jsbt

As do I. If it turns out Valentin and Ava (who the show has conditioned much of the audience through bad, soppy writing to believe are 'good' now) are both working Sonny together that's the best mob plot this show has done in many years. It already is actually, but never mind.

After we finally got to see him in all his unimpressive, mustachioed glory in 2016 I always preferred to believe/fanwanked that Valentin was a stalking horse Helena set up (without his knowledge) to decoy the Spencers, etc. from some other, bigger threat. She knew he was weak. But if PM and co. choose to try to make Valentin finally live up to the Cassadine rep JPS is likely capable of it; his most famous soap role is an infamous bad guy. Weeping Michael Feinstein-esque hero is not his forte. I am not going to fault Anna for thanking Jason for field dressing Dante. But I do wonder where some of this is going long term for Jason, structurally on the long-term canvas.

He's gonna burst into tears next week and say he did it all for ma petittteeeee

I should've seen it. We knew Valentin was in with Pikeman. IIRC he is the one who told Sonny all about them to begin with, no? I am glad they're confirming he has been fucking with Sonny's meds, as I suspected someone had done. I had a very hard time buying Sonny at his worst would turn on Jason as quickly as he has without that tampering. I am aware Valentin has a fanbase. I am not among them. Valentin is a worm and JPS primarily excels at playing creeps and villains. Despite the show's endless attempts to put him over as a weepy piano-tinkling antihero and the wimpiest Cassadine on Earth, he came on as a creepy scumbag and has stayed one to me. Valentin makes sense as the Big Bad. I also think Ava is still in on this. I do like Sonny's mania clueing him on Jason and Carly more, something that was too briefly swept aside when they inexplicably did not fuck on their wedding night and Jason booked it for Greece in '21. And I did laugh at the writing dismissing the dumb "Stone" clue as a feint by Valentin to freak Sonny out, and seemingly calling out the idiocy of this Brennan dude hanging around chemistry testing with Carly during the strike episodes when he was supposedly the head of this evil PMC.

Finally, Billy Joel Cassadine is good for something.

I'll get to the meat of these eps when I'm not so preoccupied with IRL, but I would add that Drew/Ryan has gone from wanting to skip rope with Nina's intestines under the prior creative team to playing debonair IT guy for her and sharing coffee in a matter of weeks. I don't take it too serious now since they were very clearly testing Drew and NIna and those recent scenes re: returning to Crimson were legit (and shockingly) smart and enjoyable, for me at least.

It absolutely was that, but I think it still has been ever since. That's never changed. IMO Carly has never stopped being in love with Jason with the possible exception of the first year or two of her married life with Sonny. IIRC they made a point of showing Sarah's Carly running to Sonny first over Jason after some disaster, and that clinched it for me at that time. I bought it because I was super into the original incarnation of S&C. Once the honeymoon phase faded and trouble really began for them, I think Carly gravitated back to Jason more. Though for me with the exception of the random kiss at the PC Hotel fire, I think Tamara played Carly with Jason largely like a sibling. This is likely because her material was almost totally Sonny-centric and the Fab 4 roles were locked in her time. Whereas I think Laura in particular has consistently played it like Carly has never gotten over Jason. That doesn't mean I think she has been angling for the pairing for 20 years, because I think she has worked to sell every romance she has and I think she really sold the pairing with Ingo and the marriage to Jax, which I never would have bought with any other Carly back then. (I remember the chem tests with Tamara during the JFP year and I hated it.) But the yearning and the intensity re: Jason is always there with LW for me, which makes sense because it was there with Sarah. I've always said I feel Laura and Sarah often have the same sort of brute force onscreen. It's just that Sarah's Carly was more exposed and vulnerable at the same time, and Laura's version has the benefit of decades of wealth and security as a mob wife while having a performer that has a somewhat harder take.

I don't think he's that good because he's definitely very green, but I think he has some charisma and potential. That's as far as I take it for now. He's definitely not poor Aiden though, who seems like a sweet kid but kind of just wanders through scenes with a big mellow grin that suggests he's thought carefully about trying to act and decided against it, and is secure and happy in that decision. He also has Kitty Pryde of the X-Men's mullet shag from the '80s. There's the one you can recast.

I am going to take a hard pass on that and leave it there!

As true as this is and as sadly predictable as Dante and Sonny's relationship has become since FV took over, I feel like Dex is way more in it to win it in the lightning round for who gets to call Sonny Daddy.

I get drafting Dex to keep him close re: the Sonny investigation and because they made such a big deal of him being ex-military, which he was for much longer than the period he worked for Sonny. I still don't want him around forever, but I get it.

