Unpopular Opinions: "I hate BLTs from Kelly's!"

[driver18]

Nelle has become the main reason I am still watching the show. I like it, but I am trying to cut down on TV watching time and every now and then consider cutting GH out of my life, but something keeps me holding on. Right now... it's Chloe Lanier/Nelle.

GH may be trying to sell her as sociopathic EVUL, but it's not working, or they are actually trying to turn the tide. Either way, due to Chloe Lanier's portrayal -- when Carly walked in after Nina hired Nelle, I legit laughed out loud so hard at Lanier's delivery of 'Your girl got herself a job" -- and the 'Nelle is Nina's daughter/possibly Willow's twin' story I am HERE for basically her now.

Edited April 29, 2020 by driver18

[dubbel zout]

33 minutes ago, driver18 said:

when Carly walked in after Nina hired Nelle, I legit laughed out loud so hard at Lanier's delivery of 'Your girl got herself a job"

I love that Nelle is constantly needling Carly with little jabs like that. And there's nothing Carly can do about it except sneer or huff. Hee.

[Asp Burger]

22 hours ago, driver18 said:

when Carly walked in after Nina hired Nelle, I legit laughed out loud so hard at Lanier's delivery of 'Your girl got herself a job"

I had the same reaction yesterday when she was walking out of the Metro Court, saw Carly, and said, "Carly! Oh God, I heard Michael had his heart broken again. That's so sad. We're gonna have to talk soon." She's become one of my favorite characters, and I wouldn't have predicted that prior to her being sent to prison.  

[driver18]

1 hour ago, Asp Burger said:

I had the same reaction yesterday when she was walking out of the Metro Court, saw Carly, and said, "Carly! Oh God, I heard Michael had his heart broken again. That's so sad. We're gonna have to talk soon." She's become one of my favorite characters, and I wouldn't have predicted that prior to her being sent to prison.  

I literally rewound that scene three time, I was laughing SO HARD. Plus, her "Bye" to Willow had me rolling too. I liked her prior to her going to prison, but I LOVE HER SO MUCH now. GH needs to do everything they possibly can to sign Chloe Lanier to another contract STAT!

[ffwbe]

4 hours ago, driver18 said:

I literally rewound that scene three time, I was laughing SO HARD. Plus, her "Bye" to Willow had me rolling too. I liked her prior to her going to prison, but I LOVE HER SO MUCH now. GH needs to do everything they possibly can to sign Chloe Lanier to another contract STAT!

She’s definitely the sole enjoyable part of this Wiley storyline for me. This show needs more fun, snarky characters. I already lost Ryan and Britt so I’m liking Nelle. Plus, Carly needs a foil who is willing to be petty. All of her other enemies are not on the show right now, have matured above it, or are friendly with her now.

[driver18]

11 minutes ago, ffwbe said:

She’s definitely the sole enjoyable part of this Wiley storyline for me. This show needs more fun, snarky characters. I already lost Ryan and Britt so I’m liking Nelle. Plus, Carly needs a foil who is willing to be petty. All of her other enemies are not on the show right now, have matured above it, or are friendly with her now.

What I'm actually kinda enjoying about the Nelle/Carly scenes is how Nelle goes to Carly and talks to her like she's almost confiding her, like 'yeah, so this is what is going on now, and can you believe it?' Like her and Carly *are* sisters. It's just.... man, I love Nelle.

[dubbel zout]

32 minutes ago, driver18 said:

What I'm actually kinda enjoying about the Nelle/Carly scenes is how Nelle goes to Carly and talks to her like she's almost confiding her, like 'yeah, so this is what is going on now, and can you believe it?' Like her and Carly *are* sisters. It's just.... man, I love Nelle.

I'd really like to know if that is Chloe Lanier's choice or that's what the writers intend, because it's such a great choice. Yet another way to stick it to Carly.

[AryasMum]

On 4/30/2020 at 5:18 PM, dubbel zout said:

I'd really like to know if that is Chloe Lanier's choice or that's what the writers intend, because it's such a great choice. Yet another way to stick it to Carly.

