Spoilers and Speculation: Clink Boom and Cheese Fondue

[Kitty Redstone]

I'd dance in the streets if GH killed Sonny (and all his henchmen), Carly, Jason, Olivia, Kristina, Franco, Nina, Valentine, Hayden, Julian, Chloe, Nathan, and Dr. O.  And then I'd start watching again. 

[dubbel zout]

9 minutes ago, HeatLifer said:

I don't blame TPTB for some of the decision-making. They don't want the audience backlash.

I think there are some characters you can't kill off because you need them for continuity. Or if you do decide to kill off a major character, it has to be done thoughtfully and the followthrough needs to reflect the loss.

Morgan's death (not that he's a major character, but he's not a no-name) isn't affecting anyone but Sonny, Carly, Michael, and to a lesser degree, Lauren. I'm not saying the whole town needs to be rending garments and pulling hair, but Morgan's death has not been incorporated into any larger story. And of course the show undercut things by there being no body or body parts found. So of course viewers wonder if he's really dead, and that takes away from any emotion.

[HeatLifer]

33 minutes ago, dubbel zout said:

Or if you do decide to kill off a major character, it has to be done thoughtfully and the followthrough needs to reflect the loss.

Of course. But the problem here is partly the audience. To not upset them and/or to keep options open, they rarely fully kill off an important character. These days, especially. What I mean by that is they write it in a way where there are still questions....no body found, for example. 

On the other hand, the problem with TV deaths will always be present in the sense that's it's typically hard to portray a realistic reaction. In real life, no one ever really "gets over" or "moves on" from the death of a loved one. It's always lingering in the back of your brain and it's a day-by-day process.

Edited January 2, 2017 by HeatLifer

[LeftPhalange]

I'm sure fans getting upset about their favorite pairings going through drama would be much less of a problem if the shows as a whole weren't crap. Specifically with GH, some of the audience is put in a position where if they find something they like they latch onto it because there's nothing else for them to be interested in. Also, the drama the writers come up with for these pairings is often terrible. See Dante/Lulu last year for example.

As for killing off characters, if you were a fan of Morgan or Sabrina, for example, why wouldn't you be upset with them being killed offed? Their deaths were sloppy and they didn't lead to any good story. Death shouldn't be used as a plot point.

All of this is to say, if you write a good show, I think the audience will generally be more tolerant of characters/pairings they like going through some shit. 

[dubbel zout]

33 minutes ago, HeatLifer said:

On the other hand, the problem with TV deaths will always be present in the sense that's it's typically hard to portray a realistic reaction. In real life, no one ever really "gets over" or "moves on" from the death of a loved one. It's always lingering in the back of your brain and it's a day-by-day process.

Definitely. But GH is especially bad at the beginning. Dante has gotten sucked into Lulu's stupid Charlotte drama, and even before that, he got a day or two to grieve. Ava and Kristina are on the fringes of the story. People who should be more affected barely get time to hear the news.

14 minutes ago, LeftPhalange said:

As for killing off characters, if you were a fan of Morgan or Sabrina, for example, why wouldn't you be upset with them being killed offed? Their deaths were sloppy and they didn't lead to any good story. Death shouldn't be used as a plot point.

Exactly. Sabrina didn't have to be strangled. At least it was tied into Paul's story, however awkwardly. But it wasn't about Sabrina, which I think she'd been on long enough to be more of a focus of her own death.

[Aurora2]

2 hours ago, HeatLifer said:

I think you hit it on the nose right here. I don't blame TPTB for some of the decision-making. They don't want the audience backlash. It's also the same reason why the pairings are so stale. IMO, most fans, and yes I feel comfortable saying most, want their couples to essentially be happy all.the.time. If a writer DARES to screw it up in any way, or formulate some type of drama that might cut into snuggle-time, fans get pissed. In the soap world, I don't think any fan should ever feel comfortable saying "X couple would NEVER break up." If that's true, then X couple should go off-screen because this isn't the Disney Channel.*

*On that same note, I do think there should be one, maybe two, stable couples on a soap. But that's about it.

