Episode Discussion: TFGH

[ulkis]

But in all seriousness, S&C seems to be the default and code for "everything with these two has been done and we have no fucking clue what to do with Sonny and Carly, now, so back to couplehood it is!"

It's been almost 20 years with Carly and 20+ years for Sonny. And with few breaks. Barenaked Ladies put it best when they said. "It's all been done."

True, but I think there's room for them as side characters who cause trouble for other people. Besides, there is one last plot for them - losing their fortunes and properties. They can cling to each other under the docks. A little something for their fans, a little something for their haters!

[WendyCR72]

Not to defend...well, anything...on this shitshow. But TG's leaving was perfect timing for a guy who hates the very legacy that made him.

 

Why?

 

Because I have a feeling - besides TG being butthurt and a baby over the above - I don't think there was enough money to go hog wild on flashbacks. (I believe if they are shown, actors get royalties or something?) And GH is in the shitter. And no doubt broker by the day.

 

Again, I'm not defending this: Such an exit should have been a mega-event. But a perverse part of me does wonder if TG leaving at such a low point was by design so that legacy wasn't allowed to weigh him down. (The rational part of me knows better, don't worry!)

[dubbel zout]

NBC Nightly News and the promo before the show had more flashbacks than today's show. Valerie had more flashbacks to her ONS with Dante.

 

It cracked me up when Dillon and Morgan introduced themselves. I know they haven't really crossed paths, but it's funny because their parents despise each other so much you know there was talk at the dinner table.

 

Franco is tolerable only when he's torturing Lauren, but even that takes up too much time.

 

Lulu's dress is deeply ugly.

 

STFU, Magda. Ugh. When will this hellish story be over? 

 

I don't think there was enough money to go hog wild on flashbacks. (I believe if they are shown, actors get royalties or something?)

 

There was plenty of time for Frank to save up some dough.

[TeeVee329]

True, but I think there's room for them as side characters who cause trouble for other people. Besides, there is one last plot for them - losing their fortunes and properties. They can cling to each other under the docks. A little something for their fans, a little something for their haters!

 

Yes!  Michael still needs to buy the MetroCourt out from under Carly.  Hell, Joss can do it, with her allowance from Jax!

[jsbt]

I don't believe Luke's last day would not involve Laura unless TG put his foot down. There is no way Ron Carlivati would ever pass that up. I assume Tony had a tantrum about Jake and said 'fine, you get that but I'm not doing a Luke and Laura sendoff!'

 

Fuck him. I'd write in their reunion as happening offscreen or via notes or body doubles or something, just like I talked about months ago. I'm sure part of Ron's plan for this whole mess, what little plan there was, was to suggest Luke might someday return from his journey of self-discovery enlightened and ready to be with Laura again. It's what I'd do. I don't care if you have to hire an old lady with a wig to play Luke from behind. I call it Genie's Revenge.

Edited July 27, 2015 by jsbt

[Tiger]

Luke's exit was so ridiculous that I don't even know what to say.

This entire episode was ridiculous. I've never been a fan of Sickles, but this was so far below even his usual mediocrity. That said, I can't blame him for how flat Tony was opposite Emme, nor for whatever Rob Watkins and Bry-dog were going for in their scenes. I think Sickles was going for comedy, and the actors were going for something I can't even classify. That said, Sickles has got go. The other script writers have cranked out great episodes in spite of plot on many occasions, IMHO, but Sickles has proven time and time again that he is incapable of elevating bad material.

Anyway, I at least got to do NSync's "Bye Bye Bye" dance twice: first when Ron's name appeared in the credits, and then when Luke walked into the fog. Thank Jasus we only have 9 more episodes of Ron's GH.

[Bringonthedrama]

Sadly, though, Laura downplaying shit done to her kids is not new. She was all "there, there, poor lamb!" when she found out Liz got knocked up by Jason, thereby cheating on Laura's own son, and was passing the baby off as Lucky's.

