Episode Discussion: TFGH

[magnolia11]

^^Ah, Walk Hard, how I love you.

[ulkis]

What did Maxie say about S. Korea? I missed it.

[Melgaypet]

I missed it, too, but whatever it was, jsbt's delightfully apoplectic rage makes it worth it. (Sorry, jsbt!)

Edited July 5, 2015 by Melgaypet

[magnolia11]

What did Maxie say about S. Korea? I missed it.

 

When she and Nathan were in the park and she wouldn't shut up about Dante/Lulu/Valerie, he slapped cuffs on her, and she said something like, "So I'm being arrested for having an opinion?  Where are we, in South Korea?"  (He corrected her and said no, he was cuffing her so she would pay attention to him and not the Falconeri/Spencers.)

[ulkis]

Oh jeez. Go personal shop some more, Maxie.

[nilyank]

Why do I have the feeling that the only personal shopping Maxie is doing is for herself and she is doing it on her parents' dime.

[magnolia11]

Just imagine if Maxie and Morgan reproduced.

[hypnotoad]

This whole Luke farewell tour is ridiculous and terrible. But I will say this much: GF is killing me with the looks she is tossing around! Hilarious.

 

I did enjoy the scene of Laura, Luke and Holly on the bed. Again GF made that work. The scene with Laura and Holly discussing Luke was good stuff too. Oh and I like that Laura isn't spending her time crying and is actually being allowed to be a little tough.

 

Honestly, I'd be perfectly okay watching Laura and Holly figure this thing out and let Luke sit alone in the hotel so I don't have to watch TG 'acting.'

[peachmangosteen]

This whole Luke farewell tour is ridiculous and terrible. But I will say this much: GF is killing me with the looks she is tossing around! Hilarious.

 

I agree. She's making the whole awful thing worth it.

[annabel]

Not watching, but yay to hypotoad and peach

[Francie]

But if Duke is Kenny, we need a Kyle and Cartman for the "You killed Duke!" "YOU BASTARDS!" deal, or it won't have the same zing.

Sonny!!

 

And every once in a while an exasperated Dante. 

[DayPlayerAtKellys]

Geez I forgot that Carrrrlos was dead. There's a bunch of characters that have been completely forgotten and frankly there are moments when I'm not sure who we just haven't seen in awhile and who is dead. With such a vast supporting cast, you'd think the show would use them once in awhile... I'm not as much of a Franco-hater but he's just a kind of useless character and I'd rather they let Milo and Epiphany (for example) show their faces once in awhile and pay them with the money they now spend on Franco. And this is from a fan of RH.

 

Anyway, I kind of like that Sabrina still doesn't know that Carrrlos is dead - in the old days, that would be something that the soaps would have sat on for a couple years and do a slow build until she finds out and goes after Anna.... These days, no one has patience for that on either side of the screen. I always liked how they kept the guessing game going for decades who killed Victor Lord.

[yowsah1]

When she and Nathan were in the park and she wouldn't shut up about Dante/Lulu/Valerie, he slapped cuffs on her, and she said something like, "So I'm being arrested for having an opinion?  Where are we, in South Korea?"  (He corrected her and said no, he was cuffing her so she would pay attention to him and not the Falconeri/Spencers.)

 

 

I have to wonder if the line wasn't originally written as, "Where are we, North Korea?" but KS accidentally flubbed it, and TPTB kept it in because they figured the audience would attribute it to Maxie being her usual ditzy self.

 

 I kind of like that Sabrina still doesn't know that Carrrlos is dead - in the old days, that would be something that the soaps would have sat on for a couple years and do a slow build until she finds out and goes after Anna.... 

 

You know what I'd like to see?  Sabrina finds out Carlos is dead and is appropriately sad, but then says, "I can't say I never dreamed this would happen.  In a way, Carlos had it coming... I'll pray for his soul" and leave it at that.  I'm sick of all these scenes where mobster's molls like Sam attack people for killing their menz when the person they are all up in arms over having been killed has a list of victims a mile long.

[Oracle42]

I have to wonder if the line wasn't originally written as, "Where are we, North Korea?" but KS accidentally flubbed it, and TPTB kept it in because they figured the audience would attribute it to Maxie being her usual ditzy self.

 

I think it's just as likely that it was a writer fuck-up

[jsbt]

No, that's classic Team Ron slapstick. They can be wittier when they want to - they can often be very witty and quick, at the expense of plot or character - but they also go broad and dumb too often. That's the level of discourse with certain characters, like Maxie. This is, after all, the team that once ended a hostage crisis with silly string.

