GHScorpiosRule August 11, 2015 Share August 11, 2015 He was raving about how great last week's Five Families crap (including his pirouette, I presume) was. That tells me everything I need to know about his taste (or lack thereof). I laughed when I read this, because, does he realize that those amazo most awesome scenes and the most realistic came from Carlivati? Jackass. 1 Link to comment
ulkis August 11, 2015 Share August 11, 2015 Hehehe. I just love this bc he ain't leaving, y'all! Those "rumors" need to stop. meh. :p 1 Link to comment
jsbt August 11, 2015 Share August 11, 2015 (edited) All I could think of after that Five Families scene (which I didn't mind, really, silly as it was) was that Ron had clearly been bingeing Daredevil on Netflix. We got some Russians, a Chinese lady, we're good to go! It was always amusing whenever either of the last several writing teams - Ron, Guza, etc. - would transparently wear their primetime/cable/film/etc. influences on their sleeve onscreen on a fraction of those productions' budgets and then expect to be patted on the back for being 'modern.' Edited August 11, 2015 by jsbt 5 Link to comment
SlovakPrincess August 11, 2015 Share August 11, 2015 That too. Her boobs look uncomfortable. Yes! I have sympathetic boob pain just looking at it. Also I hate, hate, hate the hairdo. She's lovely though, and I like the pink and the green earrings - I'm a sucker for bright, cheery colors. 1 Link to comment
Dandesun August 11, 2015 Share August 11, 2015 (edited) All I could think of after that Five Families scene (which I didn't mind, really, silly as it was) was that Ron had clearly been bingeing Daredevil on Netflix. We got some Russians, a Chinese lady, we're good to go! It was always amusing whenever either of the last several writing teams - Ron, Guza, etc. - would transparently wear their primetime/cable/film/etc. influences on their sleeve onscreen on a fraction of those productions' budgets and then expect to be patted on the back for being 'modern.' Doesn't Ron live in New York? Doesn't he know better than to try that knock-off shit? Sure, buying a 'Rolex' off a dude for $20 seems like a great deal but it turns your wrist green and stops working the second it rains! I admit, the second I heard about a Russian in the Five Families meeting I immediately jumped to Daredevil as well. Mainly because Daredevil was so fucking good at making truly terrifying underworld villains. Daytime TV is never going to match up to that. Never. Sonny can pirouette all he wants, he's never going to be Wilson Fisk staring at a white canvas... or dispatching someone with his bare hands (and a car door.) Even more than that... you're never going to get me to believe that anyone is so terrified of Sonny that they'd rather kill themselves (gruesomely) than face the consequences of dropping his name. Sonny is not scary. He's not terrifying. He's barely coherent! And Ron couldn't fashion a Madame Gao if his life depended on it. Why didn't any of those various writers over the years attempting to rip off Sex and the City, The Sopranos, and now Daredevil realize that copying something truly innovative and cutting edge doesn't make you modern... it makes you a copy? Edited August 11, 2015 by Dandesun 6 Link to comment
WendyCR72 August 11, 2015 Share August 11, 2015 All I could think of after that Five Families scene (which I didn't mind, really, silly as it was) was that Ron had clearly been bingeing Daredevil on Netflix. We got some Russians, a Chinese lady, we're good to go! But Daredevil is actually entertaining. With actual suspense and action. Please don't insult it by comparing it with GH! Sonny can pirouette all he wants, he's never going to be Wilson Fisk staring at a white canvas... or dispatching someone with his bare hands (and a car door.) That car door stuff was the shit! OMG! GH only WISHES it could go there with Sonny. Makes Sonny look like the Mickey Mouse mobster he is. 3 Link to comment
jsbt August 11, 2015 Share August 11, 2015 (edited) I mean, in fairness I actually don't mind them doing it. If they're really going to introduce an Asian Quarter mob story, which they should've done long ago IMO, I am for that, though I have major misgivings about what they will come up with. Asian characters on daytime are few and far between and GH has roots that can be mined for this. It was a kitschy scene but silly and fun, but I could not take Sonny seriously. And I'm not sure why I'm supposed to root for Sonny being back on the job. I'm not sure Ron really knew (or cared), either. It was fan service and a way to make this story plod along. Sonny trying to act cool was not what entertained me. If you want that stuff to be cool instead of camp, less is more. Sonny and his slightly-overly-large toy gun have been goofy-looking since at least 2005, and Mo is getting old. He is best as the crooked, weary patriarch, not the man of action. I am days behind but judging by the cutaways and her performance, my suspicion is that Denise/Ava, ever ambitious, is behind the hijack, possibly with the Wus. Which would be more proper Ava than anything else she's up to right now. She's always been smarter than her brother. Edited August 11, 2015 by jsbt 3 Link to comment