Well, to be fair, she had been informed of Lucky's affair with Maxie, and Maxie was pretending to be knocked up by Lucky at the same time Liz really was pregnant by Jason. So she would look like a real jerk to say "You cheated on my son, you're awful" ....when said son had already cheated on Liz before that and really could have gotten Maxie pregnant. Also, at some point Laura thought Stefan was Nik's father because of her affair with him, and she and Stefan cared for each other in some odd way, so I guess she felt she was in no position to judge. It's been made very clear that Laura loves Nikolas very much, but the circumstances of her life when she was pregnant with him were Hellish.

[jsbt]

What does annoy me is people trying to use TG's obvious unctuous influence on this material as a sort of scapegoat or buck-pass for Ron Carlivati. No, twitter friends, they are all to blame for this show. In different ways. Ron may have wanted to do right by LNL but in the actual event, he was not doing right by 90% of the show.

Edited July 28, 2015 by jsbt

[Happywatcher]

I don't think it is coincidental that Tony Geary and Mo-Ron are being let go together, with women writers brought in to try to save the show. Male cronyism made this show rot from within. Geary has played all the sides, whichever direction the political winds were blowing, for many years to grow and support his flimsy "talent" in the role of Luke. I think he stabbed his fellow coworkers in the back, especially if the characters, actors, or their stories didn't celebrate his lifestyle or had "old fashioned" (i.e., traditional) values. TG and MoRon are cut from the same lame cloth, and Tony was given far too much input over the show storylines, dialogue, and so on.

 

The other crony in the trifecta was Maurice Benard and the endless mob stories that served as his setting. Recent and past writers never seemed to grasp that constantly showcasing and protecting Sonny the character and MB the actor for "reasons" bled the show to death, siphoning off suspense and drama, leaving dry purposeless violence and fleshless characters like Duke

Agree on the mob overuse.

 

Slighty disagree on 'men'. I think the issue is that Ron is gay, and was writing for gay men, and gay varients of couplings. Plus, he did too much stuff off screen and had too many pets that didn't catch on with the viewers.

[Bringonthedrama]

 

I could not believe that there were no flashbacks to Luke and Laura, Lucky, Lulu (especially when she was a baby) through the years. I mean, what the hell?

 

This was *such* a piece of shit.

So TG has made it abundantly clear he hates the footage of the LnL wedding/LnL marriage with his bad hair and young Genie looking gorgeous. Fine, we got it. Still seems very strange to me that the show included a perfect flashback of Luke and Bobbie during their last scene, but none during Luke and Lucky's scenes (like maybe father and son alone talking about card playing, or newborn Lulu, the big confrontation about the rape) and none during Luke and Sonny's scenes. It just stand outs to me as a major oversight since JJ and MB are the original actors. The last time I can recall a flashback with TG and JJ was Luke sobbing about running over Jake (right after the confrontation with JJ's Lucky) ... as he remembered a conversation with little Lucky about babies (anticipating Lulu).

[LegalParrot81]

The absolute worst exit ever.  It came no where close to doing the character of Luke justice and that's what it should have been about, the character, not Tony Geary.  One flashback with Bobbie & Luke, that's all they could muster for a character who's been part of the fabric of this show for 30+ years.  For a character who was part of a duo that truly changed the face of daytime.  A character that brought soaps into the mainstream.  

 

There were more flashbacks of Duke after he died than Luke got.  NBC did better with flashbacks in their coverage.

 

ABC should be embarrassed and FV, RC and TG all need a swift kick in the ass and a smack to the head for being too stubborn to think more about their own over blown egos than the viewers who help keep this show on the air.

[BubblingKettle]

Luke Spencer has made me sneer more than a few times in the past several decades, but - dammit - I started watching this soap when I was three years old (while my grandmother did her daily ironing)....and I have been there for all of Luke's hijinks, wild international capers, dangerous escapades. I wanted a better swan-song for this soap opera staple!  Even if IRL, Tony Geary is an egotistical bitchy bitch, I wanted a goodbye that made me stare at the TV screen, made me feel my age (old), and made me remember that it hasn't all been bad. Instead, I feel cheated. Both the writers and the actor clearly said, "Eh, fuck it," ordered a farewell cake, and called it a day. Believe me, I thoroughly enjoyed seeing Jonathan Jackson visit (he really is a fantastic actor, IMO), and it's good to see Genie Francis full of life and style (not in a rocking chair and frightful wig). Don't get me started on the resuscitation of Frank Smith and Lil' Jake -- total bullshit. 

