General Hospital week Ending April 25, 2003

(a) Who gave the consistently best performances this week?

Rick Hearst. Sorry, can't get behind the leading-man thing, I DO think he's a bad dude. Maybe he can go the Jake McKinnon route and work towards redemption, I dunno. But he's a complicated bad dude, and Rick Hearst plays many levels. His terror of dying, the sick way he enjoys pretending to be sincere with Carly and Courtney when he KNOWS they don't believe him, his surprise at finding love with Liz and his doomed sorrow that it can't work. He's fantastic. So's Cynthia Preston--her palpable terror, the fast-talking desperate begging. She's great strong, she's great weak. I hope GH keeps her around, she's a wonderful villain.

(b) Who gave the best single performance this week?

Robin Christopher. She was great all week but I especially loved the scene with Tracy and Rae in the hospital when she's begging Rae to tell her she really is a Quartermaine when she KNOWS it's a lie. She's sublime.

Honorable mention to Jane Elliott for her exquisite cruelty

(c) Who gave the single WORST performance this week?

Maurice Benard. Let me get this straight. The thought of the sister Sonny only recently met hooking up with his best friend drives him to the brink of madness but finding out that his wife was violated as a means to get at him...nothing? I mean, I expected some anguish here! Some rage! I would've even spotted him a thrown glass or two ot three. Instead he's Mr. mellow and matter-of fact--even smiling (a "choice" I'm sure) when he tells Jason, "You ready for this? He raped my wife." I didn't get anything Mo was trying to do all week--and I don't think this was him phoning it in, I think it was him deciding that Sonny in control at this moment was throwing us off balance and oooh, so dangerous, so surprising! It didn't work Mo.

(d) What was the single BEST scene this week?

The Quartermaine family meeting when The Q's won't let Skye bow out of the family--it just felt like old times, and when Alan said Skye would always be his daughter, I got all choked up. Good to know the show can still do that every now and then. And for those of you who don't buy it--hey, if Brenda can become an honorary Quartermaine...

(e) What was the single WORST scene this week?

Sonny cleansing rape-scarred Carly with his magic penis of understanding. Sure, OTHER women have a difficult time with intimacy after they've been sexually abused, but those women don't have an epic love-for-the-ages like S&C! They heal all their wounds with a roll in the sack--gee Carly, aren't you glad Sonny doesn't find you repulsive? What makes it worse is they actually used the fact that Sonny's a possesive creep to build tension, so when he "forgives" her, we're supposed to be moved, "Wow, I totally thought Sonny was gonna throw her out of the penthouse for being dirty but instead he had sex with her! I didn't see that coming, they must really love each other."

Also, the scene where Jason tells Liz that Ric is a rapist and she doesn't believe him. This could have been a powerful scene--should have been, a powerful scene. Instead, Jason shrugs off Liz's refusal to accept his words with Steve's go-to move, the "I just don't understand why I'm better than everyone else" head-shake. If Jason REALLY AND TRULY believes that Liz, his ex-girlfriend/soul mate is dating and covering for a guy who he believes raped his best friend, he should have screamed at her, he should have shaken her and begged her to see that he's telling the truth (as he knows it) and that she's in danger and that he gives a damn about her as a human being. That would freak Liz out and dredge up her own rape and she would be confused and then he would realize he's scared her and she'd throw him out and it would be emotional and compelling instead of being a set-up: Liz is such an idiot--no wonder she lost Jason

(f) Who or what surprised you the most this week?

Whenever they mention that Alexis killed Alcazar I'm like, "No she didn't it was...oh yeah." Like the whole Sonny is Courtney's brother thing, I still don't buy it.

I actually like the idea of Emily not trusting modern medicine in regards to her cancer. She believes she is going to die because of the childhood trauma of watching her mother do everything "right" and still succumb. I don't agree with Emily selfishly asking Monica to keep it a secret form her family, especially when the cover story causes Alan so much guilt and pain, but I BELIEVE it. I think it's great story for Monica and Alan too. That surprises me, lol.

I actually really dug the Courtney/Ric fight. It was very well staged and believable. Courtney kick boxes, and it's reasonable to assume, based on her physique lol, that she works out. So could she do some damage with her fists? Sure. Also, take some self-defense classes and they'll teach any girl, regardless of her size in relation to her attacker, how to use surprise and leverage in order to disable him enough TO GET AWAY. Not kick his ass, not go 10 rounds, but get away. That was all plausible to me. Of course Skipper blew it when she decided to call Jason from Ric's instead of RUNNING AWAY, but the fight? Totally plausible and well-executed. I could tell that RH2 and ALW are both athletes.

(g) Biggest WTF moment of the week?

Nothing about the "rape" makes sense, morally or dramatically speaking. The better story would be, she thinks she was raped from the get-go, and hides it from Sonny. She pulls away from him--he thinks its his fault, and it only perpetuates his depression, and she feels even worse. It would give these two something compelling to work through and more importantly, it makes the story about Carly. But Carly isn't the victim here folks: it's SONNY. See, Carly's being raped reminds him of his mother being beat up. Oh, gee...the poor guy. Also, had they played it this way, they wouldn't get the "Who's the Daddy" Soap Opera Digest cover.

Sonny about Carly, "I think of you as mine." Sounds like something OJ probably said about Nicole, we're supposed to think it's romantic.