dubbel zout August 11, 2015 Share August 11, 2015 I admit, the second I heard about a Russian in the Five Families meeting I immediately jumped to Daredevil as well. Having not seen Daredevil, I jumped nowhere, but seeing as Karpov was Russian, it seemed reasonable to include one in the Five Families. There's an Asian Quarter in PC, so ditto. Sonny isn't Italian, so why shouldn't the group be mixed? Sonny was ridiculous in those scenes, but not because of who the other players were. (Except maybe the Russian guy, who badly overplayed.) 2 Link to comment
Dandesun August 11, 2015 Share August 11, 2015 But it ultimately comes down to the same things it's been for decades now; Sonny = Good Mob; Others = Bad Mob. It's still the fucking mob! Sonny is never going to be someone to be taken seriously as a mob boss unless they pull the trigger one way or the other. They either need to make him the premier villain of the piece or they need to have him decide enough is enough and take it all down. AMC/PP had an organized crime unit that was utterly fucking vile and they showed it and didn't shy away from it. You were totally okay with Pine Valley residents doing whatever. it. took. to take those bastards out and they were trouble. It wasn't a complete foregone conclusion as to what the outcome would be. That's using an example that daytime could maybe work with... GH is never going to be Daredevil. It can't be. That was a flagship series for something new that Marvel/Disney was going for and it had to be spectacular. They showed their work... that long shot from the end of episode 2 is something that people were raving about and talking about and its not something that daytime can even think of attempting. It would be way too expensive for one but it also drew a very firm line as to what a street level hero really was. General Hospital can't have Sonny being a real mob boss because the audience is expected to root for him, the same applies to Jason. He's not a street level hero because he's not a vigilante. Jason was never righting wrongs. That's kind of the point of Matt Murdock... he comes from a blue collar background, steeped in tragedy, but he's a lawyer trying to fight the good fight in the court room and fighting a much bleaker, desperate fight in the streets at night. Matt's explanation as to WHY he started going out and kicking the shit out of people was chilling and we didn't hear it until well into the series. Sonny craves power. That's all... and he can talk about Deke and the closet and his Mom all he wants but none of that makes him a good man. It COULD make him a decent villain, one who refuses to be helpless again and will do anything his power to make sure he isn't... but there's very little self-realization in him. Dante should be one the heroes of GH. But instead, they have him actually having a good relationship with Sonny, his mob boss sperm donor, and that remains inexcusable to me after the shooting. Dante should never be going to Sonny for relationship advice and while I can absolutely believe that Sonny would want to pursue a relationship with Dante, the feeling should never be mutual. Hell, Sonny should be the spectre for Dante. He should be manipulating the cops he has on his payroll to set Dante up to force him to have to 'play ball' as a means of getting close to him. Michael and Morgan should be at odds with suddenly having a 'big brother' who lives a completely different life, a window for them to see that the life they live isn't the only one. Michael should have always had that window through the Q's and been equally attracted to and disdainful of them... Morgan should be the one seeing Dante as another way out. Losing his sons that way should be a continual thorn in Sonny's side about Dante. At this point, Sonny should be a bitter man who has lost the love of his life, repeatedly, because of the choices he makes to remain in the business. The moment he realized that he settled for Carly, who craves power and power over others just as he does, instead of making a change and being able to hold on to Brenda and create a different kind of dynasty should eat at him. It would be the thing that makes him either slide fully into villainy ("I am the evil intent!") or determined to destroy down to the bedrock the very thing he held onto that compelled him to lose out on true happiness... But that would take guts that daytime doesn't have anymore. 9 Link to comment