I don’t even hate Carly, but I get such a kick out of Nelle.  They’re going to need to hardcore redeem her before I want her getting custody of her son.  They need to recon her murder of her fiancé at least.  I want to see her soften up with the presumed Nina reveal.  I did love the scene where Nelle became very emotional and told Carly that they had met, and she felt Carly abandoned her to her father.

[dubbel zout]

53 minutes ago, AryasMum said:

 They’re going to need to hardcore redeem her before I want her getting custody of her son.

Not for me. If Sonny can have Avery under the circumstances he has her, Nelle can have at least joint custody of Wiley. That won't happen, I'm sure, because Nelle is the evulest evul who ever evuled, but I'd at least like to see Colonel Tad Sanders use Sonny as a negative in Michael's favor. (You know what I mean.) And I'd also love an update on where Brad and Lucas (who?) stand legally, as Lucas can't just hand over a kid to Michael simply because they discover Michael is the bio dad. It's ridiculous Lucas did that and the show then dropped the fact that Brad and Lucas are Wiley's legal parents. And for all of Michael's yammering that Lucas, at least, will be a big presence in Wiley's life, we sure haven't seen or heard it.

[AryasMum]

2 minutes ago, dubbel zout said:

Not for me. If Sonny can have Avery under the circumstances he has her, Nelle can have at least joint custody of Wiley. That won't happen, I'm sure, because Nelle is the evulest evul who ever evuled, but I'd at least like to see Colonel Tad Sanders use Sonny as a negative in Michael's favor. (You know what I mean.) And I'd also love an update on where Brad and Lucas (who?) stand legally, as Lucas can't just hand over a kid to Michael simply because they discover Michael is the bio dad. It's ridiculous Lucas did that and the show then dropped the fact that Brad and Lucas are Wiley's legal parents. And for all of Michael's yammering that Lucas, at least, will be a big presence in Wiley's life, we sure haven't seen or heard it.

I don’t know why, I just want some redemption of the murdering. It wasn’t in the heat of the moment, it was pre-mediated (I think), which just adds to the impression of her being a psychopath. She’s my favorite character right now, but I don’t want Wiley to have a psychopath for a mom, regardless of Sonny’s own sins. 🤷‍♀️
 

The actress has the chops to pull it off. I remember originally thinking - there’s no way this girl will effectively portray a bad side. My favorite moment is when Sonny told her to turn off her fake tears, and Chloe did it in an instant.  She’s head and shoulders above all of the other female characters in her age group right now. 

[dubbel zout]

2 minutes ago, AryasMum said:

I just want some redemption of the murdering.

I wouldn't mind if the murder was retconned out of existence. It was so dumb of the writers not to make it an accident in the first place, but Nelle had to be wildly demonized so that keeping away Wiley was justified. Which in the GH moral universe it isn't, I don't care how hard the writers try.

There are a lot of bad plot points I hope the writers jettison without a backward glance, and the restart of taping is the perfect time to do it. A time jump could solve a lot of problems: Show us where people are now and give as little explanation as necessary.

[AryasMum]

2 minutes ago, dubbel zout said:

I wouldn't mind if the murder was retconned out of existence. It was so dumb of the writers not to make it an accident in the first place, but Nelle had to be wildly demonized so that keeping away Wiley was justified. Which in the GH moral universe it isn't, I don't care how hard the writers try.

There are a lot of bad plot points I hope the writers jettison without a backward glance, and the restart of taping is the perfect time to do it. A time jump could solve a lot of problems: Show us where people are now and give as little explanation as necessary.

I used to love Carly back in the day, and still like her well enough. If GH has any longevity, I would love Nelle to be the new Carly. 

[Melgaypet]

On 7/6/2020 at 11:56 AM, AryasMum said:

If GH has any longevity, I would love Nelle to be the new Carly. 

I thought this was the entire point of Nelle, but they backed off that pretty quick and made her first the limpest dishrag of a bad girl ever and then gave her some over-the-top evil black widow history.

I think the show is afraid of making Nelle a new Carly because a) that would imply that Carly is Old Carly and not Carly Supreme, and b) she would have to accomplish something, impossible when Sonny/Jason/Carly/Michael must always win. Love or hate her, young Carly was a human wrecking ball who did real damage. Nelle has, what, given birth to a completely unnecessary child and facilitated a baby swap where most of what passed for drama had nothing to do with her?

