Episode Discussion: TFGH

[dubbel zout]

11 hours ago, Cheyanne11 said:

I cannot wait for that moron Carly's cell phone to die because she's so enraptured with her morse code app.

LOL. If only this were her downfall. But now that she has that orderly on her side, she could probably get a charger with no problem. 

3 hours ago, Sake614 said:

Although why she would give anyone a half-full bottle of cologne and why he’d accept it, is beyond me.

I know! "Here, I don't know where this used bottle of cologne came from, but it was in my backpack and I don't know what else to do with it. I think you'd like it." 

[Barb1959]

That Racoon scout (or whoever he was) was so stupid.  My son would have asked a million questions and would have gone for help. Never a moment of logic in this show.  A boy would never see a man tied up and just walk away!

[Sake614]

I wasn’t really hoping Patrick Gibbons would be a recast of one of Liz’ kids instead of this stupid Racoon scout. Did scott sickles write yesterday? 

[dubbel zout]

No, it was a Lucky Gold episode.

[ulkis]

14 minutes ago, dubbel zout said:

No, it was a Lucky Gold episode.

No, it was Sickles. I saw Lucky Gold's name pop up and then a minute later Sickles' did. Maybe they both wrote it. Weird.

[dubbel zout]

I thought whatever writer's name came up after the HWs was the episode writer. Or maybe Gold and Sickles have a different deal? I haz confused.

[Benji]

The actor who played Cam had more charisma in this one episode than Oscar has had in the whole time he's been on. Is he the "correct" age now ?

[Linny]

FINALLY a new older Cam! I just hope they do more with him than insert him into Joss and Oscar's relationship. Give me a surly Cam who's resentful of having a serial killer as a step-father and wishes his actual father were around instead (but that would require the show to acknowledge Lucky and why he's an uninvolved parent, so probably not likely). 

My excitement over seeing Sam and Lucas (and Brad!) in the same frame was killed as soon as Sam started lecturing Lucas about his relationship with Julian. If Sam chooses to remain distant from Julian that's her business, but Lucas should be able to decide his level of involvement without Sam's snotty disapproval.

Jason held Danny on his shoulders, so somebody get busy polishing his father of the year award. Okay, maybe that's unduly harsh, but it really does feel like Jason wanders into Danny once every three months and is reminded anew that yes, he is a father to this kid.

[Cheyanne11]

13 minutes ago, Benji said:

The actor who played Cam had more charisma in this one episode than Oscar has had in the whole time he's been on. Is he the "correct" age now ?

Think they SORAS'd him a year or so.  Actual birthdate for Cam is May 2004, which would put him at just turned 14.  

[dubbel zout]

SORASed Cam! Too bad he has to be a spoiler in the Joss/Oscar relationship. It's so unnecessary.

8 minutes ago, Linny said:

Give me a surly Cam who's resentful of having a serial killer as a step-father and wishes his actual father were around instead (but that would require the show to acknowledge Lucky and why he's an uninvolved parent, so probably not likely). 

If Cam is going to wonder about Lucky, I'd like Cam to wonder about Xander, too. But keep the resentment and anger away from Elizabeth, please, or at least the majority of it. 

"I don't want to say the wrong thing." Then STFU, Franco. Nothing about Terry is about you. Gah. Cassandra James, who plays Terry, is also transgender, so that's a good step in the right direction.

25 minutes ago, Linny said:

My excitement over seeing Sam and Lucas (and Brad!) in the same frame was killed as soon as Sam started lecturing Lucas about his relationship with Julian. If Sam chooses to remain distant from Julian that's her business, but Lucas should be able to decide his level of involvement without Sam's snotty disapproval.

That Julian—such a terrible person to want his children to be happy and to know when his son gets his adopted baby. Heinous! And hey, Sam, let Lucas and Brad decide what their relationship with Julian should be.

25 minutes ago, Linny said:

Jason held Danny on his shoulders, so somebody get busy polishing his father of the year award. Okay, maybe that's unduly harsh, but it really does feel like Jason wanders into Danny once every three months and is reminded anew that yes, he is a father to this kid.

We've seen and heard so little of Danny and Jason spending time together that I was legit surprised Danny ran up and hugged Jason.

[CharethCutestory]

20 minutes ago, dubbel zout said:

If Cam is going to wonder about Lucky, I'd like Cam to wonder about Xander, too. But keep the resentment and anger away from Elizabeth, please, or at least the majority of it. 