 

Anyway, I don't like feeling cheated by a soap that I've stuck with for nearly four decades. GH was dinner table talk with my grandmother, aunt, cousin, and me. For Pete's sake, in grade school, my cousin and I would do pretend "cocktail" parties in which we would dramatically say, "A toast! To Luke and Laura!" and clink our plastic Tupperware cups. (We also toasted Robert and Holly, fyi.) Shit, we even toasted them at the dinner table sometimes (my family has a goofy sense of humor). So, this long overdue goodbye needed to pack more gusto. 

 

So, I plan to fix myself a nice shandy and a piece of chocolate cake and search for my own compilation of YouTube GH flashback scenes:

• The L&L wedding
• Scenes with young Lucky
• Scenes with Ruby
• The Weather Machine
• The CAMPUS DISCO!
• Scenes with Bobbie and her original face
• Bromance with Sean Donely (plus Tiffany)
• Bromance with Robert Scorpio
• Romance with Holly
• Romance with Anna
• The really well-acted scenes with Tracy
• Warm scenes with Lila Quartermaine
• Hatred for Scotty (80's only)
• The shit with Heather Webber from long ago
• Sinister scenes with the old Mikkos and Stavros
• His old friendship with Alexis
• When Carly was new in PC, and they realized they were related

[testardo]

well Want to blame someone for this complete mess, shake hands with Tony Geary. he got what he wanted including walking into the mist. Fluke and all this mess was his idea. Ron wanted L&L but Tony didn't so he won. He won and most of the fans are left with a bad taste in their mouths. Don't get me wrong, Ron ruined all the rest of the show his little pets, his kids in love, etc, etc etc. The only good thing about this ending is HE IS GONE ,genie stay and let them find a nice partner for her. Everyone else came back from the dead .Bring on Stephan. Or someone new.

[Ambrosefolly]

Fuck him. I'd write in their reunion as happening offscreen or via notes or body doubles or something, just like I talked about months ago. I'm sure part of Ron's plan for this whole mess, what little plan there was, was to suggest Luke might someday return from his journey of self-discovery enlightened and ready to be with Laura again. It's what I'd do. I don't care if you have to hire an old lady with a wig to play Luke from behind. I call it Genie's Revenge.

Despite how disgusted I was when Luke compared Laura to some old sweatshirt that has been outgrown, I agree with the defunct site General Schmospital: Luke and Laura should have stayed broken up after Lucky "died" in the fire, considering their reunion became moot once GF more or less was forced out of GH.

 

But even still, no matter where Luke is, physically or emotionally, Laura should be the most significant relationship in his life, and I speak as someone that wouldn't mind Luke and Tracy being endgame. For the audience that gave him so much, he really should have set aside his personally animosity and let Luke and Laura share one last good bye, face to face. 

[ulkis]

I wonder if maybe there WILL be flashbacks tomorrow, and Luke talking about how Laura is the love of his life, etc etc in the letter. Too late to hook in lapsed audience members but at least it would be something for the viewers left.

[jsbt]

I can see them hoodwinking Tony Geary. He does some final ADR voice-over, thinking it's to Tracy: "Dearest [Frank Valentini's overdubbed voice: LAURA], you are the love of my life..."

 

Edited July 28, 2015 by jsbt

[CPP83]

I can see them hoodwinking Tony Geary. He does some final ADR voice-over, thinking it's to Tracy: "Dearest [Frank Valentini's overdubbed voice: LAURA], you are the love of my life..."

 

 

 

 

I would give anything to make this come true. Come on fairy soap gods, you owe us all big time! 

[jsbt]

"...Who can forget how we met at the [CAMPUS DISCO], gambling together, laughing. You thought I only wanted you for your [ETERNAL LOVE], but it became so much more, Sp-[ANGEL]..."

[hypnotoad]

 

I can see them hoodwinking Tony Geary. He does some final ADR voice-over, thinking it's to Tracy: "Dearest [Frank Valentini's overdubbed voice: LAURA], you are the love of my life..."

 

OMG I would love to see this!! Hilarious!

 

The lack of flashbacks was terrible. Especially Luke and Laura ones considering that's what drove keeping the character around in the first damn place. I could care less about TG's feelings about flashbacks. Hell I'm not even the biggest L&L fan and I found it ridiculous.