Amen to this!  Must not interrupt "snuggle-time"! 

Even the most storied of soap couples have had major breakups ... divorces ... other relationships ... presumed deaths ... whatever it takes to keep characters and couples interesting in the five-day-a-week, year-round format.  The couples who stay together tend to be the older matriarch and patriarch characters - the Tom and Alice Hortons for example.  Hey even Caroline Brady had an affair and a child by another man.  That's soaps for you.  This is REEL - not real life.  

Sure, the break up and make up theme can be overdone (I'm looking at you Sonny and Carly), but some changing of partners can be good thing.   But sometimes the journey to love can be very rewarding. 

But writers and producers are too much ruled by fan bases these days. 

Edited January 2, 2017 by Aurora2

[ulkis]

6 hours ago, LeftPhalange said:

One of the many problems with this show is that since the it's so trash I bet there are a lot of people only watching for one or two characters. There are 400 characters who need to go but getting rid of them could actually decrease ratings at this point.

If feel comfortable saying if they ditched Ava, Finn, Greenlee, Franco and Nina, and increased the airtime of other characters, they could get rid of [Sonny/Carly/Lulu/Maxie/Anna etc] without significant damage.

I mean, Nathan can go too but he's not sucking up airtime or budget, so.

And since we're in the spoiler thread, I still have hope of his leaving. 

[TeeVee329]

On ‎1‎/‎2‎/‎2017 at 8:34 AM, ulkis said:

I don't want them to go all Vicious British Soap on us though, I just want characters to leave more often.

I think one thing the British soaps do better is that almost all the actors take breaks throughout the year, with the characters going off-canvas for a few weeks.  It allows for a better rotation of who's frontburner.

Edited January 3, 2017 by TeeVee329

[ulkis]

https://twitter.com/PissyMissy48/status/816330580795211776?ref_src=twsrc^tfw

Studly Spinelli marrying Nathan and Maxie is weird.

[TeeVee329]

Poor Lucy.

ETA...Spinelli marrying them IS weird.  Nathan and Maxie are both fine with her ex-boyfriend/ex-fiancé/current baby daddy overseeing their vows?

Edited January 3, 2017 by TeeVee329

[ulkis]

2 minutes ago, TeeVee329 said:

Poor Lucy.

ETA...Spinelli marrying them IS weird.  Nathan and Maxie are both fine with her ex-boyfriend/ex-fiancé/current baby daddy overseeing their vows?

I get Maxie being fine, but Nathan should be like, "no thanks." Even if he's completely fine with Spinelli, he should want their wedding day at least to be completely about him and Maxie.

[TeeVee329]

Yeah.  I mean, him attending is one thing, given he's bringing Georgie (I guess Ellie doesn't get to come), but to actually do the service?  Weird.

[LeftPhalange]

Oh wow, those two people finally get married. Whatever. 

[jsbt]

And there's Franco and Liz looking like Beauty and the fuckin' Beast! God.

[Melgaypet]

There's just literally nothing to care about on this show anymore.

[TeeVee329]

I guess we were supposed to be all, "Oh no!" when Franco gets beaned (?) in the promo with something and flops to the ground, his hair cascading in front of him.  I might have chuckled instead.

[ulkis]

5 minutes ago, jsbt said:

And there's Franco and Liz looking like Beauty and the fuckin' Beast! God.

The show runners have actually called it that. I wonder if they knew the hair stylists would actually take it to heart.

[LeftPhalange]

12 minutes ago, jsbt said:

And there's Franco and Liz looking like Beauty and the fuckin' Beast! God.

They look so nasty together. So deviant. So unsophisticated. 

[Melgaypet]

7 minutes ago, ulkis said:

The show runners have actually called it that.

Hacks. Weren't Todd and Blair supposed to be Beauty and the Beast? Unoriginal hacks.

[Oracle42]

Part of my problem with Liz/Franco (obviously, the smallest part, because Liz/Franco is a fuckin SHITSHOW) is the way they look together. They are both attractive people, but they don't look good together

[jsbt]

Let's leave all things OLTL out of this. It's enough that the show is exploiting its memory everyday with Howarth.