[dubbel zout]

The show doesn't need a new Carly, it needs an anti-Carly. Someone who really challenges her. Whenever she goes against someone, there's no doubt whatsoever that she will win. Maybe not in the immediate present, but certainly not long after. Where's the drama in that? How is that entertaining? Spoiler: There is no drama, and it's not entertaining. I cannot understand why Carly/Jason/Sonny have no genuine opponents that cause them ongoing trouble.

One reason OLTL was so fun to watch was that Dorian and Viki were huge rivals and (occasional, and sometimes surprising and hilarious) allies. I think the scales probably tipped more in Viki's favor overall, but they were worthy adversaries, and you didn't always know who would come up on top. It can be done.

[Melgaypet]

21 minutes ago, dubbel zout said:

I cannot understand why Carly/Jason/Sonny have no genuine opponents that cause them ongoing trouble.

Related, do writers not understand the very basic principle that people root for the underdog? He wasn't any better a person, but Sonny was much easier to take back in the days when he was a mid-level mob flunky despised and distrusted by most people in Port Charles.

[dubbel zout]

3 hours ago, Melgaypet said:

Related, do writers not understand the very basic principle that people root for the underdog?

It would help enormously if the underdog weren't a murdering mobster, but if it means Sonny genuinely loses once or twice a year—I'm not greedy!—I'll go along with it.

[statsgirl]

It's interesting that even through all the various head writers, the show continues to have designated winners (Luke, Jason, and then Sonny and Carly) and designated losers (AJ, Tracy, Scott, Liz's love life, latterly Julian and Ava). There is no suspense when you know who is going to win.

[Melgaypet]

On 7/18/2020 at 8:45 PM, dubbel zout said:

It would help enormously if the underdog weren't a murdering mobster, but if it means Sonny genuinely loses once or twice a year—I'm not greedy!—I'll go along with it.

I mean, it's the only reason I ever root for Ava. She's not likeable - she's basically Sonny in a dress - but because she's the Designated Loser against Sonny and Carly, I end up on her side.

Another UO: I wish, when they decided to hang on to the talented Kathleen Gati, they just would've gone the tried-and-true route of giving Olbrecht a twin. She - let's call her Gretchen - could have been a hardass Chief of Staff and Nathan's Secret Mom without all the Helena-fangirling, Faison-obsessing, Robin-torturing evil baggage.

[dubbel zout]

28 minutes ago, Melgaypet said:

I mean, it's the only reason I ever root for Ava. She's not likeable - she's basically Sonny in a dress - but because she's the Designated Loser against Sonny and Carly, I end up on her side.

Same, except when Ava shoots herself in the foot, like when she set fire to her gallery and then whined about her "scar." 

[ouinason]

Yeah, it's hard to feel sorry for Ava when she does things to herself.  The unfair BS, sure, but the fire and scars and her shitty relationship with Lauren was all her own doing, so she can twist.

[statsgirl]

Kiki lost me when she become a Sonny worshipper and was willing to throw her mother to the wolves to stay in his and Carly's good graces. I was also disgusted (yes, disgusted) by her treatment of Ava once she got together with Griffin.

Ava, like Nelle, has a way of shooting herself in the foot by going too far but she genuinely wanted to save Kiki from Morgan.

[Ambrosefolly]

17 hours ago, statsgirl said:

Ava, like Nelle, has a way of shooting herself in the foot by going too far but she genuinely wanted to save Kiki from Morgan.

She did it in the stupidest way possible. There was too much toxicity in the Kiki and Morgan relationship on both of their parts. She needed to get Kiki to think that Morgan was cheating on her, not make him even more unstable which gave the double edge sword of Kiki wanting to "save" Morgan and Morgan getting more erratic and frustrated that his meds aren't working. I think Ava had unresolved feelings for Morgan (probably wishing he was Avery's daddy), so she tried to hurt him in the worst possible way. 

Edited July 24, 2020 by Ambrosefolly

[dubbel zout]

12 hours ago, Ambrosefolly said:

She did it in the stupidest way possible.

That's for sure. Messing with Morgan's meds? She's really lucky she wasn't shot on the spot when that was revealed. Lauren was an idiot to let Carly guilt her into staying with Morgan, but those two would have imploded sooner or later. Ava just needed to be a bit more patient, but no one in Port Charles has that.