 

And the stuff with Sonny? Take care of PC? Right. The moobster.

 

I have no idea who these new writers are and I have no idea what is coming, but it's gotta be better than the nonsense we've been getting from RC over the last couple of years. Year 1 was pretty strong - mob was downsized and vets brought back (and they did stuff!) but since then? Utter and complete crap.

Edited July 28, 2015 by hypnotoad

[teenj12]

I thought they would do flashback scenes for Luke's departure, but that aside I liked the scenes Luke had with Sonny and Lulu.

[yowsah1]

Maybe Ron'll work on an ABC Family show. Or Nickelodeon, given his love of precocious brats.

 

Given the way so many in the soap press are praising RC to the skies and excoriating ABC for firing him, I have no doubt he'll land on his feet, either on another soap* or another ABC show.

 

* - I myself would laugh my ass off if he got hired by Y&R.

 

I really want Emma to be a teen. There's so much material there.

 

I want to see Joss SORASed into a wild-child teen who makes Carly's life absolutely miserable.  extra bonus points will be given for scenes where Carly walks in to a bedroom to find Joss in bed with either Jason or Sonny (or, hell, let's be daring - both!).

 

As for today's episode, having Luke's last scene be with fucking Sonny instead of Bobbie, Laura, or (especially) Scott was a slap in the face to what few fans the character has left.  I didn't mind Luke walking off into the mist, but that whole passing the torch bullshit with Sonny... what a sad, pitiable way to end the run of once-great character, propping the moobster's sorry ass.  Disgusting.

[TeeVee329]

Luke/Scotty, Luke/Alexis, Luke/Nikolas. These are all scenes that should have happened.

 

And where was my Luke/Valerie scene about poor dead Pat? ;)

[ulkis]

Pat, Pat . . . Valerie's mom, right? I think she might have mentioned her a couple of times . .

[TeeVee329]

Yup, Patricia Spencer.  She sadly passed on, if you haven't heard.

[Oracle42]

Given the way so many in the soap press are praising RC to the skies and excoriating ABC for firing him, I have no doubt he'll land on his feet, either on another soap* or another ABC show.

 

* - I myself would laugh my ass off if he got hired by Y&R.

 

 

 

DOOL seems much more his style - flashbacks and camp

[jsbt]

Pat, Pat . . . Valerie's mom, right? I think she might have mentioned her a couple of times . .

 

She dead

[Sasha]

Fitting shit send off for the most over-rated soap actor ever. I seriously doubt anyone worships TG more than TG. Dude your talent never matched your ego. I have never understood the power TG had at GH or his distain for Luke & Laura. Without Luke & Laura you would have been playing dinner theater in Hoboken not Roger Sterling on Mad Men. He acts like he has been doing us all a favor hanging around for years when in reality his influence turned Luke Spencer into a joke. What a bitter old man who can't face the fact that the scripts weren't piling up at your door because you're a mediocre actor who got really fucking lucky being paired with GF. Good riddance.

Edited July 28, 2015 by Sasha

[boes]

Fitting shit send off for the most over-rated soap actor ever. I seriously doubt anyone worships TG more than TG. Dude your talent never matched your ego. I have never understood the power TG had at GH or his distain for Luke & Laura. Without Luke & Laura you would have been playing dinner theater in Hoboken. He acts like he has been doing us all a favor hanging around for years when in reality his influence turned Luke Spencer into a joke. What a bitter old man who can't face the fact that the scripts weren't piling up at your door because you're a mediocre actor who got really fucking lucky being paired with GF. Good riddance.

 

If I could put this to music I would.  Especially the playing dinner theater in Hoboken remark.  Love it!  I know I wasn't the only person in America underwhelmed with Luke from his introduction, and particularly when he and Laura had their "dream" wedding, but it felt like that back then.  I didn't get it.  I thought TG had some good scenes, some good storylines over the years, but not in a loooooooooooooooong, long time.  I saw some clips of him when he was first on the show, and while he wasn't great, he wasn't all that bad either.  But he was a mediocre actor.  The worst thing that happned to him IMO is that as his character got more iconic, he got more pompous and it bled through on screen.  He became pedantic, predictable, and both boring and embarrassing.  