ulkis August 11, 2015 Share August 11, 2015 Morgan should be the one seeing Dante as another way out. Losing his sons that way should be a continual thorn in Sonny's side about Dante. I'm gonna take my response to the Corinthos thread. Link to comment
jsbt August 11, 2015 Share August 11, 2015 Oddly enough, I think Ron was actually far more of that less adoring opinion about Sonny than some other HWs. The issue, insane and schizophrenic as it is, is that Bob Guza's writing team had the balls to write Sonny as being all of those things - spiritually bereft and crippled by his choices for his ambition over his heart - in a much more in-depth way. Those were skilled writers who understood Sonny's fundamental flaw even as Guza still revered the mob. You could say they wallowed in it. Ron's people, by comparison, are less interested in the mob, yet I think they treat Sonny and the mob very superficially, with a lack of that depth. I don't think they care much for that scene, but they're forced to write it on some level, so it largely is very safe or cartoonish pablum that satisfies a segment of the audience: Sonny the lothario! Sonny the man of action! Sonny with ladies and babies! Good ol' Sonny! I think sometimes they've been infused with passion to write for Sonny as a wrongdoer, but I don't think they've ever fully understood, or at least conveyed on the page, his true wrongness. They've come close a time or two, then defaulted back to 'he's not so bad though!' It's just tourist-y. And in a way, that's kind of worse, if that makes some sense. 5 Link to comment
Dandesun August 11, 2015 Share August 11, 2015 I do think it's worse. Like I say, they need to pull the trigger. As you say, they dabble in it, attempt to show some awareness, but then they jump back to the ladies' man, baby-making Lothario who 'really isn't so bad' and then trot out a stereotype here and there to play Bad Mob so the audience can feel better about Sonny or whatever. Pull the trigger. One way or the other, that's the thing. If they want to stick with the mob then they need to let him go all in. Do despicable things. Make him the premier villain. Shows have that and it works just fine. Comics have their super-villains. But stop sitting on the damn fence about. They need to allow true heroes and good guys to rise up and have a say in this. So that people determined to bring Sonny down are no longer fated to one of three options: dying, becoming close friends or fucking him. OR they decide to make him a hero and finally realize the cost of the life he's lived and follow through with making a difference. Not just retiring to an island... tearing the mother fucker down and sowing the fields with salt. Then you have him having to prove himself to the PCPD... having to root out the corruption he helped put there, having to EARN it. Just make a choice! There is ridiculous amount of story to mine with either direction they go. But PICK a direction! This mess they've got? It ain't working and it hasn't for awhile. You want people to talk? Take Sonny down a true direction that has struggle and consequences because the same old shit isn't going to work. 13 Link to comment
dubbel zout August 11, 2015 Share August 11, 2015 So that people determined to bring Sonny down are no longer fated to one of three options: dying, becoming close friends or fucking him. Or all three, especially if you're a wimmins. Heh. 2 Link to comment
kristabell August 11, 2015 Share August 11, 2015 Oddly enough, I think Ron was actually far more of that less adoring opinion about Sonny than some other HWs. The issue, insane and schizophrenic as it is, is that Bob Guza's writing team had the balls to write Sonny as being all of those things - spiritually bereft and crippled by his choices for his ambition over his heart - in a much more in-depth way. Those were skilled writers who understood Sonny's fundamental flaw even as Guza still revered the mob. You could say they wallowed in it. Ron's people, by comparison, are less interested in the mob, yet I think they treat Sonny and the mob very superficially, with a lack of that depth. I don't think they care much for that scene, but they're forced to write it on some level, so it largely is very safe or cartoonish pablum that satisfies a segment of the audience: Sonny the lothario! Sonny the man of action! Sonny with ladies and babies! Good ol' Sonny! I think sometimes they've been infused with passion to write for Sonny as a wrongdoer, but I don't think they've ever fully understood, or at least conveyed on the page, his true wrongness. They've come close a time or two, then defaulted back to 'he's not so bad though!' It's just tourist-y. And in a way, that's kind of worse, if that makes some sense. That's how Ron has written everything for many years, on both OLTL and GH. And this is especially true of the male characters. Sure he's a serial killer rapist, but look how cute RH is with that baby. Well, sure, this character was raped, but like not *really.