However like Duke he could use this info against Anna in some way. Speaking of Sloane, what are your thoughts about the tension between him and Anna? Would they make a good couple? Take our General Hospital Poll: Anna and Sloane, yay or nay?

Watch out Port Charles, Franco and Nina are free.
It was a good week for Franco and Nina fans as both were released from Shadybrook and all charges against them have been dropped. I was hoping these two would play things cool for awhile and not ruffle too many feathers, but that's not going to happen. They've already cooked up a new scheme to blackmail Olivia over the paternity of her baby daddy in order to score a suite at the Metro Court. It wouldn't surprise me if Madeline showed up sooner or later to try and get something out of Nina, though Nina's money is currently all tied up in the court system. We still don't know who Nathan's father is, and it would be great to see Nina and Franco look into that mystery. At least it would give them something to do other than be the town crazies.

Death with dignity.
The only character left who hasn’t yet been freed is Ava, though the town also believes she’s dead. Silas had to deliver the news that the odds of her beating her cancer aren’t in her favor, which forced her to beg him to kill her. Assisted suicide is a hot button issue in our society, and honestly I’m shocked that "GH" decided to broach the subject. The show hasn't shied away from controversial subjects in the past, they've addressed abortion and gay characters, but this is one storyline that we haven't seen on many U.S. shows to date. It will be interesting to see how they continue to handle this story and if they do so sensitively. Ava’s scenes have been heartbreaking lately and they almost make you forget what a psycho she can be. This storyline is clearly about Ava’s redemption more than anything. Avery will obviously be the miracle cure she needs, but how the show will creatively free her from the charges of murder against her remains to be seen.

That's it for this week. Remember that these are just my opinions and we encourage you to share yours as well in the comments.

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All screen shots courtesy of ABC.

- Dustin Cushman