[ouinason]

I don't understand how Ava thought that putting Morgan in a state of mind that made it more likely that he would accidentally or psychotically harm her daughter would somehow protect her.  Like, putting someone in danger to protect them from danger is moronic.

Sleeping with Morgan when he was with Lauren, Ava's own fault.  Faking her death and leaving her child to think she's dead and then showing up as some "aunt" and confusing the shit out of her, Ava.  Tampering with Morgan's meds, all Ava's own doing.  Revealing her sleeping with Griffin and tanking her sexual harassment suit, all on Ava.  Now, some of the blame is obviously on Lauren too, but a significantly smaller amount.  And really I put most of the responsibility of nurturing a healthy relationship between parent and child on the parent in general.  I mean, it's not like there was no justification for Lauren being pissed off with her mother.  She didn't just wake up one day and decide that Ava was a bad meanyhead.  

 

Now, siding with Sonny about Avery in any way prior to Morgan's death was some grade a bitch bullshit, but after that?  I can see there being some reason for Lauren to be all "OMG how could anyone trust this woman with a child?"

 

Especially since Avery lived with Morgan, which put her in proximity to the crazy that Ava was nurturing there, and with no ability to understand or defend herself if something happened.  Just like with Mike, when Ava lost her shit about him being around Avery.  You put her in that same position woman, so take it down just a notch (not that she was entirely wrong, but a bit hypocritical). 

[Melgaypet]

45 minutes ago, ouinason said:

I can see there being some reason for Lauren to be all "OMG how could anyone trust this woman with a child?"

Fair. But no one should trust Sonny with a child either.

As a matter of fact, there were times I thought Lauren was going to try to make a play for custody herself. During Operation: Alcoholic I kept wondering if she was going to double-cross Morgan (who thought they were trying to get Avery for Sonny). I don't remember now if there was something in the performance or just wishful thinking, but I wasn't alone. I also kinda wanted Lauren and Michael Without Pity to have a marriage of convenience to keep Avery away from both Ava and Sonny.

[ouinason]

Morgan and Lauren SHOULD HAVE gotten remarried, rigged a paternity test to show Morgan as Avery's daddy (which I still think is true) and then gotten custody and run off with her.

[Melgaypet]

Morgan was way too up Daddy's ass for that. It's a big part of why I wanted Lauren to screw him over. That, and a desperate desire for her to be interesting if she was going to be onscreen all the time.

[dubbel zout]

Even the dumbest Corinthos can never lose. (Yes, I know he's dead.)

[sppa125]

I never liked Elizabeth because she is a two faced flake who pretended to care about people's emotions, yet always seemed to be stringing at least two guys at a time. I hated NL's Emily for the same reason, actually. 

I also find Rebecca Herbst's acting to be flat and lacking of subtext. When Sarah Brown played those bitchy scenes, there was a subtext of soulfulness, that it was coming from a place of hurt. I don't get that with Becky. It's either one note smirk bitchy or one note baby talk.

Another one who is overrated is Tyler Christopher. Firstly, for a soap the guy could not play romance to save his life. It always came across as sleazy, instead of tender and romantic. And he was someone you could tell was bored or hated his storyline. Like when Mary held him, he acted like a bored actor who was irritated he had to pretend to believe her lies rather that what the actual story was. For a prince, he never had a lot of charm, and never seemed to smile either.

And it didn't help Guza kept doing the same story over again with Nik: the serial wife poacher -- Emily from Zander, Courtney from Jax, Liz from Lucky. Don't even get me started on hitman Nik that came out of nowhere under RC.

Edited August 8, 2020 by sppa125

[isalicat]

I guess from other threads that this is an unpopular opinion: I really don't like the "Sam McCall" replacement actress and I'm happy she is very much a temp. To be shallow - I think she is fugly and is overacting hugely. All compared to Kelly Monaco, who in my opinion is still a remarkable beauty which is an intrinsic part of the character, and who may have been "phoning it in" since SB came back, but is still far more convincing as a semi-retired con artist and full time enabler of a bunch of mostly incompetent criminals.

