Francie

They other funny aspect to this, and then I'll likely shut up and move on, is that so many Anna and Robert fans have been talking up "cargo baby" for years. Because Anna and Robert had been newlyweds when Faison kidnapped them. The cargo ship exploded, and Anna had amnesia for a decade. A jealous Faison could have raised the kid, local fishers could have nursed a horribly wounded Anna and taken the baby after its birth. Blah, blah, blah. In any event, the opening was there for a baby that neither Anna nor Robert knew anything about. Not this shoehorned Robert/Holly baby back at a time where we all saw Robert on screen being, "Get away from me, woman, I'm looking for my wife!" And then we saw Holly for the next nine months while she was dating Mac and then Bill Eckert.

They said (and I quote, from memory): Robert: I always thought we'd find our way back together. Anna: I never doubted that for a minute. Not for a minute.* That implies a 'greatest love.' I always appreciate whenever a character has more than one great love that they don't dismiss the other one. One love can be stronger, greater, better, and more controlling in the present. But that doesn't mean that the other relationship was a very loving one; and one doesn't not have to sh*t all over it to make the other one better. It always bothered me -- in a lazy story writing kind of way -- that they never had Anna and Robert ever discuss the fact their second marriage was never dissolved. Since Tristan's return after his 1992 exit, Robert and Anna have never talked about how they were bickering spouses and how he got on her nerves. But that's nothing near how their relationship was in their final year on GH at that time. That kind of description -- "I love you, but you annoy me at times" -- is closer to how Tristan and Finola see their own relationship. Tristan can be grumpy -- about anything and everything -- and Finola would take it in stride (it wasn't ever -- or hardly ever, if it ever was -- directed toward her), didn't take it personally, and largely dismissed it. *could have been second -- she never doubted it for a second.

I won't deny they were more in supportive roles -- bffs to Scotty and Laura. But they were also fully fleshed out characters, with distinct personalities, extended family (7-9-year-old-me remembers that some of their parents were on canvas as well), and issues of their own. If compared to today, they'd be among the most well-rounded characters.

My head canon will be that Robert escorted Holly offscreen as a favor to Sasha, the rest of Port Charles, and, meta-wise, all of us. In my head, he's all, "Jeez, the only way to make sure this woman leaves is to escort her on the plane myself." I don't know why I don't have a stronger reaction to Anna dismissing her two marriages to Robert, the second one ending in their supposed deaths (as opposed to an acrimonious end) as "we had history." I think it's Tristian's all-too apparent health issues. It takes all the sport out of it. Best wishes to him. GH Night shift Season 2 was 1,000 times better, anyway. (Oh, there's still a tiny bit of bite left in me).

Holly was introduced in 1982 as part of a scam artist family, though once she started to fall for her mark, Luke, she went along with them reluctantly and eventually 'turned good.' But Holly could always be a bit of a whiny, self-entitled prima donna. Case in point: during the Aztec Treasure storyline, Holly whined about having to stay safe at the hacidenda and not being 'allowed' to be a part of Robert's and Sean's adventure. (In her defense, Robert was portrayed as bit of chauvinist about all that.) So Robert and Sean leave in a jeep to go searching for ... whatever, and their jeep breaks down in the middle of nowhere. Then along comes Holly, in another jeep, smirking, all, "Would you like a ride, boys?" She had sabotaged their jeep without their knowing, and managed to follow them, also without their knowing (thanks for dumbing down the international spies, writers). Sure, lives were in danger. And Holly could have made things far worse, but we 'womenfolk' (and 'girlfolk' as I was at the time), were supposed to be all "Yay, Holly! She sure showed them!" All I could think was "What a putz. She could have gotten someone killed, all becuase she needed shits and giggles." Holly and Robert played Nick and Nora for a couple minor mini-strorylines (the Greg Brady broadway scout "caper" comes to mind), but whenver things got serious, Robert turned caveman, and there was a very "Lucy wants to join the band but Ricky won't let her" vibe to their relationship. Oh, and Holly could cook. Their kitchen seemed wicked cool to 10-year-old me. And, hand to God, many times as I'm picking up white wine for cooking, my memory tidbit plays in my head of line of scene of GH where Holly credits the quality of the wine for the quality of some meal she cooked. But then I still grab the cheap stuff.

Are you trying to tell me that a liver is not a brain?

Emma Samms was blinking so much in her first two scenes, that, if I handn't known better, I would've assumed she was trying to talk to Robert in morse code. That was a puppet dog, right? I liked Felicia's blouse.

Ever-freakin-green. My favorite way to way the show of late? Watch the whole entire thing, even the scenes that bore me to tears, exccept fo anytime Carly is on screen. Then I happily FF her. Because FF-ing her along with others whose crime is just boring me doesn't reflect just how much I hate the character of Carly. I watch scenes with people I don't know, repetitive drivel, and even Holly -- even Holly, for God's sake -- just so that I convey my absolute intolerance of Carly just that tiny bit more.

Thank you for helping me find the silver lining in this mess.

Are you saying a wig on a stick doesn't count?

To borrow from my immediately prior post: Now? It's glaring that she's not a 'strong actress'** ... now?* BTW, I wrote 3 other zingers that I ultimately thought were too mean to post in light of the lack of provocation to do so. But, they were funny, if I do say so myself.

Now? She will phone in her performances ... now?

I need to have you know -- I cackled. I outright, out loud, scared the cats cackled at this. Well played, Ciarra, well played. Man, I loved that 35th anniversary special. The photoshoot section with the boxes. Back when production values mattered. That time -- what, 1996? - felt both like the the pinnacle of quality television and like the end of an era. It's hard to explain why -- I enjoyed that time immensely and was unhealthily addicted to watching GH. The Cassadine saga with Stefan and Nikolas. The Sonny/Brenda/Jax triangle. Lucy with her Doc. Jonathan Jackson and Amber Tamblyn. The introduction of Sarah J. Brown's Carly. But so many of the veteran performers were already being cast aside and some history was being forgotten. And then came Miranda. And, more importantly Guza left as head writer and Culliton wrote the show into the ground in a matter of weeks. JMHO. YMMV.

Oscar, after getting beaten up and having his money stolen from the male hustler: I have learned my lesson! Oscar, after getting led around by the nose and having his money stolen from a female con artist: Clearly, I learned the wrong lesson!

Not if Greenpeace has anything to say about that.