Me too. I thought it was a nice touch to style his hair similar to Zander's. I'm 100% here for Cam snarking and flipping off Franco any time he's around. Could just be coincidence but he was noticeably more hostile when he came home and Franco was there as opposed to typical teen angsty with Elizabeth as he was leaving. 

[Pingaponga]

I got the impression that Cam and Oscar didn't really know each other.  How is that possible?  I realize that they've aged Cam, and want a teen storyline (though I think Joss shoplifting would be enough), but realistically wouldn't they have met before now?  Drew is Oscar's father, and was thought to be Cam's brother's father - and at one point was going to be Cam's stepfather.   Wouldn't they even have met through Josslyn before now?  It just seemed odd.

[nilyank]

Even if they didn’t meet through Joss, they should have met through their mothers. Kim and Liz are co-workers and friendly. One of them would have mentioned their sons to get a chance to meet. Not necessarily becomes friends if they don’t want but at least know each other.

[dubbel zout]

I think one of the boys said they'd seen each other in school/had a class together? It was rather vague, but I got the impression they knew who the other was but hadn't spent any significant time together.

[HeatLifer]

Sam trying to start the story of the bridge to Danny makes me cackle. "Your daddy came up here with another woman" is a weird bedtime story, but ok, JaSam!

[TeeVee329]

Why does the show only care about Sam and Lucas' relationship when it's time to give Sam a role in his life/the life of his kid that seems...oversized...given we never see them together.

I seriously never thought we'd all live long enough to see Cam SORASed.  Congratulations, everyone, we did it!

[dubbel zout]

28 minutes ago, TeeVee329 said:

Why does the show only care about Sam and Lucas' relationship when it's time to give Sam a role in his life/the life of his kid that seems...oversized...given we never see them together.

They also put Sam and Lucas together when everyone needs reminding what an awful, terrible person/parent Julian is.

[teenj12]

I really liked Terry, so I hope she sticks around. Bonus points for the show casting an actual trans actress.

And ughhh at the whole Cameron/Joss/Oscar triangle thing brewing. I saw that coming literally five seconds before nuCam walked over to them at the park. It's always the same kind of story. It'll be the same as Molly/TJ/Rafe five years ago. They need to switch it up. Maybe have Oscar be the one to fall for Cameron. Something a little different, ya know. 

[LillyB]

Did Snarly tell Sonny to take Nelle out? She does know that he has no quarms about killing a woman after she gave birth. See Ava's sl.

[Perkie]

Carly told Sonny to get Nelle out of Michaels life "whatever it takes".  I took that to mean have Jason take her to the Pine Barrens.    Or Croton!!!

[statsgirl]

6 hours ago, dubbel zout said:

We've seen and heard so little of Danny and Jason spending time together that I was legit surprised Danny ran up and hugged Jason.

Maybe they promised the actor he can play with a puppy if he hugs Jason.

4 hours ago, dubbel zout said:

They also put Sam and Lucas together when everyone needs reminding what an awful, terrible person/parent Julian is.

They need to do that because in the same episode, Carly told Sonny to get rid of the parent of her grandchild, And Sonny's the good guy.

[Kiki777]

Ugh you know it's summer when they do the dumb teen love triangle to try to lure young viewers.  Sure it worked in the 90s (I started watching when Karen/Jagger/Brenda was the thing) but do kids today even care about soaps?  Good casting on Cam though, he looks a bit like Zander.

Did anyone catch the previews?  Milo was crying and Sonny mumbled something that I couldn't understand.  I watch this show wih closed captioning because of Sonny, but the previews are not captioned.

[Cheyanne11]

5 hours ago, dubbel zout said:

They also put Sam and Lucas together when everyone needs reminding what an awful, terrible person/parent Julian is.

Sam's moral high ground is on so much quicksand I can't believe her idiotic high heels haven't gotten stuck in it.  You break the law and think Jason and Sonny are good people--STFU, Mumbles.

Not to mention the contrivance of Lucas and Brad asking her to be their baby's godmother.  Not only do they only see each other twice a year, but Sam can barely be bothered to care about her own kids, never mind her half-brother's.

[Asp Burger]

15 hours ago, CharethCutestory said:

I'm 100% here for Cam snarking and flipping off Franco any time he's around. Could just be coincidence but he was noticeably more hostile when he came home and Franco was there as opposed to typical teen angsty with Elizabeth as he was leaving. 

I read that post before I watched the episode, so I was watching for it, but I don't think he was more hostile because Franco was there.  His mood seemed to take a bad turn during the Josslyn/Oscar scene. I think he started to feel like a fifth wheel, and they're setting him up as moody and lonely.  