[Hater]

I don't mind Peter.  The only thing that's annoying about him is the connection to Anna, which can easily be changed to Alex.  But in regards to ruining Jason and Sam's life?  I do not care. One bit.  Much like Nelle vs. Carly, having Peter go up against the most condesending duo in Port Charles does not make me root for them.

[statsgirl]

My problem with Peter is that the show wants to make him both good and bad at the same time. It's something they keep trying to do, with Valentin, with Sonny, and they can never manage to make it work. Better to have an out-and-out villain like Helena.

[ffwbe]

2 hours ago, statsgirl said:

My problem with Peter is that the show wants to make him both good and bad at the same time. It's something they keep trying to do, with Valentin, with Sonny, and they can never manage to make it work. Better to have an out-and-out villain like Helena.

I think it works better with Valentin even though I know most people don’t enjoy him either. I love him away from Nina but I think JPS is more charismatic than WR. 

[dubbel zout]

JPS gets better writing than WR, which isn't saying much, and I think that gives JPS a clearer idea of who Valentin is, especially now that we're past the dumb "I was a teenage hunchback" stuff.

[statsgirl]

I think the improvement in Valentin has come because he's been freed from being the romantic lead.  He's much freer now to talk genuinely with Alexis, to plot without constant Nina factor, and even to have a sense of humour. Like Obrecht, Valentin has been freed to just be a fun character.

I think Sonny and Jason both suffer from the same problem, the need to be both hero and mobster.

[Kiki777]

Today’s episode started out crappy but ended up fun.  I am enjoying scheming Valentin and can’t wait to see Michael’s reaction to being ousted.

[Melgaypet]

I've been watching the Asian Quarter story on youtube and I have an UO: Frisco Jones is a self-absorbed jackass and the only time he doesn't annoy me is in scenes with tiny Robin.

[statsgirl]

I loved the Asian Quarter story. I wish we had that quality now.

[UYI]

I honestly find myself enjoying some of the so-called "transitional" period of 1992-1993 (pre-Claire Labine) than I do some of the stuff from the Labine era (1993-1996) or the late 90's. I don't know, as great as the big stories of the Labine era were (BJ's heart, Monica's breast cancer, the AIDS story), and as many classically soapy moments in the late 90's as there were (Clink!Boom, LL2), there's something kind of refreshing about the era from 1992-1993 from what I've seen of YouTube (and keep in mind, ALL I've seen of 90's GH--from beginning to end--I've only seen on YouTube). Maybe it wasn't as well-written as the the stuff that came after it, but there's a...I don't know, a homey feeling, I guess?--that I don't get quite as much of from the years after it (okay, the Labine era has that, too, but not the in same way, IMO). It didn't have quite the same socially-conscious storytelling that the Labines brought to the show, but it also didn't have the mob shootout stuff that started becoming more frequent, by the end of the decade, either, it was its own thing...and I really like it. 

Okay, maybe I just really love Sean & Tiffany and the story they had when Cheryl died and they fought Tony & Bobbie for custody of Lucas.

(I refuse to add "who?" for child!Lucas--he was FAR more relevant and drove FAR more story as a newborn baby/toddler than he EVER has as an adult--child!Lucas was NOT a "who?", at all.)

*ahem*

But anyway, yeah, I really need to watch more of that era, and S&T's story in particular, because I've loved what I've seen--they were/are WAY more than their (admittedly awesome) wedding.

I mean, I don't know what I'd think of the island caper that Jason Q./Karen/Jagger had during the summer of 1992, or the weird story with Holly's lookalike cousin Paloma, but Sean & Tiffany? Tony & Bobbie? Scott & Dominique? Jagger & Karen when they're NOT on an island with Jason Q.? HELL yes! 

It IS jarring, though, to think that the Autumn Breeze theme song/opening was STILL being used during that era--I'll be watching clips from back then, and then you see the end of a bumper with the 1976-1993 theme and it feels a bit...outdated and bizarre (even weirder: Steve Burton, Vanessa Marcil, AND Sean Kanan all debuted on the show when that opening was still being used--strange, but true!). It's iconic, but I can see why they debuted the Faces of the Heart opening on the show's 30th anniversary in 1993. It was time. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited August 17, 2020 by UYI

[TheMediaHo]

I miss Hells, Obrecht, and Britt. Evil AND charming/amusing. Now I’m down to Ava.  Hoping that Liesl somehow makes an appearance at the NB this week!