[magnolia11]

2 hours ago, TeeVee329 said:

I guess we were supposed to be all, "Oh no!" when Franco gets beaned (?) in the promo with something and flops to the ground, his hair cascading in front of him.  I might have chuckled instead.

They might actually get a ratings boost if any lapsed viewers tune in in (futile) hopes of seeing his skull get crushed.

[IWantCandy71]

2 hours ago, LeftPhalange said:

They look so nasty together. So deviant. So unsophisticated. 

Howarth really does look gross now with the longer hair. I could handle it when he was  younger. He could pull it off, then.  If he has to leave it longer, pull that mess back in a ponytail, please. All.The.Time.

Like Pandora's box, it must be contained. Perhaps Heather can simply whack it off in a scene with a pair of scissors hidden behind her back. They can even use it for some fun suspense. What's Heather going to do with the scissors? Just grooming baby boy, because he apparently spent so much money on that cage, that he can't afford a barber.

[TeeVee329]

Speaking of Heather, we're assuming she went ahead and killed Tom, yes?

[ulkis]

2 minutes ago, TeeVee329 said:

Speaking of Heather, we're assuming she went ahead and killed Tom, yes?

I think maybe it was the brother.

[IWantCandy71]

I haven't caught up since I watched a few days last week. I too, without watching, would think having the brother do it would be at least an attempt at something different other than making crazy Heather the catch all for Franco's supposed misdeeds. With that said, show is uncreative, so it probably will be Heather. She's supposed to be locked up for life, yes? I suppose yet another murder won't matter much to her.

[TeeVee329]

Oh yeah, the brother.  We haven't seen him yet, right, since Tom's body was found?

I thought Heather because why else that random scene of Liz visiting her at the nut house.

[IWantCandy71]

I think Liz visiting Heather was to put doubts in Liz's head about Franco, and nothing more. But having Heather around certainly makes her a viable suspect and keeps her in the viewer's mind.

[TeeVee329]

But what doubts?  Liz has adamantly (and grossly) been supportive of Franco re: Tom's murder, she hasn't wavered at all.

[peachmangosteen]

4 hours ago, ulkis said:

https://twitter.com/PissyMissy48/status/816330580795211776?ref_src=twsrc^tfw

Studly Spinelli marrying Nathan and Maxie is weird.

This link is broken. Does anyone have another link?

[LeftPhalange]

I thought Helena killed Tom? He did die offscreen, which is sorta like dying during a commercial break. 

[ulkis]

5 minutes ago, peachmangosteen said:

This link is broken. Does anyone have another link?

As of now I don't see it at the GH twitter or Frank's.

Edited January 3, 2017 by ulkis

[peachmangosteen]

6 minutes ago, ulkis said:

As of now I don't see it at the GH twitter or Frank's.

Yea I checked the GH facebook and I don't think it's there either. Maybe they realized it was horrible and took it down lol.

Edited January 3, 2017 by peachmangosteen

[ulkis]

1 minute ago, peachmangosteen said:

Yea I checked the GH facebook and I don't think it's there either. Maybe they realized it was horrible and took it down lol.

Ha, well they never put it up in the first place. That was a recording off someone's phone.

[ulkis]

54 minutes ago, peachmangosteen said:

Yea I checked the GH facebook and I don't think it's there either. Maybe they realized it was horrible and took it down lol.

ah, someone has it here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kDLn0zONaxY&feature=youtu.be

[WendyCR72]

Wait. NuSpin married Maxie and Human Tree? Why? Ten bucks says, down the line, that marriage will be invalid or some crap.

[TeeVee329]

Spin is Internet ordained, isn't he?  He did Sam and Jason's wedding.

[IWantCandy71]

15 hours ago, TeeVee329 said:

But what doubts?  Liz has adamantly (and grossly) been supportive of Franco re: Tom's murder, she hasn't wavered at all.

