Spoilers and Speculation: Clink Boom and Cheese Fondue

[Francie]

His 10 week excuse still bothers the shit out of me. Yes, you have ten weeks but you have up to 5 episodes a week to build a real freaking story. There are so many shows now that are only 10 episode for a whole freaking season and they manage to tell a whole fucking story from begin to end with decent pacing and a conclusion. This asshat has 5x as much time and us whining. Why because he can't write or tell a story for shit. 10 weeks isn't enough because the stupid fucker doesn't know how to not drag shit out past its expiration day.

I just looked up the dates of the Left-Hand Boy storyline -- the one that put General Hospital into stratosphere. 

 

It started on (or about) July 11, 1980, the day of Luke and Jennifer's wedding.  It ended on October 17th, with Luke and Laura stealing the motorcycle to return to Port Charles.  That's about 13 weeks. 

 

Thirteen weeks in which -- and I'm going completely by memory of a 10-year-old kid -- Luke and Laura met up after Luke fished himself out of the harbor after Scotty punched him and Luke fell off the boat. Then Luke and Laura went on the run, hocked Luke's watch, spent a romantic night in Wyndam's, picked up an assassin on their tail who killed the Wyndam's security guard, went to Beecher's Corner, took on false identifies, met up with the nice couple on the farm, made friends with Hutch, and spent the evenings talking over a blanket that divided their room and falling deeper in love.  All the while, they tried to break Frank Smith's code book and find a left handed boy.  They found what they were looking for, survived the assassin, finally consummated their relationship, and came home heroes.

 

All in 13 weeks. 

 

What Ron is doing is just a receiving line, not a storyline. People from Luke's past will be paraded by him, so he can reminisce and say good-bye. 

[jsbt]

The thing is, he wasn't pitched Fluke, he was pitched Bill Eckert, which is why he agreed immediately. Fluke only happened as that half-written, half-baked nonsense when TG was away on sick leave and Ron threw a fit about the Internet picking up on his "subtle clues," 60% of which remain unexplained.

 

As for a "Luke and Tracy love story," I have a feeling that may just be Ron covering himself with Tony Geary. He's talked out of two sides of his mouth before.

[LegalParrot81]

 

Didn't he say he wanted to leave before the Fluke story was pitched but he stayed around to play that out?

 

That's why the 10 weeks whine is so pathetic.  This retirement didn't come out of the blue and at the 11th hour.  RC had almost a year and a half to get an outline ready to go whenever Tony gave his notice because it was obvious it was coming sooner rather than later.  

 

 

It started on (or about) July 11, 1980, the day of Luke and Jennifer's wedding.  It ended on October 17th, with Luke and Laura stealing the motorcycle to return to Port Charles.  That's about 13 weeks.

 

And the story wasn't on everyday for that 13 week period.  I think once or twice they were on 4 days out of the week, but most weeks it was the M-W-F shows.  In that 13 week period, they were able to tell a complete story that had a beginning, middle and end and on top of that you understood the characters motivations for everything they did. 

Edited June 29, 2015 by LegalParrot81

[yowsah1]

Every single spoiler here is shitastic. Seriously. Come on, new record low ratings!

 

I suspect the full court PR press that ABC is putting on for Geary's departure will pay off with a nice ratings bump, as people will tune in out of curiosity and/or to see Tony Geary off.

[Oracle42]

RC is giving them absolutely no reason to stick around afterwards

Edited June 29, 2015 by Oracle42

[SlovakPrincess]

In the Left Handed Boy saga, they were able to pack not one, but THREE, separate assassins into the 13-week story. And one of them was disguised as a woman for a while, for an additional twist. It was sort of amazing.

For "only 10 weeks" Ron really couldn't come up with something other than more kidnapping, more attempted rape played as funny, and everyone acting like an OOC nincompoop? Just keeps going back to the same stagnant well ....

[karenc3]

Richard Burghi was on Another World before he was on Days, it was probably early to mid 80s, I think the character's name was Chad Rollo.  I thought he was a good actor, I would be glad to see him on GH. 

[tvgoddess]

He was also in Season 1 of 24. And yeah, I remember him from Another World back then.

[BestestAuntEver]

RC is giving them absolutely no reason to stick around afterwards

Hell, based on those spoilers he isn't giving them a reason to stick through an entire episode.