* It's not like it should be a problem going forward, right? I'm going to have this character do this thing, even though it makes no sense and is completely against history and characterization, but I like the way they look without a shirt and I'll walk them back later. The audience doesn't care - have I mentioned he looks good without a shirt!!1111! 4 Link to comment
TeeVee329 August 11, 2015 Share August 11, 2015 Ron's people, by comparison, are less interested in the mob, yet I think they treat Sonny and the mob very superficially, with a lack of that depth. I don't think they care much for that scene, but they're forced to write it on some level, so it largely is very safe or cartoonish pablum that satisfies a segment of the audience: Sonny the lothario! Sonny the man of action! Sonny with ladies and babies! Good ol' Sonny! Yup. And that's why you get Carly saying that Sonny is vindictive, ruthless, and cruel, but OMG, his dimples! #eyeroll 4 Link to comment
Francie August 12, 2015 Share August 12, 2015 I'm going to have this character do this thing, even though it makes no sense and is completely against history and characterization, but I like the way they look without a shirt and I'll walk them back later. The audience doesn't care - have I mentioned he looks good without a shirt!!1111! This may explain why I disliked Ron so much. All this shirtless-ness is bad for my budding GH slogan t-shirt business. 2 Link to comment
Tiger August 12, 2015 Share August 12, 2015 While I agree 100% with everything @Dandesun wrote above, I think the biggest problem with Sonny is that all of his stories have been repeated so many times that there is nothing new to mine, no new direction to take, no new twist to explore. Him actually going to prison and Michael hating him was finally something new, and it was pissed away and everything reset back to pre-Ron status quo. If the network thinks Sonny running the mob, being involved with Carly, and talking about shipments and shipping lanes four days a week is going to improve ratings, I think they are mistaken. 11 Link to comment
Sake614 August 12, 2015 Share August 12, 2015 And yet there's a segment of the audience who would like nothing more than to see Sonny five days a week. They think he's awesome and that Mo is the best actor EVER. Link to comment
SlovakPrincess August 12, 2015 Share August 12, 2015 (edited) I think they did need to tread a bit carefully with Sonny. He has a good number of fans, and Guza drove away a lot of his non-fans. He does not lift right out. Balancing his screen time was a good thing. The problem was that (a) Ron somehow managed to create even more odious characters and over use them, and (b) Sonny eventually came back in force, got even more rotten, and skated on his crimes in an even more contrived way than ever before. Critically injuring but not killing AJ and the two antagonizing each other in a more balanced way -- that was the way to go. Any good Ron did in backing off the Sonny and Jason worship he undid BY FAR. Sonny getting a pardon and a baby for the dumbest reasons possible (I am also blaming him for Duke being ruined, too). And so many characters have been completely and totally fucked over for St. Jasus New Face Amnesia Version it's not even funny. Edited August 12, 2015 by SlovakPrincess 6 Link to comment
KerleyQ August 12, 2015 Share August 12, 2015 I know LW and SK had chemistry, but before I would have accepted any real relationship between them, she would have had to do some serious groveling. 5 Link to comment
dubbel zout August 12, 2015 Share August 12, 2015 It doesn't have to be real in the sense of sustainable. I think a down and dirty, illicit affair would work. They hate their attraction but can't resist each other. 2 Link to comment