It was weird that he asked Oscar how he was finding Port Charles, as if Oscar were newer in town than he was. He worked at the stupid camp last year.   

I liked the casting. He does look a lot like Chad Brannon. There was a picture on Pinterest (I think? Or Instagram? Something) of the actor getting his hair cut by some slightly scary-looking dude. It made me think of that scene in Boyhood.  

I hope they don't go too heavy on the Zander personality parallels, though, because I had had all I could take of that loser a good year and a half before he bit it. Shame. Potential that went right into the ditch. Thanks, Pruza.  (He was the rare character who was actually better with McTavish writing him.) 

10 hours ago, teenj12 said:

They need to switch it up. Maybe have Oscar be the one to fall for Cameron. Something a little different, ya know. 

Or vice versa. That would be a swerve, wouldn't it? We're supposed to think he just wants blond cutie Josslyn to be his girlfriend, but the real reason his mood darkened in that scene is that he's having confusing feelings for boys. 

Nah. They won't. It seems to be some unwritten rule in these shows that they only go there when the actors are a little older.  

The Terry scenes weren't terrible, but they were very PSA-y. I'd never put a friend of mine on the spot like that, at the first meeting in years (first ever, for Franco), to do a whole "my trans experience" monologue, and I really don't think Liz and Franco as they're usually written would do so either. Nor do I buy Franco being that discomfited in 2018.  It was more for the audience's benefit than for the characters'. I did like the actress.  

[Kiki777]

8 hours ago, Cheyanne11 said:

Not to mention the contrivance of Lucas and Brad asking her to be their baby's godmother.  Not only do they only see each other twice a year, but Sam can barely be bothered to care about her own kids, never mind her half-brother's.

Right!?!?  They should just bypass the middleman (or woman lol) and ask Monica to be godmother.

[TeeVee329]

Hey, does Lucas know that his other sister is in a mental hospital?  Or about his cousin Maxie's baby being born?  He's just so divorced from all his connections, it's crazy.

[statsgirl]

Lucas telling Sam what a wonderful mother she is and that is why they want her to be the godmother made me want to throw up. If you're looking for a a good mother figure, you're limited to Lulu or Liz. Maybe Maxie..

I guess Monica is looking after Scout.  KM  looked like an idiot grinning at Jason finally paying a little attention to Danny.

The  endless conversations about poor Michael putting himself in danger from Nelle seemed to last a month.

The Oscar kid is a pretty bad actor compared to nuCameron.

How irresponsible is Lyla's Kids to have 13 year olds as counselors and life guards? At my camps you had to be 16 just to be a trainee.

[Perkie]

10 hours ago, Kiki777 said:

Not to mention the contrivance of Lucas and Brad asking her to be their baby's godmother.  Not only do they only see each other twice a year, but Sam can barely be bothered to care about her own kids, never mind her half-brother's.

I'm no fan of Sam, but I'd rather she be godmother than CarSon.  Cuz you know the writers were itching to write that.  The only other option would have been nephew Michael, or neice Joss, both who have their hands full with Nelle and Carly.  

[nilyank]

Even though Britt is in prison, she should be the godmother as she is Brad's best friend. Lucas could pick the godfather. Remember when we found out Lucas and Griffin were friends in medical school. Yeah, I forgot too.

Edited July 5, 2018 by nilyank

[statsgirl]

A godmother is different things in different families.  Originally she was someone who helped in the religious upbringing of the child.  In dynastic families, godparents were selected for alliances.  For many of us, a godmother is someone we can go to when fighting with our parents.

For Brad and Lucas' baby, especially if it's a girl, the godmother would theoretically be the primary maternal influence in the child's life, especially since Brad seems to have no family around and Bobbie is too busy obsessing about Carly and her kids to have any time for her son. Britt would have been a good choice if she had had the opportunity to be a real part of the child's life.

5 hours ago, Perkie said:

I'm no fan of Sam, but I'd rather she be godmother than CarSon.  Cuz you know the writers were itching to write that. 

Yep, they probably were.  Soon CarSon will have stolen all the babies in Port Charles or linked them as they have Scout.

[LillyB]

I am sorry but I think that Sam with her morality issues is not fit to be anyone's godmother. They would have been better off asking Amy 2.0.

[jsbt]

They are trying way too hard to make that young girl playing Joss happen. She's not good enough to do all this alone. The kid playing Oscar speaks for himself - yikes.