[WendyCR72]

Richard Burghi was on Another World before he was on Days, it was probably early to mid 80s, I think the character's name was Chad Rollo.  I thought he was a good actor, I would be glad to see him on GH. 

 

Of course, he was also Karl Mayer on Desperate Housewives, Susan's ex-husband and Julie's father.

 

 

Wasn't Justus' dead body found stuffed in a trunk or something after being killed by the mob?

 

Yup.

[Francie]

I suspect the full court PR press that ABC is putting on for Geary's departure will pay off with a nice ratings bump, as people will tune in out of curiosity and/or to see Tony Geary off.

Maybe.  But I wouldn't be surprised if there's no bump at all.  There was no bump for Genie's return, and the "storyline," such as it is, is such a flop that there's no good word of mouth about it to draw anyone in.

 

I think they've gotten about most of the press they are going to get on the topic with the announcement of the retirement.  With the announcement of the different returns.  They've already gotten the press they're going to get from the goodbye party.  And I don't see Tony doing any more press for GH now that his dressing room is cleared out and he's left the building. 

 

People aren't even being told his last air date! Sure, it's still over a month away, but tv and movies push dates at least 6 weeks in advance now, so that people see it repeatedly and internalize it.  If Frank waits until 2 or 3 weeks before Tony's last airdate, hardly anyone's going to take note and make a special effort to tune if they hadn't already.

 

Plus, Frank likes to play things by keeping them close to his vest. He's constantly trying to trick the audience instead of informing them.  He'll more likely try to trick the viewers into thinking Luke is either leaving today! -- so watch!!! or that he may be back on next week -- so watch!!! And that tactic, I think, would backfire.

 

But maybe there'll be a bump.  We'll soon find out!

[LegalParrot81]

 

People aren't even being told his last air date!

 

July 27th, per the AP this morning.

[IWantCandy71]

I guess RB is now confirmed as Paul? I may be a party of one here, but I'm excited to see what they do with him in reference to the Q's. I know I posted a couple of months ago give or take, that if I was Nikolas, I'd bring Paul back and involve him in ELQ. So if that's what they are doing, YAY. I'm excited for Jane. She needs a strong acting partner, and if Paul gets involved with Nikolas, he may be all about revenge. I'm interested. Especially since the ELQ story is the only must see one for me right now.

[Francie]

July 27th, per the AP this morning.

They just improved their chances of people actually tuning in! 

 

Haven't Ron and Frank been telling people that he'll be on until August, though?

[dubbel zout]

Eh, close enough, IMO. They might not know an exact date until they've edited the shows.

 

I would die laughing if TG's last ep were preempted by breaking news. Can't you just picture Ron going berserk on Twitter?

Edited June 29, 2015 by dubbel zout

[Lola16]

 

*The exit story for Luke will ultimately be a love story.  "And the love story we are telling here is that of Tracy and Luke".

If that means Tracy leaves... ugh... another reason to not watch.  I was so happy to see the vets when I tuned in last year.  I'm ok with this Luke leaving (he's nothing like the 78-80  Luke I knew). 

[KerleyQ]

Since I haven't seen anything about Jane leaving, it could be a love story about them in the sense that he ends up leaving town and disappearing to protect her for some reason.  Or he dies, but not before telling her how he feels?  Ron has kind of a twisted thought process, so the way it ends up being a "love story" about Tracy and Luke could be something totally different than any of us would think. But my guess is it will come down to being about affirming Luke and Tracy's love while not actually ending with them together in any way. 

[ulkis]

the lady at soaptown whose spoilers are usually accurate said that Luke comes to Tracy and she knows the truth but she tells him she can't take him back, and that's why he leaves town. Good for her. 

[Fylaki]

 

Luke and Laura are surprised when an enemy from their past shows up

Really? They are still surprised by this? Hell I don't even live on a soap opera and I'm no longer Surprised when an old enemy shows up. What are they stupid or something?

[peachmangosteen]

the lady at soaptown whose spoilers are usually accurate said that Luke comes to Tracy and she knows the truth but she tells him she can't take him back, and that's why he leaves town. Good for her. 

 

This is actually awesome. Therefore, I don't believe it.

[katie9918]

I'm so sick of snarling Tracy and I kind of resent her now.

[HeatLifer]

All Tracy has done for decades is yell and bitch. It's exhausting.