Can you REALLY get a paternity test done that fast using DNA from a strand of hair? I mean, even in murder cases it takes days, weeks. But no, at GH your OBGYN can whip it up for you in a few hours.

I'm getting really sick of Courtney threatening people with death-by-boyfriend, "Hey la, Hey la, My Boyfriend's Whack."

Courtney sees Jason abduct a woman he intends to kill--and the WHOLE point of the scene is that this is an obstacle that they WILL overcome because SHE will get past all those silly hang-ups she once had about murder being bad. SHE has to live up to her claim that she "accepts him as he is!" Yeah, GH, that's a logical way to deal with a psychotic boyfriend! Great message to send the teens!

I didn't buy Liz's casually blabbing about Ric's situation to Taggart nor did I buy Zander ratting out Em's "drug problem" to the Q's. And he was a little too square and sponserish when lecturing Em about "the dangers of drugs." It's like, now that we know he grew up rich, he's suddenly lost his edge

Why was Faith moved from the safehouse to the killing house? Why not just keep her in one place and give Ric the WRONG ADDRESS?

Georgie's smart--can't she have deeper reasons for being into HER COUSIN, gag me, than "he's a really good soccer player"? Can't they at least do a "My So-Called Life" thing where the girl just sort of imagines/invents that this good-looking guy is deeper than anyone but SHE realizes even if its not true?

Sonny delighting in how "clever" his plan is to catch Ric, when its his own stupidity that's kept Ric close enough to hurt his family for months.

Jason once again being a better detectve than Taggart and figuring out Ric was at Liz's loft.

"Our Hero" Jason sharpening his knife and menacing his next victim, Faith. Laying out the plastic. Too bad Courtney's not there to see him taking such pleasure in "his burden." And of course, we're supposed to find him cool here.

Lucky saying, "An APB, can Nikolas do that?" Uh, Lucky...remember the part where you hit that cop? It's called assaulting an officer.

Why did we miss some of the BEST scenes in the Emily cancer reveal? Monica finding Emily unconscious and Monica finding out Em has cancer??

The Quartermaine mansion is like a sitcom set where the door is never locked and no one ever knocks--its worse, actually, with people crawling in windows and walking from the terrace whenever they please.

Sonny saying about Ric, "He will pay." No he won't. This is GH. And are we supposed to be touched or impressed that Sonny feels SO strongly about what Ric did that this time, he's gonna do his own killing? Gee Carly, since Ric raped you, I guess you've earned the right not to be sent out of the room...

Sonny has his own private island, but Carly folds the laundry?

Um...is Courtney really Wonder Woman? Is she a refugee from the Sci-Fi side of town? I mean, why else would she chase after a guy she thinks is a killer and a rapist instead of calling in the goon-squad? I'm quite certain we're supposed to find this "plucky" or something...plus she ditches out of her shift in order to do so, leaving Penny to fend for herself once again. Then again, Kelly's is a lot like Mel's Diner on "Alice": two customers, three waitresses...

Sonny's "cute" justification of his scary, violent behavior of late to his stolen "son": "Well, your dad, see, just like how you throw temper tantrums because you're six? Well daddy does that too even though he's 38. Or 42, depending on what web-site you go to."

(h) Line of the week, if there was one?

Faith, about shooting at Jason and Courtney: "I still can't believe I missed! I mean, what, are these people protected by the mob gods or something?"

Faith threatening Ric: "I'm the loose cannon, remember?"

Tracy: "Why am I the only one gets punished?"

Nikolas: "I'm much better now, thank you." Played by Tyler, you're damned right you are!

(i) Got any shallow thoughts to share?

To bad Tracy's not sticking around--I think Jax and Tracy made a great couple. I prefer Ingo with older women anyway C'mon GH, lay down some TRAX!

Summer looked great after she and Lucky took a swim. I liked how her hair looked, all air-dried and casual.

TYLER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm so shallow I suddenly care, "Gee, just what IS Nik's plan?" LOL. And I know its Guza so whatever it is, it's stupid but, I'm in!

Can every writer everywhere PLEASE stop having people say, "don't go there"?? PLEASE??

And was I the only one who cringed when Georgie said "macking." I dunno if teens still say this but even if they do, I'll bet they don't if their step-father is named Mac.

Jax seemed like a game show host this week. And he did the Thurston Howell thing on Friday.

I loved Linda Dano on Another World, so it makes me sad to see her look so bad. Seriously, her eylids were like, collapsing.

Emily's in danger of becoming the new Lila, and I don't mean that in a good way. They need to have some of the Q's put her in her place instead of hopping to every time she gives them a lecture.

I think Maurice has been looking better lately--fit, tan. I also liked how Courtney looked in the ponytail on Friday, It suited her.

Lucky and Summer on the beach looked like a J.Crew catalog. Not even sure if that's an insult, it's just what they reminded me of...

They really HAVE to stop dressing Ned like he's trying out for Boys II Men.

I really enjoyed Lucky's faith in Luke on Tuesday--it wasn't even a question that his dad would elude the dogs on Spoon Island. When Luke wound up being in the back seat of their getaway car with fists full of cash it reminded me of when Luke used to be fun.

Becky's been looking amazing of late, is it the hair? Or the change in pace of having a generous acting partner again?

Why does everyone on this show have a desk by the door? I don't know anyone who does in real life...

Peace! Christine