The Two Scoops column is an opinion column. The opinions expressed are solely those of the columnist and are not indicative of those of Soap Central, other contributors, or its advertisers.
Dear readers, my title is probably puzzling. Is there a new character that you missed? Well, no. This week was my 45th high school reunion. Yes, I am that old. I did not attend but was following along with all the hijinks my friends were posting online. And then I saw a photo of Mary.
Mary is the girl who used to come into my class and talk excitedly about General Hospital. She's the one who made me say, back in tenth grade, "Wow, I need to start watching this show!" And I did. I let her know that because of her enthusiasm for GH, I have a job I have loved for nearly two decades, writing about that show we both watched in high school. She told me that she started watching GH on her Irish grandmother's knee. So, to Mary -- and her grandmother -- I owe a debt of gratitude.
Why did I start my column this way? Because General Hospital is important to me. It's been part of my life for the better part of four decades. I have watched it when it was fantastic, I have watched it when it was mediocre, and I have watched it when it was struggling and pretty darn bad. I love the characters of Port Charles. Sometimes, the writers love the same characters I do and write brilliantly for them. Sometimes, the writers like people together that I do not like together, but that's okay, because this is a soap, and no one stays together forever in Port Charles, except for the late, great Edward and Lila.
This week, I saw a targeted campaign taking aim at GH sponsors. The point of this campaign argued that sponsors should spend their ad dollars elsewhere until General Hospital "truly values a diverse cast and a diverse audience." The campaign used part of GH's recent statement "GH is for everyone," part of the show's response when it spoke out against racist social media trolls.
An episode count showed that five of the show's Black actors were among the eight actors with the lowest episode count (on-screen appearances) between January and June 2024.
For me, I've never known what it's like to turn on the television and not see someone that looks like me on screen. I absolutely think viewers have the right to make their opinions known to the powers that be. This is all just my opinion, of course, but I worry that a campaign to get advertisers to pull their money from GH could hurt GH irreparably. I would hate for GH to be canceled before it has a chance to do better. Because the show can and should show a canvas that looks more like the world around us.
Now, to last week's GH! The newly minted Drew Quartermaine officially announced his candidacy with Senator McConkey. Tracy's face when they called Drew a Quartermaine was priceless. Nonetheless, after the shock wore off, she told Drew his father Alan would be proud of him. But at this point, she doesn't know he is sleeping with Nina, kissing Nina's daughter Willow, and flirting with Jordan.
I've heard a rumor that the campaign is going to tell Drew he needs a wife or a fiancée for the optics and that he and Nina will have to go public. Can you imagine how Willow will feel, knowing she kissed her mom's lover? Eww. Side note, one of the best-written lines this week was when Drew told Willow that "The people in our 'might have been' fantasies never mess up; they always make the right choices." So true and a fantastic line. I love Drew's lines.
I predict that Sasha will confront Willow about what she witnessed and that the guilt will get the best of Willow, and she will blurt out to Michael that she kissed Drew. Then, Michael will sabotage Drew's campaign. Just a wild guess.
Despite Heather telling Laura to drop her case because she belongs in prison, Laura is wrestling with whether or not to drop it. She had almost decided to let it go, but when she asked Trina, the actual intended victim, Trina showed compassion. It will be hard for Portia to fight this if her own daughter Trina is on Heather's side, which, after Friday's episode, seems possible. Trina doesn't want to see a woman who was mentally ill in prison for life, because Trina has a big, generous heart. Curtis is saying just about the same thing to Portia.
Mac Scorpio shares Portia's opinion that Heather is exactly where she belongs, but Laura's quest for justice keeps propelling her forward. I am still wholly perplexed by this storyline. A) Laura and Heather were never besties. B) Laura's son Nikolas is in jail, and she hasn't visited him at all, but she's visiting Heather on the regular. C) Heather terrorized and killed people that Laura cares about. As much as I love Alley Mills, I can't get on board with Heather being redeemed.
Sometimes, I hate the way they write Portia when she's bellowing at people. The woman is a doctor and a professional, and they write for her like she is unhinged. It's the same way they write for Summer over on The Young and the Restless. Summer is always over the top and screaming at someone. I see a lot of women on soaps that behave that way, but I do not know a single real woman who behaves that way. Women are generally more subtle than that.
But on Friday's episode, I saw something real when Portia tearfully explained to Curtis how she tries to quiet the voice of fear in her mind, but she remembers all the things she was afraid of that did happen, and she regrets silencing her inner voice that tried to warn her. That's real. That's relatable.
The writers (and I do not know if these are the old writers, the new writers, or the old writers brought back to replace the new writers who replaced them) seem intent on making us hate Ava, too. I refuse. I love Maura West, and if they destroy her like they did Julian, I will be crushed.