IDK, she looked a little uneasy at Heather's comments that day.  Heather's crazy, but she's not unobservant or stupid, and I think Liz knows deep down that Heather may have a point or two about her son.

[rur]

Does anyone else think it looks like Jason is actually planning to choke Kelly rather than just kiss her in that clip? 

Just me? OK; I'll sit in the corner for a while.

[LeftPhalange]

42 minutes ago, IWantCandy71 said:

IDK, she looked a little uneasy at Heather's comments that day.  Heather's crazy, but she's not unobservant or stupid, and I think Liz knows deep down that Heather may have a point or two about her son.

Whatever uneasyness she may have initially felt is gone now since she had no problem with him locking a man in a cage. She's even willing to believe he didn't murder said man. 

[peachmangosteen]

34 minutes ago, rur said:

Does anyone else think it looks like Jason is actually planning to choke Kelly rather than just kiss her in that clip? 

He does that a lot. I swear, this man just wants to murder everyone!

When is Griffin going to be added to the Liz/Franco mix? I'm half intrigued, but honestly it's gonna be terrible. Griffin is boring as hell when he's not being a self-righteous dick. Actually his self-righteousness combined with Liz's might send me into a full mental breakdown. Plus, the story will likely just be about Franco's pain over the latest love of his life carrying on with another man. OK, never mind, I'm not intrigued at all. In fact, I hope the writers have gotten bored with that story before it even began and just dropped it.

[yowsah1]

5 hours ago, LeftPhalange said:

Whatever uneasyness she may have initially felt is gone now since she had no problem with him locking a man in a cage. She's even willing to believe he didn't murder said man. 

So we can add Liz to the long list of Port Charles women who happily overlook any and every crime their current man commits Because True Love. (See also: Kiki, Carly, Sam, et. al.). This show is nothing if not consistent in the shit it shovels at us.

[Asp Burger]

Some of the posts above helped me put my finger on what bothers me lately (I mean, near the top of the list of the lengthy General Hospital section of the massive book called Things That Bother Me Lately): Death is utterly weightless on this show. It should be huge. 

Look, I never broke land-speed records to get to my DVR and see what Sabrina and Morgan were up to, but they were kind of important. One of them is someone the show had spent a lot of time trying to make happen. She had been put in pairings and triangles, she had been shown forming friendships with people like Liz and Tracy, she had been kept on while the actress was on maternity leave. The other character was a member of one of the core families. We had seen him being born the night his father shot his mother in the head, and he stayed an important character from then until adulthood, except for that short break at SORAS Academy.

They're talking about Morgan a lot, but it's really just plot-pointy BS for the latest round of "Will Carly go back to Sonny again, or is she done with The Life this time?" Oh, this Christmas is sad. Morgan died. This egg nog is good. Remember how much Morgan loved egg nog? I just wish I could trust you again, Sonny.  

The actor who is really being cheated is Chad Duell. Michael has now lost his biological father, his girlfriend, and his brother very close together, and what's his story? Being the catspaw of Nelle? He looks sad, but we already know he can do that. The writing isn't really giving him anywhere to go with it, because it isn't really about him. This should be major shit. But these characters are just two among what seems like a couple dozen who have (apparently) died this year, so it doesn't matter.

Edited January 5, 2017 by Asp Burger

[TeeVee329]

47 minutes ago, Asp Burger said:

The actor who is really being cheated is Chad Duell. Michael has now lost his biological father, his girlfriend, and his brother very close together, and what's his story? Being the catspaw of Nelle? He looks sad, but we already know he can do that. The writing isn't really giving him anywhere to go with it, because it isn't really about him. This should be major shit. But these characters are just two among what seems like a couple dozen who have (apparently) died this year, so it doesn't matter.

Yup.  Michael being interested in Nelle isn't about him at all, it's about Sonny and Carly and Nelle herself.  If it was about Michael, him trying to move on/find love again after Sabrina (which...whatever) would be a major thread instead of not being mentioned at all.