[Oracle42]

I'd be okay with her yelling and snarling at Michael and Sabrina over handing AJ over to Sonny like a purse

[Mrs. Stanwyck]

 

Luke and Laura are surprised when an enemy from their past shows up

 

 

Really? They are still surprised by this? Hell I don't even live on a soap opera and I'm no longer Surprised when an old enemy shows up. What are they stupid or something?

 

Besides, who did they think would kidnap their son?  A dear old friend?  I could see being surprised at which old enemy shows up but not at the fact that someone with a grudge against them is behind this.

[jsbt]

The rumor of the day at ol' SZ has it that - do I have to tag this in here? no? - it's 200-year-old Frank Smith who has Lucky, Ethan and little Jake alive and well. Tracy rejects Luke, he goes into a drunken tailspin and the spirits of his parents fight for his soul, he comes out the other side and resolves to travel the world and find himself again.

 

I actually don't have much trouble with a lot of that on paper if true, because they're dealing with a number of factors, #1 with a bullet being Tony Geary and what he may or may not agree to play and being hamstrung by that. Normally, as I've said many times before, I wouldn't give a shit about what he wants to play, and say 'fuck it, if he doesn't like it he can walk!' But TG already is walking and they clearly are hoping he will return for visits or stories at some point and I'd feel the same, and so they don't want to write him off with TG, who no longer needs the show's money, furious and angry. They have to straddle the line, and I think they've done a lot of that with Luke and Laura's relationship thus far despite some dumb plot twists in this story. They can then use this someday, should he agree to return for a future storyline (and I think he might), and reunite the newly-enlightened Luke and Laura, either after Tony's cooled off about it or in absentia. And I think/hope they will give a lot over to Laura in the actual storytelling here.

 

Number two about why some of this works for me, and this is important, is the fact that they launched a big Luke Spencer exit story immediately on the heels of a terrible fucking year-long storyline in which Luke was revealed to be a schizophrenic crime boss who has spent decades dealing drugs, killing people and terrorizing the town. There is really no way to tie all that mess up in a pretty bow and jump to "Luke's last adventure!" without it being jarringly dissonant, but the best way to do it, IMO, is in the scenario outlined above. While I'm sure it will be cheesy as fuck with Tim and Lena, it's also the only way to marry these two recent storylines in some sort of remotely cohesive way. And I think Luke going off to wander the earth makes sense after what he's been through - a quick reunion with either woman would not.

 

I also think it is a great idea, however implausible, to bring back Jake if true. I always thought it was a terrible, ugly mistake to kill the kid - I thought it was done pettily, to ensure Jason and Sam's supercouple primacy with their miracle baby, but more than that I thought it was probably Luke's darkest sin. If it's really happening, and I have my doubts, then I'm for it.

 

What I don't think is smart is the choice of Frank Smith, but it would not surprise me if true. Ron and Valentini were on staff when OLTL brought back 500-year-old Victor Lord, which they later invalidated when they took the creative reins, but then proceeded back a slew of very ancient, very dead people by themselves. We already have Undead Zombie Helena, which, honestly, works for her character and history - we don't need Oxygen Tank Frank. But maybe they're holding all the dark Cassadine curse stuff in reserve for 2016, hoping they can lure Tony back.

 

...I dunno, it could be worse. But for my money, if it was up to me and I had to follow this basic outline, I'd push TG harder - I'd make Luke discover during the course of this adventure what he's already begun to discover onscreen, which is that he didn't hate his life or family with Laura, he loved it, and he might be falling back in love with her. Keep the dark night of the soul, keep Tracy's rejection, and then have a family celebration on the Haunted Star where Liz and Lucky sleep together, and in a moment of passion, so do Luke and Laura (not, uh, in the same place at the same time).

 

But it would be a casual thing. Luke would be surprised to wake up and find Laura telling him that she's 53 years old, she's not picking out the placemats for their new house, she knows it was a thing in the moment and she knows they don't know where they're at together. She had her happy ending, it didn't work, now she's just trying to live. She tells him he's still reeling from Tracy, and tells him that no one and nothing is holding him back now and he should go find what he's looking for.

 

That, to me, would be a fair ending to all parties that leaves the door open, and also evolves both characters. They're too old and too beaten up to pretend that if it happens again, it's gonna happen the same way it used to. And it leaves Laura free to get done up right by Richard Burgi.