He's very green. I do think NuDanny has some screen presence and charisma with his sort of brash attitude but they need to get him a coach. And they need to lock in Hudson West, they're very lucky he hasn't left outright like William Lipton in the last few years. Sam unloading on Jason was great. It is a real stunner to see after revisiting some of the lowlights of the endless Jasam ride or die era. I was always surprised and pleased when Sam very firmly turned the page on Jason when he went into the harbor in 2012 to focus on raising her son, and disappointed when she went right back to it for a time when he came back. I thought both Danny and her time with Drew had evolved her and it still has. It's an UO in GH fandom at large but I think Kelly's chemistry with Steve was always best when antagonistic - her bitch queen era in particular during the Liason revival was top tier.

GH has suffered so much loss over the last year or two that Monica aside I just hope Leslie can be well and comfortable. A lot of her very, very early years are on YT and it is fascinating just how complex, layered and at times ugly a character Monica can be. More modern and dangerous than most young women on this show have been allowed to be in recent years. I hope we see her again but if we don't I hope it's not the worst case situation. Speaking of: I agree. I was trying to blame it on Diane sucking out his precious life force but it's actually concerning. Tristan has never looked old to me before and I just hope he's been bored with the material, lol. I still don't think Dex is long for the show (or possibly this earth), but repositioning him makes sense. I still want him gone.

Jason was deep into Carly in the '90s for a time, I agree. It only didn't happen because Steve vetoed it and then left for Hollywood. It's not a question of Robin not being his first true love, but Carly was deep in his blood in that time (and still is, in a different way). But Carly also never measured up to Robin in his heart IMO even when he chose her or rather Michael over Robin in '99, and Carly knew that and couldn't stand it.

Harrington is doing a very solid job with improved scripts but I still can't past the visual disconnect. If they'd cast Paul Anthony Stewart (a '90s soap hunk almost as big as Sabato), Jordi Vilasuso or any number of other non-blonde soap hunks with a little mileage on them I'd be more accepting. In fact PAS could clean up on this show. But I think he's largely retired from daytime for theater and/or other pursuits with his husband. I'd be fine if Carly ended up hooking up with Wagger/Cates - this show needs more sex and more random tawdry fucking again, it's gotten too conservative and baby-centric in the last decade. But I am starting to wonder if PM's team is leaving both Carly and Jason solo and uninvolved with anyone for a time, to try to suss them out. That would be very interesting to me because it would indicate a clear intent to reevaluate both characters, both of whom Mulcahey (and Korte) were instrumental in defining with the original actors - especially Carly. (That does not mean I think Sarah Joy Brown is ever taking the role back because I definitely don't and will never get that lucky, but PM was among her biggest fans of all time and it wouldn't shock me if it had crossed his mind. I don't think it could ever get past the network, nor am I sure if Sarah is in a place right now where she'd be open to it.)

I agree. It's not shocking to me that he doesn't know about Bobbie or Britt (now and forever since 2012: fuck Britt!).

The thing is that here I think if it was primarily the network or creative team it would've happened many years before her last return. Anna had been a hardcharging heroine for a ton of the glory days on GH, which were a far more sexist era for TV. I think it's a combination of the show always wanting to make sure Anna vouchsafed Sonny over the last decade, but also about FH enjoying the offscreen rapport and being concerned about range. She leans into heavy emotion even when it's not necessarily in the dialogue. I think she's worried Anna won't come off human enough. It's enough!

Judging by her interviews, Finola has had some difficulty with the new normal reverting back to Anna vs. the mob, which is a shame because it's the kind of thing Anna excels at. It seems to me that Anna has been more fragile ever since coming back to town just after Robin's shocking 'death,' and that trauma has never fully left her. She then had to deal with Duke's return and demise, Faison, the horrors of her DVX past and Heinrich, and I think those things have left her more and more raw. That's how I explain her constant emotional reactions to Sonny, etc. anyway. As Finola has said Anna was able to unburden herself about her past with an equally dark character in him, and I can buy that that meant something to her. I also think that Finola fears that if she plays Anna too hard and cool people will only see a caricature superwoman and not the humanity. But the weakness has been here for too long, it's time for Anna to find her steel and more devil may care resolve again. If that means she starts seeing Kevin onscreen I'm all for it. But while I bought her wonderful horrified reaction to Wagger's initial speech a couple weeks ago, I'm done with the teary eyes in these scenes even though I think Finola always does excellent work.

Completely true and I'm going to have to look those scenes up. It was obvious long before they had a child that Jason could and would never put Sam or his own family before Sonny, Carly or Michael - who will always, in his heart, be his first son. That is fucked up but it is also a very true and organic character beat IMO because Michael was Jason's life when he was first born. So it always baffled me when the show decided they just had to give the Jasam fans their cake too and make her pregnant, because the show had long since established the hierarchy in Jason's life, that the mob life was his central world, that he was not fit to raise a family, and that Sam was along for the ride as his supposed 'perfect mate'. That changed for her to her credit, but he has never changed and IMO never will. (The only time he came close I think was when he and Elizabeth finally got together after Jake, and it didn't last long.)