These teen scenes have no energy whatsoever. It's like dead air. Sleepy. The kid playing Cameron isn't awful (a bit monotone) but idk what they're trying to do. It's just lifeless. Like, 'look, they're young, you're (hopefully) young - shut up and watch!' Going back and rewatching past GH youth scenes (or more recently, the AMC 2.0 kids), by comparison it's just very funereal.

Edited July 5, 2018 by jsbt

[dubbel zout]

I don't mind a teen story, but I don't think it's interesting to watch two 15-year-old boys fight over a 15-year-old girl. Especially because it's all about one-upmanship. "She's mine!" "No, she's mine!" Zzzz. That's boring with adults. What happened to the kids stumbling onto some dumb mystery and Scooby-ganging it to figure it out? Or give one of the kids a real problem—Joss starts to have kidney trouble, and Oscar and Cam don't really know what to do to make her feel better, but they work together to try.

Or, hell, have Oscar and Cam develop feelings for each other, as someone suggested upthread. Anything but two dopey guys fighting over a dopey girl.

[Asp Burger]

The Oscar kid isn't so bad with Billy Miller and/or Tamara Braun, but he and the Josslyn actress keeping scenes and stories afloat on their own isn't going to happen. With her, I'm even more out of luck, because I don't enjoy her in the scenes with her parents and other family members either, and it isn't exclusively about Corinthos fatigue. If someone would give her some vocal tips, that would be a big help all by itself. 

The Cameron actor did well on his first day. I'm interested to see what else he's got. But as I've said in another post, if they aged him just to have a triangle with No Energy and Less Energy, and that's going to eat up most of his scenes, it will be a waste.  

I've always wondered how much a teen scene really draws in teens. Does that happen? I guess it must, because shows are always doing it. But I always thought young viewers were aspirational. They're most interested in the characters who are a little ahead of them. So teens on summer vacation, if they're not doing one of the several hundred things they may consider a better use of time than an ABC soap, might like to see what some hot twentysomethings are up to. They aren't gonna find many on General Hospital. There's Kiki and...um... 

[ulkis]

The girl who plays Joss is 14 and I think so is the kid who plays Oscar. It's really only slightly better than the kiddie triangle. What are we supposed to do, root for one of the guys to win the girl and then hold hands?

1 hour ago, jsbt said:

They are trying way too hard to make that young girl playing Joss happen. She's not good enough to do all this alone. The kid playing Oscar speaks for himself - yikes.

 

That is Garren Lake Stitt, sir.

Yeah, I don't know who decided to pull Joss to the forefront (just kidding, it was Frank). They originally hired the girl as a filler Joss and it shows.

Edited July 5, 2018 by ulkis

[jsbt]

3 minutes ago, ulkis said:

The girl who plays Joss is 14 and I think so is the kid who plays Oscar. It's really only slightly better than the kiddie triangle. What are we supposed to do, root for one of the guys to win the girl and then hold hands?

I don't mind them doing a story with younger teens - when the stories are written and/or performed well, as were some of Robin, Emily and Lucky's stories at that time or some of the kids on OLTL in the early '90s, it can be affecting. Drama happens with kids that young. But when the kids are just mediocre to bad and the writing is equally lifeless, no.

"Garren Stitt" still sounds like a computer algorithm trying to invent a name and faring poorly.

3 minutes ago, ulkis said:

Yeah, I don't know who decided to pull Joss to the forefront (just kidding, it was Frank). They originally hired the girl as a filler Joss and it shows.

And they won't even bother casting anyone else. She's white and blonde so it's just like Starr on OLTL if you squint!

[ulkis]

1 minute ago, jsbt said:

I don't mind them doing a story with younger teens - when the stories are written and/or performed well, as were some of Robin, Emily and Lucky's stories at that time or some of the kids on OLTL in the early '90s, it can be affecting. Drama happens with kids that young. But when the kids are just mediocre to bad and the writing is equally lifeless, no.

Drama is fine, I just think a love triangle is pointless. They're all still just a bit too young.

Meanwhile, TJ and Molly have 2 kids by now.

[jsbt]

The complete disinterest is T.J. and Molly is both funny and sad. They tried for a hot minute to make Hailey Pullos into Starr Manning Jr. but when she tanked with the pretty white kid (Rafe) Frank ceased bothering. Plus at that time he still had Kristen Alderson to try to protect. So now Placeholder Joss and Gorham Sturf are Starr and Cole Mark III.