Hearing him bitch about and complain about being part of Luke and Laura, all that bullshit about his character is pretty rich, considering that if he hadn't been lucky enough to land on GH when he did, playing a character that for some inexplicable (to me anyway) reason entranced a ton of viewers, he'd be lucky to be doing the lighting at that dinner theater in Hoboken.  

Divas are tiresome always - untalented, delusional Divas are so much worse.

 

As for this exit storyline, with Luke going off to find himself.  The character is in his middle 60's.  I'm almost there myself.  No matter the drug ads on tv, most of us this age are going off to find the nearest restroom, or bench, or comfortable chair after a certain point in the day.  It's bagel shops, not brothels, and the only drugs we're looking for regulate the body.  Even the booze gets less.

All I could think when he walked off into the mist, was Watch out!  Don't break your hip!  And make sure whatever flea bag hotel you end up in, you get a private bath.  And don't forget to eat your ruffage.  

 

Luke, your days as a dangerous stud are long gone.  Now people will be offering you there seat.  To sit in.

Edited July 28, 2015 by boes

[Sasha]

Haha Boes! I had to edit my sentence to add Roger Sterling. I get the distinct impression TG deludes himself into thinking he would be getting the John Slattery roles if not for the curse of Luke & Laura. Go home to Amsterdam and smoke your weed dreaming of what should have been.

[jsbt]

Go home to Amsterdam and smoke your weed dreaming of what should have been.

 

Thank you for this. I can find so many people to use it on.

Edited July 28, 2015 by jsbt

[Yolapukka]

I am dead-ass convinced that if Ron was still here, the next time we saw Robin she'd be clutching Lulu and Stavros' unholy spawn to her breast, having birthed it herself. That was my first thought when all that Crichton-Clark bullshit went down and Helena took charge of Robin and the embryo. I still live in some fear of that possibility, but much less so than last week. The idea turns my stomach.

 

..and it would have been written in part for laughs with the added bonus of some lame meta joke that gets beaten to death within two episodes but is incessantly referenced for months.

[slayer2]

Debarging for a minute. Came to see my babies after the wonderful news! My bae AJ is still dead but this is definitely comforting! Mazel tov! Congratulations guys!!!

 

 

Annnnd I just realized the news broke days ago. Man am I out of touch.

Edited July 28, 2015 by slayer2

[ciarra]

 

Lulu's dress is deeply ugly.

Anyone old enough (and foolish) to have seen Olivia Newton John in Xanadu?  I think Lulu was channeling ONJ.

Edited July 28, 2015 by ciarra

[Bringonthedrama]

Sasha made me laugh, thanks. I wasn't a fan of LnL; I was a fan of Triple L. Of all his years on the show, I feel TG did his best work with JJ and GF because the three had a very special chemistry as a young family ... 'lightning in a bottle" as the saying goes. I remember enjoying Luke when he did stuff like throw the bag out of the plane to get Laura to jump, when he was giddy about Laura's pregnancy w/Lulu, when he was reacting as a proud or worried/scared father about young Lucky. Once both JJ and Genie were gone, it seemed like Luke more or less lost his soul. The only times I've seen the light go on again in TG since were mostly with JJ (aftermath of Nik and Liz's affair), but also "You came back to me!" when Robin gave Laura an experimental drug, and the scenes with Finola and Tristan during the Rescue Robin storyline.

 

In trying to mostly ignore Genie's importance, and spitting out lines that loving Laura was some big burden, he ended up sorta trash talking the JJ/Lucky companion piece to LnL in his career. That is what gets me.  Hey Luke, no Laura? No Lucky!!  TG wanted it both ways it doesn't work like that. He clearly couldn't face the fact that plenty of people did not see him as Mr. Awesome Actor/Entertainer on his own. Too bad. The one line that redeemed him a lil bit for me was telling Lucky that past decisions in his life that made him happiest had to do with loving Laura and raising him.  Sooo, I am really, really hoping the letter to Laura says thank you for the gift of your love, thank you for your forgiveness, thank you for our kids - loving Lucky and Lulu made me a better man .... and so on. 

