Deep Soap: Condition Stable And Improving

Friday’s General Hospital left me with mixed emotions. On one hand, it was an exciting hour that left me eager to tune in Monday. I may be drinking the Monavie, but I think that the show is slowly but steadily improving and will be must see again in a few months. On the other hand, it highlighted everything that still annoys me about the show.

Sonny began Claudia’s birthday party with a melodramatic toast about loyalty culminating in him publicly outing Claudia for putting out the hit on him that resulted in Michael accidentally getting shot. Before Sonny could complete his big plan, Claudia managed to pull a gun on Carly, and use her as a human shield so she could flee the premises. My question is: what was Sonny’s big plan? Was he going to shoot Claudia in front of a couple dozen witnesses, many of whom were not mob affiliated and would presumably call the police? Order his henchman Jason to do the deed? If so, then what? The Metro Court does not seem like the optimal place to stage a hit. Were Max and Milo going to engage in Weekend at Bernie’s style hijinks to get the body out of the hotel? I guess we will never know.

What I Liked:

· Claudia got to point out that she is no worse than Sonny. The fact of the matter is, she put out a hit on Sonny not Michael. At the time, Sonny had kidnapped and was torturing her brother. She was attempting to save him. As much as I grew to hate the character of Claudia despite Sarah Brown’s excellent performance, she and Sonny were two of a kind. Arguably, she was the perfect match for him. It is only because GH has deemed Sonny the “good” mobster that viewers are supposed to consider his actions justifiable and hers despicable.

· Kristina’s realization that Alexis was right to keep her away from Sonny. After months of her complaining that her mother kept her away from her father out of spite, she got to see first hand that Sonny is not a bad ass who lives by a code. He is a violent man, and anyone who is in his vicinity is in danger. It’s about time one of Sonny’s children realized that he is not someone who should be put up on a pedestal.

· Johnny got to be a real hero. He selflessly told Morgan and Molly to give up their brave but foolish attempt to rescue him. They did not listen, but it is nice to see a mob affiliated character actually doing the right thing.

· Dante and Lulu have the show’s best slow-burn romance in years. I love their tentative flirtation. I love that Lulu managed to figure out he was a cop while she was drugged, then forgot about it. I love that he did not take advantage of her when she threw herself at him while she was intoxicated. I love that Dominic Zamprogna is the first man on the show to have chemistry with Julie Berman. Please don’t screw it up, GH.

· Claudia is on her way out.  It is about time.

What I Hated:

· Maurice Benard’s over-the-top delivery of Sonny’s toast to Claudia. He used to be one of daytime’s best actors. Now, he often veers into self-parody. Presented with a scene that screamed Emmy Reel he unfortunately decided to go for the Full Shatner.

· Sonny’s misogyny got to rear its ugly head again. A GH fan could make a drinking game out of all the times he says the words bitch, slut and whore – but the end result would be a stint in rehab. What Claudia did to Michael has nothing to do with her gender or her sexuality. Granted, the audience knows that Claudia has been putting the moves on Dante which arguably makes her a slut. But Sonny does not know that happened. If the audience were supposed to root against Sonny, his language would not bother me. But this is supposed to be the show’s romantic leading man. If a man ever talked to me that way, I’d be tempted to commit a couple of felonies of my own.

· What are the odds that one woman might end up getting shot in the head while she’s in labor — twice? Sonny did it back when she was played by Tamara Braun, and now Claudia threatened to do it again. Remind me why I’m supposed to root for Sonny, again? Oh yeah. He wasn’t aiming for Carly, just like Devlin wasn’t aiming for Michael. It defies plausibility that Carly, who is on bed rest due to her high risk pregnancy, would go to her mortal enemy’s birthday party just because she found out Michael was there. Why wouldn’t she just call Jax and Dante and ask them to get him out of there? At this point, Carly’s baby has survived a fall down the stairs, dragging Claudia out of a car, and false labor. Carly may be pregnant with the Energizer bunny or a Timex watch.

· Olivia told Sonny that she knew he was a good person, deep down. Really? Then why did she choose to keep Dante away from him all these years? Was Sonny a great guy when he dumped her and started seeing her cousin Connie? She grew up watching the mob wreak havoc on her neighborhood. I cannot believe the show is really going to squander the hotness of Olivia and Johnny for Sonny.

Hat Trick

I loved Vivian’s old school return to Days of Our Lives. First we saw her hands, then heard his voice, then finally saw her face. She looked like a force to be reckoned with again, as she vowed revenge on Carly for killing her beloved nephew. It was a thrill to see Louise Sorel back on my television screen. Best of all, she was wearing the world’s craziest hat. She looked like she was wearing a porcupine on her head. Dorian Lord, Aretha Franklin and the ghost of Drucilla Winters were like, “Wow. That’s a bit much.”

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