Episode Discussion II: The TFGH

[dubbel zout]

1 minute ago, Sake614 said:

So is today the last new episode until the pandemic is over?

I believe so.

[lala2]

14 hours ago, TeeVee329 said:

It's just so disappointing because this could have been amazing, heart-wrenching family soap if Lucas had resisted for even a little while in returning Wiley to Michael.

Oh, I agree.  That would have been much more realistic and interesting to see play out. 

And as a Brucas fan, I would have also liked seeing Lucas struggle a bit more before ditching Brad. Other characters get to be human and be conflicted when their spouses mess up. Heck, some even continue to support and stand behind their spouses in spite of their bad actions, but Lucas immediately dumped Brad and that was that. No conflict. No struggle. No denial of the accusations. I know Brad already confessed, but it was so clear to me that the writers were done w/the Brucas part of the story after the reveal. Brad is arrested, quickly jailed and sentenced. Lucas dumps him. Lucas is shown ONCE feeling frantic, and that's it. Both disappear and are never seen again. 

It's really insulting for those of us who liked the pairing and the characters. We couldn't even get a good confrontation btw them, or see Lucas struggle w/what to do. They were so clearly props for Michael . . . it makes me sick. 

13 hours ago, Asp Burger said:

I just don't think the show cares that much about Lucas . . . He's a character who can be part of stories, but can't have stories of his own.

THIS!! You said it. They don't care about Lucas or Brad. They were used as props for the baby switch, and that's it. Their role in this is over, so that's why we don't see them. We didn't even see Lucas today. Sam can talk about him, but he can't be shown himself, yelling at Julian or whatever. 

It is beyond clear to me that the writers have no use for Lucas.  I'm surprised when ppl keep asking why he's not around more for this story. They don't want him in this story. The small role he played is done, so we're not going to be seeing him even if it would make sense. 

[BlancheDevoreaux]

Why does Julian give a flying fart in space what Sam thinks? She is quickly becoming my most despised character. She is such a judgemental bitch and anyone who does anything even slightly differently than she would gets to be the recipient of her vitriol. She is always right and you can't tell her anything. That, combined with the facts that she is addicted to danger and always yelling at her parents because she thinks they are complete idiots make her seem like she is 15 and not the 40 year old woman she actually is. Julian should wash his hands of her at this point.

Edited May 21, 2020 by BlancheDevoreaux

[lala2]

I don't know! I'm no huge Julian fan, but I'm angry that he even followed Sam out of the courtroom. Why? Just to get physically assaulted and told she hates you . . . AGAIN!?!? I could have told him that was going to happen. Sam is forever yelling and screaming at Julian. I'm over it! As you said, Sam is a judgmental, obnoxious BITCH. I am beyond tired of her. 

Honestly, Julian needs to forget about Sam AND Lucas. They are both grown. They don't like him. Fine. Focus on Leo. 

[YaddaYadda]

Maxie needs another kid, and for Peter to be her baby daddy, like she needs a bullet in the head.

Honestly, show. Peter was not your most brilliant idea. Let's not double down.

Sam and Julian haven't had any sort of a relationship in something like 10 years. So let's skip over the whole you are dead to me, because that's pretty much what her feelings have been for a long time. And oh, Lucas has apparently been spat back out by the earth that had swallowed him. Can he show up and tell Julian what he thinks himself? 

I also did not realize that Nelle would be Sam and Lucas's step-mommy. So that actually made me laugh. 

I really hate scenes where the peanut gallery is making sneering faces at the camera during these stupid-ass trials. Sam. Carly. Willow. Michael was trying, but he CD is a very bad actor, so it wasn't translating.

Edited May 21, 2020 by YaddaYadda

[statsgirl]

Well that's it until the pandemic is sorted out, which if they rely on a vaccine looks like it could be a year or more. Maybe they can animate the characters and the actors can do voicework from home.

I know that I'm on the edge of my seat wanting to see Maxie pregnant with Peter's baby (poor Maxie, baby daddy #1 was a mistake and took her baby away from her, baby daddy #2 was killed and baby daddy #3 is a bad guy who contributed to the death of baby daddy #2); Sasha going through an addiction because she lost Michael; waiting to see Sonny cry at Mike's bedside again, and rooting for Diane to eviscerate Nelle in court, Michael to win custody and Sonny and Carly to hoard another baby.  NOT.