Hailey Pullos isn't exactly Scarlett Johansson but she's not awful - they could write for them. They just have zero interest in anything that isn't cute white youths of a very specific type.

(Meanwhile, a cursory google search reveals that Garren Stitt is - of course - an aspiring rapper.)

[TeeVee329]

1 hour ago, dubbel zout said:

I don't mind a teen story, but I don't think it's interesting to watch two 15-year-old boys fight over a 15-year-old girl. Especially because it's all about one-upmanship. "She's mine!" "No, she's mine!" Zzzz. That's boring with adults. What happened to the kids stumbling onto some dumb mystery and Scooby-ganging it to figure it out? Or give one of the kids a real problem—Joss starts to have kidney trouble, and Oscar and Cam don't really know what to do to make her feel better, but they work together to try.

Or, hell, have Oscar and Cam develop feelings for each other, as someone suggested upthread. Anything but two dopey guys fighting over a dopey girl.

You know what teen story I've always wanted?  A male character having an eating disorder/body dysmorphia.  They did it on UK soap "Hollyoaks" a few years ago and I thought it was so smart and modern.  And it would work perfectly - sensitive, spindly Oscar feels insecure because of hunky young Cam - and maybe because daddy Drew was a big military whatever - and starts working out harder and it spirals into a problem.

[nilyank]

1 hour ago, Asp Burger said:

I've always wondered how much a teen scene really draws in teens. Does that happen? I guess it must, because shows are always doing it. But I always thought young viewers were aspirational. They're most interested in the characters who are a little ahead of them. So teens on summer vacation, if they're not doing one of the several hundred things they may consider a better use of time than an ABC soap, might like to see what some hot twentysomethings are up to. They aren't gonna find many on General Hospital. There's Kiki and...um... 

I think they have the money for this, but since the teen scene is only for summer storylines, GH should tried to get the young actors from the Disney channel shows and have them involved in stupid stories with our silly teens. That way, you might get a new audience to tune it to watch them. Those Disney characters are just as inept as our GH teens.

Teen stories work when they dealt with real issues to build their characters. Newbies were introduced but they were more than just romantic potentials or spoilers

Karen - her mom's drinking and her own abuse as a child

Jagger - looking for his younger siblings 

Stone -  street kid and all the issues that developed from

Brenda - mom's dumping her, dad favoring her sister and being completely ignored

Emily - her mom Paige dying of cancer and fitting in with her new family the Qs

Liz - her rape 

Their stories were mixed in with our existing characters who grew to care about what was happening to them, so we began to care as well. The teens were shown as they became friends and eventually they fell in love down the line, but by that time we have grown to know and care about them as characters.

In a sense, Oscar was introduced like that as he tried to find out who his father was.  And he works in part with that part of the story. His relationship with Joss is fine, but they are young teenagers in a very drippy romance. Maybe young teen viewers actually like that kind of stuff.

[Asp Burger]

22 minutes ago, TeeVee329 said:

You know what teen story I've always wanted?  A male character having an eating disorder/body dysmorphia.  They did it on UK soap "Hollyoaks" a few years ago and I thought it was so smart and modern.  And it would work perfectly - sensitive, spindly Oscar feels insecure because of hunky young Cam - and maybe because daddy Drew was a big military whatever - and starts working out harder and it spirals into a problem.

That's a really good idea, TeeVee329. Then some girl (or even his mother) could tell him he's "skinny" and think she's giving him a compliment, because doesn't everyone want to be "skinny"? That must be the reason anyone exercises, right? And it could make things worse.  

[dubbel zout]

26 minutes ago, TeeVee329 said:

You know what teen story I've always wanted?  A male character having an eating disorder/body dysmorphia.  They did it on UK soap "Hollyoaks" a few years ago and I thought it was so smart and modern.  And it would work perfectly - sensitive, spindly Oscar feels insecure because of hunky young Cam - and maybe because daddy Drew was a big military whatever - and starts working out harder and it spirals into a problem.

I don't think Garren Lake Stitt has the chops for this at all, but this is the type of teen story that would be so much more interesting than the usual dumb love triangle. 

[jsbt]

Yeah, it's a fine idea but not with that kid.

[statsgirl]

44 minutes ago, jsbt said:

(Meanwhile, a cursory google search reveals that Garren Stitt is - of course - an aspiring rapper.)

I'm trying, but I'm having a hard time visualizing No Energy as a rapper.

