If you follow me on Twitter, you know where that title came from. If not, maybe you know anyway. But that line is the truth of my life. I love the unknown, I love wondering what is around the next corner, what surprise life has waiting for me good or bad. I love the unexpected, the things that happen that force you to change your view of the world and shake things up a little.
The unknown sometimes brings good and bad in the same shot, and we have seen evidence of that in the world of daytime this week...
For instance we lost Greg Vaughan (bad) but got Jonathan Jackson back (good). We lost Sarah Joy Brown to B&B (bad) but movie star James Franco (good) has hopped aboard. The Daytime TV Universe is in a state of flux and the surprises just keep coming. Are all these changes simply a frantic rush to try to stay alive? I have to admit I worry about the future of the genre. I asked a few people in the industry "How do we save daytime?" and I haven't heard any solid answers to my question.
The sad thing about GH is that it went through a period of forgettable and predictable storylines, and viewers got bored and wandered off. Now that's it is good again, how do we win them back? I say "we" as if I have some power or say in the matter. I don't. I can't even lure my friends back to Port Charles. (Yeah, Skillz I am talking to you.)
I felt such sympathy for Guiding Light fans when they had to watch their beloved show fade away. I wondered what amount of meds they would have to put me on if General Hospital was ever cancelled. All mocking aside, I love this show. LOVE it. Do any of you have any bright ideas on how to save Daytime? I would love to hear your input.
Let's get down to business...
I noticed that Rebecca has dyed her hair a nice shade of Emily. Go evil twin, go! What was the thought process there? "I am so happy I convinced Nikolas to take me back after admitting I was using my dead sister to bilk him out of his fortune. How can I ever repay his grace? Hey, I know, I will dye my hair brown to make sure he has a constant reminder of his dead wife every time he looks at me." I love twisted Soap Logic.
Does anyone but me think that Alfred the butler is kind of a pimp? He is willing to work with any floozy who comes along to help Master Nikolas get laid. Emily, Nadine, and now Rebecca all had Alfred as their wing man. Sadly, even with a dinner on the way, and the brown hair going for her, Nikolas made a lame excuse and hurried off to see his new boo Elizabeth.
However, in the interim, Elizabeth chickened out or gave in to her guilt when she ran into Lucky in the park. Dear readers, this is where the recast of Jonathan Jackson will really work for me; flashbacks. When Elizabeth and Lucky first got together, they were innocent kids and had a plethora of sweet, awkward, adorable scenes. Now that the original Lucky is back in place, GH can draw on those flashbacks, and remind us why we fell in love with that couple the first place. Who knows, they might even remind Elizabeth why she ultimately belongs with Lucky.
Being the A.D.D. kind of girl I am while I was writing that, I stopped and went over to You Tube and watched a bunch of old Lucky/Liz videos. After viewing those scenes, I am actually salivating for his return. No disrespect at all to Greg Vaughan, I feel bad for his surprise dismissal. I only hope he has the same luck Sarah Joy Brown had and ends up quickly on another show.
The Bold and the Beautiful has done very well by picking up other shows castoffs recently. Don Diamont and Rick Hearst in particular have both gotten more air time on B and B than they did on their previous shows. Here's hoping that Sarah Joy Brown gets to play someone at least a little nicer than Claudia, and that Greg Vaughan gets to play...anyone.
Another plot that made me love the unknown this week was the unfathomable situation in which Helena and Luke have been kidnapped by some unseen Cassadine and have to work... Together! Who would have ever seen that coming? I love it when arch enemies have to team up to beat an even bigger enemy?
Who is holding Luke and Helena hostage? Old Cassadines? New Cassadines? We haven't yet spied their faces, but I will cop to a secret fantasy that Stefan isn't really dead. (Yes, I do have secret fantasies about soap characters.) But not so secret anymore I guess. Actually I have heard it is all new Cassadines. I am stunned to discover there are Cassadines afloat I didn't know about!
Ethan and Lulu have set out on an adventure to find their father based on a cryptic text message they each received. Odd that Luke text messaged the two of them, but not Lucky, the only one of his children who is an actual trained policeman and has experience being on the run with Luke and knows his stomping grounds. Hopefully Lulu packed some sensible shoes and isn't going to climb the hills of Greece in her Kate Howard stilettos.