[IWantCandy71]

Michael should be visiting Kevin on the regular, and/or having nightmares/meltdowns and acting out. Or hanging with Aunt Tracy. The way Nelle should have been introduced: a credit card bill comes in the mail for AJ. Tracy gets Spinelli to track some of the regular purchases-and she and Michael go on a road trip to catch the culprit. Fun bonding time with Chad and Jane, who have awesome chemistry, and we find out ANnelle J Whatever is Nikki Langton's daughter with AJ. Great auntie and AJ's two kids then cross trek back to PC.

Instead, Nelle is probably going to be Jax's daughter from some long ago affair, and Joss's half sister, which is why they were enough of a match for Joss to get her kidney. Instead, it's all about Sonny and Carly, and I couldn't care less.

[TeeVee329]

It's been a long time since Michael has been in a scene with a Quartermaine, since Paul was caught and that was...September*?  That he skipped both holidays with them in favor of Nelle/the Corinthos really sucks and that I put on Jelly.  Even Guza started having Michael show up at Q Thanksgiving.

* Sorry, just remembered the last time Michael was with a Q, he was yelling at Dillon.  Blech.

Edited January 5, 2017 by TeeVee329

[Ambrosefolly]

2 hours ago, IWantCandy71 said:

Michael should be visiting Kevin on the regular, and/or having nightmares/meltdowns and acting out. Or hanging with Aunt Tracy. The way Nelle should have been introduced: a credit card bill comes in the mail for AJ. Tracy gets Spinelli to track some of the regular purchases-and she and Michael go on a road trip to catch the culprit. Fun bonding time with Chad and Jane, who have awesome chemistry, and we find out ANnelle J Whatever is Nikki Langton's daughter with AJ. Great auntie and AJ's two kids then cross trek back to PC.

Instead, Nelle is probably going to be Jax's daughter from some long ago affair, and Joss's half sister, which is why they were enough of a match for Joss to get her kidney. Instead, it's all about Sonny and Carly, and I couldn't care less.

 

I know that Monica has a full time job, but wouldn't she be a better person to go on the road seeing as AJ was her son, and Tracy participated in trying to sabotage him? 

[IWantCandy71]

1 hour ago, TeeVee329 said:

It's been a long time since Michael has been in a scene with a Quartermaine, since Paul was caught and that was...September*?  That he skipped both holidays with them in favor of Nelle/the Corinthos really sucks and that I put on Jelly.  Even Guza started having Michael show up at Q Thanksgiving.

* Sorry, just remembered the last time Michael was with a Q, he was yelling at Dillon.  Blech.

Yeah, I know. I got the feeling the last time I watched, that show was de Qng him again. Blech indeed.

 

Quote

I know that Monica has a full time job, but wouldn't she be a better person to go on the road seeing as AJ was her son, and Tracy participated in trying to sabotage him? 

I'm fairly certain with AJ and Tracy, it was tit for tat. That's the Quartermaine way. AJ, much as I liked him, was almost never a victim of someone he'd never screwed over first. Carly and Sonny were just about the only exceptions. Not even Jason counts, because when Jason had Q memories, AJ treated him pretty awfully on the regular.

[Ambrosefolly]

27 minutes ago, IWantCandy71 said:

Yeah, I know. I got the feeling the last time I watched, that show was de Qng him again. Blech indeed.

 

I'm fairly certain with AJ and Tracy, it was tit for tat. That's the Quartermaine way. AJ, much as I liked him, was almost never a victim of someone he'd never screwed over first. Carly and Sonny were just about the only exceptions. Not even Jason counts, because when Jason had Q memories, AJ treated him pretty awfully on the regular.

 

Agreed, AJ could be a straight up jerk to her; I wanted Tracy to ultimately win ELQ, and AJ work for Deception or Crimson, and actually be somewhat successful. While they are now friendly (despite the fact that Michael never apologized for calling her out about being duped by, even though it happened right after he was also snowed by Carly and Sonny for the AJ murder), I just don't think Tracy would be interested enough to look for anything pertaining to AJ, unless it directly involved ELQ in some way.

[Lillybee]

According to DD, Brenda is coming back. Dog help us.