Edited July 28, 2015 by Bringonthedrama

[Kitty Redstone]

Fuck him. I'd write in their reunion as happening offscreen or via notes or body doubles or something, just like I talked about months ago. I'm sure part of Ron's plan for this whole mess, what little plan there was, was to suggest Luke might someday return from his journey of self-discovery enlightened and ready to be with Laura again. It's what I'd do. I don't care if you have to hire an old lady with a wig to play Luke from behind. I call it Genie's Revenge.

 

I agree it would be a great way to stick it to TG, but then think an even better revenge would be for Genie to be given a nice, fat contract.  A strong, independent Laura could move back to Port Charles, reconnect with her kids and grandkids, and have great adventures with amazing friends.  (For starters, she could be part of the team that finally rescues Robin.)  After some time kicking ass and being awesome, she would come to be known simply as Laura, and not the Laura half of Luke-and-Laura, which is something TG's Luke was never able to accomplish.  She doesn't need that wrinkled up, whorehouse loving, alcoholic crybaby.  She was on GH before him and should be around after him.  I've always liked Laura more than Luke and part of what chased me away from GH during the Guza years was the shitty way GF and Laura were treated.  I want so badly for her to come back and given something interesting to do, freed forever of Lucas fucking Spencer.

 

 

DOOL seems much more his style - flashbacks and camp

 

NOOOOOOOO!  As a Days watcher, I don't want Ron C. anywhere near this soap.

[Gilded Flicker]

Close The Book, Ring The Bell, Quench The Candle.

[TheGourmez]

I enjoyed today's episode, fully expecting to find it unsatisfying. The lack of flashbacks was glaring, but Luke walking off into the fog circa 1982 Laura worked for me. I didn't mind Luke handing the baton off to Sonny, either, because Sonny is assuredly the male lead on this show, and while I'm not into mob storylines, I kind of accept Maurice's place in things. Or late 1990s me is still waiting for my Maurice Benard crush to resurface. *shrug* I was shocked that Laura got a letter. I didn't even expect that.

 

Morgan and Dillon's friendship chemistry worked for me. I was mostly thrilled to hear Dillon talking about his work. I didn't get much of a vibe that he's hung-up on Lulu at all, just that they're friends. More please! 

 

Tuned out Nina entirely. Rick Hearst doesn't deserve this storyline. Can we start a fan letter campaign for a mutual family suicide pact for Nina, Tree, and Donna Mills now?

[General Days]

Oh, yeah, no. This noise? It needs to be effed, so very hard. No flashbacks? No final glance with Genie? Sonny? SONNY? This was horrible story-telling. I don't give a good eff what Tony wants. After nearly 40 years, this should have been about what the fans want, nay deserve. And don't get me wrong -- I don't want L&L forever. I don't because Tony turned Luke into an insufferable bastard. I love Genie's Laura far too much to want her to be stuck in that mess, but TG's goodbye should have recognized the reasons we gave a shoot about him in the first place. 
 

Luke Spencer has made me sneer more than a few times in the past several decades, but - dammit - I started watching this soap when I was three years old (while my grandmother did her daily ironing)....and I have been there for all of Luke's hijinks, wild international capers, dangerous escapades. I wanted a better swan-song for this soap opera staple!  Even if IRL, Tony Geary is an egotistical bitchy bitch, I wanted a goodbye that made me stare at the TV screen, made me feel my age (old), and made me remember that it hasn't all been bad. Instead, I feel cheated. Both the writers and the actor clearly said, "Eh, fuck it," ordered a farewell cake, and called it a day. Believe me, I thoroughly enjoyed seeing Jonathan Jackson visit (he really is a fantastic actor, IMO), and it's good to see Genie Francis full of life and style (not in a rocking chair and frightful wig). Don't get me started on the resuscitation of Frank Smith and Lil' Jake -- total bullshit.

 

 

 

Right there with ya.