Speaking of Kate, it was good of her to show up for Maxie and Spinelli's Very Merry Un-Wedding, but very un-Kate-like to get hammered and make out with Coleman. I enjoyed her scenes, but readers, I had a hard time swallowing the premise that Kate would recognize Dante whom she hadn't seen since he was an infant.
Maybe I just need to pay closer attention to babies because they all look pretty much the same to me, like lumpy gourds with faces. And when people show me their ultrasound photos, it looks like a KFC Chicken Leg, so I seriously doubt I would recognize some 30 year old man I hadn't seen since he was a baby. But drunken Kate could, and that's what matters.
Apparently Olivia and Kate didn't read my Soap University rules because there they were discussing the giant secret of Dante's paternity right out in the lobby of the Metro Court Hotel where Claudia could duck behind a large plant and overhear their secrets. Not very smart, Falconeri girls.
Claudia isn't a nice person and it's clear she won't use this secret for anything but evil and blackmail. Poor Olivia will be Claudia's puppet. At least until Michael informs Sonny that he remembered Claudia admit that his shooting was her fault and then she won't be able to blackmail anyone.
I'm worried about Johnnie Zacharra. Why? With Anthony in jail and Claudia about to leave the show, will the powers that be keep Johnnie on the canvas without a solid familial connection? I hope so. Brandon Barash brings so much to the table, but in this climate that doesn't seem to matter much. I mean, if Y and R is willing to lose Victor Newman, NO ONE is safe.
Lisa LoCicero and Brandon Barash have wonderful chemistry together. I get a lot of letters each week with positive comments about this coupling. But with Claudia gone, Sonny might make a play for his baby Mama Olivia and Johnnie's ex-love Lulu is busy sniffing around Dante, so that leaves Johnnie with...no one. Maybe Coleman can hire him to play piano at the bar...
If he did, he would surely be better than the Karaoke night. While the episode was delightfully cute, I didn't hear any singing that would have made it past Simon Cowell. The wicked part of me wants to name names, but that would just be rude. The poor actors were probably forced to sing karaoke and already know singing isn't their strong suit, so I will just leave it alone. As my friend Dennis mentioned to me, we could hear bad karaoke for the price of one watered down drink at the local bar, so there is no need to see it on TV.
That review does not include Bradford Anderson's sweet A Capella version of "I Want to Know What Love Is" mind you. He has a lovely voice. Drunk Mac was a hoot and I love the possibility of a Mac/Alexis hookup. Mac is a champ and excels at raising other people's abandoned kids, so Molly and Kristina would surely benefit from his presence, but only if he sobers up.
Sonny's heart to heart with Kristina was beautiful, but it was clear she didn't believe a word he said because she made a beeline to Creepy Kiefer as soon as they finished. Kristina has proven that she has terrible taste in men. Kiefer is an abusive weasel. My Grandmother Olive once ran over a man with a car who mistreated her, so that's the kind of DNA I have pulsing in my veins. I think Kristina could use a transfusion of a little Grandma Ollie. Instead, she has allowed Kiefer to bully her, slap her and push her around on numerous occasions. I don't see this heading anywhere happy.
Something tells me Sonny is going to go on a spree. Claudia, Kiefer, Johnnie, Dante...I just don't know who Sonny is going to pummel first. Jason is a little preoccupied by the whole Sam reunion, so it's possible that Sonny might actually have to get his own hands dirty...
One more thing... I have been surprised lately to discover I have readers in various parts of the universe. I didn't realize how broadly America was exporting its soaps around the world. I am curious - if you are outside of the U.S., tell me what country you're in, and if you view GH online, or if it's broadcast in your country. This is my own very unscientific poll.
What will happen tomorrow dear readers? Will Nikolas go back and have his way with the newly brunette Rebecca since Elizabeth bailed on him? Will Michael remember Jerry's bedside confession while he's on a memory roll? Will Carly's baby bump ever get any bigger? Will Spinelli and Maxie enjoy their Un-Honeymoon, or get drunk in Vegas and accidentally get married for real? Will Foster come home once his real master is back in town?