I really hope that they take this time to do some audience testing beyond the comments on the show's FB page and rethink some of these storylines.

[perkie1968]

11 minutes ago, YaddaYadda said:

Maxie needs another kid, and for Peter to be her baby daddy, like she needs a bullet in the head.

Honestly, show. Peter was not your most brilliant idea. Let's not double down.

THIS.  Maxie, of the heart transplant, who's first two pregnancies were high risk, accidentally getting pregnant is just too stupid for words.  The only good thing would be if she found out the truth about Peter, dumped him, then miscarried.  Also, this show does not need another baby right now.  

2 minutes ago, statsgirl said:

Maybe they can animate the characters

That's what Blacklist did with their last episode.  It was weird.  

2 minutes ago, statsgirl said:

the actors can do voicework from home.

All Rise did that with their last episode, actors in their own homes, playing their characters.  Was weird, yet interesting all rolled into one.

[dubbel zout]

I really liked Olivia's dress. The color was great.

Brook Lynn would be a much pleasanter character if they didn't have her immediately jump to the worst conclusion.

And really, talking to a psychic about Dante? FFS, Show. I hate that they don't have Olivia be a bit more reasonable about his situation. I don't begrudge her frustration or anguish, but it's been made more than clear that he has serious problems that need serious treatment, and right now he doesn't have space for Mommy. Why can't she understand that? It's not a permanent rejection of Olivia.

38 minutes ago, lala2 said:

Honestly, Julian needs to forget about Sam AND Lucas. They are both grown. They don't like him. Fine.

They don't like him until they need something from him, and even then they insult him while asking for a favor. Ugh. The whole dynamic is terrible.

How about Maxie felt faint because she's not eating enough right now, what with all the work to launch Deception? Why does pregnancy have to enter into things at all? I'm so sick of babies on this fakakta show.

Edited May 21, 2020 by dubbel zout
cleaning up some repetition

[Pingaponga]

We do NOT need another baby.

Although, by the time the show is back on the air, all the kids could have aged by several years so Maxie's baby could be the only under-5 on the show. But she does not need another child, least of all one with Peter.

[YaddaYadda]

21 minutes ago, perkie1968 said:

THIS.  Maxie, of the heart transplant, who's first two pregnancies were high risk, accidentally getting pregnant is just too stupid for words.  The only good thing would be if she found out the truth about Peter, dumped him, then miscarried.  Also, this show does not need another baby right now.  

 

I know I will be miscarriageFF if this happens. Nobody on this show needs to have more children, least of all Maxie (and someone needs to hold Sonny down while he has a vasectomy). Stop writing pregnancy storylines, stop writing in pregnancies if the actresses are pregnant. 

The only thing I'm grateful for is that we were not subjected to a Peter/Maxie love scene for this crap.

[ffwbe]

Sam was clearly standing in for Lucas with her Julian scenes today. They’ve had no relationship for years so it really shouldn’t be a loss for him. At least Lucas has gone back and forth. I can’t even tell if she’s really supposed to that angry at him since we’ve had so many instances of her undeservingly lashing out at people (Alexis, Brando, Kristina) lately. For all we knew, she was just looking for an excuse to yell at him because she’s still unhappy with the current state of her life. 
 

I have nothing else to say about this episode since literally nothing happened. I guess the show has some leeway to back off or change things before they come back since they didn’t confirm Maxie being pregnant, Valentin taking over ELQ, the outcome of the custody battle, or Nelle being Nina’s daughter today. 

[Blackie]

1 hour ago, BlancheDevoreaux said:

hat, combined with the facts

 

That she wears a negligee to court

[CharethCutestory]

GH disappoints me day after day but still, I hope it comes back and they don't decide to cancel it without a proper sendoff. I fear that will happen the longer no filming stretches on. 

I wish they'd take the opportunity to do a significant time jump for when it returns. Like five years. It could fix so many problems and be a chance to eliminate a lot of dead weight. Fill the audience in with "flashbacks" for a couple of weeks. Of course all of the kids will be SORAS'd while the adults remain the same age if not younger 😉 

If the show the comes back after the writers have had all this time to conceptualize and plan some really good content and its the same old crap maybe it deserves to get the ax after all. 