[jsbt]

I watched the Luke "scenes" yesterday, and everyone's pretty much covered that shit. But as to the rest of the show:

 

• Despite everything pointless about her character and storyline - and there are so many things - Donna Mills is still Donna Mills and still a great queen bitch. Her opening salvo to Maxie was pretty well-written, and very well-delivered with pure ice. That still doesn't mean she has any place on this show.
• Dillon and Morgan's scenes were so fuckin' gay it's ridiculous. They should have just gone with it and then seen how the chips fell. "We got wasted, bro, what happened?" Next week on General Hospital!
• Michelle Stafford is way too old for all the incredibly annoying, tic-laden, bobbing kewpie doll shit she's doing onscreen. Starting with bouncing and weaving around Rick Hearst, trying to keep eye contact with Nathan, oh, as Nina is torn by her impulse to trust her brother! Please, please fire her immediately. One of my big fears is that they're going to can Howarth but try to salvage her because Stafford is such a big CBS star (and a somewhat skilled BTS operator). It can't be done and she has got to go. Nina makes Monty's failed new characters, Jensen Buchanan's Melissa, and Angel Sorel look like the junior league - like, who the fuck is this insane bitch and why is her entire life centered around other annoying, pointless people?

 

To add to that thought: Everything about the writhing, desperate mass of misbegotten toys that is Denise, Kiki, Franco, Nina, Madeline, Silas, etc. is, as I said a while back, reminiscent of weird, weird past shit on this show that was just alien and didn't fit with the show, like Gloria Monty's failed second run in 1991. And yet this is what is dominating the show right now.

 

You look back at stuff like 1991, or 2001 with JFP and McTavish, or whatever, with the benefit of some hindsight, and you marvel at it in a more relaxed, passive way, and wonder, 'what the fuck were they thinking? This isn't General Hospital.' Except that's what I think in real time as I watch this shit. It's alien, and I have no idea what they are thinking.

 

As for Luke's shockingly bad exit, okay, I'll say a little more. A concept that sounded half-decent on paper - Luke leaves to find himself in the wake of his mental collapse, to wander the earth and rediscover his better nature after years in the darkness, possibly to return well and ready to reunite with Laura someday (because I am sure that was on RC's mind as a potential possibility sometime, if they could get TG back and work on him about it) - was completely mangled in execution beyond my imagining. I thought they'd at least do real goodbyes, take real time with each of the people in Luke's life. I didn't think it would be this terrible, glum, vaguely resigned non-event, where the show's singular legendary figure wanders off into a fog of the actor's own selfish recriminations, and Laura doesn't warrant any farewell scene, let alone the final one.

 

You get the sense from the terrible malaise of it all that some people at the show at least know they fucked this whole thing up and let TG run roughshod. Maybe Frank is gambling again with this, maybe he was hoping that if he let Tony have his way for now that he'd get him back sometime, like he got Kimberly McCullough back - or like he never got Steve Burton or Trevor St. John back, or the OLTL characters back - and would finally get a mulligan to do Luke's ending 'right.' Whatever he's hoping for, there's no excuse for what they put on the air for Luke's "final farewell". Between that damp squib for the biggest vet in the show's history, an ending butchered to service his neuroses, and all of that other horrible, alien, WTF shit we're left with now for the balance of the entire show, it is no secret why Ron Carlivati got fired. The only question is what if anything Frank Valentini has learned from it. Based on what he let both Ron and Tony get away with for years, my fear is, not enough.

 

Also: If they don't sign Genie Francis long-term they are insane. Leaning on their biggest vets, starting with her, is the only thing that is going to give them even a ghost of a prayer for a renewal now.

 

BTW, the final failure: Using some cheap easy listening song they already have in their library and have used many times for that final scene. What the fuck? Really? Who's leaving, Luke or Emme Rylan?

Edited July 28, 2015 by jsbt

[GHScorpiosRule]

Anyone old enough (and foolish) to have seen Olivia Newton John in Xanadu?  I think Lulu was channeling ONJ.

 

 

Hey! You callin' me foolish?! I loved that movie when I watched it when it came out, when I was...wee. TWICE.  And my Daddy got me the soundtrack on cassette (shut up!) and I sang with it, all the long day, and when I got that Barbie Microphone, where you could do x, y, z, and hear yourself on the radio, damn straight I sang ALL the songs!

 

Of course, as an adult, it's sooo cheesy. But the songs! The SONGS!!!!

[Mrs OldManBalls]

Luke should have shot Sonny with the gun he used to kill Frank and rolled him into the water before disappearing into the mist. That was the missed opportunity of a lifetime! 