Edited July 5, 2015 by jsbt

[cmahorror]

    

I would love to have a new writer come in and just wipe out everything RC did after Robin showed up at Patrick's wedding.

   

Except the part where he immediately forgets Sabrina exists, and lays that kiss on Robin, right? We get to keep that? Please?

We keep everything up until RC tried to pretend that Patrick would be at all conflicted.

 

 

I kind of did a reset story in the Fanfic thread. It starts in February of 2014 and I made Carlos Gabriel's father so I could kick Sabrina out of the story completely. Just wanted to put it out there if you were interested in reading a story about a different way of approaching the whole Victor storyline.

[Francie]

What did Maxie say about S. Korea? I missed it.

 

 

I missed it, too, but whatever it was, jsbt's delightfully apoplectic rage makes it worth it. (Sorry, jsbt!)

 

I don't mean to overstate what this little anecdotal incident means, but I can't help but think that the fact that we're among the most avid fans of the show -- as evidenced by coming to a message board to discuss it -- and so many of us are skipping or blanking out on parts of the show speaks volumes.

 

Oh, and since this scene involves Maxie and Nathan, there's a "If a self-absorbed dimwit (at times) makes a comment in a woods" joke to be had.  If only I weren't, err, recovering from yesterday's festivities.

I think it's just as likely that it was a writer fuck-up

Has anyone checked twitter?  Has Ron launched an "investigation" into this?

No, that's classic Team Ron slapstick. They can be wittier when they want to - they can often be very witty and quick, at the expense of plot or character - but they also go broad and dumb too often. That's the level of discourse with certain characters, like Maxie. This is, after all, the team that once ended a hostage crisis with silly string.

Holy fucking shit. That's some serious amateur hour stuff.

 

And is that Spencer's precursor?  Ron has me well-trained to cringe whenever I see an elementary-aged boy on a soap opera.  Run! Run!

[TeeVee329]

And is that Spencer's precursor?  Ron has me well-trained to cringe whenever I see an elementary-aged boy on a soap opera.  Run! Run!

 

Gasp!  Little Sam was NOTHING like Spencer.  I was actually happy to see him when he showed up.

 

The huge problem with those scenes is that Ron went camp to resolve it when Robin Strasser played every moment of that situation with the terror it deserved, and just with her eyes!

 

Oh, on topic?  I miss having Britt around to set a baby doll on fire.

[fishcakes]

I don't mind bringing back someone from the dead, since that's a standard soap device, as long as we didn't see the person die onscreen and as long as it's part of a good storyline that makes sense. This one makes no sense; it's just trotting out an enemy of Luke's for no reason, and recasting it makes it completely pointless. Wanting to kill Luke because he put him in a wheelchair twenty years earlier? Ooookay. What's Frank been doing since then? I hope next week they bring back Mikkos, bent on revenge because Luke put him in the ice chamber and for the last 35 years he's had to wear a heavy sweater everywhere he goes.

 

George Gaynes (Frank #1): age 98

Mitchell Ryan (Frank #2): age 81

Joe Cortese (Frank #3): age 67

Tony Geary: age 68

 

Dillon (as passionately as corn): If you want to shoot Lulu you'll have to get through me

 

me: oh lord

 

Me: SHOOT HIM, FRANK, SHOOT HIM!

[dubbel zout]

I miss having Britt around to set a baby doll on fire.

 

Oh, man, I loved that. That's soapy camp I can get behind.

 

 

Dillon (as passionately as corn): If you want to shoot Lulu you'll have to get through me

me: oh lord

Me: SHOOT HIM, FRANK, SHOOT HIM!

 

That was so painful to watch, especially because the next thing we see is Dillon getting clocked. Real effective, Dillon.

Edited July 5, 2015 by dubbel zout

[Tiger]

I kind of did a reset story in the Fanfic thread. It starts in February of 2014 and I made Carlos Gabriel's father so I could kick Sabrina out of the story completely. Just wanted to put it out there if you were interested in reading a story about a different way of approaching the whole Victor storyline.

@cmahorror's fan-fic is really good IMHO and I usually find most fan-fic in general to be awful.