 

Edited May 21, 2020 by CharethCutestory

[Blackie]

57 minutes ago, perkie1968 said:

58 minutes ago, statsgirl said:

Maybe they can animate the characters

That's what Blacklist did with their last episode.  It was weird.  

58 minutes ago, statsgirl said:

the actors can do voicework from home.

All Rise did that with their last episode, actors in their own homes, playing their characters.  Was weird, yet interesting all rolled into one.

 

 

 

Or just voice work in s podcast.  I think soap operas began as radio dramas so they could go back to their roots.

[YaddaYadda]

I think B&B is aiming to go back to filming in June, but there's nothing set in stone.

Any soap that goes back to filming will have to have a skeleton crew, no makeup sharing, no kissing or rolls in the hay. They'd have to try and film with the same actors as much as possible. So if they're filming the court scenes, it would probably be better to stick with those actors and finish all those scenes then move on to other things. It's easy to seat people apart in a court room, but not so easy to have people standing 6 feet apart at all time. And I don't know what MB will do if Sonny is unable to shout in Mike's ear about how inconvenienced he is that his father can't remember him.

It sounds like a logistical nightmare, tbh. I'll miss complaining about the show, though. 

[sacrebleu]

1 hour ago, YaddaYadda said:

I'll miss complaining about the show, though. 

Heh. Its really the best part of watching this show.

I wonder if they're chem testing Olivia/Robert. They seem to throw them together and then not take it anywhere. 

 

 

 

[ouinason]

I think I will use the hiatus to write fanfiction of what I think would be a better story.  Or, watch youtube clips, probably that one.

[sas616]

On 5/19/2020 at 11:15 PM, TeeVee329 said:

I was just reading on Twitter that a good chunk of the special was, "Well, soaps were good, but then the OJ trial and now we have reality shows so get bent, soaps."?

I took it even further, thinking ABC was sending out a warning, "don't get too comfortable, kids, because GH won't be here much longer."

[Benji]

It's probably the writing but I find the actress that plays Brooklynn is awful. All she does is yell at people, purse/chew her lips and sneer. 

[driver18]

I found myself SO irritated during the courtroom scenes today and the last few days because SO many big moments, scenes ended with reaction shots to CARLY like this was *her* big story and that is just everything wrong with this story. It should be about Michael and his reaction, not his freaking mother. Ugh. (Not that I give two figs about Michael, but you know what I mean.)

*sigh* I really wished it had ended on Nina seeing the heart necklace so there was a really juicy cliffhanger at least.... alas.

As always I loved Nelle. I do love Robert and Olivia and I'm all down for chem-testing them and going somewhere there (yeah!), but other than that today was a big ole bust and *such* a disappointment as THE last episode were going to see for months.

I hope the writers take this time to do some soul-searching, fix some things and we DO come back with some good stuff.  (OH, and you know, PLEASE come back.)

Edited May 22, 2020 by driver18

[Blackie]

2 hours ago, sacrebleu said:

wonder if they're chem testing Olivia/Robert.

 

also weirdly Laura and Valentin today had some spark

[Bringonthedrama]

On 5/20/2020 at 7:31 PM, pinkandsparkly13 said:

Why must Ava act like Nikolas is the worst of the worst considering the things that she's done? "He pretended to be dead for three years". Uh so did you! 

She told someone (I think Julian) right after they got married that she wanted revenge on Nikolas for pretending to be a ghost when she was institutionalized and manipulating her into telling him where the Helena painting was by saying "Kiki is in hell with me but she'll forgive you if..."  She felt that Nikolas using her grief and guilt over her daughter's death was unforgivable. 

[ffwbe]

I still don’t see how marrying Julian has helped Nelle in any way and she should have known that. If anything, its makes her look worse in the eyes of the court and no one buys them as a legit marriage. I get that it was just a plot point to have Julian’s crimes come out but they didn’t even try to make it look like it’s benefited her or helped her chances in anyway. 