Edited June 29, 2015 by jsbt

[backhometome]

LOL Jake alive?? out of all the dead characters to bring back RC brings back the spawn of Liz/Jason. *rolls eyes*

[dubbel zout]

I think Luke going off to wander the earth makes sense after what he's been through

They stumbled into good fortune with TG's lengthy vacations, because Luke leaving town for big chunks of time isn't OOC.

 

I don't think Luke and Laura need to sleep together one last time, as it were. Luke and Laura will always love each other, they'll always be connected by their history and children, they'll always be there for the other, but they can't be a couple anymore. There's nothing wrong with that. That works for me.

 

Killing Jake was wrong for a lot of reasons, but that doesn't mean I want him to be alive. Though I'm curious how they'll explain how he can function without all the organs he donated. 

Edited June 29, 2015 by dubbel zout

[TeeVee329]

Killing Jake was wrong for a lot of reasons, but that doesn't mean I want him to be alive. Though I'm curious how they'll explain how he can function without all the organs he donated. 

 

THIS.  Killing him was a short-sighted mistake to service awful story, but bringing him back would be nothing but fan service for the Liz/Jason diehards.

[magnolia11]

LOL Jake alive?? out of all the dead characters to bring back RC brings back the spawn of Liz/Jason. *rolls eyes*

 

It's completely ridonkulous (WTF, would Corn Child have to give her kidneys back?), but I could actually see it because it would wipe some slates clean that have annoyed good chunks of the audience.  (1) Luke is no longer saddled with being a kiddie-killer before he makes his final exit, and (2) Lucky wouldn't actually be a deadbeat dad (presuming they write it so he's been searching for Jake this whole time rather than staring at rocks in Ireland.).

[jsbt]

THIS.  Killing him was a short-sighted mistake to service awful story, but bringing him back would be nothing but fan service for the Liz/Jason diehards.

 

I am definitely not one of those. I just think it was a horrible, shortsighted thing for the show to do, and it decimated the character of Luke even worse than before.

[backhometome]

Yeah, Luke wont be a baby killer (not that he gave 2 craps about that kid) but Lucky will be leaving again. Unless they say that he does spend time with this kids off screen. Which I'm all for. 

 

Just seems like RC is mainly doing it to rile up the Jasam/Liason fanbases. 

[jsbt]

Killing Jake was wrong for a lot of reasons, but that doesn't mean I want him to be alive. Though I'm curious how they'll explain how he can function without all the organs he donated. 

 

Ask Jack on DOOL, who has died approximately nine times and has had all his organs donated at least once or twice.

 

As for Luke and Laura, I think it'd be interesting to have 'em do it for two reasons: a) it'd leave the door open and give their fans some payoff, and b) it's not heady, swooning romance like it's still 1980. They're older people, they have sex and they don't make plans to get back together and nest - that's transgressive enough on TV these days, frankly. It'd be interesting to see Laura in that context, throwing Luke for a loop.

Edited June 29, 2015 by jsbt

[dubbel zout]

Honestly, I'll be surprised if it's mentioned at all.

[jsbt]

Ron is obsessive about minutiae like that unless it interferes with an explicit goal (in which case he will tell the audience to fuck off, sometimes onscreen), so if the rumor is true I suspect it will be.

Edited June 29, 2015 by jsbt

[ulkis]

THIS.  Killing him was a short-sighted mistake to service awful story, but bringing him back would be nothing but fan service for the Liz/Jason diehards.

 

And also for the Jason haters like me! I didn't care about Jake but was annoyed they killed him off so Jason could have a child and raise it with Sam without looking like a jackass/hypocrite re: Jake.

[TeeVee329]

Heh, jsbt, I love that you linked to that Dani/Jack scene.

[jsbt]

Heh, jsbt, I love that you linked to that Dani/Jack scene.

 

It was really the precursor to Twitter Ron.

[HeatLifer]

Lol, they're gonna bring Little Jake back because Ron can't even begin to write another reason Jason would stay with Liz.

[Oracle42]

What? I mean, dead without a head (or major organs) is a thing for a reason.

Why would anyone switch Jake with another toddler? Who keeps spare dead toddlers around "just in case"?