[OnceSane]

I don't have a problem with KeMo's new lips.  I thought they were protuding like a Kardashian by the descriptions...just watched some clips and they look fine to me.  

[mbluecpa]

I can’t believe I’m typing this, but I miss Michelle Stafford’s Nina. 

[ouinason]

Me too

[ouinason]

Ok, gotta get this off my chest.  I don't really think that Peter is responsible for Nathan's death in more than a neglectful kind of way.  He didn't orchestrate it, or engineer it.  That implies that he intended Nathan to die.  Not only do I think that level of manipulation of someone like Faison would be hella difficult, and that it doesn't make any sense to try, I certainly don't think that Peter had any intention of harming Nathan at all.  Use him as bait?  Yep, absolutely, but get him killed?  No way. 

 

For one thing, Nathan wasn't even supposed to be there, he was working and answered a call, could have been any cop in the PCPD.  Peter had no way of knowing that his father and Nathan would be in the building at the same time.  He was trying to get Faison to show up and try to kill HIM, hence the vest (and Faison did exactly as expected there).  Old dude didn't hurt Maxie, who was right there, he was startled by a cop.  He didn't even PLAN to murder a cop (Sonny cough cough), it just happened that way.

 

And ... AND Nathan was just as involved (if not more) with Lulu and her stupid article as Peter was.  Are we saying that Nathan engineered his death?  No.  The only info that Peter had that the other two didn't was that he was Faison Jr. and daddy hated him.  If they had known who Peter was.... I don't think that would have stopped either Nathan or Lulu from doing it.  

[nilyank]

8 hours ago, ouinason said:

And ... AND Nathan was just as involved (if not more) with Lulu and her stupid article as Peter was.  Are we saying that Nathan engineered his death?  No.  The only info that Peter had that the other two didn't was that he was Faison Jr. and daddy hated him.  If they had known who Peter was.... I don't think that would have stopped either Nathan or Lulu from doing it.

I would add that Nathan would have asked Peter to work with him to get Faison. Girl reporter would have been thrilled to actually get a second source for her stupid article with Peter.

[ulkis]

Not technically no but Maxie spent months busting Lulu about it but now she went on about how he helped heal her from something he helped cause. It looks a bit ridiculous.

[ouinason]

I do agree about that to a point, however Lulu was Maxie's closest friend at the time and she couldn't exactly rail at Nathan about it, so Lulu got double.

[Ambrosefolly]

I still feel like Frank Valentini is raping Laura's backstory in order to hammer in his characters. Like every other insta-relative, I believe FV's pulled out not only Martin Grey and Cyrus being brothers, but both of them being Laura's half brother out of his ass. While I doubt Martin always intended to be Laura's brother, but that works. His dad might have been a cheating asshole, but he was also a white married college professor. Not a huge leap he would have a son that went on to become a successful lawyer and when Florence took a turn for the worse, the son would focus on the monetary amount instead of ethics of cases to finance round the clock top care for her. I wouldn't put it past that sick fuck Valentin to employ Martin knowing full well that he is Laura's brother. Cyrus, on the other hand, more of a leap that someone from a well to do background would eventually become a drug kingpin, especially born and raised in  America. Unless the backstory is he was a dying chemistry teacher that turned to cooking the best damn crystal meth in America to take care of their mother, it would be more likely he would be psychopathic business man than a criminal drug lord. But FV likes to have previously antagonistic characters be insta-loyal to each other by having discovered they were related the entire time. And of course Sonny and Jason are hogging up Laura's storyline, like they have done with so many storylines over the past 20 years. 

[statsgirl]

12 hours ago, Ambrosefolly said:

Unless the backstory is he was a dying chemistry teacher that turned to cooking the best damn crystal meth in America to take care of their mother, it would be more likely he would be psychopathic business man than a criminal drug lord.

That is one of the problems for me in this story. Martin is a sometimes shady, sometimes weak character who fits into the framework of Port Charles. But Cyrus is a character who fits only into Sonny's story. The disconnect between him and Laura's world is too great.

[ouinason]

I feel like they pushed Julian out in order to make room for Cyrus to be a more permanent character, and that annoys me.