[Mirabelle]

5 hours ago, statsgirl said:

Sasha going through an addiction because she lost Michael;

I hope this storyline ends the way it did for Regina Morrow* in Sweet Valley High. I cannot believe we are expected to feel anything for Sasha beyond scorn. She is the one who orchestrated her break up with Michael who has all the appeal of an infestation of fruit flies. 

 

*Dead from coke.

[nilyank]

19 minutes ago, Blackie said:

 

also weirdly Laura and Valentin today had some spark

Genie has oodles of chemistry with most of her scene partners.

As does JPS.

[ouinason]

2 hours ago, nilyank said:

As does JPS.

And yet with CW, nothing.

[Winston Wolfe]

3 hours ago, Benji said:

It's probably the writing but I find the actress that plays Brooklynn is awful. All she does is yell at people, purse/chew her lips and sneer. 

She seems to serve no purpose except to wear unflattering short skirts and move other characters' plot lines along. Really odd given all the "you're just like your Grandmother Tracy" digs BL got when she returned this time around. Sadly, this iteration doesn't even come close and it's mostly due to the actress.

[seasons]

I did love today 's exchange between diane and tad martin in the courtroom when she objected to something he was saying while questioning Nelle. She made some kind of comment to the judge about his "southern fried" commentary. I forget what judge said but tad turned back to diane, perplexed look on his face, saying "southern fried???" in almost a whisper to her, like he genuinely didn't know what she meant. I love cute little fun , lighthearted moments like that. Michael Knight seems like a good guy irl and surely has heard the reactions to his Martin Grey interpretation ! Good stuff.

[Blackie]

2 hours ago, seasons said:

She made some kind of comment to the judge about his "southern fried" commentary.

 

I yelled out Kentucky Fried at that moment 😆

[driver18]

Michael E. Knight is truly fantastic!

[Sake614]

5 hours ago, seasons said:

Michael Knight seems like a good guy irl

 

He really is (or was). I'm dating myself here, but MEK showed up at my job (ad agency) for a commercial audition 40 years ago. The casting director was Maxine Marxx (Groucho's daughter). I was fairly star-struck at the time but he was really sweet. 🙂

[TVbitch]

In addition to Sonny continually yelling at Mike and expressing his disappointment to Mike, then he and Jason stand IN Mike's room and talk about his condition and whether they should let him die. Um, he might be able to hear you, morons! 

Valentin flirtin' with Laura and Sasha, and he made nice with Lulu. He has a spring in his step since getting rid of dead weight Nina.

Why are they acting like Liv talking to a psychic is so weird, when Liv WAS a psychic herself for a long time! 

Brook Lynn is so unlikeable. Terrible way to introduce a returning character. 

...ah, that was my final bitch for god knows how long. What on earth will I watch when I eat lunch? 

[dubbel zout]

BH introduced this episode, and wow, she looked radiant. 

This ep was the one where Luke finds out what's wrong with him. We see LW as his mom, CL as young Pat, Dee Wallace Stone as adult Pat.

[seasons]

I am loving this flashback episode! Missed it the first time around. Like watching a play or something. Enjoying the actors playing legacy characters!!!!!

 

Hoping Michael E. Knight wins the Emmy for guest performance. Nice to read positive reports about him here. Wiki says he is 61! That skin - good genes but I'll have what he's having! Would be interesting if he put a little color rinse in his hair - would love to see that! He has already won several daytime Emmys but still I'd love to see him snag this one too! 🎖🏆🏅

Edited May 22, 2020 by seasons

[absnow54]

So when they say next week will be the “best of” the Nurse’s Ball, it will all be from the last 8 years and not from the 90’s during the Nurse’s Ball hey day. Guess I’ll poke through old you tube clips instead...

[dubbel zout]

I saw that Magic Milo bit and shuddered. I know @jsbt feels differently.

[BlancheDevoreaux]

I didn't see today's episode when it originally aired. Anyone remember The Wonder Years? Wow Laura Wright looked like the mom from that. Also made me sad how much I enjoyed her here. If the writing doesn't suck, she isn't a half bad actress.

[dubbel zout]

I think Carly is often so terrible that LW doesn't get enough credit for how she portrays her.

I remember when this episode first aired that LW remarked she enjoyed playing Lena, because she was so different from Carly and allowed LW to dial things back. She knows she's got a big presence, and she said it was a nice challenge to try to tamp that down.