If I could reset the show to a realistic date, I'd do it to the episode before Victor told Robin that Jason was alive. I think the show had some problems in Jan/Feb 2014, but it was far from the complete and utter clusterfuck it is now. And I think @melgaypet said it best when he said Jason was "one motherfucker that should have stayed dead".

[cmahorror]

Thank you Tiger! As long as at least one person is reading and enjoying it, I will keep writing it.

[Melgaypet]

Gasp!  Little Sam was NOTHING like Spencer.  I was actually happy to see him when he showed up.

 

*giggles* Yes, Sam Manning was actually a sweet, adorable little boy - an accomplishment considering who his biological parents were. Now that I'm thinking about it, I don't think Ron wrote a Spencer-like character on OLTL. Most of the kids acted like normal kids. Well, except when a few characters traveled back in time to 1968 (...don't ask) and several actors played younger versions of characters not their own, and one of the kids played a kid version of a by-then dead villain. Named um, Spencer. But it was part of the joke - that character was supposed to be sociopath, even as a child.

 

It's too bad I have more to say about a canceled soap than the one currently airing, isn't it? Besides many other flaws, GH is BORING.

I think once Jonathan Jackson has come and gone,

I'll be on the barge again.

 

ETA: Shit, I think I may have accidentally posted a spoiler. I've edited it now, but I apologize to any unspoiled person who may have seen it.

Edited July 5, 2015 by Melgaypet

[testardo]

So....AJ is alive then?

I still think Silas is a doctor spy for the WSB. I will buy Ava as a double agent if it gets rid of the wig and allows her to make Jules and Sonny look stupid.

 

jules and Sonny make themselves look stupid.

[BestestAuntEver]

Thank you Tiger! As long as at least one person is reading and enjoying it, I will keep writing it.

I wish MoRon was reading your stuff. He needs to understand character development. I wouldn't mind if he stole a few of your ideas either. I bought your evil manipulative Nic, his not so much.

[TeeVee329]

Now that I'm thinking about it, I don't think Ron wrote a Spencer-like character on OLTL.

 

I think the Jack Manning before they SORASed the character with Andrew Trischitta had some Spencer tendencies, but was not on or spotlight as much.

 

But it does seem like Ron has FINALLY dialed back on his kiddies quad.  Emma, Cameron, and particularly Joss have been invisible and even Spencer hasn't been on that much.  I guess everyone had to sacrifice some screen time for Nina and Franco.

Edited July 5, 2015 by TeeVee329

[NutmegsDad]

South Korea, Maxie? South Korea, Maxie?! South motherfuckin' Korea??? Maxie??!!!

 

 

HAPPY 4TH

 

Forget it, jsbt. It's ReRonTown.

[Darklazr]

OLTL's SpiderMan "Sam' Manning was an adorable kid and not subjected to the dialogue and scenes that we see with Spencer.  The previous Jack Manning was smart mouth, but adorable with Sam.  Remember the twosome on the roof looking for Santa Claus?!

 

I could believe Dante leaning on Brooklynn while Lulu was out of town with Dillon, but not Valerie.

 

I guess Luke is not going to die in a den of hookers, gin, and a few STD's?

[UYI]

 

 

 

 

I suppose if it had been arbor day Valerie would have talked about how she and her mother used to go out and plant trees together [insert Nathan West joke here].

 

 

 

Hey, at least there's a Peanuts special for her if it was! (Seriously, I love that this exists. What would we have done without the 70's?)

 

In all seriousness, though, it's actually a fun special.

 

Edited July 5, 2015 by UYI

[LegalParrot81]

 

I hope next week they bring back Mikkos, bent on revenge because Luke put him in the ice chamber and for the last 35 years he's had to wear a heavy sweater everywhere he goes.

 

Now, this I could get behind.  LOL

 

They rolled Cortese out and I about laughed out loud.  I mean, there's soarsing a character and then there's this.  

 

I can just hear Ron,  "Let's bring Frank Smith back and make him Luke's peer.  Who cares if he was in his 60's back in the day and he has kids the same age as Laura. The people watching this show are a little dim anyway.  No one will remember".   Frank looks like he's in better shape than Luke could ever dream of being and Frank's in a chair.

 

I also had a chuckle at the gun literally smoking after Frank winged the teeth man.

 

The rest I just kept my finger perpetually on the ff button.

[yowsah1]

If I could reset the show to a realistic date, I'd do it to the episode before Victor told Robin that Jason was alive.

 

I have often said that I'd like a plot twist where it turns out that everything that happened in the last 20+ years was Jason's coma dream after he went into the tree.