[Tiger]

If Morgan & Dillon do hook up, their 'ship name can be "MorOn".

[LeftPhalange]

If Ava caught Morgan and Dillon screwing maybe she would kill herself in despair. That would be great.

[ulkis]

If Ava caught Morgan and Dillon screwing maybe she would kill herself in despair. That would be great.

No she'd kill Morgan and ask how could he do this to Kiki/her?

[TeeVee329]

I thought they'd at least do real goodbyes, take real time with each of the people in Luke's life. I didn't think it would be this terrible, glum, vaguely resigned non-event, where the show's singular legendary figure wanders off into a fog of the actor's own selfish recriminations, and Laura doesn't warrant any farewell scene, let alone the final one.

 

I don't understand why they surrounded the Luke goodbye with the Francs and Neens Variety Hour.  Instead of Donna Mills laying into Maxie, for example, why not stay with Bobbie and Scotty at the MetroCourt bar from Friday and have them talk about their own tangled history with Luke?  You could have done a supercut of Scotty snarling "Spencer!".

Edited July 28, 2015 by TeeVee329

[ByaNose]

At least, we have Sonny & Carly's wedding to look forward to. <eyes roll>

[dubbel zout]

One of the things that undercut Luke's departure for me is that TG left for long periods for years before this. We're used to not having Luke on-screen for months. That's why I don't understand why they didn't do more with Luke saying goodbye to people. They underlined his exit more than they did for his vacation breaks, but that's about it. I get TG didn't want some splashy farewell, and I think something more low-key is more in character with Luke these days, but what we got was a big, fat nothing.

Edited July 28, 2015 by dubbel zout

[Fylaki]

I am about to get myself in trouble: I in no way want to run down the legacy of LnL, I am a huge fan, but in some ways, some very personal ways I understand Luke walking off in his own.  i loved my son's mother, Carol was and remains a pivotal figure in my life and I am grateful forever for how well she raised out son. But that ship sailed a long time ago. I respect her, most days I like her, and I would trust her at my back, but she will not be in the montage at the end of my life. Despite all the adventure, and there was plenty. She is the past. As is Laura to Luke

 

The second woman I spent a lot of time with was a con-artist extra-ordinary, a sophisticate European beauty and much like Luke with Holly we had our run but she will not be in the montage at the end of my life. She is the past

 

Mrs Fylaki is the woman who no one thinks should be with me. So different but clearly the Bonnie to my Clyde, and no I don't always trust her as much as I should

 

I think that what I am saying is that for a man like Luke, leaving to find himself (and no 65-66 is not to old to find one self) he would not be thinking of the past. He would be wistful and perhaps a little sad but he would not look backwards while going forward. As to speaking to Sonny, well if Anna was in town, then I would object to Luke asking a crime boss to protect his city, but truthfully right now who better than Sonny? If I were to leave my home town in some ones hands for protection I would not go to the police, I would go to the local crime lord. He has the resources.

 

So I am sorry that I am majority of one but Luke walking off into the fog was to me the only way for him to go

 

Good Luck Luke, look for me in the fog in a couple of years

Edited July 28, 2015 by Fylaki

[peachmangosteen]

Thank Jasus we only have 9 more episodes of Ron's GH.

 

Do we have confirmation that the August 10th date was for the new writers material to start airing?

 

I am still just flabbergasted that there were no flashbacks.

 

I love jsbt's idea for TG having done a voice over of the letter to Tracy with FV dubbing over any Tracy mentions with Laura mentions. LOL. As soon as I saw the letter I did figure that in today's ep they'd have Laura read the letter and it'd be Luke saying Laura was the love of his life. I really do hope that happens. Just a nice little fuck you to TG!

[linsav]

 

 

TIGER, ON 27 JUL 2015 - 6:55 PM, SAID:

Thank Jasus we only have 9 more episodes of Ron's GH.

Do we have confirmation that the August 10th date was for the new writers material to start airing

That is the day the S&P officially start as HWs.  Their material will first air sometime late Sept/early Oct.  Definitely for the Nov sweeps.

Hopefully they decide to can the latter scripts and Frank pulls all nighters filming the new scripts.