yowsah1 August 12, 2015 Share August 12, 2015 OR they decide to make him a hero and finally realize the cost of the life he's lived and follow through with making a difference. Not just retiring to an island... tearing the mother fucker down and sowing the fields with salt. Someone here once floated the idea of Sonny turning himself in and becoming like Red Reddington on THE BLACKLIST, helping the PCPD/WSB/whoever hunt down all the bad mobsters. I think that idea has a lot of merit to it. And yet there's a segment of the audience who would like nothing more than to see Sonny five days a week. They think he's awesome and that Mo is the best actor EVER. Problem is, and this has been shown, there aren't enough of them to keep the show afloat, ratings-wise. As I will never cease pointing out, GH's recent ratings plunge began when RC rolled out the dreadful "mob war" storyline. Link to comment
mybabyaidan August 12, 2015 Share August 12, 2015 Is her event online somewhere? Of course :) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JK_1dWKIB00&feature=youtu.be 1 Link to comment
SlovakPrincess August 12, 2015 Share August 12, 2015 (edited) Did I read here that the Hayden actress got a four year contract? Four more years of this show, as it currently stands, seems ... optimistic. Edited August 12, 2015 by SlovakPrincess 2 Link to comment
Dandesun August 12, 2015 Share August 12, 2015 And yet there's a segment of the audience who would like nothing more than to see Sonny five days a week. They think he's awesome and that Mo is the best actor EVER. Everybody has those fans. Seriously. But they're not the sustainable audience and pandering specifically to them is part of why GH is in the toilet. The show is not going to be hurt by taking a strong stance on Sonny and following through. More than likely, that would be the thing to get attention and make people tune in. The diehards will always be there. That's the not the problem. It's the rest of the audience they need to work to recapture. 8 Link to comment
Badsamaritan August 12, 2015 Share August 12, 2015 Someone here once floated the idea of Sonny turning himself in and becoming like Red Reddington on THE BLACKLIST, helping the PCPD/WSB/whoever hunt down all the bad mobsters. I think that idea has a lot of merit to it. Problem is, and this has been shown, there aren't enough of them to keep the show afloat, ratings-wise. As I will never cease pointing out, GH's recent ratings plunge began when RC rolled out the dreadful "mob war" storyline. Not sure if I was the only one but that was my suggestion. He could still keep up appearances of being in the mob while helping the WSB bring down bigger threats. He could have to keep it quiet and not tell anyone and that could create conflict for him & his family. They think he's getting even more entrenched into a criminal lifestyle but really he's trying to do the right thing. So Sonny lovers could still see him do 'badass' things (ahahahahahah! Sorry, Sonny & badass just tickles me, heh) but he would actually be earning forgiveness and growing as a character. 1 Link to comment
ulkis August 12, 2015 Share August 12, 2015 http://abc.soapsindepth.com/2015/08/gh-switches-sloanes-again.html WHAT??? this is insane! Just kill him for Christ's sake!!!!!!!! 6 Link to comment
TeeVee329 August 12, 2015 Share August 12, 2015 (edited) You have got to be FUCKING kidding me! All this, for SLOANE?!?! He's been on the milk carton for weeks, just leave him there! At least the article says it's a "short story arc". Maybe McCouch couldn't be bothered to stick around for the wrap-up? ETA...oh, and this must be the answer to the GH rumor about a recast being replaced with the original actor, which everyone thought was about Kiki. No Kristen Alderson, phew. Edited August 12, 2015 by TeeVee329 2 Link to comment
dubbel zout August 12, 2015 Share August 12, 2015 (edited) LOL at the Sloane recast. Or is it an uncast? He's worthless no matter who's playing him. ETA: That should be UNcast. Frickin' autocorrect. Edited August 12, 2015 by dubbel zout 3 Link to comment
TeeVee329 August 12, 2015 Share August 12, 2015 .... please kill him off. ...AFTER he comes clean about the mayoral election stuff and Felicia ascends to her rightful throne. 3 Link to comment
jsbt August 12, 2015 Share August 12, 2015 (edited) I'm assuming - at least, I have to, for my own sanity - that he's back to get offed, and that Grayson McCouch said 'fuck it'. Or, more likely, when FV recognized the character was an insta-flop, he decided to cut loose the more expensive soap vet (McCouch) and bring back the random crazy-eyed jobbing actor (Robb Derringer, how is that actually his name) to close things out. Either way it's bad but hopefully Sloane will be dead soon. I wonder if they would've cut their losses on him this fast if Ron was still here. I'd like to think so because he's been gone awhile. Edited August 12, 2015 by jsbt 2 Link to comment