 

But it does seem like Ron has FINALLY dialed back on his kiddies quad.  Emma, Cameron, and particularly Joss have been invisible and even Spencer hasn't been on that much. 

 

Which is weird, because you'd think that now would be the time they were heavily featured, what with the kids having more time to film stuff now that school is out.

[tvgoddess]

 

But it does seem like Ron has FINALLY dialed back on his kiddies quad.  Emma, Cameron, and particularly Joss have been invisible and even Spencer hasn't been on that much.

 

I'd be surprised if we see this version of Joss again. The actress was bound to get other work, and it looks like that's what's happened.

[ByaNose]

I'm kinda surprised by the lack of the kid quad, too. Not that I mind much but you would think since they don't have school they would be used more. Granted, the Geary exit might have messed up a lot of storyline. I do have a question about the Geary exit. Was it a last minute decision by Geary and he told TPTB at the last possible second, too? Like, it doesn't seem like he gave them 3 or 4 months notice. T seems like it was more like a month? Everything seems so rushed. Considering all his vacations & surgery time off he would have given them a heads up. Just curious.

[Melgaypet]

I have often said that I'd like a plot twist where it turns out that everything that happened in the last 20+ years was Jason's coma dream after he went into the tree.

 

Does anyone remember an epic fanfic, written by one of the regulars over at TWOP, with this exact premise? I can't remember the title - I'm pretty sure it included the word "Dream" - or the name of the person who wrote it and I don't think it was ever finished, but it was rather amazing in that it included pretty much that was every character on the show at that point, as well as bringing back several old characters, in what I recall as a fairly organic manner.

 

Um, topic? I got nothin'. The show depresses me.

[TessHarding2]

I'm still wrapping my head around the fact that Joe Cortese was once married to Kim Delaney of AMC Greg and Jenny fame and Army Wives. 

[ulkis]

Does anyone remember an epic fanfic, written by one of the regulars over at TWOP, with this exact premise? I can't remember the title - I'm pretty sure it included the word "Dream" - or the name of the person who wrote it and I don't think it was ever finished, but it was rather amazing in that it included pretty much that was every character on the show at that point, as well as bringing back several old characters, in what I recall as a fairly organic manner.

Um, topic? I got nothin'. The show depresses me.

I think MsChicklet was the author.

[Artsda]

Is that it for Nathan's guest stint? 

 

This whole Luke goodbye is awful and stupid, none of them even look like they're trying. Nathan and JJ are the only reason I'm not FF'ing through it.

 

And Carly is more smart than Dante the detective when it comes to Lulu.

[cmahorror]

 

I think MsChicklet was the author.

 

I think this is it: Dream A Little Dream

 

As for the show proper, I am really appreciating GF's performance. She seems to understand how ridiculous this whole storyline is and her facial expressions during some of the exchanges are just hilariously perfect.

Edited July 6, 2015 by cmahorror

[bannana]

I'm still wrapping my head around the fact that Joe Cortese was once married to Kim Delaney of AMC Greg and Jenny fame and Army Wives. 

Okay so this led me down a rabbit-hole.  I knew nothing really of KD other than she was in some primetime shows after she blew up on AMC.  This is off-topic, but holy shit!

[WendyCR72]

I think this is it: Dream A Little Dream

 

As for the show proper, I am really appreciating GF's performance. She seems to understand how ridiculous this whole storyline is and her facial expressions during some of the exchanges are just hilariously perfect.

 

The pay must be excellent... It's the only reason I can fathom why GF came back for this.

[jsbt]

The problem with the show is that they stagger so many appearances and guarantees strictly around their tight budget, and send people off for weeks or months at a time, so there's often no clear way to tell if they're getting the message from the audience, if there's been pushback from the network, or if they're just being cheap and not caring about any kind of equitable story distribution.

 

Often, Option C is the answer. I thought Sabrina and Silas were both done for, but Sabrina is back in the swing of things and ME, at least for now, is on a new contract. They were being cheap there. It's possible they got pushback from all quarters on the kids, and Spencer was much, much more relatable as a human being last week, but I could just as easily see it being a case of Ron and Frank making one last big push with their pets (Franco and Nina's sexy summer adventure!) and neglecting the junior league.

 

And yeah - that little girl playing Josslyn is too talented to stay long. They wasted her.