It would not be the first time Ava has been dickstruck by a mark (Morgan) or the worst man possible (Ryan Chamberlain). She has done everything she is (possibly) doing to Sonny now before: Isolate him from family and friends, get him drinking and unstable, and next presumably is sleeping with him. If they make it explicit he's back off his meds we'll know she's doing a rerun. Ava had no feelings for Sonny the first time, but these days they share a young child and she's occasionally seen the 'softer' side over the years. I can see her catching her typical brand of twisted, dysfunctional feelings for him even after beginning a scheme to destroy his business empire and ruin him - that's all typical Ava to me. Would I rather she's playing him in full though, of course.

It helps the show tremendously that PM has evidently got the pull to let scenes breathe and run longer again. Many segments are not just the typical Valentini 50-90 seconds, character-based conversations are actually had, monologues are given. Like Trina's very good stuff about grief yesterday IMO both with Stella and the excellent extended segment at Spencer's grave. I frankly don't think Sydney Mikayla did anything with a fraction of the depth Ali has shown here. Whatever goes down with Chavez returning or not in spring I'll be shocked if TA doesn't get real story following this because it showed significant investment in her and her skill. Joss, Frank's preferred star, has not had an extended series of solo monologue segments like this in my recent memory at least. It's also nice to see my earlier suspicions confirmed re: Wagger and the FBI, running Jason on a leash with Jason to infiltrate this shadow outfit and Pikeman (I still suspect Ava is in it up to her neck, recent simpering for Sonny aside - neither being OOC for her with bad men). There will be the predictable outrage at the scheming feds, etc etc. when this comes out but the point is Wagger is not a black hat. If they wanted to make Jason relatively tolerable for me going forward they'd keep him on that federal leash, though I doubt that'll happen. I've said for years Scorpio and the WSB should have drafted Jason with a deal to work for them or go to Supermax for life. A role Drew could've easily and less reluctantly filled when CM first arrived.

LW does not see Jason/Carly happening, and has some interesting insight re: the writing change.

In fairness, Jake, Sam, etc. have all asked that. I don't expect the gospel of St. Jasus to disappear. Until Steve or Maurice quit that and the mob will be a part of the fabric of the show. I can't fault any one writing team for that after this many decades and clearly network investment in not upsetting the locals and certain segments of the audience. But it's a question of moderation and execution. Frank and Ron Carlivati arguably broke the back of the mob focus in their first year or two at the show in the early 2010s; it became largely incidental to other stories (many of them goofy stories) and while Sonny and for a time Jason were very active, the show did not revolve around them for a while. Jason in particular got marginalized for a time in 2012. Mulcahey and Korte both came up writing for Jason Morgan in his early days, when he had real dimension to character still; Korte continued as a staff writer with the show into the Fab 4 'glory days' where Jason was an unstoppable god. None of that is down to any one writer other than ultimately Bob Guza. I expect Jason and his reasons or issues will be somewhat vindicated, because that's the arc of history with this show and that leading man. But it's enough for me for now to have characters being allowed to legitimately question him, his lifestyle and choices as a parent or a husband or a man and not be vilified for doing so. There were many many years that that did not and could not happen. And if PM can somehow add some dimension to Jason again I'll be amazed but not entirely surprised. Steve to his credit seems at least engaged so far, to me. And yeah, for me the focus on character is also strong again along with the dialogue. They're playing uncommon family beats with parents, children, relations and friends, setting up the next generation - even stuff like Cody and Olivia (or Cody and the frickin' horse!) or the Deception shenanigans sings to me lately. Drew and Nina's chemistry is substantial and their barbs are fun and not just psycho, when I usually have zero use for either character; the BLQ/Chase and Willow/Michael material feels increasingly more adult when I usually found them snoozeworthy. The Lucy/Sasha stuff on Friday was shockingly mature. Tracy and BLQ's bond is great, Maxie feels alive. Stuff just works.

I would kill to get SN back but I think he is on contract at DAYS and I can't see Uncle Frank offering him one. I do think Ron and Frank tried it in 2013 (there were a zillion Stefan mentions in that period) but IIRC SN later said he turned it down on account of either story or money or both. I suspect they wanted him to join their massive recurring veteran corps doing nothing in C-story every 3-4 weeks, and probably do some lame love triangle stuff with Laura in the background. Genie dipped that year for the same reason.

I thought the idea of stunt casting a major movie star as a supervillain for an arc was fun on paper. The execution got very dumb very quickly though, especially during JF's return stints. Making Roger Franco should never have happened, especially when they allegedly passed up Tom Hardy, Steve, etc. for an 'edgier' character a la Todd. He should've been killed off by Liz's boys in a suburban mystery a la David Hamilton, but here we are. Heather is different for me because she has a long, rich history on the show well before her days of going full I Know What You Did Last Summer and was a beloved character for fans. I think the idea of her becoming Laura's kooky talk-to cousin is wild and kind of ingenious, something Laura does not have in her life. It's risky but I am willing to ride this out and I think the performances and writing are there so far.