ulkis August 12, 2015 Share August 12, 2015 AAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!!! I love how 85% of your posts are now written in bolded capital letters. 4 Link to comment
jsbt August 12, 2015 Share August 12, 2015 I love how 85% of your posts are now written in bolded capital letters. I think it's working out for everyone. 4 Link to comment
ulkis August 12, 2015 Share August 12, 2015 I'm assuming - at least, I have to, for my own sanity - that he's back to get offed, and that Grayson McCouch said 'fuck it'. Or, more likely, when FV recognized the character was an insta-flop, he decided to cut loose the more expensive soap vet (McCouch) and bring back the random crazy-eyed jobbing actor (Robb Derringer, how is that actually his name) to close things out. Either way it's bad but hopefully Sloane will be dead soon. I wonder if they would've cut their losses on him this fast if Ron was still here. I'd like to think so because he's been gone awhile. I think this is the case. Lady from soaptown said Anna returns in FBI mode, going after Nikolas for the election rigging. We see Sloane again too but when Anna finds out Sloane is working for Nik she ends it Dunno if he dies though. 1 Link to comment
jsbt August 12, 2015 Share August 12, 2015 Didn't Sloane already come clean on the election? I could've sworn, and I could've sworn I was baffled at how Anna just let it slide. Link to comment
ulkis August 12, 2015 Share August 12, 2015 (edited) Didn't Sloane already come clean on the election? I could've sworn, and I could've sworn I was baffled at how Anna just let it slide. I think so. Maybe she changes her mind lol. But he started working for Nikolas after she left and helped him steal ELQ, so maybe that's a part of it. I know it's soaptown, but she's been pretty accurate with spoilers. Edited August 12, 2015 by ulkis Link to comment
jsbt August 12, 2015 Share August 12, 2015 Oh, God, and I forgot the terrible fucking Olivia/Julian baby subplot (now no longer featuring Ned who has left the show because they were too cheap to secure him, bye Ned!) is still going. Why the hell did they do that? 1 Link to comment
TeeVee329 August 12, 2015 Share August 12, 2015 Didn't Sloane already come clean on the election? I could've sworn, and I could've sworn I was baffled at how Anna just let it slide. Yup. Anna knows Felicia got hosed. If she comes back determined to make that right, I'll high five her through my TV. 3 Link to comment
ulkis August 12, 2015 Share August 12, 2015 I'm assuming - at least, I have to, for my own sanity - that he's back to get offed, and that Grayson McCouch said 'fuck it'. I believe it was probably more like, "fuck it, ya dumb broads and dirty rotten producah! McCooch is gone from this joint! I ain't gonna let you stab me in that back like that poor bastard John McBain!" 8 Link to comment
GHScorpiosRule August 12, 2015 Share August 12, 2015 (edited) I think so. Maybe she changes her mind lol. But he started working for Nikolas after she left and helped him steal ELQ, so maybe that's a part of it. I know it's soaptown, but she's been pretty accurate with spoilers. That spoiler is fucking ridiculous. That Anna will leave that midget moobster mafia don wannabewishhecouldbeMICHAEL CORLEONEwhinypissantmysognisticasswipe alone, but goes after Nikolas? Because oh yeah, going after someone who hurt your friend is waaay worse than a fucking criminal/thug murderer. Not to mention that Nik is the one who did release Robin. Who's that, you ask? That's Anna's fucking daughter. Aaand heeeeere's the return of my RAGE Edited August 12, 2015 by GHScorpiosRule 5 Link to comment
dubbel zout August 12, 2015 Share August 12, 2015 Oh, God, and I forgot the terrible fucking Olivia/Julian baby subplot (now no longer featuring Ned who has left the show because they were too cheap to secure him, bye Ned!) is still going. Why the hell did they do that? TO GIVE ME RAGE BLACKOUTS. 8 Link to comment
magnolia11 August 12, 2015 Share August 12, 2015 Liv needs to be back to beat some sense into Dante. 3 Link to comment
GHScorpiosRule August 12, 2015 Share August 12, 2015 You're all haters! And ye're nuttin' but a Corinthii apologist! neener-neener-neeeeeener! 1 Link to comment
ulkis August 12, 2015 Share August 12, 2015 And ye're nuttin' but a Corinthii apologist! neener-neener-neeeeeener! Sonny and Carly are soulmates! Link to comment
OnceSane August 12, 2015 Share August 12, 2015 Liv needs to be back to beat some sense into Dante. Only if he gets to return the favor. 2 Link to comment
TeeVee329 August 12, 2015 Share August 12, 2015 Seriously, those who tell Dead Baby Lies should not be throwing truth-telling stones. 5 Link to comment
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.