They seem to be writing Ava into a corner that she can't get out of, backing her into a hole from which she cannot escape. Ava has always been a bad girl and has always been lethal, but she has also wrestled with her conscience over the years and evolved from the woman we first met. I don't want her to go backward. She switched Morgan's meds; he ended up dead, and it destroyed Ava. Having her do the same thing to Sonny, who is the father of her daughter, is too cruel even for Ava. When she released the recording of Natalia, that one made sense. Ava was jealous that she had been pushed aside for Natalia, so she took Natalia out. But trying to make Sonny go mad is a step too far. I hope at the last minute she has a change of heart. But Sonny did record himself threatening Ava, Jagger did walk in, and Ava did her best damsel in distress act, so I doubt she has a change of heart. She's too far in.
Another possible angle is that the pharmacist goes to Valentin and tells him of Ava's request, and Valentin deals with Ava in his own way. I would prefer that. Talk about episode count, I have barely seen Valentin lately, and he's one of my favorites. He only had four episodes in June. I know he has other projects, so I suppose I should just be thankful I get to see him at all, and he doesn't leave us like Nicholas A. Chavez.
The Vanna scenes on Friday made me ache for them to reunite. Finola Hughes and James Patrick Stuart should teach chemistry classes to new actors. Anna is trying to do her job and find evidence that Valentin is heading up Pikeman, but there is the small fact that she's still in love with him and can't resist him. Anna refused to let Jason tag along, so I am afraid of what will happen if Valentin finds out that his love is deceiving him. Or does he already know? The cat and mouse games these two play are scintillating.
Over at the Q stables, Cody is moping. Why? Well, Cody's timing wasn't great. After months of keeping quiet, he just blurted out the news that he was Mac's son during the Fourth of July fireworks. Readers, I did not care for this reveal. This long-anticipated reunion turned into an angry fiasco instead of the tender father/son hug story we all wanted when John J. York finally came back to us after his cancer battle. We wanted a happy ending, and we didn't get it.
How many weeks will the angry standoff last before we get the payoff? Sasha, Maxie, and Felicia are all trying their best to negotiate a truce between father and son, but will it be successful? Maybe James can get through to his Grandpa Mac. I fear we are going to have to endure months of standoff instead of the happy ending we craved.
In a broader sense, when did the GH writers get so bad at writing for long-anticipated reunions? The last good one was in Greenland when Sprina reunited, and Trina leaped into Spencer's arms. That one was perfect. And she did it herself; it wasn't scripted.
But then, Jason (Steve Burton) came back after years away, and the writing fizzled. All that anticipation and buildup about his return was wasted. We ached to see Jason back with his loved ones. But Steve Burton has been back since March, now it's July, and Sonny still hates him. Sam still doesn't want him around Danny. All the people who wept when they thought Jason was dead are seemingly indifferent to him coming back home. That's' terrible writing.
You had all this good will and excitement built up and did nothing with it! The only exceptions are Carly and Danny. They are thrilled to have Jason back. But even there, Carly and Jason have only had a few meaningful scenes together. Carly has spent more time with Jack Brennan in Pentonville than she has with Jason. She has spent more time bandaging up Jagger than she has with Jason. But I digress.
I am looking forward to Lucky's return. I adore Jonathan Jackson, and I want to see Liz fall into his arms and say, "Thank God you are home!" I want to see his mother, Laura, weep because she's missed him so desperately. I want flashbacks galore. But will I get that, or will it be, "Hey, did you hear Lucky is back?" "Cool, want to go for a BLT at Bobbie's?" as if it's just another day. Please make my soap SOAPY again. Give me some over-the-top drama. Make me cry. Make me feel something.
Meanwhile, Brook Lynn and Chase's first month of marriage has been pretty depressing, consisting of a dying father, a brother in rehab, babysitting a young child, and having to manage a PR disaster when the recording of Natalia went public. I am hoping that the honest and fair reporter that Brook Lynn finds is Jackie Templeton, because Chase could certainly use a visit from his mom right about now. Kate Mansi and Jaqueline Grace Lopez are doing a fantastic job in this storyline, and I am excited to see GH take on the topic of canceling someone when you really don't know their whole story. I hope they dive deep and make people see how terrible it is to take one word or action by a person and wreck their life over it. Our society has become so needlessly cruel in taking glee at ruining someone's life.
What will happen tomorrow, dear readers? Will Sasha make more beignets or spy to see who Drew is kissing in the next room? Will Ava leave the hotel suite and move back to Wyndemere, since whoever allegedly bought it doesn't seem to be using it? (Nikolas? Valentin? Undead Faison? Who knows.) Will Jake run into an undead Franco teaching art in Italy and discover he's still alive? Will Ava be able to seduce Jagger into helping her fight Sonny for custody?
Will Sonny hunt down any more exes to see if they will give him a character reference? (Here's looking at you, Brenda.) Will Cody keep wandering around the stables, all shirtless and sweaty, just waiting for Sasha to drop in with a pic-a-nic basket? Will Portia get any signatures on her petition, or will everyone in Port Charles tell her they are #TeamLaura forever?
Only tomorrow knows, dear readers, and I will tune in tomorrow as long as there are tomorrows.
Tamilu
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