[LegalParrot81]

 

Was it a last minute decision by Geary and he told TPTB at the last possible second, too?

 

No.  He'd given his notice a year and a half ago, but they kept him after they offered him the horrible Fluke fiasco.  They had more than enough time to put together an outline and scripts.  This could have been such a wonderful exit story, but nope, it's just another train wreck.

 

 

I'm still wrapping my head around the fact that Joe Cortese was once married to Kim Delaney of AMC Greg and Jenny fame and Army Wives.

 

Their's was a very, very messy divorce and to go totally OT, KD has had so much plastic surgery, she's unrecognizable. 

[UYI]

I'm still wrapping my head around the fact that Joe Cortese was once married to Kim Delaney of AMC Greg and Jenny fame and Army Wives. 

 

Ha, this shows how young I am. To me she's Diane from NYPD Blue. My mom would have to hide my eyes if I was up late enough as a kid when she would watch the show, LOL. I have seen clips of her as Jenny, though. 

 

Topic? Not easy, as I only catch up here now. Um...almost everything I read about the show here now makes me go like this. Does that count?

 

[TeeVee329]

Often, Option C is the answer. I thought Sabrina and Silas were both done for, but Sabrina is back in the swing of things and ME, at least for now, is on a new contract.

 

I really have no idea why Silas is still here.  I thought they were going to make a big push putting him with AvaDenise, but she's preoccupied with Morgan and Silas fobbed off her pathetic attempt at using him as a sexual substitute.  He's a barely seen talk-to in the Francs and Neens mess.  Morgan and Kiki are strutting around his apartment like it belongs to their freeloading asses.  Dr. Clay has no friends, or even colleagues at the hospital who would wanna talk to him.

 

What is the point?

[Kim0820]

I'm kinda surprised by the lack of the kid quad, too. Not that I mind much but you would think since they don't have school they would be used more. Granted, the Geary exit might have messed up a lot of storyline. I do have a question about the Geary exit. Was it a last minute decision by Geary and he told TPTB at the last possible second, too? Like, it doesn't seem like he gave them 3 or 4 months notice. T seems like it was more like a month? Everything seems so rushed. Considering all his vacations & surgery time off he would have given them a heads up. Just curious.

 

But that wouldn't show up on screen for a few weeks. They could be hard at work now.  :(

I think it's just as likely that it was a writer fuck-up

 

They might have written it as South Korea on the grounds that Maxie is an idiot.  

[Fylaki]

 

Mitchell Ryan (Frank #2): age 81

Any reason they did not go with this? Frank at 81 and Luke at 65 (though TG is 68) could work, since Luke was always suppose to be older than Laura and Jennifer anyway

[tvgoddess]

 

Dr. Clay has no friends, or even colleagues at the hospital who would wanna talk to him.

 

Because he's BORING. Even I had to laugh at Franco's life of the party at a morgue line. Never should have re-signed him. He was an easy dead weight to get rid of.

[fishcakes]

Any reason they did not go with this? Frank at 81 and Luke at 65 (though TG is 68) could work, since Luke was always suppose to be older than Laura and Jennifer anyway

 

I looked at his IMDb page and he's actually 87, not 81; I think I got 81 from the GH wiki page, so 87 is probably correct. It looks like he hasn't done any acting since 2009. No information about his health, but at his age, it wouldn't surprise me to learn that he's pretty frail now.

[sunnyface]

Dr. Clay has no friends, or even colleagues at the hospital who would wanna talk to him.  What is the point?

 

Are there really fans of the actor who think that he deserves a three year contract on this soap based on his prior years' GH performances?  The only thing that I can think of is FV/RC wanted to do one of their friends from One-Life-to-Live a solid.  Three years of steady income in the dying soap opera industry is mighty kind. 

FV/RC appear to take delight in the continual denigration of the hospital. The only people who hang out in the hospital regularly are Dr. O, Franco, and Dr. Clay.  Liz and Patrick do have scenes at the hospital, but the only purpose they serve is for the buttressing up of Jason [whose saint-like status isn't this regime's creation].  There hasn't been one iota of mercy or respect of the hospital since RC/FV took over the reins.  How can Dr. O's character still be breathing air outside of a jail cell?  Every single scene of Dr. O just reminds me that the former Chief of Staff is being held against her will.  Out of sight but not out of mind.

[jsbt]

The only reason ME is still around is because of Frank and Ron's vendetta re: Prospect Park and OLTL. It's insane.