[statsgirl]

4 hours ago, dubbel zout said:

This ep was the one where Luke finds out what's wrong with him. We see LW as his mom, CL as young Pat, Dee Wallace Stone as adult Pat.

I was trying to figure out who was playing adult Pat. Thanks!

I enjoyed it more than I thought I would because the emphasis was shared rather than just on Luke. (I never really cared much for him and thought that TG was over-rated.)

Both LW and CL got to tone down their usual characters.  "Dr. Hardy" and "Dr. Brewer' were funny. I think JT did a good job with Beradino's Steve Hardy's lack of expression.

[TVbitch]

Who played the young Luke? I'm surprised they didn't create a part for him like they did CL. Maybe they could have hired him to be Oscar or something. 

[YaddaYadda]

24 minutes ago, TVbitch said:

Who played the young Luke? I'm surprised they didn't create a part for him like they did CL. Maybe they could have hired him to be Oscar or something. 

I think LW lobbied hard to have CL join the cast. 

[Katy M]

30 minutes ago, TVbitch said:

Who played the young Luke? I'm surprised they didn't create a part for him like they did CL. Maybe they could have hired him to be Oscar or something. 

His name is Joey Luthman.  

[sas616]

3 hours ago, TVbitch said:

Who played the young Luke? I'm surprised they didn't create a part for him like they did CL. Maybe they could have hired him to be Oscar or something. 

I thought the same thing.  He really did a good job as young Luke.

 

[sas616]

18 hours ago, seasons said:

I did love today 's exchange between diane and tad martin in the courtroom when she objected to something he was saying while questioning Nelle. She made some kind of comment to the judge about his "southern fried" commentary. I forget what judge said but tad turned back to diane, perplexed look on his face, saying "southern fried???" in almost a whisper to her, like he genuinely didn't know what she meant. I love cute little fun , lighthearted moments like that. Michael Knight seems like a good guy irl and surely has heard the reactions to his Martin Grey interpretation ! Good stuff.

Have you seen the ATWT/AMC reunion Alan Locher did with Michael Knight, Jon Lindstrom, Cady McClain a few weeks ago?  Michael talks about the Martin Grey character and the  accent.  He said it just came out as he was saying his line--not planned.   He also said that his good friends JPS and BH encouraged him to contact FV about getting a job with the show.  Apparently, he needed to get work in order to keep his insurance.   So he called FV and asked if he had anything for him and luckily they needed someone for the Martin Grey role.  Don't think it was intended to be any more than a few episodes.

[ulkis]

10 hours ago, YaddaYadda said:

I think LW lobbied hard to have CL join the cast. 

What makes you say that?

[YaddaYadda]

1 hour ago, ulkis said:

What makes you say that?

I read it on this board after CL was hired to play Chloe. Actually, there is a quote in her wikipedia page that both LW and FV were adamant that if anyone should play Nelle it should CL and that the story was put on hold for her while she wrapped up Kingdom. I'm assuming that since Nelle was going to be died to Carly's origin story and Michael that LW had her word to say on the casting.

Edited May 23, 2020 by YaddaYadda

[rur]

2 hours ago, YaddaYadda said:

I read it on this board after CL was hired to play Chloe. Actually, there is a quote in her wikipedia page that both LW and FV were adamant that if anyone should play Nelle it should CL and that the story was put on hold for her while she wrapped up Kingdom. I'm assuming that since Nelle was going to be died to Carly's origin story and Michael that LW had her word to say on the casting.

Hee --  so, IRL, Carly still manages Michael's life?

[Luckylyn]

35 minutes ago, rur said:

Hee --  so, IRL, Carly still manages Michael's life?

Method acting

[AryasMum]

On 5/21/2020 at 8:54 PM, Blackie said:

 

also weirdly Laura and Valentin today had some spark

The older actresses know how it’s done. I thought Alexis had far more spark with Brandon than Sam. 

[dubbel zout]

1 hour ago, AryasMum said:

I thought Alexis had far more spark with Brandon than Sam. 

I don't think Sam has chemistry with anyone, and it's because KeMo has completely given up. She puts in no effort.