1 hour ago, Asp Burger said:

 I've always wondered how much a teen scene really draws in teens. Does that happen? I guess it must, because shows are always doing it. But I always thought young viewers were aspirational.

There are a bunch of animated shows where the kids behaved more maturely than this.

I have a 15 year old niece.  She's really into the superhero world, MCU and DC, which is what she talks about with her friends.  She wants to work in international development.  I really can't see her having any interest in this nothing storyline even if she did watch TV in her summer.

She might be interested in a body dysmorphic storyline though.  Or even a caper story.

[TeeVee329]

9 minutes ago, dubbel zout said:

I don't think Garren Lake Stitt has the chops for this at all, but this is the type of teen story that would be so much more interesting than the usual dumb love triangle. 

 

6 minutes ago, jsbt said:

Yeah, it's a fine idea but not with that kid.

Oh of COURSE not with that kid.  C'mon, you guys, give me some credit.  But with a different actor and the archetype of Oscar they set up, it'd be a different way into the triangle, would have a hospital bent and stuff for the parents to do eventually, etc.

Edited July 5, 2018 by TeeVee329

[dubbel zout]

Don't tease us with good ideas that can never happen.

[Harmony233]

36 minutes ago, TeeVee329 said:

You know what teen story I've always wanted?  A male character having an eating disorder/body dysmorphia.  They did it on UK soap "Hollyoaks" a few years ago and I thought it was so smart and modern.  And it would work perfectly - sensitive, spindly Oscar feels insecure because of hunky young Cam - and maybe because daddy Drew was a big military whatever - and starts working out harder and it spirals into a problem.

That would be interesting I watch hollyoaks they do a lot of social stories Ollie who is Oscar and joss age is being groomed by his football coach.Alfie has schizoaffective disorder.

I feel like Oscar and joss could be more interesting than what they write for them.They come across so bland.

[jsbt]

I just don't see a reason to keep him or his mom around tbh (and I don't think Tamara is doing a terrible job but what is the fucking point). But shows have done equally touching stories with initially pointless characters. I suppose if you were stuck with them or playing for time while trying to reposition the larger canvas, or doing a short arc to bond Drew, Kim and the kid and then write them all off, sure. (What I'd do with Drew, Jason, Sam, etc. beyond that would be far more permanent and punitive at this point, but would probably also help get the show cancelled lol.)

It's that or write him out after Joss walks in on him in bed with SORASed Spencer! They'd all have to be a bit older for that, though.

Edited July 5, 2018 by jsbt

[TeeVee329]

What I hate most about Oscar is that they finally brought in a young Quartermaine and he is Blandy McBlanderson.  They can make it up to me by having a SORASed Lila Rae come to town as Joss' new stepsister dedicated to ruining her life.

6 minutes ago, jsbt said:

I just don't see a reason to keep him or his mom around tbh (and I don't think Tamara is doing a terrible job but what is the fucking point).

 

Yeah, I actually kinda like Kim, but you're so right, what is the fucking point.  Whatever is going on with Julian is clearly, obviously, transparently temporary until they can throw him back with Alexis.  And the show has lost all interest in Drew.  So beyond her being a former Carly...why?

9 minutes ago, dubbel zout said:

Don't tease us with good ideas that can never happen.

Good Ideas That Will Never Happen: An Oral History Of Modern US Soaps

Edited July 5, 2018 by TeeVee329

[jsbt]

They do it every time, though. And I can't believe it's the fault of the original GH casting dept from the many decades past - I just think Frank wants every young male lead to be Cole Thornhart 2.0 to chase the teen demographic numbers that helped keep OLTL alive. Rafe Jr. from PC had an insane, wild backstory but onscreen he was just a pretty white kid played by a poor actor who looked 13. Oscar (Grundel Stamm) is another pretty white kid who looks 13. Any new young boy or girl they hire is gonna be this bland or blander unless they happen to luck into someone flamboyant accidentally. And meanwhile who is shoring up the young adults - Kiki, Kiki and Kiki. It's such a waste.

3 minutes ago, TeeVee329 said:

Whatever is going on with Julian is clearly, obviously, transparently temporary until they can throw him back with Alexis.  And the show has lost all interest in Drew.  So beyond her being a former Carly...why?

I think Kim was and is intended as a spoiler to Julexis and a partner for Drew, but I don't think they ever thought beyond that. I assume they thought Tamara and Miller might take off or something in their dream of dreams that he will stick around - which I don't believe he will, so in a pinch they'll use her to write him out. But now I'm thinking NLG would really rather not go back to Julexis, so who knows.