I tend to think Liz is having some sort of dream/hallucination of what her family with Jason and Jake would've been like

If they do bring Poor!Dead!Jake back so this Liz story is less about a Jason fixation and more about an inability to move on from the loss of her son it will do a lot towards rehabbing the character in the wake of this awful story

I would be even more pissed that AJ is dead b/c my primary interest in an AJ/Liz pairing was in AJ raising Jason's son without knowing that it was his nephew and Liz deciding when/if to tell him and the two of them dealing with the issue once he (inevitably) found out

I'm much more interested in Lucky being redeemed than Liz and I really want a NON-CARTINI recast after TG leaves

Edited June 30, 2015 by Oracle42

[Dandesun]

It was really the precursor to Twitter Ron.

 

Ron brought all of that shit on himself. You don't keep harping about 'eight years ago, eight years ago, eight years ago' for months on end then bring a fifteen year old girl on and pretend there's some kind of question that's been answered.

 

Ugh, The fact that he still hasn't managed to realize that a lot of criticism he gets comes from a VERY valid place and just throws a snit instead.

 

Please.

[LeftPhalange]

How about Jake stay dead but it's revealed someone else ran him over. Luke is no longer a baby killer and the spawn of Jiz stays off my screen.

[SlovakPrincess]

It's completely ridonkulous (WTF, would Corn Child have to give her kidneys back?), 

 

Well, to be fair, she only has to give one back ...

 

 

 

But good God almighty -- no more back from the dead people!   Gah!   And the way Ron does it, Jake will probably be back for a year and then get cruelly killed again.  

Edited June 29, 2015 by SlovakPrincess

[ulkis]

How about Jake stay dead but it's revealed someone else ran him over. Luke is no longer a baby killer and the spawn of Jiz stays off my screen.

 

But Spawn of Jasam looks like Spawn of Jiz's twin. I get them confused!

[Tiger]

the lady at soaptown whose spoilers are usually accurate said that Luke comes to Tracy and she knows the truth but she tells him she can't take him back, and that's why he leaves town. Good for her. 

 

I didn't even realize until I read this post what my real problem with Luke & Tracy has been this whole time: he murdered Alan's grandson/Edward & Lila's great-grandson.

 

I can see Tracy being able to forgive the thievery, arranging her marriage to Coleman, trying to steal ELQ, trying to blow her up, the drinking, always keeping secrets and running off.  But I cannot see Tracy ever forgiving the murder of Alan's grandson/Edward & Lila's great-grandson.  

[jsbt]

I assumed that the Jake appearing in taping stuff was for a hallucination by Jason. I still mostly believe that, but this version of events would make sense if, as I suspect, Ron wants to roll back that horrible part of Luke's history. That would also be something TG would fight against, as he indicated in a recent interview where he says he was mad about certain elements of the storyline but 'gave up'.

[UYI]

 

 

Killing Jake was wrong for a lot of reasons, but that doesn't mean I want him to be alive. Though I'm curious how they'll explain how he can function without all the organs he donated. 

 

Someone once suggested that Helena could have just had some matching organs on ice somewhere for Joss. Eh, I'd buy it.

[dubbel zout]

It's not the worst excuse. The Cassadines have done enough weird, nutty stuff that it can work.

Edited June 30, 2015 by dubbel zout

[LegalParrot81]

I'm must be incredibly cold hearted, but I didn't feel anything when Jake was killed.  I haven't missed the kid for a nano-second and have absolutely no desire to see yet another character resurrected.  

[yowsah1]

The rumor of the day at ol' SZ has it that - do I have to tag this in here? no? - it's 200-year-old Frank Smith who has Lucky, Ethan and little Jake alive and well. 

 

Honestly, with all this ham-fisted "Stavros/Jason/who the hell knows who else gets thawed out and comes back from the dead" crap that Ron has dumped into GH, I wouldn't be at all surprised if the boss villain in the end turned out to be Undead Mikkos Cassadine.

Edited June 30, 2015 by yowsah1

[Badsamaritan]

I dunno, I kinda think Jake is Luke's hallucination. Part of his redemption story, I can see him begging HalluciJake to forgive him, wailing that he finally understands. Maybe even Fluke is there too, calling him a nutless wonder for caving, all the while scaring the crap out of poor Jake in the process.

I don't think Jake is alive for real. Jiz hasn't brought anything to the ratings, even with the characters' fan bases. I don't think RC is done driving that bus overtop of Liez just yet!